#which i saw in various forms on my dash multiple times

[pagesofkenna]

amazing and grateful that even tho the ofmd posts started showing up on my dashboard while i was still at work this morning and thereby unable to watch, the biggest reveals of the three episodes did not get spoiled for me and in fact the only reveal that did was the stupidest

[neoptolemid]

Neoptolemus super doc ? ??

ARE WE ABSOLUTELY SURE,, , ,, ,

uh okay, I pull together my super document of Pyrrhus, have pardon cause it's a bit old and i'm gonna spread it through like 3 or 4 posts probably , , so uh enjoy and I'm sorry for all grammatical errors

Skyros

Pyrrhus was born by the name Pyrrhus and this was based either on his red hair or due to Achilles name of Skyros being Pyrrha.

When it comes to appearances I generally describe him as a good mix of both Deidamia and Achilles’ traits, having inherited Deidamia’s red hair and Achilles Blue/teal eyes. He is around the middle of both of his parent’s height as I make Achilles 6’0 and Deidamia 5’3 when full grown, Pyrhhus rounds out to be 5’6. He also has a number of beauty marks which are similar to Achilles’.

It is unknown how long Achilles stayed on Skyros or when Pyrrhus was born. Either way Achilles did know about his son, we know this from the fact Achilles makes references to his son within the Iliad and Odyssey.

I like to believe that part of Pyrrhus growing up with his mother and aunts is that he has a lot of appreciation for women’s crafts and what they do. That he as a younger child would simply sit and be by his mother and/or aunts as they worked enjoying their company.

He would try his best growing up to join into their songs and dances, and at least once dressed himself in girls clothes to show his mother and aunts which got a good laugh out of them.

From Quintus ‘Fall of Troy’ we are informed that learning to fight and it was Odysseus and Diomedes who came with their black sails to ask him to join the war cause. He was promised to marry Menelaus’s daughter Hermione, he was also promised to have Achilles’ armor and gold, riches, and glory for coming with them.

While work will generally age him to being a young man or simply portray him to be very well spoken, if you follow along with the time line it is very possible that Pyrrhus is only 11 or 12 when he leaves Skyros, I tend to write him as being 13 for my own comfort.

Another thing to note form Quintus’s piece on Pyrrhus is they depict this being especially sad for Deidamia, she is written as having weeped and weeped. She doesn’t want him to leave because she doesn’t want him going to war and leaving her. She doesn’t want him hurt and she doesn’t want another person she loves leaving her again.

Deidamia Pyrrhus’s mother is written as loving him and I interpret bits of this story as Pyrrhus is the only tie to Achilles she has. Generally I prefer the idea that Deidamia did care for Achilles and so it did break her heart that he left and she had hoped that he would return eventually to her and their son.

Over the years she understood more and more that he would not return, so all she had was her son, and then eventually they come and take him from her as well.

Mattering on the version of the story, it is fully possible that Deidamia may have never seen her son again once he left the island.

Dawn climbed the wide-arched heaven, straightway they rose from their beds. Then Deidameia knew; and on her son's broad breast she cast herself, and bitterly wailed: her cry thrilled through the air, as when a cow loud-lowing mid the hills seeks through the glens her calf, and all around Echo long ridges of the mountain-steep; so on all sides from dim recesses rang the hall; and in her misery she cried: "Child, wherefore is thy soul now on the wing to follow strangers unto Ilium the fount of tears, where perish many in fight, yea, cunning men in war and battle grim? And thou art but a youth, and hast not learnt the ways of war, which save men in the day of peril. Hearken thou to me, abide here in thine home, lest evil tidings come from Troy unto my ears, that thou in fight hast perished; for mine heart saith, never thou hitherward shalt from battle-toil return. Not even thy sire escaped the doom of death -- he, mightier than thou, mightier than all heroes on earth, yea, and a Goddess' son -- but was in battle slain, all through the wiles and crafty counsels of these very men who now to woeful war be kindling thee. Therefore mine heart is full of shuddering fear lest, son, my lot should be to live bereaved of thee, and to endure dishonour and pain, for never heavier blow on woman falls than when her lord hath perished, and her sons die also, and her house is left to her desolate. Straightway evil men remove her landmarks, yea, and rob her of her all, setting the right at naught. There is no lot more woeful and more helpless than is hers who is left a widow in a desolate home."

Lemnos

Pyrrhus agrees to go with them and on the way they stop by the island of Lemnos to get Philoctetes. Odysseus makes Neoptolemus lie to Philoctetes because he knows that he hates Odysseus because he is the man who abandoned him on Lemnos and he knows that Philoctetes doesn’t want to go to Troy but back to Greece and to his home.

This causes a Pyrrhus strife because he has been taught to be noble up until now, in the play Philoctetes by Sophocles we are shown multiple times how this causes him strife because he is having to lie. Philoctetes also considers Pyrrhus to be a friend because Pyrrhus lies and says that he wants to go back home to Skyros because of the way he is treated by the other Greeks even though he hasn’t met any of them yet to our knowledge.

Good lines from this play that I personally characterize him are

‘It would have been better if i had never left scyros. Everything around me oppresses me ..’

‘He’ll (odysseus) claim i’m too soft-hearted’

‘I can’t. It is right and in our interest to listen to those in authority’

Some of the best development to see from this is how he was raised to be noble and how he doesn’t want to trick people or lie, he wants to be honest.

Another thing I find interesting to read from specifically this play is how Pyrrhus is very rarely called by his own name, he is almost always referred to ‘son of achilles’ and also in this play he is often referred to as ‘child’ or ‘boy’.

While none of these things are brought up as an issue in the play I do think it is a detail you can play with, like how it might weigh on an individual to be always referred to by your famous father or how people don’t recognize you by your name but by your father’s.

I think these are things that would weigh on Pyrrhus he wants to live up to his father but it also oppresses him to be referred in such a way. He wants to be like his father but he is still his own individual which he doesn’t feel recognized by as people continually anything but his own name.

To the idea of playing into the fact he is also often called ‘boy’ or ‘child’ These could be names that eventually upset and anger him. He is being dragged into this war like he is old enough to fight, which he is not and yet he is not recognized as such by those around him.

It is a case of a child feeling indignatinge by being called terms which denote being naive, though I like to think there is some justification for his anger because this isn’t just a small thing but he is being taken into a man's world.

In Philoctetes he is referred to by the name Neoptolemus, he was given this name by Phoenix, a man also considered to be a father by Achilles. Phoenix is one of the oldest men in the Trojan war and he is either involved with Pyrrhus coming from the island to Skyros to the war or some time later down the road. He gave him this name because it means ‘new war/warrior’ it is meant to reflect how Achilles himself was a young man when he entered the war.

It is honestly more common to see Pyrrhus referred to as Neoptolemus by the Greeks and Pyrrhus by Roman sources to my knowledge. (i’ll be using Pyrrhus just for simplicity)

Troy

There are a lot of various stories that have to do with the fall of Troy, we have records again from Quintus “Fall of Troy” and the “Aeneid” by Vergil. There are also a number of plays by the three tragedians of Ancient Greece(Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus) that have to do with the end of the war and various stories of the aftermath.

While Pyrrhus doesn’t appear in these very often they still help to give more insight to his possible character.

Pyrrhus makes a minor appearance within the play of ‘hecuba’ and is in the background of ‘andromache’, he makes no appearance within this story but he is directly related to things happening in the play.

Back onto the subject of the fall of Troy, he is regarded as the killer of both Astyanax and Priam. These are generally agreed upon details and sometimes Odysseus fills the role of Pyrrhus when the story decides they don’t want to introduce more characters.

He is generally described as being ‘battle-eager’ ‘Fierce-hearted’ and a few other epithets relating to fighting. In general he is not described as being worse than anyone else. The fall of Troy is a greek work and all the Greeks within this work are killing and fighting people. He is by all means a competent fighter within the text.

In the Odyssey when Odysseus goes into the underworld and speaks with the dead, and when Achilles comes to speak he asks about his son.

Odysseus describes him as

‘but I can tell you all about your son Neoptolemus, for I took him in my own ship from Scyros with the Achaeans. In our councils of war before Troy he was always first to speak, and his judgement was unerring. Nestor and I were the only two who could surpass him; and when it came to fighting on the plain of Troy, he would never remain with the body of his men, but would dash on far in front, foremost of them all in valour. Many a man did he kill in battle- I cannot name every single one of those whom he slew while fighting on the side of the Argives, but will only say how he killed that valiant hero Eurypylus son of Telephus, who was the handsomest man I ever saw except Memnon; many others also of the Ceteians fell around him by reason of a woman's bribes. Moreover, when all the bravest of the Argives went inside the horse that Epeus had made, and it was left to me to settle when we should either open the door of our ambuscade, or close it, though all the other leaders and chief men among the Danaans were drying their eyes and quaking in every limb, I never once saw him turn pale nor wipe a tear from his cheek; he was all the time urging me to break out from the horse- grasping the handle of his sword and his bronze-shod spear, and breathing fury against the foe. Yet when we had sacked the city of Priam he got his handsome share of the prize money and went on board (such is the fortune of war) without a wound upon him, neither from a thrown spear nor in close combat, for the rage of Mars is a matter of great chance.'

In general from the greek sources he is described as nobly.

He is noted for killing quite a few people during the fall of Troy but his most notable kills are Priam, who he kills within the throne room (to my knowledge) and Astyanax who is killed after Troy has fallen.

In the Aeneid by Vergil he is described in ways that frame him a more villainous or evil way

‘The fatal work inhuman Pyrrhus plies,’

During when Pyrrhus is about to kill Priam there is a line that I believe characterizes him as more of a tragic character than anything else. Before killing Priam, Priam berates him about how Pyrrhus is about to treat Priam because of how Achilles showed him humanity and how Achilles gives Priam his son’s body back. This is partly brung up because Pyrrhus getting into the throne room kills one of Priam’s sons in front of his face.

The line basically translates out to be Pyrrhus telling Priam that when he dies and sees his father to tell him of the terrible deed of his son, of how terrible his son is.

In the translation that I read they use the line ‘Tell him of degenerate Neoptolemus’

When in the context of the Philoctetes I think this paints Pyrrhus as being a rather tragic and sad character, because prior to going to the island of Lemnos Pyrrhus tried to act most noble, he wants to be noble like his father. When on Lemnos he has his morals questioned and is forced to go against his morales at the hand of Odysseus.

I interpret this as him vocalizing how he might be upset with himself as he is forced to look at the reality of war which isn’t noble or glorious at all. He wants to live up to the noble idea of his father and everything he is forced to do makes him feel terrible.

I personally think that Pyrrhus probably doesn’t know a lot about the terrible things that Achilles has done or he tries to ignore them. When fighting in the war he might realize his idea of his father might not truly be acturte, he was raised on stories from his mother telling him of his outstanding father.

In terms of justifying his actions during the war because going off my own headcanon he probably wouldn’t be so interested in killing so many people, I imagine he kinda just turns off his head and acts purely on his emotions and just acts like that of a soldier. (Is this PTSD?)

He follows the orders given to him and acts without questioning and lets all his emotions out. I personally don’t assign Pyrrhus that much pride but I like to think he inherited some of his fathers famous anger. All of his anger at what he is being forced to do comes out when he is forced to fight.

That is where the brutality of his portrayal within the Aeneid comes from.

[prince-toffee]

Villains

Part Two

The room was empty and bare. The room was very plain, no paintings or pictures hung or framed, no personalised items, no trinkets or mementos. The space was devoid of any personality or warmth. This partially due to the fact that everything personal was moved out of the room, and also the fact that the person whom once occupied these living quarters wasn’t one for forming close personal attachments. Shadow Weaver sat on a beautiful ornate wooden chair at the centre of the sterile room. She watched the blank dark green wall as she took a long sip from her glass of red wine.

That room was once hers. When she officially aligned with The Horde, she was given her own bed chamber as she had to live in The Fright Zone as an unspoken rule. Where else would have she been accepted? She had no where else to go. She was pleased with what she was given, the room was quite large, she had a queen sized bed, her own side bathroom, with a toilet, shower, sink, and bath all included. The bath in particular became a favourite location, useful in relaxation after a long day of dealing with cadets that made her blood boil and her blood pressure rise. Over time she did personalise the room, add various scented shampoos and what not, some artistic and yet horrifying paintings, and a study with all her work - reports, cadet exams, notices, and request forms over which she lost her mind too many times.

Her quiet pleasant contemplation was cut short as Force-Captain Cobalt’s voice invaded the room through the data-pad which leaned against one of the wooden legs of the chair she sat on. The blue porcupine man cleared his throat, “Umm, Sha- uh, Lord Shadow Weaver.”

“Speak.”

“All your personal belongings have been moved to Lor- to Hordak’s old Sanctum. But there’s another emergence that requires your attention.” Weaver sighed, she responded by saying she would be there in a few minutes. She downed the glass of wine in seconds, it was a good year, shame she couldn’t have savoured the taste, she had saved that bottle for a victorious occasion. And she couldn’t have thought of a better occasion.

The witch just discarded the glass by simply throwing it away, it shattered on impact, of course. But the brand new leader didn’t care. Not anymore. She was in charge, no consequences, it felt so freeing. The scarred woman shifted her mask over her grey face and moved out. She did not admit to another soul the fact that she was ashamed of her physical appearance, she never betrayed a weakness, she was distant therefore safe. There was logic and reason to her outfit - a frightening mask to deflect any questions about her face, a high collar to hide her neck, and then a layered robe to allow no part of her scarred, wounded, burned body to be seen. She implemented the opposite tactic to Hordak, he choose to show some flesh, some key areas of his body that were healthy and strong to deflect any suspicion or conspiracy of him being otherwise. Anyone who saw Hordak, as rare as it was, they all thought the dark Lord was a modern Adonis. Nobody suspected he was in fact a sick frail man who was slowly falling apart.

Shadow Weaver knew about Hordak’s ‘sickness’, and vis versa. There was a deal between them, both knew each other’s weakness, and so they formed a partnership to support one another. Hordak had the Black Garnet in his possession after acquiring the Scorpion Hill Kingdom, and so he handed the magical artefact to Shadow Weaver, he knew the Garnet was useless in his hands, he had no knowledge therefore no ability to utilise the Garnet. But Shadow Weaver could. She was brought in as his Minister of Magicks to advice the Horde in the magical ways, how to defend against magic, and how to weaponise magic in offense.

The rune stone gave her sufficient life force for her to leech off of, never again was she hungry. And she wielded the awesome power of the elemental mineral. In return Shadow Weaver took the spotlight off of Hordak, the duty of truly commanding the Horde’s forces, leaving Hordak free to do... whatever he did. Weaver never knew what Hordak did in his ‘Sanctum’, all she ever managed to get out of him was the fact he was working on a secret ‘experiment’, and she knew that much was a slip up. It didn’t matter now anyhow, all of Hordak’s secrets were going to be hers and if not, then they don’t matter anyway.

She waltzed through the corridors and hallways of red and green metal, pipes, and cables, at a leisurely pace. Unlike Hordak, who’s heavy metallic footsteps always alerted the soldiers ahead of time in the corridor, Shadow Weaver made no sound, didn’t allow any trooper to get ready, they had no idea she was coming. She scared the hellfire out of everyone she passed. They always jumped in shock, straightened themselves out and stiffened. Weaver liked that.

The noise of double doors sliding open marked her entrance into the throne room, her throne room. Her commanders turned to her and bowed. She liked that too. “Speak.”

“Lord Weaver, while we were breaching Hordak’s Sanctum, which was harder than we thought it would be, a lot of booby traps, we got around a dozen treating wounds in the infirmary. But anyway when we got in we acquired all of his personal belongings mostly just tech. One of his personal data-pads gave off a ping, some sort of automatic notification. It was a signal sent from an outpost in the Northern Reach in the frozen wastes, apparently the computers there have detected some new First Ones tech.”

“Ah perfect! That’s exactly what we need!” Shadow Weaver heard the vent being kicked open, only then when she lifted her head up to the high ceiling did she see the short purple woman descend to her to the floor. This. of course, was Entrapta the Princess of Dryl. Shadow Weaver didn’t like her much, she was the one to whom Hordak was going to give the Black Garnet. They didn’t see, but her face soured as her arms folded. “Have you briefed her about the power grid?”

Cobalt sighed, “I was about to.” It seemed that the Princess had interjected herself into Horde matters and into the command structure. She swung around like she owned the place. And Hordak would’ve probably let her walk all over him too.

“Well, since I’m here already I’ll explain. The Fright Zone’s power grid, a surprising intricate system that transfers power all around The Fright Zone keeping everything running, over heated. Meaning it’s stopped working, coolant systems have failed and ruptured expelling scolding steam through the corridors, a powerful and dangerous feedback surge has been created leading to the destruction through explosion of the main power-generators. Multiple floors are on fire. In Layman’s terms: It’s bad.”

“We are not imbeciles, Princess, do not treat us as such. You are not in command here, so I would watch your tone with me! You are only here, but I permit it.” Weaver pointed her finger at the hovering woman.

Entrapta looked down at the grey finger of the sorceress and then turned around, “Mmm, no, I am here because I want to be.” She began to stride across the throne room using her hair. Shadow Weaver still didn’t know if the purple tentacle hair was a magical ability or a technological aspect. Either way she followed the Princess. With a simple wave of her hand she dismissed her Force-Captains, its not like they wanted to stay around her so Cobalt, Grizzlor, and Octavia left without any further convincing. The witch kept up with the Princess. She made no sound when she walked, but the purple woman somehow knew she was close enough behind her to hear her, “As I was saying, the power grid can’t hold the amount of power it transmits, so we need a strong conductor, maybe a regulator too. That’s why the signal from the Northern Reach is a mighty convenient occasion. First Ones tech is ideal for the job. My recommendation: Send an excursion to the outpost, excavate the tech, transport it back here and install it in, solving the issue.”

“I didn’t ask for your ‘recommendation’... but that is a decent solution.” They passed the throne and moved forward through a thin hallway of pipes, as they reached its end a door slide open. Past it they entered a sort of  a corridor round-about, another door in front of them. The corridor curved around to multiple doors, opposite the doors were windows of one way glass looking over the landscape of The Fright Zone.

Shadow Weaver noted the burn marks and metallic plating torn and shredded, signs of damage caused by an explosion. The booby traps the Force-Captains spoke of. All disarmed, she hoped. The Sanctum doors opened, Entrapta entered first, Shadow Weaver followed close behind. Hordak’s Sanctum was a dimly lit tall box, computers all around it with data Entrapta couldn’t wait to get into. Various tech scattered around. To contrast all that were Shadow Weaver’s own belongings moved from her old room to her new one. “I like the paintings, good taste. I’ve got paintings too, back at home. But I prefer little cute big eyed kitties, rather than abstract horrific rorschach-like depictions of inner turmoil of anxieties. Hm, perhaps representing repressed and or traumatic memories. Interesting.”

Weaver raised a brow as she narrowed her eyes, “Uh huh. Thank you.” She was spot on. Her eyes could barely keep up with the Princess. She seemed very excited. She finally stopped dashing across the room madly and stood still at the centre of the room. Her pigtails split into multiple ends each tendril plugging into a different computer or any other data-holding devices, her hair fuzzed and the ends of each tendril lit up in a bright purple, on the boarder of being pink. The light moved inward towards her head in pulse-like motion. Weaver guessed, correctly, that Entrapta was downloading the information into herself.

“Oh, that’s fascinating.”

“What is it?”

“I’m not sure.” Before Shadow Weaver could ask any follow up questions from the corner of her eye she noticed a grey blur dashed across a higher scaffolding, accompanied by sounds of small footsteps scuttling about. She looked up to see a pair of small yellow luminous eyes.

It was Hordak’s tiny bat creature, Hordak seemed to have been close and appreciative of the creature. Whether it was a pet to him or like a child she did not know. All she knew was it was an annoying tattletale - spying, recording, and telling on people, completely loyal to Hordak in the way a child tells their parent on a sibling in return for candy, or chin scratches in this instance. The creature hissed. It clearly did not like Shadow Weaver, she did get rid of its creator.

“Cute.”

“What?”

“The hybrid, I think it’s named Imp. Fascinating little miracle of science.”

“Ugh, it’s as useful as a rodent. And twice as infuriating.” She said that like Imp wasn’t there in the room with them, he heard that and launched at the sorceress, biting her in her finger. The dark magician yelped and shook her hand in a cartoony comedic manner, a few seconds of the motion and Imp’s grip loosened and he flew through the air and landed in Entrapta’s hair where she brought him closer to her and gave him some soft scratches under his chin. He softened in her arms and pressed his cheeks against her shoulder. He stock his tongue out, and mouth farted at Shadow Weaver. Weaver growled and sighed.

“I’m getting the feeling you don’t like me.”

“What inclination makes you say that?”

“Oh just about anything and everything you do.” Entrapta unplugged from the tech and finally turned to face Shadow Weaver. She gave her a genuine smile, warm and well-meaning, “How about a dinner?”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re clearly not a fan of mine, and this might be a beneficial social experiment to let us know each other better, since we’ll be working closely together for the foreseeable future.”

“Heh, what makes you think we’ll be ‘working closely together’?”

“You do want to know what this Hordak had been working on, don’t you? Do you know anyone else who can comprehend this sort of stuff?”

“I... I suppose not.” It was true, she didn’t, so Entrapta was important. But she wouldn’t admit that, and she would certainly not go to a dinner with a Princess. Before she could scoff any further, she heard a shy voice clear its throat. Weaver turned around to face it. It was Scorpia. Princess Scorpia.

“Umm, Ms Weaver, the uh, the excursion transport is ready. What are our next orders, ma’am, sir, m’Lord, Lady, Shadow Weaver... sir.” The Scorpion Princess awkwardly informed, her large red claw raised up to her temple, saluting. Two or three drips of sweat rolled down her face. For being so huge and muscular walking-rectangle she was very shy and small.

“What transport?!”

“Oh I was the one who requested it.” Entrapta replied. Entrapta moved through the room past the new Lord and moved to Scorpia. She handed the bat baby to the Scorpion Force-Captain, the hybrid boy kept attempting to chomp on Entrapta’s hair. Scorpia cradled the batling, whom now moved onto biting the hard claws. “We should solve the problem as soon as possible, so I gave a go-ahead.”

Shadow Weaver’s hand instinctly went up to her face, her muscle memory told her to rub her nose in exhausted irritation, but of course her mask blocked her hand. “Fine. Go. Fix my fortress.” She waved her hand to dismiss them, Scorpia and Imp moved out swiftly, only once she moved out of frame did Weaver notice that Catra stood behind her. The cat was sweating, clearly very nervous, she didn’t say anything, and followed Scorpia out. Entrapta hanged behind.

“Dinner. When I get back. We’ll talk. Takes around four hours to get to the outpost, four back, and a day in-between for excavation. So in three days, at 7, The Fright Zone cafeteria. I’ll cook.”

[citrus-cactus]

I saw @vidramon do this meme and thought it would be interesting, so here goes!

Five games that shaped me as a gamer, in no particular order, and under the cut to spare your dash!

1. Final Fantasy VII (PlayStation)

I have spent SO many hours playing and replaying FFVII Original that I’m sure I would wince to know the exact amount. It is my gold standard for JRPGs against which all other JRPGs are judged (particularly those that come from SquareEnix). The plot, the characters, the mechanics, the graphics, the soundtrack, the translation flubs... I LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH!!! FFIX is a close second in terms of a quality game that I have played multiple times and try to be as completionist as possible, but nothing, NOTHING can hold a candle to The Entire Reason I Wanted a PlayStation and Was Overjoyed the Day My Parents Said We Could Get One. My sister and I also have a LOT of in-jokes from playing it, and fun fact: we legit SCREAMED IN TERROR the first time we fought Jenova because there was a storm going on outside and some VERY well-timed thunder and lightning. You can’t make this stuff up. Everything about it was a formative gaming experience, 10/10 XD

2. Kirby’s Adventure (NES)

The first game I became OBSESSED with beating. I played a lot of Super Mario Bros. 1 & 3 and while I could get far in them, I was not as good as either of my friends who played them and thus never felt the need to beat them by myself (besides, once you’ve experienced the joy of Goomba’s Shoe in SMB3, what even is the point of playing any further? XD). But Kirby... MAN, it was just so fun and approachable and COLORFUL the whole way through. My parents rented it for us first and since the game has save states, I got to start on Stage 6 (out of 7), and it seemed like there were so many secrets and fun things to unlock, even though I don’t think we made it to that stage’s boss fight (MetaKnight, he’ll WRECK YA!) before we had to return it. But we did eventually buy it and play it to 100% several times, and it’s still one of my favorite platformers. The powers are all so fun. UFO IS THE BEST!!!!

3. Sly Cooper 2: Band of Thieves (PS2)

My then-boyfriend, now-husband and I bonded so hard over the whole Sly Cooper series, but SC2 was the best of the bunch: exploring the hub worlds, finding EVERY LAST BOTTLE, helping each other out on the more difficult(/frustrating) levels, picking pockets, earning all the money for upgrades, enjoying PARAGLIDE, loving the dialog (“Greasy-sweet!”), the characters, BENTLEY BEING THE BEST, etc. etc. It’s eight heist movies rolled into one, it improves on the original in every way, the characters are GREAT, it’s just... so great T^T

(image technically from Sly 3, but still IT’S THE GANG!!! I LOVE THEM!!!!)

4. King’s Quest VI (PC)

Another game my sister and I spent HOURS playing and replaying, even though we were never able to figure out the “short” ending :o Long or bust, baby! Technically we played KQ7 first (and I still really like it because WOMEN PROTAGONISTS), but KQ6 is SO!!!!! Good. It’s hilarious, the puzzles aren’t *too* frustrating (we did NOT call the Sierra Help Line for this one, unlike KQ7... aah, bless my mom for that several-dollar phone call), the fact that you GO TO THE UNDERWORLD AT ONE POINT (I felt SO SMART when I solved the Gate’s riddle, lol!). I love the backgrounds, Robby Benson’s voice, the narrator, the duuuuuuumb jokes when you die... even if you hate Sierra’s mentality of “kill the player at every turn and/or let them create unwinnable states for themselves”, KQ6 is still an INCREDIBLY GOOD adventure game that is 100% worth playing, especially if you are into 90′s power ballads (GIRL IN THE TOOOOOOOWER, I’M REEEEEACHING OUT, PLEASE TEEEEELL ME WHAT TO DOOOOO). Thank you, I’ll see myself out ^_^

5. Pokemon X (Nintendo 3DS)

The first Pokemon game I played, and still my favorite! Probably because everything was so NEW. I didn’t understand types! I didn’t understand... well, most of the mechanics that I’m sure everyone else internalized a long time ago and takes for granted. My friend Opallene was witnessing all of my n00bishness and I’m sure I was hilarious! :D But there were outfits! And haircuts! And Pokemon-Amie! AND CLEMONT AND BONNE. AND SKIDDO. It sent me around town getting various mythical Pokemon promo codes and down the path of buying Pokemon game several years in a row (Alpha Sapphire, Let’s Go Pikachu, Sun, Ultra Moon, and Sword, several of which I never finished, oops!). I think I am over it now, but man, playing that first Pokemon game was a POWERFUL experience. I finally understood what I had been missing out on since 1997! NOW I’M JUST LIKE ASH (I am not anything like Ash XD).

The end! Don’t want to tag right now, but feel free to do it if y’wanna!

[thespianbooks]

A Court of Nightmares and Starlight //Chapter One//

(Chapter one) (Chapter two) (Chapter three) (Chapter four) (Chapter five) (Chapter six) (Chapter seven) (Chapter eight) (Chapter nine) (Chapter ten)

I knew it was bound to happen eventually. Surrounded by the new walls in this estate, after growing so familiar with Rhys’s old room—my old room, at the House of Wind; a part of me knew the new surroundings might trigger the nightmares to return. Even if over a decade had passed, a part of me was, and would probably always be haunted by the events that had taken place Under the Mountain. At first, I dreamt of stabbing myself in the heart, as I had the young male and female fae. Over the years the nightmares evolved, sometimes as gory and painful as it had been to actually live through it, and other times an array of images would pass through my mind in a panic—as if I were living through it all at once in a matter of seconds. Images of blood, Amarantha, the knife in my blood-soaked hands—of Rhys. Of Rhys’s pained face as he desperately tried to get to me during Amarantha’s attack, wielding a knife of his own. Tonight, in particular, those flashing images conjured up old and ancient feelings of panic in me that I had not experienced since I was newly Made; since my time in the Spring Court. Since before I learned Rhys was my mate; before I overcame that overwhelming despair that had threatened to drown me. The nightmares hadn’t stirred those emotions in over a decade, but tonight was different. 

I jolted awake in a cold sweat, my skin clammy and stomach roiling at the particularly violent images of my blood-soaked hands and Rhys’s panicked and desperate face still lingering as I tried to discern reality from dream. I silently thanked the Cauldron that Rhys wasn’t with me as I made a mad dash for the bathing room attached to our suite. I barely made it to the toilet as I vomited up the dinner, and probably the entirety of my stomach contents from the day before, I had with Mor. My eyes burned as the wave intensified, reminding me of those days in the Spring Court, a couple of sobs escaping between my heaves. 

Breathe

You’re free. We’re free. And safe

Just breathe

As the wave of nausea finally began to pass, and the heaving stopped, I took a few deep breaths as Rhys guided me through our bond. Nerves settled, I flushed the toilet and stood slowly. Once I was confident I wouldn’t sway on my feet, I padded over to the sink, rinsing my mouth out thoroughly. Sighing deeply once again, I smiled softly as I felt those familiar dark-shadowed talons caress my mental shields before lowering them and allowing Rhys in. 

Hello Feyre darling

My smile widened. I’m alright, just another bad dream

Must have been a bad one. Your nightmares haven’t caused you to puke your guts up in years. 

It’s because I’m alone in this big house without you. 

I felt his dark laugh reverberate through the bond. I knew I couldn’t blame him for performing his duties as the High Lord of the Night Court, particularly in matters of the Illyrian sort. He, Cassian, and Azriel were duty-bound to attend and oversee the Blood Rite of their novice-warriors. As High Lord, commander of armies, and spymaster, the trio of Illyrians had taken it upon themselves to attend the ceremonies before would-be warriors were sent off to fend for themselves and survive in the mountains. Previously, they had only attended the ceremonies at the beginning and end of the blood rite on the first and last day, but this year they decided to stay the week to welcome, congratulate, and perform all ceremonial rights for the survivors and new Illyrian warriors. 

Though it had only been three days since they left, it was the longest Rhys and I had been apart since before the war with Hybern. The first couple of years after the war had been a hard period of adjustment, and while there were still days where I only saw Rhys first thing in the morning and not again until right before bed, over the last decade we had managed to make more time for each other. Especially after our first Winter Solstice together, after coming to the decision that we would try and conceive the firstborn the bone-carver had once shown me, we always found time to spend together—just the two of us. Perhaps that was the real reason why my despairing nightmares had returned. Perhaps it was simply because I missed him, his warmth as we lay entangled in our sheets—our new sheets in this estate I built for us, our family. 

The estate Rhys had given me—us, really, had taken a little longer to remodel than I had originally hoped. He had told me to build a painting studio for myself, a room for each member of our inner circle, including my sisters...including the would-be son we had yet to conceive. I worked on the nursery first; once I had officially shifted all my focus on the estate-building project, it was all I could think about. The art studio I opened in the Rainbow, with Ressina, was beginning to flourish and after countless days of watching fae children heal from their trauma the war caused, I wanted nothing more than to prepare the nursery for my future child—as a form of my own healing process.

But as time passed, and my cycles returned at their regular intervals, I shifted my focus from the nursery to the rest of our estate. As an attempt to distract myself from it, I made sure to create the perfect space for every member of our inner circle. Everyone had their own living quarters, allowing them to freely stay or leave at their leisure. Cassian and Azriel were delighted to have their own space; though the former was more vocal about it, I knew Az was glad to have a place of solace—especially since space was so limited at our townhouse. The two Illyrians were especially pleased with the training grounds in the back of the estate, past the gardens. Rhys had the most influence over that aspect of the estate, since the trio used the space so frequently.

Mor was especially ecstatic to have a new room—an upgrade she called it, with an abundance of closet space which allowed her to show off her multiple pieces of fashion from the various courts of Prythian to her heart's content. Even Amren was pleased with not only her luxurious suite; more luxurious than mine and Rhys’s that allowed her to display the fine jewelry and baubles she collected over the years, but also with the two-story library lined with stacks of books that even I couldn’t resist browsing. 

Elain had been my biggest help in planning our estate, and when I asked what she wanted, she simply—and shyly, requested a garden. A now wide and expansive garden, with a vast greenhouse, which she tended to with the groundskeeper every day. Her living quarters were combined with Nesta’s, who never admittedly claimed to live in our estate, but over the years settled and even sold the small apartment she once resided in on the other side of the Sidra. I couldn’t help but wonder if it had something to do with Cassian’s growing influence, but I knew it was mostly due to Elain and Amren. I was only happy to see her on a nearly day-to-day basis. 

I had indeed built the house of my dreams—our dreams, filled with family, staff and sentries with their own living quarters, and more than an adequate amount of space for us all. After three years of careful planning and attending to every last detail, along with balancing my shared duties as High Lady; our estate was now a masterpiece with an empty nursery. I pushed away from the thought, reminding myself that fae children—fae babies, were rare. That night on the Winter Solstice when we decided we were ready for them, Rhys had warned me it could take years. At the time, I hadn’t cared, but as the years passed I often wondered if I would ever see the beautiful face of the son the bone-carver had shown me. 

I tried not to lose faith, in the Mother, the cauldron, all of it. Every time the disappointment showed in my face when my excruciating cycle would return, Rhys knew and reassured me that it would happen for us. I tried not to think about it with my mental shields down, or shout it down the bond, which I was more efficient at building every year. Not that I actively liked to block Rhys out, I rather enjoyed communicating through our bond, depended on it—especially on a night like this.

I’d rather not worry about you getting sick every night this week. I’ll come home tomorrow

You don’t need to do that, I’m really fine. Maybe it was that big dinner I had.

Funny, I almost believed you for a second Feyre, darling

I sighed audibly, sure that he knew I did. It was just an intense nightmare. They still come and go, you know they do

I do—but still-

Don’t be such a mother hen. I snapped. It was a bad dream and a bad reaction. I’ll be fine in the morning.

Silence followed for longer than I liked, and I felt some remorse for snapping at him. Knowing my feelings, my experience, with overprotective behavior had him reigning it in as much as possible. It was still there from time to time, but I knew my mate. Knew when he was overprotective, it meant he couldn’t help himself but would in no way force me to his will. Still, my feelings of guilt remained. It was true that it had been years since a nightmare caused this reaction, and had the roles been reversed, I would want to be at his side. 

I was about to apologize before he sent another warm message down the bond; As you wish, High Lady

I rolled my eyes. That wasn’t exactly an order, you know.

Oh I know, but I also know just how much you love ordering me around

I smiled as I settled in our bed, imagining his cocky grin adorning his handsome face, violet eyes glimmering with mischief. I sighed again, if that were the case, I would actually order you back home.

I still can

No, no I’m alright. I feel better already. Plus you need to be there. Go enjoy your Illyrian rituals and ceremonies and whatnot.

As you wish, High Lady

I snorted before sending him a vulgar gesture down the bond and raising my mental shield of adamant as I closed my eyes, sleep once again starting to claim my body; the timbre of his dark laughter resounding softly in the shadows around me, causing my stomach to flutter delicately as the sound lingered and lulled me into a new sleep.

[megamanxfanfics]

S.VI - Ep.14: Old Haunts

Written by Metal Man X

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INT. ICY CAVE – Light Capsule Area – DAY

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-Fade in-

We see a peaceful view of a dormant Light Capsule blinking amongst the icy walls of the cave.

-pan slowly away from the Capsule-

The ground shakes as an unnatural avalanche of ice boulders rains down near the capsule in a straight line.

-pan further to a hill just below the Capsule-

Zero is struggling to dash around and away from not only ice boulders, but also lava meteors!

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Uh, Zero..? You’re not gonna believe this, but there’s a Capsule directly above you.

ZERO: (struggling, dodging) Aghh, what??  You’re kidding!

He makes it back to the top of the hill and turns his head, setting his focus on the icy plain above the slopes.

ZERO: Damn… this could be tricky!!

He runs as a giant ice boulder passes overhead.  Then amidst the fire balls, he dashes, jumps and double-jumps through an opening.

Grateful for the flat land, he makes it to the top area, spotting the Capsule dead ahead. But also in his path is an infected Wolfoid.  He can feel the Nightmare within as the creature growls at him.

ZERO: Damn, we took too long…

It shoots with a Nightmare enhanced snout, but Zero takes it out with a quick swipe of the saber.

Then, an Avalanche of boulders almost drop on him.

ZERO: Shiiiiit!

He dashes ahead, just before the Light Capsule, collecting the small Nightmare Soul in the process. Dr. Light forms himself as the boulders wildy crash behind him.

DR. LIGHT: (surprised, awestruck) Zero... I'm glad to see you again.

ZERO: ...I will never die.

DR. LIGHT: …Where have you been??

ZERO: I don't really remember. My recovery functions didn’t fully kick in until later...  But when I came to, my instincts guided me. I couldn’t really see. I could only move... Soon I realized that I was in Abel City again, and it was only a matter of time before I’d find X.

DR. LIGHT: ...The world still needs you and X... ...So you came back to life, didn't you?

ZERO: (nodding, smirking) Heh, I suppose so..

DR. LIGHT: Right… Well, we must put an end to this Nightmare... Please give X this Armor program... However, for security reasons, the Armor won't work until all four programs combine.

ZERO: Alright.

DR. LIGHT: This is the foot program to X’s Shadow Armor. When executed properly, he’ll be able to high-jump and stick to the ceiling. Once there, X can dash on the ceiling for enhanced mobility during missions that require more stealth-like maneuvers. This is a tricky Armor. Please tell him to handle it well! Where is he anyway??

ZERO: I don’t really know. He’s in a portal somewhere…

-cut to-

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INT. NIGHTMARE PORTAL – Double’s Lair - NIGHT

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X and his formidable ally known as Phantom look on at the newly revived ghost of Double with concern and contempt.

ZERO: (o.s, continuing) …dealing with Old Haunts.

[Insert Title Card – Old Haunts]

X: Double!! What are you doing here?

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: Aaahahahah. It looks like you’ve finally made it to the Afterlife. It’s about time!!

X: Huh?

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: What did you in? Was it Sigma??  Please tell me it was Sigma.

X: Double, I’m not dead!

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: Then… where the Hell are we?  Is this Purgatory??  

X: More like, a Nightmare Dimension.  And you’re my only way out.

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: Oh, I see...  So that’s what’s at stake here.  A 2nd chance at Life or Death.  I feel it in the air…. We all seem to be drawn to this.. Nightmare Energy.  Well, with it’s power, I’m gonna Destroy you and re-enter the World Anew!!

PHANTOM: He’s Mad!

He pulls out his daggers and bravely runs after Double.

X: No. Phantom, wait-!

In an instant Double dashes into the warrior and strikes him with his spiked gauntlet, carving a gash right across his stomach.

PHANTOM: Eeeeeuuuugghhhh….

X: Nooooooo!

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: AAAHAHAHAHA. You’re Next, X.

-cut to-

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INT. ICY CAVE – Light Capsule Area - DAY

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From his Capsule, Dr. Light stirs in a slight panic

DR. LIGHT: Oh my Goodness! Please, help X!!

ZERO: (nodding) Don’t worry, I will…. He’s a big boy though. He can take care of himself..

Taken slightly aback, Dr. Light lets out a quick sigh, then composes himself.

DR. LIGHT: Hmph. You’re right. I’ll be off, then.  Take care of yourself, Zero.

With that, Dr. Light smiles and disappears.

ZERO: (smirking) Count on it…

Zero steps in the capsule and receives X’s upgrade for him.  A brilliant flash of power and light downloads itself into Zero’s head-gem making it glow into a foreboding shade of black for one second.  He closes his eyes, feeling the rush of power, then opens them with a zestful determination.

ZERO: (v.o, thinking) It’s a shame I can’t just send this over, X. Wherever you are, I’m sure you could really use this right about now!

-cut to-

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INT. NIGHTMARE PORTAL – Double’s Lair – DAY

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X narrows his eyes, charges up and shoots a charged Blade Buster right at Double.

The Nightmare Double throws a large power ball at him as well.

X’s eyes widen as he mach-dashes out of the way.  He quickly switches to Yammark’s Dragonfly Missiles in desperation.  They swirl around him in defense, while green plasma blasts shoot out in offense.

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: Au-au-au-au…

The apparition’s bio-defenses kick in as suddenly all the dents in his armor, bubble up and emit various weaponry.  Two buzz saws bounce back at him while two winged drones fly after him and fire their own attacks.

X: Oh my God, I remember this…

His body shifts into red and orange while he charges up.

X: /YAGH!!

He unleashes the Flaming Godbird Attack on Double, which serves to destroy his bio-defenses and scorch his back to create some more.

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: Huuurgh. Kiba Slash!!

Two more drones pop out from his back as he dashes after X with his gauntlet out.

X: Oh no ya don’t.

X jumps up and easily mach-dashes over and behind him.  When he turns around, he strikes him with another Blade Buster that knocks him to the ground.

Upon landing, X looks up at the drones, which swerve down towards him rapidly and fire hellacious blasts.

X pulls out the enflamed Z-Saber and strikes them with a Magma Blade.  He turns around and looks at the Nightmare Double with fiery eyes.

X: Come on!!!!

-cut to-

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INT. ICY CAVE – Portal Hideout – DAY

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From the Capsule, Zero waits for his opening and dashes past another avalanche trap.  He drops back down to the hill slopes, where he slips into a narrow corridor.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) You’re almost there, Zero.  Cody should be in a Portal, not far up ahead.

Zero nods as he spots a Nightmare Virus and slashes it down.  Then, he drops down further into the alcove.

ZERO: I see it. It’s right here!

He dash-jumps to the very spot where Cody and Batsu once stood.  Then, out of nowhere, the portal just seemingly disappears.  

ZERO: What the-!?

ALIA: (o.s, filtered, gasping) What’s wrong?

He takes a breath and decides to sit with his back to an ice wall.

ZERO: (grunting, then sighing) It’s gone! …Well, I’ll just wait for the next window, I guess….

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) It might not come. Best to move on, while you still have the energy.

ZERO: That’s just it. I really, kinda don’t. Those boulders and the Nightmare Lava took a lot out of me. I need a minute…

ALIA: (o.s, sighing, filtered) Take your tiiiiime.

ZERO: I will…

With that he turns his coms off and closes his eyes with a smirk.

-pan to-

----------------------------------------------------------------- INT. MHHQ BUNKER – Control Area – DAY -----------------------------------------------------------------

In an instant, the screen displaying activity in the North Pole is blacked out.

ALIA: (frustrated) OUUUUGGGGGHHHHH. Whyyy did he close his Coms!?? That arrogant little jerk…! I can’t Stand Him!!!

She sighs and switches screens to X’s activity in the Central Museum.

ALIA: GREAT! Still Nothing!!

With nothing else to do, she looks at the empty lair in the Museum and hopes for the best.

ALIA: (v.o, thinking) Oh, X…. If only I could see you.

-cut to-

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INT. NIGHTMARE PORTAL – Double’s Lair - DAY

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Nightmare Double narrows his eyes and grins as X flings a wave of fireballs from the Magma Blade.  He instantly dodges it by diving up to the ceiling, sitting upside down and then diving back out towards X with his sharp Kiba Gauntlet.

As the apparition plummets down towards X, he sees a clear opening and takes it, shifting his armor into black and red.

X fires a burst of Meteor Rain, which splashes acid directly up, into Nightmare Double’s face.

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: AAAAAH! What the Hell did you do to me!!?!?

X smirks.

X: Ya don’t like that, huh??

He charges up and unleashes a whole array of Meteor Rain, which comes down hard on Nightmare Double from an angle.

Writhing in pain, Double gets struck in the back, across the chest, across the shoulders and ribs as he sways left and right, struggling to keep his balance.  His body creates an array of mechaniloid defenses for X to contend with as he falls to his knees.

X: (v.o, thinking) Not long now…

He stylishly evades the drones and buzz saws with a twisting Mach-dash as he gets directly above Double with his Meteor Rain buster out.  Upon firing he hears a -clk- noise and gasps.

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: Hmmmm!?

Immediately capitalizing on the folly, Double carves a firm gash in X’s stomach.

X: Euughh…

He falls down near Phantom, who is holding his wound and heavily panting.

The drones and buzz saws come after X and bombard him with cuts and blasts as explosions surround his body.

X: Aaaggh. Yaaaaaghhhhh. Nnnoooo!!!!

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: Hahaha. Aahhahaha. HAAHAHAAHAHAAA!!!!!!

Suddenly, multiple arrays of swift dagger throws can be heard as all of the mechaniloid drones are destroyed.

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: What!?  You, again.

-pan to the wounded warrior, Phantom-

He looks at the Nightmare with malice, while holding out a large Shuriken.

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: Who are you!!?

PHANTOM: I am the Hidden Phantom… My enemies never see me coming.

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: Hmph! Never heard of ya…

PHANTOM: That’s because those unfortunate enough to cross my path, never live to tell about it.

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: Uh huh…. It’s about time that I killed you!  Kiba Slash!!!!

He darts after him with another sharp gauntlet, but Phantom reads his attack and rides his Shuriken stylishly above and away.

The apparition turns his neck, annoyed and gets blasted in the back by a Blade Buster.

X: Your fight is with ME, Double!!

A bio-defense drone is created and immediately destroyed by a dagger.

X looks up to see Phantom lurking above in the corner, latching on to the ceiling and wall, stylishly.

PHANTOM: Finish him, X!  I’ve got the drones.

X nods with a quick smile.

X: Right!

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: eeeeeeeEEX!!!!

The two run after each other.  X sets up a guard shell and pulls out the Z-saber. Then, he makes short work of Double, swiftly slashing and gashing him across the chest, while blocking against any of Double’s attacks. Before long, he gets two critical slices at the arms and impales Double through the stomach.

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: OOOOOUUUUUUgggghhhhhhhh………

The defense drones are immediately blown apart from afar, with the help of Phantom’s daggers.

X narrows his eyes with a smirk and takes a breath.

The ghost shakes, curling his bloody arms up.

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: rrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!

He lets out a giant crescent shaped blast, which knocks X down hard.

Sizzling and unstable, the apparition saunters near the fallen hero.

PHANTOM: Come on, X.  Get up.  You HAVE HIM!!!!

The apparition looks up at him with disdain.

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: /Shut up!

He throws a plasma ball at Phantom with a bloody wrist. It brings him down to the ground.

X struggles to push himself up, panting.  The entire day’s battles and trials begin to weigh on his body again.

X: (v.o, thinking) Come on, X. You can do this…

He narrows his eyes as he looks at Nightmare Double.

X: HEY DOUBLE!

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: Hm???

X: Tell Gate that this is over!!  He can keep sending anyone he wants!  I’ll take them all down Over and Over again!!!  HE WON’T BREAK ME. YOU HEAR MEEE!!!???

The ghost’s eyes widen in fear as X’s eyes widen with fervor.  He summons up his latest Giga Attack, once again – the Double Wave Blade, which carves at the last of the Nightmare’s armor and destroys his entire frame.

NIGHTMARE DOUBLE: GHAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The entire Dimension Shatters.

-       Cut to-

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INT. CENTRAL MUSEUM – Main Lobby – NIGHT

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X and the wounded Phantom appear out of thin air, while the teleporter ring takes effect. Instantly, Phantom is sent away to safety.

X: (sweaty, panting) Hu..hu.. I did it!

ALIA: (o.s, filtered, gasping) X!!!!

His body shakes as his Blade Armor powers down to his Base Armor.

X: (smiling) Alia!!!

Out of nowhere, High Max teleports in, directly before X and knocks him down with a floating hard punch to the chest.

X: AAAUUUUggghhhhh… what the-?

HIGH MAX: We’ve warned you. Do not get in the way of our important investigation.

X writhes in pain, holding onto his bruised chest, barely able to sit up.

X: What are you investigating!? Why are you in so deep in this dead area??

HIGH MAX: I won't waste any more time. I'll delete you now!

He flies after X, who dashes back and barely stumbles to his feet.  

High Max blasts X with 4 dark shocks.

X: Agh, urgh, ough, Agh!

With his body smoking, X pulls up his buster and points it at High Max.

X: N-n-noo..

He charges up and fires an X-Buster, which completely misses his target.

High Max rushes up to X and punches him hard in the gut.

X: AAUUguughhhhhhhh….

He gags and throws up.

High Max stands tall, pulls up his arm and elbows X hard in the back of the head, forcing him down to the ground.

X: (faceplanting) MMPH!

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) EEEEEXXXXX!!!!!!!!!!

From out of nowhere, a slightly scuffed up Dynamo teleports in between X and High Max.  Holding a hand out, he looks at the horrid machine, aggravated.

DYNAMO: Not this way.. Not here…

HIGH MAX: Excuse me!???

DYNAMO: It’s my turn! Stay out of our way!!

He bends down and grabs the unconscious X.

HIGH MAX: NO. This one’s Mine now..!

DYNAMO: (grinning, laughing) Hmhmhm… Later!

Just like that, Dynamo teleports away with X’s body.

HIGH MAX: (frustrated, agitated)

HRRM!!!???

-pan to-

----------------------------------------------------------------- INT. MHHQ BUNKER – Control Area – DAY -----------------------------------------------------------------

Alia looks at her screen, confused and worried.

ALIA: Oh NO! What the Hell did I just see?  /Oh!

Before she can react, she finds that X has been teleported to the North Pole Area, in the same spot as Zero.

She /gasps.

-pan to-

----------------------------------------------------------------- INT. ICY CAVE – Portal Hideout - DAY -----------------------------------------------------------------

Once teleported, Dynamo grabs X’s carcass, opens up a portal with his device, and tosses him inside like a rag doll.  

DYNAMO: In ya go….

ZERO: Huuh!??

Zero stirs awake at the sight of this and gets to his feet, but he is too late.

DYNAMO: Whoopsieeee. Too slow!  

ZERO: DYNAMO!  What are you doing with-

The Nightmare Portal fully dissipates again, after Dynamo teleports inside.

ZERO: (finishing, thwarted) X…

He turns his coms back on in a panic.

ZERO: (shocked, scared) Uhh, Alia did you catch any of that??

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) No thanks to you, ya piece of work!

ZERO: Huh!!?

ALIA: (o.s, upset, filtered) Don’t close coms on me unless absolutely necessary! It shuts off my video feed and then I can’t help you at all…

ZERO: Hmph…. Well maybe you should be less annoying, then…

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) OURGH! I Can’t stand you!!

SIGNAS: (o.s, filtered) That’s enough. Both of you….

-pan to-

----------------------------------------------------------------- MMHQ BUNKER – Control Area - DAY -----------------------------------------------------------------

From his Central Console, Signas finally breaks his silence.

SIGNAS: This is beyond Unprofessional. Both of you are letting the stress get to you, so let’s just stick to the facts, shall we?  ..X was bombarded in a sneak attack by High Max in the Central Museum after dealing with.. whatever he faced.

ZERO: (filtered) Oh noooo.

SIGNAS: Strange as it seems, I believe Dynamo’s actions were something of a mercy to X…

ZERO & ALIA: (filtered) Huh???

SIGNAS: Remember that Dynamo is a Mercenary. He interrupted High Max when he was winning, then quickly tossed X in the portal nearest, you.  If that doesn’t say that he’s hedging his bets, I don’t know what does.

ZERO: (filtered) …Interesting.  So are you saying that Dynamo isn’t a threat?

SIGNAS: It’s hard to tell. He’s definitely playing the odds against both sides… But if nothing else, he’s a lot safer with Dynamo than he is with High Max right now…

ZERO: (filtered) Man…

ALIA: Poor X…

-cut to-

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INT. NIGHTMARE PORTAL – North Pole Area - DAY

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On the flat terrain of a very similar looking Ice Cave, X is laid out on the frozen ground. Dynamo teleports, just ahead of him and looks down at his sorry hide.

DYNAMO: Go ahead and use your Sub-tank, X.  I’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready…

He kneels down and slaps X in the cheek twice. Then, he pinches his nose only to see X scrunch up his face and gasp for some air in his sleep.

DYNAMO: Hehe.. so cute…

He gets up and dashes far ahead.

-cut to-

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INT. ICY CAVE – Hideout - DAY

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Zero huddles over in the hideout, while bickering on his coms.

ZERO: Hmph… I should’ve been there. He should be facing Me, instead!

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Yep! And I could’ve warned you that the Portal was opening!!

ZERO: I Knoooow! I screwed up, okay???

SIGNAS: (o.s, filtered) Enough!  It’s too late now.  I need you to focus…. Batsu still needs your help and we need to learn the Investigator’s motives for allowing this to happen!  You have a Mission to accomplish.  Finish it, Zero.

ZERO: …Y-Yes, sir!

-pan to-

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INT. ICY CAVE – Dangerous Slopes - DAY

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Snapping out of it, Zero dash-jumps out of the alcove and runs back to the dangerous slopes.  He contends with an upward slope as best as possible, attempting to dodge the large ice boulders and Nightmare Lava once again.

ZERO: /igh..

He gets hurt as he makes his way to a short ladder and climbs down.  The ice slope slides him right down, near an icy spike trap.  He dash-hops over it, while giant boulders threaten to crush him.  He quickly uses another ladder to drop down further.

As he drops down, the Nightmare Lava balls fall near him and scorch the front and back of his torso, simultaneously.

ZERO: Aaaaaagh! This Nightmare is the Worst!!

When he lands, the ice almost takes him to an icy spiked trap against the wall behind him, but he dashes ahead uphill, against all odds.  Cutting down two Wolfoids along the way, Zero successfully dashes away from the slopes and makes it towards his next obstacle – a giant ditch.

-pan to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. ICY CAVE – Ditch Traps - DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Zero drops down into the ditch, only to find a Reploid curled up in the fetal position.

ZERO: Hey, Man. Are you okay??

The weak, frozen reploid looks up at Zero in fear and cowers.

BATSU: Z-Zero!! No!

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Ugh, didn’t Anyone read the Memo!?  It’s okay, Batsu.  Zero isn’t the Nightmare. He’s here to help you.

BATSU: But he… almost killed us all…

Zero smirks.

ZERO: Heh…. Come on, kid.  I’ll catch you up later. Ya did good here.

He helps the baffled rookie, up.

BATSU: W-WAIT! What about C-C-Cody…? Is h-h-h-he alr-r-right???

ZERO: (nodding, lying) X has got it taken care of.  (v.o, thinking) I hope…

With that, he gives the Rookie Hunter a teleporter ring and sends him home.

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. NIGHTMARE PORTAL – North Pole Area - DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

X gradually shivers out of a sleeping state, feeling weak and frozen to the core.  He shuffles through his chest cavity until he grabs hold of his sub-tank and activates it.  With a jolt of power, he spasms and sits up, feeling more awake and alive.  He quickly rubs his arms for heat as he rocks back and forth, attempting to get his bearings.

X: Hm…Was I.. thrown off course? How’d I get here?? Alia! Tell me where I am...

He presses an ear to his coms and hears static.

X: ...The communication is out?

Upon hearing his own hollow echoes in the cave, X nods.

X: The Nightmare Dimension, I should’ve known.  But how… Who brought me here?

X gets up and runs on. An icy slope immediately rushes him downhill, into a Wolfoid that fires a grenade at him from it’s back.

X: Agh!

Barreling into the Wolfoid, he incidentally tackles it further down the slope and bashes into the next one.  When he sees a spike-trap amidst the slope, he quickly dash-jumps and runs down the rest of the ramp until he makes it to some broken icy pillars.

X: Daaaamn!

He instinctively hops through all of the pillars while hot lava balls unnaturally rain down on him.

X: Agghh! What the Hell???

He covers his head as he runs through the slope, barely jumps past another spike trap and catches a rope at the near-end of the clearing.

X: Man!!!  There’s no time to think!!

He takes a short breath while lowering himself down.  Upon turning around, he hears a familiar voice from a narrow alcove.

?????: X….. Is that you?

X squints upon the narrow alcove and jumps inside.  At the far-end of the tunnel, beyond a long bed of spikes, he can see a green and white Wolfoid with an original Maverick Hunter logo etched on the side of his collar.

X: …Frostbite…?

The weary wolf smiles and lets out a friendly bark.

X: (shocked) It IS you!  What are you doing here???

X walks over towards him, before the bed of spikes.

FROSTBITE: Honestly? Not much… I’m stuck.

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. ICY CAVE – Ditch Traps – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Zero attempts to kick-jump up the slippery wall but falls on his behind yet again.

ZERO: Damn it! That rescue was all well and good, but… how the Hell am I supposed to get out of here???

Just then, a big block of ice seemingly materializes from the ceiling and drops down to crush him.

ZERO: Wait a minute, what’s this!?  I think I see… Ice.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered, confused) Ice???

ZERO: Yeah. A big, chunky block is coming right for me.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Hmm… It must be the Nightmare.  Although we can't see any Nightmare Ice from the Hunter Base, I wonder if there is a way you can take advantage of this situation.

ZERO: Yeah, I think so!

When the ice touches down, Zero dodges, then jumps on top of the block.  He looks up, eagerly awaiting for the next one to fall on him.  It does so, paired with a Wolfoid for good measure.

ZERO: Hmph!

He attacks it mercilessly and lands on top of the falling block of ice.

Soon, another one peers out above him.  He carefully double jumps onto it, then takes another careful double-jump into a 2nd ditch.

ZERO: Aw man…. Not again…

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. NIGHTMARE PORTAL – Spiky Alcove – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

X stands tall and transforms into his Blade Armor.

X: (brave) Don’t worry, I’m gonna get you out.

The rest of his armor shifts into earth tones, as he charges up and puts his buster out.

X: yyy/Yah!

At once, he forms a giant boulder and grabs hold of it, the moment it shoots out.  The boulder nearly makes it all the way to Frostbite. When it crashes against the spikes, X simply lets his mach-dash take him the rest of the way.

FROSTBITE: Whooooa, X… you made it! I can’t believe it.  I’ve been stuck here for weeks.

X: Jeez, I’m so sorry… I wish I’d known.  I didn’t even know you survived..

FROSTBITE: (nodding, regretful) When the Colony crashed and our base was destroyed, I ran for it.  I didn’t know who was alive anymore, or who to trust..  It was just easier to start over on my own.  I’m so sorry, X.

X: So you came to the North Pole… Of course.  It’s okay..  Let me guess.  You fell into this ditch with a lot of momentum and a lot of bad luck??

FROSTBITE: Heheh.. pretty much…

X: Let’s go.  We’re getting outta here!

X charges up once again and points his buster, while tucking his former comrade underneath his left arm.

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. ICY CAVE – Ice Base Trap - DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

When Zero double-jumps out of a 2nd ditch, he runs ahead to the end of the tunnel, where he appears to have made it to the outer wall of a base.

ZERO: Alia, I think I’m getting close.

He looks up and climbs a ladder.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) That’s correct.  The entrance to his base should be further up ahead.  Watch out for any hidden obstacles!

As she warns him, a line of ice blocks drops down to him with only one opening to advance.

ZERO: Shit! Are you sure you can’t see this??

He jumps out of the way as the line solidifies into a layer of ice.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) No, what’s happening.

ZERO: More Ice Traps!!

Another line falls down towards Zero’s position with the opening at the other end of the narrow tunnel.

The lines keep on coming at faster frequencies, only for Zero to see some helpless Wolfoids, stuck within the dugouts of the walls ahead.

ZERO: (wide-eyed) Oh my God!

He instinctively pulls out 4 teleporter rings and wraps them around his wrist.  When one layer solidifies, he dashes into the dugout to his left.

ZERO: (shouting) EVERYONE, GRAB MY ARM!!!

Upon touch, the 1st Wolfoid is sent away as the ring passes from Zero’s wrist to the Reploid’s.

Zero dashes into a narrow opening and jumps just in time for the next line to solidify.

He double-jumps up to the next dugout on his right, saving a 2nd Wolfoid.

With a little time before the lines catch up to him, Zero looks up and plans his next move.

As the line solidifies at his level, he quickly dashes out, double jumps through the clearing, saves the 3rd on his left, dashes back out and rushes to save the 4th on his right.

Seeing the ice ahead of him, it solidifies just after he jumps out.

ZERO: PHOOOOOW!  Damn that’s a Rush!!!

Having saved all of the Wolfoids, Zero has a pleased smile on his face, knowing he did the right thing.  

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) That was really brave and heroic, Zero…. Thank you.

The rest of the obstacle is a breeze to him as he freely double-jumps amongst the lines and they feel more spaced out once again.  

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) I’m beginning to see why X trusts you…

ZERO: Heh.  Well, good. We’re on the same Team after all…

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Don’t ruin it.

Zero just smirks at that one.

-cut to-

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

INT. NIGHTMARE PORTAL – Narrow Alcove Gateway – DAY

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Having made it to the other side, X and Frostbite jump to the rope and then dash-jump beyond another spike trap to the other side where they make it to a gate.

When they enter the first one, X spots Cody sitting patiently against the wall.

X: Cody! You’re alive!!

CODY:

Uh, yeah…. I’ve been stuck here for a while.  Then this big guy said he’d let me out if I fought him, but I’m not stupid enough to engage in battle!!!

X tilts his head, relieved and awestruck.

X: Good! You and Frostbite stay here and let me handle this, okay?

CODY:

Yeah!

FROSTBITE: Sure thing…

The two watch X enter the 2nd gate and see it close behind him.

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. ICE BASE – Gateway - DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Before long, Zero finally makes it to the top and enters the gateway. As the 1st shutter closes, Zero feels a dark weight in his chest.

ZERO: I feel it... This must be the investigator!

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) The investigator in this area is Blizzard Wolfang. Set up your weapons in case you fight...

Zero nods, takes a breath and walks on.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) ......... Zero, actually I-

ZERO: (anticipating) Forget about the past.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered, gasping) You know??

ZERO: I read the file...

ALIA: (o.s, filtered, nervous) Back when we worked together, Wolfang was-

ZERO: Now he is a Nightmare Investigator. We have to fight him.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Yeah, right... Good luck, Zero.

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. NIGHTMARE PORTAL – Dynamo’s Lair - DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

From the icy lair, X looks on at Dynamo and flinches, with a slight face-tick.

DYNAMO: Oh, Heeey. Long time no see! How are you doing?

X: You again! …Why’d you bring me here!?

DYNAMO: I'm sorry if I made you worry. But you know what they say, "Discretion is the better part of valor."  I figured any time away from that big lug would benefit the both of us, so… you’re welcome!

X: Hmph… What do you want, Dynamo?

DYNAMO: Nightmare Souls. They do a body good... So, have you solved the mystery of the Nightmare?

X:   That’s none of your business! Why don’t you hurry and get out of here? You are good at running away, aren't you?

DYNAMO: Awww, don’t be like that Maaan. Why don't we talk a little longer? Say... Let's see who has obtained more Nightmare Souls!

Dynamo powers up, emitting a new mysterious aura of purple around his body.

X: (sighing, muttering) Here we go again…

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. ICE BASE – Blizzard Wolfang’s Lair – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

When the shutter closes behind Zero, he looks on at Blizzard Wolfang, who is looming in the darkness.

ZERO: Blizzard Wolfang, nice to see you...

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: Zero! I heard that you returned.

ZERO: I won't die so easily.

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: Hmph… Neither will I…

The two of them stare each other down, unwavering.

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: Please don't think badly of me, Zero. I just won't disobey Gate. That’s all.

ZERO: Oh don’t worry… None of this is personal

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: I know I must pay for my past sins. Besides I have a new mission, now.

ZERO: Oh yeah? And what would that be? Preserving the Nightmare at all costs!!?

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: More like Protecting the North Pole from Nightmares like you!

ZERO: I’m NOT THE NIGHTMARE!!

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: Same Difference! You know what I mean. Let's fight!

ZERO: Then, I have no choice… You will lose!

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. NIGHTMARE PORTAL – Dynamo’s Lair – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Dynamo grins as he throws five swift double-sided blades at X.

X’s eyes bulge as he quickly gets hit by two, dashes to the side, but then gets struck by the 4th and 5th blades.

X: Agh! Hey!!

X points his buster and charges up, but suddenly all 5 spinning blades retract and strike X in the back, like a boomerang.

X: Kk-aaauuuugghhhH!!!!!

DYNAMO: Heheh.. Don’t give me that. I know you’ve fully recharged, bro.

From a crouched position, X looks up at him and grits his teeth.  Shifting into shades of purple, X points his buster and shoots a powerful Ray Arrow at Dynamo.

DYNAMO: Agh..

The attack surprises him and knocks him back a step.  Then he holds a glowing black fist.

DYNAMO: Two can play at that game…

He smashes a fist down and smothers X with his Dark Giga Attack.

X: GHAAAA……

Forced to the ground, he takes the blast while charging up.

DYNAMO: Gotcha!!!

He jumps after X, who gets up and puts his hands out to his sides.

X: Not yet!

He unleashes the Charged Ray Arrow, which creates an upward stream of light similar to Zero and Dynamo’s Giga Attack.  It /strikes him directly from below with a hard blow.

DYNAMO: /Whaaaaa!!!????

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. ICE BASE – Blizzard Wolfang’s Lair - DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: (howling) AHOOOOOO!!!!!!

The room lights up as Blizzard Wolfang runs after Zero.

ZERO: Whoa..

He tries to dash-jump out of the way, but Blizzard Wolfang smacks him to the floor with sharp claws.

ZERO: Agh..

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: Take this, Maverick!!

He claws at Zero’s chest with both hands four times, before Zero shoves a Z-Buster under his chin and blasts him off to the side.

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: (yelping) Hrr..!

ZERO: You’ve got it wrong. You all do.  Just because I’m Awake doesn’t mean I’m Evil!!

The Investigator sits upright and charges up.

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: Not from where I’m sitting…

His mouth forms a burst of ice and shoots it at Zero, who gets knocked down from the attack.

ZERO: Koough…

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. NIGHTMARE PORTAL – Dynamo’s Lair - DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Dynamo gets up from the recent attack and shakes it off, cricking his neck with a smile.

DYNAMO: Very clever attack, but I’m not here to play games… I am here for the Nightmares. So, why don’t you do me a favor and hand those over, already?

X: Absolutely not.

X jumps and freezes in mid-air, then kicks Dynamo in the head.  Dynamo blocks it, but before he can strike back, X mach-dashes away.

DYNAMO: Hmph…. You’ve gotten better, I see.  I've been gathering these Nightmare Souls, thinking that I might be able to enhance my powers, but so have you... I guess that puts us on an even keel after all…

X: Maybe…

He fires his enhanced level 1 shots at Dynamo, who easily spins his sabers to knock all of them back.  Then, he chucks 5 more blades at him.

More aware this time, X jumps and mach-dashes past the first two.  The next two get near him, but he drops down in the opening.  A fifth one gets close, but X ducks at the last moment.

DYNAMO: Haaah!!!!

He rushes with a quick dash into X, knees him in the stomach, then flips him onto his back with two hands pressed against the back of his neck.

X: Khauh!

Dynamo points a buster at X’s head.

DYNAMO: I’m not kidding. Give me all the DNA Souls you have gathered!

He shifts into red and orange.

X: NO!

X waves his Magma Blade at Dynamo from the ground.  The fiery blade and fireballs which emit from the swipe, affect Dynamo greatly.

DYNAMO: Auuughh!!!!

He puts his arms up as his chest gets scorched.  He quickly pats himself off as X charges up to unleash a Flaming Godbird Rush.

Suddenly a wave of phoenixes fly into Dynamo and thrash against his burning body.

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. ICE BASE – Blizzard Wolfang’s Lair – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Blizzard Wolfang ramps up his momentum as he runs from wall to wall at a swift pace, with the icy ground aiding his every move.  He long-jumps across the walls and continuously shoots his Ice Bursts at Zero, who gets pummeled left and right.

ZERO: That’s it!

He takes out his Z-Saber and creates a Shoenzan firewall to crush the next ice attack.  Then, he dashes into Blizzard Wolfang and cuts him with a fiery blade.

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: (writhing) AHHHH!!!

He tries to run after Zero, but he just does it again, burning him at the side.

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: OHHHH!!!!

He tries one more time and once again, Zero strikes him right in the chest with the Shoenzan.

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: EEGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

The Wolf Investigator cowers to the corner and grits his teeth.

ZERO: I didn’t wanna do that so soon, but you leave me no choice…

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: …grrrrrrrrrrrrrr…

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. NIGHTMARE PORTAL – Dynamo’s Lair – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Burnt and bleeding, Dynamo loses his smile and makes a scowl.

DYNAMO: Damn it, X. I will get the Souls that you collected!

He rushes after X with a long-jump.  X swipes a burning blade, but Dynamo parries with two of his own blades and spin kicks X in the head.  The attack spins X around.  Dynamo capitalizes and plants a big boot against his back.

X falls down to the slippery ice, where Dynamo doubles down with another Dark Giga Attack straight against his back.

X: AAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!

DYNAMO: Give it up, Mega Man... All of this ends when you just give me those souls.

X: (grunting, charging up) Rrgghh… aaaghhhh…..

Dynamo presses X’s head against the ice while he notices a shift in color from red to pink.

DYNAMO: (v.o, thinking) What’s he up to?

Suddenly 4 clam shells appear from all 4 corners of the room.

DYNAMO: Huh???

Completely locked in their sights, the clam shells fire cross-X shots striking at his front and back equally and following him as he wavers around the room.

DYNAMO: Agh! Ogh! Ohh.. DAMN IT!!!!

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. ICE CAVE – Blizzard Wolfang’s Lair – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: (aggravated) Don’t think you’ve won, Maverick… I’m not done yet!

He high-jumps to the ceiling and latches on to the ice like a ninja.  Without warning, he blasts Zero with 4 rapid Ice Bursts, which surprise him and knock him back down.

ZERO: Aaaagh… /Huh?

Suddenly the whole room /flashes white, blinding Zero for a second.

Blizzard Wolfang dashes from the ceiling and a whole set of spiked icicles crash down on and around him, cutting him at the shoulders, back, legs and feet.

ZERO: Guaaaaahhhh… What the Hell??

Blizzard Wolfang grins and allows himself a light chuckle.

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. NIGHTMARE PORTAL – Dynamo’s Lair – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

He pounds another fist of dark light against the ground, but it completely misses X.  

A charge shot strikes Dynamo in the back from a different corner in the room.

DYNAMO: Hooh…

Although affected, he’s relieved to see X panting in his blue and white look again.

DYNAMO: Hmph… You just keep pulling them out of the woodwork, don’t you?

X: Enough Dynamo…. Let’s just end this.

DYNAMO: Awww, what’s wrong.  You had enough already, sweety?

X narrows his eyes.

X: We’re wasting time.  If you’re not gonna help me, then just get out of the way.

DYNAMO: Oh, but don’t you see?  I already did help you.  I saved you from getting pummeled by that sorry sack, High Max.  So now you owe me.  I’ll take my payment in Nightmare Souls please.

X shakes his head.

X: What was all that about, anyway…?  You didn’t have to do that.  He caught me off guard.  You could’ve had what you wanted.

DYNAMO: Oh please… and spoil all the fun in catching you, myself?  Hardly!

Raising his eyebrows, X doesn’t know what to think.

X: …Did you bring me here just to tease me? Just leave, NOW!

X shifts into brown and juts out a large boulder from his buster, which breaks into Dynamo’s side.

DYNAMO: Agh!  HAHA.  All hard work and no play makes X go crazy! Hee hee hee!

X: Don’t make me do it, Dynamo!

X dashes after Dynamo and punches him, but Dynamo catches it and slides a blade across his stomach with his other arm.

DYNAMO: (grinning) Do what, exactly?

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. ICE BASE – Blizzard Wolfang’s Lair – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

From the ceiling, Blizzard Wolfang throws continuous shards of ice fangs at Zero, which carve away at his back, head and shoulders.

Enraged, Zero uses his Rekkoha Giga Attack as Blizzard Wolfang dashes towards him from the ceiling unaffected.

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: That won’t work on me!

ZERO: Huh??? /igghhh… /GAH!

He /claws him hard in the chest with two paws, flips on his back and /dropkicks Zero against the wall.

Zero attempts to retreat to a more open space to regain his footing, but Blizzard Wolfang uses the Nightmare to enhance his own speed.

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: Don’t run.  We’re not done!

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. NIGHTMARE PORTAL – Dynamo’s Lair - DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Bleeding again, X holds his stomach and puts a desperate hand inside his chest cavity.

DYNAMO: Looking for another Sub-tank?  I don’t think so, Amigo.  I already checked.  You’re fresh out… so now you’re gonna listen to me.

X looks up at Dynamo, hurt and afraid.

DYNAMO: It took hours for me to get here. I won't go back empty-handed. I've been gathering Nightmare Souls at the risk of my life. I've been dying to become stronger... All for this moment.  So now it’s time for You to help Me end this Nightmare I created.  

X: …what was that…?

DYNAMO: Hm?

X: (enraged) Dynamo! You did it, again!!

DYNAMO: What??

X: You’ve Underestimated me for THE LAST TIME!!!

From out of nowhere, X’s armor shifts into black and red as he unleashes a damaging rain glob underneath his belly.

DYNAMO: Ghaaaaah.  How!??  You were out!!

He cowers and jumps far away.

X: You checked all my weapon and energy levels like a creep, but you never checked to see that I had a Weapon Tank!  

X chases after him and shoots another acid glob at his back.

DYNAMO: Ghooaaawwww!!!!!

X: And now you’re gonna tell me EVERYTHING!!

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. ICE BASE – Blizzard Wolfang’s Lair – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Blizzard Wolfang Nightmare dashes to Zero’s postion with a claw out and a charged mouth, ready.

Zero narrows his eyes and creates a Guard Shell with his Saber out.  With them, he is able to effectively block his claw and ice attacks and give him a warning slash.

ZERO: Cut it out!

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: Oh no. I don’t think so…. Now that I’m winning, suddenly it’s a problem?

He rushes Zero into the corner, who retaliates by crouching and spinning into a set of Ensuizan slashes.  His saber cuts at Blizzard Wolfang’s chest, stomach, arms and legs, before Wolfang finally backs off.

ZERO: I mean it.  You were a good person, once.  Let’s consider a truce!

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: I still am… but I would never align myself with the likes of you.  Even if you are not the Nightmare, you certainly created it.  And for Gate’s sake, that means that I must end you!!

ZERO: (guilty, frustrated) Aaarrgh, damn it Fang. You don’t have to die today!

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: Oh please…. We both know you want to kill me.  Deep down we all want the same thing…. Power!

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. NIGHTMARE PORTAL – Dynamo’s Lair – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

X crushes Dynamo with another devastating blow to the stomach with a heavy glob of Meteor Rain.

X: (infuriated) You mean to tell me that YOU did this!!??

Dynamo looks at X, on his knees with regret.

DYNAMO: I caused the Colony to fall last month…. It was my fault.  I got us all in this mess…

X: YOU FOOL! WHY??

With another hard glob of rain, Dynamo gets shaken so bad that a Nightmare Soul falls out of his body and absorbs itself into X.  

DYNAMO: Oh COME ONNN!!!!!

He retreats to the other side of the room.

X: DID YOU THINK IT WOULD BE FUN!!? WHAT PART OF ANY OF THIS HAS BEEN FUN!!!!??

He Mach-dashes over and gets him again, effectively making him lose another powerful Nightmare Soul.

DYNAMO: Oh, give me a break...

X: GIVE YOU A BREAK!?  OH, I’LL BREAK SOMETHING ALRIGHT…

X charges up and unleashes a shower of Meteor Rain to fall on top of Dynamo.  Immediately a series of Nightmare Souls leave his body and hover into X.

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. ICE BASE – Blizzard Wolfang’s Lair – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Blizzard Wolfang high-jumps to the ceiling and dashes towards the middle of the room, so he can shoot rapid-icebursts at him from a 45 degree angle again.

Zero shakes his head and grits his teeth.

ZERO: You’re wrong, Wolfang!!  This is what too much Power gets you!

Suddenly Zero enflames his Saber and uppercuts him with a powerful Ryuenjin.

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: WHAAAOOOO!!!!!!

The burning wolfoid falls to the ground while Zero capitalizes with a downward, burning Quake Blazer.  He stakes the blade right through his heart, which paralyzes him.

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: NNUUUUUUGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

ZERO: No more…

He points his Z-Buster at Blizzard Wolfang and eliminates him with a dark spiral shot.

BLIZZARD WOLFANG: WAIT-

He explodes, before he can reconsider his life choices.

ZERO: TOO LATE!  God.. Damn it…

He turns his head and closes his eyes with regret as a green nightmare soul lurks out of Blizzard Wolfang’s carcass and enters Zero’s chest cavity.  He feels a dark wave of energy re-enter his veins and washes over with a wave of anguish.  With a clenched fist, he keeps it all down.

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. NIGHTMARE PORTAL – Dynamo’s Lair – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

DYNAMO: (scared) GGGAAAAAAAAIIIIGGGHH, I-…still can't win!!!!!!!!!!!

The Nightmare Souls insert themselves into X’s body.

X: Even now, you’re not capable of remorse…. All you can think about is your next escape.  It’s sad, really…

DYNAMO: (scared, posturing)

I’m… not up to defeating you... You are way too strong right now...

X: I Don’t care if this KILLS YOU!!  YOU DESERVE IT!!!

X uses another Charged Meteor Rain. He watches as Dynamo gets beaten and battered to a bloody pulp. His circuits sizzle and his armor slowly chips away.

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. ICE BASE – Fallen Fang’s Lair – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

In the silent, cold, calm of the base, suddenly Zero receives a com-link from Alia.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Blizzard Wolfang... An ex-investigator of the North Pole area. One night, during the Great Repliforce War, his team members investigated Frost Walrus’ base of operations where they were attacked by Mavericks!

ZERO:

(interested) Huh???

-FLASH-

————————————————————————– EXT. NORTH POLE – White Forest – NIGHT ————————————————————————–

Three Knot Berets shoot at 2 Researchers, while an E-AT Yeti runs after Blizzard

-flash-

In a fit of anger, he forms a blade of ice around his hands.  Then, he wildly attacks the E-AT.  As shards of ice break everywhere, he tears open the yeti’s torso. Then, he ravages the three Knot Berets who stand frozen with fear.  

ALIA: (v.o, narrating)

Although Wolfang was able to defeat them, his team was annihilated... My former colleagues at the Research Lab resented this.

-FLASH-

————————————————————————– INT. LAYE LABS – Back Room – DAY ————————————————————————–

ALIA: (v.o, narrating)

At this point a little coup of Researchers who opposed Gate had developed.

In a back room Dr. Laye is meeting with Malek and Zach. Alia enters the room with an exhausted look on her face as she closes the door behind her.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) They schemed to dispose of Wolfang and take advantage of the incident, making it look like an accident… Wolfang was thrown into the cold sea... ... I did it! But I was coerced into doing it...

ZERO: (v.o, shocked) Alia…

ZACH: He’s a Wolf, Alia…  And wolves can’t be trusted!  …AND he was built by the same guy who created Bit and Byte..  That was a Nightmare!

DR. LAYE: Hmph.  Agreed.  We’re going to have to do something about him. …I’ve had it with Gate and his creations.  He’s out of chances.  We will have to eliminate the Wolf and you’re going to be the one to do it.

ALIA: (horrified, scared) What!?  M-me!? Why??

DR. LAYE: Because Gate won’t do it and Wolfang trusts you the most.  He would suspect something from us.

ALIA: I can’t. I could never…  He didn’t do anything wrong.

DR. LAYE: Now Alia. We brought you into the inner circle.  This is your career..  You wouldn’t want to disappoint me now, would you…?

ALIA: (v.o, narrating) Oh God, it was horrible!!

-a grainy image of an unsuspecting Wolfang getting ejected from an aircraft into the arctic sea appears-

-grainy images of Alia tumbling crashing, ejecting and tumbling down a mountain appear-

-a grainy image of her in the hospital being visited by Gate appears-

ALIA: This was the last straw for Gate…. He suspected something was off and figured out it was me.  I think this was his turning point…. I really do!!

ZERO: (o.s, reacting) Oh man..!

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) I’ll never forget that conversation…

-FLASH-

——————————————————————————– INT.  ABEL CITY GENERAL HOSPITAL – Alia’s Room – NIGHT ——————————————————————————–

Gate looks at the bed-ridden Alia, disappointed. GATE: …Ya know..  Yammark was always worried that our co-workers couldn’t be trusted.  I just never would’ve believed that that would include you.  After all we’ve been through.

ALIA: I didn’t- ..You don’t get it…

GATE: Oh, I get it completely.  Lana never liked me, but she saw something in you and Victor.  She made you a part of her inner circle.  And you, my little overachiever, just wanted to get ahead.  So of course, you conformed to her wishes.

ALIA: (appalled) Gate!

GATE: (upset, hurt) NO!!!  One of them sabotaged Yammark’s jets. Then, they made Mijinion’s Mech-Test look like an accident.  I don’t know WHO killed Blaze in his cell…  But then YOU killed Blizzard Wolfang!!? God damn it.  You, Alia?  YOU!???

ALIA: I Know, I Failed you..  but I’m Telling you now!!!  I know it was wrong…  Pleeeease.  Let’s make this right again.  Together…  We can rebuild them!!

GATE: (appalled) No…  Nothing you say or do can ever make this right!  You can rot in this Hospital for all I care…

ALIA: (hurt) Gate..!  

GATE: Enjoy your Inner Circle, sellout.  You all deserve each other!

He starts to walk out of the room.

ALIA: Waait!!

GATE: (ignoring) I won’t be in the office by the time you get back.

ALIA: /PLEEASE, don’t do this!!!  

He stops at the door at the /sound of her voice, closing his eyes hard as he leans against the doorframe.  He clenches his fists and remains strong.

ALIA: (v.o, narrating) Then, he said…

ALIA/GATE: You should have thought about that…  Before you killed my best friend.  …I’ll get revenge on all you low reploids who couldn’t appreciate my ability!

He walks out of the room, leaving her to sit alone with her thoughts.

-FLASH-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. ICE BASE – Fallen Fang’s Lair – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Zero is awestruck by her story as he listens to his com-link intently.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Please don’t tell X…. If he found out, I don’t think he’d ever be able to forgive me…

ZERO: (nodding) It’s alright… Your secret is safe with me.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered, whispering) Oh thank you, Zero… Thank you…

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. NIGHTMARE PORTAL – Dynamo’s Lair - DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

After all the damage is done, Dynamo lies there, helpless on the ground – bleeding, burnt and corroded down to the circuits.  The near-dead Dynamo looks at X and forces a broken smile.

DYNAMO: (coughing) …C-Consider yourself… lucky… that I’ve changed my mind.

He toils to pull out a device and unlock the gate behind him.  Immediately, Cody and Frostbite run in to see X standing over the defeated Dynamo.

DYNAMO: Just do me a favor…. Once this is all over and you get rid of the Nightmare completely, give me a fair fight, okay…?

X gives Dynamo a firm and narrow stare.

X: Get us out of here, before I kill you.  The end result will be just the same…

X pulls out his buster and charges up.

DYNAMO: (wide-eyed, panicked) Challenge accepted! Bye, X!!

With the press of a button, the entire Dimension shatters around them and everyone is force-teleported to the proper Dimension.

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

INT. ICE BASE – Fallen Fang’s Lair - DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------

From the coms, Alia tries to lighten up the mood.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) …but Hey! You got the Ice Burst and can learn Hydroga, now!

ZERO: Hm..? What’s that?

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) You can High-Jump like never-before and create his ice-fangs with your Saber! 

ZERO: Oh…

Just then, X, Frostbite, Cody and an almost dead Dynamo fall into the room from a destroyed portal.

ZERO: Huuuh?

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) X! Oh my God, I’m so glad you’re okay!! You rescued Cody and is that.. Frostbite!!?

X: (smiling) Yep!  Mission Accomplished.  Let’s go home!!

ZERO: What about Dynamo?  Should we bring him in?

X: No…. Leave him here with his demons.  He’s got a lot to think about.

With narrow eyes and a firm grimace, X teleports away.  Frostbite and Cody follow suit.

Zero takes a deep breath and sighs.  Then, he teleports away too.

-Freezeframe. Grainy Effect-

SIGNAS: (v.o, narrating) X has gone through another ordeal, while Zero has successfully contained the Nightmare in the North Pole.  Peace is gradually being restored to the World.  But at what cost to our Heroes…?  

-Fade to Black-

[pearlplusau]

Chapter 5, The Insertion part 2

Beta kindergarten, dawn

The sky transitioned from orange to baby blue, the shadows of the desert sand stretched along the very few boulders, dark shadows manifested at the base of the giant stone, looking as if it was dipped in a pool. A pink gem walked past the scenery.

‘It's a new day, and a chance to prove myself!’ Coral trudged along the desert into the barren land where Quartz soldiers were once made. Her lance, her greatest and only weapon on her right hand, the pink ribbon still intact since it was given by the blacksmith, but it's slowly losing its grip, hanging on to the handle with a thin line of hope.

As she reaches The Kindergarten, she formulates a plan that is simple, safe, but also informative to what the Crystal Gems need to know.

‘Ok, I'm just gonna sneak around and get some information like who are they, why are they here, what's their purpose, and get to know if it's a threat to the earth.’ She thought to herself. ‘No one needs to get hurt, no one needs to be poofed and no one needs to get shattered.’

A motto while she and the gems were in war, Rose always reminded the Crystal Gems that no one needs to get shattered, her explanation was simple, ‘Shattering isn’t right, even if they’re Homeworld gems, we’re better than them, we’re better than the diamonds, we’ll win this battle with our love for the planet, with our love for freedom, with our love of each other!’

Everytime before they all went out for battle, her brief speech always filled us with hope, even if it's a “No shattering” policy, it was her way and she stuck with it all the way.

But for now, Coral just needs to sneak around and avoid getting caught.

-

One of the yellow ships landed in the outer section of the kindergarten, Coral hid behind a wall and saw a team of peridots coming out of the ship in a single file and stood in the shape of a diamond. Another gem, a dark green figure was on the ship’s deck, giving out orders and commands.

‘-as I was saying, your mission for now is to re-familiarize yourself with the current kindergarten and report for any anomalies, as for team LJ504, you are to follow me and assist the ingenious one with the final stage of the project, tardiness and mistakes will not be entertained lightly. Now get to your stations!’ The commander ordered.

The peridots dispatched into groups and went to their stations. Fortunately for Coral, they all went into the kindergarten and didn’t notice her but they all disappeared in the confusing maze.

‘Hmmmmm….’ there wasn’t much difference between the 5 routes, so she just winged it and went into the first route.

As she walked down the path, she could spot a team of peridots in front, 5 in total, they were all holding an orb on their palms that scans the area with yellow-greenish light, going through the grounds and walls as the orbs showcased data and intel running through like overflowing tea.

The team made the scanning very thorough, they scanned every hole on the walls, every corner, every speck of sand, but with obvious efficiency, as two Peridots were up in the misshapen holes while the others were on the ground.

Amongst the peridots, one of them sighed, returned the orb into the gem on her cheek and questioned aloud, ‘Can anyone remind me WHY we’re back on this miserable planet? In the middle of creating a new weapon that could potentially change the solar systems??’

Coral noticed the peridots were about her height, maybe an inch taller than her, with slender builds and an outfit that looks like a box as the torse, she didn’t noticed it before but this group of peridots have the same skin tone, their inconsistent shapes of hair is the only feature that could be distinguished among them.

One of the peridots who was collecting data in a quartz hole responded, ‘1F9L, Cut-6G, what kind of inquiry is that? You know very well the purpose of returning back to Earth, instead of reactivating the kindergartens, we’re doing something that could be more of use to our Diamond.’

‘And what is that exactly?’ The peridot 1F9L retorted.

The peridot in the Quartz hole didn’t reply to that question. ‘Let’s just focus on finishing the task at hand, there are many more grounds to cover and so little time until the solar light source on this planet shuts down for 600 minutes, which would not be of use to us with our limited sight and energy.’

The team left further into the kindergarten, Coral tagged closer to the enemy group by following them wall by wall. The sun was rising, and the temperature was getting higher, Coral wasn’t dehydrated or anything, just tired from following around the peridots, they all stayed quiet after the first little argument, which doesn't make Coral’s job easier.

-

On the main ship, the ingenious one, was on her desk planning the celebration after the mission completes. She could see the Great Yellow Diamond giving praise and as a reward, to meet her other diamond, White diamond. The greatest diamond of all giving her attention to the gem that changed everything, and they’ll rule the galaxies together.

“Marvellous,’ she whispered the vision to herself, and made a laugh that sounds rather ambitious.

A Peridot was by her side, seeing that her Anglesite wasn’t focusing on the project, she decided to remind her, Again. ‘My Anglesite, it is well appreciated that you took initiative and plan for possible future events, but it would be more relevant to be finalising the current task at hand.’

Anglesite replied, ‘Oh peridot, how long have you been working for me? Aren’t you familiar with my style of work? The project is very much finished, it just needs to go through the final stage.’

‘And what stage is that My Anglesite?’ The peridot said.

Anglesite responded, ‘The testing, dear Peridot. Worry not, there will be a chance for it to show its power, just not now. Now is the time to revisit our other project, granted by our magnificent diamond. Peridot, how are the prototypes from our Diamond?’

The peridot retrieved an orb from her gem, the orb stayed afloat on the palm of her hand. She lightly tapped the orb and whispered a code, the orb dimmed it’s glow and there was a series of gem glyphs displayed. The display turned blank and projected a screen above the orb with multiple log dates and reports from the other peridots in charge of the cluster prototypes.

‘According to the files and reports by team LJ504,’ she stated, ‘The prototypes from Yellow Diamond are in their last stages of experiments, after the success of the shard combinations, they should be ready to be inserted into the experimental pillars in the underground alpha kindergarten, a few more hours until completion of the prototype subjects.’

The ingenious one exclaims, ‘Excellent! By this rate we can report to Yellow Diamond our success of the assignment AND present a project that can change the galaxies’

‘Yes, my Anglesite’ the peridot replied, and rolled her eyes without her manager’s notice.

(To clarify: In Yellow Diamond’s debut, she mentioned peridot’s manager, therefore having Anglesite made sense to me, or making it a head-canon.)

In front of Anglesite’s throne is a doorway, and above the doorway is a speaker, a voice buzzed in.

‘My Anglesite, you have a visitor, a commanding officer, who would like to see you. Shall I ring her in?’

‘Why absolutely! Send her in this very moment!’ She let go of the button to the speaker and turned to Eyeball peridot, ‘You see peridot, the chance to show it’s power is on it’s way’

-

It’s been a few hours, and Coral was not doing so well. There was a rock with the same tone of the sand, to which she didn’t notice as Coral almost tripped on it and made a little “Eeep!” Before covering her mouth, the peridot at the end made an abrupt halt, and Coral quickly tiptoed back and hid behind another wall, she summoned her lance and held it to her chest, waiting for something wrong to happen.

The peridot decided to not take mind of the little distraction and continued her work.

Coral noticed her turning back to the group and let out the biggest sigh.

‘Maybe I should take a break.’ she thought to herself. “Things are not going as planned…”

She left her hiding place and was about to look for a good place to rest, as she walked, she heard the tiniest buzz, ‘Huh, probably just a bee’

Turns out it's not a bee.

‘Phew!’ a laser was shot and ended up exploding the wall nearby, ‘Boom!’, barely missed Coral’s hair bun by just an inch!

‘Huh?’ She turned and saw the team of peridots, all aiming their fist as a different orb floats above their knuckles.

‘INTRUDER! GET HER!!’ The first peridot ordered!

‘Oh boyy-’ Coral dashed while defecting the blasts with her lance, running off with the homeworld gems on her tail.

As Coral ran, she tried to remember the route back, but she couldn’t recognize any paths, BECAUSE THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME!

She glanced behind her and noticed there’s only one gem on her tail, maybe they were left behind, or thinks of the chase as a waste of time. The peridot commanded, “Halt! In the name of Yellow Diamond!” She directed her fist at the pink gem and lasers proceeded being shot from the glowing beam above her knuckles.

Coral summoned her lance and deflected the lasers left and right, she backed up with the lance in a fencing stance, she and the peridot made stiff eye contact. The gems were on their way under a stone bridge with various rocks above. Coral took notice but didn’t take her eyes off the green gem.

The green gem tightens her fist, the orb intensifies, electric current can be seen as it glows bright, ready to aim and fire.

But Coral was faster as she threw the lance, not at the gem but at the stone bridge above her. The bridge crumbled from the force of the weapon and collapsed to the ground. The peridot took notice of the falling pile and leaped backwards, avoiding the rockpile of death, but the rocks formed a blockage between her and Coral, giving the crystal gem the chance to escape!

She took off into the maze once more.

-

A few moments before,

On the other end of the ship, another Peridot on the LJ504, was on her way to retrieve information about her superior. The water drop Peridot was walking in a brisker pace as the orders have been very clear, ‘Go get the series input from our commander, that’s the last step to complete the experiments, Hurry!’

The peridot reached to the end of the hallway, the doorway in front of her says “Commander’s office, enter at your own risk”

“This should be it,” she thought to herself.

Peridot focused on the gem on her chest, then proceeded by focusing on the door, but nothing happened.

“Huh,” She thought to herself. “Maybe it’s opened through passcodes?”

There were no door pads on either side of the door, so passcodes would not be required, but how does the door open without gem access nor passcodes to type in?

Chest Peridot was at all very puzzled and decided to call for the worker service.

On the other end of the call, someone picked up the communicator, “Technician service, how may I answer your inquiry?”

“Greetings, I am currently located at the doorway of commander Demantoid but there seems to be an access issue, I am unable to access entry through gem access nor passcodes, how does one gain access to the door?

‘Which sector are you in?’ The other end questioned.

‘Sector 14?’

‘Ah yes, I see the issue, just push the door inwards and you shall gain access. ’

‘Push…in what?’ The peridot was truly puzzled, what is this ancient method she speaks of?

The other end replied with little patience, ‘You wish to gain access into the office, do you not? Therefore, to access the office, you are to push the surface of the wall into the room. Your question has been answered, thank you for calling, and do not attempt to repeat the same question. BEEP-'

Yeesh, what’s a technician got to do around here to get some answers?

What if, she thought, I just blast the door open with the newly established blaster?

Yeah, that seems like a great idea.

She reached to her gem, possessed an orb, re-locate it on her knuckles, and prepared fire.

‘Ready…’ the laser blaster glows bright.

‘Steady…’ the orb electrifies.

‘And bl-’ Suddenly the door opened and she was rudely interrupted by the Commander

‘YOU! CEASE YOUR FOOLISH ACT AT ONCE!’ the commander barked so loud that the chest Peridot got startled and almost shot the laser right up her commander’s face.

‘Uhhm, o-of course my liege!’ She quickly reverses the sequence and restores it back into her gem in a rush.

The commander did not look pleased, ‘You have been lingering at my doorstep for more than 10 minutes, there better be a fine explanation of you trying to demolish my office doorway with your gem tech! Full name?!’

‘Oh uh, P-peridot, 1f5L, Cut-12G!’

‘aND WHAT, is your purpose of being here at this location?’ The gem demanded.

‘I… I am here to retrieve the series input for the experiment!’ she responded.

Yes she had a motive, but if she wasn’t stopped she could have caused a lot of damage. The commander knew she should report the foolish act somewhere, and she knew just who to tell.

‘Fine, but after inserting the series input, I want you to meet me at the head office.’ she commanded before handing the input.

-

After commander demantoid explained the scenario, she directed the ingenious one’s attention towards the incoming peridot.

Chest Peridot was brought in and accused of attempting public destruction by her commander.

The Anglesite considered this to be an opportunity, ‘Oh peridot, it seems that the new technician needs to be disciplined, be a dear and hand me the project that would change Homeworld forever.’

Eyeball peridot got a good look at the monitor while the situation was described by the commander, and while the peridot is relatively new at her post, the act is still unforgivable if it went through.

‘Of course my Anglesite’ She retrieved a weapon that looks like the alphabet Y, with a yellow glow between the two heads.

Demantoid recognized the weapon, and immediately questioned the fatality of the punishment.

She did a little cough to grab the attention of the yellow gem, ‘Uhm, My Anglesite, wouldn’t your chosen method of discipline be a bit too…extreme?’

‘For a peridot to do it?’ Anglesite reconsidered the weapon wielder instead of what the commander was intending, ‘Why yes, it does seem a bit dark for a peridot to do the job, why don’t you be a dear and do it yourself?’

Eyeball peridot handed the weapon to the commander, the commander shakily took hold and gripped it with regret. ‘I’ll never be hearing the end of this…’

The commander stood behind the oblivious Chest peridot, she raised the weapon, aimed, closed her eyes, and drove it into the back of her thigh.

Yellow electric currents sluggishly course through the back leg as the peridot screeched in pain, her voice went from being electrocuted to digitally spent as she buckled down on her knees, hands on the ground, and with one more second of pain and anguish, she poofed.

The gem stone dropped to the ground with loud clinks, staying in place.

Demantoid stood there, weapon still in hand, her face fell shocked as Anglesite applauded with heinous glee. “Bravo, a truly revolutionary weapon for all gem kind,” the peridot beside her took down notes of the weapon’s power, but fear can be seen from her shaky and tense scribbling.

‘Thank you for the wonderful opportunity dear, that would be all,’ The gem returned back into her work station, and Eyeball Peridot took charge from there.

She informed the commander, ‘Please return the gem destabilizer on the platform to your right, after that you can withdraw yourself back to your station.’ And with that, she took her fellow sister’s gem and went back to work.

The commander returned to her base, and wished she knew what was to come before inflicting the pain on that poor rookie peridot.

-

It’s been a few hours at best, but Coral couldn’t get the hand on the maze.

She tried retracing her steps, but that only led her to dead ends or other surprised technicians, pretty much half of the scanning team is tracking her down and she’s just getting nowhere in this confusing maze!

Maybe she should take a break, it’s been a while and there seems to be no technicians in sight.

She found a location with the most tranquility, well, as much peace and calm as the desert provides, and lied down for a quick break before someone found her.

‘Nyehhehehehe….’ she heard some weird form of laughter before she opened her eyes.

And surprise surprise, it was the Cheek peridot that whined and complained in the first encountered group, ‘Gotcha!’

She shot a small bubble but it enlarged into a much bigger size before it came to contact with Coral. The crystal gem wasn’t fast enough so she was finally apprehended and caught in a giant olive-green bubble.

The green gem exclaimed, ‘Finally! After wasting all our time trying to get you, I knew it was only a matter of time for you to venture into my most familiar territory! Do you honestly think you can outrun us in this maze of a kindergarten? We peridots have been scanning and mapping this place since its first batch of quartz injections, therefore we know literally every millimeter of this place.’

Coral wasn’t paying attention to the gloating, she was more focused on summoning her lance to pierce her way out but no avail. ‘Let me out of here!’

Cheek Peridot snickered, “Hah! Nice try! These here containment bubbles are invented by our leader herself, made with various high-tech and Hard Glass, therefore, it is… Impenetrable, especially from the inside, now….”

Coral stabbed and thrust the green bubble but still no use, she banged the bubble in frustration with her fists, the bubble returned the favour.

“OUch! What the?” She retrieved her hands as they got stuck together in green cuffs. The Peridot continued, “Oh! It seems that you got the “restraint mode”, it's pretty random, you can either get cuffed, mildly electrocuted, or even get stuck in it until the diamonds get their hands on you, you little…who are you anyway?”

‘Wouldn’t you like to know!’ Coral retorted, but with her hands cuffed there’s nothing else she can do.

The peridot took in a few glances of the gem, ‘Hmmm…’ she noticed the gem on her navy.

‘A pearl in a beta kindergarten? The files said there shouldn’t be any more gems on the planet since the diamonds wiped every gem on the planet’s surface. How did you survive?’ Cheek peridot narrowed her eyes, very much puzzled with the gem in capture.

Well, Coral thought, might as well try to get some intel.

‘You wanna know how w-, how I survived the blast?’ She wanted to intrigue the green gem and almost revealed the rest of the gems, ‘I can tell you, if you tell me your purpose of returning to this planet! What’s your plan huh? Reactivate the kindergartens? Resume the planet’s colonization? Whatever you’re doing, you won’t be winning with me around, so hah!’

‘Interesting,’ the peridot spoke aloud, ‘Your fast paced speech and intelligence of the planet’s history is well put, especially your level of confidence, it seems like I won’t be handling you after all, you should see our leader and tell her just that.’

‘What?’ Coral wanted to get any intel from the technician, but the green gem whispered something to the orb on her palm. ‘You’ll be sent off to our leader, I’ve informed the front liners, so they’ll be expecting you.’ She tapped the orb with her finger and the giant bubble glowed, gained afloat with Coral attained, and went full speed into the heart of the maze.

End of part 2

Extra notes: The peridots have no limb enhancers, because their gems were able to project and materialize weapons, like laser blasters, shields, and giant bubble-shape containers that can stop an object in its tracks. a containment bubble (like a force field), laser gun (tightens fist) and a scanner (open palm), can extract them and take hold of objects for a short amount of time

Eyeball Peridot (round afro), Chest Peridot (square), and Cheek Peridot(waterdrop).

Canon peridot: Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG

Cheek- 1F9L Cut-6G

Chest- 1F5L Cut-12G

Eyeball- 1F1L Cut-1G

How the Peridots were named, Headcanon:

Ok so since theyre all Era 1 peridots, theyre facet starts with 1F, like the first generations of Peridots.

then the Ls are like the batches, like for instance Eyeball peridot is one of the first batches of the emerged gems, and her Cut is 1G,which would indicate the earliest gem out of that batch

For canon peridot, she has an X between 5 and G, to which im gonna assume implies as "different/abnormal" from the first generation of Peridots.

(A/N: So thats part 2 of Chapter 5, as you can see the format of the story goes like, Plot A, Plot B, A, B and back to A.

Wanted the story to feel more structured and have it split into two story lines, so this is like the end product of the concept.

Hope you enjoy this chapter, i know reading an original story can be a bit, abnormal to reading Coral in Canon episodes, which I'll be getting to them in the future, but when there's an unresolved or unexplained issue, like how Bismuth went down and such, i like to envision what happens and write down possible scenarios.

So again, hope you enjoy this chapter of Pearlplusau, Chapter 5 part 2. The next part of the story should be the last of the chapter.

Thanks for reading and have a nice dayy. Byee)

[dashesofink]

Traveling Once Again (chp.2)

Pairings: slight Kili x Ianthe (my oc)

Word Count: 7.8k

Warnings: none

Chp. 1

A/N: second part is up!! I hope that you guys liked the first one!! please leave any feedback!! :))

Taglist: @legolaslovely @t00-many-th0ughts @fizzyxcustard

Morning came to quickly for Ianthe’s taste. The little hobbit hole that she had found herself staying in for that night was more than she could’ve asked for. The one thing that Ianthe didn’t find herself missing at all after her rank of mages had settled down was the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements. While yes, they had the power to make the leaves soft or to bend branches to form a small bed frame, that didn’t necessarily mean that it was comfortable to sleep on. So when she left for her journey to the Shire Ianthe made sure to pack her most comfortable bedroll. Yet that still didn’t seem to do much for her old bones and aching back. However, the small chair that she had managed to snag the night before felt like a cloud compared to her usual rocky bed so her complaints were scarcely heard.

The sun crept through the window and warmed up Ianthe’s body. Mornings never were her favorite thing, and it wasn’t often that her father had to go back multiple times to wake her up. Her usual protests to being woken up so early were kept quiet though as she stirred in her chair, a soft groan falling past her lips before she racked a hand over her face. Sleep still clouded her eyes as she craned her neck to look around the room, and it took a few moments— even when she pressed her fingers against her eyelids and rubbed them for a second— for her vision to fully return. Ianthe was quick to smooth down her hair when she realized that just about every dwarf was still situated in the small living area, the loud snores almost shaking the support beams of the hobbit hole. If it wasn’t for the fact that one loud dwarf was snoozing next to her chair and letting her know someone was there, she was sure she would’ve trampled him as she went to stand.

Ianthe remained quiet as she set her toes against the wooden floor. Her eyes were still a bit clouded with sleep, making it a bit more difficult to maneuver her way through the maze of dwarves that slept almost silently in the room. Somehow though, she managed to make it out into the hallway without disturbing a single dwarf. Ianthe gently patted down her hair again, feeling the twisted strands behind her head pull at her scalp when she went to untangle them. Aside from the snores in the room behind her, the hobbit hole was completely silent. Ianthe felt herself slowly begin to wake up more as she looked around the hallway, her eyes taking in the way the various shades of browns, reds and greens of Bilbo’s home glistened against the sunlight that came pouring in through the small windows at the front of his house. A small hum fell past her lips as she turned on the balls of her feet, little to no sound coming from her steps as she neared the front door. Maybe a little fresh air would help to wake her up even more.

Ianthe still worked at untangling her messy hair as she pried the round green door open, and she couldn’t help the happy sigh that fell past her lips when the sun hit her square in the face. As she stepped quietly out on to the porch she closed her eyes, her chest expanding when she sucked in a deep breath. The air drifted into her lungs with a pleasurable sting, and she felt a smile pull up her lips when she smelled flowers mingle in with the morning air. Ianthe felt her body buzz with a sudden energy as the sun danced across her skin. It was true that she didn’t like waking up in the morning, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t like mornings in general.

“You’re up a bit early, lass.”

Ianthe’s concentration was broken when a kind voice floated through the air, her eyes opening and catching the sunlight when she turned to her company. “I am quite surprised myself, Master Balin.” Ianthe returned the warm smile that the white-haired dwarf sent her, her hand falling away from her messy hair after finally untangling the brown strands from the blonde, nearly white ones that sat near her temples. Balin watched the mage closely as she turned back to the front, her hand grasping her elbow behind her back as she yet again inhaled a deep breath. The dwarf had noticed the two different colors in her hair the night before, and he saw how the roots of the blonde portions seemed lighter against her skin. He couldn’t recall ever seeing anyone, whether dwarf or human, having two shades of hair like that, especially making the skin in the surrounding area lighter.

“Do you figure we’ll depart soon?” Balin felt his eyes drift away from the girls hair and to her face as she smiled at him. Ianthe had turned to face him, this time only half of her body facing him while the other faced that of Bilbo’s front garden. Now fully awake, Ianthe felt a pull in her gut to wander again, letting her feet carry her around the lovely Shire for as long as possible until it was time for them to leave.

“Some time after breakfast, I would say.” Balin watched as Ianthe bristled with joy at his reply, his bushy eyebrows quirking when she bounced on her feet. The old dwarf felt his heart clench at the youthfulness that the mage carried with her, and even though he knew that she was probably much, much older than he was, he couldn’t help but think of her as a little child. Her excitement was bubbling more and more as she looked down Bilbo’s front garden and on to the winding pathways that led towards the Shire’s town square. “Do you want to go into the town, Ianthe?”

“Oh, please, can I?” Ianthe’s voice was laced with a pleasing tone, and her finger became laced together in front of her as she looked towards Balin for approval. “I promise I will be back before we intend to leave!”

“Go on now, I’ll inform the others where you’re headed off to.”

Ianthe let out the smallest of cheers as she bounced around, her eyes now wide awake and full of an adventuring spirit. Balin couldn’t help but laugh at the Mages excitement, and he watched silently as she bounced down the steps, crashed through the little front gate and dashed down the dirt pathway. His fingers brushed over his beard as he watched her run, however his eyebrows quirked when she slid to a stop, her hair whipping around as she spun around to face him again. Her thick fingers were raised into the air as she waved frantically, her lips spread in a contagious grin before she started down the path again. Balin kept his eyes on the young girl as she disappeared behind a rather sharp bend in the road, and his lips were kept into a small smile even when someone cleared their throat, making their presence known from beside him.

“Quite an interesting lass, isn’t she?” Balin finally turned to face his friend, his neck craning back a bit as he went to look at the old wizard in the eyes. Gandalf gave a quiet hum of agreement while he pulled out his pipe. “Pray tell, Gandalf. What possessed you to think of her as our guide?”

“Hm, well for many reasons, Mister Balin.” Gandalf felt his chest warm when he thought back to his time with the Terra Mages. Such a lovely people, always welcoming and warm to those who stopped by and also willing to lend a helping hand to those in need. “You heard of her story last night,” Gandalf paused, his eyes glancing down to the white-bearded dwarf as he nodded. “Mages were made to wander. Staying in one place, while not entirely harmful to them, is just not healthy. I have known Ianthe and her father for many years, and her desire to wander again was widely known amongst her rank.”

Balin turned his eyes back to the path for a moment, his eyes trailing down the dirt road until he reached the main market square. He had to strain a bit to see, but Ianthe’s hair could be seen bouncing around her round face as she danced between the different stalls and booths in the market. “I’ve wondered, Mister Gandalf,” Balin cleared his throat after a few moments of silence had passed, clasping his hands behind his back as he waited for Gandalf to acknowledge his small comment. Once the wizard had nodded for him to continue, Balin sucked in a small breath. “Ianthe’s hair… Now I’m usually not one to pry in matters such as this, but it is quite odd.” Balin was hesitant to speak about her hair, as he knew that in dwarven culture hair was a touchy and most respected subject. But Ianthe wasn’t a dwarf, and from what he knew about Mages their hair wasn’t nearly as important.

“Ah, yes. Inherited it from her mother.”

The tone in Gandalf’s voice was tight and remorseful, his lips spread in a tight line around his pipe. Balin frowned at this. Despite the curiosity that sparked deep in his veins, Balin kept quiet about the subject of Ianthe’s mother. If he wanted to know more, then he would have to ask her personally about it. The two of them kept quiet after that, Gandalf smoking his pipe as both he and Balin soaked up the bright sun and the greenery of the Shire. It wasn’t long before someone called them in for breakfast, to which they both turned and entered Bilbo’s home again. Ianthe’s presence, or lack thereof didn’t go unnoticed by the company. But after much reassurance from both Balin and Gandalf that she would return before they were to leave, which earned a few grumbles from Thorin, they dove right into their breakfast.

Nearly an hour later and not only was the sun beating down on the Shire, but Ianthe was feeling a bit overwhelmed as she followed behind the dwarves. After her little journey into the Shire’s market, she came stumbling back into the little hobbit home with her arms filled with a variety of goodies. Gandalf raised an eyebrow at her frazzled state and filled arms, as he knew she rarely carried any form of money on her, but didn’t question the delighted grin that was on her face. Many of the dwarves moved aside as she rushed over to her pack. The items in her hands fell to the floor with a rather loud clang, but Ianthe didn’t seem to care as she forced her new items into her bag. The mage seemed to ignore the curious glances that were shot her way as she removed, added, then reorganized the contents of her pack, and it wasn’t until someone cleared their throat did she finally acknowledge the dwarves presence.

“We are set to leave within the next fifteen minutes.” Thorin’s voice made Ianthe freeze as she looked up to him from her crouched position. “I would suggest getting ready.”

Ianthe’s eyes blew wide and she stumbled on to her feet. She suddenly felt subconscious about her appearance, as she still had yet to fix her hair and straighten out her clothing from the night before. “Of course. Right away, Master Oakenshield.” Ianthe gave a series of nods before she turned back to her pack, and before pushing her way past Thorin she grabbed a small personal bag and a hairbrush. However the dwarf caught her quickly by the upper arm, pulling her back slightly. She froze against his sudden touch, her bright eyes growing the slightest bit while she looked between his hand and her arm.

“You do not need to address me that way.” Thorin, despite still not fully accepting the fact that a girl would be accompanying him and his company, spoke softly to her. Deep down he was grateful to have the mage on his side, leading them down a safe path to get to Erebor. Balin had informed him of how much of a necessity Ianthe would be on their quest. Of course, Gandalf made sure to put in his thoughts and knowledge of the Mages and how connected they were to the land. “Thorin will do just fine.”

Ianthe felt her lips pull into a smile at his words. The grip on her arm loosened until he finally let her go, and she gave him a small nod after curling her right fist and setting it over her heart. “Of course. I’ll shall be ready to go in ten minutes.” She spoke softly. Thorin gave a soft grunt in satisfaction before he turned on his heel, and he made his way out of the hobbit hole to allow her time to get ready.

As she had said, Ianthe was dressed and ready to go within ten minutes. Everyone watched as she stumbled out of the hobbit hole, a hand holding tightly on to her pack as the other quietly shut the door behind her. She felt a bit saddened to hear that Bilbo wouldn’t be joining them. But it was his choice, she reasoned with herself, if the hobbit felt uncomfortable going out into the world than so be it. Ianthe forced a smile on to her lips when she felt the eyes of her new company on her, and when Thorin called for her, she kept her head down while she made her way towards him. On the odd chance that she did look up to survey the dwarves, Ianthe noticed how a pair of deep brown eyes seemed to be boring into the back of her head. It was the same dwarf from last night. He seemed more lively today, his eyes swimming with excitement and his lips pulled into a grin. Maybe it was from getting some rest the night before.

“Once we reach the border of the Shire you will take the lead.” Thorin’s voice rang through her ears, breaking her out of her thoughts and pulling her attention to him. Ianthe gave a single nod and she tightened her fingers around her staff. Thorin rose an eyebrow when he watched her tense, but he quickly shook his curiosity off before he looked back to his company. “Let’s get a move on!”

It wasn’t even twenty minutes later that Ianthe found herself riding next to Gandalf. The horse she was riding had been graciously given to her by the wizard, and she couldn’t help but grow fond of the black and white speckled steed. Seeing as she was a bit taller than the dwarves she had to ride a horse, for she felt bad if she was to ride on a little pony. The mage let her eyes wonder for a moment, her gaze falling on to each of the dwarves. They definitely were the most odd group of dwarves. While one dwarf seemed to be the size of a boulder, with a mess of auburn hair atop his head and with his beard braided down to his belly, another was quite small, his light brown hair seeming to shine in the sun whenever he shifted to fix his knitted sweater. Ianthe found her interest, however, lie in the dwarf that had been watching her the night before. She had a feeling that he, along with the blonde dwarf that was always by his side, were related to Thorin in some way.

“Gandalf,” Ianthe called, her curiosity finally getting the better of her. She turned her head to see the wizard already looking at her, his pipe lit and held in between his lips. “That dwarf there—“ She pointed a couple of fingers in his general direction, her lips twitching the slightest bit. “Who is he?”

Gandalf followed her fingers and his eyes found themselves landing on Kili. A laugh tumbled from his lips after a short second of observation and when he finally looked back to Ianthe, his eyebrows raised under the rim of his hat. “That, my dear Ianthe, is Kili Durin.” Ianthe founded herself looking back to the young dwarf when Gandalf went on to explain more, her bright eyes looking over him and the weapons of his that were visible. “Next to him is his older brother Fili, heir to the throne of Erebor.” Her eyes widened at the sudden revelation.

“I thought they resembled Master Oak— I mean Thorin.”

“Yes, they are the sons of Thorin’s sister.” Ianthe nodded her head in understanding. Her fingers absentmindedly ran over the cracks and crevices that littered her staff while she looked back to Kili, and her eyes blew wide when she realized he was already looking back to her. Upon seeing that she was looking he spared her a wink, his teething poking out under his lips as he smiled when he saw her cheeks flush. Ianthe found herself soon smiling back at the dwarf. She thought it would’ve been rude to look away just yet, even though her heart was thumping loudly in her chest, so she held his gaze for a moment longer. Kili’s smile never fell from his face as he looked to the mage, his eyes shining with playfulness for a moment until he looked away when his brother nudged him in the leg.

“They look young.” Ianthe spoke, spurring her horse forward a bit to keep up with Gandalf’s pace. The wizard nodded his head in agreement, but kept silent for the time being. The two fell into a comfortable silence, Ianthe keeping herself from falling into boredom by watching the scenery change when Gandalf suddenly began to hum a small tune. Ianthe felt herself smile at the familiar song, and she almost caught herself singing along with him. However she instead took to looking back down the path, her eyes watching the disappearing Shire with a heavy heart. She surely would’ve liked to have the small hobbit accompany them. Ianthe had never really interacted much with the homely race, and she often wished that her and her rank would’ve stayed longer with the hobbits when they still traveled. She didn’t have much of a chance to speak with Bilbo the night before, as he seemed to grow quite frustrated at their intrusion in his home and retired into his room quite early.

“Do you think Bilbo will change his mind, Gandalf?” The mage turned her attention back to the old wizard for the second time. “Surely he wouldn’t pass up this wonderful opportunity to travel, would he?” A few of the dwarves had heard her question to Gandalf, and it seemed that almost immediately they tried to counter her. Many of them seemed doubtful of the hobbit, saying that he didn’t belong outside of the Shire or that he wouldn’t last more than a day in the wild. Others, and Ianthe quite agreed with this lot, argued back and claimed that Bilbo would come along, whether it be sooner or later, and that he would fit in quite nicely. Ianthe smiled at this. Though she wasn’t exactly sure what Bilbo’s thoughts on being in the wild were, as she had lived more than half her life in the forest and wandering the land. But deep down she felt he belonged with them, even if he was hesitant to come.

“Oh, I think he’ll come.” Gandalf’s voice broke Ianthe away from a pair of arguing dwarves, and she caught the mischievous glint in his eyes as he smiled at her. Once again the dwarves began to argue over the wizards statements and soon enough Ianthe found herself laughing along with the wizard as the company put up bets against the poor hobbit. When a dwarf with a particular funky looking hat asked her if she wanted to add on to their wagers, she politely declined. It seemed that the further along the path they traveled, the more lively the dwarves become and the more chatter she heard.

The wagers and laughter soon died down when Bofur, the one with the funky hat, made a certain comment, which earned him a sharp smack on the back of the head from someone with an axe in his forehead. Ianthe couldn’t help but laugh at the interaction, and after a few moments of watching the dwarves settle down again she spurred her horse forward. She was beginning to recognize the area they were in, and the greenery soon grew thicker than usual as they traveled further away from the Shire. She spotted Thorin up ahead as he spoke lowly with Balin and to get his attention she let out a shrill whistle. Everyone seemed to jump a bit at the sudden noise and some of the ponies let out startled whines, but Ianthe ignored the dwarves grumbles as she looked to Thorin. She gave a small nod while tightening her grip on the reins of her horse, it’s hooves clipping against the dirt and stone path as she rode closer to him. Thorin seemed to understand what she was doing and returned her nod before slowing his pony a bit.

However as Ianthe neared him they were suddenly stopped by a wild cry that carried all the way up to Thorin. “Wait! Wait!” Ianthe brought her horse to a halt as she turned her body, and her lips spread into a grin before she let out a laugh. In the distance she could see a figure running quickly towards them. Ianthe looked to Gandalf as the hobbit grew closer, his large feet carrying him closer to the dwarves until he slid to a stop in front of Balin and his pony. “I-I’ve signed it!” The hobbit thrust his hand into the air as he tried to regain his breath, and clasped between his fingers was an unrolled piece of parchment, similar to that which Ianthe had signed the night before.

Balin let out a small hum as he gave the hobbit a pointed look, yet he still grabbed a hold of the contract with one hand as the other reached for an eye glass. Ianthe soothed her horse when it suddenly let out a whine, it’s head bobbing up in down as impatience seemed to course through the animal. The mage kept quiet as Balin continued to inspect the contract, her eyes dancing from the hobbit that was still catching his breath to the two dwarves who she had stopped beside; Fili and Kili. She felt a smile spread across her lips when she looked to the brothers, meeting Fili’s eyes for a quick second before she opened her mouth to speak, however Balin beat her to the punch.

“Everything appears to be in order,” Balin called out to Thorin. The leader seemed annoyed at the appearance of the hobbit, and when he bristled and turned away Ianthe felt a bout of irritation course through her. “Welcome, Master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield.”

Ianthe turned away from Thorin when he let out a small scoff, and soon enough he called out for someone to get Bilbo a pony. “Is he always this grumbly?” Ianthe fully turned her gaze up the dwarven brothers next to her for the first time. They both seemed a bit shocked to hear her speak to them, and the pair shared a quick look before Fili cleared his throat.

“Not always,”

“Though, most of the time he is.” The snicker that came from Kili caused the mage to look to him, their gazes locking for a brief moment before she too laughed at the comment. Soon after Bilbo became situated on his pony they started off on their journey again, yet instead of riding up to Thorin like she had planned beforehand, she stuck by the brothers. The three of them chatted for the next while, neither of them breaking their attention even when Bilbo called for them to stop, insisting that they turn back so he could grab his beloved handkerchief. Ianthe sympathized with the little hobbit while a few of the dwarf sniggered at him. She understood how hard it must’ve been for him to leave his home in order to join them on this journey, to pack up and go off with a company he didn’t quite know.

The next couple of hours consisted of Ianthe and the brothers conversing, and even when they had reached the edge of the Shire and Ianthe rode to the front of the company, they stayed by her side. Gandalf and Balin shared a small look when they watched the three bond, more so when Kili seemed to be more active in his talking than Fili. Either way Ianthe seemed happy to interact with them, and it made Gandalf a bit more relaxed knowing that she got along with the young dwarves well. Thorin seemed to take notice of his youngest nephews fascination with their guide, and while part of him told him to scold him for acting in such a way, the better part of him held back. This quest was dangerous and sobering, and he desperately wished for his nephews to remain happy and unharmed. So for the moment he allowed them to joking around with Ianthe, as he knew not when something might come around and rip the happiness from their hearts.

The day was well spent as the company journeyed further away from the Shire and deeper into the forest. Many of the dwarves had introduced themselves to the mage leading them down a safe path, and it seemed to them that the deeper they journeyed into the thick foliage, the more lively she grew. Her eyes were wide and bright as she explained to Ori how some of the trees near her rank grew large and strong, their roots spreading deep in the earth and sometimes even growing together with a neighboring tree. She often found herself speaking of how the Mages and their magic worked, and sometimes, when persuaded enough, she would demonstrate for the company. Everyone was entranced by the glowing of her eyes whenever she spoke a certain enchantment, and even Thorin found his gaze dancing over her skin whenever long trails of lightning seemed to crawl up her arms to her shoulders, neck and round cheeks. The mage truly was an interesting part of the company.

Thorin’s doubts regarding letting her join his company slowly disappeared as the day went on. Though it was only the first day of their journey she had proven herself useful to him and the other dwarves. About mid-afternoon Thorin had called for them to stop for a quick break, yet it seemed that no clearing was available for them to rest. Ianthe shook her head soon after Nori had announced what everyone was thinking, and a smile formed on her face before she grabbed her staff and pointed it to the left. A quick string of foreign words flew past her lips and her eyes glowed yellow. Loud cracks and snaps echoed through the quiet forest as the white markings crawled up her body, and soon enough, much to everyone’s shock, several trees had been reduced to little saplings and bushes had been cleared to their left, creating a clearing for them to lead their ponies. Gandalf watched, amusement clear in his features, as everyone soon bombarded Ianthe with questions about the extent of her magic.

The company soon quieted down once they started their journey again, Ianthe back in the leading potion with the brothers by her side. After hours of traveling in the blazing sun the air began to cool as the day came to a close. Fili and Kili had eventually fallen back to converse with Balin and Thorin soon took their place. Ianthe gave the leader a small hum to acknowledge his presence, and a silence lingered in the air before he spoke of finding, or creating if needs be in her case, another clearing for them to rest for the night. Ianthe agreed almost immediately, as she could feel the pain in her tailbone from riding too long and exhaustion grow in her body. Moments later she was leading the company to a natural clearing, and same as earlier a series of cheers from the tired dwarves sounded out.

Everyone was quick to spread out and set their packs down and unroll their bedrolls. Ianthe stayed closer to the edge of camp while they did so, out of habit to make sure her new friends were safe. A fire was started by those who had finished setting up first, and by the time Ianthe felt comfortable with the camp, dinner had been served. She accepted the bowl of hot soup that was offered to her with a thankful smile, and while she usually wasn’t one to usually like a vegetable stew, odd for a mage she realized long ago, it was quite tasty. A few of the other dwarves seemed to share her opinion. Some picked and prodded at the green soup, yet upon realizing that most were too tired to go hunting they sucked it up and ate what was offered. After supper was finished and the moon was high in the sky Ianthe finally settled down. At first she had planned on sleeping closer to the trees, hoping that the leaves and fresh soil that had been kicked up would provide some cushion to her bedroll, but she soon found her idea impossible to reach when Fili and Kili grabbed her, quite literally, and ushered her over to where they had set up for the night.

“Can’t have you sitting by yourself, now can we.” Fili had told her, a gorgeous smile pulling up his lips after taking her pack from her hands and setting it down next to his. Ianthe gave the brothers a thankful nod when Kili took her bedroll and began to spread it out for her, the grip on her staff tightening again when he too smiled. Something about his smile seemed to make her heart jolt, for what reason she didn’t quite understand but it wasn’t a bad reason, she figured.

After helping them set her things up Ianthe found her back pressed against a rock as she sat next to Fíli, the golden-haired dwarf smoking silently while she ran her thick fingers over the wood of her staff. Kili sat in front of the two, using the firelight to mess around with something in his hands. Many of the dwarves had fallen asleep, if not all of them except for the two brothers and the mage. Ianthe felt content and happy with the progress they had made that day and though she wish they could have made it a bit further before stopping, she was grateful that Thorin had asked her to find them a place to rest. A smile formed on Ianthe’s face when she looked around the camp and at the sleeping dwarves, and a laugh fell from her lips when she saw little Bilbo sneaking an apple into the mouth of his pony. He looked around, hoping that no one had noticed his treat for the animal yet when he locked gazes with Ianthe, she pressed a finger over her lips and tossed him a wink.

The playful mood, however, was short lived when a startling scream echoed through the peaceful night. Ianthe felt her blood freeze at the terrifying scream, and for a second the white markings flashed over her skin out of panic. Bilbo jumped in his spot, stumbling as he hurried back closer to the campsite where protection was awake. “What was that?” The hobbit questioned, looking at the three who were wide-awake in fear. Ianthe tensed in her spot and her hand gripped her staff lightly.

“Orcs.” Was Kili’s solemn reply, yet Ianthe found it odd that a hint of something else laced his words. Almost as if a poisoned arrow had hit his chest, Thorin gasped for breath as he was startled awake, eyes wide and alert as he sat up. More dwarves began to wake up upon hearing of the ghastly creatures, but Ianthe keep her eyes locked on the horizon, her ears listening for anymore screams.

“Orcs?”

“Throat-Cutters,” Fili spoke up from beside Ianthe, and he shot her a quick look before staring back at the curious, yet still utterly terrified hobbit in front of him. “There will be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them.”

Ianthe hated to hear of such a thing, but it was true. After the Mages has settled in the forest and other woody areas, many of the Orcs had taken a hold of some of the lowlands and open plains. She remembered a time when the Mages watched over the people that lived there, yet when some of the Elders turned from them and decided that they would no longer wander the lands and protect it, she grew angry. Yet Ianthe couldn’t find the courage to leave and help those. She felt like a coward.

“They strike in the wee small hours, when everyone’s asleep.” There was that tone in Kili’s voice again as he spoke, a tone that caused a frown to form on Ianthe’s face. Was he really joking about something like Orcs? Surely, he wouldn’t. “Quick and quiet; no screams, just lots of blood.” Sure enough after he finished speaking Kili looked back to his brother and Ianthe, a joking smile spreading on his lips. Ianthe, however, didn’t find his words amusing at all. The frown on her face deepened when the prince and her locked gazes for a second, and her impassive stare caused his smile to falter. How could he joke about something like this? Something so… so cruel and absolutely terrifying?

Whenever she remembered the people that her and her rank had abandoned and left to the Orcs cruelty she felt instant guilt and anger eat away at her heart. And here was someone who could just openly joke about something as bad as an orc-raid. It made her blood boil.

“You think that’s funny?” Thorin’s biting tone caused Kili to look away from the angered mage, his brown eyes widening when he turned to see his uncle stalking over to them. Ianthe lowered her gaze to the fire as her leader scolded the foolish prince. “You think a night raid by Orcs is a joke?” Kili felt immediate regret for his words as he recoiled a bit, his hair falling in front of his face as he turned from his uncle. He found himself looking back to Ianthe while his uncle glared holes into his body, and the frown that had formed on his face deepened when she refused to meet his gaze.

“We didn’t mean anything by it.” Kili finally responded after a short while, turning to look at his uncle once more.

“No, you didn’t.” Ianthe felt a wave of coldness wash over her at the ugly tone in Thorin’s voice. She looked up just in time to see the raven-haired dwarf cast one last glare towards his youngest nephew, his lips turned up in a cruel snarl. “You know nothing of the world.” He spat, spinning on his heel and stomping back towards where he had chosen to sleep. Despite her earlier anger towards the prince Ianthe felt herself grow sorry for Kili. It was true that yes, Kili’s words were foolish and that he shouldn’t have made a joke about such a sensitive subject, but Thorin’s words affected the young dwarf greatly, Ianthe could see. Kili’s shoulders were haunched forward now as he stared at the ground, and from the angle she was sitting in she could see that a deep flush had crawl up his neck and settled on his cheeks under his stubble.

“Don’t mind him, laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate Orcs.” Ianthe turned her gaze to Balin as he began to speak, her fingers having dropped her staff a moment ago so she could bring her knees to her chest. Fili gave her shoulder a small nudge before he nodded to his brother, but she merely shook her head, giving the golden prince a knowing look before she turned her focus upon Balin again. “After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first.” Ianthe listened closely to the old dwarf as he began to recall the terrible tale. Everyone in her rank, and among the other ranks as well, had heard of the horrific battle for Moria between the Orcs and the Dwarves, and for once she felt proud to have heard from her father that some of the Mages that resided near the mountain were wise enough to offer their help.

“Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs led by the most vile of their race; Azog the Defiler..” Ianthe felt a chill run through her spine at the name, and her eyes drifted over to Thorin’s figure as Balin continued. “The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin, and he began by beheading the king.” Though it went unnoticed by most in the company, as they were paying Balin the utmost attention, Ianthe watched as Thorin flinched at the memory of the terrible day. She frowned, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to comfort him. “Thrain, Thorin’s father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless.” Balin’s voice was strained for a moment before he paused and stared off into the distance for a short moment, but he looked back to the company and continued on soon enough. “Death and defeat were upon us. That is when I saw him, a young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armor rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield.” Ianthe’s lips fell apart in awe as the story continued. Thorin’s tale of facing the Pale Orc was a story that was often told by the light of fire within her rank of Mages, but for some reason, the bard always seemed to have forgotten to mention that part in particular.

Once again Ianthe found herself looking towards the Dwarven king in wonder, and this time she found her heart beating wildly for a different purpose. The respect she held for the dwarf at the beginning of the quest had doubled as the fateful tale was told. “Azog the Defiler learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken.” Not wanting to miss a thing Ianthe looked back to Balin, only this time she found herself gripping onto Fili’s forearm in anticipation. “Our forces rallied, and with the help of the few Terra Mages—“ Ianthe felt herself flush when a few pair of eyes looked to her. She had nothing to do with it, but she still felt proud. “— drove the Orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated.” Ianthe wanted to let out a small cheer after hearing for the umpteenth time of the dwarves victory, but she kept quiet when Balin went to continue. “But there was no feast nor song that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived. And I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow,” Balin paused, a grievous smile on his lips as he looked to Thorin, the rest of the company following suit and looking towards the dwarf with awe and admiration. “There is one, I could call king.”

A silence fell over the camp as the company looked towards their leader. A new understanding ran through the dwarves at the story that was told, and Ianthe found herself holding in a breath, for she feared any sudden noise would break the intensity of the moment. Bilbo, however, was still as curious as ever, his eyes dancing between Balin and Thorin before he spoke up. “And the pale Orc?” He questioned. “What happened to him?”

Thorin stepped forward this time, eyes blazing with a past rage and fists clenched by his sides. “He slunk back into the hole whence he came.” Thorin’s features seemed deeper and filled with sadness as the fire cast a shadow over his face. Ianthe felt herself curling her fingers tighter around Fili’s forearm as the leaders piercing gaze swept around the company. “That filth died of his wounds long ago.” With that being said he turned back around and stalked off to cool down. Ianthe turned her gaze towards Fili once the excitement from the story had died down, her blue eyes meeting his for a moment before he gave the back of her hand a small pat.

“You seemed to know that story well.” He told her quietly, his eyes dancing away from her freckled face and towards the others who were settling down again. Fili could recall seeing her nod along to the story as Balin went on, sometimes evening mouthing the same words as he did, and he couldn’t help the curiosity that coursed through him at that. Ianthe’s hair bobbed up and down when she nodded. “But how? That story surely is older than you are.”

Upon hearing her chuckle at the comment Kili turned to look at the mage. Her mood had, despite the sobering story, seemed to lighten significantly since he last looked to her. “I have heard that tale almost a thousand times before.” When the Kili shot her a look of disbelief she smirked. “Like dwarves, we Mages age slower than normal. Some would even call us a cousin to the Elven race.” Ianthe chuckled when the brother shared a look, and it seemed to her that neither of them believed her words. Gandalf had heard her little explanation and shot the mage a knowing look, yet she waved it off as she leaned forward, pressing her elbows against her crossed knees. “It is true! I would wager that I am older than almost everyone in this company— well, aside from Gandalf that is.”

“Oh really?” Kili gave her a challenging look, and he too leaned forward, moving his face just a bit closer to hers. Though they were still a few feet apart. “And how old are you exactly, Miss Ianthe?”

The mage paused for a quick moment as she recoiled from the prince, her eyes looking upwards and her mouth moving silently as she did the math in her head. The brothers once again locked eyes with one another, neither one of them believing the girl in front of them was truly that old. If she had been a dwarf they were sure she wouldn’t be much older than them, if she even was as old as them. A few more moments of silence from the mage passed and she looked down to her ringed fingers, counting off of them for a second before she looked back up. The brothers leaned forward to hear her answer. “Well it seems I’ve quite forgotten when my last birthday was,” Ianthe let out a sheepish grin as she rubbed her palms together, and Kili couldn’t help the flutter in his chest and the laugh he let out when he saw a deep red flood her freckled cheeks. His eyes grew wide, however, when she spoke again, and he looked to Fili as he choked on air. “But I do believe my last birthday marked my five-hundredth and thirty-first year of being here.”

“You have got to be joking!” Ianthe scrambled forward and pressed her hand over Kili’s mouth at his exclamation, her eyes widening with a bit of fear as she looked around the company. Many dwarves had finally fallen asleep again, and she preferred to not be the center of their rage if they were to be woken up again. Kili’s eyes went wide for a second as well when Ianthe appeared in front of him. Her fingers were curled behind his head and ever-so-slightly into his hair as she silenced him with her other hand, and for a moment he froze when his heart jolted in his chest at how she was practically on his lap. She was so close to him now. His eyes danced over her features; he could see the freckles that lined her round cheeks and nose clearly, almost like the stars that shone brightly against the night sky. Her blue eyes were speckled with the slightest bit of grey, like clouds that blew around the bright blue sky. Kili felt his throat close up suddenly when she locked eyes with him, his skin suddenly burning bright red.

“You must be more quiet, Kili!” After what felt like hours Ianthe finally removed her hand from his mouth, her fingers drawing around from the back of his neck and releasing his hair slowly. The prince found himself wanting to suddenly grab her and hold her close again, the feeling of her thick fingers brushing over his hair and neck sending tingles through his body. But he didn’t. He did, however, narrow his eyes at Fili as he laughed at the wide-eyed look he had sent the mage. “We shouldn’t wake the others.”

“It’s not his fault you’re so old.” That comment earned Fili a single, yet very firm punch to the shoulder from Ianthe as he chuckled. The blonde prince ruffled Ianthe’s hair for a second after dodging another punch, his fingers grabbing a hold of her wrist firmly before he wriggled a finger over her nose. “Relax now, Ianthe. You should get some rest. I doubt tomorrow will be as easy as today was for traveling.”

Ianthe quite agreed with his statement. Her body had been calling for much needed sleep since she had finished her soup, yet Balin’s story had robbed her of that. Now though, as the warm fire crackled lightly and the stars provided a comforting light above their heads, Ianthe felt sleep call to her again. She gave a small nod in agreement to Fili before she pushed her staff further away from her, her body sliding down into her bedroll before she grabbed her blanket and brought it close to her chin. Ianthe found herself looking towards the brothers as they soon followed suit and settled down next to her, Fili on her left and Kili on her right. She felt a warmth grow in her chest when she looked towards the youngest prince, their eyes locking again before she smiled sweetly at him.

“Sleep well, young princes. May the Valar watch over us tonight and guide our dreams.”

[sheliesshattered]

This Isn’t A Ghost Story extras for Chapter 5: The Present

It’s Friday, so the next chapter of This Isn’t A Ghost Story has been posted! Chapter 5 is here on Tumblr, and here on AO3. There are spoilers below the cut, but I walk through the chapter in order, so it’s fairly safe to keep this one open for visual references as you read, if you want.

Those of you who have been following along with my writing process for This Isn’t A Ghost Story may have noticed how the story grew and morphed on me as I wrote. Despite knowing early-on the sort of story I wanted to tell and all the facets of the mystery that would need to be revealed, the story still managed to grow organically and surprise me at various points.

When I finished chapter 4 and started working on chapter 5, I had every intention that chapter 5 would be the final chapter, with a short epilogue that followed -- six chapters total, rather than the eight we ended up with. I knew what plot points and mystery reveals ch5 needed to cover, and I figured I could fit it all into one reasonably sized chapter. Even as late as the last week of July I was still thinking along those lines, and I quite nearly started posting chapters then, thinking I was nearly finished writing. 

But something held me back from posting, and when I woke up the next morning I realized that chapter 5 really needed to be split. What ended up being chapter 5 and chapter 6 are together about 12,300 words, which wouldn’t have been the longest chapter I’ve ever posted, but certainly longer than I meant for chapters in this story to be, and thankfully I was able to find a good spot to split it.

As with the rest of this story, my husband Jack has been acting as my beta reader and in-house cheerleader, and particularly after reading chapter 4 he was really adamant that I keep focusing on writing and get through the story as quickly as possible -- maybe partially so I could start posting, but mostly so he could read it and find out the answers to the rest of the mystery, lol. Starting with chapter 5, he began reading chunks of the chapter as I finished them, and then eventually went back and re-read all of chapter 5. And every time he’s read it, he’s commented that this is his favorite line in the entire chapter:

“No,” she told him firmly. “Not unless you take away my say in it.” She didn’t add again, but she knew they were both thinking it.

Jack and I have been together nearly two decades, and I think it’s that shared unspoken language of spouses that he finds so amusing here.

For most parts of this story, I can’t really pinpoint exactly when I wrote a particular line or scene, as I tend to write non-consecutively as bits come to mind, tackle conversations or plot points I know will need to happen and then fill in the gaps in between, and go over any given section dozens of times making little edits or adding whole paragraphs until it reads the way I want it to, with the sort of pacing and emotional weight I think it needs. But this bit in particular, I know exactly when I wrote it:

“Our story, Doctor... It isn’t the tragedy you think it is. This isn’t a ghost story. It never was. It’s a love story. And if I know one thing about love stories? They always have a happy ending, one way or another.”

July 15th. I’d been having a rough writing day, hated everything I’d written the day before (more or less everything from the start of ch5 to that line, in its first draft form), and was feeling really unmotivated. Then I saw some excellent meta about the episode Hide on my dash that @clara-oswin-oswald​ had just posted. The title for this story comes from something the Eleventh Doctor says in that episode, and here was Sophie talking about that scene again, just when I was ready to stuff This Isn’t A Ghost Story into a drawer and never look at it again.

My intention with the title for this story had always been to evoke that line from Hide, and hope that most people would be able to fill in the second half of the sentence, “it’s a love story”, on their own. But it hadn’t occurred to me until I was reading Sophie’s meta that I could actually have Clara articulate exactly that thought within the story. The 42 words of that line of dialogue was all I managed to write on July 15th, but I woke up the next morning feeling significantly better about the story and ready to dive back in, make the edits that would fix the first part of the chapter, and keep hacking away at the next scenes to come. 

Of course, the next bit I was trying to connect up with was actually something I’d written parts of earlier, that corresponded with the teeny tiny detail I’d posted a little poll about way back at the end of June. I knew I wanted to introduce Clara’s wedding ring around this point in the story, but I got hung up on what it should look like. Theoretically that should be a little inconsequential detail, just a single line of prose to help the reader visualize it better, but the results from that poll -- blue, unusual, and in support of world-building -- ended up leading me down a complete rabbit hole of research, that eventually spawned what turned into chapter 8. I’ll wait to share the details on that for when we reach ch8 at the end of this month, but the relevant bits from chapter 5 are of course Clara’s ring and what inspired the Doctor to pick that one for her in the first place.

Clara’s ring is based on these two antique rings:

The center stone is what’s known as a star sapphire, which are known to be particularly stunning in direct sunlight.

The Doctor tells Clara that when he first saw it -- presumably while ring shopping before their wedding in 1923 -- he was reminded of when he took her to see the archaeological work going on at the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut in 1921. The Temple does in fact have multiple areas where the ceilings are painted blue with rayed stars. It’s a popular motif from that era of ancient Egypt and shows up in a several other places as well.

I picture the jewelry box that Clara digs up as looking something along these lines:

The other piece of jewelry that is mentioned in detail is the necklace the Doctor bought for Clara in 1925. It’s based on the winged sun disk found on many ancient Egyptian temples:

It’s also meant to be a nod to the necklace Clara wears in The Bells of Saint John and The Rings of Akhaten, similar in both design and size:

From there, we get into one of the final remaining mysteries of the story, which the Doctor is clearly reluctant to talk about. There have been hints about this as far back as the first chapter, and from comments on previous chapters, I think a few of you may have guessed that this is where things were headed. Did this reveal turn out the way you thought it would? Or did it surprise you?

Lots of heartbreak at the end of this chapter, but we’re only a few chapters away from our happy ending now. It has been so much fun for me to hear your thoughts and theories as the mystery has unfolded! Thank you to everyone who has left a comment on This Isn’t A Ghost Story, both here and over on AO3. ❤️

--

Extras for Chapter 6: The Future

[theflashdriver]

Rapunzel’s Tower (Silvaze)

The clatter and jangle of heavy bangles boomed above the sound of fast footsteps on cobblestone streets as a young knight rushed towards the tower. Blaze the cat, age seven, was not her usual self today; the young feline had taken on a guise, a façade to fit a role she was currently playing. While she was wearing her usual tattered robe and tights, a cape from a centuries abandoned costume store was flitting and fluttering behind her while the visor of and old plastic helmet obscured her vision of the cracked and burning streets around her. Those old trinkets, coupled with the rusted pipe that was her sword, might have given the illusion that she was a more pitiful and crude knight, but this was not the case.

Blaze was playing the role of a young knight who had set off to save a fair maiden from a distant castle in which she'd been sealed, battling her way over all manner of obstacles and destroying all kinds of beasts in search of her true love. Of course, despite the make-believe nature of this game, those obstacles and monsters were oh so very real. The flaming beasts that prowled this city had got in her way more than once, only to be seen off by either a thwack from her supposed sword or a burst of flame from her free hand. Every time she had to dispose of a monster or hurl herself across a lava filled gorge, she would question whether this game of theirs was the best idea but soon she'd fall back into her knightly persona.

This had all come about as a result of two ancient but very different sources. The first was the books they'd been reading or, well, more specifically; the books that the tower's maiden had rather fallen in love with. Since the destruction of their prior home, they'd taken up residence in a library on the edge of the city and rather fallen in love with the various books housed within it. They'd started by reading informative pieces, introducing themselves to the wonders of the past, before gradually stumbling upon the more fanciful tales of both regular and not so regular lives. Her partner, Silver, had rather fallen in love with tales of pirates and knights and kings and queens, often reading them to her and bordering on enacting them to her. His excitement had come to a head recently though, after they'd discovered a most peculiar shop. It seemed to have gone mostly untouched by time, no one had breached its windows or broken down its door, but both inside were countless treasures. Rings, bangles, tiaras, necklaces and other trinkets had just been left in glass display cases for no clear reason. Why someone would choose to buy those shiny objects rather than food or water, neither of them really knew but they did know that the objects belonged in treasure chests and adorning princesses.

Now, taking from long abandoned shops was nothing new for them (it was the only way to survive in their long-destroyed world) but, usually, they stole for either comfort or survival. All of these objects, despite how pretty they were, looked to be entirely pointless; they could gain no sustenance from them and they offered no comfort or protection. However, the naïve pleading of her partner, and a certain red gem that fit so well on her forehead, had convinced Blaze to fill a bag with those sparkling trinkets. On the way home he had proposed using them in a re-enactment; more specifically, that they re-enacted a scene from one of the shorter stories that he'd read to her. It'd taken some convincing, but she had agreed to play his little game under only one condition: that she got to be the knight while he played the part of the princess.

He'd immediately agreed, simply excited to play and not seeming to particularly care what role he took. While that had embarrassed her at first, she'd stood helpless as he scrambled to find some shining armour and when he had brought her a cape from his bedroom, Blaze had felt an excitement brewing in her stomach. A childish, foolish, excitement but excitement none the less. Her armour was adorned from most of their plundered goods, broaches and pins had been stuck through her robe to create small shining patches. Rings and bangles had covered her hands to take the form of makeshift gauntlets, but many had been shed as she ran. Admittedly, even with all they'd taken and dressed her in, she didn't look much like the knights they'd read about in history books or plays, but she did feel… different.

She dashed and leapt across another jagged chasm, using her sword as leverage to vault over an especially wide gap and land safely on the other side. Her eyes locked on a pair of prowling magma hounds, their maws snapped open as they caught sight of the small girl's form. She threw her left hand in one's direction, unleashing a blast of flame that threw it backwards. The second rushed towards her, arriving just in time for its face to meet with her rusted pipe. Without so much as looking back, she kept running; the castle now in sight.

The tower, in actuality, was a skyscraper that had broken and collapsed long before either of them were born. Though the majority of it now lay shattered over the shops and houses that were behind it, its stump still stood tall and proud over the majority of the surrounding buildings. Though Blaze could see it, she knew that the site was especially difficult to reach; that was why they'd chosen it as the stranded princess' keep, after all.

Focusing again on her role, becoming the knight, Blaze charged around the final corner and locked her eyes upon the tower's decrepit plaza. There was a lot on her way; several lava rivers had carved channels through this part of the city and earthquakes had displaced much of the land, segmenting the streets and pavement alike. She threw a glance to the top of the tower; she swore that she could see the flickering of cyan light but, from this distance and at this angle, she couldn't make out Silver.

She resumed her sprint, tracing along the angular central crack that ran along the street, but soon she had shifted to jumping and bouncing. Every third or fourth step was followed by more cracking, the ground had been made brittle by years of constant heat and pressure. She found herself more and more using her pipe to vault and ground herself, very almost losing it to the flames time and time again only to catch and swing it at the very last second. Fleet of foot and elegant, but perhaps not steadfast like the knight in the tale, Blaze soon found herself in the plaza beneath the broken structure.

It took her a moment to find a spot that would fully support her, it seemed as though her every step disturbed the ground somehow, but, eventually, she settled near the spire's base. In its working life, the building had provided homes to hundreds of people. Now it was but a jagged piece of the skyline, too rickety and impractical for anyone to really live in. Positioned closer and frowning upward, the kitten could see a psychic glow plainly emanating above her. After a bit more squinting, Blaze determined that Silver wasn't in view yet; he was hiding until she called out to him, just as the princess had in the story. The moment she spoke up, he'd make his appearance and recite his lines.

Blaze thought for a moment, trying to remember what the knight had said. She must have taken a while because, before she could hazard a guess, the very book that she was supposed to be enacting tumbled down from the skyscraper on a beam of cyan light. The young feline managed to snatch it from the air, finding it already open at the perfect page.

Upon reading no more than the first few words, the knight automatically recalled her lines. Holding the book behind her back, she pointed her sword to the heavens, "Rapunzel, my dearest Rapunzel, I've come for you!"

Now, finally, the princess showed herself. Silver, currently known as Rapunzel, had borrowed one of Blaze's hair ties and pulled back his usually over the top quills. In an attempt to further transform his appearance, the hedgehog had wrapped himself in a thick beige shawl and various silk scarves to give the outfit more colour. From down there it was difficult to see, but she knew that his fingers were covered in rings too.

"Who is it? Who has come to see me?" He called down, leaning precariously over what remained of a wall.

"It is I, your handsome knight!" She shouted back, unable to keep herself from thinking that the so-called knight in the story thought just a little too highly of himself. After all, his only name in this entire book was the handsome knight, "I've come to save you!"

"But how will you join me up here? My father broke the stairs when he locked me away in this tower, I'm trapped!" He exposited, "I've been alone up here for so many years, I'm oh so lonely!"

"But it is being alone for so many years that will bring me to you!" She replied, pointing her sword even harder, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!"

There was a beat of silence, a mutual realisation surely dawned upon both of them. In the story, the princess Rapunzel was supposed to let down her hair for the knight to climb up. While it was unclear how the happy pair had got down afterwards and left to live happily ever after, the story could not continue without the scaling of the princess' tower and the actual first meeting of the knight and their love. Silver's quills were long, but they weren't multiple stories long, there was no way-

"Dear knight! Do you trust me?" That wasn't in the book, "My hair may not yet be long enough, but I can bring us together another way!"

Blaze saw cyan light begin to pulse and flicker around her frame and creep into her vision, not imprisoning her or grasping her so much as it was making clear his intent. She bit her lip, both her fists tightened around the respectively grasped book and pipe. She was frightened, terrified of heights, but she knew the answer to what he'd asked. They were alone in this destroyed world, they worked and fought and lived and played together.

"Of course, I trust you, d-dear princess! More than I trust anyone else!" She called out, shutting her eyes tight, "J-Just promise that you'll get me up there safely!"

Aura began to tickle at her sides, "I promise, my knight! I'll get you up here as quickly as I can!"

"M-Maybe not quickly!" She felt his psychic touch hesitate, "But not too slowly either…" She grumbled, probably too quietly for him to hear, "Just safely! J-Just get me up there safely!"

The kitten felt a gentle touch, like some kind of hug, wrap around her shoulders before gradually spreading to encase her entire torso. Mere moments after she'd managed to get comfortable with that, her feet seemed to slip from the ground and a light wind began to whistle through her ears. Her toes curled and her teeth grit, she didn't dare to open her eyes even if she knew what was happening. She trusted him not to drop her, that much was true, but she didn't trust her fear not to stoke her powers and tear her from his grasp; sending her plummeting to the concrete below. Eventually though, she felt the air brush her muzzle directly rather than from above; she'd reached the correct elevation, she was being pulled towards him. The moment of truth arrived not with a sound, but something brushing past her shoulder and a hand taking hold of her book wielding wrist.

Her eyes opened, blue energy still tinted her vision, but Silver was the centre of all she saw. The small hedgehog was close, almost nose to nose with her, as he leaned out over the edge of the tower to manually pull her onto its top. She let her sword drop before she landed, it clattered onto the roof as she grabbed at his shoulder with her newly freed hand. Her fear of heights had gotten better since she'd met him, he'd offered to help her with it much too often, but there was still a way to go until she'd be comfortable jumping from building to building or even standing atop this one. They'd been up here before, she knew the floor was stable, but this rooftop was never meant to be a rooftop; it wasn't designed to endure rain, let alone the landing and spittle of lava monsters, and she swore it'd gained more holes since their last visit.

As if noticing her worry, as she made contact with the ground, Silver brought both his arms to tightly wrap around her. It was a comfort and contact that she immediately returned, dropping the book too as she took hold of him. It only took a minute or so for her to relax, feeling her heart slow to match his, but the moment that her features softened and she caught his eye, a smile broke onto his face.

"My knight, you have saved me from my isolation!" He continued the story, continuing to beam, "How can I repay you?"

"Just stay by my side forever, that will be more than enough," She recited from memory, attempting to regain the knight's cool air, "I've searched for you for so long, I don't want to lose you again."

"Then it will be done, I'll stay by your side forevermore!" He insisted, completing the scene by pulling her into an even tighter hug.

His fluffy quills brushed and ticked at her. Though she turned her head in an attempt to hide it, Blaze couldn't help but grin. It'd been very silly, they probably should've spent this time searching for food or reinforcing their home, but Blaze couldn't deny that she'd thoroughly enjoyed this pseudo performance. There was something almost regular about it all, almost as if it suited them better than doing what they had to. She supposed that made sense, they were kids after all and, according to the books at least, kids were supposed to imagine and play games. There was a whole section in the library meant for children and very little of its literature was particularly practical, even if those stories were far more fun to read.

She would never admit that, of course. She always insisted that silly games like this were the result of his sole machinations. But then, he displayed more than enough joy for the both of them.

"You did great Blaze, you really fit the part!" He was practically bouncing, beaming brighter and brighter with each passing second, "But… can I be the knight next time? That all looked really fun and I'll be able to fly up to you; you won't have to worry about getting scared if I do that, right?"

"We can take turns," She conceded but, as she through a small glance towards the ground, her grip on him redoubled in tightness, "But… I don't want to be up this high without you."

"Alright! We can find somewhere lower," He offered, grinning so widely that she thought his cheeks might break, "We could even just do it in the library if you prefer, there are plenty of fairy tales about princesses in dungeons too!"

--- --- ---

The memories of that time were a lifetime away and yet they were still so fresh in her mind. Blaze the cat, age eighteen, was stood on her bedroom balcony. The structure overlooked the royal gardens. Though the grounds were currently devoid of workers, the rose bushes, sunflowers and plants from far afield had been tended for generations and bloomed today with the same vigour they had a century prior. The sun had set almost an hour ago, the last trickles of pink and orange were slowly fading from the sky, and yet she was still wide awake. In a rather uncouth fashion, she'd brought her dinner to her bedroom with the promise to eat while she worked.

But she had done neither. Instead, she'd spent what little time she'd had pacing back and forth across the royal bedchamber; her mind had latched onto those old memories she'd so recently discovered. Memories of a life in which she played the part of a princess rather than lived as one.

They'd thought jewellery no more than interesting rocks stuck to shiny metals, their concept of value had been so jaded that the plate of cold paella on her desk would be worth all the rings and diamonds in the world. They'd been famished, they were delusional children clinging to each other against the odds. Any rational person wouldn't dare think back to those memories or, if they did, would consider them no better than tragic, the most difficult and dangerous time of their lives. So why did she feel like this, what were these bizarre thoughts that cluttered her mind and pushed out every other thought?

Why was she so nostalgic for that terrible place, what possible reason was there?

She'd left that world wishing it better, she'd given her life without so much as hesitating. She could remember looking down at him as her ethereal form drifted up and split the clouds as she passed from one life into the next. Blaze had essentially reincarnated, not only had she forgotten that life, but its pain and strain had been entirely removed from her mind and body. She'd been reborn, this new dimension had granted her an entire refresh of both mind and body, but yesterday had seen her regain half of that. Her mind was spinning, filled to burst with tumultuous memories that so heavily contradicted the life she'd just lived. The current mismatched form of her memory was already having impacts on her mind and body.

The sunset she'd just spent the past hour watching had occurred outside her bedroom window every night for the past eighteen years. Every night, she'd had the option to watch or even simply glance as the sun descended before slipping beneath the horizon. She never had though, or, at least, she hadn't since she was young. The glory and wonder of that sight had been entirely lost on her, she'd become desensitised to it. It'd been made mundane by its perpetuity, made a commodity by their daily occurrence, but now it wasn't so daily. Now she could remember fourteen years spent in a city where the clouds never parted, and it was as if this was the first sunset she'd ever actually seen.

Until her departure, the skies of that future had been overwhelmed by black sulphurous clouds that light refused to penetrate. She'd gone without seeing a sunrise or sunset for fourteen whole years, she'd seen nothing but the most dower of grey skies. This life hadn't been so different though, the sky had been there, but she'd never seen its value. It was all thanks to him; his returning of her memories had saved her from more than a dull castle view, he had unlocked the version of her that'd been hidden away in the shambling tower that was her newly unharmed body.

Unlike that once forgotten day, the first of many times they'd embodied those childish roles and played that silly game, she'd actually saved him. She'd given herself up for him and the world; she'd revealed the sky by leaving rather than arriving. It was painful to think how pointless it had all been though, that their loss of one another had only pealed back one of many layers of disaster that stood between them and the good future they desired. The peaceful world that he fought for was still sealed behind a two-hundred-year barrier of crisis that would surely take decades of work to unlock.

It was with that thought that a speck of cyan light fluttered up and found its way into Blaze's vision, soon being followed by a handful of larger glowing globules before, finally, a grey-white figure masked by that that same energy floated up to enter her vision. Despite his arrival and their reuniting just yesterday, she hadn't been able to see him all day. Her work as both guardian and princess had taken up far too much of her time and refused to halt regardless of her headspace. Silver the hedgehog, age eighteen, was floating just outside her grasp. His body was bound in bandages she'd set just yesterday,

He hung before her in the air, smiling as he reached out to her, just as he had in days long past when he had played the role of knight and she had been princess. Without so much as blinking, she took his hand and lead him to stand on the balcony beside her. The contact seemed to stun him just a little, it took a moment for him to round from his position to land beside her.

He'd quickly gone from grinning to looking sheepish, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, I know you said to get here before sundown but I got a little lost and distracted," Before he could even fully apologise, his eyes were flickering back to the outside world, "This place is just so pretty, even the garden down there, it's…"

"It's beautiful," She finished his sentence before continuing, "The sun sets every evening only to rise the next morning without fail and, in the time between the two, the stars come out to dance so wonderfully."

"It's a very different sight from the one I've been seeing," He admitted, plainly scanning the sky for the twinkling of the first star, "Well… not very different, but different enough to notice."

"Oh?" She hummed, briefly managing to tear her gaze from his softer smile.

"Yeah, I don't recognise any constellations, your moon's just a little different too. In the past of my world a lot of it got destroyed. This one looks perfect," She couldn't see it now, but she had last night so she understood him perfectly. Alike the sunset, the moon had stolen a place in her heart, it was undeniably beautiful.

Still, her eyes returned to his frame and the feeling of his hand in hers sapped all of her thoughts. For as overwhelmed as she felt, struggling to rise after that rush of old memories, he was struggling more, even if it wasn't showing so plainly. He'd arrived in a world that perhaps embodied his perfect future only to receive a clear reminder of how long he'd been working at his task, all that it'd already cost him and the future trials ahead of him. Even if he hadn't considered such things yet, those thoughts would surely materialise and bring him to worry; he could be so insecure when he was on his own, so she didn't plan to leave his side.

Blaze tugged his hand, turning him to look away from the sky and to her. He stumbled a little, almost colliding with her as he was made to align with her and the entryway to the royal bedchambers. The hedgehog was framed by the descending sun, even without looking, she could see the stars flickering into visibility behind him. He'd never quite looked real to her, always just a little otherworldly; a figure of bright colours that stood in stark contrast to the burning city that had surrounded them. Here though, flanked by the cosmos beyond this world, he looked more at home than he ever had before. It was almost as if he belonged in this tower rather than her, she couldn't imagine that she looked so stunning with that vista behind her.

Despite how he'd arrived, despite him hovering up to meet her, Blaze knew the role she wanted to play. Fortunately, it was the one she most often took She knew that she wanted to look after him before even considering letting him look after her.

"You know…" She couldn't help but primitively roll her eyes at what she was about to say, a small grin had surely snuck its way onto her lips, but she spoke in her usual dry tone, "I think I liked things better when you were the princess."

Tensions were still so high, these feelings and memories were just so raw, but she couldn't hold a straight face for long and, naturally, neither could he. Their frames reunited, her hands found his shoulders while he came to hug her and their heads heavily pressed against one another. Laughing, even if neither of them were quite sure why they were, they found themselves slowly shifting deeper into her room.

Once they were beyond the threshold, Blaze managed to shift her head from his and take the hedgehog in again. Silver was still laughing, eyes shut as he so casually leant against her. He was quite the mess, his quills still thoroughly overgrown and his fur made mismatched lengths by the injuries he had sustained across this second life, but the warmth behind his smile still shined through. Though his form was slightly different to the Silver she'd known, that smile told her that the naïve hedgehog she'd once known lived on in this new shell. As his eyes finally reopened, she recognised the flash of excitement in them.

"W-Well then, my knight," He was struggling to keep a straight face as he continued her joke, "I made a promise to you once, I don't intend to let it break again," He was playing his role from way back then, perfectly falling back into it, "Now that I've arrived in your tower, I would ask no more than the same from you."

"If that is truly all you wish, my dear princess, then of course, I agree to your terms," At this distance, though she'd been distracted, the scent of salt, smoke and sweat was deeply rooted in his person. Where her soft fur met with his coarser fluff, she could feel the bizarre friction; she'd given him some care yesterday, but it hadn't been enough. No matter how nice he looked with that skyline behind him, there was no denying the truth, "Come on, I'll draw you a bath. You're filthy."

"I jumped in the sea this morning though," He earnestly responded, looking down at himself, "I thought that would be good enough… it took ages to dry off."

"You're still so naïve," He still had so much to learn about living normally, let alone this world, "Just as it's a knight's job to protect the princess, it's my job to look after you. You're dirty, hurt, overgrown…" She noticed that his gaze had drifted past her, his nose was wrinkling. A glance over her shoulder revealed her cold dish of rice and fish, "And clearly famished. Let's get you more comfortable. I won't let you struggle alone for another moment."

All it took was another tug at his wrist to pull his stupefied frame after her. Though this wasn't the role she'd been reborn into, she knew it was the one she suited far better. That and, as the innocently perplexed look on his face proved, he did make for a rather adorable damsel, even if he didn't much need the guardian's more literal protecting.

[theholycovenantrpg]

CONGRATULATIONS, JADE! YOU’VE BEEN ACCEPTED FOR THE ROLE OF JUDAS.

Admin Jen: There aren’t enough words to capture the sheer magnitude of your portrayal, but I would say your writing definitely gets the job and speaks for itself, Jade. You have such keen insight into Judas and the various intricacies that play into his character, and you explored it all so beautifully in your app. My favorite part was certainly the plots and the limitless possibilities they posed for Judas, but every other portion of the app only added onto it and propelled your vision further. It was so compelling to read through, and it left me so unbelievably excited to see Judas prowling and scheming on the dash! Please create and send in your account, review the information on our CHECKLIST, and follow everyone on the FOLLOW LIST. Welcome to the Holy Land!

OUT OF CHARACTER

Alias | Jade

Age | 27

Preferred Pronouns | She/her

Activity Level | My schedule is nothing if not predictable these days! Covid has me almost exclusively sitting at home on the couch, so barring the time that I spend with my husband, I’m usually around. I don’t always have it in me to write every day, but I think it would be reasonable to expect me on the dash multiple days per week.

Timezone | PST

Triggers | REMOVED

How did you find the rp?  |  Through Rosey’s grapevine!

IN CHARACTER

Character | The infamous, the great betrayer himself — Judas (ju-da-ah-ahhhhh!!)

What future plots do you have in mind for the character? | Where do you see this character developing, and what kind of actions would you have them take to get there? 3 future plot ideas would be preferable.

I | KING OF EVERYTHING

Judas’s ultimate goal, once the last wars have been waged, is to claim the Holy Land for himself. Sorry, for demonkind — but, ruled by and submitting to, himself. He formed Infernum’s government with intention, hiding the monopoly of his power amongst a consortium of others who allegedly hold sway as well, allowing Damien to be the face of the revolution while his hand guided from the shadows. For some time, it has served him well, but contentedness is a poison he cannot swallow. He looks towards the Holy Land and greed takes his reins yet again, his hollowed stomach in knots thinking about a world in which the people bow to a power he does not hold firmly between his teeth. There are a multitude of ways he might go about it, and I’d be eager to plot out the possible angles with other writers, but I do believe that Judas will, at some point, make a play to claim the Holy Land. That might be through political division — sewing lies amongst the people, breeding distrust in the Tridium and their current way of being. It might be through betrayal, tried and ever true — to sell the Tridium out to a rogue set of Heretics, an insurgent with a grudge.. whoever might be interested, really. Or, if all else fails, perhaps by declaration of war.

II | COLLECTING FROM CONQUEST

He’s no fool. He knows the value of a blank check with Dmitri’s name on it, and he’s been waiting patiently for the right time to cash it. While Judas doesn’t yet have his exact ask envisioned, he knows one thing for certain — when he calls upon the favor he’d earned by saving old Conquest, it won’t be for something as small as a discounted price on a hit. No, it’ll be saved for the moment he makes his play towards the Holy Land — war times, when he’s sure to benefit most from the protection of the healing horseman. Until then, he finds such a wicked joy in taunting Dmitri with his silence on the matter.

III | GRASPING THE STARS

I imagine Judas carries a heavy interest in just who is going to be selected as the Stars, and will be doing what he can to sway mortal perception in favor of whoever he feels will best represent the demons’ interests. Azazel plays her part, but a loyal mortal amongst the Tridium would serve Infernum well, particularly in keeping Gabriel at bay. He’ll do what he can to put the right person in the position — and if that fails, he’ll be sure to slither up alongside who is elected and make their close acquaintance.

IV | CONSPIRING WITH THE HERETICS

Should Judas decide that sewing distrust in the Tridium’s ability to maintain peace and safety is the best move, I imagine he may try to use the world’s hatred of the Heretics to his benefit. I could see him providing rogue groups of Heretics or Heretic sympathizers with information about or access to gatherings, parties, political events, what have you. Surely, a resurgence of the Heretics would cause a panic — one that may make the populus question whether their leaders are the best leaders. Who might he set them on, though? Maybe he’d give them an opportunity to assassinate an angel, or even one of his own. Maybe he’d sick them on innocents. The precise move would depend on what’s happening in-game, but this type of betrayal is surely possible!

V | PUPPETEERING THE TRIDIUM

There was a reason he’d reached his hand up to Azazel from the pits of hell, pulled her down into his kingdom and taught her all he could. He’d seen what could be forged from a thing like her — the way she could enchant, the way she inspired adoration. She made for a Moon both palatable and unthreatening — a beauty that begged to be worshipped by the masses, and a mind that cared not for the politics of it all. While she wears the crown, Judas sees the strings as his to pull. I imagine him very much attempting to use Azazel as a means of enacting his particular will amongst the Tridium. He trusts that she’ll continue to represent the interests he instructs her to, so long as the praise keeps coming — and oh, he’s aware of just how key praise is in getting anywhere with Azazel. I see Judas showering Azazel in attention and blessings, all the time, even when there isn’t something he’d like her to get done in the Holy Land. It makes it far more likely she’ll be agreeable when there is.

VI | BETRAYAL OF AZAZEL

Should all mentioned above work without a hitch, I don’t see Judas finding a reason to betray Azazel aside from sheer boredom — though, don’t discount that as a very, very real possibility. I think Judas keeps a particular watch on Azazel, most notably on where her interests lie. If he begins to notice her prioritizing the Tridium before Infernum, things change. If she’s no longer a use to him, she’s a target, and there are plenty of ways I can see Judas trying to target her. As a prominent political figure in the Holy Land, something bad happening to Azazel would cause some sort of political uprising that Judas could surely take advantage of — maybe he arranges her kidnapping, maybe her death. Maybe he just sets her up to look incompetent and make a fool of herself. It would all depend!

VII | WAR ALONGSIDE DAMIEN

From the moment he saw Damien, he’d had a plan for him — to guide the child towards his destiny and his father’s demise. He’d needed Damien as the face of his revolution against Lucifer, but more importantly, he’d needed Damien’s powers for war on earth. Through whisper and trial, Judas had crafted the Antichrist into the weapon that would destroy the Morning Star. Though peace has persisted for years, Judas sees another war ahead of them — one in which the demons stake their claim on the Holy Land, and in that war, he needs Damien’s power of devastation more than ever before. I see Judas subtly preparing Damien for another war, planting seeds of anger and fight in him, winding him up and preparing to unleash him on the world yet again. But, this time, when a new order is established, I don’t imagine Judas sees Damien as any sort of king. No, when the Holy Land is conquered, it will be with Damien as a war general, and Judas on the throne.

VIII | BETRAYAL OF DAMIEN

As time ticks on, Judas grows more and more resentful about the invisible crown Damien seems to be growing a bit too comfortable underneath. While he views Damien as an instrumental piece in his eventual takeover of the Holy Land, and one of his most cherished weapons, Judas’s patience could easily be tested if Damien begins to grow a bit too power-hungry. I could see a legitimate rift building in Infernum, in which some sort of civil war erupts between Judas and his protege for the true crown.

IX | MINDING THE CELLS

In Abaddon, he sees something almost resembling an equal. He trusts her with the keeping of the Cells, he trusts she’ll allow him the kind of access and influence over the prisoners that he needs, while never aspiring to threaten his rule and supporting all his endeavours. Ever an opportunist, I think Judas uses Abaddon to keep a close eye on who’s currently in lock-up, and how they might prove useful. I imagine him either prowling the cells alongside Abaddon, looking for abilities or gifts that he could weaponize, or unfortunate souls he can use as scapegoats in various plots, or heretic sympathizers to manipulate, conspire with, and unleash. While he’d never say it explicitly, I imagine Judas is silently keeping an eye out for some sort of being with a power he could one day weaponize against the Antichrist himself, should the need ever arise to deliver Damien his ruination.

X | BETRAYAL OF ABADDON

As Abaddon struggles with the duality of her nature, wrestling with her angelic remains, I’m curious to see how Judas responds. I imagine he might view any further exploration into her angelic nature as a threat to her loyalty, and if he fears she’s disloyal, he’s not above throwing her to the wolves — perhaps locking her in her own cells if he suspects her of holding interests elsewhere, or unlocking a few doors and setting on her a legion of prisoners hungry for vengeance. You know, just an idea.

XI | BETRAYAL OF JUDAS

The one we’ve all been waiting for — the plot in which the tables finally turn, and it’s Judas who’s blindly turned on by someone he’d made the mistake of trusting. While the details of this would be entirely up to other players and what they might have in mind, I would gladly offer him up to learn what it feels like on the pointy end of betrayal.

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | Should the circumstance be right, and I could still find a way to be a part of the group post-mortem as another character, I could be convinced!

Driving Character Motivation | What motivates your character’s actions? How does it define them? Where does this motivation stem from?

IN DEPTH

In a word, himself — more specifically, the advancement of the self, full utilization of every opportunity he’s given to climb ever higher. Within Judas lives an insatiable thirst for power, a desire to devour and rebuild in his name and image. No matter how many lives he holds firmly in his palm, there are always more to seize. A master strategist, with moves planned to be executed as early as tonight’s dusk and as far-away as the new era he’ll one day reign over uncontested, he sees the path of greatness he’s laid out for himself, and it propels him ever forward. His selfish, greedy, hungry soul has never rested, never waved a flag of white. He cast the Son of God out from the earth, and Lucifer himself from the pits of hell — and yet still, he craves more.. More power, more leverage, more shadowed spiderweb strings with which to puppeteer his ever-growing consortium of underlings. It’s not enough. Nothing will ever be enough. 

Both his most rudimentary nature, down to his rotting marrow, and God’s wicked predestiny may share accountability in equal parts.

We’ll first address what comes from within. Something dark and nebulous has always festered in the pits of him — an emptiness that knew only how to want. That blackness, rumbling hollow and empty, is sin itself, as entwined with his being as the ligaments and cartilage that held his human bones together. Amongst the reasons his eventual rise led him to the Conclave rather than an anointment as one of Damien’s vices, his most favored is that he simply cannot be reduced to a single manifestation of sin. A gluttonous appetite that the body and blood of Christ himself could not sate. A deep-rooted greed able to mistake the glint of silver for salvation. A silent pride so resounding he bathes himself in absolution, while wicked wrath condemns the rest. Even as he followed the Son of God and recited his teachings, the devil perched himself comfortably on his shoulder, whispering of selfishness, of indulgence, of power, and Judas drank each word until their voices became one.

The thing about sin is, it is inherently unsatisfied. It is the lacking of something, of glory itself — a hunger that wants to be fed, an envy that wants to seize. Sin is desire, and thus, he, sin incarnate, is desire perpetual. It’s a curse of his unholy nature that he’ll never truly be content. What is contentment, what is happiness, but a surrender? An abandonment of progress? The enemy of greatness? The end? He cannot simply allow dust to settle, nor allow the light peeking from behind the horizon to cast itself against his back and force upon him a life no longer concealed by shadows. He won’t have it. With each iteration of the universe, he’ll pick utopia apart bone by bone until he finds a reason to loathe it, foraging for discontentment, because it is his only way forward. What a cruel trick on God’s part, that He sculpted a creature who cannot stomach the taste of sweetness. He spits it back into the dirt, dissatisfied, and instead chews on the bitter, the propulsion of his own vileness, the most indulgent, comforting flavor he’s come to know.

Now, allow us to return to Him for a moment. All predispositions for blasphemy, Judas can blame on Him. Judas Iscariot had been born a man — human, fallible, like every waking creature of the Lord. And, as it did to all other humans, sin had crept its way into his veins and claimed him. He’d done what the man he’d betrayed had taught him to do — in his momentary guilt, he’d sought absolution, repentance, for having allowed the devil to take hold. Still, he remained damned on arrival, a pawn in God’s game with a fate predestined for ruin. Had God not sculpted Judas Himself? And He dared punish Judas for personifying His own design? All of it, pre-orchestrated back when the cosmos were but babes — and thus, all of it, exhaustive and fruitless to fight. If he was to be damned, then let him be damned. That damnation wouldn’t rule him. He’d rule it. Even now that God has been vanquished, and Lucifer alongside him, Judas is ever driven by his resentment and anger towards the paradox his maker cursed him with. That anger manifests in Judas’s unquenchable thirst to build himself an empire greater than any God ever could, to build himself into an entity more powerful, more feared. It’s the only way to prove himself bigger than God’s alleged all-encompassing predestiny, greater than a handful of verses written by men who would be but footnotes underneath his gospel.

Character Traits | OPTIONAL. Please list 3 positive traits and 3 negative traits that you identify in the character you’re applying for. 

+ | PATIENT  (see also: steadfast)

To blaspheme one of His virtues by wielding it as a weapon is simply in Judas’s gospel. Finding an innate way to corrupt even the most holy of traits, his patience has put time itself to the test. With an eternity to burn, and God to thank for that, he’s learned to control human impulses and embrace the power of ensuring things unfold at the right time. Ever with an end vividly envisioned for the selection of foes currently at odds against him, he strikes at the time of heaviest impact. Never too early. Never too late. 

+ | DIPLOMATIC (see also: persuasive)

He can convince anyone of anything. Including himself. His tongue can twist the vile and thorny, disguise it as something candied, dripping in nectar. It makes him an excellent representative, able to keep his head about him for the sake of maintaining relationships. He understands the importance of people, of connections — in the hands of one who knows how to properly wield them, they’re a far more powerful weapon than any sword or spell.

+ | STRATEGIC (see also: cunning, clever, perceptive)

He always has a plan — for everyone, for everything, at all times. One of two questions can be asked of everyone in his life — what value do you provide me, or alternatively, how might I destroy you? It’s only ever one of those two, and he’s often got a fully fleshed out strategy plotted either way. He thinks in terms of the war, not just the battle, planning moves that might not come to fruition for millennia. Once one goal has been reached, he finds another, and begins again.

+ | STRONG (see also: formidable)

Not one to be easily intimidated, he does not back down when challenged or threatened. In fact, he’s more likely to actively seek out a fight or rivalry, simply to demonstrate his fortitude.

+ | COMPOSED (see also: controlled, intentional)

If you can read the emotion on his face, it’s simply because he wants you to. He has a commanding sort of control over his composure, one that demonstrates discipline and demands respect. Not to say he can’t hurl insults and roar — but that when he does, it’s because he chooses to; because that’s what his analysis has decided will serve him best in the moment.

- | SELFISH (see also: disloyal, corrupt)

He’d drive a knife into anyone’s back if it would get him a single step further — he wouldn’t even hesitate. Ultimately, looking down another soul’s path does him no good, he’s decided. There is only him — his own glory, his own road to revolution. There are guests along the way, some he favors more than others, but he is the only thing that will persist and endure. The center of his world, that will always be his core — but he’s mastered the art of pretending otherwise. Despite the way he’ll swear his allegiance to a millennia-old friend, there isn’t a soul he wouldn’t sell. For those he has yet to, it’s simply because it’s not yet the right time, the right place, or the right price.

- | VENGEFUL (see also: ruthless, resentful, begrudging)

His anger is a quiet one, one that’s hidden in dark places, growing thorns, festering and rotting until a grudge grows so old its stench simply demands attention. He does not forget a single transgression, a curse for an immortal. His rage is cycled into revenge, and he enacts it gleefully. Perhaps not today, perhaps not tomorrow, but if you’ve wronged him, whether you know it or not, you can be assured he’ll strike — but not until it benefits him the most, and cuts you the deepest.

- | INSATIABLE (see also: power-hungry, greedy, indulgent)

He’s always been a bit of a magpie, shiny silver things calling to him — and everything celestial simply glows. He is a being made of wanting, hungry to devour lands and stomp his boot on the wreckage. No matter what he achieves, which luxuries he tastes, how much power he is truly able to seize, his curse is that none of it will ever satisfy.

- | MANIPULATIVE (see also: conniving, duplicitous)

While he may have a handful if favored pawns, everyone in his life is a pawn nonetheless. He’s prepared to scheme against and sacrifice any and everyone that stands between he and his ends, keeping his cards close to his chest, most often with true intentions known to himself and him alone. Oh, and he’s an excellent liar.

- | DESTRUCTIVE (see also: implosive)

Judas is not the kind that will ever find happiness in peace. In fact, he is not the kind that will ever accept true happiness at all. In his quest for ever more, he’s always striving for something, always needing to rip something content apart so he can sculpt something of his own in its place. I believe this translates to people, as well. He’s never known how to accept love; he actively rejects it. How could he not? Had God Himself not told him he was never destined for love? In time, his response to comfort and acceptance is always the same — to turn his back on it, to crush the heart offered to him. He did it to Christ, who welcomed him as his disciple. He did it to Lucifer, who loved him like a son. Should another make the mistake of loving him, he’ll do it again.

In-Character Para Sample | There is no minimum or maximum word count to this para sample, but we do encourage that you highlight your character’s VOICE and MANNERISMS within it.

THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS: A STUDY IN SILVER

ACT I | PIECES

It begins with a glint, a wash of light caught against the body of silver that’s piled neatly in three stacks of ten, blindingly beautiful. Then, a proposition — to surrender the one he calls teacher, Rabbi, friend.

Should they have negotiated in whispers in the dark, offering only empty promises of treasures to come, perhaps Judas Iscariot may have remained faithful to his so-called Lord’s teachings of honor and conviction. Alas, they don’t. No, he offers to betray his God under warm, bright lights, before a pile of riches that shine so bright he can’t see the blood that taints them. 

“The one I kiss,” he commands the lawmen. “He’s the one.” His head nods in slow, stern affirmation. His eyes remain locked with that bewitching stack of silver. What a transfixing, all-consuming thing greed can be, making itself at home in him once again like an old friend. Bewitched fingers snake around a single piece, the silver’s ice a delightful chill as he slides it into a pocket; one now, as a deposit. The rest later, once the deed is done.

As he throws heavy garden doors open, police following in hordes and numbers, he bears a smile that shines as bright as the piece that sits with comfortable, reassuring weight in his pocket. “Greetings, Rabbi!” he bellows, and as he steps boldly forwards, he places the Son of God’s face in his hands, pulls his lips into his, and is irrevocably damned. Mouth pressed firm against that of Christ, he does not taste divinity; it turns to ash on his tongue as he seals the fate God himself had promised.

He watches, proud, as the Lord is dragged away, as Christ’s disciples turn their swords towards the soldiers in retaliation and heartbreak, all the while, his hand in his pocket, twirling that single piece of silver between his fingertips.

Some present will come to say in their recountings that this is the day Satan entered Judas Iscariot, pierced him with sharp talons and claimed him for the hellions. These men lie. To give the Morning Star credit would be blasphemous to his gospel, for the greatest devil the world will know is not perched upon a throne in the fires of hell. He is born of the organic rot found only in the pits of fallible man.

ACT II | TONGUE

In the forges of hell, riches take a new shape. The wealth he’d condemned himself for? Worthless in death, reduced to a river of shapeless molten sterling. He has no choice but to adapt. He allows that silver to coat his tongue instead, and in their union they both evolve and yet remain entirely unchanged. 

Infernal wings sprout from his shoulders and the devil himself casts his favor upon him, and Judas is acutely aware of just how unique he is amongst his new brethren — dare he say, simply, better? What feat is it to have manifested from nothing, to wield powers that were gifted rather than earned? Is the true mark of a demon not in his will? His ability to rely not on divinity to bring ruination, but on merely the curve of his lips and the void in his chest? 

The thought tastes poisonous each time it simmers to the surface — his dissatisfaction with Lucifer’s status quo, though it remains to be seen whether it’s hell’s regime in particular that he loathes, or the existence of any regime whose reins he does not hold. It’s not important, not as he gathers demons eternal and fledgling alike in crooked, cavernous shadows, whispering curated falsehoods to them in the dark until they claim his anger and hunger as their own.

“A kiss — that’s the signal,” he repeats to each of them, his words carbon. “Only then, is it time.” 

It will not be time for quite some time, though Judas lives every day as if it might be — sowing ever deeper his seeds of doubt in their liege, parsing Lucifer’s each breath, examining his hallmark overconfidence, watching the hellish love with which he showers his kin as he demonstrates he knows nothing of the revolution that his most wicked ward brews in the dark.

He wakes that day not yet aware that the day has come — not until he hears Lucifer beckon for him from his altar. “My Lord?”Judas asks, the word silken as it slides over his lips, wrapping all disdain in luxe and warmth. 

“I can sense it, Judas,” the devil smiles. “A soul on earth has proven themselves. Go to them, and drag them home with you.”

Judas pauses, and when he listens, he registers not the words Lucifer says. What he hears is: the day is now. It’s a straw as small as any that breaks Judas’s back — the most rudimentary form of disrespect, to task hell’s crown jewel with a hound’s fetch-and-retrieve mission. He cares not to see the love in Satan’s request; what is spoken in between the words of Lucifer’s decree is Judas’s value, his Lord’s pride in his work, his trust in him over all the rest. It is in loving him, that the devil gives Judas the power to destroy him.

“Yes, my Lord. I’ll set out at once.” He nods along with his empty assurance, and with a look upwards, he meets his maker’s eyes with finality, casting him a last glistening smile before laying palms on either of the devil’s cheeks. “Goodbye, my Morning Star,” he wishes, and he means it, pressing his lips to Lucifer’s and savoring the taste of sin.

He pulls away, and the devil’s eyes open to the same sight that had brought the ruin of the Christ child — Judas Iscariot’s beaming, prideful smile, an army at his back, swords drawn, but this time, led not by the Sanhedrin. It is the antichrist that carries the charge, his own menacing grin drawing nearer, as hell’s usurpers claim their new order.

The devil is dead. Long live the devil.

ACT III | CROWN

“Thank you for coming on such short notice,” he hums, allowing the thick iron door of the Conclave’s court to close loudly behind him. “We reconvene soon. I don’t have long.”

Lie. It is he who called the recess, and it is he who will decide when it ends. He shares none of this with Damien, who stands impatiently in the adorned hallway. “Then divulge,” the Antichrist itches. 

The echoes of both their tones resonate loudly, as deep and heavy as the invisible crowns each of their heads hold high — though, one brow seems to far better suit regality. He does not wonder which of them will topple beneath the weight of theirs first; he already knows. Everything when the time is right, and until then, he walks a delicate, intentional line as he addresses his pseudo-son, simultaneously wanting to stroke the boy’s drive and shatter his independence. He must feel powerful — to a limit.

“The Conclave has requested you assemble the Vices.” Judas, even-toned and composed, presents it as an ask; it is not. It’s a directive. They both know it. “Sources suggest a siege of insurgent Heretic sympathizers are gaining on the Palace walls, possibly with intention to break their own out of the Black Cells.” He can hear the way Damien begins to laugh midway through, but he does not stop speaking. 

“A handful of Heretics?” Damien sputters. “And you believe that calls for the Vices? Abaddon has kept larger threats at bay single handedly.”

Judas scoffs. “So you suggest we do nothing?” he deigns. “Wait until they claw at our gates? Leave Abaddon to face them alone?” In pause, his brows knit together, though he contemplates nothing. “Gather them, boy,” he states loudly, and this time, it is an order explicit. The moment of sharpness passes quickly, and a familiar grin toys against his jaw. Once again, suddenly, they are friends. “What use is the devastation you hold in your fingertips if not to defend what majesty you and I have built here?”

He feels resentment, bitter and cold, steaming in wafts off of the young halfling — but then, an acceptance just as cold. “I suppose it’s been some time since we’ve been out to play,” he concedes.

“I knew you’d make the right decision,” Judas smiles, placing a large, strong hand on Damien’s shoulder. “I’ll need you out the gates as quickly as possible. Do have some fun with it, won’t you?” And just as quickly as his smile had appeared, he rescinds it and turns on his heels back towards the court’s wrought iron doors. 

With a slow turn of his head, he locks eyes with his pupil, and arrogance claims him. “The Conclave wishes you the best of luck,” he bolsters, proud and booming — one last signifier that, in their clash of crowns, it will always be his that blinds brightest.

Extras | OPTIONAL. If you have anything else you’d like to include (further headcanons, an inspo tag, a mock blog, etc), feel free to share it here!

I’ve compiled some inspiration posts on this blog! Additionally, here’s a small selection of headcanons:

HEADCANON: WINGS

Judas’s wings are of feather and bone — raven-black feathers, some that are tipped in brilliant silver. In some places, feathers have been charred or cut during battle, and the bone beneath is visible. He prefers it this way. Bone, sprouting from his shoulders, is human, as he once was before he ascended past those demons who manifested from nothing. 

HEADCANON: SWORDPLAY

Judas’s greatest strengths lie in diplomacy, delegation, and manipulation. While he can wield a sword well in battle, it’s only because an eternity has given him time to practice. Truthfully, his skills as a swordsman are far below most of his fellows. Where he makes up for it is in waiting in the shadows for the right time to strike, rather than aimlessly wailing at a target out in the open.

HEADCANON: RESENTMENT

He made it to Hell before Salome did, and yet her wings sprouted before his? He’s never forgotten it, and never will. His anger towards not having been the first of humankind to join the hellions is projected in its entirety onto Salome, and though he has yet to enact his wrath, he remains plotting.

[hxpeandfear]

TESSERAEHQ TASK 013 // ABBAS O’REILLY

The capitol had done it again. Abbas supposed it was to be expected,  with so few tributes left in the games, that they would play around with their living animals once again.   As odd as it sounded he was almost disappointed that they hadn’t come up with something new to play with.   All he had to do to occupy himself in the capitol now that both of his tributes were dead was watch the games.  Despite despising the pageant of death that had taken his nephew from him,  Abbas despised the thought of being bored even more. Boredom always lead him to bad decisions,  usually involving alcohol.  And so Abbas was sat in one of the private viewing rooms,  eyes glued to screen.  As the animals ran amuck his mind couldn’t help but wander...

“Abbas!” Cara’s voice had woken him,  “Abbas,  wake up!”

Abbas’ eyes had opened slowly,  swollen from his previous nights beating. As he adjusted to the light,  Cara’s frame leaning over him came into focus.  Her dirty-blonde hair was falling over his face,   her voice lower than a whisper.

“Come on, get up. We have to go!” She was fiddling with a canvas bag,  pulling it over her shoulder and causing a few of the contents to clatter around as she did.

“W-what are you doing?” Abbas croaked, rubbing his black and blue eyes. 

Cara’s lips formed into a toothless grin, “Hurry up before they realise!” She grabbed his wrist and pulled him up so he was sat on the small bed set up in the barn’s hay-loft for the two of them. Her entire body trembled with excitement,  “I grabbed what I can from the pantry but I think the old man heard me.  I just had to run before he saw but we have to go NOW!” 

As his sisters words set in Abbas quickly realised what she was saying and without really thinking, stumbled out of his bed to pull on his work boots.

“Where are we going to go?” Abbas asked, voice full of concern,  “How are we going to afford food?” 

“We’ll worry about that tomorrow. Tonight we have to go.” 

“But Ca-”

Cara cut him off with a stern but concerned look,  “I’m not going to sit back and let him hurt ya anymore Abby.”  For once Abbas didn’t cringe at her nickname for him and let Cara continue, “You’re my little brother and it’s my job to protect you. Besides, we don’t need anything or  anyone else, we’ve got each other.”

Abbas looked to her,  slowly coming around to the idea,  “Yeah we do.” 

“And that’s never gonna change.”

Half-convinced and not wanting to hang around if Cara wasn’t going to be there, Abbas tied up his boots and grabbed the lantern on the side so that they wouldn’t be running in the dark and then,  together, they climbed down from the hayloft and into the night.

They had planned to just keep running, not daring to stop out of fear of being caught but as they dashes past the paddock and various shelters in which the animals were kept the yellow light of the lantern illuminated the faces of the animals behind the metal. Looking back at him, Abbas only saw himself. Abused, entrapped and desperate for freedom.

"Abby what are you doing, we need to go!” Cara shouted at him as his fingers graced the metal bolt.

“Let’s free them!” Abbas called back to her,  “Let’s free all of them.”

“We don’t have time!” Cara called back, looking over her shoulder at the farm in the background, spotting a small light in the distance. “I think they know we’re gone. Let’s go.”

Abbas didn’t move an inch further,  “You go if you want. I’ll catch you up.” And then he pulled back the bolt off the gate, pulling it open. Beside him he felt Cara’s shoulder brush against his as they heaved the gate open together.

“If they catch us, I’m gonna kill you myself.”

Abbas simply chuckled as they ran in separate directions. He headed towards the paddock as Cara went to the cattle farm. In perfect harmony, they opened the doors. As they did, chaos erupted. 

Abbas didn’t think he’d ever see chaos like that again,  but the gamemakers had him beat. Every creature in panem seemed to come rushing into the arena,  even more than before (if that was even possible ). The sounds of multiple sets of four legs charging through the arena reawakened his own memories and just like all the tributes had done, he simply ran.  Abbas left the viewing room without a second thought about anything or anyone other than Cara.

[hiddendreamer67]

Borrower Analogical (2)

Chapter Summary: November 14th, 2019. Virgil goes borrowing and attempts to free Logan a second time.

(Check my reblog for links to previous chapters)

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It was torture for Virgil to just sit inside the walls, twiddling his thumbs. He felt so useless. But there was nothing he could do except keep an eye on Logan. And even that was the extent of his power. If anything were to happen to Logan, all Virgil could do was sit by and watch it happen.

Viril groaned, putting his head in his hands as he sat behind the ceiling vent, the closest entrance to the human world from his and Logan’s home. At least the humans seemed to be leaving Logan alone for now. Virgil had heard Patton talking about how they wouldn’t want to frighten Logan and that it would be best to allow him time to adjust. Virgil couldn’t help but worry how short of a break Logan would actually get. And it was hardly a break at all, considering he was still trapped in that ridiculous cage.

Hearing the familiar click of the front door as the second human left for class, Virgil knew he had to take advantage of this time when the house was empty. Virgil propped the spool of thread against the bars, unraveling the length so that it reached the floor below. He could see Logan’s eyes on him as he maneuvered into the human world, sliding down to the floor below. Virgil was forced to leave the thread hanging out in the open, as it would serve as his escape route.

Virgil scampered across the living room floor, making sure to pace himself as he picked up his legs to keep his feet from catching in the long fibers. He longed to get Logan home right this instant, but without his hook Virgil couldn’t even make it up onto the coffee table. The legs were far too slick to provide grip to even the nimblest borrower.

“Get some paper clips.” Logan called out, tracking Virgil’s progress from above. Logan felt just as useless as Virgil had moments ago, knowing he could do nothing but give advice as Virgil did all the work. Because of Logan’s own ignorance, no less. Logan took comfort in the fact that at least he was the one behind bars and Virgil had not had to pay for his mistakes.

Virgil gave Logan a brief thumbs up, not even sure if the other borrower saw it as he dashed into the first bedroom. Virgil scoured along the floor, hoping he would get lucky and find the supplies he needed scattered along the ground. Unfortunately he had no such luck; it seemed Roman had finally cleaned his room after years of clutter.

“You just have to make things difficult, don’t ya princey?” Virgil groaned, leaning back to peer up the leg of the desk. Here the wood was old, with nicks and grooves that would make decent footholds. It was a dangerous climb, but Virgil could manage. He didn’t have many options.

With great difficulty Virgil pulled himself up the large wooden pillar, stopping only briefly to take a breath every now and again. Thankfully Virgil was quite skilled when it came to feats of agility, and it was only a matter of minutes before Virgil was clambering onto the top. He ran over, gathering up a few paper clips and tossing them to the ground. He turned to climb back down, when a glint of something on the other end of the desk caught his eye.

Was that…? Virgil dashed over, grabbing it up with a large grin. He had already made his peace with never being able to see it again. Thankfully, this wasn't the case. After all, a paper clip would do in a pinch, but they bent far too easily to make reliable climbing gear. This abandoned fish hook, on the other end, had saved Virgil’s life on multiple occasions from a nasty tumble.

Virgil hooked the device into the table edge with practiced ease, grappling down to the ground. With a flick of his wrist the hook became unlodged before Virgil caught it in his palm. After wrapping it around his belt, Virgil gathered up the paper clips in his arms and ran back to the living room.

Virgil threw his hook up onto the coffee table, putting the paper clips on like oversized bracelets to free his arms for climbing. He grunted, forcing himself to hurry. College classes only last so long.

“Ah, wonderful.” Logan praised, noticing all that Virgil had acquired.

“Yeah yeah, I’m amazing.” Virgil smirked, approaching the bars. He frowned at the padlock, the newest addition to Logan’s prison.

“Hand me a clip.” Logan instructed, and Virgil handed it over. Logan began to bend the metal, twisting it around to try and fit it into the lock. Virgil watched as his friend tried a variety of various positions, none of which seemed to have any effect on the mechanism.

“..Let me try.” Virgil offered, getting a bit anxious when Logan failed. Logan begrudgingly let go, allowing Virgil to take a stab at it. His attempts yielded the same results.

“It’s no use.” Logan declared after several minutes. “It’s too soft, it’s bending around instead of providing a steady base.”

Virgil released the wire, feeling his anxiety heighten as he realized their time was running out. He yanked the wire out, instead trying to stab the lock with a spare thumbtack he kept on hand. The handle made it impossible for the blade to reach far enough into the lock to actually do anything.

“That’s not going to work-” Logan was cut off by a frustrated Virgil.

“Well what is gonna work, huh?” Virgil felt rage and despair boiling inside him simultaneously. “You wanna just stay in there, at the mercy of those humans?”

“Of course not.” Logan’s answer was immediate, and the accompanying shudder Logan gave made Virgil’s heart ache with sympathy. Logan must have been terrified these last two days, especially when he had to face this all alone. Virgil knew he wouldn’t be nearly as brave in Logan's place.

“Then what do we do?” Virgil turned pleadingly to his friend, looking into his eyes for some form of guidance. Logan was always the smarter one. The clever one. Logan was the one who always had a plan. He had plans for his backup plans. He had schedules and ideas that Virgil could never hope to comprehend.

But today, Logan’s eyes held none of their usual spark. They were soft, unfocused. He resembled a lost child, and after a moment Virgil realized that while he was looking to Logan for guidance, Logan was doing the same back at him.

“...you should go.” Logan broke eye contact first, looking down. He rubbed gently at his sides. “You don’t have much time.”

“We have enough time.” Virgil insisted, but the constant clicking of the clock on the wall behind him said otherwise. “We can figure this out.”

“Virgil, please.” Logan pinched his eyes shut, as if this pained him more than the bruises from earlier. “I’ll.. I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t know that!” Virgil’s retort came out with a bit of a hysterical laugh, and Virgil vaguely realized he was downright panicking. Logan’s self-righteous demeanor was freaking him out a little.

“Is that what you want to hear?” Logan’s eyes snapped up, glaring at Virgil. “Fine, you’re right. I don’t know I’ll be fine. You’re right, I’m wrong. And you were right yesterday, too. I should-” Logan’s voice cracked slightly. “...I wish I had listened to you. You warned me. I shouldn’t have gone.”

“For the same reason, please listen to me now.” Logan’s gaze turned to one of pleading. “Virgil, I cannot bear to have you stuck in here with me. At least when you’re out there I know you’re alright, and I can hold onto hope that you will find a way to get me out of here.” Logan grabbed Virgil’s hand through the bars, giving it a comforting squeeze. Whether it was to comfort himself or Virgil was unclear.

“I’ll get you out of here, Lo.” Virgil said with more determination than he felt. He grasped onto Logan’s arm like a desperate child. “I promise.”

“You are smarter than I ever give you credit for, Virgil.” Logan insisted. “It’s why I should have listened, and it’s also why I know you’ll succeed. You can do this.”

“At least one of us believes that.” Virgil gave a dark chuckle. Reluctantly Virgil pulled his hands back, pulling out his knife and putting it in his bag. He slung the paper clip wires over his shoulder, giving Logan one last look before grappling down. He ran over to the thread awaiting him from earlier, beginning the arduous task of climbing the entire length up to the ceiling vent.

When Virgil reached the top, he put his hands on his knees and allowed himself a few panting breaths before beginning to roll up the thread. Halfway through this task Virgil heard the sound of the front door. Heart pounding, Virgil’s hands flew to roll it up at twice the usual speed. The last inch of the thread disappeared between the bars just as the human bean entered the threshold.

[intelligentnaughtygirls]

Kinda feeling like... i might be semi-retired from Fantrolling?

Lets face it. I've been at this thing for like, ten years now. And while my time on tumblr has been shorter then that, i haven’t exactly been the biggest part of the community on here.

Honestly i don’t think anything big brought this out, no one thing. just found myself visiting this hellsite less and less over the past couple weeks. noticing less and less motivation to do anything, and no real inspiration for anything new. I really only have two or three long-term friends on here, and we can never really think of anything to do. Any characters my Trolls have had or tried to have a long-term relationship of any kind with have either disappeared or retired long ago, And... like... ya’ll have a button of Trolls, you know that?

Maybe it’s just because i spent my formative Homestuck years on media like Formspring and a private forum, but i’m used to people having like, one-to-five characters at any given time, all of whom they play as and develop to some degree or another. No offence to you guys, but a lot of times i’ll follow someone for one or two trolls, but never see them again a week or two after their initial introduction. People on this site have upwards to fifty different Fantroll OC’s at a time, very few of which are used. And i guess i’m just... not super interested in the ones that ARE used around here apparently. I’ll never quite get that... Like, I've made one-off or Joke fantrolls sure, like the bastard children of Madrah and various other characters, or my three completed Xenomorph Trolls. But i never really considered them full OC’s by any extent, just fun concepts or experiments to be hung up on the wall and forgotten about. Not even worthy of a footnote, let alone an entire profile.

So... yeah, it kinda feels like a choice paralysis kinda thing, too many OC’s to choose from, very few of which are actually developed or interesting to me. And when i do see something i like, they either vanish, or the mun leaves. So, in my six years of being on this blog... Not much has changed really. I came on looking for some close friends for my girls, and in the end it got... One, off the top of my head. Serpentine-rogue’s Soldan. Any others that they’ve had have either been one or two-off encounters, or just up and left at some point. So... really doesn’t feel like i’m loosing a whole lot by just stopping, right?

at some point it kinda felt like there was a big culture shift too, of multiple levels. Used to be you had just these cute cartoony sprites that kinda matched what you saw in the comic, and you started every post with one of those that shows how your Troll was expressing in that given moment. That kinda fell away for more realistic and detailed sprites, and more long-form paragraph posts with no sprites at all.

maybe that’s just in my head though? idk. I liked posting a sprite for each post though. Using Madrah less because i wasn’t fully happy with her most recent sprite might also play a factor in all this. who really knows.

anyways i’m rambling. long story short, i don’t really find this whole fantroll homestuck thing fulfilling anymore, and i feel like there just isn’t a lot for me to do. i keep seeing unfamiliar faces on my dash, active RP’s are mostly nonexistent, and I've just plum thought out of ideas after trying for six years to get the ball rolling, only for nothing to happen. Ultimately, my goal of coming here to meet new friends and new Fantrolls... Mostly failed i think. Some exceptions of course.

So... yeah. I’ll probably hang around a little bit. Keep replying to that Salulu RP i got goin. maybe a few others if anyone (unlikely) approaches me about some. Might still commission some new Troll art just to check it off the bucket list. But beyond that... can’t really think of much else to do really. Expect a lot less from me i guess.

[thebluemartini]

Under Your Spell - Nessian at Hogwarts AU Fanfic

TITILE: Under Your Spell SYNOPSIS: Hogwarts AU. One could say Cassian, a Gryffindor, has had an obsession with Nesta Archeron, a Slytherin, since their fourth year at Hogwarts. But as they enter their seventh and final year, Cassian realizes he has feelings for her and is determined to ask her out on a date before he runs out of time. He can only hope she'll agree to go out with him, considering they've spent the past few years bickering at each other. RATING: T FIC LENGTH: oneshot, 15K+ words SLIGHT WARNING: Tomas makes an appearance in this story, but when Nesta tells him to stop kissing and touching her, he does...he's just a royal jerk about it. *This fic is also posted on AO3 and FF. A/N: I was in the midst of drafting a post-ACOFAS Nessian multi-chapter fic when I got a bit of writer's block, then had read a tumblr post about what Hogwarts houses would the ACOTAR characters be in. A plot bunny was then born and I had to write this (despite not being one for AUs really...) because the thought of Nesta and Cassian at Hogwarts was SO CUTE to me!I just figured this oneshot would be around 5K words and not 15K words (!!!). I hope you enjoy it!

TAGGING some folks who have expressed interest in reading my Nessian fics in the past/Nessian-related blogs that may want to reblog :) (but I understand if a Hogwarts AU is not your thing!): @dreaming-of-bohemian-nights @queenofillea1@trash-for-nessian @nestaarcheronwillkillme @my-fan-side @strangeenemy @maastrash @cageddovepoetry

One could say Cassian has had an obsession with Nesta Archeron since their fourth year at Hogwarts.

As a Gryffindor, he didn’t pay Nesta much attention before then. She was a Slytherin after all. They surely had classes together, but he typically only hung around with his best friends, fellow Gryffindors Rhysand and Azriel.

But in their fourth year, during a Potions class, Cassian had his first significant interaction with Nesta.

Each student had been required to make a boil cure potion. Cassian had failed to make the potion correctly at first, having added snails instead of horned slugs to his concoction. So toward the end of class, he had to start the potion off from scratch and hurriedly put it together. In his rush, he had plopped the horned slugs into his brew, which happened to splash the unfinished potion onto Nesta’s arm as she walked by. Soon, big, red, pus-filled boils began to form not only on her arm but all over her body as she gave him the most horrifying glare that felt like it pierced his very soul. Then, in a bold move, she reached for the spoon beside him, stuck it into his brew, and purposefully splashed him back. Instantly, the boils covered his own body as he scowled at her.

The two of them had been sent to the hospital wing, where they were placed in beds next to each other. Despite his apology for accidentally splashing her, Nesta sent insults his way the entire afternoon, and Cassian felt compelled to fire back at her.

And ever since that day, they’ve always bickered at and teased each other.

At first, Cassian was truly annoyed with her whenever he saw her. But at some point over the years, he began seeking her out to playfully tease her because he grew to enjoy their interactions.

He wasn’t sure what it was about her. He simply felt drawn to her. Perhaps it was her boldness. Perhaps it was because she didn’t fawn over him and his friends like the other girls at Hogwarts did. Or maybe it was because she could verbally spar with him.

...As well as hold her own in a physical spar with him. In their fifth year, they had to duel each other in a Defense Against the Dark Arts class (using non-injurious spells, of course). With every spell he shot at her, she was always ready to shield herself and shoot one back. Neither of them were able to disarm the other, resulting in a tie.

Not only was she strong in intelligence and her fight, but she was beautiful. Cassian could never ignore that fact. From her high cheekbones to her luscious lips to the wicked amusement that would sometimes flicker in her smoky gray eyes...everything about her physique was alluring.

In fact, it was those captivating eyes of hers that had him beginning to question if he actually had feelings for her. Towards the end of their sixth year, he had been caught after curfew snogging with Hufflepuff Holly Langforden in a broom closet by Nesta. Upon finding them both with tousled hair and disheveled clothes, Nesta’s beautiful eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in irritation as, ever the prefect, she announced she was deducting ten points from both Gryffindor and Hufflepuff before angrily ordering them to return to their dormitories.

And yet, seeing Nesta’s shocked and fury-filled eyes had made him feel...guilty. If it was any other prefect who had caught them, he wouldn’t have felt bad at all. In fact, he’d been caught snogging other girls in broom closets multiple times since his fifth year, and it never bothered him one bit to be breaking the rules. It only bothered him that he couldn’t snog the girls a little while longer.

But Nesta finding him...had brought a weird feeling to his stomach. He didn’t cheerfully return to his dormitory afterwards as he usually would have done, having just made out with a girl. Instead, he walked at a slow pace, head cast down, with his hands in his pockets as he contemplated that strange feeling.

It was as though he felt sorry Nesta had caught him with someone else. That he regretted it instantly upon seeing Nesta open the door.

That he perhaps wished it was her he was actually snogging, untangling the crown braid around her head as he did so.

But he was quick to push that thought away. It had nearly been the summer anyway, and he had been certain he would soon forget all about her.

Well, he went off to Rhys’ home for the summer...and couldn’t forget about her.

All he could seem to think about was her.

The sight of books sprawled about Rhys’ home made him think of all the times he’d seen Nesta at the library. Rhys’ mother’s garden of various flowers had him remembering the one time he witnessed her sister placing flowers within Nesta’s hair as they sat beside the Great Lake. The grayness of the sky on stormy days reminded him of her eyes.  Even in the simple, silly things such as noticing the contrast of silverware at dinner against a green tablecloth brought his favorite Slytherin to mind.

He missed bickering with her. He missed her witty comebacks and her clever insults.

He just missed her.

And that was when he knew that he had to ask her out this year - their final year at Hogwarts. Before they went off to pursue their careers, he had to figure out whatever this thing with Nesta was...and if it was something that could last longer than their time at Hogwarts.

As he boarded the Hogwarts Express, with Rhys and Az following behind him, he searched for a compartment for them to sit. They’d been running pretty late, as usual, and most of the compartments were already full.

But towards the back, upon popping his head in one compartment, Cassian was delighted to find Nesta’s two sisters...with an empty spot next to them that would likely be filled by her.

And space to fit three more passengers across from them.

Cassian’s face beamed, and he felt his heart race as he asked, “Mind if we join you ladies?”

“Oh, please do,” Elain said sweetly with a kind smile, while Feyre nodded in agreement.

Cassian nodded in thanks to them. He had only ever had very brief interactions with Elain. She was a sixth-year Hufflepuff, and he didn’t see her often. He knew Feyre only slightly better since she was a fellow housemate, just two years younger than him.

Rhys and Az followed behind him into the compartment, and he could see the faces of Elain and Feyre brighten as everyone greeted each other.

Cassian plopped down in the seat across from the empty one he had assumed Nesta would soon fill. His heart began to pound at the prospect of seeing her after such a long summer without her.

A summer of dreaming about her and hoping he could go out with her.

Elain seemed to catch him looking at the empty space beside her. “Nesta’s in the prefect’s compartment, but she usually stops by to see us.”

Cassian hoped his disappointment didn’t show on his face. The prefect’s compartment...he had completely forgotten about the special perks of being a prefect.

But that also meant that as a prefect, she would have to patrol the train’s corridor at some point today. The thought brought a slight grin to his face. He could just make...periodic visits to the bathroom, maybe linger a bit in the train corridor, with the hope of seeing Nesta.

So for the following six hours aboard the train, that’s what he did. At the top of each hour, he’d make a leisurely walk to and from the bathroom...and sometimes get scolded by a prefect who wasn’t Nesta.

At one point, Rhys and Az thought something was wrong with him for having to go to the bathroom so many times. Not wanting to admit his true intentions in front of Nesta’s sisters, he simply insisted he was bored of just sitting around and needed to keep moving.

But now he was actually bored of pretending to go to the bathroom with no success of seeing Nesta. Cassian sighed as he stared out the glass window and watched the green scenery roll by as dusk fell. Rhys and Az were still in casual conversation with Feyre and Elain...but Cassian’s anxiousness over seeing Nesta prevented him from paying any attention to them.

Cassian glanced down at his watch. It was nearly an hour since he last left the compartment and probably about two hours until they reached Hogwarts. He supposed he could go ahead and change into his robes now before the mad dash of students going to the bathroom.

Grabbing his robes from his suitcase and stepping out of the compartment, he slowly turned his head from the left to the right, searching for any sign of a prefect.

And there was none. Cassian groaned before turning left and headed to the bathroom.

Once he put on his new robes, he left the bathroom and wandered down the corridor past his compartment. Every prefect had a shift to patrol the corridor. Surely, with two hours to go, Nesta would be out here.

As he casually walked along, he eventually stopped in between two compartments and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms against his chest with the clothes he had just changed out of draped over one of his arms. He might as well just wait for her to show up...and then she could scold him for hanging around in the passageway.

And so he waited.

And waited.

And then finally…

“Get back in your compartment!” a familiar voice reprimanded him from his right. Cassian turned up his head at her and smiled brightly. There Nesta stood, with her familiar stormy eyes and her stern expression. Her light pink lips glowed against her sun-kissed skin, and her braid crown made her seem angelic despite her irritated expression. Had she somehow become more beautiful over the summer or had he simply misremembered her beauty?

Nesta held up her wand and directed it at him.

“But I’m rather enjoying this view,” Cassian said with a smirk as he stared at her intently.

“Go back to your compartment and look at the scenery outside the window if you’re looking for a view,” Nesta suggested in a steely tone.

“But this view is so much prettier,” he said, still grinning and still intently staring at her. He could count the few small freckles on her nose.

(There were seven.)

A light pink blush briefly covered Nesta’s cheeks, and upon seeing it, Cassian longed to have many opportunities where he could make her blush.

“Is that the same line you used to get Holly Langforden to jump in a broom closet with you?” Nesta asked drily.

At first, Cassian frowned. But the fact that she even remembered who she caught him in a broom closet with…

“No. But does it make you want to jump in a broom closet with me?”

“Absolutely not,” she answered coldly. “Why don’t you go find her compartment anyway and see if that line works? Isn’t she your girlfriend?”

“You sure seem interested in my love life. Are you jealous?” he smirked at her.

“Any woman that takes your attention away from me has both my gratitude and my sympathy,” she stated snobbily.

Cassian frowned again. “Well, for your information, I broke up with her before the summer,” he replied.

“What a shame for me. But a relief for her at least.”

“You know you missed me this summer, Archeron. Admit it,” he teased her, but secretly hoped she actually did miss him as much as he missed her.

“I did not miss being annoyed by you one bit. Now get back to your compartment,” Nesta prodded his upper arm with her wand, gesturing for him to get a move on.

Cassian gradually started moving, and Nesta followed him to ensure he returned to his compartment.

As Cassian slid open the door to his compartment, he heard Nesta let out a small gasp behind him.

“Nesta!” Elain shouted upon seeing her behind him.

Cassian took his seat and looked back to Nesta to find her frowning more deeply at him as well as Rhys and Az.

“What are you doing sharing a compartment with my sisters?” she asked in an annoyed tone.

“Nesta, they needed a place to sit!” Elain tried to explain, but Nesta just continued to stare intently at Cassian.

Stars, he loved her eyes even when they glowered at him.

“Nes, there was nowhere else for us to sit, except for the aisle, where I would’ve gotten run over by the trolley,” Cassian stated.

“That sounds like it would’ve been the perfect place for you to sit,” Nesta spat. “And don’t call me Nes!”

“Well, maybe it would’ve been the perfect spot because you could’ve found me in the aisle and scolded me for being there, and I could’ve seen your beautiful face much sooner,” Cassian said as he winked at her.

Elain and Feyre giggled at his comment and looked up at Nesta expectantly, wanting to see how she would respond. Rhys and Az’s eyes widened in amusement at his comment.

The seam of Nesta’s lips remained in a straight line across her face, clearly unimpressed with his reply. “You better not have corrupted my sisters.”

“Nesta!” Feyre exclaimed. “They have done no such thing.”

“You’ve brain-washed them already, I see,” Nesta said, still not removing her eyes from Cassian’s. Feyre sighed out of frustration.

“Nesta, here’s your book. It was in my bag,” Elain said, changing the subject as she dug through her sack and pulled out a book to give to Nesta.

As Nesta accepted the book, Cassian noticed it was a Potions textbook.

And that could mean…

“Nesta, are you taking Potions this year?”

Nesta didn’t deign to verbally respond to him. Instead, she just firmly nodded.

“Perhaps, we’ll share a Potions class then,” Cassian added. 

Nesta let out a frustrated sigh. “I’ll see you two later,” Nesta said with a look to her sisters. Then turning to him, Rhy and Az, she gave them a cold look. “Don’t you dare corrupt them.”

Nesta turned and left the compartment, ignoring her sisters’ protests at her statement.

Cassian could only sigh contentedly at having seen Nesta. Despite her insults, his heart was pumping wildly within him.

He’d never had such a reaction over simply talking to a girl before.

If his summer of daydreaming of her wasn’t enough, this was further proof that Nesta was...different. Special. Someone he wanted to spend time with and not just snog in broom closets like some of the other girls.

Cassian suddenly discovered Rhys and Az staring at him.

“What?”

“That look on your face...I’ve never seen that look on your face before,” Rhys said.

“What look?”

“Like you’re hopelessly in love,” Az piped in.

Elain and Feyre squealed with delight hearing this.

Well, he wasn’t sure if he was in love with her, but he certainly wanted to get to know her better.

“Are you going to ask her out?” Elain asked excitedly.

“Soon. But please don’t say anything to her,” Cassian coolly replied before turning to stare out the window, thinking about possible ideas for what he and Nesta could do for their first date.

----------------

It took Cassian three weeks to figure out what he and Nesta could do for their date.

The date of the first Hogsmeade trip had been announced, which was a little less than two weeks from now. It was the perfect place for a first date, considering there were plenty of shops to explore as well as places to eat together. It was an excellent opportunity for them to really get to know each other.

Now he just actually had to ask her to go with him and hope she would accept.

The two of them indeed ended up having the same Potions class, which occurred twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And every class, Cassian made sure to talk to her and always slip in some sort of comment about how beautiful she was, causing her to blush each time before she told him she had to get to working on the assigned potion and suggested he go do the same.

At least she didn’t angrily tell him to go away. And to Cassian, that was progress. Perhaps she was slowly succumbing to his charm.

But today was the day he would finally ask her to go out with him.

And as luck would have it, their Potions professor announced he did not have enough ingredients for everyone to make an individual potion that day and they would all have to work with a partner instead. Typically, students worked with a fellow housemate, but this class just so happened to have an odd number of Gryffindors and an odd number of Slytherins….

Cassian couldn’t help but grin to himself as he dashed over to the table Nesta was standing at.

“Nesta, will you be my partner?” Cassian asked casually.

Nesta quickly scanned the room and saw everyone else had paired off already. “Well I guess I have no other choice.” She immediately opened up the textbook to the page that listed the potion directions and began walking around the room to gather all the ingredients.

She didn’t get angry or upset over being his partner.

Progress.

But now...Cassian had to do the actual asking her out on a date part, and that sent his heart racing.

This never happened with any of the other girls he’d asked out...except for maybe the first time he ever asked a girl out. But ever since then, asking girls out came easily to him and he never got worked up over it.

But now…

Cassian didn’t understand what was wrong with him.

“Well, don’t just stand there,” Nesta reprimanded him as she appeared at his side and set down a multitude of vials and jars. “Be useful.”

Cassian immediately picked up the textbook and read aloud the first instruction to her. Nesta listened to his words, picking up the jar of powdered moonstone and dumping it into the cauldron that sat on the table before them.

“What next?” Nesta asked.

“Uh, then add three spoonfuls of honeywater,” he said a bit shakily. His nerves were getting to him.

Nesta eyed him suspiciously. “Are you sure that’s what it says? You don’t sound confident.”

He just needed to ask her out and get this over with.

“Yes, three spoonfuls of honeywater,” he reiterated.

Nesta pulled the cork out of the vial of honeywater, then picked up the spoon and began pouring the honeywater onto it, hovering over the top of the cauldron before adding the first spoonful to their concoction.

“Uh, Nesta…” Cassian began, his heart feeling like it would burst through his chest at any moment. He wondered if she could hear it.

“Hmm?” Nesta was focused on putting the second spoonful into their potion and began working on the third.

“Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?”

Nesta’s eyes widened and she immediately looked away from her spoon to look up at him. “Excuse me?”

“Would you like to go on the Hogsmeade trip that’s coming up...with me ?” he said, not really sure what else she was looking for him to say.

“Like a date?”

“Yes.”

“Are you serious?” she questioned him incredulously. “Is this some kind of joke?”

“Yes, I’m serious. No, it’s not a joke,” Cassian instantly insisted. “I honestly want to take you out on a date.”

“Darn it,” Nesta exclaimed upon realizing she had still been pouring honeywater onto the spoon, causing it to overflow and spill into their cauldron. “Look what you made me do! Now our potion will probably come out wrong,” she said in a frustrated tone as she put down the vial and the spoon. “You and your games,” she muttered.

“Nesta, I’m sorry. This isn’t a game. I truly want to go with you to Hogsmeade,” Cassian explained.

“Why?”

“Because I want to spend time with you.”

“Why?”

“Because I like you, and I want to get to know you better.”

Nesta’s eyes widened even more at his confession, and she said nothing as she fumbled around for something, anything it seemed, on the table.

“So will you honor me with your presence and go to Hogsmeade with me?” Cassian asked again.

“I can’t. Someone else already asked me to go with him,” Nesta explained softly.

Her response brought Cassian a flood of emotions. First, fury because who in the world dared to ask Nesta to Hogsmeade before him? Second, sadness because he wasn’t going to be able to go to Hogsmeade with her. Third, hope...because Nesta didn’t outright deny wanting to go out with him. She simply said she could not go because of another date…

“Who?” Cassian wondered.

“Tomas Mandray.”

“Tomas Mandray?” Cassian exclaimed in disgust, his mouth dropping open. “That piece of Slytherin scum?!”

“He is not a piece of scum,” Nesta stated sternly. “And in case you’ve forgotten, I’m a Slytherin too.”

“I know. I didn’t mean you were scum...just that he himself was the Slytherin type of scum,” Cassian explained awkwardly.

Nesta simply shook her head, completely perplexed. “Let’s get back to the potion,” she said.

“Will you go out with me some other time then?” Cassian blurted out, ignoring her request.

“Did you make some bet that you could get me to go on a date with you or what?” Nesta questioned him, her voice quickly returning to its irritated tone. “Or maybe you just wanted to see if you could get my hopes up by asking me on a date and then stand me up for fun.”

“No, Nesta,” Cassian said urgently as he put down the textbook on the table. He grabbed her hands and stared into her eyes. “This isn’t a game or a joke or a bet. I honestly want to go out with you.”

Nesta took a deep breath as she stared back at him. “I don’t believe you,” she said softly.

“What can I do to prove it to you?” Cassian pleaded quietly.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter, does it? I’m going out with Tomas and who knows...Maybe it will lead to more dates,” Nesta said simply as she pulled her hands out of his grasp.

How could he not have asked soon enough? The Hogsmeade date was only announced just the day before...

Damn Tomas Mandray.

The man was a complete and utter dolt and a total snob. Him and Cassian had never gotten along, so they’d always kept their distance from each other.

Crestfallen, Cassian simply lifted up the textbook once more and began to read off the directions in a monotone voice.

Nesta followed his instructions perfectly.

But there was no teasing, no playful bickering, no insults.

They didn’t say anything to each other with the exception of the reading of the instructions.

And it just didn’t feel...right to him. For them to be like this.

After having gotten his hopes up about a date with Nesta...he felt so disappointed. What was he supposed to do now?

At the end of class, they parted ways without a word to each other.

----------------

Cassian spent the days leading up to the Hogsmeade trip moping around. Even Rhys and Az called him out in it.

“You’re seriously this depressed that a Slytherin can’t go out with you? Let alone one who’s been moody and vicious to you?” Rhys had asked him one afternoon upon seeing him just lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling instead of venturing outside like he usually would have done.

“There’s more to her than that cold exterior,” Cassian had told him calmly.

When he had seen Nesta during their next few Potions classes, he still acknowledged her...he just didn’t really talk to her or tease her like he would’ve done previously.

And it just felt...strange. Like the joy of going to class was gone.

He’d been rejected before. That was nothing new.

But he had spent so many months longing for a date with Nesta...that for it to not happen was...heartbreaking.

And now the day of the Hogsmeade trip was here, and he still felt grumpy over the whole thing. He didn’t bother trying to find another date. He considered no longer going, but Rhys and Az managed to drag him along anyway.

They found themselves a table at the Three Broomsticks, and each had a pint of butterbeer before them.

“Do you think he’s going to take her Madam Puddifoot’s?” Cassian suddenly wondered aloud.

Az and Rhys gave him a bewildered look. “What are you talking about?” Rhys asked.

“Tomas and Nesta. Do you think he’s going to take her to Madam Puddifoot’s?” Cassian replied. “He probably is...he would do something completely unoriginal,” he muttered bitterly.

Az and Rhys sighed. “Cassian, you’ve got to stop thinking about this,” Az said.

“I can’t.”

“This isn’t even a breakup,” Rhys stated. “Just let it go.”

Cassian ran a hand through his hair. “It isn’t that simple.”

“What kind of hold does this girl have on you? You’ve never had this problem before with other girls.”

Cassian sighed as he slumped in his seat. “I don’t know.”

As he took another sip of butterbeer, he couldn’t help but wonder if Nesta was sipping a beverage just as sweet at the tea shop.

----------------

Today marked an important day for Nesta.

It was not only her first date with Tomas Mandray, but her first date...ever.

During her years at Hogwarts, she mostly kept to herself, not really wanting to deal with anyone else...or having the patience to really. She preferred the company of books over others, so she didn’t exactly have friends...just her sisters.

At times she felt perfectly content to spend most of her time alone and independently.

But there were times where she felt...utterly alone. Like no one cared or noticed her.

She was shocked when Tomas approached her in the Slytherin common room the other week to ask her to go to Hogsmeade with him. For once, someone actually noticed her…

Tomas was handsome and of good breeding. He came from a wealthy and highly-regarded family. His father worked in the Ministry of Magic...a connection that could potentially benefit Nesta in her future dream career, considering she wanted to work in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Tomas was also intelligent and cunning...Overall, very respectable.

And the complete opposite of the long, dark-haired Gryffindor who had spent the past few years annoying her and teasing her.

Nesta shook her head. She shouldn’t be wasting time thinking about him.

Especially when she was currently trying to listen to Tomas rattle about his quidditch accomplishments from across the table.

From her walk with Tomas to Hogsmeade to their arrival at Madam Puddifoot’s, they shared light conversation. Even though they were in the same year and same house, they didn’t know each other too well.

...Yet Tomas seemed to only really care that she get to know him well. He hardly asked anything about her.

But she continued to listen. She figured he probably was just nervous.

As soon as she took her last sip of tea, Tomas abruptly grabbed hold of her hand. “Let’s get out of here.” Pulling her away from the table, he whisked her out of the tea shop.

When they stepped outside, Tomas wrapped his arm around her, letting his hand rest at her waist and pulled her closer to him.

Nesta’s body tensed as he did so, feeling slightly alarmed that such touching was happening so soon, so quickly. She wasn’t used to affection from family to begin with, let alone with someone she didn’t know terribly well.

He led her through the crowds, then turned down an alleyway that was between Madam Puddifoot’s and another shop. It was empty, but the hustle and bustle of the students could still be heard. Opening up a door at the back of Madam Puddifoots, Tomas pulled her inside, where there were shelves of various teas. Clearly, it was a storage room for the tea shop.

As soon as he closed the door behind them, Tomas yanked her close to him. “Nesta, you are...so beautiful,” he remarked huskily as he cupped her face and quickly tilted his head down to capture her lips in a fierce kiss.

Stunned, Nesta could not move away. This wasn’t how it happened in the books she read. Usually, the characters knew each other at least a bit before they kissed. She wasn’t ready for this. She hardly knew him.

Her heart was pounding as he leaned in for another kiss, moving one of his hands to her thigh against her leggings beneath the fabric of her skirt. When his other hand started playing with the waistband of her skirt, threatening to tug it down, the movement startled her enough that she no longer felt frozen. Regaining her senses, she firmly stepped away from him before he could kiss her once more. “No,” she stated forcefully.

Tomas gave her a peculiar look, but then a grin spread across his face. “Oh, you want to find a place that’s more comfortable? I know a spot…” he remarked as he reached to grab her hand.

But Nesta quickly stepped back once more so she was out of his reach. “No,” she reiterated emphatically as she crossed her arms. She wished she’d brought her wand with her so she could blast him away from her. “I don’t want to snog you, nor do I want to sleep with you, you disgusting pig.”

Tomas’ eyes narrowed at her and stared at her for a moment, taking a few deep breaths as he did so. Then, he suddenly started towards the door, roughly brushing against her shoulder as he passed. “Then what else are you fuckin’ mudbloods even good for?” he angrily remarked before leaving the room and rejoining the crowds of students.

Nesta watched him through the open door as he left the alleyway.

Fury raged through her at the words he just said, at him being an egotistical jerk, at herself for not recognizing him as the jerk he was and for foolishly believing that he could ever honestly like a girl like her. She’d been so terribly stupid and felt so...used.

But part of her believed the words he said of her. What else was she good for? She’d never been the friendliest or the kindest person. She kept to herself most of the time and came from a family of no special importance. She was a nobody...someone who wasn’t worth caring about.

And even though she strived to become someone more, someone worthy of admiration...there was always something that pulled her back from such delusions.

Before she could stop them, tears slowly started to fall from her eyes.

----------------

After Cassian sipped his last bit of butterbeer, he looked up at his friends with a miserable expression. “I think I’m going to head back to the castle. I’m not in the mood to walk around.”

“No, Cassian, we’ll head to Zonko’s,” Rhys said. “You always have fun looking around there.”

Cassian sighed. It was true. He always enjoyed seeing the many prankster items at Zonko’s...but he simply was not in the mood for it this time.

“Not today,” he replied. “I’ll see you guys later.”

Rhys and Az looked at him with concern as he got up from the table and walked out of the Three Broomsticks.

Upon stepping outside into the cool autumn air, he took a deep breath. He wished he could enjoy the day with his friends...but he just...couldn’t.

As he weaved his way through the many gleeful students, his mind wandered, causing him to lose focus on his surroundings. In his daze, he accidentally bumped into one student’s shoulder, nearly knocking her to the ground.

When he turned his head to look at the girl, he realized it was none other than Nesta.

...who happened to be alone.

“Nesta!” Cassian exclaimed, and she tilted her head up to look at him. “I’m so sorry!”

Her eyes widened upon seeing him, and Cassian could see they were red-rimmed...as if she had been crying.

“You should...watch where you’re going,” Nesta remarked weakly. There was no sharp bite to her reprimand.

It was so unlike her.

She turned to walk away, but Cassian was quick to reach out and grab her hand, stopping her in her tracks. “Nesta, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said without looking at him. Instead, she continued to stand still with her eyes focused on the ground. “May I go now?” she asked, feeling annoyed.

He felt she would’ve yanked her hand out of his grip by now, but she didn’t.

“Did Tomas hurt you?” he asked, his voice tinged with anger. “Do I need to hex him?”

“If you do, I’ll have to deduct points from Gryffindor.”

Cassian released a frustrated sigh. “If he hurt you, then that doesn’t matter to me. What happened?”

“Nothing,” she replied. “Let go of my hand.”

Cassian immediately released her hand. “Where are you going?”

“Back to the castle,” she said as she began to walk away from him.

Cassian started to follow her, quickening his pace to catch up to her. He said nothing when he reached her side, instead choosing to simply match her stride.

With a quick glance to him beside her, she frowned. “What are you doing?”

“Going back to the castle,” he answered.

“Why are you following me?”

“I’m not. I was already on my way back to the castle when I bumped into you,” he stated. “So we might as well walk back together.”

Nesta said nothing in response to that. Instead, she pointed her head forward and continued along the path.

They walked in silence for a little while, but that was beginning to drive Cassian crazy. First of all, she didn’t seem herself. He thought for sure she would put up a fight to him walking with her. Something was off, and he needed her to return to her true self.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out some goodies he had purchased at Honeydukes before he had gone to the Three Broomsticks. “Do you want a chocolate frog? They’re your favorite, right?”

Nesta crossed her arms across her chest as she walked. “And how would you know they’re my favorite?”

Cassian held out a chocolate frog as he shoved the other candies back into his pocket. “Last year, after a Defense Against the Dark Arts class where we faced boggarts, Elain brought chocolate frogs over to you at lunch to help you feel...less spooked.”

Nesta turned her head slightly to the side, and one of her eyebrows rose into an arch. “Have you been stalking me?”

Cassian shook his head. “That day, you just seemed so horrified by your boggart that I...just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Except you chose to do so from afar, instead of coming up to me yourself,” Nesta stated.

“As if you would have accepted any help from me,” Cassian insisted. “You probably would’ve insisted you were fine and then would announce you were deducting five points from Gryffindor for me thinking otherwise.”

After that comment, he could see the corners of her mouth threatening to twitch upwards, but she fought the smile. The near-smile made Cassian grin.

“It would have been ten points,” she admitted.

Cassian chuckled and stuck out his hand again, motioning for her to accept the chocolate frog.

Nesta eyed it warily. “Is this another one of your ways of trying to get girls to jump in a broom closet with you? Find them when they’re down, then offer them chocolate?”

“Do you think all I do everyday is try to convince girls to snog me?” he asked, offended that she thought of him this way.

“Considering how many times prefects find you snogging a girl in a broom closet, yes,” she answered firmly, still not taking the chocolate frog.

“So you’ve talked about me with the other prefects?” he said with a smirk.

Nesta rolled her eyes. “We always have to go over how we’re deducting points and who the biggest culprits are.”

“You’ve still talked about me,” he said with a smirk.

“Only about what a pain in the ass you are.”

“And yet who’s the one offering you some chocolate and being insulted?”

“I’m not in the mood for chocolate. Especially if it was rejected by all the other girls you probably tried to charm today,” Nesta sneered as they approached the Hogwarts castle.

This time, Cassian rolled his eyes. “It really is no surprise that you’re patronus is a puma. Always ready to pounce on my ego.”

Nesta stopped and faced him, her arms still crossed against her chest. Her eyes softened. “You remember what my patronus is?” she asked quietly.

Cassian halted and simply nodded back at her. “It’s pretty impressive. Its form is more distinct than anyone else in our year.” He watched as her face turned a light pink.

After a brief moment of silence, Cassian spoke again. “So if you aren’t in the mood for chocolate, what are you in the mood for?”

“Lunch,” she said with a sigh as she glanced down at her watch. “But it looks like we’re past the lunch service time in the Great Hall.”

“What do you want for lunch?”

Nesta eyed him skeptically. “What does it matter? We’ve missed lunch.”

Cassian nearly sighed. She always had to make things difficult. “What do you wish you could have had for lunch?”

Nesta shrugged. “Pancakes.”

“Then let’s go get you pancakes,” Cassian said eagerly.

“What are you talking about? Lunch is over. Plus, Hogwarts hardly even makes pancakes.”

“Please just trust me for once,” he said as he began walking to a castle entryway at a slow pace. He paused at the door and turned his head back toward Nesta, waiting for her to follow him.

Nesta stared at him for a minute. Her eyes were curious and unsure. But eventually she put her arms down at her sides and her feet inched forward to follow after him.

----------------

“I’ve never been here before,” Nesta commented as she stared at the room around her, filled with house elves wandering about with pots and pans.

“I’m usually starving after Quidditch practice, so I was determined to find the kitchens so I could come get a snack,” Cassian said.

One house elf ambled up to Cassian, lifting up a large plate of pancakes drizzled with syrup as far as she could reach, which was up to Cassian’s waist.

Cassian bent over to take the plate from her hands. “Thank you, Ollie,” he said graciously, then grabbed some utensils off a nearby counter. 

Beaming, Cassian looked over at Nesta. “Let’s go eat,” he announced before turning to leave the kitchens.

“We’re leaving?”

“Yes. This isn’t a proper place for us to eat.”

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a secret,” Cassian said, then turned back to her and found her looking quite annoyed and perplexed. “Just trust me again. I haven’t let you down yet,” he added as he waved the plate of pancakes around.

Again, she seemed hesitant, but resigned herself to follow him again.

----------------

The two of them headed to the staircase and kept walking further and further up. Nesta wondered if Cassian even had a set spot in mind to eat or if he was just on some hunt to find an area to sit. It wasn’t until they had reached the seventh floor that they got off the stairs and headed down a corridor.

Suddenly, Cassian stopped in front of a wall tapestry that depicted some wizard and trolls wearing ballet shoes. There weren’t any places to sit, nor were there any rooms nearby, causing Nesta to wonder...what the hell were they doing here.

Cassian turned to her and handed her the plate of pancakes and utensils. “Hold this for a minute.”

Nesta’s eyebrow rose out of curiosity as Cassian began to walk a few paces, then turned around to walk a few more paces, then turned around again to walk a bit more.

When she was about to question aloud what he was doing, a door suddenly appeared in the wall across from the tapestry.

What the…

Her eyes grew big when Cassian opened the door and gestured for her to enter before him. “After you.”

Eyeing him suspiciously, she slowly walked towards the door. Without stepping inside, she peeked her head into the room and found multiple shelves of books, a small table with two chairs, and a few couches. “What is this place?”

“It’s called the Room of Requirement. It only appears if someone has great need of it. And we are in great need of an area to sit and eat and enjoy ourselves.”

Carefully, Nesta stepped inside the room. There were so many shelves of books in the room, it looked like it was a library. She longed to see what books were there, but she knew her stomach was getting ready to growl any moment now. She needed to eat.

As she set the plate of pancakes down on the small table in the center of the room and sat down, Cassian took the seat across from her.

“So you just...picture the room you need as you walk back and forth in the corridor and then it will appear?” Nesta asked him.

“Basically,” Cassian answered, picking up the fork and digging into the pancakes.

Nesta picked up the other fork and took a stab into a fluffy flat cake. “Why did you want this type of room?”

Cassian swallowed the piece of food he was chewing, then opened his mouth to speak. “Well, you love libraries, don’t you? That’s where I always seem to find you outside of class.”

How was it that this boy before her seemed to know her so well? This boy that she always treated as if he was a pestering pixie?

Thinking back to the past few years, it was true that he occasionally found her at the Hogwarts library. He always had to come by her and caused some kind of commotion, either commenting on the book she was reading or the faces she was making as she was reading or some other inane topic. His talking with her always sent Madam Pince scurrying over to them to reprimand them and threaten to kick them out.

Nesta nodded in response to Cassian’s question as she took another bite of her pancake. “How did you did you discover this place?”

At her question, Cassian’s cheeks turned slightly pink and Nesta knew immediately that she had to know the answer to this question.

When Cassian remained silent, Nesta prodded him. “How?”

“Because I needed a broom closet,” he muttered.

Amusement flowed through her at his words. She smirked. “And why did you need a broom closet?” she asked. “Especially since there are so many others in the castle you could have used.”

“When I was in fifth year, there was this seventh-year girl from Ravenclaw who didn’t want to be caught by her friends snogging a fifth-year, and so I happened to talk to Ollie about it and she told me about this room.”

For some reason, the thought of Cassian bringing another girl here didn’t sit well with her.

But she pushed that hurt to the side and focused on the fact that she was justified in thinking that Cassian was always on the hunt for girls to snog in broom closets.

“Wow, an older woman,” she commented, managing to summon some enthusiasm. “Did you run out of new girls to snog from your own year? Excluding the Slytherins of course,” she was quick to note.

Cassian gave her a look that showed he wasn’t too pleased with her insinuation. “No.”

“Do you just prefer older women then?”

“That depends. When is your birthday?”

“November 1st,” she reluctantly answered in between chewing her pancake.

Cassian’s mouth spread into a wide grin as he stared intently at her. “Considering you’re about two months older than me, then yes, I’d say older women are my preference.”

Her cheeks suddenly felt very warm.

But was this just what Cassian did to all the girls? Make them feel like they were special, kiss them senseless, then drop them as if they were nothing? Was this just part of the usual charm he put on?

Suddenly no longer feeling hungry, Nesta put down her fork and got up to explore the books in the room.

Running her fingers along the spines of the books, she read through the titles. Spellbound After Midnight. Romancing the Womanizing Wizard. Charming the Enchantress.

They all appeared to be romance novels.

Her favorite.

None of the titles seemed familiar. When she was at home, she was only able to read muggle romance novels. The Hogwarts Library only contained a handful of non-school-related books, so to have shelves of unread romance novels written by witches and wizards before her was a complete thrill.

Pulling one book off the shelf, she made her way to the crimson couch on the other side of the room. Sitting down, she opened the book and began reading the first chapter.

A few pages in, she saw Cassian approach her out of the corner of her eye and proceed to plop down in the couch across from her.

When she turned the page, she could feel him staring at her.

A few more page turns later, she could still feel him staring at her.

Putting her book down in her lap, still opened to the page she was on, she looked up at him. “Don’t you want to read a book or something?” she questioned him in an irritated voice.

“I am perfectly content studying and memorizing the features of your face,” he answered.

Nesta rolled her eyes. “Stop lying.”

“I’m not lying,” he said as he continued to stare at her. “You’re beautiful.”

The same words Tomas had said to her earlier that day.

Was Cassian just like him, only more patient? Was he willing to spend more time trying to flatter her to get her to sleep with him?

But the way Cassian said those words was different compared to the way Tomas said them. Tomas’ tone made it sound like he was praising a prized object he was thrilled to have in his possession, while Cassian sounded like he was truly admiring her.

Of course, she couldn’t help but wonder if this was how he treated all the other girls he’d been with.

And yet, she remained here in this room with him, instead of bursting out as soon as she was fed. The fact that he remembered her patronus, her love of chocolates and reading...perhaps that’s what made her stay. What made her want to find out if Cassian spoke truthfully about wanting to get to know her better.

“Well, I can’t read if you’re staring at me.”

“I apologize,” he said, finally shifting his gaze over to a nearby shelf.

Nesta looked over to the shelves too and saw one was filled with games and puzzles instead of books. Closing her book and placing it beside her on the couch cushion, she stood up. “Are you up for a wizard’s chess match?”

Cassian grinned a little too mischievously. “Absolutely. Prepare to be beaten, Archeron.”

“We’ll see about that.”

----------------

“I demand a rematch,” Cassian insisted after Nesta had just shouted “Checkmate!” and smiled proudly at him. He was too competitive for his own good.

But he was also obsessed with the focus Nesta had during the game. As she analyzed the board and the pieces throughout, he could envision the cogs within her brain clinking together as she determined what to do next. From the way her lips would move slightly to the left when she was deep in thought to the way she would occasionally squint her eyes when looking at the board, Cassian was mesmerized. And then when she would make her move, she did so with such confidence and assuredness, it was captivating.

“We’ve already played three times,” Nesta, sitting on the floor on the opposite side of the chess board from him and completely clueless to the effect she had on him, pointed out. “Can your ego simply not take being beaten by a girl?”

“No. I just want to learn how to play like you. How did you learn to play like that?”

“My father taught me how to play muggle chess when I was young,” Nesta revealed. The expression on Nesta’s face turned glum, causing Cassian to frown.

“What’s wrong? What did I say?” he immediately asked, nervous that he was ruining this moment with her.

Nesta shook her head. “It’s nothing. It’s just…” she trailed off.

“Go on,” Cassian encouraged her gently.

“My father...made some bad investments and ran his business into the ground a few years ago. He hasn’t been the same since.”

“How so?”

Nesta took a shaky breath. “It’s like he’s lost the will to live. He hasn’t even bothered trying to find another job. He doesn’t even want to take care of our family, nor does he really care to hear from us. Thankfully, we have Hogwarts to come to for most of the year…”

Cassian’s frown grew deeper. He was aware that their mother had passed away long before she came to Hogwarts. That meant they only had their father to provide for them…

“What does that mean? What happens during the summers?”

“Feyre managed to get lucky this past summer and got a job at a nearby grocery store thanks to a friend. Elain and I have had trouble getting jobs since we can only work during the summers, but sometimes the neighbors will pay for us to do chores for them around the house. We get by,” she shrugged.  

Cassian stopped himself from letting his mouth drop open in shock. “What happens to your father when you’re here at Hogwarts?”

“Our neighbors help take care of him.”

Cassian shook his head. “Nesta, I’m so sorry. I had no idea. If I had known…”

Nesta held up her hand and cut him off. “Stop it, Cassian. There is no need to beat yourself up for it.”

Cassian stared at her, sadness filling his heart. The whole summer, he had been obsessing over her and thinking of her nearly everyday. Meanwhile, she’d been trying to...survive.

“If it’s any consolation...my father walked out on me and my mother shortly after I was born. He went to be someone else’s husband and father. And then my mother passed away a few years later,” Cassian revealed quietly.

Nesta glanced up at him with sympathetic eyes. “I’m sorry, Cassian,” she whispered.

“I didn’t mean for you to feel sorry for me. I just wanted you to know that...you’re aren’t alone in having an...awful dad.”

“It’s nice to know there’s someone...who understands,” she said gently.

Cassian gave her a small smile. “It is,” he agreed. His breathing slowed as he stared into her eyes and Nesta stared back in silence. He wished he could lean forward and kiss her, but he still couldn’t tell just yet if she liked him or not.

Suddenly, Nesta broke their staring contest “Let’s play another game,” she said abruptly as she stood up to walk past him and look at the shelf of games. “How about Exploding Snap?”

“How about Truth or Dare?” Cassian suggested instead, twisting his body to look up at her from his spot on the ground and smirk at her. Maybe he could better figure out Nesta’s feelings during such a game.

Nesta scowled at him.

“Too scared to play?” he teased her.

She crossed her arms against her chest. “Fine. Truth or dare?”

Cassian thought for a moment. “Truth.” Nesta clasped her hands behind her back as she strolled about the room, looking again at all the books that surrounded them. “How many girls have you brought to this room, including me?”

“One.”

Nesta halted her steps to look back at Cassian sitting on the floor. She looked completely bewildered. “I said ‘including me.’”

“I know,” he said. “It’s only been you.”

“But the seventh-year Ravenclaw - ”

“I ended up not bringing her here after realizing I shouldn’t be with someone who’s ashamed to be seen with me.”

“Wow, so you actually have standards,” she remarked.

Choosing to let her comment slide, he resumed their game. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” she instantly said.

There wasn’t much that could be done to embarrass someone when you’re playing in a secret room with no other people around. And he certainly didn’t want to leave the room just yet for risk of ruining this time with Nesta. Just the two of them had been...pleasant. “I dare you to give me a compliment.” He looked at her devilishly.

Nesta took a deep breath and squinted her eyes, while in deep thought.

“Any day now,” Cassian pressed her when she remained quiet for over a minute.

“My apologies. It’s hard to think of something,” she said casually as she sauntered around him.

Looking unimpressed, Cassian crossed his arms against his chest and waited.

And waited.

“I suppose…” Nesta began. “You’re not terrible at Quidditch.”

“That was barely a compliment,” Cassian complained. But the fact she had paid attention to him playing quidditch was...intriguing.

“But a compliment, nonetheless. Truth or dare?” she quickly questioned him.

Cassian pouted. “Truth,” he grunted.

“How many girls have you kissed since being back at school this year?”

Cassian perked up his head. “Why do you care about that?”

“I’m not required to tell you why I’m asking a question.”

Such an infuriating, stubborn girl, this one…

And yet, he knew that was partially why he liked her so much.

“Zero,” he answered emphatically.

Nesta stopped and whipped her head in his direction. “Really?”

Cassian nodded. “Really.”

“I’m shocked. We’ve been back for over a month now, and you haven’t kissed anyone?”

“Nope,” he said as he got up off the floor and started walking towards her.

It had actually been over four months since he’d kissed a girl.

Because there was only one girl he wanted to kiss...

“I figured you would’ve kissed at least one girl a week.”

“Guess you don’t know me as well as you thought,” he stated as he leaned against the bookshelf right beside her.

“Or you’re losing your charm,” she retorted, crossing her arms against herself as she tilted her head up at him.

Dramatically, Cassian put his hand over his heart. “You wound me,” he cried out.

Nesta rolled her eyes.

“But you do admit then that at some point, I was charming?” he eagerly replied.

“No, I misspoke. I think the girls have finally realized you never had charm to begin with.”

Cassian smirked. “You admitted I was charming.”

Nesta groaned. “Stop gloating. I pick ‘dare,’ by the way.”

“I dare you to tell me why you want know how many girls I’ve kissed and how many I’ve brought to this room.”

“That’s not a real dare! That’s a ‘truth’ disguised as a dare,” she yelled at him.

“You didn’t give me a true compliment!” Cassian shouted back.

“Ugh, fine.” Nesta sighed. “I’m just trying to see if…”

“If…?” Cassian encouraged her to go on.

“If I’m just...one of the many,” Nesta finished quietly.

Cassian’s gaze lost its cheeky amusement. “Nesta,” he said as he stood upright and grabbed her hands. “You are not just one of the many. I spent nearly every day of my summer thinking about you. I’ve never brought a girl to the kitchens before. There’s not even a girl I’ve probably talked to as much as you, with all the times we’ve teased each other over the years.”

Nesta stared up at him thoughtfully.

And then Cassian’s stomach chose that precise moment to grumble.

Effectively ruining the moment.

Nesta pulled her hands away from him and looked down at her watch. “I guess it’s already dinnertime…”

“I guess we should head off to eat with the other students in the Great Hall then…” Cassian said, hating himself for saying it, not wanting their time together to end. He’d much rather eat with her alone again.

“I guess we should,” she stated reluctantly.

“But I don’t really want to,” he admitted.

“I don’t...really want to either,” she agreed.

It felt like his stomach did somersaults when he heard her say those words. Beaming, he held out his hand in invitation for her to grab it again. “To the kitchens, then?”

And with a demure smile, she grasped it tightly, permitting him to lead the way. “To the kitchens.”

----------------

It was when they made their way down the many staircases that an idea came to Cassian for where he and Nesta could eat their dinner. It just required a few more items…

When they had arrived at the kitchens, he had instructed Ollie to prepare two dinner meals to-go and told Nesta to wait for him there while he retrieved a few things from his room.

As he rushed back to the kitchens, he only prayed that she had indeed stayed in the kitchens and wasn’t having seconds thoughts about eating dinner with him.

Finally - finally - he had gotten some sort of sign that maybe - just maybe - she liked him back.

Or could potentially like him.

Or at least liked him enough to spend more time with him.

...If she didn’t back out.

The thought pushed him to move his feet even faster, nearly tripping over himself as he passed all the chattering witches and wizards within the various portraits along the walls.

Out of breath and bearing a blanket and a cloak, he couldn’t help but smile when he saw Nesta still waiting for him, holding a basket that he bet contained the food prepared by the house-elves.

“You have the food?” he asked to confirm.

Nesta gave him a firm nod.

“Let’s go,” he stated, beginning to walk out of the kitchens.

“Is this another secret?” Nesta asked as she followed him.

“You bet,” Cassian exclaimed with a wink back at her.

This time, she didn’t look hesitant and unsure. Instead, she seemed...intrigued and eager.

More progress.

Once they went up the staircase and reached the ground level, Cassian leisurely strolled alongside Nesta and guided her outside through one of the castle’s doors

“We’re going outside?” Nesta wondered. “I don’t have my - ”

“I got you covered,” Cassian cut her off, knowing she was going to say she didn’t have her cloak or jacket. He halted his steps. “Hold this,” he instructed as he handed her the blanket. He then unfurled the cloak within his arms and hooked it around Nesta’s shoulders.

Seeing her wear his cloak made her look even more attractive to him.

Why did he do this to himself…

She seemed grateful for the gesture...until she tilted her head down to look closer at the cloak she was wearing and grimaced.

“What?”

“It has the silly Gryffindor emblem on it,” she noted before looking up at him. “But I suppose I will survive wearing it just for one night…” She finished with a soft smile.

Cassian chuckled as he took the blanket out of her arms. “I sure hope so.”

As they resumed their walk, a gentle, cool breeze blew past them. With his free hand, Cassian grabbed Nesta’s free one and eagerly led her down the slope toward the Great Lake. He beamed when she tightened her grasp on his hand.

The sun was just beginning to set over the lake waters. Once they were near the edge of the lake, Cassian let go of her hand to lay down the blanket. Nesta promptly set down the basket of food and sat down upon the blanket. Cassian followed suit.

Upon opening the basket, they found a delectable meal of roast beef, mashed potatoes, peas, treacle tart for dessert and bottles of pumpkin juice.

As they dug into their meal, they watched the sun descend over the glistening waters.

“It’s beautiful,” Nesta commented softly.

Cassian inclined his head toward hers. “Not as beautiful as you,” he whispered.

Nesta groaned. “You really need some new material.”

“Well everything about you is impossible to properly compliment,” he said in his smooth-talking voice. “You are simply indescribable.”

Nesta rolled her eyes and shook her head back and forth as she swallowed some potatoes. “Good grief, you are so...ridiculous!”

“I think what you meant to say was ‘Cassian, you are so ridiculously handsome, and I can’t imagine spending this beautiful night with anyone else.’”

“‘Can’t imagine spending the beautiful night with anyone else?’”  she exclaimed incredulously. “I certainly can! If I was here with Hugh Grisman from Hufflepuff, he’d be too frightened to talk.”

Despite being thwarted of being given a compliment from Nesta once more, Cassian’s eyes still contained a hint of amusement.

“Or, imagine if I was here with Lawrence Milton from Ravenclaw. He would be going on and on about all the science behind the sun,” Nesta joked as she turned her gaze upward.

“Imagine if you were here with Walton Azley from Gryffindor,” Cassian piped in. “He’d probably try to convince you to go walking through the water with him in search of some obscure magical creature.”

Nesta chuckled, and it was a sound that Cassian wished he could hear over and over again. He started laughing with her.

“If I was with Artemis Braxton, he’d probably charm me with his singing voice and sweep me in arms to -”

“Okay, I think that’s enough,” Cassian sternly interjected and stopped laughing. While Artemis Braxton was a famous singer who would likely never be on a date with Nesta, the thought of someone else wooing her and wrapping his arms around her sent jealousy running through him.

From the way Nesta smirked at him, he could tell she was well aware how that image made him feel.

“You have no right to get in a huff about this,” she said rather calmly. “Especially since you’ve probably been here with - ”

“I haven’t been on a picnic with any other girl,” Cassian was quick to reply. “It’s only been you,” he stated earnestly.

The smug grin vanished from her face. Instead, she looked pensively down at her food as she ate.

Cassian let out a slow breath he didn’t realize he was holding and resumed eating his peas, while Nesta continued to pick at her roast beef. The sun’s last remaining rays faded from the sky, and for a short while, they sat in silence and simply listened to the whistling of the wind.

But then, Cassian heard Nesta suddenly put her utensils down on the now empty plate in her lap. In the darkness, she focused her gaze down at the plate.

“Earlier today, Tomas...he just wanted me for sex,” she whispered. “And then when I rejected him, he said he didn’t know what fuckin’ mudbloods were even good for then.”

Rage flowed through Cassian’s body. He was livid, absolutely livid. His hands, which gripped his fork and his plate, began to tremble from his anger. Tossing the plate to the side, he hurriedly stood up off the ground.

He was going to pummel that piece of…

“Lumos,” he somehow heard Nesta say over the sound of his raging heartbeat. “Where are you going?” she asked angrily as she held out her lit wand so she could see him.

“I’m going to murder Mandray,” he stated seriously.

“No, you aren’t. Sit back down,” she ordered sternly. “Now.”

“You don’t deserve to be treated that way!” Cassian cried out, trying to make her understand. But when Nesta’s glare did not disappear, he begrudgingly sat back down on the blanket.

“You don’t need to be causing anymore trouble,” she said as she grabbed hold of his hand and intertwined their fingers. “If you become a murderer, I don’t want to have to see that handsome face of yours hidden behind the bars of Azkaban.”

Cassian suddenly sat up straight. “Did you just willingly compliment me?”

Nesta nodded. “Perhaps you should document this moment since it’s such a rare occurrence and probably won’t happen ever again.”

If he wasn’t so enraged, Cassian would’ve chuckled at her comment. “Can I at least hit him with the bludger multiple times during our next match against Slytherin?” he wondered aloud.

“Sure.”

He stared at her in the glow of her wand for a moment. “You’re really going to let him get away with this?”

“Of course not. In time, I will retaliate,” she remarked with a delighted sneer.

“Good,” he said with a conniving smile. “Let me know if you need any help.”

“You’ve already helped me enough today,” she said seriously and squeezed his hand. Nesta dropped her lit wand onto the picnic blanket, then began shifting her body so she was right beside him, her thigh grazing his. She rested her head on his shoulder. Cassian released her hand and instantly wrapped it around Nesta’s back to pull her closer. He inhaled her lavender scent and tried to calm his heartbeat that was racing from the excitement of being so close to her.

“Thank you, Cassian,” she said softly as she tilted her head up, her nose brushing briefly against his cheek. “For today,” she added.

“You’re welcome,” he whispered back.

Those eyes...they were like magnets. Always pulling him in and making him never want to remove his gaze.

And those luscious lips...they called to him. He wanted to kiss her so badly…

Slowly inching his face toward hers, Cassian took a deep breath, and he could see Nesta doing the same.

But suddenly, her eyes widened in shock and she shot up to her feet. “Oh no,” she gasped.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, feeling alarmed and standing up with her.

She glanced down at her watch. “I have to go. I completely forgot about my shift tonight to patrol some of the corridors.”

Hurriedly, she took the cloak off her body and handed it off to Cassian.

But she couldn’t leave. Not yet...not when they had come so far.

“Just forget about it. Don’t go,” he pleaded as he tossed his cloak to the ground and attempted to grab hold of Nesta’s wrist.

“I have to leave,” she said firmly, dodging his grasp as she picked up her wand. “Goodnight,” she said before rushing off to the castle door.

----------------

Despite Nesta’s abrupt departure, Cassian was in a state of elation for a while.

He had finally been on a date with Nesta. And now he couldn’t wait to ask her to go out on a second one.

Their time together was so...simple and quaint. But they were alone, and he had felt so relaxed around her. It was just...different from when he’d spent time with other girls. He didn’t have to feel like he was pretending to be someone else. She was someone who could relate to him and just...understand. Someone he could be vulnerable with.

Plus, he finally got to hear her admit he was handsome.

Then there was the fact they they held hands multiple times and she let him wrap his arm around her...signs that she didn’t truly despise his company. That she felt something for him in return.

For the evening after their date and the next couple of days, it was like he was in a daze. Rhys and Az wondered what was wrong with him. He kept humming to himself as he walked through the corridors of the castle, and he could hardly pay attention to what was going on around him. Every time he turned a corner, he kept hoping that Nesta would be there, happening to walk in his direction.

Alas, he wasn’t so lucky.

At meal times, he’d stretch out his neck to take a peek over at the Slytherin table, hoping he’d find her among the crowd and throw a wink her way. Maybe even offer to whisk her off to the kitchens again.

But he never saw her.

But when their Potions class on Tuesday was approaching, Cassian was ecstatic at the thought of finally seeing Nesta and asking her out again...with hopefully more success this time around. He even arrived to class fifteen minutes earlier with the hope that he could talk to her before class. And he never got to class early.

But she never showed up for class...which seemed so unlike her. He’d never known her to miss class.

So that afternoon, he decided to attempt to seek her out. He went to the library for a while, pretending to study as he periodically looked around for Nesta’s head bent over a book as he so often saw in the past.

But there was no sign of her.

On Wednesday afternoon, he hung around outside the entrance to the Slytherin dormitory for a while, thinking he could at some point catch her coming in or out. He ended up receiving a lot of dirty and suspicious looks from various Slytherins...none of them from the one he was looking for. When he saw one seventh-year Slytherin female leaving the dormitory, he blatantly asked her if Nesta was inside. The female frowned at him - seemingly perturbed that a Gryffindor was talking to her - and reluctantly informed him that she hadn’t seen her since that morning.

At least someone had seen her and he knew she was alive.

On Thursday, he was thrilled once more about going to Potions class, again getting to the class early, because surely Nesta wouldn’t miss two classes…

But once again, she never showed up.

And so Cassian’s euphoria began to dampen.

----------------

The night Nesta patrolled the corridors after her picnic with Cassian, she found it...terribly difficult to keep her mind off of him.

They had almost kissed and...she could not believe herself. If she didn’t remember her patrol shift, she probably would’ve let him.

The thought flustered her.

This was Cassian she was talking about. Cassian!

A boy who took every chance to annoy her, to tease her, to argue with her, to make sarcastic comments and innuendos to her constantly for the past several years.

It was ridiculous.

Her and him together...preposterous!

It simply didn’t make sense. He cared more about quidditch than studying for his N.E.W.T. exams. He didn’t come from a high social standing family that could help advance her career, which is what she had always pictured for herself.

She may have read tons of romance novels with grand gestures and declarations of love, but...she never pictured such things happening to her. Others had always considered her unkind, snobby, and unlikable. It’s what made it so hard for her to make friends.

So she never thought she’d ever be a part of a swoon-worthy scenario where a boy got her pancakes because she was hungry and took her to a room that he had transformed into one of her favorite places and then take her on a picnic by the lake.

Nesta groaned. She had admitted to herself that Cassian’s actions were swoon-worthy.

What had gotten into her? How could she let her barriers come down? She even started telling him about her issues with her father. She hardly even discussed such things with her sisters. And then he even opened up to her about his parents. She had never known that his father walked out on him…

No. She had to stop thinking about this. She needed to forget it. He had his date with her, he got what he wanted. Now, he would probably never want to hang out with her ever again.

To her both her displeasure and her pleasure, a visual of him and his silly smirking face formed in her mind as soon as she awoke Sunday morning.

And then when she went to brush her hair and put it in a braid crown, she couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to have Cassian’s hands run through her hair.

Ugh. Why would she imagine such things?

Things that are not meant to be and should never happen.

She’d need to keep her distance from him for a little while. Give herself space to allow herself to forget about him.

(Even though part of her was also dying to see him again.)

So for the next few days, she spent most of her time in the Room of Requirement, which she figured no one else would be able to enter if it was in use. If she hung out in the library, she knew there was a chance she could run into him. And she certainly couldn’t eat her meals in the Great Hall, or she would see him. Luckily, Cassian had shown her how to get to the kitchens…

But unfortunately in her determination to not see him, she kept being reminded of him because she was going to the places he had introduced her to.

She still attended her classes, but when Tuesday rolled around, she just knew she couldn’t face him yet. She had to get herself together and build up her walls around her once more before she saw him again. So...for once in her life, she skipped class.

Then skipped for the second time in her life when it was time for Potions class on Thursday.

Because. She. Still. Could. Not. Get. Him. Out. Of. Her. Head.

She wanted to scream.

Every day, she thought of him and wished he was with her.

But then she would get frazzled and wonder why she felt this way.

Was she completely delusional? Was she sick? What was making her feel this way? Why couldn’t she just forget him already?

This was how she envisioned what being under the spell of a love potion would feel like.

A love potion...

Could he have possibly slipped her a love potion at some point?

That had to be it. There was just no way she would feel this way on her own accord.

But now she was fuming...over the fact that she couldn’t stop thinking about him on top of the possibility that he had slipped her a love potion.

Now she knew she needed to see him and get to the bottom of this madness once and for all.

She glanced down at her watch. It was roughly an hour before dinner. He could be anywhere...perhaps in his dormitory or at quidditch practice.

Quidditch practice.

Hurriedly, she grabbed her satchel to search for her notebook that contained schedules of classes, quidditch, clubs, and more for prefect purposes. Opening her notebook, she flipped through the pages to the one she was looking for.

Quidditch Practice - Thursdays

4:00pm - Ravenclaw

5:00pm - Gryffindor

Without even a second thought, she departed the Room of Requirement and headed straight to the quidditch pitch.

----------------

When she arrived, she indeed found the Gryffindor team huddled together on the ground, finishing up their practice.

With her arms crossed, she walked onto the field and leaned back against the barricade that separated the stands from the field. Her eyes found Cassian’s tall form in the distance immediately. His silky, dark hair was pulled back into a bun and his athletic wear made his muscles look more pronounced.

Nesta scolded herself and reminded herself to remain focused. She needed to confront Cassian and find out if he gave her a love potion. She just needed to wait a little bit, since she certainly didn’t want to make a scene in front of everyone else.

The Gryffindor team huddle broke apart, and when Cassian stepped away, his eyes instantly found hers and his face broke out in the widest grin she’d ever seen on anyone.

No, the smile did not make her weak in the knees.

She refused to let it.

...but failed.

Her whole plan had been to stomp over to him and make her frustrations known. Instead, he was now gleefully jogging toward her with his broom in his hand while the rest of the team dispersed, heading to the changing rooms.

Her body refused to move. Too frozen from that damn smile and the way he was currently looking at her.

“Nes,” he said when he approached. “Where have you been? Did something happen?” His voice was filled with concern, and his free hand neared her as if he was about to grab her hand.

She certainly could not allow that to happen. Lifting up her wand in her right hand, she jabbed its tip into the center of his chest to prevent him from going any further. “Stop it right there,” she angrily ordered. “And don’t ever call me Nes.”

Upon hearing her tone, Cassian frowned and outstretched his empty hand in confusion. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

Nesta groaned and she jabbed the tip of her wand into his chest again. “I am not your sweetheart.”

“Ok, put your wand down,” Cassian requested, his voice sounding like he was trying really hard to control his temper. “And Nesta, please tell me what’s wrong? I’ve been worried about you. You missed class, and you never miss class -”

“No,” Nesta interrupted him, disregarding his request to put her wand down and instead tapping his chest with it. “No, you don’t get to say these things and act like you know me so well!”

“But I do know you,” Cassian said with traces of frustration and impatience. “At least a little! And I want to get to know you better!”

“Well, giving someone a love potion is a lousy way of showing that!” Nesta shouted back, and a look of complete and utter bewilderment covered Cassian’s face.

“What? You think I gave you a love potion?!” Cassian exclaimed. “I’ve done no such thing.”

“Don’t lie to me! Why else would I be feeling this way and constantly thinking about -” Nesta began to say, but abruptly stopped herself from saying anything more.

“Thinking about what? Me?” he questioned her, infuriated. “Is it so ridiculous to think you might actually like me that you assumed I must have used a love potion on you?”

Nesta slowly pulled her wand away from him and brought it down to her side as she stared at the ground, avoiding his gaze.

Cassian looked down at her peevishly. “I thought you knew me enough to know I would never do such a thing. I want to date you and be with you, but only if you truly want to be with me too. I loved spending time with you on Saturday, and it seemed like you enjoyed it too. But maybe you’re only accusing me of using a potion because you’re ashamed at the thought of liking me?”

Nesta kept staring at the ground beneath her feet, taking slow and steady breaths as she listened to Cassian’s hurt voice.

She gave him no reply.

“No denial, then?” he asked in a pained voice. “Well, I suppose I should at least be flattered that you think I’m smart enough to concoct a love potion that lasts for several days, when most only seem to last for less than twenty-four hours with one dose. Goodnight, Nesta,” he said gruffly before turning around and hurriedly marching off to the quidditch changing rooms.

Nesta lifted her head and watched him walk away.

This all wasn’t some game to him. She should’ve known that just based on all that he did for her on Saturday.

The anguish in his voice just now further proved it.

And hearing that anguish made her feel like she was crumbling on the inside.

Of course he didn’t use a stupid love potion. She had just been searching for any excuse at all to explain these feelings she had for him. Feelings of wanting to be with him and spend time with him and...kiss him.

She wasn’t ashamed to have these feelings. Sure, it was a shock to have them for him. But she was mostly...afraid.

Afraid of being hurt and betrayed because she had these feelings.

Why did she have to be so destructive?

When she saw Cassian enter the changing rooms, Nesta felt compelled to follow after him. She couldn’t leave things like that.

It was time for her to be honest both with him and herself. No more coming up with excuses.

With her robes flowing around her, she ran across the pitch to the changing rooms.

As she rushed toward them, many of the other Gryffindor players were walking out and gave her quizzical looks. But she had no time to care...not that she ever would have cared anyway.

When she burst into the room, out of breath, she was relieved to find Cassian was the only one in there. He stood before a locker, angrily removing his leg and arm guards.

“Cassian,” Nesta called out softly, causing Cassian to briefly glance up at her.

“Coming to get in one more insult because claiming I used a love potion wasn’t enough?” he questioned her bitterly.

“No,” she emphatically replied. “I… What’s wrong with your hand?” she suddenly asked when she noticed his knuckles were completely swelled up.

Cassian just shrugged. “Just...hit a locker,” he muttered before aggressively removing the glove off of his other hand.

Did he...punch a locker out of anger over her stupid words?

“Sit down and let me see it,” Nesta demanded as she gently pushed Cassian down on the bench in front of the locker and quickly grabbed hold of his wrist before he could protest. She sat next to him and lifted his hand to inspect his knuckles, then took out her wand and directed it at the injury.

“Glaciotious,” Nesta said and an icy coolness from her wand settled over the swollen area. “Are there bandages somewhere in here?”

Cassian shook his head. Nesta then took a quick glance around the room before glancing down at her own clothes. Letting go of Cassian’s hand, she untied the tie from around her neck and threw it on the bench beside her. “Linteumos,” Nesta stated as she directed her wand at it.

Before their eyes, her green and silver tie had transfigured into a long green and silver bandage. Picking it up, she brought it toward Cassian and gestured for him to stick out his hand once more.

He reluctantly did so, and Nesta placed her wand down on the bench and went about carefully wrapping the bandage around his knuckles.

“Nesta, what are you doing?” Cassian asked exasperatedly.

“Taking care of you,” she replied.

“Why?”

“Because I care about you,” she answered ardently as her fingertips grazed his skin, the touch sending goosebumps up her arm. “And that scares me,” she added in a whisper.

His eyebrows rose up in arches at her words. “Why does that scare you?”

She tied a knot in the bandage and gently set his arm back at his side. “Because I could get hurt.”

“What do you mean?” he asked as he stared at her intently.

“To care for someone and let them in and grow to love them...there’s the chance that one day they’ll just leave you or betray you or forget about you altogether.”

Just like my father, she nearly added.

But from the way Cassian looked at her sympathetically, she sensed that he knew what she almost said. He swung one of his legs over onto the other side of the bench so he could fully face her. Taking one of her hands within his uninjured one, he rubbed circles with his thumb into the back of it.

“And I know I’m not easy to...care about either. I have a tendency to push people away...so it’s just been easier to...isolate myself,” she added.

“Nesta, I can’t promise right now that we’ll be together forever, and neither can you, but I know that what I feel for you is different from what I’ve felt for any other girl,” Cassian explained fervently. “And I don’t want to waste any time in our final year here if we want to give this a shot. You just need to decide if you’re willing to take the risk.”

Nesta closed her eyes as he spoke, debating and thinking over what she should do.

Mere minutes ago, she nearly became distraught over seeing Cassian walk away from her. It wasn’t something she wanted to experience again. If they were together, there was the risk they would breakup and he would leave her. But if she decided right now not to go out with him again, he’d probably leave her alone completely...

The past few days since their unofficial date, she had missed him. Despite every effort to try to forget about him, she missed him too much. Perhaps, that was the real reason she felt the desire to go storming out onto the quidditch pitch today. She needed to see him.

But then she had cut him down with her insinuation of him using a love potion on her. It was how she shielded herself. Strike others down before they could hurt her.

However, this time, her strike against someone else also hurt her. She was already in too deep, so she might as well...try this out.

But she did so, she needed to apologize.

She opened her eyes and stared back at him. “I’m sorry I accused you of giving me a love potion.”

An amused smile took over Cassian’s face. “I will only accept your apology if you tell me what you meant when you said you were feeling a certain way and constantly thinking about something?”

Nesta rolled her eyes. “Isn’t it obvious how I feel at this point?”

“I want to hear you say it. You’ve already heard me tell you a few times how I feel about you. It’s time to return the favor.”

“Fine,” she said dramatically and squeezed his hand. “Despite you being a persistent and arrogant and demanding dolt, I like you and I like spending time with you.”

Cassian gloated and squeezed her hand in return. “And what have you been constantly thinking about?”

Nesta sighed again. “You and how much I want to kiss that stupid grin off of your face.”

Cassian’s eyes grew big and his mouth dropped open.

Good. Just the reaction she was looking for. She smugly smiled at him as she leaned closer to him.

“So does this mean you’ll take the risk and go out with me?” Cassian questioned her, his breath tickling her nose.

Nesta scrunched up her nose upon smelling a foul stench. He still hadn’t cleaned up after practice. “That depends if you plan on showering anytime soon.”

Cassian sighed as she leaned away from him. “I’ll go shower right now. Meet me outside the Great Hall in twenty minutes?”

Nesta nodded in agreement.

“Great,” he said dreamily as he squeezed her hand one more time before releasing it. “I expect a real answer to my question then.”

“Wait,” she said as she grabbed his injured hand. “Plasticus,” she stated when she pointed her wand at his bandage, charming it to turn into plastic. “For your shower,” she explained.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

Nesta simply gave him a smile before getting up and heading out of the changing rooms, while he made his way to the shower stall.

On her way to the castle, an idea popped into Nesta’s mind.

----------------

Following his shower in the quidditch changing rooms, Cassian raced to the Great Hall, eager to hear Nesta finally say that she would go out with him.

...and possibly finally kiss her.

Having heard her say she had been thinking about kissing the grin off of his face had been such a surprise. He never thought he’d ever hear her admit that. Especially when he would have just been satisfied with her saying that she had been constantly thinking of him.

Finally, they seemed to be on the same wavelength.

When the Great Hall entrance was finally in sight, he didn’t see Nesta anywhere.

Was she avoiding him again? Did she freak out again? He had just seen her a mere twenty minutes ago. How could her feelings change so quickly?

Suddenly, a door he passed on his left opened and a hand reached out, grabbing hold of his arm and yanking him into the room…

Which turned out to be a tiny dimly-lit space filled with various broomsticks, mops and buckets.

And none other than Nesta Archeron.

Nesta closed the door behind them and gently pushed him so his back was up against the wall. She wrapped her hands around his neck, bringing his face down to hers to capture his lips in a fervent kiss. Once over the shock of this unexpected event, Cassian placed his hands on her waist and pulled her closer to him, needing to be as close to her as he possibly could.

The taste of her was better than he had envisioned and he couldn’t get enough. When she would hesitantly pull away the slightest bit, he dove right back into the kiss, gently tugging at her lips with his teeth to pull her back in.

At some point, he did remember however that he’d been expecting her to answer his question. Reluctantly, he pulled his lips away from hers, and the two of them stood with their foreheads resting against each other’s. Her heavy breathing matched his own.

“I knew you always wanted to snog me in a broom closet,” he remarked cheekily.

“I needed to see what all the fuss was about,” she replied as she moved her hands up into his unbound hair and ran her fingers through it over and over again. “But if another prefect catches me, you’re dead,” she added rather seriously.

“I’m dead? You’re the one who dragged me in here!”

“But you’re the one who keeps kissing me.”

“Because you started it,” he noted before giving her a quick peck on the lips. “And you’re too intoxicating.”

Her eyes glimmered like the stars as she blushed.

“So Nesta Archeron, will you go out with me?” he asked.

She took a deep breath. “Yes,” she breathed.

Cassian beamed as he planted her with a passionate kiss.

“Are you ready to go to the Great Hall?” he asked when he pulled away.

“Not yet,” she said before leaning forward to kiss him again.  

“Maybe we can eat in the kitchens later instead,” he mumbled against her lips.

“I like that plan,” she whispered before wrapping her arms tighter around his neck and kissing him ravenously.

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! I hope you liked it! I apologize for any errors...I was sick when I edited this! Cassian just seems like he would totally be like a Hogwarts-era Sirius Black to me XD anyone else agree? :) Right now, this is just a oneshot. But do I have ideas for other Nessian dates/issues while at Hogwarts? Yes. Will I ever write them? I have no idea. I kinda want take a break, kinda want to go back to writing my post-ACOFAS fic, haha. So we'll see!

[babiemochie]

If you wanna share some about your project I'd love to read it 👀 I like hearing people talk about BTS in an academic setting but your not into that it no biggie

owO annonie asked about the project ???

Sorry this took so long!! I am officially finished with Undergrad, and that’s why I’m getting a chance to respond now.

I would love to share! It’s going to go under a Keep Reading so that I don’t ramble on and mess up everyone’s dash if they are not interested, because it’s rather lengthy.

So I conducted a content analysis on BTS’ lyrics and music videos, and some performance videos to try and look at how they have changed their presentation of masculinity over time. Last semester I had to go through a lot of literature trying to piece everything together, ranging from basic Gender Theory to articles about how western viewers perceive K-pop.

Interestingly enough, I found absolutely nothing in my lit review that was just. How different groups present masculinity or femininity. There were articles about how western fans saw Asian men in general, what they thought about men wearing makeup, and there were articles about the economic piece of k-pop. But there was nothing that was like, “these men are openly presenting their emotions” or “these men are openly addressing the complications of presenting multiple identities.”

That’s what I ended up doing with my research. I looked at 52 songs, and analyzed the lyrics of those songs. For the songs that had music videos or short films, or performance videos, I watched and took notes on their presentation in those.

Essentially my findings were pretty self-explanatory to an already invested ARMY: they started off presenting themselves in the western hegemonic ideal and now six years later they are presenting themselves in a transcultural masculinity, but with a softer Korean masculine frame.

(Western hegemonic meaning: quite aggressive, reluctant to show emotions, and unrelentingly heterosexual. Transcultural masculinity with softer Korean masculinity: pulling various elements from various cultures [like the western ideal] and combining it with their own form of masculinity which is softer and more open to showing a broad range of emotions to come up with a more mixed presentation.)

You can easily see this is you look at the differences in their debut concept photos, and the concept photos from Map of the Soul: Persona because the difference is so strikingly different.

But! This is where it got interesting! Even though their images and presentation have changed drastically, their main message has not. Their first song No More Dream was about finding your own path and discovering your own dreams. Paradise from Love Yourself : Tear is about realizing that a dream can be found in anything, even if it is just getting through the day, because happiness is what matters.

That’s what Bangtan is about. Giving their audience reassurance, motivation, and encouragement.

So. That’s the main idea of my research, except. My research paper ended up being 50 pages, even though I cut out entire sections for the sake of time. Basically, I managed to choose one of the few majors that would let me go off using my academic voice about BTS and then that major said “yeah sure. this one seems worthy of a degree.” Although my advisor was absolute garbage, my research was entertaining.

Another thing to thank Bangtan for if I ever got the chance.