#you die we die everyone dies and then we transform into a new us

[astarionancuntnin]

Die For You (Epilogue)

summary: a year after their confrontation with the corrupted lords, a fleeting thought crosses astarion's mind as he watches you admiring the crack of dawn.

rating: E

word count: 4.5k

pairing: astarion x you (fem!reader)

cw: 18+. time skip, fluff (in my angsty fanfic? its more likely than you think!), emotional smut. full list on ao3

a/n: gods, what a ride! this was my very first long fic, and im very happy with how it turned out, considering i had NO idea how this would end up when i first started it! this ending was one of three, based on the poll yall have taken on the second chapter. i hope it lives up to your expectations and im looking forward to all the feedback! this is not my only work, if you wanna be tagged on my other works, feel free to let me know and ill add you to the tag list. thank you all for sticking along! <3

Masterlist

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You're part of the dawn where the light comes from the dark

You're a part of the morning and everything matters

And we are, an atom and a star

You're a part of the movement and everything matters

-

It has been a year since your transformation. A year since you officially died and came back as Astarion’s dark consort; his bride, his eternal love. Since the incident with the corrupted nobles, you’ve only grown stronger, as much as a vampire – and he couldn’t be more proud of you – than as a couple.

Your return among his court was gradual. You were reluctant at first: the lingering fear from the dreadful soiree you experienced still affected you, so Astarion let you watch from the shadows; he would never force you to do something you didn't want to. It's only after two more months that you asked if you could attend, and only if you could stay by his side; your social anxiety wouldn't let you be alone in a room with so many strangers without feeling as if you were asphyxiated. He was beyond thrilled by your request, as he wanted nothing more than to introduce the whole world to his beloved.

It took some more time, but you found yourself joining in on discussions with lords about the state of the city and its economic state. Your teachings were buried deep in your memory, but you retained the most important parts of them, using those to show your knowledge and bring forward ideas to save the city from its downfall following the mindflayer attack. To your surprise, you found yourself right at your place within the high society; it was in your blood after all, and what was the point of running from it when you were clearly a natural? You found out that it was never your title that you dreaded, but rather the association to your parents and contributing to their schemes — something you were glad to not be a part of anymore.

The change was almost seamless: one day you were attached to Astarion's arm, never leaving his side, and the next, you were strolling through the crowd, knowing everyone's name, their occupation, and how influential they were. While Astarion was able to persuade more nobles to ally with him, you’ve been very successful at swaying people to your advantage, using your charms and wits to redirect power from the right people for the good of the city; together, you’re considered the strongest couple in Baldur’s Gate.

You proved yourself countless times, and he was always delighted to present you as his partner.

His equal.

After yet another successful night of dancing and socialising, one where you had convinced a neighbouring lord to fund an orphanage for the children who had lost their parents in the attack, you met up with your lover in your chambers to celebrate the news. In truth, everything you accomplished was a great reason to celebrate.

To see you act with the might of a Lady, smart and witty, and use every tool you had to your advantage made him swoon over you, and one of the best ways to express it was to worship you in bed, spending hours and hours devoting himself to you.

It’s something you thought you would struggle with — the intimacy after the violence you had endured — but you found yourself easily melting in his embrace once you were back at the palace. Just like that first night you spent together and he had let you guide that dance; upon your return, he let you take control until you were the one asking for him to take you however and wherever he wanted, how you grew to crave his touch, the look in his eyes when a sinful thought was shared across your connection, and the faint blush you could spy on cheeks and ears as he painted his vision of you via your bond. The endless teasing throughout the evening sure made the meetings more interesting, and less dreadful, if you had to admit it.

After a great season of events, Astarion cancelled all his meetings for the next tenday to devote his attention to you, and you only. No one was to disturb either of you unless they had a death wish.

And the night of that last meeting, any restraints had broken down, when you almost threw yourself at each other as soon as your last visitor had left the palace. It started out in the hallways, but you were quickly brought into his room to have the privacy you required. You spent the remainder of the night in bed, switching from making love to cuddling, until you were back to straddle him for more; unable to leave the other’s side or even spend a second without your bodies touching.

He kissed each and every part of your body, showing his devotion to you in such a delicate manner that turned you to putty in his hands, embracing away any pain your body had gone through. This past year, he had been the most attentive lover; always in the moment with you, making sure that your eyes met as his hips collided with yours, sharing the same breath that united you both, body and soul. As your bodies fused and you both came undone, you could sense the love, the utter adoration he had for you. Both of you grounded the other and reminded each other that you were not the result of your past; only you chose what to make of it.

There was no one else in the world who could understand you better than each other.

It’s only when you noticed dawn approaching as you nuzzled into his chest, that you realised how long you had been indulging in the other. You chuckled and commented on how you both could use some sleep, since if one of you was tired, the other would be too, and really, how impractical it would be to have you both incapacitated at once.

He took a look at you as he lazily caressed your hair and that’s when he was reminded of the one thing that had been on his mind these last few months. The one thing he dreaded, but couldn’t avoid anymore.

“There is a way, you know…” he said, his voice soft. “To sever the bond. Between creator and consort.” He pauses as you lift your head, frowning as you meet his gaze, and for a second he doubts if he should carry on, but quickly pushes the doubts aside; you deserved to know. To have a chance to decide for yourself, without any ultimatum.

“It is mostly painless,” he continued, “You would remain as you are, a full fledged vampire, but we wouldn’t share our connection anymore; no more mental discussion, no more shared sensations.” You looked at him with a thousand questions in your eyes, as this was the last thing you expected this morning. “I am willing to go through the procedure for you, should you desire it.”

You remained silent through your blinking, until you finally found the words that fought to get out. “You would… really do that?”

This proposition felt so unlike the Astarion who once had you chained up in his dungeons, something that he had agreed had been, and you quote, ‘impolite’, since you last spoke about it. He didn’t regret it — you wouldn’t be in his arms otherwise — but he supposed there could’ve been a better way to talk to you at the reunion.

“As much as I want to keep you all to myself, I can’t bring myself to keep you bound to me after what you’ve been through. It… wouldn’t be fair for me to make that decision for you. I want you to have the chance to make the choice yourself.”

You scanned his expression, and although you saw the sincerity, you also sensed grief. Breaking your bond would sever any type of connection between you both. A part of you would die along with it, and you would lose the possibility of lingering in each other's mind. Even though you understood his intentions, it didn’t make sense for him to propose this when he finally had you to himself. Against your best judgement, you peeked into his mind, searching for an explanation, and what you found completely shattered you.

By offering this to you, Astarion understood that there was a chance you might just… leave. With nothing holding you back, linking you to him, he thought you had no reason to stay. That the sole reason keeping you here was this bond, and even with how close you had become, how much you had grown together in your relationship, how utterly in love you were — in that moment, under all the false confidence, you saw right through him; he was convinced that once the bond was broken, you would leave. Run away from this mess that had been life at his side, and find someone who truly deserved you, saw you for your worth. That you could only degrade yourself if you stayed after what he had put you through. He didn’t believe for a second that you would continue to put up with this life if you had the choice, and yet, here he was proposing it to you, offering you this way out.

You gave him a soft smile, a reassuring one that you hoped carried the intention you had.

“I… would like that.” He nodded, understanding that this was a possibility, and he hoped you would take this opportunity, if only for your own sake, but it didn't hurt any less. “But I do have a condition.”

He smiled sadly, his features softening at hearing you bargaining, a bittersweet reminder of how all of this started. “Anything for you, my dear.”

It’s the warmth of the sun’s embrace that stirs Astarion awake this morning. Gods, he will never tire of it. If only for this reason, his ascension was well worth it, and no one will ever convince him otherwise.

You let your minds connect, telling him your request through your bond, and when you saw the light sparkle in his ruby eyes and his face light up, you knew there was nothing in the world he would like more.

-

That, and seeing his reflection again. He's lost count of the times he spent admiring himself; pausing at every mirror he had meticulously installed around the palace, stealing glances at his reflection, and lingering at the colour of his deep ruby eyes. Those same eyes that had sealed the fate of so many unfortunate souls; these deadly, beautiful weapons, that keep helping him charm the right people. How he went two hundred years without enjoying the sight of himself has him completely astounded. Needless to say, this was an issue no more, and long gone were the days of misery; Nearly two years later, he had everything he ever wanted, at long last.

Everything, and yet his most prized possession remained this little human fighter turned bride.

Really, the only person he ever truly wanted, that he ever loved, even. A feeling that had felt most foreign once upon a time. He never thought he could experience such a strong emotion, something that was forbidden to him just over three years ago — something he would’ve considered a weakness — turned into his greatest strength. A feeling that overwhelmed him to the point where he couldn’t restrain himself from physically expressing it; taking his dark consort in every room, every surface of the palace, until they were both panting, eyes half-lidded and lost in one another. That same feeling that would now have him chanting out her name all night long as he devoted himself to her; her body, her pleasure, her desire for him. How utterly blessed he was to have her just as enamoured for him as he was for her.

As he finally awakens from his reverie, he quickly picks up on the empty spot next to him. Curious, he thinks, she was never the early bird. When he lifts himself on his elbows, that's when he sees her on his balcony, and he takes the time to admire her; his consort, his love, still by his side through it all, blessed by the rising sun’s warmth. It took over a year more after their engagement, as Astarion couldn’t believe her decision to stay, but he finally got over the fear of losing her. After everything that had happened, and the opportunity she was given, she chose to stay and have a life with him. After everything, she still loved him just as deeply, and that day at the altar, she promised to spend the rest of her undead life showing him just how much she did love him.

Content with the sight of her, he finally gets up to join her on the balcony, without bothering to dress up. He sneaks up on her, snuggling her from behind, his hands wrapping around her waist, while he leaves playful kisses along her neck and shoulder to greet her.

“Mmmh, hello my treasure,” he murmurs in the crook of her neck. “Can’t sleep?”

“I was just admiring the sun,” she hums. “It’s funny, I never really bothered to appreciate it until I thought I could never be under its light,” she takes a deep breath as she closes her eyes, taking in the warmth she was basking in. “I never quite realised how beautiful this world is.”

She sighs in his embrace, but it's almost a moan, as she pushes back against him for more contact, “I didn’t think I would disturb you from your precious beauty sleep.”

He can hear her smile through her mumbling, and he smiles in return, “It’s your sleep I’m rather worried about dear.” His kisses linger on her neck, over the bite marks he birthed upon her skin an eternity ago. “And I think you should join me back in bed to remedy it.”

She laughs, “I’m not sure your idea of rest coincides with mine,” she turns around to face him and rests her hands on his bare chest. “Actually, I rather believe you will wear me out more than anything.”

He smirks as he presses her against the edge of the balcony, lifting her nightgown up before propping her up to rest atop it, guiding her legs to wrap around him. “Do you really think so little of me? That I would drag you to bed only to satisfy my carnal desires?”

“Well,” she rolls her eyes as she smiles, “you haven’t given me a reason that proves you would do otherwise.”

She wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her, and in the same movement, he wraps his arms around her waist and leans into the nape of her neck, resuming his sweet attention. When his smile widens, he feels the creases in his cheeks, depicting the countless moments of happiness she brought him since she has blessed him with her company.

“I assure you, my love, my intentions were most pure,” he purrs.

She tilts her head aside, offering him more liberties with her neck. “Were they now? Well, if you say so, then I’m sure I can trust you to carry me to bed where I shall resume my rest.”

“Ah, but I’m afraid the offer has expired. You see,” his finger hooks the string of her nightgown, pulling it down, “now, all I can offer,” he pulls down the other one, revealing your breasts to the morning breeze, “is a morning spent fulfilling our matrimonial duties.” “Matrimonial duties?” She exclaims ironically. “What unholy thoughts have you got in mind, I wonder.”

“I could show you, if you would indulge me,” his kisses over her skin become sloppy, his teeth softly grazing her skin while his tongue leaves a faint trail of saliva from her shoulder up to her ear, playfully nibbling it, while one hand reaches for her breast and the other finds its way in the heat between her legs.

“Ah– Astarion…” Her playful tone is replaced by soft moans as he takes a salacious pleasure in touching her in her most sensitive spots.

“What’s that, dear?” His fingers slide against her folds, not yet daring to dip further.

She groans, “You are incorrigible.”

“And yet, I don’t hear you asking me to stop,” he pinches her nipple between his fingers with the hand massaging her generous chest, while his other hand brushes over her clit, lingering near her entrance but intentionally avoiding it. As he hears her ragged breath, he pulls away, cutting any contact between the two of them, and languidly sucks on his fingers to taste her wetness, while his gaze focuses on her, before releasing his fingers with a pop. He tilts his head, with a playful look in his eyes, “Unless that’s what you want?”

She looks at him with lust clouding her vision, barely containing herself, “If you intend on teasing me, my lord, I hope you know what you’ve got coming for you.”

He leans back, assessing the vision of his consort completely lost in her need for him, with a salacious smile tugging at his lips, “My, my, is my little love threatening me?”

“Oh no,” her hands sneak into his hair to grab a handful of it before lightly pulling back and leaning into his ear, murmuring, “This is a promise.”

She lets go of his hair, leaving her hands wandering, and when their eyes meet again, they are darkened by their shared passion for each other. His voice comes out deeper, as he closes the distance between them, their lips now but a whisper apart.

“Then I believe I should make haste to tend to your needs, my lady.”

Their lips finally meet into a passionate kiss, the tenderness of it even surprising Astarion — considering the eager tone she had previously used — but he melts into it, pouring all of his longing into the kiss, just as she does when her hands pull back to hold his face closer. He picks her up from the edge of the balcony and carries her back into their room, where he lays her out on their bed and removes her nightgown, slowly unravelling her soft skin to the morning afterglow. The sight of her, bare before him — only for him; with her legs parted and inviting him in, her body bearing only the bite marks he had given her — is enough to break any restraints left in him. He couldn’t bear to tease her longer, he needed her as much as she needed him.

Licking his lips, he kneels at the end of the bed, crawling his way up to his wife. He lifts her leg over his shoulder, leaving a trail of kisses up to the apex of her thighs, until he reaches the centre of his desire. He breathes her in, the scent of her pleasure stirring something deep within him, before his tongue finds its way between her slick folds, where he finally licks her, from the bottom of her entrance right up to her clit.

She moans softly, already lost to the magic of his tongue, and that's when he lifts her thighs over his shoulders, locking her legs around him, and holding them in place to feast on his meal.

His tongue dives into her, reaching into the depth of her cunt and drinking in her nectar, the effects of it visibly affecting him, as his hardened cock throbs between his belly and the soft sheets of the bed. His hips move unconsciously, searching for a temporary relief as he moves his tongue out of her to lick his way back up, where he finds her swollen bud.

While his hand sneaks away from her thighs, into her dripping entrance, his eyes flick up to find her unravelling before him; her head thrown back, and her hands grabbing at the sheets, holding on for dear life.

“Gods, please…” she begs, her breathing failing her, and he smiles between her legs, as he pumps two fingers into her.

With a final flick of his tongue over her clit, he lifts his head up, still hitting that sweet spot inside of her, “Yes, little love?”

“I… I need you— gods, I need you.”

“You have me, my love,” he says, his voice soft like velvet. “All of me, however you wish.”

He knew what she meant, but he wanted to hear her say it. He would never tire of having her melt under his touch, coming apart under him.

“Inside me,” she whimpers as she clenches around his fingers working wonders inside of her. “Now.”

The urgency of her tone was clearly noticeable, but Astarion wants to push her further, “But I am inside you, my dear.”

She lifts herself up on her elbows, her hair completely dishevelled and her chest rising with each deep breath, staring down her husband with a mix of fury and lust. “If you don’t fuck me right this instant— Ahhh ffffuck!”

While she was talking, Astarion went back to teasing her sensitive bud and accelerating the pace of his fingers thrusting in. “Oh, I’ll fuck you alright. By the time I'm done with your delicious cunt, you’ll only see stars, my sweet.”

He could easily make her go over the edge only with his mouth and his fingers; he had done it countless times in the past already, he was well aware of his abilities, but nothing compared to the feeling of her tightening around his cock and milking him dry while he pumped every drop of his seed into her. It was his favourite way to come with her, and he took great pleasure in making her shatter in every way imaginable. They had all the time in the world to discover the many ways she would cum under his touch.

“Mmh ahh— Pleasepleaseplease Astarion, I want to feel you inside of me, I’m begging you—” Her words get lost in her throat, instead replaced by cries as she nears her climax, until—

“Ah,” Astarion pulls away completely, “but how could I deny my lovely wife when she begs so beautifully.”

Her groans turn into small cries as his teasing starts to overwhelm her, and that’s when he drops her legs down on their bed and crawls over her, aligning himself with her swollen pussy, before linking their hands together to pin her down. He leans down and stops right before kissing her, simply to push her to the limits of her patience, and when she hisses at him for being just out of reach, he shoves his cock inside of her, stilling her.

He remains unmoving, always taking his time with his first thrust to take in the feelings of her tight walls, pulsing around him. Astarion rests his forehead on hers, their eyes lost in the other, carrying the words they had learned to communicate aloud after they had broken their bond.

Carrying on with this ritual had pushed them to communicate better and work on their relationship, creating a new type of bond with the other. They had learned to understand the other’s body language so well that sometimes, a simple look was enough to communicate their exact thoughts from across the room.

His fingers dig into the mattress as he tightens his hold on her, and he resumes his languid strokes, “Focus darling. I want to see every little expression you make while I fuck you. Can you do that for me?”

She tries to nod, but his depraved speech only pushes her further and faster to her climax, as she fights to keep her eyes open and focused on him.

When he feels her cunt’s grip thighten around him, he can barely contain himself anymore, “Fuck, just like that, love,” his groans and the wet sound of their hips slapping against each other gets only louder as he accelerates the pace, nearing his own climax, “Gods, you’re so tight around me— I’m gonna fill you up to the brim, and you’re gonna take it all like the good girl you are.”

A few more thrusts is all it takes to send her over the edge, screaming out as her climax erupts through her like electricity flowing through her veins, followed quickly by Astarion who stills inside of her, shooting thick ropes of come that leak out from her, into their bedsheets. It was the least of his worries right now — he could always change them later, but they would be ruined in the following hour regardless.

They both remain panting, basking in the bliss of this aftermath, until he takes a look at their hands still intertwined. On her right hand, he spies the sparkling diamond ring adorning her finger, the public display of their unison matching his own, and he brings it to his lips for a brief kiss, before taking the time to admire it, thinking back to how it all started.

“I told you, Lady Ancunín suits you beautifully, my love.”

She smiles sweetly, eyes tired from their lovemaking, “I wouldn't have it any other way.”

And he knew she spoke the truth. Their marriage didn't only solidify their relationship, but it protected her from solicitors who might've been tempted to try giving her advances after the news of Virric's death had been propagated, and by taking Astarion's last name, she was free from any remaining links to her family, a name she detached herself from completely years ago already, now legally unbinded.

She didn't even need to explain the extent of her reasoning; the second she proposed, Astarion was on his way to commission matching rings for them. Truth be told, he had wanted to make the proposal himself, but after knowing of her past with Virric, he didn’t dare bring it up first. She did give him the chance to announce the news at their next soiree, and it's the only thing he had spoken about that evening.

They would be Aeterna Amantes. Lovers forever, until the world burns down.

Gods know that he would burn the world down himself if she merely asked — not that she would ever, he knew her better than that — and she was the only one he would ever get on his knees for.

She was the goddess who finally answered his prayers that had gone unanswered all these years ago; the sun that made him feel alive once more; the brightest star that guided him throughout the night; the very reason he decided to live on, and yet, if it came to it, he knew he would die for her.

-

Pars avant l'aube

Quand la lumière veut nous voir

Quelque part dans le monde

Un oiseau s'endort sans bruit

Toi et moi

Dans la nuit on trouvera

Quelque part où déposer

Les fleurs qu'on a cueillies

Thank you for reading! Comments, reblogs, and likes are very much appreciated <3

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[quetzalpapalotl]

For my like 10 followers that aren't into Transformers, here is a list of things that are totally canon for the IDW Transformers comics (2005-2018):

Two guys had a meetcute in the morgue of an euthanasia clinic because one guy wanted to kill himself and the other was looking for his dissappeared husband among the corpses. They get married. They seemingly don't talk about what they're going to do once they find the second guy's husband that they're still looking for. The suicidal guy has had other 3 husbands but he erased his memory of that because he's bad at dealing with grief.

The suicidal guy's ex (not one of his dead husbands) is the Autobot second-in-command and had a pet mad scientists that made him war crime machines. They ended up invented the concept of having a child, but then the Autobot SIC had the scientist thrown into the torment nexus because he felt bad about doing war crimes and wahted to stop. He didn't actually stop doing war crimes.

Optimus Prime annexes Earth.

A guy invents time travel to save his unrequited crush's life

God is a real person but he's not actually a deity and is currently a therapist whose license was revoked for getting unprofessionally close to his patients. Everyone who knew his license was revoked died so he just kept on practicing.

Optimus Prime pretends to be havig divinely-inspired visions to get out of situations.

Tumblr exists in-universe.

There's a guy named Centurion who was made to think he's Bumblebee because when his ship crashed a scientist brainwashed them into thinking they were classic Transformers characters to see what happens. Thousands of years later he gets involved in human wars and remembers he's not Bumblebee. He develops a self hatred so great he lets a G.I. Joe villian use him for his schemes. Centurion then has his consciousness fused with a human named Mike Power and lives perpetually with the biggest identity crisis of history.

Another guy also had his memories messed with and has lived multiple human lives (he may be Gilgamesh) when he's actually a Transformer secret agent. He's overcoming his own identity crisis through the power of sheer vanity. He also owns the in-universe equivalent of Facebook and Apple.

On at least 3 occasions Transformers used another Transformer's corpse as a vehicle. And on 1 occasion they used a corpse as a replacement limb (the guys alternate mode was a leg)

The Transformers on planet Cybertron at some point forgot that gender is a thing. There are lost colonies from before this so gender is still a thing in those.

One of those cybertronian colonies sends a delegate after millennia of absence and her bodyguard hates the place so much she causes a terrorist attack just as an excuse to go home, people die. The delegate was like "that was bad but we can move past this" and forgives her.

The Decepticons rewired their own soldiers into bombs and dropped them on people.

The Decepticons also rewired Autobots into anti-personnel live mines that would explode when they good too stressed and needed to be handled by people that could defuse them while keeping them calm.

Transformers are allergic to magic.

A guy has a fanzine dedicated to the Autobot Black-ops where he writes fanfiction. It's so popular multiple people are on a mailing list to have it downloaded directly to their brains when a new issue comes out.

A Decepticon's plan to deal with population decline is to make a bunch of organic babies, have them grow up and make more babies and then transplant their souls to Transformers bodies. He got as far as growing one (1) baby. Tbh, you could erase this whole plot and the story wouldn't suffer much.

Starscream who is a backstabbing liar who cares only for himself becomes president. He routinely neglects and endangers the population for his own ends. He was the best leader Cybertron ever had at the time.

[zweetpea]

Zhongli x reader The Dragon of Geo (Spicy, no smut)

Summary:

The classic tale of a young lady and a dragon, but with a twist. AU no deities, or Tevat (I’ll still use Liyue and the Qixing just for convenience), no Archons. And I made Shenhe an Adepti because I thought that thematically it fit better. Also female reader.

Notes:

Warning: not for the kiddos! Has foul language and mentions of heat and breeding. And if you want me to write you smut based of the sultry scene feel free to ask.

Feel free to request any genshin ideas

Ao3 version here

Once upon a great beast roamed the sky. His scales, as brown as mud yet they sparkled like crystals. His hair as thick and shiny as gold yet it was softer than silk. His claws as sharp as rocks yet somehow held a gentleness reserved for the mortals of his land. And did he ever love his mortals. Hewent by many names, Rex Lapis, The Great One, Mighty Dragon of Geo, the children often called him Zhongli, but my favorite name for him has always been Morax. Something about it just presented power and authority. To me it screamed “I am your protector! You are mine to love! Though the seasons may change and life caries on for mortals, I will be here to protect you always!”

But those were the foolish wishes of a young girl who knew nothing of the world. A girl who was enchanted by the glimmer told to her as a child to keep her innocent.

He protected us for a millennia, but a century ago he decreed that unless he was given a bride by sunset he would ravage the land. The Qixing gathered everyone together to see if there was anyone who was willing to go. In the end they had to draw up a lottery since no one volunteered. Five years later he demanded another girl. And another after another five years. Some mothers or sisters left instead to protect their family, some had to be carried away screamed and crying. When I was fifteen years old I even witnessed a girl ask that she be escorted there in a carriage with a beautiful white dress. She was convinced that she was going to die and wanted to be pampered and treated like a princess in her last minutes.

I was never convinced that he ate them. I thought that they were a part of his harem and he got bored with them eventually. But it was undignified and unlawful to let a woman marry a man after she had been deflowered, lest she be a widow.

Anyway, it’s now five years later. Liyue is waiting on a letter from one of the four Illuminated Beast. This time 15 years ago Xiao came. He was a beautiful black and teal eagle (A/n: Don’t question the animal forms). 10 years ago Yanfei a lovely salmon pink deer came. 5 years ago an adorable little blue goat named Ganyu arrived with the letter. So this year should be the elegant white crane Shenhe.

Right on time she flys down with the letter in her mouth. I inform her of my name, how I knew her and the other Adepti’s name. “Don’t worry Shenhe, there’s is no need to go back to the others. I’ve been informed that I should wait here until the letter arrives and if it never came I was to return at the end of the day. I am the new bride of the dragon of Geo.”

Well truth be told the reason that I didn’t want to go back to the others was because I had a plan to stop all of this. In the back of my traditional dress I hid a dagger. I’m not much of a fighter but I figured... someone had to try? I guess? I dressed modestly as I figured that he would like it enough to not eat me immediately. If I died in battle I was going to take down Rex Lapis. I don’t need the praise, and I just want my people to live peacefully oblivious lives. In a few centuries this nightmare will become folk lore. A cautionary tale to spook children into being good. It’s finally going to end. I wonder if they’d get most of the details accurate, maybe they’d try to scope out the cave to try and find more details.

We walk out to the middle of the wild and into the mountains. The cave of the beast. Surprisingly it had doors. They’re beautifully sculpted and chiseled with various pattern that made me stop and gape at them in awe.

“This way, young one.” Shenhe motions with her wing. The doors open slowly and I enter the unnatural dark cave.

Once they close lanterns illuminate the corridor and standing before me was a gorgeous woman with long white hair that fades to black at the end, tied in a beautiful braid. “Who...?”

“Right my apologies. It’s still me Shenhe. In the cave myself, Xiao, Ganyu, and Yanfei take on more human characteristics. Come on, we mustn’t keep the master waiting.”

She leads me to the end of the corridor and into a large room. It looks like it had to be a thrown room due to the throne at the far back on top of a short flight of stairs but it feels as if someone could throw a party in here.

“Shenhe. You’ve returned earlier than usual.” A deep voice from behind a burgundy curtain called. His glowing gold eyes peer through the semitransparent cloth. She kneels to him once we reach the bottom of the stairs.

“The mortals came prepared, this time.” She informs the man on the throne. Gold and brown plush pillows surround him as he lay there waiting for his next plaything.

I kneel too to show him that I am as loyal and docile as his servants. “Shenhe you are dismissed.” She exits the room and he rises from his throne and draws back the curtains. “Rise my bride. Rise and look at me.” I do as he commands. I gape with wide eyes at the man before me. Long thick black hair pulled back in a ponytail, he had on a strange white outfit that showed off his chest and yet was like a skirt at the bottom. His arms were black at the shoulder and gradients to a yellow at his hands, I wonder if that was natural or part of his clothes. He starts to descend towards me as I’m standing there like an idiot. He chuckles, his voice even more sultry. “Like a little bunny caught in her predictors sight.” In the blink of an eye he’s behind me, holding my dagger to my throat. His hood most likely fell off as he dashed for me. “You are the only one who has ever tried to kill me. Others have begged or tried to bargain. Some I’ve even fed to Xiao because they only cared about the prestige of becoming my wife.”

“Your eyes... the legends and one own imagination cannot do them justice. I’ve imagined them thousands of times. How could I have hated these beautiful ambers for five years?” I looked up at him as he leaned over me.

“Excuse me? Did you just ignore what I said? Maybe I wasn’t clear enough. Women who try to seduce me are fed to my servants.”

I’m off in lala land and can’t fully register his word. “My father’s probably told me your legend 100 times when I was younger. If you’re going to kill me please let me die with your eyes being the last sight I see.”

“100 times? I could never fathom hearing something 20 times let alone that many.”

“Ironically I am your 20th bride.”

“Do you think that makes you special?”

“That’s for you to decide. Are those horns real?” His horns came up from his head and slanted back then curled back towards the front. I turned around in his hold.

“Yes they are, and they’re vERY—” He cuts himself off as I grab his horn. He groans at the contact dropping my dagger, it clangs as it reaches the ground. “—Sensitive.” He grabs my hips and nearly grinds our waists together. He breathing is heavy as he layers his head on my neck and guides me up the stairs. I almost trip a few times as I have to walk backwards. “If you ever do that again, you won’t be walking for a week.” He pushes me down on his throne. He pins my hands above me.

“Was- was that supposed to be as erotic as you made it sound?” My face feels hot and is undoubtedly red.

He looks at me surprised and then angry. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t take you right here, or better yet call in the Adepti to watch as I fuck you dumb on my cock like the whore that you are?”

“Morax, I know that you probably won’t care but I’d like to ask you a question before you deflower me.”

He looks a bit surprised, probably because of the name I called him by. “... this better be good.”

“Why did you ask for a bride?”

“Why? Why?! I don’t have to tell you anything!!”

“Okay. I’m ready.” I say nonchalantly. This caught him off guard.

“Excuse me.”

“You granted me my question, and from the stories I’ve been told Morax keeps his word. You told me you were going to torture the poor Adepti by forcing them to watch us propagate.”

“Do you just believe everything that you’ve been told or read in a book?” His face like the fabled Jueyun Chili’s.

“I was actually also wondering about those stories. But you’ve only permitted me with one question, so I guess I’ll never know.”

“If you were so curious about me why’d you try to kill me?” He lets me sit up.

“I mean, you are quite well known for your brides going missing and never coming back. It would be stupid not to have some kind of protection, whether or not it would work is a whole different argument. I figured that if for some reason I changed my mind I should still have some protection.”

He smirks at me. “I don’t think that’s you wanting to kill me is the truth. Not anymore at least. You wanted to convince yourself that you would be the hero. But what you really wanted was answers. Answers to the questions that you’ve been tossing and turning in your sleep about. I can see it in your eyes. The was they sparkled when you went to grab my horns. The way you looked over my body as I came closer to you just a few minutes ago. The way you were ready to use your last boon on something that should be so innocent, just so that you could get the answers that were just eating you alive.”

Could he really read you like an open book? One with the letter printed big and bold? “Okay, you forced me to face a truth I really didn’t want to confront. What does this mean now? You know that I won’t try to kill you, you know that I don’t want your power, and you know that I’m not gonna beg for my life or try to bargain for the sake of Liyue. So what will you do now?”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had someone who’s interested in history and my stories stumble into my life. I’d like to keep you around for now.”

“What happens when you don’t want me anymore?” He walks back to where he dropped my dagger and comes back with it. He makes a slit on his palm and smeared the golden blood on my forehead in a single line.

“I make this contract to you that should I get bored of you that you may leave this place and never return. Once you wash off my blood the contract with solidify.”

(A/n: just go with it)

“Well what happens if you take my virginity then get bored of me? It wouldn’t be proper for me to marry another.”

He makes another slit on his palm as the first healed already. Then drags another line across my forehead. “If I am to take you, let our first contract become null and void and I will make you my wife.”

“Does this mean that I may ask you anything that I want?” My eyes widened probably sparkling.

He chuckles. “How about you go explore while I um... ahem, straighten up.” He gestures to the tent in his pants.

I blush and look away. “Right! So Um, bye!” I run from the room to the door on the left of the main entrance to the throne room.

<><;><><>

I didn’t see him again until dusk that same day. I got well acquainted with the rest of the rest of the adepti in their human forms. I also found water to wash off his blood. He found me wandering around and brought me to a bedroom.

“This will be your room. Mine is just across the way if you need me.”

“Thank you.”

“Think nothing of it. This is my only article of clothing and if we were in the same room then I’d be too overwhelmed by that little body of you little bunny to resist.”

“Um, will I have more than one piece of clothing?”

“I’ve already asked Shenhe to get your clothes from your father. I believe that some of the other citizens have given you presents as well. Something about this being a change for the better.”

“They probably think that if I’m moving my clothes here that you’ve accepted me and won’t seek another bride at least for a few decades.”

“By then who knows what invention they will make to stop me. I might be done for.”

“I don’t think so. You’re the oldest documented creature in the world!”

“And yet you still wonder why I want a bride.”

“Your lonely?” He goes into his own room and closes and locks the door. “But what about the Adepti!”

“Good night bunny.” He says through the door.

“That not my name!” I shout my name to him.

<><;><><>

3rd person POV

When Shenhe reached Liyue she was confused about the what the people were doing. Most were celebrating. But there was a lone man in the background shaking and trying to stay calm. When she arrived the celebration stopped dead in its tracks and everyone looked panicked.

“Where is the new brides father?” No one new who she was talking about so she informed them that a new bride had offered herself up. The brides father steps up to Shenhe and asked what happened to his daughter. She asks for your clothes and tells everyone that the girl was alive and well.

After that everyone ran back to their homes and grabbed something nice to give her for the new bride. They all tagged the gifts so the bride knew, who gave her what.

<><;><><>

1st person POV

I found the gifts in my room. Very pleasant silk clothes and finely made hair pins, combs and brushes. A few even sent toys. ‘Wait, they think...’ I thought as my face heated up. ‘No, no. Get those disgusting perverted thoughts out of your head girl! He’s just keeping you around for entertainment!’

<><;><><>

The next day at breakfast I started asking him questions.

“So if you only fed a few to Xiao what happened to the rest?”

“Well I either got tired of their nonsense and killed them or they ate a Jueyun chili and died. The ones I fed to Xiao I turned into mice first. And the rest of them who left behind bodies were buried.”

“They’re real? Jueyun Chili’s I mean.”

“Of course.”

“Are they really as hot as a thousand fires?”

“Oh no, it’s more like ten thousand.” He chuckles.

“Are you making fun of me? I really am curious!”

“I know. You’re just too cute Little Bunny.” He smirks. “They are spicy enough to kill a mortal with a single bite. Even the smallest nibble would kill a fragile soul.”

“Are you going to set a limit to how many questions I get to ask you per day?”

“Why would I do that? That would just restrict my fun!”

“I just don’t want to make you annoyed.”

“You are very interested Little Bunny.” He chuckles again, as I blush.

“Are your arms... naturally like that?”

“Yes.

...it’s how I look because I my dragon form.”

“Right, Shenhe mentioned that in this cave you all transformed into human like beings. Why is that? What is it about this cave that allows you to transform.”

“I was the only one able to shape shift. They all longed to have the ability to have a human form. I carved these halls and cast a spell over this place that allows them to transform into whatever human form they desire.”

“I’m happy for them!”

“As am I.”

<><;><><>

After a four months I was still living with them and it was reaching near my birthday.

“Hello Morax! Do you want to know why today is so special for me!”

“I’ll bite, why?”

“I’m 21 today! It’s my birthday!”

“Birthday?” He looks confused.

“Well yeah! Mortals have this tradition called a birthday where we celebrate the day that we were born and how many years we’ve been alive!”

“Well good Birthday to you then.”

“Silly! Mortals say happy birthday and whoever is having the birthday receives presents. So can yours be you telling me stories from the millennia that you protected Liyue? Please?”

He looks at me like I’m crazy. “You are certainly interesting. You can ask for anything and you ask for that?”

“I wasn’t sure that if I asked any other day that you would tell me stories.” I look down in embarrassing.

He pulls me onto his lap as he sits on his throne. “I’ll tell you anything that you want if you tell me what else you want for your birthday.”

“Um, well I guess... the only other thing that I’d want is to maybe go outside. Only for an hour or two. It’s just, I haven’t been out since I moved in and I’d like some natural sunlight.”

“I’ll do you one better. As long as myself or one of the Adepti are with you, you can go out anytime.”

“Really?” My eyes shine brightly. He nods. “Thank you so much!” I squeal and hug him, as well as giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Do you want to go now?”

“Just let me hug you a little longer.” I request a bit embarrassed.

<><;><><>

It’s getting close to a year now and I’ve noticed that Morax seems withdrawn from me.

“Hey. Morax? Rex Lapis? Zhongli? Are you okay?” I knock on his door and don’t get a reply. Xiao is walking past when he decides to pull me away from his masters room. “Hey what was that for?”

“You’ve made it farther than most. Except for one. Guizhong, the first bride.”

“What happened to her?”

“The legends you’ve been told are wrong. Guizhong offered herself to the master. She was much like you. Curious, fearless, trusting but not naive, but the biggest difference is that she could tell him to back off. You just let him tease you like a masochist.”

“Okay so why isn’t she here?”

“He had never had a lover before, he was possessive over her. And as time went on she started to hate him. And she flung herself off of the balcony in his room.”

“Oh my goodness, poor Morax.”

“On top of all of that she was his first love.”

“Xiao please, help me get in there! I want to let him know that I won’t leave him! That I want to stay with him!”

“Luckily I have the only other key to the masters room. I have to warn you though, he’ll be in his dragon form but it’ll be only a tenth his true forms size.” He unlocks the door and I rush in to the lavish room. It’s the most beautiful room in his palace. He lays motionless in his dragon form. Around his bed. In this form he huge. 50 feet long, brown scales, gold locks and curly horns. The legends really don’t do his majestic beauty justice.

I rush to his side and hug his head in my arms. He’s very thick though so I can’t get my hands all the way around. “I’m here, and I’m not going to leave you. You’re stuck with me whether you like it or not.”

He lets out a small roar, something akin to a whimper.

<><;><><>

I’m in my fifth year staying with Morax, and I’m madly in love with him.

On this wonderful day all of the Adepti are running around the hall in a panic.

“Ganyu what’s going on?”

“Well um... maybe you should stay in your room for a few days to about a week... and lock the door... and hide if someone tries to come in.”

“Ganyu, where is Morax?”

“Please for your own safety stay away from the master this week.”

“But-” before I could ask her anymore questions she rushed off. ‘Morax what are you hiding?’ I thought. I know that it’s rude to go into someone’s room without their permission but I am supposed to be his bride so surely an exception can be made just this once.

I slip through the door and the room is almost pitch black save for a few candles. His balcony door is closed and his curtains are drawn. I hear rustling around the room and feel arms snake around my waist. “What are you doing here, my cute little bunny?” Morax’s voice sounds strained, and yet hungry. Husky and low and so sultry. As he spoke that into my ear his hot breath hitting the shell I almost melted right there.

“Morax? What’s going on?”

“Seems there are stories that even my little scholar doesn’t know. Once every 100 years or so I go into heat, it’s a time period called breeding season. You seem so ravenous right now.” He groans in my ear and suddenly I feel my underwear becoming damp. “Don’t you know how rude it is to enter someone’s room without knocking? I think that you need to be punished.”

A small squeak was all I could muster as he threw me over his shoulder and walked me over to his bed. He dropped me down onto it and made quick work in getting rid of my clothes, leaving me in only my underwear.

“Naughty little thing aren’t you.” He teased as he felt my slit through my underwear.

“Morax, please. Stop teasing me, and just fuck me.” I whimper.

“Eager are we?” He smirks.

“I really love you and I want this. Please, let me help you. I want to help you, I want you!”

He blushes at my confession and gently smiles at me. “Whatever my love wants, she will get.”

<><;><><>

“Do you think that I’m pregnant?”

“I’m not sure. I fucked you good though.” He teased.

“Yeah and I can’t feel my legs.” I deadpan.

“What a shame. Looks like you can’t leave then.” He snuggles closer to me as the week of his breeding period is over.

“I love you.” I tell him.

“I know you’ve practically chanted it this entire week.”

“Well you better get used to it because you promised to marry me if we had sex.”

“I’ve known for a while now that I wanted to marry you.”

“Does that mean that I can touch your horns whenever I want?”

“Didn’t you get enough of that this week?”

“I like your horns, I find them very cute and so smooth.” I smile as he flushes red.

“Given the chance to become immortal and live with me forever, would you take it?”

“Staying young with you forever? Yes please, where do I get this immortality?”

“The Valberry. A single bite will give you keep you young forever and you will get to be with me, forever.”

“Really? Screw til death do us part! I want you to myself forever!”

<><;><><>

“Do you Rex Lapis, The Great One, Mighty Dragon of Geo, Zhongli, Morax, take this woman to be your wife for eternity?” Yanfei asks.

“I do.”

“And do you-”

“I do!”

“She doesn’t even need to think about it, that’s what I like to hear! I now pronounce you husband and wife.” We embrace is a long loving kiss.

All of Liyue cheers at the sight of their protector finally being satisfied.

After the wedding we went back to the palace and Morax lays me down on our bed and crawls on top of me.

“I hope you’re ready for me to fuck a baby into you.” He licks his lips with his long dragon tongue.

“We don’t have to rush anything we’ve got all this time in the world.” I smirk at him.

“I am your protector. You are mine to love. Though the seasons may change and life caries on for mortals, I will be here to protect you always. I love you bunny.”

“I love you too Morax.”

[getcuboned]

The hardest thing for a show to do without absolutely Destroying its audience's belief in stakes is fake out deaths. It happens all the time during a season or even series finale: A main character dies, but then is revealed to be mildly/moderately/extremely hurt (throw a dart).

All the emotional payoff a character dying is immediately followed up with a cathartic return of a beloved figure. When its done right, it's Effective. That's why it was so popular, that and another reason.

The other reason is that its relatively Easy. It doesn't require the writers to change the status quo. Silly fun adventures with the gang go on as always without any real changes. This is so Cost and Idea effective, that it got overused and now everyone is jaded.

Now there's good ways to do this of course. AtLA comes to mind: Genuine threat of death, maguffin from last season finale which has been haunting the previous episodes comes into play, and the status quo changes: Aang is recovering from a serious injury for weeks, is furious that he died and failed Again when the world needed him, and he can't tap into god mode anymore.

So what's this got to do with the tags? Well if you know you know. Otherwise spoiler warning so gtfo already.

Sir Pentious, and I suspect Adam, did die a fakeout death, but the death part was genuine. Sir Pentious was not found in the rubble of the Hotel. Sir Pentious didn't respawn and explain that Adam's divine energy beams weren't angelic steel. Sir Pentious was Genuinely dead and the status quo has genuinely changed.

But! The show's premise is that the Hotel can help sinners redeem themselves. Redeption isn't a reward you seek. Its a condition that one meets on a personal, individual level. Sir Pentious came to the Hotel as a spy, and when he was shown that Charlie was willing to forgive him, it changed his understanding of the world. He realized that he could improve, it just starts with one good sorry.

Sir Pentious put aside his self loathing, his shame, his anxieties. He used his inventions to put himself on the line rather than keep himself out of danger (I mean that's what the airship is all about isn't it?). He fought for the people he cared about. He died to protect the ones he loved. And that transformation: from a paranoid worm of a human being (slimy? Snakes are not slimy), to an actualized individual willing to put himself on the line, earned him salvation.

Now Sir Pentious is an Angel! He's in Heaven! Even more so he bypassed the Pearly Gates and functionally respawned In the Seraphim's boardroom. Frankly He was one of the older sinners to be around so it doesn't surprise me the implication that he's powerful enough be worth the notice of the Seraphims.

So what about Adam? Why do I mention him? He was killed by a filthy janitor. Well. As another post mentioned: In the 10,000 years that Adam has been in charge of killing his own descendants because Lilith and Eve (where the fuck is she anyway?) screwed him over with the assistance of a short, dumb, naive angel (poor guy just wanted to share his ideas, look at him. 10,000 years later and he's hardly got a drop of malice in him that isn't put there by someone else), Adam has become Prideful, Slothful, Lustful, and Wrathful. Even one of those is enough to make you fall. Yet he was tolerated by heaven, most likely due to his extenuating circumstances.

Adam has died. He died full of Wrath, and Pride. He died because he was unmotivated to come up with a better solution, and unwilling to keep himself in shape. He died because of his Blood Lust.

So I think that very early on in season two, we will get to see Adam's demonic form.

Two fakeout deaths! But not really. Both characters have provably died and both (theoretically) will create a new status quo not just by dying, but by reincarnating across enemy lines.

[xxsycamore]

👻🕸️🦇 IKEVAMP SUITORS IN A HORROR-MOVIE SETTING ! 🦇🕸️👻 (headcanons)

Happy Halloween! Yes, this includes all 17 suitors. I'm no expert on the genre but I thought this might be fun! Some of them die. I'm sorry. Warnings: everything that can appear in a horror movie really, including mentions of death, mass murder, blood, gore, torture, cults.

If you feel like reading something more goofy where everyone lives, try Pumpkin Carving Competition At Saint Germain’s Mansion or maybe even “Welcome to Saint Germain’s mansion, please have a fang-tastic night.” 

𝐍𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐎𝐍

The "okay guys, we need a plan" guy and welp, he has a sword, he is willing to walk in front, why not trust him? 👍🏻✨He's totally the one to hide being infected because come on, how are they gonna get out of there alive if the leader is down? Has a dramatic scene where he's fighting off the transformation in secret. Ends up being saved by someone and survives.

𝐋𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐎

Leonardo is the one you find along the journey, mistaking for an enemy at first as you get into his trap... when it actually turns out he's been there long before you, surviving all alone in this post-apocalyptic setting, adapted to it, prepared for every danger out there with gadgets he made himself! He might not stay alive until the end but plays a key role in the plot.

𝐌𝐎𝐙𝐀𝐑𝐓

He tried to warn them not to do anything stupid... He's now stuck suffering from the group's bad decision-making. He doesn't even know how he ended up there. Mozart is that one character that you're supposed to hate for being an asshole. At one point he falls in danger that specifically relates to a fear of his, and when everyone expects him to sacrifice another person to save himself, he does the opposite. He seemingly dies right there, breaking everyone's hearts, only to be revealed at the very end that he managed to survive!

𝐈𝐒𝐀𝐀𝐂 (credits for the idea goes to @scummy-writes guys she can write a whole fic of those I swear,, it's been such a pleasure listening to her)

Isaac needs to be saved five minutes into the movie... which writes him off as the weaker one from the get-go. This is going to be bad if the situation comes to "we gotta leave someone behind or we all die here!" - but hey, DON'T LEAVE ISAAC BEHIND IF YOU WANT TO SURVIVE! Because the next thing you know everyone falls into this deadly trap that only HE can figure the way out of, using his big brain skills. His worth has been proved! Everyone loves him now! And all he wants is to go back home and never go on a trip with these guys ever again!

𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐔𝐑

I'm sorry, Arthur dies first. The others are trying to warn him about the cases of victims who've been sucked to a dry husk and he's like "later virgins, i have a date tonight". Yeah his date totally killed him. Bonus points if we're dealing with vampires here, because irony. It's fine though, he's still important to the plot after he dies, because we find his writing diary and he left important cues there while trying to escape from his killer. Maybe he even came close to the truth! He knows his mystery genre stuff after all...

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐎𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐔𝐒

Theo just does NOT believe paranormal exists, not even after witnessing it with his own two eyes. Worst part, he tries to convince the others too. "My broer IS NOT POSSESSED!" Uhuh! Okay Theo! You just saw cryptic images appear on his canvas without him even moving the brush but I guess he was just trying a new painting technique!! And he levitates too and his eyes are tar black but what do we know... Once Theo realizes the situation, he's out there swinging a bat (sexy), ready to beat the shit out of whatever caused this, and he's good at it. Don't worry about him dying.

𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓

Poor baby Vincent is every sinister ghost/demon's number-one target. Vincent listens to the voices. He sympathizes with them! He makes friends with them! Maybe he doesn't even need to be possessed at this rate... Same story with joining a cult, honestly. When their bad intentions begin to come to light, Vincent puts up a fight and is suddenly not as easy to control as they thought.

𝐉𝐄𝐀𝐍

Jean might take some bullets from our main cast while someone shouts "IT WON'T DIE!" but it's fine he's used to it... he's been dead for quite some time and not just inside. Jean is probably the result of some sick experiment about making an immortal army of warriors and. It's sad. But it's fine because he joins the protagonists now! He's friend! I hope they apologize for calling him a monster. No, he doesn't die by the end of the movie, but at what cost?

𝐃𝐀𝐙𝐀𝐈

"Oh, it was just Dazai." Of course it was, someone has to be that one idiot that scares the shit out of everyone until he becomes the boy who cried wolf. Which usually ends with death! I'm sorry Dazai. At least they can take him seriously now and pay some more attention to the strange things he kept on saying.

𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐄

A very old-school villain! Bonus points if the setting is modern yet he still has a villain's lair and all that. There's something beautiful and tragic about him and he probably dramatically lets himself be defeated even if he had a chance to escape. Everyone will remember him. Mostly for the mental and physical torture, but still.

𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐓𝐄

"But we have one hour left until the curse kills us all, how are we gonna get there on time?!" *sounds of safari jeep pulling over* "Someone ordered a ride?" - yeah. Comte is here to save the day with the power of money friendship. And not just that! Who is the one who suddenly remembers a family heirloom that is as old as time and suspiciously shaped exactly like the key they're searching for? I also want him to lose an eye or a limb for some reason... just for a little touch of gore maybe?

𝐒𝐄𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐍

Gods, Sebastian is the only prepared one, bless him for that. He's read all about that urban legend while everyone's been busy denying its existence. He is not scared at all, too... you might wonder if he's just geeking out during all of this bloody mess or something. He's so important, please don't let him die please don't let him die... he died.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐒

The villain's aide that infiltrates the protagonists' group. By the time his betrayal scene happens and he nearly kills three members of the group with a chainsaw, we get a glimpse of his trauma and that's the key to sucessfully talking him out of doing it, eventually disarming him and catching him. He manages to escape and maybe later returns as an ally! Yay!

𝐅𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐓

Gods he's scary. I'm not watching this. Of course he's the killer, what did you expect? Has a tragic backstory of being used by an even more fucked-up killer in the past to do the dirty work for - and kept doing it even after getting rid of them himself, because that's the only thing he knows how to do. You can't fix him.

𝐕𝐋𝐀𝐃

IT'S HIMMM he's the scary little boy from the photos and the same scary little boy that always shows up in the rose garden and his soul just won't rest in peace!! Shows up in his adult form plenty too, just expect his expression to twist into something horrible every second. He needs to be sealed forever somewhere and it would take three sequels to get to know what would actually defeat him once and for all.

𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐊𝐄

... I'm sorry but there definitely is a lighthouse in this movie. And you can totally trust Drake! The poor guy's body just washed up for you to discover, tragically drowned-oh, wait no, he's breathing. He's totally not the same sailor who died around here many, many years ago. He's gonna keep you good company in the lighthouse alone for miles.

𝐆𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐎

Galileo is the one who saw the Thing™ with his own eyes, while he was watching the stars one night ages ago. He dedicated not only his massive research but also his life to this, yet noone believes him. If he somehow manages to find that one missing piece that connects everything together, he will die a horrifying death before he can even share it with the main cast. Rip...

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[icepopstar5105us]

Chapter 2: When the Insane are the Sane Ones

Age: 12

Nico Di Angelo was Arkham’s youngest and one of their strangest patients. He was obedient - maybe too obedient. It alarmed the guards at first - they thought he was planning something - but the therapists revealed it was genuine and stemmed from depression.

The psychiatrists diagnosed him with a lot of things, actually. A severe case of PTSD - which Nico had seen coming a mile away. Depression, which, duh. ADHD and dyslexia, obviously. Social anxiety, suicidal ideation, paranoia, and a couple mood disorders was. . . less expected, but not super surprising either.

Some also said he had psychopathic tendencies. Which. . . Nico wasn’t sure if he agreed with that or not. He had plenty of empathy. Heck, his empathy for Percy and Camp was strong enough that Nico had followed them into war instead of just staying home like his dad wanted. He loved his friends and sister more than anything, so he definitely wasn’t an unfeeling monster. He just wasn’t feeling all that bad for the person who got them all killed. . . a person he had murdered. . . who was also his own cousin. Okay, fine, yeah. He was a homicidal monster, but he wasn’t emotionless by any means. However, Nico had been quite amused when the staff slowly realized that not all of his oddities could be blamed solely on his insanity.

He had demigod dreams that warned him of a couple breakouts ahead of time. Nico had tried to warn the staff a couple times, but they never listened. Of course, he could tell when the inmate a few cells over had died - which had freaked out quite a few people. Wherever he walked, the shadows clung to him. No matter how many inhibitor collars they put on him, they couldn’t truly cut him off from his powers. Nico realized it was because his demigod abilities weren’t simply powers. They were half of his DNA - so intricately part of him that he would die if they were blocked. The inhibitor collars in Arkham were designed to avoid killing the wearer, so it wasn’t too worrying. Though, they did leave Nico feeling constantly drained.

Apparently Nico’s powers had developed further. Even with the inhibitors, he was able to pull more and more things from the shadows. Nico didn’t even realize until people started saying they felt unsettled and sick after meeting his eyes, but it seemed he was constantly exuding an aura of death. The doctors had then clamped a padded metal strap around his head to cover his eyes.

In response to a lack of sight, his powers had only developed further. Nico found himself able to peer through the shadows. He could see and hear everything in at least a couples miles if he wanted. It was kind of fun. He had used it as a sort of idle entertainment. He would let his own self fall away as he watched the world from his cell. It was a bit like everything else was a TV show. It might as well have been - Nico could never live the somewhat ordinary lives that the doctors and guards witjin Arkham’s walls lead. That just was not his reality.

He was unwilling to give up one of his only sources of both entertainment and outside information, so he chose not to explain how he knew these things. It only unsettled others further, but everyone here had much bigger problems to worry about than a patient who was otherwise cooperative knowing more than he should.

A guard entered the hallway and opened the door to Nico’s cell, “Hey, Di Angelo, get up. You’ve got therapy today.”

“Tell them to go away. I’m reading.”

“That’s not an option.” The guard paused, “Reading? You can’t-.”

“I think we all know that’s not necessarily true.”

“Where did you even get the book?”

Nico shrugged, “️‍It was in the cell. I assumed I could have it.” The guard knew better, of course, but it was worth a shot.

The guard sighed, “So you need another inhibitor collar.”

“Whatever.” Nico shrugged his shoulders in a childish fashion that always weirded people out (no one liked to be reminded that the criminally insane murderer of Wonder Woman had just turned twelve), “It’s a book. I don’t see the problem.”

“Next you could summon a dagger for all we know.”

Nico rolled his eyes, “If I wanted out, I’d have done something during one of the breakouts. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly homicidal without a good reason.” Still, he stood and handed the book over.

“Tell it to the shrink, come on -“

The lights outside started flashing red. The guard froze. Nico plopped back onto his bed with a heavy sigh, “Thursdays, am I right?”

Sirens blared, his inhibitor collar powered down.

“Hey.” Nico told the frozen guard, “You should probably run. At least to get out of this wing - this place is all S ranked villains. It’s kind of the worst place to be during a breakout, you know? You won’t die today, but. . . well, there’s a lot of things worse than death that you should still be afraid of.”

His words spurred the guard into action, thankfully. Other patients laughed mockingly at the guard as he ran, but Nico silently wished him luck. As the guard managed to make it to the end of the hall and out the door, the surrounding cells unlocked. Villains began pouring out and heading in the direction the guard had left.

Meanwhile, Nico shrouded himself with shadows and hid under his bed. Nico wasn’t particularly panicked or alarmed. He was probably a little too used to this, but how could he not be? It was the fourth breakout from Arkham this month - and it was only the second week! He watched as people ran past. He heard screams in the distance and winced in sympathy. More footsteps caused him to duck further under the bed.

There was laughter as the other inmates shoved a couple guards, some policemen, and a doctor in. They shut the door and locked it with a key.

“Shoot, shoot.” The guard said anxiously, “We’re sitting ducks.”

“Shh, calm down.” Nico urged from under the bed.

“Who’s there?”

“Me.” Nico crawled out from under his bed, “This is my room, so-“

The guard jerked and pointed his gun at Nico. The boy lifted his eyebrows at the gun. He looked up from the barrel and gave the guard an unimpressed look.

“I’ve never hurt anyone in a breakout.” The boy said, “I never try to escape. You should know this.”

“You’ve never been locked in a cell with -“

“If I wanted you dead, you would be.” Nico said bluntly, “A cell is the best place to be during a breakout and I haven’t been violent since my arrest. I’m probably one of the best patients you could be locked in with. Powerful enough to scare off the others, sane enough not to kill you.” He paused and then snorted, “Geez, why am I the voice of reason right now? Come on, get it together.”

The guard swallowed thickly, but nodded. He lowered the gun, but didn’t put it away.

“Who are you?” One of the policemen asked.

“Inmate S235. Nico Di Angelo. Like I said, this is my cell. You can check it later if you want.” His gaze turned to an injured policeman that was leaning on his buddy’s shoulder, “Here.” Nico reached out to the shadows and the first aid kit from down the hall appeared in front of him, “I doubt you trust me to help, but I’m sure one of you knows first aid.” He nudged it towards them and backed away.

The doctor quickly took it.

“You can use the bed.” Nico suggested and headed to the door.

The group quickly moved to the bed. Nico gathered shadows in front of one eye and one ear.

“What are you doing?” One of the guards asked worriedly.

“Keeping an eye out.” Nico explained, “Joker is five hallways down. Batman is in the west wing with the Commissioner. Wait. . . did that guy squirt mustard as some kind of attack? What the - Geez, no wonder that guy’s here. No one in their right mind would willingly go by Condiment King. . .”

“Di Angelo.” The guard said anxiously, “You said Joker is nearby?”

“Oh, yeah. Right, sorry.” Nico said, “Joker is in the passage between Hallways E1 and E2. This is hallway E6. There’s enough reinforced walls that - Oh, gods.”

“Wha-mmph!”

Nico slammed solidified shadows over all of their mouths and noses. They all panicked, but froze when green gas started pouring through the vents. Nico urgently held out his hand to a guard. He formed shadows over their ears and spoke into the darkness over his own mouth.

“Hold onto each other. I’m getting all of us out of here. I’ll stick with the guards afterwards, but we can’t stay here with Joker gas. Hold on and do not let go. If one of you sinks into the shadows, I won’t be able to save you.”

The group quickly did as told. Nico grabbed onto the shoulder of the guard and the uninjured policeman’s forearm. Shadows swirled and enveloped them. They dived into darkness. Several of them screamed as they plummeted and spiraled through a void. Whispers in long lost tongues and the sobs of the dead echoed around them and swallowed the sound of the civilians’ screams.

Suddenly, it was over. The civilians stumbled out onto the pavement outside of Arkham - just a few feet from the perimeter that the Gotham Police Department had set up. All of them landed on the ground in various states of disarray. The doctor and one guard fainted. The rest threw up. Nico winced in sympathy.

Several police surrounded them and pointed their guns at him.

“Hey, Angel!” A voice called.

Nico looked up to see Poison Ivy running over. He smiled a bit, “How are you doing? You and Harls alright?”

“Aw. We’re just fine, darling.” Ivy smiled, “You actually left this time? Planning to make a break for it?”

“Nah. You know me. Not my thing.” Nico chuckled, “Joker gassed the place, so I couldn’t stay in my cell this time.”

“Did he now?” Ivy’s eyes narrowed, “You hurt?”

“Not a scratch.” Nico said, “But knowing my luck I’ll probably get a couple more years for leaving my cell.”

“Hm.” Ivy turned around, “Harley, dear? Harls?”

“Here, Ivy!” Harley yelled and they saw a hand waving.

“Sounds like we gotta teach your ex not to mess with our kiddo!”

“Nico?” Harley panicked. She shoved through more police officers and darted over to him. She worriedly grabbed his shoulders, “Where does it hurt, hun? What’d he do? He hit ya?”

“Joker gassed the place, but I didn’t breathe any of it and I shadow traveled out the moment I saw it.” Nico promised, “I’m fine, Harls.”

“Thank gods.” Harley hugged him tightly, “Imma kill him. No one messes with my favorite kiddo and gets away with it. Not even Joker. Ya hear?” She cupped his cheek, “You sure you don’t wanna come with? Life of a criminal might not be glamorous, but. . . we’d do it together. You, me, and Ivy. One big happy family. . .”

“Well-“

BANG!

Nico quickly shoved Harley away - out of the bullet’s way. He tried to use the shadows to block it, but was a second too late. Thankfully one of Ivy’s invulnerable vines blocked the bullet.

“You idiots! He’s twelve!” Ivy was screaming, “He saved their lives!”

Nico stepped forward - reaching out to stop her, “Ivy, calm down. I’m okay. It’s fine-.”

“No, it's not!” Ivy pointed at a small mark on her plant, “You see that? It would have hit your chest! It would have killed you!”

“But it didn’t. Not the first time I’ve nearly died and it probably won’t be the last.” Nico huffed, “It’s not a big deal.”

“Not a- You hearing this? This is the kid you were gonna kill! Too sweet and traumatized to even blame you for trying to murder him!

“Ivy-” Nico cut off as Harley grabbed his wrist.

“Yeah, the child soldier nonsense is messing with your assessment, Angel.” Harley pulled him closer, “It’s a big deal. You’re twelve and you didn’t do anything wrong. Kay?” She hugged him tightly, “You let Auntie Ivy handle this and stay with me, yeah? We gotcha.”

“Harley, I have to go back to my cell in a few minutes and-”

“Nuh uh. Don’t trust these idiots.” Harley said, “You’re coming with me whether you like it or not.”

“What? You can’t just do that.” Nico tried to squirm away, but the villainess just hugged him tighter, “Harley! This is kidnapping! Ivy, Harley’s kidnapping me!” His protest came out as more of a whine.

Ivy glanced over and smirked, “About time.”

“Wha-“

“Kid. You just nearly got shot. It’s for your own good.” Ivy huffed, “Consider it an intervention.”

“But-“

“What on earth is happening over here?”

“That’s our cue!” Harley hoisted him over her shoulder, “You can’t shadow travel away if I’m touching you, right?”

“Harley.” Nico hissed, “Seriously! Harley!” He looked at the officers, “Are you seriously going to let her just take me?”

“You won against Wonder Woman.” A cop said, “If you really wanted, you could escape.”

“He can’t escape without killing me.” Harley bragged, “And he isn’t gonna do that.”

“I am not going on the run for this!” He kicked his legs, “Put me down- mmphf!”

Ivy shoved a flower in his mouth. Nico glared at her, but then his world spun. Harley said something and the police finally seemed to realize that Nico was actually getting kidnapped. They started rushing over, and-

Darkness.

xXx

[laurancezvahlslefteyebrow]

Laurance’s Choice Final Chapter

The Conclusion

When his mind returned to him, he was in unimaginable pain. This was worse than when he was transformed into a Shadow Knight. Laurance didn’t think anything could be worse than that, yet here he was. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t open his eyes or swallow or anything. It felt like there was an immense weight placed upon his entire body. He tried to keep from panicking, but his mind could only race, trying desperately to remember what had lead to this. Then it hit him. He died. He’d managed to kill Zane and in turn, himself. Is that was this was? Death? Would this be his eternity? Please, Gods no. Irene take mercy on his damned soul. Was this his punishment for becoming a Shadow Knight? Against his will or not? It was clear that he was in fact dead. His lungs no longer drew breath and his heart lay still in his chest. All he could do was lay and contemplate.

He was beginning to come to terms with his new reality, when he felt a strange sensation. His fingers began to twitch. Though, he wasn’t the one doing that. He felt a sudden surge of energy run throughout his body, and as quickly as it arrived it was gone. Then his ears rang, and his nose burned, and his eyes opened. Suddenly he was sitting upright, though not of his own accord. What in the name of Irene was happening? Everyone was much too bright, too loud, too.. EVERYTHING! He wanted to scream but his voice would not cooperate. “My Lord.” He knew that voice.. That was- “Gene,” he spoke! But.. no, he didn’t! That’s not his voice. But it came from his mouth.? “You’ve done well with this one. You retrieved this host well in time.” Host? What did- Oh no. Oh no no no no no. “Thank you my Lord.” Gene bowed his head, awaiting command. Finally, it clicked. Laurance did die. And because of that, the Shadow Lord was able to take his body and use him as a puppet. His body! And wait! Oh Gods the portal- It’s open! As soon as the Shadow Lord had enough strength he’d use his body to destroy everything. Everything he loved. Every one he loved. No. No he had to find a way to stop this. But.. what good could he do? He was dead after all. He could not warn anyone. All he could do was sit and wait.

Laurance felt like an idiot. He tried to protect Aphmau but in turn sentenced her to death. And not to mention the fact that he was a prisoner in his own body. It hurt, though the hurt did dull with time. Did anyone know he was here? Trapped and doomed to watch as his hands destroy what they’d once loved? Shad wanted Aphmau. For what reason he knew not. Perhaps she truly was Irene… No that’s silly. Shad must want her power.. Or her relic. That’s gotta be it! Laurance had been trapped like this for what felt like centuries. He had no idea how long it had truly been or how many years had passed in the overworld. If he had to guess he’d say… Four.?

For years, his mind moved on in a blur. Sometimes he’d forget who he was and have to remind himself. He’d try his best to annoy Shad with his thought but it seemed to have no affect. Oh well. He was beginning to forget who he was again until he saw her. Aphmau. His Aphmau. She’d hardly aged. She looked beautiful as ever. He was so thrilled to see her again that he almost forgot that his body was no longer his own. Once it registered, he took note of the terrified look worn on Aphmau’s face, and the tears that flowed from her amber eyes. She shouted something, though he could not tell what. He was too focused on the crows feet forming around her eyes. Those are new.. A terrified scream pulled Laurance out of his trance. He saw a girl. Small and scared. No older than 3 or 4. What was a little girl doing here?! And why did she look so much like… Aphmau…? “Oh ho ho.. Now this is something,” Shad’s rotten voice fell from Laurance’s mouth unnaturally, “A child born of Shadow Knight and Divine blood. I didn’t think it possible. And yet here we are. Irene, would you be so kind and hand over our daughter?” ‘Our… daughter..?’ “Never! You’re not Laurance!” Her voice was strained and the girl was crying. Shad let out a bellowing chuckle, “Well of COURSE I’m not Laurance. HE’S DEAD!” Laurance wanted to scream to run, something to let her know that he was still here. ‘Our daughter?!?’ But he could not even lift a finger. ‘.. Our daughter..’ Laurance was beginning to feel hopeless when Shad’s hand rose to his face, touching a small tear drop. Laurance came to the realization that he was the one crying for them. He still had some kind of control. He just needed to harness it.

Shad lunged for the girl and Aphmau swooped in front, taking a hard blow. “Garroth! Get Lina out of here!” ‘..Lina..?’ Garroth ran to her and scooped the small girl into his arms. He got her as far away as he could, Aphmau doing her best to keep Shad focused on herself.

“If you give her to me know, I promise to be gentler with you.” “Never!” “Well then Irene, remember, this is your doing” Shad’s voice was filled with venom as he lunged at her again. ‘Why does he keep calling her Irene?’ The two fought for a while and all Laurance could do was watch. He’d tried in vein to stop Shad multiple times but to no avail.

Aphmau stumbled only once, and it cost her. Shad managed to slice her side. Not enough to take her down, but it enraged Laurance. He’d had enough. He didn’t know how he managed to do it, but he was able to hold Shad in place. He was frozen. “What?! How is-“ “A.. Aph- mau,” his voice was weak and strained, “r-uun.” “..Laurance.?” Aphmau practically whispered. She couldn’t believe it. He was still in there. She had to do something! She had to help him! She had to- Shad was beginning to shake, slowly gaining back control. “G-GO! Aph.. Get- Outta here!” His voice was breathless and hoarse, yet urgent. She gasped before rising to her feet and running towards the direction Garroth had taken that girl. Lina, her name was. Aphmau’s daughter… His.. Daughter..

He’d find a way back to them. They’d be a family. He just had to rid himself of Shad. For now, he’d cling to his humanity and mind for as king as he could. He had to. For Aphmau. For Lina.

[juchily]

Yellowjackets (+ relationships) as song lyrics

(most if not all of it is rock ithink) and italics are being rlly weird so please excuse irregularities with that

Ve: tragic angst JackieShauna (Snackie), my beloved. Drug refs

Yellowjackets

"In a crooked little town They were lost and never found Fallen leaves, fallen leaves Fallen leaves on the ground" - Billy Talent's "Fallen Leaves"

"From chagrin I've been released Paint me in a portrait sans The fig leaves, fig leaves And I will not be concerned Or ignore the things I yearn My hunger is the rule I cannot overturn" - Dirt Poor Robin's "Enchanté"

"We are the angry and the desperate The hungry, and the cold We're the ones who kept quiet And always did what we were told" - Rise Against's "Prayer of the Refugee"

Literal all of "'Shia Labeouf' Live' by Rob Cantor

Natalie Scatorccio

"I've got a new low All fifty two cards in a row I see now that I won't let go No I won't let go

Well who am I? A cold shoulder left to cry You feel bad, well so do I Yeah so do I" - Middle Class Rut's "New Low"

"Did I try, did I try to make amends? To live and die or did I really just pretend? Nightmare's talking as I'm sleepwalking And I can't stop thinking" - Bad Wolves's "If Tomorrow Never Comes"

Lottie Matthews

"You can't breathe until you choke You gotta laugh when you're the joke There's nothing like a funeral to make you feel alive

Just open your eyes Just open your eyes And see that life is beautiful. Will you swear on your life, That no one will cry at my funeral?" - Sixx:A.M.'s "Life Is Beautiful"

"I raised myself My legs were weak I prayed my mind be good to me

An awful noise Filled the air I heard a scream in the woods somewhere

...

How many years I know I'll bear I found something in the woods somewhere" - Hozier's "In The Woods Somewhere"

Misty Quigley

"'Cause you don't talk to the water boy And there's so much you could learn But you don't wanna know You will not back up an inch ever That's why you will not survive" - Spoon's "The Underdog"

Shauna Shipman

"Strawberry lipgloss, oh, it's wasted On this dumb boy who likes the chase

But why am I so angry in the first place? Why am I hurting?" - Nxdia's "She Likes a Boy"

Jackie Taylor

"Maybe you were wrong and I was right I don't care, won't you stay another night? I just need some time to be myself I couldn't say "I need you" on that night When you left and I lost all track of time I just want you close so I can feel you Can you feel me? Mmm" - Prateek Kuhad's "Co2"

Taissa Turner

"This is unbecoming of me It's like my own reflection's not what it used to be Tryna figure out where I missed I'll never find the answer, it's just the way it is" - Saint Asonia's "So What"

Van Palmer

"I'm on fire" - Pitbull's "Fireball"

Laura Lee

"Early days and sleepless nights Death and resurrection, life My body is a sacred note Sung between the flesh and hope My dirt transformed within a breath Before I took a single step I'm looking forward to the day When life can grow without decay" - half·alive's "creature"

Travis Martinez

"'Cause so badly I wanna go outside. (Such a lovely day) But everyone knows that a man ain't suppose to cry, listen. I gotta cry 'cause cryin' eases the pain, oh yeah. People this hurt I feel inside, words can never explain. I just wish it would rain. (Oh, how I wish that it would rain)" - The Temptations's "I Wish It Would Rain"

Jackie x Shauna

"I've been cold in the crypt But not as the cold as the words across your lips You'll be sorry baby some day When you reach across the bed where my body used to lay" - Three Days Grace's "Chalk Outline"

""Come on in, boy" said the skeletons Sitting by her closet door Dirty secrets, empty memories And broken hearts across the floor I was knocked out, heels over head So you dragged me by my feet To a ghost town, where you buried me No wonder no one heard my screams

Love's so alive, but it died in it's sleep And now that it's dead I live in your head And I will haunt your fucking dreams" - Set It Off's "The Haunting"

Taissa x Van

"Well, I'm not the world's most passionate guy But when I looked in her eyes, well, I almost fell for my Lola Lo-Lo-Lo-Lo-Lola Lo-Lo-Lo-Lo-Lola" - The Kinks's "Lola"

"Believe me you really don't have to worry I only wanna make you happy and if you say "hey go away" I will But I think better still I'd better stay around and love you Do you think I have a case let me ask you to your face Do you think you love me?" - The Partridge Family's "I Think I Love You"

Lottie x Laura Lee

"Maybe in another life I could find you there Pulled away before your time I can't deal, it's so unfair" - The Offspring's "Gone Away"

Lottie x Nat

"Tell me who you are Your father has forsaken you Left you with those scars My hope is that you'll make it through Hate must never win Even when we're worlds apart Your love is not a sin Even if it's hard" - Falling In Reverse's "Coming Home"

Travis x Nat

"I am still dreaming of your face Hungry and hollow for all the things you took away I don't wanna be your good time I don't wanna be your fall-back crutch anymore" - Everclear's "Santa Monica"

Laura Lee x Nat

"I thought love was only true in fairy tales Meant for someone else but not for me Love was out to get me, that's the way it seemed Disappointment haunted all my dreams

And then I saw her face Now I'm a believer" - Smash Mouth's "I'm A Believer"

Jackie x Nat

"I just feel so out of place Well, except for when you're near me When you're gone, I'm like a plant with no root Or a song that's on mute Don't you dare call it cute! You should fear me!" - Kaden MacKay's "Your Stupid Face"

Adult TaiNat

"Maybe you should just fall And leave the world and lose it all And if that's what you need To finally see I'll be with you through it all

Bring on the pills, roll the dollar bill Medicating will never heal Relapse, rehab, repeat Always thinking about the me, me, me

Self-destruct, spiral down Until your want becomes your need Please get up like I know you can Or forever love the fall" - Nothing More's "Jenny"

Adult MistNat

"Nothing in the world that I do means a thing without you I'm just half alive in my struggle to survive without you" - Frank Sinatra's "My Way Of Life"

This has been sitting in my draft for like, a week now, and I needed to get it outta there, reblog with songs/song lyrics you think fits a Yellowjackets character -🦎

[festivalofthe12]

SO this is probably something covered in the manga which I have since entirely forgotten, but. The Juunishi thing is reincarnation, right? As in, whenever the old Horse or Dog or whatever dies, they're soon/immediately after reborn as another new Sohma family baby?

Obviously there are metatextual reasons why the main characters are mostly grouped around the same rough generational range... but if you think of it that way, it makes more sense: in modern days, there's not that much variation in how old people get before they die, so it kinda makes sense that they tend to die and therefore be reborn at within a couple of decades of one another? maybe????? (of course this has been going on for a Long Time and stuff like infant mortality or just death at a young age due to injury/illness used to be much more common but. ignore that. maybe.)

ANYWAY my point is. Could Sohma adults potentially try to game the system and time it such that their kids will be born around about when older Juunishi members die? Thus giving themselves a way better chance of having their kid be one? (For those who would care about that, which we know at least some do.)

Specifically, I'm not sure if we ever got a stated reason for the huge age gap between Yuki and Ayame... but this sure as hell sounds like a plausible one, giving everything we know about Yuki's mum. Like, IDK if she deliberately tried to get the Snake (the Snake, Dog, and Dragon are all very similar in age, so presuming that their previous reincarnations' deaths weren't super sudden, that'd offer better than usual odds of getting at least one) and then realised she could do better, or if she got the Snake but wasn't satisfied and started planning things out for the Big One...

Though. the Rat would most DEFINITELY have been a high risk/high reward goal. Because. This time around, at the very least, the Rat and Cat both ended up the same age. :'D

Which, now that sounds like a fanfic idea just waiting to happen... but in practice, IDK if it would've really changed all THAT much? Yuki's mum would almost certainly have just disowned Kyou lmfao (possibly while trying to hide that he was even hers so she wouldn't be associated with the Cat??? no clue how she'd manage that though. I feel like the two options are some other random woman gets him and immediately the curse is revealed [and the main house would find out about that, ofc] or Kyou fjucking dies. I guess she could try to pass him off on a single father????????)

anyway uhh I know less about Kyou's parents. but. his dad doesn't seem the type to NOT send his kid off to Akito, especially if there was something in it for him.

So if this isn't that wacked-out 'the Cat gets weirdly lost for a while because he grows up with a random dude who doesn't even figure out about the curse for several years making it way harder for the Main House to track him (and honestly given that the juunishi transform when they're too weak and babies are Definitionally Defenceless even this doesn't seem all that realistic)' scenario. I guess the main difference would be just that Kyou and Ayame are siblings. Presumably in this case Kyou still gets raised by Kazuma and everyone knows his mum is his mum but she maintains some level of status by having the Snake. And I guess in this world Ayame gets treated more like Yuki because she doesn't have a better option this time round and is desperate to distance herself from the Cat lmao.

That's about as far as I've thought it through hahahaha because in the end this is more of a Kyou-centric thought experiment than Yuki really. But it's still kinda interesting (to me)!!!!!

[fictionfixations]

reincarnation

ive been writing a reincarnation series for twst

so i might as well share it now.

(in timeline order instead of publishing order. some of these might suck a lot, honestly.)

🌸: flower fields, amidst they weep (KnY x TWST)

Yuu had memories. They weren’t quite a past life, as much as they sometimes wished it was, but.. The truth was, in the modern world, demons existed. Those demons had existed since the Heian Period. Things that ate humans to survive, and burned in the sun. ..Although that wasn’t quite true, because they’d been born human, but through various reasons, had been turned into a demon. It could be desired, it could be forced. In the end, it was a mercy to end them, by demon slayers, wielding Nichirin blades. Yuu was one of them. Having lived among those who saved others thanklessly. They didn’t want child soldiers, but in the end it was often they were the last ones to survive, and would use up the rest of their life for revenge, before they eventually burned out. They were lucky, that way, because they still had the option to live their life. But there was only so much they could refrain from taking action. Once you know of the monsters in the dark, there really was no turning back. ---- Former Modern Demon Slayer!Yuu (WARNING FOR MANGA SPOILERS)

~ Excerpt ~

Pink flower petals followed the blade in a direct trail, almost like its own shadow, and shot straight past with a speed that could be almost seen as inhuman, were they not in a world with magic.  It struck true at the side, shattering the glass of its head on impact, and spilling blot everywhere. Rosehearts-senpai staggered. Everyone was stunned in silence, if only for a moment. The path wasn’t as straight as they’d liked. They probably shouldn’t keep throwing stuff with the hope that it’ll go in the right direction. “Yuu-kun!? How’d you–” “Ace!” Yuu’s head turned to where Ace was, bleeding sluggishly. Oh shit. They weren’t fast enough– In their panic though, Rosehearts-senpai suddenly moved, hand reaching out as the blot started to drip away from his form, shrinking away from the light that formed on his fingertips. Left underneath was a ruined dorm uniform.

🦋: Ignoring the ways of right and wrong (BSD x TWST)

"Ignoring the ways of right and wrong, eternal life or lasting fame, we turn to face each other, loved and lover, face to face." – Yosano Akiko, River of Stars: Selected Poems of Yosano Akiko Riddle Rosehearts is Yosano Akiko (or has her memories.)

~ Excerpt ~

His hand reached out in blinding light. Butterflies fluttered past him.  “Thou Shalt Not Die!”   And for a second, she felt free.  Everyone was silent. (Ace had been fixed up, good as new, in a flutter of wings.) His panting sounded too loud in his ears, more than disheveled for the first time in his life. His eyes were wide in– (“My ability can easily save lies,  so the lives of those in my proximity  end up as something cheap.  It's my fault that those close to me died.  I'm sure...  That will happen again.  Is there some place  where it's okay for me to live ?”) His eyes burned. ("I'm keeping a tally. I'm counting the number of times you've saved my life .”) (“When you tally things as they're done and finish the word, " correct / right ," it feels like the " correctness / rightness " in the world has gone up by one.") (“This is your “ correctness ”.”) ("That righteousness has taught me. No matter who you are, everyone's spirit has a limit .") ('You are too righteous.') Seventeen years. Seventeen years without this accursed ability. And then— What is wrong with me? Righteousness. ‘Correctness’ . How could I? In a life ruined by those words, I am here again, repeating my errors.  Bile rised up her– his? Throat. A gloved hand clamped over his mouth– He faltered. Blood. On his hands, his– Someone could’ve died and it was his fault– !  ‘You are too right.’ Wrong. Wrong. All of this is wrong!  Out. I need— I —

🔥: The past never dies (MHA x TWST)

From the time Leona was born, and from the time he grew a proper awareness, there'd been heavy expectations weighing down on him. (From the time Touya was born, he was made and trained for the chance to surpass All Might.) Compared time and time again to his older brother, always seen as lesser. Worse, no matter what. Their personality differences, even bringing up an ability of his and calling it 'terrifying' when they wouldn't fear such a thing from his brother. (The problem with Touya wasn't that he lacked in motivation. No, it was that he was simply born with a weaker quirk. An unfortunate combination of powerful flames, with a resistance to cold, thus being liable to harm by his own. He was deemed a failure and no more training was to be done.) --- Where Leona Kingscholar has Todoroki Touya's memories. (I know it's weird, but TWST names sound better with first name-last name, while anime names sound better last name-first name.)

~ Excerpt ~

From the time Leona was born, and from the time he grew a proper awareness, there'd been heavy expectations weighing down on him. (From the time Touya was born, he was made and trained for the chance to surpass All Might.) ... Falena didn't understand. How could he? What was the point of anything if working hard gave you nothing, and the only thing that got you far in life was privilege and when you were born? 'I'll show them,' Leona promised. 'Show them that I'm worthy to be king.' (So what if dad refused to train him!? He was the one who lit the fire under him in the first place! The one who gave him the desire to be a hero! To be stronger! What right did he have to suddenly stop just because Touya could get a little burned?      He started training in secret.) Everyone would find fault in him no matter what, all to be able to praise his brother. No matter what he did, he couldn't win. (Then there was Natsuo, who'd also inherited mom's quirk. Touya had slowly fallen into despair, when the golden child had been born– Todoroki Shoto. The perfect combination of half n' half. What?) "Must be nice to be the firstborn, huh? You can spend every day singing and napping and still become king." (Touya hated Shoto. He meant everything that Touya wished wasn't true. That maybe he wasn't needed. That his purpose, his dad's attention-! He kept training.) "Leona... You may never become king, but you are still wise. There is much you could do for this country." Was that supposed to comfort him? That he still had a purpose? Really? ('Stop training' , he says. 'There are things beyond being a hero you can do'. 'Do things like play with your siblings, or make friends at school.' "But everyone at school says they're gonna be heroes..! ..There's no way you'd understand..! Because I'm your son.") Why did he have to feel this way, just because he was born a few years too late? ("What would you know, mom!? You think dad's the only person that got me going? Your family was poor so they sold you away and you had no say in the matter. Isn't that why I was born in the first place..!?")

👶: i want the world to go away (KHR x TWST)

For a while, Azul had been unhappy with his life. As a child, looked down upon, bullied and laughed at as a silly little octo-twerp– It hadn’t been that great. Looking down upon himself, feeling like an idiot, and a good for nothing. He hadn’t been good at academics, not at sports, and the lack of a tailfin like the others meant he couldn’t catch up to them half the time. He was useless. Except he couldn’t let it end like that. Refused to let it end like that, and thus came an obsession with getting back at them. Proving to them that they were wrong. They would learn… After all, came his signature spell. Every single thing that made any of the others special, better than him could easily be taken. All he had to do was offer what they desired, and that was pitifully easy. ‘I’ll take your singing voice–’ ‘Your unique spell–’ ‘That tailfin of yours..–’ All were expendable, and all could easily be his for a price. It felt right. Like he’d found what he wanted to do. (It was meant to be revenge against those who’d wronged him, but now..?) --- Azul with Viper's memories, hell yeah

(ive never seen khr so im going off wiki knowledge.)

~ Excerpt ~

“Interesting. That's a pretty tempting offer.” “Then—” His heart sank. “Here's the thing, though.” How could he stop his worst nightmare from happening..? “No offense, but none of that's gonna be enough to justify me returning these contracts.” “What?” “See, if I don't help Team Ramshackle dispose of these contracts, they'll make a huge racket outside my room every day until morning.” “Huh...?” He blankly replied. “If you take their dorm away from them, they take my good night's sleep away from me. I want them gone from Savanaclaw, so these things have gotta go.” What.? “Sorry, Azul.” What could he– What…? And then he found his answer. (It popped into his head, like it had always been there. Something he had the confidence to know that he could do it, even if he’d never done it before.) “Viper Mirage R. ” Leona tilted his head, “Hm?” Rule set: Do not use King’s Roar. If this rule is broken, then the target will be damaged with a wound determined by the caster. This affects everyone in the area. “Do it and you’ll regret it. This is your last warning.” He steely spoke. “Sure, I’ll call your bluff. Kneel before me! King’s Roar –” Leona's hand twitched, watching as a wound opened up. “Huh. Fancy trick. I wonder what other tricks everyone must be hiding.” “Leona!” The hyena called worriedly. The brunette shrugged it off, “Just a papercut. Whatever. I don’t actually need to use it, no matter how convenient it may be.” Azul braced himself.  ------------------------------------------------- Leona let a smirk grace his lips. ‘Sorry, lil’ bro, stealing one of your ultimate moves. Not like you’re here to catch me.’ “ Jet Kindling ,” he mockingly muttered as his fist burst into flames. He could tell that the both of them had startled. After all, most magic came from a focus, their pen. These flames were nothing, compared to being nearly burned alive once upon a lifetime. It’d heal easily anyway. What was the point of having these memories if he couldn’t put them to use, eh? The contracts went up in flames. -------------- Azul couldn’t.. Believe it. He’d been a fool. “Ah.. My.. contracts.. reduced to ashes… I don’t believe this..”

🥀: my riddled heart i had to cradle back together (BSD x TWST)

Riddle had been a little puzzled on what he wanted to do. After the realization, he hadn’t known what he wanted to do about his mom. Winter break was looming ever so closer with every day that passed. ---- Or, It's winter break, and Riddle decides to have a chat with his mom.

~ Excerpt ~

He still felt a pang of fear at the thought of being taken away from his friends anyway. ‘You can do this.’ “Even more than you had been before? What were you going to do when I got older? Keep treating me like a puppet who can’t think for itself?”  His thoughts went blank for a moment. “You raised me so dependent on you and your dumb rules. So sheltered.. If you kept me locked in all the time I don’t think I’d even be able to live. So many things could’ve gone and I- I can’t even believe you.” “..I can’t even understand what you were trying to do. It’s so nonsensical..”  Nonsensical was like the Queen of Hearts, herself. Except, maybe they were both flawed. Not someone to be followed all the time unquestioningly.  Not someone he should follow.  And while he himself had enforced the rules, they were less rules and more guidelines that could be followed. But it didn’t make much sense to follow them all the time when all it did was make him miserable. What was the point of rules? Usually to stop things from happening, things that could cause harm, generally.  The Queen of Hearts’ rules could be attributed to causing stability in where there is chaos. Something to strictly follow in a mess, and a form of control, in a way. What help did the rules enforced by his mother do? It controlled him. Sure, she helped him learn so much, but what was the point of it all without freedom? She wasn’t the ruler of anything, she didn’t need rules like that to keep order. Yet she did it anyway. And in a way, she was to blame for why he was like this.  “Riddle!” She chastised.  His mouth turned to a thin line. “I’m leaving. I’ve accomplished so much more away from your influence. In a year, I’ll graduate, and then you can’t do a thing.” Riddle was scared at first. Then subdued. Then angry. ..And then.. numb. Tired.  “I’ll give you the courtesy of ignoring what you’ve done so far, because it truly could’ve been worse.” ... “Don’t you dare, Riddle Marie Rosehearts ! I am your mother, and–!” You will listen to me. Maybe it was concerning that he’d gotten so used to it that he already knew what she’d say. “ ‘You know best’?” He mockingly muttered under his breath. The prefect had once shared a popular children’s story, along with the songs, from back in their world, and they’d both had a fun time laughing and making jokes while it was explained. He didn’t really know if he understood the story very well, admittedly, but Yuu had confessed that it’d been awhile since they’d last seen it so they hadn’t remembered it too well.

🎪: can you hear this? (HB x TWST)

Kalim had never been attributed to being particularly observant. He was always the one with no thoughts in his head, always smiling. Innocent. Naive. Gullible. It was seen in the way the ones with an intention of using him, he let get close. He’d let them steal from the many riches he’d been set over time. And maybe people felt bad for him, in the way kicking a dog would be (‘pathetic’), but otherwise unimportant. Except the truth was, Kalim trusted none of them. He understood from a young age that he was quite privileged, so it was only right to let them take and take, wasn’t it? Understood that not everyone was treated as nice as he’d been. Kalim was overly aware of the world as an heir should be. Aware that so many things could go wrong. If he got hurt, it would be on Jamil’s head. If he made a fuss, accused someone of anything, that person would be blamed even if they were completely innocent. It was a lot of power. ..And the truth was, he wanted none of it. The thing he wanted wasn’t something he could achieve. --- Kalim | Blitzo - Jamil | Stolas

~ Excerpt ~

Jade. “Kalim? Are you alright? Please speak to me.” “No,” He answered stiffly. He startled, “Huh?” “Why did you do that..?” “Hm? You mean..” “Hey, Rakko-chan. Didn’t you see? Umihebi-kun was gonna turn everyone against you and boot you out.” “I know.” “?” “..I knew already. You didn’t need to step in. You shouldn’t have stepped in!” “..So you were just letting it happen?” “Fuck! None of this even matters!”  Everyone was startled at the curse word. Tears of frustration were escaping him anyway. “I didn’t care! Him ruining my life was the least he deserved! After everything! But then you just had to get involved! So what if he was mind controlling me?! I didn’t even want to be the Housewarden anyway! I don’t care about any of this! In fact, I hated it. Him bringing it all down was doing me a favor! But oh.. Kalim wouldn’t notice this, Kalim’s an idiot! Kalim’s too kind for his own good! So I couldn’t turn you away because I’d already established myself as the kind of person to welcome everyone! But fuck it all! It doesn’t even matter anymore! Because Jamil could die, and it’s all because of you guys!” 

🎤: Idolization / Inconsolable (OnK x TWST)

Vil Schoenheit had felt like the only path in life was the entertainment industry. His father loved him, he knew, was supportive in every way, yet his father was also a famous actor. ..And regardless.. The truth was, he remembered another life. A life where the industry had sunk its claws into him already, messing him up deeply. Acting had been all he was– All she was, and to stop made him feel hollow. --- Vil Schoenheit having Ai's memories (warning for manga spoilers sort of?)

~ Excerpt ~

The first time around, she was meant to be cute and dazzling..! Emotive, and loving of her audience (she’d be a fool to think it was only innocent adoration they gave her) .  But that was okay, because she only mattered as much as her fans loved her, right? Maybe it was the drawback of being someone who hasn’t had love outside of that, doesn’t have someone to care for them like that. ..Or maybe it was a plus, because she would’ve always put her work first then some false validation.  Ai was shaped by love. And that ‘love’ she gave, throwing the word around like candy, deeply wishing that one day it would come true. And it did. And then she died.  It was with Vil’s eyes that he’d noticed the injustice. The undeserving blame, for being ‘imperfect ’. This time around, he’d taken the form of elegance. Of beauty so overwhelming, it felt intimidating. Vil understood what love was. He saw it in the way his dad would encourage him to do what he loved. In the way he cared for him when he had a nightmare, and in the way… But in the end, both were confined to their own roles. Any point of straying was met with backlash. An idol wasn’t allowed to fall in love. And an actor was nothing more than the role they played. ..Perhaps the media had simply forgotten one simple fact– Their age. Ai Hoshino was a teenager. (Twenty when she died, though.)  Wasn’t that age all about finding love, and experimenting? And Vil Schoenheit was a teenager as well, having started acting since he was a child. Didn’t everyone at one point dream of being in the spotlight? Dream of being the star that dazzled them all?  ..It felt unfair. The world felt unfair. ... .. Vil from then on had begun putting his all, hoping that someone would see his light. Would see his potential. But maybe it was his fault, that he was–  ..What were those words they used? Too perfect. Otherworldly. Special. Maybe that was Ai’s fault, for being such an efficient liar. After all, her smile had never been as genuine as it had been when she’d had something to love, to adore. Her children. That smile was what people loved, and that smile was what she learned to copy for the next time. Vil didn’t quite have that frame of reference, not anymore. Sure, he still felt happy, but the media invaded his life over and over. Acting was his life. It consumed him. The thing about entering it even once, meant that suddenly your privacy meant nothing.  He doubted he’d look as beautiful with a wide smile like that. Not with how he looked this time. Expecting one thing and getting another was hardly something that made you pretty.  ..Vil just wanted to win. Wanted to be seen as more. 

ive finished book 6. and i already have an idea of who idia's reincarnation is (how the fuck does one even get started writing a fic centered around book 6. like .HELLO so much stuff happened. and also theres a malleus appearance so im better off figuring who to make malleus first so i know how to write him as a character...)

started book seven. and honestly. i have zero clue who to make malleus, haha...

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"One bite and five days are all it took for the world to come to an end. Nearly two months after an unexplainable, violent illness swept throughout the globe like a raging wildfire, after cities have crumbled to ruin and most of humanity has been wiped out, only a few survive. Some of those still alive are just trying to survive, while others are searching for an answer—a reason why and what caused people to turn into walking, cannibalistic corpses that decay but never seem to truly die. Now, a group of survivors—a dog, few adult figures, and a bunch of teenagers—search for a cure and must figure out how to live with the undead amongst them, and how to deal with each other as relationships strain and tensions rise."

†· Word Count: 3862 †· Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types †· Rating: Mature †· Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death †· Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Silena Beauregard/Charles Beckendorf, Thalia Grace/Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano †· Characters: Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Leo Valdez, Nico di Angelo, Frederick Chase, Frank Zhang, Luke Castellan, Hazel Levesque, Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Grover Underwood, Juniper (Percy Jackson), Katie Gardner, Travis Stoll, Connor Stoll, Chiron (Percy Jackson), Will Solace, Silena Beauregard, Charles Beckendorf, Clarisse La Rue, Thalia Grace, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano †· Additional Tags: Angst · Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence · Inspired by The Walking Dead · Title from a My Chemical Romance Song · Found Family · Bittersweet · Based on a My Chemical Romance Song · I'm so sorry · Everyone Needs A Hug · Hurt/Comfort · Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse · Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson-centric · Betrayal †· **First Person POVs** †· Rated Mature for strong language, violence, sexual references, etc..

Leo

If I have to take one more step, I think I might spontaneously combust.

We’ve been walking since yesterday and just got out of Manhattan, which took a while since the city is a freaking wreck. Thankfully, we found a place to crash: a random warehouse behind a Dollar Tree that looked like heaven after the amount of walking we had done. Still, we’re not out of New York City, and that’s a big problem.

“Leo,” Piper says, waving a hand in front of my face. “Hello? Are you awake? We’re still trying to figure out what to do.”

“Huh? Oh, right,” I respond, repositioning myself on my glorious throne made of wooden crates. A warehouse is usually not a good idea—a terrible idea, actually, depending on where you’re at—because of how big they are (and because you never know how many of the undead are inside), but it was short notice, okay? We were desperate and it was small, relatively empty, and secure. Bonus: It came with food! A four-in-one package. “What’ve we got so far?”

Luke pulls out a map and lays it flat on the dusty warehouse floor, the concrete stained with oil and other questionable substances, which I have decided to ignore, holding a corner down with one of the books we found in a box. It makes me think of Annabeth, which reminds me of how depressing this is. Annabeth and I aren't as close as some of the others are, but I still consider her a good friend, and it feels like there is an empty void somewhere; she has such a prominent presence in the group that you can't help but notice when she's gone. I shake it off and pay attention to the conversation.

“We just made it to Harlem, which is about an hour or so on foot,” Luke said. “If Annabeth went the same way as us, she could be here by morning. So if we just wait—”

Thalia interrupts him before he can hardly get a word in. “There are a few problems with that plan, genius.” Thalia stands up, her arms crossed over her ‘Death To Barbie’ t-shirt. “One, that horde was massive. Two, I don’t know if you missed it or not, but we have no idea which way she went. There’s no way—”

“She’s going to make it. I mean, this is Annabeth we’re talking about,” Silena says, her boyfriend—crap, I forgot his name. Benjamin?—wrapping an arm around her comfortingly.

“You don’t think I know that, Silena?” Thalia snaps.

Clarisse, who is sitting next to Silena, stands up, getting in Thalia’s face. Even though she isn’t anywhere close to Thalia’s height—standing at a whopping five-foot-six next to a five-foot-ten girl decked out in punk attire with a murderous look on her face—Clarisse is built like a rugby player with big-time anger issues. “Watch it, Pinecone Face.”

Anger flashes in Thalia’s electric-blue eyes, and I’m pretty sure I see sparks come off her. If I didn’t know better, I would think she is about to summon a lightning bolt or something and smite Clarisse on the spot.

“You never, and I mean never, call me that again,” Thalia says through gritted teeth, standing nose to nose with Clarisse. “Understand?” If I touched her right now, which I will not be doing, no thank you, I wouldn’t be surprised if Thalia shocked me.

Clarisse relents, grumbling something under her breath as she sits back down. She may not have been unnerved by Thalia’s outburst and death glare—I definitely wasn’t either, for the record—but the tension in the room is overwhelming.

If anybody is taking this the hardest, it’s definitely Thalia.

Most of us have only been in this group since everything started, while some of the others (Thalia, Jason, Silena, boyfriend-whose-name-I-forgot, and Luke) have known Annabeth for years. But nobody is as close to Annabeth as Thalia. From the moment I met her, she has practically never left Annabeth’s side; even when she isn’t beside her, Thalia watches her and makes sure she’s safe. With Annabeth MIA, it’s no wonder she’s on edge.

Annabeth and I went to the same high school until the end of our senior year, which is when everything conveniently decided to hit the fan. I hardly talked to her in school, despite having classes together. But whenever Travis, Connor, and I joined up with her group, I started to talk to Annabeth more and found out that she wasn’t actually a stuck-up, pretentious know-it-all.

Honestly, like everyone else, I miss her a lot.

Jason is the one to diffuse the tension. “Guys, we need to calm down. Okay? Nobody wants to hear that, but we can’t start ripping each other’s heads off. This is not going to solve anything.” He turns to Mr. Bruner, who, oddly enough, was each of our Latin teachers at one point or another. “Chiron, what do you think we should do?”

Mr. Bruner (or Chiron, as most of us call him) is silent for a moment, contemplating his answer. “We can’t remain in the city. Staying here for as long as we have has been extremely dangerous, children,” he says.

“But we can't just leave—”

“What? No!”

“You’re telling us to leave her? What the—”

Holy crap, no. He can’t be serious. Annabeth?

“We don’t just leave people!” I say. “Annabeth has been gone for not even a day and we’re already falling apart. Thalia’s about to kill Clarisse,” I gesture to the punk chick glaring ice-cold daggers at Clarisse, “we hardly have any ammo left, and Connor, Travis, and I are inevitably going to get bored and do something stupid.” For once, amid the cacophony, everyone seems to be listening to me. Feeling a little self-conscious yet confident, I summarize. “Annabeth keeps everything organized. If we don’t stay put or go back for her—or at least stay civilized—all of this is going to fall apart.”

“Leo’s right,” Nico, Thalia’s cousin, speaks up. Of all people, I’m surprised that he actually agrees with me. Don’t get me wrong—he’s nice and stuff, but usually quiet and to be honest, kind of spooky. “It’s extremely risky staying here, sure. However, like Leo said, we don’t just abandon people to save our own skin. Especially not Annabeth. I sure as hell wouldn’t leave any of you behind.” He glances at Clarisse. “Some of you, anyway…. If we don’t at least try to help her instead of abandoning her, we have to live with that.”

Nico finishes speaking, his words hanging like vapor in the air. He definitely made his point better than I did, but oh well.

“I was going to say that we should do what we can to help dear Annabeth before you children graciously interrupted me,” Chiron admits. “As most of you have said, it is very dangerous, however, we can’t leave without attempting anything. We may stay here for a few days and keep an eye out for her. If there is no sign of her, I’m afraid that we will have to move on and hope that she makes her way back or finds somewhere safe.”

“Yeah, and get ourselves gutted in the meantime,” Clarisse states. “Blondie can hold her own if she isn’t already dead. Why risk the rest of our lives?”

Thalia quickly stands up, angry. “Because, shit face, if it weren’t for her you wouldn’t even be alive right now! Annabeth didn’t save you because she had to. She saved you because she thought—thinks you deserve to live and have a fighting chance. But what about her, huh? Doesn’t she deserve a chance to live?” Clarisse is silent. “Doesn’t she?!”

Jason puts a hand on her shoulder. “Thalia, that’s enough,” her younger brother tells her softly yet sternly. She shrugs him off, though, sitting away from the rest of us.

“Don’t treat me like a child, Jason.”

Jason frowns but lets her go anyway.

“Maybe we should take a vote,” Travis suggests. “Whichever side gets the majority decides what we do.”

“Yes. Thank you, Travis,” Chiron says. “Those in favor of staying?”

Thalia, Silena, Nico, Luke, and I raise our hands.

“Those opposed?”

Silena’s boyfriend, Jason, Clarisse (of course), Piper, Travis, and Connor raise their hands.

Thalia’s eyes widen and her face pales, her mouth slightly agape as she stares, dumbfounded, at her brother. 

“Jason?” she asks incredulously, her voice tight like she is about to cry. The heartbroken and shattered expression on her face is hard to look at. Even I’m shocked by Jason’s decision. “You can’t be serious.”

Jason looks down, almost ashamed, unable to meet his sister’s eyes. “More of us are going to get hurt. Annabeth can make her way back—she’s strong and a fighter,” he tells her, although it sounds more like he’s trying to convince himself. “We’ll leave notes and signs so she knows where to go and where to find us. All of us have talked about it before and made a plan, remember? This is what Annabeth would want us to do.”

Thalia turns her head away and says nothing. Honestly, I don’t blame her. Of course, I disagree with Jason’s decision, but I can understand why he voted the way he did. Whenever Annabeth isn’t around, he’s one of the only ones who can remain diplomatic (so to speak), who can keep things together for the most part, and I’m shocked his composure hasn’t wavered. His blond crew cut somehow remains untouched after fighting hundreds of the living dead, his face clean-shaven—heck, even the scar on his upper lip from when he tried to eat a stapler as a kid fits in with the rest of his polished appearance. He’s just trying not to lose anybody else.

“Charlie…” Silena says. So that’s his name? Wow, I was way off.

Her boyfriend gently takes her delicate hands in his large and calloused ones. (I think he used to be a blacksmith’s apprentice before this, but I'm not sure.) “I’m just trying to do what’s best for everyone—”

“What you think is best,” Thalia murmurs.

“—and I think this is the best way,” he finishes, letting Thalia’s remark slide.

“Look, guys. I know you don’t really want to leave Annabeth,” Luke says, his hair messed and dirty but still looking decent, “but this is ridiculous. In a city this big with this many walkers? Even if she does make it out of the city, then what? She has no idea where we are and where we're going. Annabeth has to be alive and you all know it. If we just wait, we can think of a plan to save her.”

“Annabeth is quick. We've all seen her. And she might stand a better chance with fewer of us,” Jason counters.

Luke retorts, “Yeah, might. That's the problem. We can't be sure—”

“No, that's the problem. We can't be sure if she's okay or not, and rushing back into that hell hole impulsively is a damn deathwish,” Jason snaps, his voice tired and strained as if he is trying not to shout. Thinking about it, I don’t know if I’ve ever actually heard him swear at all (no matter how small the word), let alone yell during an argument. “She can get around faster and quieter without having to look out for other people. Annabeth is going to make it. But for her sake, we need to leave. All of us together could very well draw a massive horde—it already has, and that is what got us into this mess in the first place—which is dangerous for all of us…especially Annabeth.”

I'm about to protest, but Chiron interjects before it turns into another shouting match.

“We agreed to a vote, and this is the outcome,” he reminds us. Chiron's tweed jacket is torn, frayed, and bloodied, the shirt underneath stained. With his graying hair and beard to match his worn face, he looks completely and utterly exhausted. Chiron sighs. “We will stay for the night, but then we will have to leave, as Jason said, for all of our sakes. Including Annabeth’s.”

With that, nobody says anything else, all of us too tired to argue it further. I hate to see everybody like this…. What can I do? The best thing I can think of is a distraction; it may not work, but I have to try something.

I clasp my hands together and stand up. “I don’t know about any of you, but I’m starving.”

“How can you be so nonchalant about that right now?” Piper asks, her brow furrowing.

Dragging the box closest to me, I read ‘Little Debbie’ on the front of it. “None of us have eaten anything in days, and there is food just lying around.” I grab a pocket knife off my tool belt and cut the tape. After rummaging around for a second, I produce a handful of Twinkies from the box. “Besides,” I say, “you know you can’t resist… these !”

“Really? Twinkies?” She rolls her eyes but catches it when I toss it to her, a small smile playing on her face.

I kick the box over to the Stoll brothers and begin to search some of the other boxes for something more sustainable. (Well, however sustainable junk food can be, I guess.)

Nico shrugs. “With the number of preservatives in these things, I’m pretty sure they’ll outlive all of us.”

Jason takes the Twinkie from one struggling Nico and opens it for him with ease, replying with: “Neeks, everything in here is probably going to outlive us. There aren’t exactly any health benefits in these.”

“Hey, where there’s life there’s hope… and need of vittles,” I say.

“Did you just quote Lord of the Rings ?”

“As a matter of fact, yes, I did,” I state shamelessly.

“You're such a nerd, Leo,” Nico adds.

“Okay, Mythomagic Man,” I reply. “I'll have you know that Lord of The Rings is an awesome trilogy and not a nerd thing.”

"'Mythomagic Man?'"

"You're both nerds," Piper says as she plops down by Jason, kissing his cheek affectionately. "Did you find anything to eat other than Twinkies?"

I sift through the box of chips beside me and hand her a bag of Doritos.

"I meant something that wasn't junk food," she says but takes it gratefully. "Thanks."

I nod and take a look around the room. Luke is sitting with Chiron, talking (I suspect about Annabeth), Clarisse with Silena and her boyfriend, Thalia is brooding in a corner by herself, and the Stoll brothers are across the warehouse scavenging for whatever they can find. To be honest, I'm surprised that they voted against going back for Annabeth. Of all people, I was sure they would have wanted to stay. I guess I was wrong. My question, though, is why? What made them choose not to?

Well, the only way to find out is by asking.

I stand up and walk over to Connor and Travis, who have evidently found something they like and are sitting criss-cross on a long, wooden crate.

"Hey, Leo! Bro, you have to try this," Connor tells me, handing me a shish kabob made out of a Pocky stick that is skewering mini marshmallows, cheese puffs, and cheerios.

I take a bite, wondering what the heck I just ate, but I'm pleasantly surprised and nod in approval. "Ten-out-of-ten, boys," I say, popping the rest of the strange junk food shish kabob in my mouth. Connor and Travis smile in triumph. 

But I remember what I came over for and my tone turns serious. "Um, why did you guys vote not to stay?" I prod. "It's not any of my business. Just, well, I figured that you guys would have wanted to.”

Connor and Travis’ faces darken. “It’s not that we didn’t want to…” Travis replies.

He bites his lip anxiously, appearing hesitant to finish his comment. Connor continues his thought. “We—after we lost sight of her, well, we—” He sighs as he struggles to get his words out, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. “We heard Annabeth scream. Bloody-murder, honestly…It sounded like she got hurt.”

My eyes widen. I know what Connor is getting at, though he doesn’t say it.

Annabeth could have gotten bit. She could—

No. Nothing happened to her. She made it somewhere safe. Annabeth is okay, I tell myself. I shake off the hopeless feeling. Shaking my head, I say: “If you’re afraid to go back, you can just say that. Believe me, I get it.”

“It’s not that we’re afraid to go back. That’s only part of it,” Travis says, looking a little offended that I would even suggest that. “We’re afraid of what we’ll see. I don’t want to have to kill a turned Annabeth or see her body torn to pieces in the street with barely anything left.”

I shudder at the thought.

In all fairness, I don’t want to see that either, but I would take the risk if it meant we had a chance. Then again, I’m not Connor or Travis. However, I still feel a bit irked. “But isn’t it worth the risk?”

Travis shakes his head, conflicted. “Yes, and no. I just—I don’t know how to explain it. Chiron said that we would wait for a little longer tomorrow and then start home,” he tells me. “Wherever ‘home’ is, anyway. It’s like Jason said: she’s quick and knows which way we went. She’ll find us.”

“Maybe we just misheard. It could have been Silena or one of the other people,” Connor adds hopefully.

“God, this whole thing is a mess,” I breathe, fidgeting with a scrap piece of metal from my tool belt.

“Tell me about it.”

I sit and chat with Connor and Travis for a while, passing around more junk food shish kabobs before everyone begins settling down for the night. It also turns out a warehouse isn’t the most comfortable place to spend the night. I mean, I thought it would at least be tolerable, but turns out I was wrong. It’s eerie (like Nico), and even though it’s a warm night, it’s cold and damp in here, with faulty light fixtures on the ceiling that creak when the wind hits the building. At some point, I notice the pattering of the rain hitting the tin roof, getting slightly louder before being drowned out by thunder.

I lie here for a minute, listening to everybody else’s breathing, someone turning over in their sleeping bag, somebody else mumbling in their sleep. (I think it’s probably Piper.) Chiron is taking the first watch, knife in his hand as he sits, watching over us. While the storm outside is sort of scaring the crap out of me, it’s also kind of pacifying. I feel my eyelids start to droop, and I begin dosing off, exhaustion taking over.

†††

Not too long after I fall asleep, the thundering crash of lighting startles me awake, and I fall off the pallet I was using for a bed.

There go my chances of getting a decent night’s sleep.

The windows at the top of the warehouse walls are so dark that I can hardly see out of them, the only indication that there is anything beyond them being the raindrops running down the grimy glass, which are illuminated by a somehow non-defunct streetlamp or flood light somewhere outside. Wind batters the side of the warehouse, causing the long-hanging, burnt-out light fixture to sway, the cool night air finding its way in through an invisible crevice below a doorway.

Okay. Forget what I said about the storm being soothing. It’s freaking me out.

I fidget with the piece of scrap metal in my tool belt that has come to resemble an elephant. Glancing at my watch, I notice that it’s only 3:27 a.m.; it must have kept raining while I was asleep. I hope Annabeth is okay. If it feels this bad in here, I don’t even want to think about what it’s like out there. And I’m not going to lie. If I were lost and out in that mess, I would be terrified out of my mind right now. Just goes to show how much braver Annabeth is than me.

Alas, not all of us can be charming, brave, handsome and dashing blondes like Annabeth, Luke, and Superman (AKA Jason). At least I’m four for five, though.

All of a sudden, I hear a muffled grunt and instinctively reach for my hammer. I flatten myself against the splintering wood, my ears straining to hear anything else. But, after a little while of silence, I slowly lift my head and do a scan of the room. Everyone is sound asleep. Is anybody even on watch? I think. I don’t see Chiron. The glint of blond hair in the dim light catches my eye, answering my question. I squint in the dark in an attempt to make out who it is, coming to the conclusion that it’s Jason. Realizing that it’s only him, I let the muscles in my body relax and slip my hammer back into its loop on my tool belt. (Pretty much everything makes me on edge these days.)

“Jason,” I whisper, brushing my messy curls out of my face.

He clears his throat but doesn’t look at me. “Is that you, Leo?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” I yawn. “The storm scared the crap out of me.”

“Huh. I guess I must not have heard it,” Jason admits, his voice low in an effort to avoid waking anyone up. “How long have you been up for?”

I shrug. “Not super long. Do you need me to take a turn?”

Someone rolls over in the dark, the rustling of their blankets barely audible over the storm. “No. Chiron and I just swapped. Thank you, though.”

“Suit yourself.” I settle back into my makeshift bed, fidgeting with the metal elephant for a few minutes before tiredness washes over me again.

Before I fall asleep, however, I hear a quiet sniffle, followed by a strange whimpering noise. I crane my head toward the sound, my eyes landing on Jason, who has his head in his hands. Is he…crying? Man, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jason cry. I want to say something to him, to see if there is anything I can do, but he probably just wants to be left alone right now.

So, I lie back down and close my eyes, Jason’s quiet sobs fading into the background as sleep overtakes me.

†††

When I wake up for the second time, it is to Jason shaking me awake, his eyes wide with panic and the blood drained from his face.

“Leo, where is she? Have you seen her?” he urges frantically. I notice that everyone else is beginning to stir, Silena and Piper rousing them from their slumbers.

“What? Who—”

Jason interrupts me with the same question before I can answer. “Have you seen her? Leo, please tell me that you saw her!”

I sit up. “Saw who, Jason? You’re not making any sense, dude.”

Jason’s voice comes out strained as tears well in his eyes. “Thalia. She’s missing.”

Read on archiveofourown.org <3

[threeletterslife]

22 | Legends of Darlaria

⨰ summary: You wake up amidst a war with no recollection of your past. Faced with suspicion and distrust, you struggle to assimilate into a foreign nation—otherwise known as your home. But on your enlightening journey to search for your identity, you come face to face with the General of the Army.

⨰ pairing/rating: yoongi x reader & jungkook x reader | PG-15

⨰ genre: 70% angst, 30% fluff | war!au & magic!au

⨰ warnings: profanity, description of brutal injuries (blood & gore)

⨰ wordcount: 5.7k

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⧖⧗Circa Alexandrite⧗⧖

Three circas ago, things had been fine. Well, as fine as things can get during a war, anyway. Despite the little hold-up in Circa Aquamarine, everything else has been smooth sailing: few casualties, even fewer deaths. But it’s summer once again and the Darlaeans have become ruthless.

The medical tents are busy at every hour of the day with healers rushing in and out, beads of sweat dripping down their fatigued faces. You try to help out as much as time permits, but even your work becomes too much with creating all of the new battle plans, running an entire sector and training in secret with the help of Nayoon. Even with the repeating codes, there’s not much you can do to prepare for the Darlaean’s magic.

“It’s so cruel,” Nayoon shivers. “Who would come up with magic like this?”

“They must be getting tired of having been on the losing side for too long,” Jeonwoo snorts. “They’re doing anything they can to win.”

“But it’s too much,” Nayoon says.

“We’ve done worse,” Wonmi counters. “They’re only getting back at us. An eye for an eye. A life for a life.”

Nayoon visibly grimaces. “But you don’t understand, Captain Bak. There was a soldier in the medical tent two hours ago. Do you know how she died? They shot a small metal sphere into her. It only hit her knee, but as soon as it made contact with her skin and punctured through it, it morphed into a sponge-like structure. It absorbed all of the liquid in her body. I watched her eyeballs dry out and sink into her skull, Captain. I watched her unable to cry physical tears through the pain. And I heard her screams die in her throat once all of the salivae dried up. No matter how many healers tried to extract the sponge, it wouldn’t budge. She died in my arms, Captain. How can you say an eye for an eye, a life for a life? I’ve never tortured a Darlaean to death like that in my entire life!”

“Then would you like to suggest a solution?” Wonmi says. “What can we do except take it and deal our own damage?”

“I just—I wasn’t looking for a solution, I was only…” Nayoon looks and sounds close to tears. You place a hand on her shoulder, hoping she won’t burst. The injuries in the tent have been taking a toll on her—just as much as they’ve been taking a toll on you and everyone else in the army. Of course it’s difficult watching people in pain and being unable to help them at all.

“I’m curious about the origin of these new Darlaean spells,” Major Hyun speaks up, attempting to neutralize the atmosphere of the tent. “They all seem to start with a small spherical metal ball.”

“I don’t fucking get it,” Major Jo Soowon says, a frown taking its place on her lips. “How can one tiny little thing morph into so many different attacks? And so quickly, too?”

“I’m not too familiar with the Forgotten Kingdom’s magic, unfortunately,” Major Hyun admits. “But it does seem to have to do with transformation.”

“Transformation?” about three to four officers ask simultaneously.

“Yes,” Major Hyun answers. “Unlike us, the Darlaeans may never create out of nothing. It seems as though they are taking advantage of their transformation magic to attack us.”

“Well, how do we stop it?” Major Jo asks, crossing her arms over her chest so suddenly that her ponytail sways from behind her. “It’s not like we can keep them from manufacturing their stupid fucking metal balls.”

“Then maybe we find a way to prevent them from completing their transformation spell,” Nayoon says. She sounds desperate, clutching your hand on her shoulder. “We have to figure out something. We’re getting massacred out there and I—I don’t know if I can take it anymore.”

“Toughen up,” Ohsung says, handing his major his gourd filled with Takju, but she refuses with an adamant shake of her head. He sighs. “I think you were onto something, Major. Preventing them from completing their transformation spell.” You jump when the man suddenly turns to you, his drunk eyes peering into yours. “Think you can work with that, Capt’?”

“Well, I was thinking we’ll need a sample,” you say, the idea of which had been brewing in your head ever since Nayoon had spoken. “We’ll need a sample of a sphere that hasn’t been touched by their magic. If we can figure out its properties, then we would be able to see if we could change the structure of it and ultimately prevent the Darlaeans from applying their transformation spells.”

“See!” Ohsung says, his head tossing over to the side to stare at his major. “We already have a solution. We can’t give up yet.”

It’s strange seeing Ohsung be the optimistic one in the central tent, but then again, Nayoon isn’t usually the pessimistic one, either. But it seems like much of the injuries in the medical tents have eroded her hope, and she had wisely chosen this time to show her vulnerability, being unable to do so in the presence of her soldiers in fear of instilling terror. 

“It won’t be easy,” Suhyun speaks up. “It’s going to take a team of well-trained air mediums,” she says, trailing off to look at Nayoon. “Do you think you can do it, Major Im?”

Nayoon’s eyes enlargen. “Train the air mediums, sir?”

“I’ll accompany you,” the General says in his husky voice. “You won’t be doing it alone.”

“Do you really think it’s worth all the extra training, though?” Jaeno says, crossing his arms over his chest and inadvertently flexing the tiger tattoo on his bicep. “Shouldn’t we be training all soldiers to be dodging the spheres?”

“Of course it’s worth the extra training, Major,” Wonmi sighs. “We’re trying to get to the root of the problem. Dodging the attacks won’t have as high of a success rate in the long run.”

Jaeno just shrugs. “Just trying to share some edge cases.”

Wonmi has a look on her face as if she wants to say, ‘Then at least come up with intelligent edge cases.’ But she wouldn’t publicly humiliate her own major like that; she may have a sharp tongue, but she knows when and where to use it.

“I also think we need to open up more medical tents,” Hyojung says. “I don’t want any soldiers being treated on the ground. They all deserve a cot.”

“We need more healers too,” Jeonwoo chimes in. “We need as much help as we can get.”

“I’ll see what I can do about that,” the General says.

“We’ll be all right,” Suhyun says. “The worst of it will be over soon—especially when we figure out how to counter their transformation magic.”

The General nods.

“Major Im, if you could begin organizing training groups starting today,” Suhyun says, “it would be greatly appreciated.”

“Yes, sir,” Nayoon says. She looks a little better already, now that a semi-solution has been set in place. You give her shoulder one last squeeze before letting go. 

“I think that’s all the General and I wanted to discuss with you today,” Suhyun continues. “Thank you for the short meeting. Everyone is dismissed.”

The officers are in a hurry to leave. Rightfully so. There’s quite a lot to do. Even Nayoon, who usually walks out with you has hurried away, off to complete her new duties. The tent is almost bare now, save for the General and Suhyun, yet even she’s halfway out of the curtains. “I have another meeting with the fourth sector,” she tells him, and he can only nod in response.

That just leaves you and him.

You don’t know how it got to this point, and so quickly, but you also don’t really mind.

And then you hear him call you.

“Officer,” he says in that soft voice of his.

Your heart leaps in your chest. 

“Yes, sir?”

“I saw you and Major Im,” he says.

You frown, a little perplexed. “Sir?”

“This morning,” he barely elaborates. “The past several mornings, actually.”

Oh. Oh no. He saw you training with her. Does he think you’re going against his orders? Does he think you’ll sneak out onto the battlefield? Is he going to chastise you? Has he already chastised Nayoon?

“I asked her to train me,” you say in an attempt to take all of the blame. “It wasn’t her fault. It was my idea, sir, and we’ll stop. It was selfish of me to burden Major Im with more tasks when she’s already been so busy with her duties. I apologize.” It’s a pity. You should’ve been more careful, should’ve been more aware of your surroundings. Because training was the only thing that kept your and Nayoon’s minds off of the horrible deaths and the other abhorrent terrors the Darlaeans were imposing on your soldiers.

The General raises his eyebrows. “You don’t have to stop,” he says. “Nor do you have to apologize. You can train as much as you want, Officer; I have no qualms over that. In fact, you’ve been improving.” A slight pause. “It’s nice to see.”

Oh.

Oh!

Your anxieties wash away, and they become replaced with a newfound hope: “Then will you reconsider, sir?”

“Reconsider?” He frowns as if he’s confused, but soon, the recognition flashes in his eyes. His frown deepens. “No, Officer. I will not reconsider letting you go out there.”

“But sir,” you protest, “you said it yourself that I’ve improved.”

“It’s true that you have, Officer,” he says, “but I don’t think you understand. No amount of improvement can prepare you for what’s out there. Haven’t you seen the medical tents? This isn’t a choice you want to make because you feel left out. If you feel shame for being the only officer who does not fight, then so be it. Shame is worth you being alive.”

“It’s not just shame,” you say. “It’s the fact that I want to fight for Solaria. Why must I stay back and witness drafted Solarians go into war with terrorized faces and uncertainty in their steps? I would never fear, and I would be so very certain of my decision. Sir, I’d happily risk my life for this nation. Please, just let me.”

He shakes his head. “It’ll only be a matter of time until one of us officers comes home badly injured.” He stares you down as if to instill fear in you. “When that happens, Officer, you’ll see why I don’t want you going out there.”

“But sir—”

He stops you by holding up his hand. “Did you not understand?”

“Sir?”

“I told you three circas ago that I don’t want to lose you. I hope that meant something to you, Officer.”

Of course it meant something. There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by without you thinking about it. Over and over again his words have echoed in your head. 

Because I don’t want to lose you.

When you’d first heard those words you’d nearly combusted. You’d felt like vomiting butterflies. You felt the stars shooting across your belly. You didn’t know what else to say but stutter a very embarrassing, “I-I… I don’t want to lose you, either.” And you’d meant it with every fiber of your being—not just because he’s your General, but because… for Sooht’s sake! You’re not going to continue down that path. You’d also been too stunned at his “confession” that you’d been unable to probe him further about his decision. But once in the solitude of your tent, you’d realized maybe you’d interpreted his words incorrectly. 

You and he are merely a captain and her General. He can’t lose you because you’re currently his sole battle planner; without you, the army would be plunged into chaos before he and Suhyun could scramble to find a replacement. He only said he couldn’t lose you because he really can’t, not without risking unwanted casualties.

Unlike you, he’d strictly meant business.

Unlike you, he’d said it without his heart threatening to burst out of his chest. To him, it was only a fact. It was purely logical. Rational.

For Sooht’s sake, you’re pathetic.

“Then sir, I want to take in an apprentice,” you say. “An apprentice battle planner. I’ll train them, so if something happens to me out there, they can replace me. That way, you won’t ever have to take on extra work or go through the struggle of finding someone capable enough to do the job.”

The General sighs, and for the first time in your entire two years of knowing him, he actually sounds exasperated with you. “This is an order, Officer.”

You match his exasperation. “But why won’t my suggestion work? If I start looking for an apprentice now, and I begin training them, I should be fine to begin fighting in the next few circas, shouldn’t I be?”

“I said it’s an order.”

“But sir—”

“I don’t want you dead,” he says. “I don’t even want to see you injured. Is that what you want to hear from me? Is telling you that I don’t want to lose you not enough?”

The air suddenly becomes very unbreathable. Is he…?

“I know you want to burn,” the General continues. “I know that you must feel as if I am smothering you. But please. Allow me to be selfish for once in my life. I can’t lose you. I can’t bear the thought.”

Oh.

“Oh,” you actually say. Only because you can’t find a single coherent thought inside of your head. Only because you’re screaming and yelling in your mind and none of that can translate into words at the moment. 

“It’s irrational,” he says. “I know. I should know better. My clan has always hated me for being weak, but maybe it’s time to embrace it.” He looks you dead in the eyes. “You’ll follow me until you die, you said? Then I’ll do everything in my power to keep you alive.”

You’re at a loss for words.

Every bit of annoyance, frustration and anxiety you’ve felt about being unable to fight in the war exits your body. 

“S-Sir…”

“I’ve grown to care about you, Officer. I’ve already lost so many. But it’d really kill me to lose you too.”

Silence.

And it lasts for quite a bit. The General is panting slightly, peering at you with those sharp eyes of his. His cheeks are tinged pink, his hair swept messily across his forehead… The wrinkles in his scarlet uniform, the three notches sitting on the collar, the golden cords tangled up together… His back is slouched per usual, hands laced behind him. You’re too afraid to meet his eyes, so your gaze rests on his feet, where he dons a pair of muddy boots.

He must’ve been so busy he couldn’t even clean up before the meeting. And now here he is, before you, professing things that you’d never thought would come out of his mouth. For Sooht’s sake, you want to look at his face, want to analyze his countenance, but you’re scared. Of what, exactly? You’re not even too sure.

“It’s all right,” the General says gently. His feet shift against the dirt ground. “You don’t have to say anything.”

But you want to say something—that’s the problem. The words are threatening to spill right out of you, building up inside your throat. You want to say that you care for him too, that seeing him marching off to battle every couple of days leaves you with fear and trepidation. You want to tell him that it isn’t fair—why does he get to stop you from fighting and not you? Why is he allowed to protect you, but all you can do is sit and watch him put himself in danger over and over again? Why do you feel so warm? So fuzzy inside? You should be angry at him for being selfish! You should be trying to convince him that his care for you is crossing professional boundaries. You should tell him that you feel the same way.

But you don’t.

You really don’t say anything at all. You can’t. You’re scared of messing up; you’re scared of his reaction. 

The General nods at your silence. “Then you’ve been dismissed, Officer. Feel free to leave.”

You do so, without a second of hesitation. You just want to get out of there, to clear your thoughts, your mind. You move so quickly that you forget to bid him luck for tomorrow when he’ll be leaving for another one of those dreaded battles. 

And he watches you leave, a sudden sharp pain overtaking his chest. He wonders, slouching even further, if he’d said too much—if he’d accidentally scared you away. He didn’t mean to confess so much. He didn’t mean it to get so personal. But everyone he’s ever loved and cared for has left him for the spirits. He only wanted to prevent it from happening again.

He curses in his head.

It hurts. Sometimes, he cares about you so much that he knows it’s blinding him. It’s dangerous, whatever these emotions are. And it hurts even more when he realizes that you’d left—just like that—without saying anything. Of course, you don’t owe him any words, and maybe he’s being pathetic once again, but for the past three circas, rain or shine, you’ve always bid him luck the day before his battles.

But the worst pain isn’t the fact that you’ve broken a three-circa-long tradition. The worst pain is the fact that he will always be your General, and you, his officer. It’s purely professional. It’s a roundabout way to say that you probably don’t feel the same.

You didn’t sleep last night.

The General’s words have been echoing in your head. So much so that you’ve ripped apart every word, every pause, every facial expression of his… 

I can’t lose you. I can’t bear the thought.

I’ll do everything in my power to keep you alive.

It’d really kill me to lose you too.

These declarations… do they really mean as much as you think they do?

Your heart hasn’t stopped at its rapid pace since then. What does that say about you? 

What do his words say about him?

You bury your head under your cylindrical pillow, groaning into your futon in frustration. 

He’s your fucking General! You’re just his captain. But why does it feel like there’s something more? Why has there always felt like there’s more?

Can he feel it too? Is that why he said the things he said?

Did he expect you to say it back?

Fuck! you curse inwardly, sitting up from your futon with your pillow flying across the tent. With so much brewing in your mind, you suddenly realize that yesterday, you’d completely forgotten to bid the General good luck before he went to battle. Three circas of doing so have gone down the drain. But maybe you can catch him before he goes today. Maybe you can fix this. Because as stupid as it sounds, you think it works—bidding him luck before battles, that is. For three full circas, he’s never been a day late and has never acquired more than a little scratch from altercations on the battlefield—even during the worst season of the year. So bidding him good luck does matter—and if it’s all just a big coincidence, it matters for the sake of your sanity, too.

You scramble up, haphazardly getting dressed and sprinting out of your tent with just one goal in mind—only to bump right into Hana and go tumbling to the ground.

Hana gasps. “Oh, Y/N!”

With the wind knocked out of you, it takes you a few seconds to be able to say anything. “H-Hana!” you pant. “D-Did the fourth sector leave yet? I had some unfinished business and I-I—”

She helps you up with one hand, hoisting you back onto your feet. “They left a few minutes ago,” she says, cocking her head. “Are you okay, Y/N? I’ve never seen you look so…” She glances at your wrinkled uniform, tousled hair and sunken eyes. “Frazzled.”

“Fuck!” you say, hands shooting up to grasp at your head. “Oh, fuck.”

Hana looks genuinely concerned for your well-being. “Something happened,” she deduces. “It’s a big deal, isn’t it? You look like you’ve seen all four spirits!”

“N-No! It’s nothing,” you say, straightening your uniform. 

“Y/N, you’re the worst liar,” Hana says. She grasps your hands, and electricity runs down your spine. “What is it? Tell me. What’s bothering you? I want to help! And if I can’t do it, I’ll make Taehoon fix it. He’s handy; you know that.”

But you can’t tell her. How are you going to explain last night’s conversation with the General without divulging some of your own emotions? What would she say if she knew? She could disapprove. She could even think you rose up the ranks because of this very relationship you have with him. 

No. Hana wouldn’t think that. She’s always been so supportive of you. She can also tell when you’re lying, which is a tribute to your great friendship. None of your lies to her have ever gone undetected—not that you lie to her excessively, to begin with. Still, all of this means that you’ll have to tell the truth in some way or another. 

You take a deep breath. “I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye,” you say.

Hana’s eyes widen. “You were that worried about not being—” she stops herself and you watch in anxiety as her eyes soften. “Oh, of course, Y/N. But nothing’s gonna happen to Nayoon. She’ll be fine. I know you were worried about her last time… um, disaster struck, but she’s the Elunian prodigy, for Sori’s sake! The Darlaeans out there should be scared that she’s gonna be out there!”

You have never felt more relief in your life.

“Y-Yeah…” you say. “I know… But it’s just that we’ve had this ritual… And I don’t… It’s going to sound so stupid, but I don’t want the only time I didn’t say anything to cause a disaster.”

Hana just shakes her head, patting your shoulder. “Nothing’s going to happen to her,” she says. “Nayoon’s strong! She’s a major, now! And she has both Captain Goe and Captain Jo to back her up. Plus, the General’s out there with them today. It’s a foolproof plan. The Darlaeans will be running away with their tails tucked between their legs!”

“I hope so.” You attempt a smile. Maybe you’re overreacting. Maybe forgetting to say one little thing to the General before he left for his umpteenth battle these past three circas won’t lead to his impending doom. Maybe, in a roundabout way, Hana is right. “I’m sorry,” you apologize to her. “I crashed into you this morning and bothered you with some bullshit, didn’t I?”

Hana just snorts. “I’m the one who knocked you out, Captain, so maybe I should apologize.” She hums, thoughtfully tapping her chin with her index. But her thoughts run short as she suddenly perks up. “Ugh, I’m too hungry to think. Ooh! Come on!” she says, dragging you away from your tent. “Let’s go grab some breakfast. Just us two. I’ll even shoo Taehoon away! We deserve some quality time together. I hope they have some good ol’ pumpkin porridge. You know something funny? Back when I was in Aella, I actually found myself missing the food here. Isn’t that insane? I think a true low point was when I thought I was craving some of that spinach porridge. Bleh!”

With Hana to fill your void and chase away your superstitions, you’re able to have a somewhat relaxing morning. But the moment she leaves to complete her training for the day, you’re left behind to fend for yourself once more, and your thoughts have never been too kind to you. 

“You don’t look so well,” Wonmi tells you as she and you scrub the bloody rags next to the medical tent. 

“I don’t feel so well,” you answer.

Wonmi wrings her last rag and stands up, staring down at you with a look you can’t quite discern the meaning of. “Get some rest. I’m working a double shift in the tent, anyway.”

“I couldn’t do that,” you say, standing up and bending down to grab the bucket filled with murky red water. “I’m just… I’m worried about…” 

“Nayoon?” Wonmi asks. “Ohsung won’t let anything happen to her out there. You shouldn’t waste your time worrying about things that aren’t in your control.”

“I know… I just—”

“You can’t help it?” she says, raising her eyebrow. The two of you begin to walk back toward the entrance of the medical tent.

“I really can’t,” you sigh. “It’s just… If something happens to him, I don’t think… I don’t know… I’d feel like it’s my fault.”

Wonmi hums but takes her sweet time to react. You wonder if it’s something that you said that warranted such a gap in reaction time, but that’s when it dawns on you: in your worried state, you’ve accidentally referred to the General instead of Nayoon. If something happens to him. For Sooht’s sake, how could you be so stupid? But before you can backpedal in panic, Wonmi finally says, “I didn’t know you were so close to him.”

Your face burns.

“I-I just—I um, I’m not, no, I mean—”

“Being embarrassed about it makes me think there’s something more,” Wonmi says. She pulls back the curtain to the medical tent, and the stench of death slams itself into your senses. Yet Wonmi doesn’t react at all. “I suppose,” she begins, foot halfway into the tent, “respect does manifest in strange ways during a war.” She gives you a final look. “Some in more platonic ways than others.” Then, she’s walking away, slinging the cleaned rags over her shoulder and disappearing behind a crowd of busy healers.

For several seconds, you stand there, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. You’re only able to shake out of your thoughts when you realize you’ve become quite a rude obstacle for the healers simply trying to tend to their patients. You quickly move away, the dirty water in the bucket sloshing around as you do so. 

And for the rest of your shift in the tent, you work in a trance, mind someplace else. But your body is so used to your duties, you’re able to carry out your tasks without breaking out of your thoughts.

What had Wonmi meant? Some in more platonic ways than others. Does she know? Did you make it that obvious? Maybe she understands the feeling. Maybe she’s waiting for Ohsung just like you’re waiting for the General. Maybe she only said it to scare you. But no. Wonmi would never waste her breath saying something that meant nothing.

And you really do respect the General. Maybe a little too much. And maybe you’ve made it increasingly obvious. You’ve declared that you’d die for him after all. You’ve rested your head on his shoulder, too. And for Sooht’s sake, you’ve embraced him. You’ve felt his heartbeat against your ear—beating quite irregularly—just as yours.

Oh no.

Just like he’d declared to you, you can’t lose him—nor can you bear the thought. Just like him, you want to do everything in your power to keep him alive, which is why you’d been so adamant about wishing him good luck before he left for his battles. And just like him, it’d really kill you to lose him.

This is more than what an officer should feel for their General. You know this. This is the way that Hana feels for Taehoon. This is the way that Doyun feels for Minhee. This is even the way that Ohsung seems to feel for Wonmi.

You feel unbelievably happy when he speaks to you, and when he calls for you, your face heats up. When he asks how you’ve been feeling or if you’ve eaten yet, your stomach does strange flips. When he smiles, you want to smile, too. And for Sooht’s sake… when he cried, you’d wanted to embrace him, wanted to let him cry on your shoulder, but you weren’t brave enough. You didn’t want to force something that wasn’t there. 

You want him to be alive—more than anything. And you know you said two years ago that love and war is something you will never do. But you also swore to dedicate your life to this nation, to its people… and most of all, to its General. Maybe you’ve sworn it a little too hard. 

But what about him? His heart had been beating just as rapidly. 

You roll over on your back, staring up at the red ceiling of your tent from your futon.

It’s a possibility, right?

Or is it more than a possibility?

After everything he’s done for you, said to you… he has to care more about you than his sole battle planner. Or maybe you’re projecting your deepest wishes. Still… Why else would he take you around Solaria to show you the sectors that you’ve forgotten about? Why else would he wake up earlier in the morning and sacrifice his sleep to personally help you relearn fire wielding? Why else was he so ruthless when he interrogated you? Why else did he take you to his home? Why else? Why else would he actively seek your company? Because he’s bored? He barely has enough time to sleep!

But maybe you really are projecting. 

Yet…

You sigh, sitting up on your futon and bringing your knees in to hug them. At this rate, you’ll drown in your own cyclical nonsense.

For Sooht’s sake! It doesn’t matter.

In the end, it doesn’t matter at all. Because you and he both don’t believe in love and war and nothing will ever happen because you’re both married to your duties. It’s a pipe dream, essentially. And you’re fine with it. Maybe. 

You sigh again.

It’s still a little early before you should feel worried that the fourth sector hasn’t come back. And at some point in the day, you’d realized that Wonmi had been right after all: it’s useless to worry about things that are beyond your control. But now that you’ve finished worrying about your thoughts regarding the General, you’ve run out of things to worry about.

Well, not quite.

Just as you’re about to stand to see if Joon needs any help in the medical tent, someone barges into your living quarters. The someone is Hana, panting hard, with sweat dripping down the sides of her face. There’s a moving shadow outside, a running figure that looks just like Taehoon, and he’s calling to his girlfriend in a worried voice. “H-Hana! Slow down, Hana! You’re going to fall!” 

“Y/N!” Hana screams, her voice shrill and filled with terror.

Immediately, chills run down your spine. 

Oh no.

She’s close to tears. 

Your throat dries up and your hands begin to shake.

No. No, please. You beg to no one in particular. Not again.

“We were worried about the wrong person!” she cries. “Oh, Y/N.” Hana falls to the ground, completely distraught and frozen in disbelief. “It’s not Nayoon,” she says in a voice so quiet she doesn’t sound like herself at all. “It’s him. It’s the General!”

⨰ previous | series m.list | next

⨰ a/n: so sorry about this super duper late update 😭 i'll be updating next week as well to make up for it! (also since i don't wanna leave y'all on a cliffhanger for too long). and happy early holidays <3 may you and your loved ones stay safe, happy and warm!

please consider telling me your thoughts with a comment, an ask or a reblog :) i love hearing readers' impressions/rambles/predictions! if you want to join the taglist, send in a private message, ask, reply to this post or reblog with your request!

[serafiel-jacobs]

Forgiveness doesn’t erase the past (Fanfic)

A new chapter of my main series <3

Pinocchio was sitting in his father’s bed, he had brought Gemini with him, although he was quiet, his cage sitting on a small desk, next to the bed.

“Son, you can tell me about anything, I’m here for you”

Pinocchio stayed silent for some time, his hands grabbing his pajamas with force, he was shaking, Pinocchio didn’t want to talk about it, he preferred to write his feelings, writing had been helping him, but it didn’t matter how many times he wrote about how he felt about what was about to say, it just wouldn’t make him feel better.

Pinocchio took a deep breath, he was trying to compose himself.

“Father I love you” he paused, he didn’t want to look at his father, “and I love Venigni and Eugéne, and Polendina and Pulcinella and-“ another paused “I love Sophia and I love Mother”

Geppetto knew he was talking about Antonia, he could also tell that Pinocchio was getting even more nervous, it was best to just let him talk as much as he could and not interrupt him.

“I really love you all, I love everyone at the hotel! even the ones that left” Pinocchio shouted, but then his voice became quiet, he could barely let the words out.

“But sometimes… Sometimes I-“ Pinocchio had started to cry.

“Sometimes, I hate you, I hate all of you”

Geppetto kept quiet, but inside a lot of feelings were strung in his heart.

“You… used me, you used me to get what you wanted, all that fighting, everything I did, even if I saved everyone, that was just an excuse” More tears fell out of Pinocchio’s eyes, “not only you, everyone, everyone always asked me to do things for them, everyone always wanted me to help with their problems, no one cared how I was feeling, no one cared about the danger, no one cared that I murdered people for it!”

Pinocchio had the weight of the world on his shoulders, all he heard was how he was their only hope, and maybe he was, he succeeded after all, but that didn’t stop his heartache.

“Pinocchio Lady Antonia will die if we don’t find a cure, I know it’s too much to ask but can you help us find one”

“Pinocchio can you help me with this device? Pinocchio can you help me with my new invention?”

“Pinocchio can you help me with my new weapons? Can you help give this glove to Alidoro?”

Pinocchio do this, Pinocchio do that.

“Can you find my partner and tell me if he is alright? He is at the station”

“Can you help us with gold coins to spare? So my brother can be healed?”

Everyone he ever met asked him to do errands for them, as if he didn’t have to face the grueling task of surviving hoards of enemies, as if the pain he had to go through every time he stepped outside didn’t matter.

“Please… if you find me, I want you to kill me”

That, was the worst for Pinocchio because it didn’t matter that in the end, Sophia was now alive, that she was safe, it didn’t matter that he didn’t kill her with a blade, that he just absorbed her ergo. He still killed her, and the truth is he didn’t want to kill her, it felt painful, and even after all that pain he had suffered, he had to keep going.

“Why… did no one care how I felt?! Did no one care what I wanted?!” Pinocchio was shouting, “What if I had died in one of those… those stupid quests I got sent every time?! Was I just a means to an end? Was I just a stupid puppet that had to do what he was told?!”

Pinocchio’s grasp on his clothes was even tighter, “and I know, I understand… I understand that things were different back then, that everything was chaos and I was the only one I could help, and I’ve forgiven you, forgiven everyone but, I just, I just, I just don’t, I don’t” Pinocchio was stuck, he couldn’t say what he wanted to say, until he managed to get the courage to do so, “If I’ve forgiven everyone, why does it feel it’s not enough?”

Everyone was silent now, after a few minutes, Geppetto felt it was time to finally speak up.

“Pinocchio just because you forgive someone, that doesn’t erase all the hurt they gave you, and son, honestly, if you hate me, it’s fine, after how I’ve treated you in the past, I don’t-“ but Geppetto was cut short.

“NO! I don’t want to hate you! I don’t want to feel this way” Pinocchio’s grasp had reached his limit, he had torn his pajamas and the nails in his hands had begun to scratch his legs.

Geppetto grabbed his arms, “Pinocchio, stop, you are hurting yourself” he pulled his son into a hug, he worried that he might hurt himself further if he didn’t have a hold on him. Pinocchio held him back, he didn’t want to let go of his father, he was weeping, and his body kept shaking.

“I’m horrible, I’m horrible, I’m horrible” Pinocchio was hyperventilating, “I’m a bad boy”

“Pinocchio you are a good boy, you are too good really” It was all Gemini could say, but Gemini’s words, even if simple, were words that always reassured him, because after all, Gemini had never asked anything of him, he had followed him in his quest, he was Pinocchio’s light, not just his light to see in the dark, but his light in the toughest time, Gemini had always been there for him, he never left his side, even when Pinocchio felt despair at the hardest situations, Gemini was the one he could always count for support. Pinocchio wanted to thank Gemini, but it was all too much for him.

Both father and son were lying on the bed, they were holding each other, Geppetto was rocking his son, rubbing his back, and giving him reassuring words. Eventually, Pinocchio fell asleep on his father’s bed, they both slept together that night.

——-

The next day, even after waking up, Pinocchio didn’t want to leave the bed, not only because he felt exhausted from the day before, but because his sadness stopped him from being able to get up, even after crying all night, he was still crying in the morning.

Geppetto gave his son space, for a few hours, he left him be. Gemini made small talk with Pinocchio, anything to distract his mind from the stress.

After some time, Geppetto entered the room, his son was still in bed he was hugging a pillow, his face buried in it, it would be dumb of Geppetto to ask if he was feeling better, he clearly wasn’t.

“Son, emotions are complicated, even if you love someone, you don’t love every single thing about them, and sometimes the people you love hurt you, even if it is unintentionally, that doesn’t take the hurt away, it doesn’t make you a bad boy to feel angry about it”

Pinocchio lifted his head, he was looking at his father.

“People think being angry is a bad thing, but it’s not, it’s a natural emotion, and while yes sometimes others feel angry and it’s not justified, what you feel is justified, if others hurt you, you have the right to feel angry or sad about it” Geppetto gently touched his son’s face, putting the palm of his hand on one of his cheeks.

“Never feel bad for expressing your emotions, your true feelings”

Pinocchio sat back up. He hugged his father. His father gave him a kiss on the forehead.

“Father, last year, you were a really bad father”

“I know” it’s true, no excuses, no asking for forgiveness this time, this moment isn’t about him.

“I love you”

“I love you too son”

[renee-writer]

A Rescue Chapter 34

AO3

He is released from care after a few bags of saline and a pill to calm his nerves. He doesn’t leave the hospital though. They, him and Claire, with his family, wait on news of Willie.

 

“The lad is an orphan,” Colum is explaining to Claire, “he started with us at sixteen. First in the office before working up to field work. If dies due too…”

 

“Braither, we shall pray he doesn’t.” Ellen places her arms around him. Dougal, who was asked not to leave the hospital as they continue their investigation, nods vigorously.

 

“God shan’t take him. I feel it. I wouldn’t have been able to stop Randall if he was meant to die.”

 

“The lad, he is like a son to me.” Colum says against his sister’s neck.

 

Colum is unable to father children of his own though he adopted Hamish, his wife ‘s son. Dougal has lasses with his wife and a son with his mistress, though few know about him.

 

“I know.” Ellen rocks him like she used to do her bairns.

 

Jenny sits on the other side of Claire. They hold each other’s hands. One thing the bloody bastard has managed to do is to draw them closer. Jamie holds her against his side.

 

They all look up when the doctor walks in.

 

“Family for Willie Mackenzie?”

 

They all rise and walk over to him.

 

“That would be us,” Colum says, “is he alright?”

 

“You are his?”

 

Ellen steps up before her hot headed brothers or son does something regrettable.

 

“Willie is an orphan with no family. He has been an adopted member of ours since he was sixteen. Please, tell us how he is.”

 

“And right quick!” Jenny adds.

 

“Alright. The bullet hilt his liver and spleen. We had to take his spleen. As it just nicked his liver, we believe it will repair itself. We will be keeping a close eye. He is in ICU in stable condition right now. If his liver doesn’t fail, he should make a full recovery. A blessed man, one centimeter over, and there is nothing we could have done.”

 

Everyone breathes out in relief.

 

“Thank you. When can we see him?”

 

He looks at the group. Blessed indeed. An orphan in fact but not practice is his patient.

 

“Two at a time in an hour.”

 

They thank him again before offering praise to God.

 

That is when the detectives return.

[lesbiansanemi]

Blood Brothers

Here's Inosuke's backstory for the roleswap AU that is still being written horrifically out of order... whoops

Other installments: Kyojuro, Shinobu & Kanae, Obanai, Mitsuri, Tengen, Sanemi, Tanjiro & Nezuko

Squeezing her eyes shut and gritting her teeth, Aoi sliced the knife across the palm of her hand, and allowed her blood to drip onto the freshly clipped wisteria. She was no stranger to pain, but that didn’t mean she liked it, and she wished Shinobu would come up with a better method of communication between them. 

Especially since Kanae died… Even though she wasn’t a demon herself, Aoi thought it would be best for them to be better connected with the loss of their eldest sister. Kanae had saved her life, Kanae had practically raised her, and she… She still couldn’t quite believe she was gone. Demons were so timeless, so ethereal, so other. It had felt impossible for Tamayo and any of her demons to die, but… 

Aoi shook her head, and pulled her hand back from the flowers to bandage the cut on her palm. That should be enough blood and wisteria to draw the attention of whichever of her sisters were lurking in the area this new moon. Likely not Shinobu, ever since she became Upper Moon Four, she was always busy, and Kanao often shadowed her. So it would probably be one of the triplets. Checking in on her was pretty much their only duty. 

After her cut was cleaned and bandaged, she threw open the shutters, and placed the bloodied wisteria in the window sill. 

Now all she had to do was wait for one of her sisters to arrive. 

“Aoi!” Two tiny, clawed hands scrabbled at the window sill. “Aoi! It’s me! It’s Sumi!” 

Aoi chuckled and hurried to the open window, peering outside to see her little sister, forever too small to see inside the window, even on her tiptoes. “Hello, Sumi! Shinobu’s got you out running errands by yourself tonight, hm?” 

Sumi’s smile stretched so wide all four of her eyes crinkled. “Mmhm! She had to go take care of something for Tamayo-sama, and Kanao went with her.” 

Aoi crossed her arms and rested them in the window as she leaned out. “No Naho or Kiyo?” 

Sumi shook her head. “Kiyo is watching some boring flower drip in the lab for Shinobu, and Naho had plans with Senjuro tonight! Rengoku-san is taking them out to a little festival. He wanted to take all three of us, but me and Kiyo can’t hide our extra eyes yet…” she pouted. 

Aoi reached out to ruffle her hair. “Well, maybe you can’t be around other humans yet, but we can have a fun night together. C’mere.” She leaned over, hooked her arms in Sumi’s armpits, and heaved her through the open window. 

Sumi giggled and went limp in her hold, letting herself be hauled inside. 

As a teenager living in the Infinity Palace, Aoi had never been very strong, always spindly and scrawny, but living out here alone, gathering and farming her own food, she’d eventually packed on enough muscle to easily pick up her little sisters. 

“Why’d you leave out wisteria, though?” Sumi asked. “You only do that when you need something!” 

“It’s nothing too serious,” Aoi said as she set her down and ushered her to the table, where she’d already made tea, laced with blood and her sisters’ favorite flavors. “Just something I thought was a little odd. I thought Tamayo-sama might want to know about it.” 

Sumi squealed as she was handed her tea cup. “No one ever keeps tea back home!” she said. “It’s just blood. Which is good! But it’s not the same as your tea.” 

“Well…” Aoi lifted her own, non-blood laced, tea to her lips and took a sip. “You’re always welcome to come for tea any time you want. You don’t only have to come when I leave out the wisteria and blood.” 

Sumi shook her head. “Everyone says it’s too dangerous… Especially after—” Her eyes glossed over with tears and she sniffled. “Especially after Kanae… Shinobu doesn’t want to risk any slayers hurting you because they found out you were friendly with demons. We can’t lose another sister. Oh, won’t you just become a demon, Aoi?” 

Aoi sighed. That question was the one thing she hated about the younger girls coming by. They just never understood why she refused to turn. Honestly, Shinobu and Kanao didn’t either, but they knew better than to press. Kanae was the only one who had ever seemed to get it. “Oh, you know, Sumi!” she laughed with a wave of her hand. “I’m just not interested. And I’ve been dodging slayers for a decade now. There’s a reason I live out here in the middle of nowhere.” 

Sumi’s shoulders slumped, but she didn’t argue; by now, she seemed to have learned better. “Okay then… What was the odd thing? To tell Tamayo-sama about?” 

“Ah…” Aoi straightened up, and pointed in a vague direction to her left. “There’s a mountain several miles that way. Recently, slayers have started investigating it, but none of them ever come back down. I thought there might be a demon there worth looking into, if they’re killing slayers. Either they’re someone Tamayo-sama might be interested in, or they need to be dealt with before they start killing innocent people.” 

“There’s slayers in the area and you didn’t tell anyone before now!?” Sumi demanded with wide eyes. “What if they hurt you!? What if they—!?” 

Aoi hushed her with a soft smile. “I’m human, Sumi. They have no reason to suspect me. I’m just an antisocial hermit living in the woods. If I was in any sort of danger, I would tell you. I’m just suspicious of what’s going on on that mountain. So, do tell Tamayo-sama for me when you go home, please?” 

“Okay…” 

“Hey, think of it this way.” Aoi set her teacup down. “Once whatever is on that mountain is taken care of, slayers will have no reason to come here anymore. So you’ll be making me safer, okay?” 

Slowly, Sumi’s smile returned, and she eagerly returned to her tea, as easily distracted as any child, demon or human. “Okay!” 

---

“So…” Aoi fiddled with the hems of her sleeves. “You’re the new Kizuki…?” 

Sanemi Shinazugawa narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. “And you’re the little human bitch who can summon Kizuki.” 

Aoi worried her lip, and did her best not to let her nerves get the better of her. She’d hoped Tamayo would have sent someone she was close with, even if she couldn’t send Shinobu, or at least someone she knew.  

She also couldn’t believe someone so… menacing had taken Rengoku’s place as Upper Moon Two. Rengoku might have been overwhelming, but she’d never been scared of him. But this demon already made her skin crawl. “I don’t think—I wasn’t trying to summon you, I just thought Tamayo-sama should know about all the slayers around here!” 

Shinazugawa shrugged. “Whatever. I’ll kill ‘em and that’ll be the end of it. Tamayo said there wasn’t a demon on that mountain.” 

Aoi grimaced. “But then… Why would there be so many slayers going there? And why are none of them coming back?” 

“How the fuck should I know?” he demanded. “Point me in the direction of this mountain, and I’ll figure it out.” 

Aoi’s nose scrunched up in displeasure. How old was this man when he’d been turned? His early-twenties? Mid-twenties at the absolute latest. She was older than him. It had been strange, aging and suddenly being older than the people who raised her. Catching up to Shinobu and Kanae’s ages, before surpassing them as she approached her thirtieth birthday. Despite the fact that she was mentally and emotionally older than all of Tamayo’s demons now, it was strange to wrap her head around. 

But she’d never met Shinazugawa before now, and didn’t take well to young men being disrespectful for no reason! 

“You really should watch your language,” she scolded. “I’m just trying to be helpful, and even if this wasn’t something you wanted to deal with, you shouldn’t take it out on me. Didn’t your mother ever teach you to treat people kindly?” 

Shinazugawa blinked, before he bared monstrous fangs and a murderous snarl rumbled from his chest. “Shut the fuck up! Gods above, you’re definitely one of Shinobu’s goddamn brats.” 

Aoi took a deep breath and forced out the tension in her shoulders. “Can you please just do as Tamayo-sama asked, and deal with whatever is causing this? Considering how violent you all are, I figured you’d be chomping at the bit to kill some demon slayers.” 

Shinazugawa rolled his eyes and turned on his heel. “You gonna help?” 

“Absolutely not!” Aoi shook her head. “I refused to become a demon to avoid being involved in mass murdering. And the cannibalism. And being immortal. And dying in the sunlight. Oh, a lot of things really! But the point is, no, I’m not helping you murder people.” 

“What, too damn good for murder?” he drawled over his shoulder. 

“Obviously not. I’m pointing you in the direction of people to murder. I just never had the stomach for the act itself, which I don’t think is a bad thing.” She turned her palms up. “And you’re about to start walking towards the wrong mountain, by the way.” She turned and pointed north. “It’s that one. Few miles that way.” 

Shinazugawa’s snarl rumbled louder, but he turned and marched off in that direction. 

“Have fun!” Aoi called after him. “If you don’t want to come tell me what it was, at least have someone else do it! I’m curious!” 

Shinazugawa twisted around to throw up a vulgar gesture, and continued on his way. 

Aoi huffed. Where did Tamayo find these people? And hadn’t her sisters told her that the new Upper Moon had gotten romantically involved with Kanroji? Oh, she was sure Shinobu adored having him around and sharing her wife with him. 

Every time she interacted with someone other than her sisters, Aoi grew more and more relieved that she jumped Tamayo’s ship years ago. 

Oh well. Considering it was Upper Moon Two who had been sent, the little slayer problem in her patch of woods would be dealt with quickly. 

---

Sanemi grumbled a harsh string of swears beneath his breath as he marched up the damned mountain. Why Tamayo had sent him to deal with this, he didn’t understand. Sure, if he stumbled across any of the slayers that had been cropping up here, that would be wonderful, but if something here was already killing them, he wasn’t sure if he’d actually get the damn chance. 

And why Yushiro had sent him to that goddamn Aoi Kanzaki’s stupid-ass garden instead of the damn mountain where the problem was he didn’t fucking understand. Some bullshit about keeping her involved and in the loop because she was important to the Kocho sisters, and oh what-fucking-ever! If she wanted to be involved, she could become a demon and actually live with them. 

He didn’t get that woman. When he hadn’t wanted to become a demon, he’d had some actual reasons. Why didn’t Aoi want to be a demon? Just for the sake of being human? Why? She lived alone in the woods, it wasn’t like she was engaged with human society in any meaningful way. He just didn’t fucking get it. 

Whatever. It wasn’t a demon on that mountain, but whatever it was, it was killing slayers. So long as Sanemi found something to kill here, he supposed it was worth it. He needed to get back to Mitsuri so they could finish planning the giant wedding she’d insisted upon. 

He really should have known better than to say he “didn’t care” about what kind of wedding they had when she asked… Now she and Tengen were putting together something horrifyingly elaborate. 

Maybe that was why Tamayo sent him to do this. Maybe she realized he needed a break from it all. Killing someone always helped calm him down, settled his jittering nerves. Maybe he could even bring back something for Mitsuri and Obanai to eat… It might help ease the feeling that he wasn’t doing a well enough job providing for them because he just didn’t know how to help with things like fucking weddings. 

A sword rammed its way through his chest. 

A nichirin sword rammed its way through his chest. 

Sanemi’s eyes blew wide, more from shock than pain. While this blow would kill a human, it was superficial to him. But he should have noticed the slayer approaching. He hadn’t smelled a damn thing, hadn’t heard anything, hadn’t sensed an enemy at all. 

And what fucking slayer didn’t go for a decapitation with the element of surprise? Fuck, if they had, Sanemi might have—

No, no, his body was too durable for that. A slayer decapitating him in a single stroke was practically goddamn impossible. 

He gasped and whirled around, his clawed fingers wrapping around the throat of the person with the sword and slamming them against the nearest tree trunk. 

The person— girl, Sanemi realized, as she wasn’t wearing a fucking shirt, choked as she was smashed against the tree bark and the breath was wrenched out of her. 

Sanemi fully intended to snap her damn neck then and there. Something nice and quick but that would still leave the body mostly intact for him to bring home to his fiance. Most slayers he liked dragging it out for, but this one… spooked him, and that couldn’t be allowed. 

But he halted, putting just enough pressure on her neck to cut off her airflow and keep her subdued. 

There was no way in hell this was a slayer. Never mind that a slayer would have gone for a decapitation, this girl was half fucking feral. The only thing she wore were tattered animal pelts haphazardly wrapped around her hips and waist. Nothing above, leaving her chest completely exposed, and nothing on her lower legs, not even shoes. The only other thing she wore was a goddamn boar’s head. 

What the fuck!? 

Sanemi loosened his grip, just enough for her to suck in a deep gasp. “Who the fuck are you?” he demanded. “Where’d you get nichirin? ‘Cause you’re sure as hell not a slayer.” 

She hissed. Hissed. The bitch goddamn hissed at him! A grating noise, mangled, in only the way a human throat could attempt to hiss, but that had clearly been the noise she was going for. 

“Hey!” Sanemi gave her throat another threatening squeeze before loosening it again. “I could kill your dumbass right fucking now. Answer me. Who the fuck are you?” 

Demented giggles escaped her next. “Name’s Inosuke Hashibira. And I’m King of the Mountain!” she declared. 

What? What!? 

“...Fucking what…?” 

The girl’s hands flew to Sanemi’s wrist, and she sank jagged nails into the skin, ripping and tearing with a fervor befitting an animal rather than a human. When the flesh easily healed, she growled in frustration. Frantic kicks joined the clawing, and she twisted her whole body, going so far as snapping bones out of place in an attempt to escape the grip. 

Sanemi narrowed his eyes, and let curiosity get the better of him. He wrenched the boar mask off. 

“Hey!” she shrieked. 

Oh she was a young girl. Tangled, knotted blue-tipped black hair tumbled around her shoulders, and her face was smeared with dirt and… possibly some dried blood, but that couldn’t distract from how young she appeared. She was probably about Genya’s age. 

Sanemi’s hand slipped away from her throat. 

Inosuke lunged, sword abandoned as it had slipped out of her grasp while being choked, and attempted to drive her fist into Sanemi’s jaw. He easily sidestepped the blow, and slammed his open palm between her shoulder blades with enough force she crumpled with a pained huff. 

“Alright, kiddo.” Sanemi sat down on her back, using his body weight to keep her in place despite her angry squirming. “I just gotta few questions, alright? I don’t hurt kids, and Tamayo would be pissed if I hurt them anyway. So answer me, and we can all get on with our own bullshit, m’kay?” 

Inosuke snarled and twisted to claw at Sanemi’s thigh. 

He rolled his eyes, and thumped the back of her head. “This isn’t a fight you’re gonna fucking win. Can’t you tell what I am? Or are you just fucking stupid?” 

“‘Course I know what you are!” Inosuke shouted, and fuck, did she always yell? “Demon! You’re a demon!” 

“Sure am.” Sanemi grabbed a handful of her matted hair. “I’m a Kizuki.” 

“The fuck’s that bullshit mean!?” 

Great. She didn't even know that much. “It means I’m a powerful demon. The third most powerful demon.” He bared his fangs, and let his smothering, demonic presence wash over the girl. He smothered it more often than not, even out in the wilderness like this, but if she was going to be difficult, he’d show her, exactly, who the fuck she was dealing with. 

Inosuke went still, her body going limp as she twisted her neck to stare at Sanemi with wide eyes. 

He leaned down, and snapped his jaws. 

Inosuke’s nose scrunched up in indignation, but she couldn’t completely disguise the fear in her eyes. 

“Right.” Sanemi sat up straight, and stretched his arms above his head. “Just so we’re aware of what’s going on. Now, spill it, kiddo. The fuck is going on? Where’d you get that sword?” 

“Some bastard in weird black clothes,” she said, voice sullen. “Killed him and took his sword.” 

“You… killed a demon slayer?” Sanemi said, unable to keep the shock out of his voice. 

“I’ve killed a lot of ‘em!” Inosuke declared, her previous bravado returning. “They’re in my territory, and Mama said not to trust anyone in uniforms like that!” 

“You’re the thing killing all these demon slayers?” 

“Yeah! ‘Cause I’m just that damn good!” she said with a grin. 

Sanemi’s frown deepened. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe the kid. (After all, he’d been killing slayers himself at a similar age. It’d been hard, but he managed it). But… 

“Where is your mom?” he asked, though considering the sorry state of her ‘clothes’ and the fact that she was alone on a mountain, he thought he already knew the answer. 

“Dead,” she said, like it was no big deal. “But she still told me.” 

Right. So she was crazy. That was fine. Sanemi had already come to that conclusion anyway. But that didn’t mean that he could leave her out on this mountain killing slayers in good conscience. Eventually, the Corps would send those of higher rank, or more than she could handle at a time, and she’d get herself killed. 

And fuck, as heartless as he was, Sanemi couldn’t handle any more dead kids on his conscience. Definitely not dead kids because of slayers. 

“They’re gonna send more of them and then you’re gonna get your stupid-ass killed,” Sanemi said. “Stop killing them. Hell, leave this mountain.” 

“Nuh uh!” Inosuke vehemently shook her head. “I’ve lived on this mountain my whole life! It’s my territory! They can leave!” 

“Kid—” 

“Fuck you! I’m not leaving!” 

“Kid—” 

“Mama brought me here! She said this would be a good place for me! I’m not leaving!” she shrieked. “I’m not! I’ll kill all the stupid—Whatever they were! Demon slayers! I’ll kill them all!” 

Sanemi groaned and pressed his hands to his face. Was this what he had sounded like as a teenager just after his family had died? Shit, probably. 

“I’m not leaving my mountain!” she continued. “She said to stay here! She said it was safe from them! She said to never let them get me!” 

Sanemi grimaced. Had her mother been killed by slayers? That seemed the most likely scenario. “They kill her? Your mom?” 

“I don’t—I dunno…” Inosuke admitted as her head thumped against the ground. “It was forever ago. But sometimes I hear her voice! And she tells me things!” 

Not just crazy. Fucking insane. 

But she certainly believed her dead mom was telling her shit about demon slayers and dropped her off on this mountain. 

None of that changed that she needed to get the fuck out of here or she was going to get herself killed. 

“Alright.” Sanemi reached his hand down, preparing to grab her and just have Yushiro send them somewhere far away from this mountain and she could figure her own shit out after that (after all, if she’d really been living out here her whole life, survival clearly wasn’t a problem) when she sank her teeth into his hand. 

“Hey, hey, hey!” He ripped his hand out of her teeth, leaving blood smeared on her lips. “Shit! Fuck! Do not swallow that! Spit it out! Spit it out!” 

Inosuke made a grand show of swallowing the blood in her mouth, throwing her head back and gulping it down. Then she cackled, “Fuck you! Don’t tell me what to do!” 

Sanemi’s mouth dropped open. 

Tamayo was going to kill him. 

He considered punching Inosuke hard enough in the stomach that she vomited, but did that matter? Demon blood took effect immediately, didn’t it? Fuck, he really should have paid more attention to Shinobu’s annoying-ass rambling! 

He scrambled off of Inosuke, and pulled her to her feet— 

She convulsed, crying out as she practically collapsed into Sanemi’s chest. 

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! 

“Hey, hey! Kiddo!” Sanemi jostled her as she clung onto him, nails sinking into his skin as she fought for something to hold onto. 

He knew this was painful. His own transformation hadn’t been that long ago, and he’d been braced for it, and guided through it by Tamayo. What the fuck was he supposed to do!? This was a kid who accidentally drank his blood! Not anyone prepared for this!

“Don’t touch me!” she growled, as if she wasn't the one clinging onto Sanemi. “It hurts!” 

“Fuck, Yushiro!” Sanemi shouted. “Get me home! Now!” 

---

Tamayo stared down at the writhing, convulsing child, crying out in pain as her body twisted and remolded itself. As she went through something no child should ever go through. 

“Sanemi…” she began, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice. 

“I didn’t mean to!” Sanemi began as he held his hands out. It was strange. Tamayo did not think she’d ever seen Sanemi sorry for anything before, seen him worried and upset and fearing being reprimanded. “She fucking bit me! And I—I—” 

“You should have been more careful,” Tamayo said gently. “But, there’s nothing that can be done about this now. You turned her, so she is your responsibility.” 

“What!?” Sanemi demanded, the usual anger creeping back to his expression. “But I—I don’t know dick about this! Give her to Kyojuro! He likes this kinda shit!” 

Tamayo narrowed her eyes. “This isn’t a request, Sanemi. You made a mistake, therefore, you deal with it. You’re not pawning her off onto Kyojuro.” 

“But I’ve already got enough shit to deal with with the wedding coming up!” he argued. “You can’t—You can’t saddle me with a fuckin’ kid!” 

“I can, and I will,” Tamayo said, letting a growl creep into her words. She didn’t like using her power over her Kizuki, not in this way, but sometimes it became necessary. “You made a mistake. Now you will deal with it. Don’t let her go through this alone. Help her, and then make sure you feed her properly.” 

Sanemi turned to stare at Inosuke’s twitching body with wide eyes, and twinges of his fear and uncertainty filtered through their blood link. 

“She’s about the same age as your little brother would be, isn’t she?” Tamayo asked as she laid a calming hand on Sanemi’s shoulder. 

Wordlessly, he nodded. 

“Help her,” Tamayo insisted as she gave him a light nudge. “You know how to do this. You were a big brother for years. You’ll be okay.” 

Sanemi took a deep breath, stepped forward, kneeled down, and took Inosuke’s hand. 

Though she could admit she wasn’t thrilled about this, especially when they had a new demon settling in already with Nezuko’s arrival, she couldn’t help but smile as Sanemi muttered awkward and stilted encouragement. 

Maybe this would be good for him. 

At the least, it would distract from his stress about the wedding. 

---

“Oh, he’s so cute!” Mitsuri squealed as she tossed Inosuke another hunk of flesh, that he tore into with just as much fervor as the other meat he’d been fed. “Once we get him cleaned up, he’ll be absolutely adorable! Oh! Oh my gods! Maybe he’ll grow his hair out and we can have matching braids!” 

“I thought… he was a girl,” Sanemi said. “She—He—They? I don’t fuckin’ know, whatever, had… you know, lady tits when we met.” 

“Well he doesn’t right now,” Mitsuri said as she passed over another strip of muscle, which Inosuke hungrily tore from her fingers, his newfound fangs shearing through it with ease. “And Inosuke does seem a bit more like a boy’s name.” 

“Kinda still has a girl’s face though,” Sanemi said. “That didn’t change.” 

Mitsuri shrugged. “Sometimes demons just switch that stuff around when they transform. Kanao decided to be a girl when she transformed. And I think Sabito decided to switch some things around. And Tengen switches back and forth all the time! He’s probably like them. We can ask, when he’s less hungry.” 

“I think… he grew up in the woods,” Sanemi said. 

“Oh, well then, I’m going to spoil him,” Mitsuri said as she patted Inosuke’s head, eliciting a pleased purr out of him. 

He really was lovely! She understood why Sanemi was so twitchy about him, given how unprepared he was to take in a new demon when he was still adjusting to this life himself, but she got the feeling Inosuke would be good for him! He’d do well to have a little brother he could take care of and dote on again. 

“I’m going to get him the best clothes,” Mitsuri said as she fed him a kidney, nearly having the tips of her fingers bitten off as she did so. “Maybe some stuff made from furs, like he’s used to! And I’m going to comb the tangles out of his beautiful hair. We can take him hunting with us. Oh! It’ll be just like having a kid!” 

The blood drained from Sanemi’s face. 

“Oh, dear, not like that!” Mitsuri said with a wild wave of her hand. “You know what I meant!” 

Sometimes she wished any of her three partners were interested in children, but she understood why they weren’t. Sure, there were the butterfly triplets, but those were Shinobu’s little sisters, and were largely self-sufficient despite their age. Then again… perhaps it was for the best that none of them wanted kids, considering demons couldn’t exactly have kids and Mitsuri wasn’t quite sure how she would deal with the disappointment of such a thing. 

Watching the Uzuis go through it had been difficult enough… she couldn’t imagine living through that herself… 

But! That did mean she would take every opportunity she could to spoil any children she came across! And sure, while Inosuke was well into his teens, he was Sanemi’s responsibility, and that made him her responsibility as well! Their wedding might still be months away, and they didn’t plan to initiate their mating bond until then as well, but it was all semantics. Sanemi was her husband already in every sense of the word, they just needed the ceremony to make things official. 

So! Inosuke was hers as well! And she would treat him as such! 

“I cannot believe I fucked up this badly…” Sanemi moaned as he held his face in his hands. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with him? He’s a fucking batshit feral kid! Am I supposed to take him with me to go mass murdering?” 

Mitsuri tilted her head. “Why can’t you?” 

“I don’t think you’re supposed to do that kinda shit with kids. I mean, I know my bonding time with Mom was a lot of serial killing, but look how I turned out. Not fucking great,” he said, before waving vaguely in Inosuke’s direction. “I’m gonna fuck him up!” 

Mitsuri held her index finger to her chin. “You know… He was already killing slayers, and like you said, grew up on a mountain. I don’t think there’s really anything for you to ruin. This is probably a good place for you to start! Isn’t it, Inosuke?” She leaned down to trail her fingers through the fur crawling down his spine. “You would probably enjoy hunts!” 

Inosuke’s head jerked up, the hazy hunger in his eyes finally beginning to fade. 

Mitsuri nudged a severed leg towards him, and stood up to press against Sanemi and lace their fingers together. “Dear… I know you’re stressed, but it will be okay. If he really was living all alone on a mountain, honestly, you probably helped him out in the long run. He can have a family here. With us. And he can meet Sen, and Mui, and Shinobu’s sisters, and that new Nezuko girl! So he can have friends his age, too! And I’ll always be here to help out with him. Obanai and Shinobu will, too. And if we really are just having a hard time helping him adjust, we can ask Kyojuro and Tamayo for help. You’re not alone in this.” She stood on her tiptoes to press a sweet kiss to his cheek. 

Slowly, the tension began to bleed out of Sanemi’s body. 

And well, if Mitsuri used her Blood Demon Art on him to help him calm down, who was going to point that out? 

---

“You know, I thought you were gonna fight me a lot more on this shit,” Sanemi said as he marched down the halls of the Infinity Palace, with Inosuke hot on his heels. “You don’t wanna go back to your mountain?”

Inosuke cackled and shoved his shoulder into Sanemi’s, like they’d known each other for years, like Sanemi hadn’t just accidentally turned him into a demon. 

Like Genya used to do when they walked together. 

“Mama says you’re good, so I’m gonna listen to her,” Inosuke said. “She’s never said someone’s good before.” 

Sanemi squeezed his eyes shut. He still didn’t know what the fuck to do about the voices Inosuke supposedly heard. Would it be better to point out they weren’t real? Should he go along with it? How the fuck should he know? 

But considering the voice of Inosuke’s dead mother supposedly liked Sanemi was making this easier for everyone, he should just go along with it, at least for now. 

Maybe he could ask Tamayo about it later. 

“And I like that Mimiko lady!” 

“Mitsuri,” Sanemi grumbled. “Her fucking name is Mitsuri.” 

“Tinsumi!” 

“How the fuck did you get further away fro—You know what, never fucking mind.” One battle at a time. Inosuke’s complete inability to remember anyone’s name wasn’t a priority, and as far as how fucked up demons could get mentally, Sanemi supposed he should take this weird version of memory loss with little complaints. 

“Don’t worry, Sanemi!” Inosuke said as he slapped him on the back with enough force Sanemi’s spine cracked, and it seemed teaching him to reign in the demonic strength was first on the docket. “I’ll take care of ya!” 

“Take care of me?” he demanded. “This is the other way around!” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Inosuke said as he crossed his arms and turned his nose up. “I always take care of my underlings!” 

“You are literally under me in the goddamn hierarchy!” 

“No I’m not!” 

“Yes you are!” Sanemi hooked his arm around Inosuke’s shoulders and yanked him close, ruffling his hair as he did so, thinking very little about the old actions that came so easily to him. “You stubborn little brat!” 

“I’m not a brat!” Inosuke grabbed a fistful of Sanemi’s hair and yanked.  

Sanemi snorted with laughter and shoved him away. “Whatever you say, kid. I’ll kick your ass.” 

“You can try!” 

“I already did!” 

“We didn’t finish! I woulda won!” 

“What-fucking-ever!”

[thelostdreamsthings]

Today is June 4, the day of mourning for the CIA & capitalism. 1989 was the year when the USSR started to collapse. If only China could be swept under that wave, the globalists’ dream of world domination would come to fruition! Hence the Tiananmen Square protests!

Just like any Color Revolution, all the usual suspects were involved — George Soros, CIA, Western media propaganda, and some pro-US leadership within China. On the ground were mostly innocent students and workers, who had no idea what was happening. They wanted economic and political reforms but not Western-style democracy. They were mostly pro-Mao, pro-socialism, pro-police, pro-military etc. The police were unarmed -- didn't even have batons. Because nobody expected any trouble.

By the way, the gathering wouldn't even have happened. But fate would deal China a bad card. A famous reformer, Hu Yaobang -- Chairman & General Secretary of the CCP -- died on April 15, 1989. He was loved by young Chinese people, who then gathered at the Tiananmen Square to mourn his death. That was the perfect opportunity the USA was waiting for! Thus, on April 20, 1989 – five days after Yaobang’s death – James Lilley was appointed as the US Ambassador to China. He was a 30-year veteran from the CIA. But you can't start a revolution in a week. Since 1986, George Soros had already spent over $1 million cultivating a sizeable number of young radicals. Now, these useful idiots infiltrated the mourning crowd at the Tiananmen Square and transformed it into an American movement.

It took the Chinese government one month to realize that shenanigans were happening. For example, BBC and Voice of America (CIA outlet) were broadcasting all kinds of anti-communist propaganda from Taiwan and Hong Kong. So, a martial law was passed on May 20, asking the people to end the gathering. That's when the provocateurs started the violence. They kept escalating.

Armed with guns, Molotov cocktails etc., the saboteurs violently attacked and killed 100+ police and soldiers. Chinese police, at the time, had no crowd-control tools like tear gas. They didn't even have guns. Thus, the police got beaten up by the mobs. This is why Beijing had to send in military gear, whose sole purpose was to scare people. The military let the people destroy tanks, armored vehicles etc. If the communist party were so tyrannical, none of this would have happened.

Here is the crux of the matter: There was no "Tiananmen Square massacre"! All the Western Presstitutes who were later forced/bribed to lie had different narratives for a long time: Like, Miles from BBC, Kristof from the NY Times, and Roth from CBS News:

"I was one of the foreign journalists who witnessed the events that night. There was no massacre on Tiananmen Square" — BBC

"State television has even shown film of students marching peacefully away from the [Tiananmen] square shortly after dawn as proof that they [protesters] were not slaughtered” — NY Times

"The military came, negotiated with the students and made everyone (including himself) leave peacefully; and that nobody died in the square" — Reuters

"We saw no bodies, injured people, ambulances or medical personnel — in short, nothing to even suggest, let alone prove, that a “massacre” had occurred in Tiananmen Square" — CBS

And then the globalists who control all the Western media decided to rewrite the story to demonize China.

Did people die on the night of June 3? Yeah, absolutely. There was mayhem in parts of Beijing. Equal number of protesters & law enforcement died that night. Total deaths: 200-300. America's goal was a bloody massacre, which could be exploited for regime change in China. (Tiananmen Square on the morning of June 4)⬇️

When there was no bloodshed, the US invented a massacre. This is typical American atrocity propaganda. Crazy stories were made up: Like Chinese soldiers on top of buildings mowing down citizens with machine guns; or tanks deliberately crushing people in Tiananmen Square. Psychopaths of the United States of America. And all the young Chinese leaders (stooges) of the protests were able to escape China few days before June 4 and fly to the USA. This clandestine plan was called "Operation Yellowbird." Even the CIA operation had to have a racist overtone.

Like this crazy student leader -- Chai Ling -- who admitted in an interview: “I wanted to tell them [students] that we were expecting bloodshed, that it would take a massacre, which would spill blood like a river through Tiananmen Square, to awaken the people. But how could I tell them this? How could I tell them that their lives would have to be sacrificed in order to win?” She went to Princeton and Harvard... and even got nominated for Nobel prize!! of the American Empire.

But the United States of America is a big fukkking liar. Every Western narrative about China is a lie -- Tiananmen Square massacre, 60 million people killed by Mao's Great leap Forward, Uyghur genocide blah blah.. And there are so many sociopaths at all levels of the US establishment, they can't now figure out what's a woman or a man. The country has turned into the monster that it ascribed to its geopolitical competitors. This is the price you pay for imperialism and colonialism.

The famous "Tank Man" video was cut short by Western propagandists. Why? Because the man leaves unharmed. Doesn't quite fit the narrative of "brutal communist party." Also, it happened on June 4... AFTER the Tiananmen Square was evacuated and peace was restored.

Tiananmen Square “massacre” turned out to be a big flat lie.