HEAR ME OUT, jealous ass academy childe... like, youre just this shy 11th grader (senior? idk im european) that childes EXTREMELY infatuated with, but you seem to take more of a liking towards kaeya, constantly following him around like a lost pup.

childe being....childe, hes insanely jealous of this. why that adopted blue haired bastard instead of him? that fuckers just manipulating you, and you dont know any better. youre just a poor little thing, and youre falling so hard for a person like kaeya. but fret not, childe is here to help you! you guys hang out a lot after school, he calls them cute little dates, and he always spoils you during them. hell, when you two were out trying on some clothes, you two pick some matching ones in good fun, the store lady tells you two how cute of a couple you two are! but instead of saying a thank you, you just quickly spew out some bullshit of you two just being best friends. he smiles and nods, but deep inside he wants to scowl at that. his entire mood is sour after that.

he was just starting to forget your thing with kaeya, and you just calling him ur best friend made him remember that all over again. now, in his mind, you two are already dating. you two are sweethearts, but it just happens that you really like to be around kaeya. truth is, you two have never dated, and probably never will.

its friday, and you two decide to have a sleep over, hurray! afterschool, you get in his suspiciously expensive car and go to his house for a quick stop to get some clothes for the night or two that hes there. you stay in the car, ironically texting kaeya, until childe comes back with a backpack that obviously has clothes in it. you see tehcer, childes cute little brother in the front door, and you wave at him. he waves back excitedly. you were so cute, to the point that childe wonders how good of a parent youll be when you two get married and have kids in the future.

you get to your house, noticeably smaller and more pathetic than his, but still a very cozy place. your parents werent home, so your nana was taking care of you. you twist the keys into the door and walk into the house. you two have a lot of fun after, your nana checking up once in a while to make sure you two arent doing ... the devils tango. but fortunately shes a fun nana, she gave you two some of her favorite wine to try! childe seems used to the wine, even thinks its a little bit of a cheap one but you drink it as if its some luxury.

its now 3 AM and you finally decide to go to sleep after many hours of just hanging out with childe. you get a matress ready so you could sleep on the floor, but childe quickly stops you and tells you to sleep in the bed with him. you get flustered, but ultimately agree as hes your best friend and it shouldnt be considered weird to do a thing like this. you dont know it, but childes reeling as soon as you get all bundled up in your bed. he hopes that the cliche trope of waking up and cuddling with said best friend happens!

he cant sleep at all, but you fall asleep in a matter of minutes. 5 minutes, he counted. ajax smiles at your sleeping figure, your breathing intoxicating for him. the soft moonlight that shines through your window illuminates your face, and you look like a whole diety. and thats what you are for him, youre his whole world, his everything. he'd lick the ground you walk on if you asked him to.

but childe yet again turns sour remembering that smurf headed ass you loved sooooo much. he wants to kill that son of a bitch, maybe gut him and hang him , much like the victims he saw in scream. his world turns red when he thinks of that bastard, but then he looks at your angelic face again. he calms down, and this time grins in a sinister way as he reassures himself that, he could just... get you to hate kaeya, or get kaeya to hate you. sure, its a little bit of a bad thing to do, but he doesnt care since he want you to love him and not kaeya fucking alberich. he wants you wrapped around his finger and completely dependent of him for any human interaction. maybe he could do a much drastic thing and kidnap you instead?

yes, he could try that if you dont fall out of love with kaeya. he caresses your cheek and pulls you close to him. he still wants that cliche trope to happen, afterall!

...this was supposed to be a short drabble or whatever, but it just turned into a whole fanfic from my part 😨 and this isnt a req in any way , just wanted to let out an idea i have💗

ughhhn i love i love i love jealous men. i think it'd be super interesting if this one-sided rivalry was so obvious in school and kaeya was superrrr smug about it too.

like childe is just holding you to his side possessively while kaeya is just standing there smugly because he doesn't have to do anything to claim you as his. he's already won. he captured your heart. childe can do any shady thing he wants, but in the end, you'll only hate him more and come back to kaeya.

childe gets even more murderous lmao

To Beg for A Wife

More Oni x Namora shenanigans

@umber-cinders watered my brain again:

Here's what I'm seeing:

Oni walked down the stone corridor of the temple and retreated to her room.

The day had been long and draining. The need for sleep pulling her dragging feet forward.

It only took sixty seconds for her to settle in her bed before closing her eyes and drifting off into the realm of dreams.

Oni's dreams weren't normal.

They could be plagued with visions or haul her into a land that existed between the ancestral plane and the plane of the living.

A domain where Bast could talk freely with her vessel about anything she wished.

Tonight's conversation was about Oni's fifth incident with the warrior of Talokan.

One steamy indirect kiss had nearly ended with the talokanil general naked and screwed into the sparring mats.

The only reason it hadn't happened was a kimoyo call from Cebisa, requesting her assistance.

The giant panther narrowed her eyes at the kneeling priestess. "Oni, Daughter of Zuri. I have warned you four times, and you have refused to heed my warnings." She snarled. "Why do you refuse to listen?"

"Forgive me, Bast... but I've told you many times before that I truly wish to court this warrior."

"Oni-"

"-have you never loved someone?"

"This is not love."

"It is!"

"It is lust."

"It is more than lust!"

"More than lust!?"

"Yes."

"It cannot be love. You are not allowed to love. So tell me... what is it!?"

"My soul yearns for hers."

"Then you are breaking vows!"

"But-"

"-I am being benevolent." The panther scowled. "I have let you slide across the border with your feelings one too many times. You yearned to stain your hands with blood, and I granted it. Why are you wishing for more!? Who are you to be selfish?"

Oni's eyes stung with tears. "I am alone. Is it wrong to wish for a companion. Am I undeserving of love?"

"With love comes corruption."

"Corruption?"

"If I grant you permission to marry this warrior and consummate as traditions instruct- what will you do when they break your heart?" The panther stared holes into the priestess. "What will you do if her soul yearns for anothers?"

"She won't-"

"How do you know?"

"The ways of her people-"

"I am asking about her. Not her people."

"I just know she won't. The way Namora and I coexist... it's as if our souls were carved of the same stone."

"How do you know she will not break your heart, Oni?"

"I don't know!" Tears began to fall as she lowered her head in frustration. "But how do you know she won't? What if she never does!? Am I supposed to deny her because of one possibility?"

"Oni, humans are fickle."

"She's not like normal humans. She's not even from the surface world."

"Her heart beats the same."

"You don't know her like I do."

"I know enough about this warrior to write a biography about her."

"Then you should understand why I have feelings for her!"

"We have this argument almost every night, and my answer remains no."

"You want me to grow up miserable and alone while the world moves on. You want me to die in a cage full of unfulfilled dreams. Bitter and brewing with envy, I tried to hide." Her tears raced down her face. "These vows are corrupting me! Not the world."

"These vows were not made to cage you, but to save you."

"Save me from what!?!"

"The world!" The bared her teeth at the priestess. "You are my vessel. An avatar of sorts. My power flows through you, granting strengths that exceed even some of the greatest on this planet." The panther circled Oni with her tail swaying with anger. "Your blood can heal and cure the world of anything that ails it. You have foresight that can lead nations to great heights and the strength that could set the world ablaze." The diety sat down. "You are as close to a diety as man can get. That makes you a weapon to the wicked and a tool to the pure."

"What would I be to a lover?"

"Mankind cannot love you."

"My father loved me. T'Challa. Queen Ramonda." She listed. "What about Shuri and Okoye?"

"Familial and platonic."

"What about-"

"DO NOT SPEAK THEIR NAME."

Oni shrank under the goddess' voice.

Bast exhaled and closed her eyes. "Your father's death led to you slaughtering your own people. Is that not reason enough to guard your own heart?"

"How can I guard it when I hold Namora's in my hand?"

The goddess growled before opening her eyes.

Oni's stubbornness and persistence were always mining away at her patience.

"If I give you one thing, you will ask for another."

"You are benevolent. I would not ask for something that would offend you." She bowed her head out of respect. "I am only begging to have a wife."

The goddess stared at her.

"Then let's rework the vows that forbid you from marrying and being intimate with another."

Oni perked up, but kept her head low. "Ok."

"You will only be allowed to be with one soul in this lifetime. Your physical union will tie them to your very being. They will appear in this domain and share your burdens. They will die when you die. They will ache when you ache. They will lack peace when you lack peace." The goddess straightened her posture as she continued to look down at Oni. "If they do anything that I deem alarming, they will die a terrible death, and you will live out the rest of your days alone."

Oni stared up at the goddess. "Ok."

"Do you accept this deal?"

"Yes."

Bast let out a chuff. "Only you would be bold enough to beg me for a wife."

Oni lowered herself into a bow and pressed her forehead to the ground. "Thank you, Bast."

The diety stared at her long and hard before turning around. "You're welcome, my child."

Oni tried her hardest to now show how happy she was, but the goddess knew her well.

Bast let out a soft maternal chuckle before the dream came to an end.

41 for Raiden. Reader is insecure about her mortality and worries he'll leave to avoid dealing with it

Alright, here you are :D! Raiden is so cute ngl

Prompts - Feel free to request things

Credit: Raiden by Kinokometal! They have great MK art :)

Reader insecure about Raiden leaving her

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Y/N sat up in bed, huffing. She couldn't fall asleep.

She looked at the the ring on her finger, than over at her sleeping fiancé. She examined his calmed form for a moment before deciding that he was indeed asleep. She got out of bed and walked out of the chambers.

A pit had existed in her stomach for a while ago, ever since the tournament. The thought one of her opponents last words before he died rang in her mind over and over again.

"You're only alive because that pretend God is behind you! Once you grow old, he'll abandon you as he does to all who trust him!"

She knew Raiden was trustworthy with his companions, but one she know for sure is that he is immortal and she are not.

Y/N found herself pacing around in an open area of the temple before long. She stopped when she felt tears prick her eyes as the thought came to mind once more.

Raiden is important, I am not. Who's to say he hasn't had many women before me, and will have many after me? Will he leave just in time to not see me die?

A pain shot through Y/N's chest immediately. "Who's to say," she queitly whispered to herself.

"Who's to say what, my love?"

A calm and clear voice rang in Y/N's ears before she spun around. There stood Raiden in his nightwear with his hair down and somewhat messy. It was so adorable to see such a formal diety in such a form that Y/N's warmed immediately, drowning out some of the bad feelings that had just eloped her.

"Oh, it's nothing, darling. I apologize for waking you up," she softly said as she approached her fiancé, smiling timely.

"You have done nothing wrong. But what is the meaning of your sad expression moments ago?"

Raiden could read Y/N like a book. She knew that once he's intrigued, there's no getting behind him. She giggled softly before replying with a, "I was just thinking about our visiting Sub Zero next week, love. That's all."

Raiden cocked his head, but decided not to push it. He nodded his head and smiled at the smaller girl, turning back to their chambers. She grabbed his hand as they walked together.

Although holding him close while playing with his hair was relaxing, the question remained for her. Had Raiden seen mortal women before her, and will he after her?

...

For the fifth time, Raiden had caught Y/N pacing around with the a sad expression, each time becoming more and more desperate. This time, Raiden saw a sight he didn't want to see ever; Y/N being brought to tears.

No, this time is can't be about a visit to someone, a nightmare, a nightly stroll that happened to turn sad, or anything. Raiden knew someone was wrong.

Strong arms wrapped around Y/N's figure softly but firmly. Raiden rested his head on her shoulders and whispered out, "My love, stop lying and please tell me what is troubling you."

And just like that, Y/N completely let loose. She sniffed and leaned back against him, letting her tears fall.

"Darling, you're immortal. I have a death date however, so there will be a time when you will live on without me. After time, you'll forget me, won't you? And who's to say you won't find another human girl after me? And who's to say you haven't had a human girl before me?"

Raiden was frozen for a moment before letting go of Y/N and turning her to face him. A chill went up her spine as she examined his serious and hurt expression.

"You are a person I will never in my endless life forget. And I am incomprehensibly happy I met you, as I would rather live a small part of my existence with you than forever without you."

Y/N sniffed as Raiden lifted Y/N lowered head up by her chin and wiped away her tears with his thumb.

"I have never met anyone else like you before. And I will never meet anyone like you afterwards. If the day never comes that I become mortal or you immortal, I promise to give you the best life imaginable. There will never be anyone else I would do this for."

Y/N wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. Raiden hugged her back firmly and lovingly as Y/N's replied with a quivering lip.

"You wouldn't leave me before I die, would you? I can't imagine wanting to see a loved one die..."

"You death will have me by your side all the way through. There is no possibility of me walking out when you need me most."

Y/N felt herself smile as her worries faded. Finally she could sleep peacefully at night; and best of all, with her soon to be husband holding her close.

Unexpected Visitors

Guardians of the Galaxy Fanfic | Yondu, Reader, Unexpected Guest

Part 9 in a series: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13

Summary: A new visitor arrives in a strange manner. Will Yondu let him stay?

Word Count: 2080

“No!”

You bolt upright in bed gasping and shaking slightly. You had just woken from a terrible dream.

A dream about Peter and the others. You were all laughing and having a good time when suddenly something hit the ship, breaking stuff and throwing you all around. You were thrown into a bit of broken metal and it impaled your stomach. Peter came to your aid and held you. You looked around and realized you couldn’t see the others anymore. You turned toward Peter with panic in your eyes and your mouth opened in terror as you saw him dissolving away into nothing. You wanted to scream, but no sound came out. As you watched the last of him fade away only one thought kept screaming in your mind. “PLEASE! DON’T LEAVE ME! PLEAS-” 

And that’s when you woke up.

You looked at the time and saw that you would normally be up in roughly half an hour anyway, so you decided to just stay awake. Not like you really felt like sleeping anymore anyway after your dream.

Still a little shaken you get up, go through your routine and get ready. You thought you might sit in the flight deck for awhile. Maybe Peter and the others would call soon? They had been gone for a several days now and you hadn't heard back from them since they left. This was more than likely the source of your anxiety and bad dreams. Once you were ready you grabbed your crutches and headed out the door.

You found Yondu already sitting in the flight deck once you got there.

"Bad dream?" Yondu said this in a way that wasn't exactly a question.

You avoid his gaze. "No," you lied.

"Don't lie to me, girl. I heard you cry out in your sleep from here."

You sigh and look down. "Look, it's just that-"

"I know. Yer worried about Peter and the others. But I know my boy. He's fine. Some missions just take longer is all. That refugee ship that called was probably just broke down, an' he's either fixin' it, pullin' it slowly with his ship, or makin' a bunch of trips to get everyone off that ship and onto the nearest safe planet. It's all gonna be ok."

You keep your gaze down and Yondu pulls you into a side hug.

"C'mon now. You know I'm right. Now show me a smile. Don't make me pry it out of you." He chucked as he started poking you in the ribs, make your face split with a grin.

"Ok! Alright!" You giggle, swatting his hand.

This tender moment would be short lived however, as it was cut off by a thud to the window that made you jump out of your skin, and Yondu too, though he'd try to call it 'moving to attention' or something.

You could barely make out what it was, just that it seemed to be moving slightly, before you heard Yondu calling for Kraglin to get up here immediately.

A while later after Yondu convinced Kraglin to go outside the ship and pull in what had just hit the ship you finally got a good look at it. Or perhaps you should say 'him.'

It looked to be a pale man with raven black hair, clad in clothes of black and green. His lips were dry and chapped and he was covered in scratches and some bruising. He did seem to still be breathing. Unconscious, but still alive, though you weren't sure how that could even be possible given how he was just floating around in space before he hit the ship.

You carefully lowered yourself to the ground and set your crutches to the side. You tried to nudge the man awake gently, but Kraglin had other ideas, using his boot instead to roughly jostle the man. This did prove effective as the man then woke, turning on his side and spluttering a series of coughs before falling back onto his back on the floor and looking around warily.

"Wher- where am I?" He croaked out. He moved to sit up and you helped him. "Who are all of you? Where's Thor?"

"You're on my ship, boy. Now who are you and what were you doing floating around in space?" Yondu asked, before adding, "...and how are you not dead?"

The man coughed again. "I am Loki, of Asgard," he started, "and it takes more than that to kill a god." He seemed to be getting his strength back about him and donned an almost smug smirk.

You, however, were obviously taken aback, and the others noticed. You sputtered out, "I- I'm sorry? You said you were... who?" Surely this couldn't be the same Loki from the stories you learned in school, could it? That was a myth! ...Wasn't it?

The man now let a weak laugh. "I said I am Loki, of Asgard. I take it you've heard of me?"

"Ya know this guy?" Yondu asked incredulously.

"I think the lack of oxygen got to his brain," Kraglin interjected, "he seems to think he's some sorta diety. That, or he's a major crackpot."

The man seemed greatly offended by this and attempted to stand, no doubt wanting to exchange a few "words" with Kraglin, but he did not yet possess enough strength to stand on his own and instead fell back to his knees indignantly.

You stammered answering Yondu's question. "He, ah, you see... back on Earth there are stories about him. Myths and legends telling about old Norse gods. I-I just didn't think they were real."

Yondu raised an eyebrow, not expecting that answer. Like Kraglin, he just thought the man was either some crackpot or was massively full of himself. "He dangerous?" He asked, readying his arrow as he noted your stunned expression. Last time Yondu dealt with a god-like being, things got messy, and he wasn’t looking forward to a repeat.

"Eh... define dangerous...?" you said, earning a look from the man that you thought almost looked like worry. "On Earth, he's known as the God of Mischief."

The man quickly donned a smirk again. "So you have heard of me." He chuckled and coughed again.

"Oh hell no. We already got you. We don't need anymore mischief on this ship." Yondu stated.

This made the dark haired man look at you with amusement. You blushed.

"Hey, um, what kinda stories do they tell about this here "god fella" where you're from?" Kraglin asked you, seemingly wary of him. “An’ he never did say what he was doing floating out in space like that. An’ who’s Thor?”

You looked at the man, Loki, and thought back to the stories you were taught as a child in school and what you read in books. You didn't want to tell any of the more... unflattering... stories, like the one where Loki got Baldur killed, as you didn't know what could be true or just fabricated myth. Yes, if he was telling the truth, then that did mean “Loki, God of Mischief” wasn’t just a myth, but that didn’t mean every story people passed down was true. You didn't want to risk giving Yondu a reason to throw a possibly innocent man out an airlock.

Your mind raced as you tried to remember an innocent enough story, and you thought you could see worry again in the man's green eyes.

In the end you panicked and said "Well, the stories say that Thor was his brother. I don't remember much else, but um, there was this one story where he did kinda... sorta... mate with a horse..."

Loki balked. His gaze rapidly turned between you and the two Ravagers. "She's joking of course." He said quickly, forcing a chuckle.

"...and then he got pregnant and gave birth to an eight legged horse, which he gave as a gift to his father..."

“It-It was a misunderstanding... really! Someone must have twisted the story over the years-”

The look on Loki's face was really amusing. His eyes were wide and his cheeks were bright pink. He looked at you like he couldn't believe you just told them that. You had to fight back a giggle at his expression.

Yondu pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know what a horse is, or how any of that would even work, but as long as he doesn't cause any trouble and pulls his weight, he's got a place to stay for now."

Loki, still looking embarrassed, nodded to Yondu. “Thank you-”

“IF, you tell us what you were doing out there.”

Loki blanked. “I, well- space is quite unforgiving, I don’t seem to remember-”

You looked at him. You did of course remember from the stories that he was also known as the God of Lies, with a quick wit and a silver tongue. Again, you weren’t sure if this was true, but he did seem to be trying to fabricate a story.

Yes, it was possible he didn’t really remember, but he was clearly weak and seemed as if he were having trouble thinking straight. After all, who knew how long he had been out there or what happened to him? In any case, it seemed as if he didn’t want you all to know what actually happened.  You didn’t know why, but for some reason you wanted to help this stranger. He seemed scared, but also like he was trying to hide it. You decided to help, you could always ask what really happened later if you got him alone as long as this prevented Yondu from throwing him off the ship.

“You were calling out for Thor, your brother, remember?” you started. “Did something happen to separate you from him? Maybe an accident?”

“An accident... Yes. There was an accident.” Loki seemed to be trying to figure out how he could run with the lines you were giving him. He gave you a strange look, almost if he were wondering if you were trying to help him draft a cover story for the one he didn’t seem to want to tell. “Our ship hit a... large rock...”

“An asteroid?” asked Kraglin.

“Er, yes, that. It came out of nowhere and must have blown our ship apart.” He looked around, seemingly noticing for the first time that there were no others from his party around. “Did you find any others? Thor?”

“I’m sorry, son.” said Yondu. “Ya was the only one. You jus’ smacked into our window, and we didn’t see any signs of any blown-to-bits ship.”

“Yeah, ya must have been blasted really far away from your ship,” added Kraglin. “an’ who know’s how long ya’ve even been out there? It’s gotta be a miracle you weren’t ripped apart. I doubt there’d be anyone left even if we tried lookin’ for your pals, bud.”

Loki looked down for a moment, before setting his jaw and straightening up the best he could. “Very well,” he said, not really looking at anyone. “then if the offer is still on the table I’d like the chance to earn your favor and join your ship.”

“Yeah, no need to be so formal about it, boy.” Yondu rolled his eyes. “Rest up a day or two to get your strength back then ya can stay as long as you pull your weight and don’t cause any trouble.”

“Thank you.” said Loki, trying to stand. Kraglin helped him keep his balance and Yondu instructed him to take Loki to a room with an empty bunk. Then, in a lower voice added that it should be preferably close to either of their own quarters so he could keep an eye on him, as he still wasn’t sure about him.

Kraglin led Loki away and Yondu turned to you, helping you stand back up on your crutches. As soon as you were up he looked at you with that “lecture” look.

“An’ don’t you think just cuz some ‘god of mischief’ or whatever is here means ya get to recruit him to help ya cause trouble lil’ missy!” He said in half-laugh, half-scolding tone.

“Ah! I’m offended you would even think that!” you exclaimed in mock-hurt, trying your best to contain a grin at his accusation.

Out of the corner of your eye you could have sworn you saw the black haired man turn his head and give you a mischievous smirk just before Kraglin led him around the corner.

Christmas Was Always Special

Title: Christmas Was Always Special

Rating: PG-13 

Pairing: Bruce/Selina aka Batcat

Warnings: Minor swear, minor sexual references, tons of fluff

Summary/Notes: Part one of a collection of mine called “The Batcat Fluff We Deserve” this is set post the 1991 film Batman Returns where the next two terrible movies after that don’t exist and the basic premise being that Selina decided to go with Bruce in the sewers that night. This is how their lives turned out. Enjoy!

Christmastime was always special for Bruce and Selina. They first met around Christmas, discovered one another’s true identities, and made the bold choice to start their lives together around Christmas. Selina almost walked away. She was the one saying hours earlier “does this mean we have to start fighting?” The look on her face from then on broke Bruce’s heart. He wanted to make things work. He knew they could both be better for it. He didn’t have to worry about someone trying to take advantage of his love for Selina because he knew she could hold her own. He wasn’t wracked with fear each night when he crawled into bed and reached for her because he knew she’d be there, that he had seen her out and about hours earlier, heading towards the manor.

All of their milestones surrounded Christmas. They could never quite figure out why it happened that way. They weren’t religious so the holiday representing the birth of the Christian diety didn’t have any special meaning to them before or after their coupling and yet each Christmas, something new and big and exciting happened for them.

The first Christmas, Bruce couldn’t believe they made it a whole year. Sure there were days even weeks where Selina ran off because she just couldn’t wrap her head around why they worked. Why they worked despite her sometimes criminal behavior. Why he would want a nobody like her, why he would want just her when any girl would love to have the chance to be with Bruce Wayne. Even just him without his alter ego was impressive enough. Selina also hated being his arm candy. She absolutely hated it. The way the tabloids would make comments about her hair, her weight, and even ask if she was good enough for the man behind the bat.

Selina tried not to let those things bother her. Bruce would pull her close and reassure her that none of what the press said was true and that what she felt about herself was what mattered most. She usually ran off for a few days after particularly hateful press about her but then he’d find her while he was out on patrol and convince her to come home.

He had wanted to put an end to Selina’s doubts, or quiet them at least. Wanted to give her a solid, concete reason not to run. They still weren’t one for all the pageantry of the tree lighting ceremony so a year later they sat curled on the couch watching it thankfully Penguin, Shreck, and other Gotham villain free as the new mayor of Gotham and Commissioner Gordon lit the tree in bright twinkling lights. As they sat there, Bruce’s arm draped around Selina’s shoulders and she reached her hand up to tangle her fingers with his. Soon she felt something cold and metal slip around her ring finger. She looked over at their joined hands to see a diamond ring and looked up at Bruce with tears prickling in her eyes.

“Do you not like it?” He had said.

“Like it? Bruce, you love me enough to... enough to want to marry me?” She had shifted to straddle his lap so they could talk face to face.

“I love you enough that I want you to be my wife, absolutely. Will you marry me, Selina?”

Of course she had said yes.

They had married the following Christmas, both vigilante and villainy kept them pushing it further and further into the following year until they sealed their union with a kiss in a snow covered church filled with some of their closest friends and unfortunately due to Bruce’s celebrity, most of Gotham.

By the following December, Selina had let her hair grow out longer than Bruce had ever seen it, which also confused him because he knew it would make her overall suit more complicated. He had upgraded her suit (without her permission) as a six month anniversary present. It was now a sleek all black, well made leather and bulletproof rubber (because he never, ever, wanted to relive seeing her being shot four times, ever), complete with cat ears in the cowl and high tech goggles. He made the comment to her about it in passing as he twirled a strand of it while their dinner sizzled and popped on the stove. Her reply nearly stunned him.

“Well I don’t think suiting up is going to be the most practical. I know you upgraded it, Bruce, but I don’t think the leather is very expandable.”

“Expandable? Why would you need it to be?” He had asked.

Selina had taken the hand still in her hair and moved it down to her stomach. “Because I won’t be able to fit in if it’s not expandable and I also don’t think you’ll want me going out much over the next few months.”

He had to be sure he was understanding her right. “Selina... Selina are you pregnant?”

“Yes, I am.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in for a kiss. “You’re happy about this?”

“So happy, and so happy that I don’t have to fight you on not going out on patrol with me.” He chuckled and kissed her back.

Helena Wayne wasn’t born around Christmas, but their first Christmas as a family was almost their last. She was just four months old when her father went out to fight the Joker and almost didn’t come home. Her mother had waited and waited four hours past when her father had promised to be home before swiftly passing Helena to Alfred and said something about suiting up to bring him home.

Selina had stumbled in the manor barely able to hold up her husband in his mangled Batsuit. Her suit was pretty torn up as well but she hadn’t cared. She would hang up her cowl forever if it meant keeping her family in one piece. She never had that growing up. Her mother was a bitter woman who called her a gold digging whore when she had seen the newspaper announcement which featured a picture zeroing in on the ring Selina now sported on her left ring finger and her father was always absent. She couldn’t even remember his face. She didn’t want Helena to grow up like Bruce either, without parents entirely. Even without witnessing it, she knew it would scar Helena for life. Alfred helped Selina patch the two of them up, having put Helena to sleep that Christmas Eve, so she could dream of baby sugarplums instead of her parents almost dying.

Come Christmas morning, though bruised and bandaged, Selina watched as Bruce picked their daughter up with a smile on his face and she walked over to them holding her family closer than she ever had.

Now Helena was six and refused to go with Alfred up to her room since her parents Christmas party was now “grownups only”. Her wild blonde curls bounced angrily when her parents instructed her that it was time for bed.

“It’s time for bed, kitty kat,” her mother affectionately said. She had crouched down to her level, which Helena appreciated, and kissed her hair. “Tomorrow morning all these boring grown ups will be gone and it’ll just be you, me, daddy, and Alfred. Can you go let Alfred read you a story so tomorrow morning will be here?”

“No I want you and daddy. You guys do better voices than Alfred. With his accent the voices all sound the same.” Helena pouted.

“I’m sorry baby but we have to stay down here.” If it were up to Selina NONE of these people would be in her house past nine. And even after being married to Bruce for eight years it was still so foreign to call the manor her house. She had moved in with him after that night in the sewers, never looked back at her crummy pink apartment. Bruce had offered her her own room even her own wing of the house, but she just wanted the safety of him in his room to fight off her nightmares of killing Shreck and being shot, so she gave her cats that entire wing instead.

Bruce finished talking to one of his investors and saw his wife and daughter in one of their famous staring contests. Bruce valued his life very much and never once vocalized just how much Helena was like Selina. The great Bat being brought down by his wife’s wrath. Yeah he was good. He walked over to them and put his hand on his daughter’s shoulder.

“Helena, you really have to go to bed for mommy and daddy. We promise that if you still can’t fall asleep by the time the grown ups are gone we will come read to you, how does that sound?” He watched as his daughter’s face lit up and she nodded.

“Okay daddy! I’ll wait up for you! I love you both!” She hugged both her parents and skipped over to Alfred who was patiently waiting in the doorway.

Once Selina and Bruce both straightened up, Selina gave her husband one raised eyebrow.

“What?”

“She’s just like you, you heard her, she’s going to fight Alfred on sleep even more now, even though she’s left the room. These “grown ups” won’t leave until at least one and our six year old should not be up that late and now you’ve challenged her to stay up that late.”

“I did not!”

“Oh bats, you old softie, you have that little girl wrapped around your finger. You’d compromise on anything she wanted. If not cave in.” Selina began to walk away but Bruce pulled her into his arms.

“That’s only because her mother already conditioned me that way.” He growled and kissed her deeply.

xxxx

The “grown ups” all filed out around midnight, most were tired and the rest were tired of Bruce constantly pointing at photos of his family and explaining the circumstances of each photo right down to the last detail. Once the party cleared, Alfred informed them that Miss Helena was still awake and demanding they tell her a story before promptly excusing himself to reach his own slumberous state.

Bruce and Selina climbed the stairs and made their way to their daughter’s room. Since black was Bruce’s favorite color and Selina hated the color pink since becoming Catwoman, they had taken the longest time picking out a color for Helena’s room. Black was too depressing for a baby room and white was too sterile. Pink was out but Selina still wanted something moderately feminine while also something Helena could grow into as she formed her own person. They settled on different colors of purple. The walls were all a lilac color and the accents were dark shades of purple. Bruce had just finished painting a large “H” over where her crib would go when Selina had came rushing into talking about contractions.

Their daughter’s room had matured over the years but still stayed purple. Helena loves the color, still unaware of the gravity of her parents nighttime jobs, Helena said she wanted her costume to be purple when she got big and pretty like mommy. That had warmed Selina’s heart but she also desperately wanted Gotham to be safe enough by the time Helena was older for her not to need to don a cape. Because of her dress she more slid rather than sat on her daughter’s bed. She settled next to her and wrapped an arm around her. Selina was still in her cocktail dress from the party which was incredibly hard to sit in but “fantastically showed her curves” as Bruce stated. What curves? She loves Helena and loves that she and Bruce produced something out of their love but Helena wrecked her body. Her catsuit never fit the same again. 

“Kitten, why are you still up?” Selina asked and stroked her daughter’s curls.

Bruce settled onto the other side of his daughter and loosened his tie. 

“Because you guys tell the best stories. And it’s Christmas. I want to know the best Christmas story you know!”

Bruce and Selina both thought for a minute, sure they had seen most of the Christmas specials their daughter made them watch on television, and there were the classics such as Miracle on 34th Street and White Christmas but what could be a Christmas story easy and short enough for their seven year old to digest?

Bruce cleared his through. “How about one where a lonely prince fell in love with a sad princess on Christmas?”

Selina raised and eyebrow. She hadn’t heard this before. Maybe he was making it up as he went along.

“Okay!” Helena clapped happily. “Tell me, tell me!”

“Once upon a time...” Bruce started, “there lived a sad and lonely prince who mostly spent his days in his castle wishing he had someone to share his life with. He longed for just one person to fill his life with a joy he hadn’t felt since he was a boy. Then one day, the prince was meeting with an eeeevvviiiilll sorcerer, though the prince didn’t know that at the time, and in walked the saddest but most beautiful princess. She was the sorcerer’s slave! The prince desperately wanted to court her but she was always serving the sorcerer...”

This story felt weirdly familiar to Selina, she shifted after getting a cold chill and continued to listen to her husband’s crazy fairytale.

“But one night on, Christmas Eve in fact, the lonely prince, disguised as a valiant knight saved the sad princess from being harmed. But she didn’t know it was him. Soon enough the princess was able to defend herself. And even fought against the lonely prince when he was dressed as the valiant knight! And then on Christmas Day, the evil sorcerer had a ball, and the prince knew it was finally time to confess his true feelings to the sad princess. They realized who each other were. Really and deeply, on the inside. They fought one last battle not sure if either would survive but then they both did! And they ran away to live in the prince’s mansion... I mean castle and lived happily ever after.”

Selina tried to hide her tears in her daughter’s curls. She remembered all those years ago describing a life with Bruce as a fairytale. How it would be too good to be true. He convinced her that no, it wouldn’t be a fairytale, but life him would still be good. Great even. And now holding onto her’s and Bruce’s daughter, while they sat in their home, she realized they were both half right. Life with him was a fairytale. And it was pretty great.

Selina looked and saw her daughter was on the verge of sleep. She stroked her hair hoping to coax her finally into a REM cycle but she asked one more thing.

“Were the prince and princess happy forever? Sometimes grown ups say happily ever after but they don’t mean it. Did they get married and stuff?”

“They sure did,” Selina said, “and they had a beautiful princess of their own who they made sure was never lonely or sad a day in her life.”

“Oh good. I was worried.” This made both of Helena’s parents chuckle. “What? I was!”

“Goodnight, sweetheart, we love you.” Selina said. She stood up with Bruce’s help.

“Merry Christmas, mommy and daddy,” Helena said as she yawned, finally drifting off to sleep.

Selina and Bruce shut their daughter’s door and made their way down the hall to their own room when Bruce stopped them. He pointed up to one of the many pieces of mistletoe that hung up in the house. It was such a pivotal piece of Christmas for their relationship that Bruce took great delight in setting it up everywhere.

“You know that this means...” he grinned.

“We never actually researched if eating mistletoe can kill you.”

“We’ve done plenty of research on kissing though, haven’t we?” He grinned and pulled her even closer.

“Yes and I’ve found... kisses give life. They don’t take it away, at least not when a lonely prince kisses and sad princess.”

“You figured it out?” He turned his face away, sheepish.

“Once it got to the part about the valiant knight I knew it was about us. I never thought that our life being a fairytale was actually going to be a good thing. I was angry and sad and deluded into thinking my life couldn’t be this wonderful when I said those things to you. I’m sorry that I ran away for as long as I did. Mentally, emotionally, sometimes physically. I love being your wife and I love being Helena’s mom. You framing our life as a fairytale made me just feel so grateful for those things. Thank you.” She leaned in and kissed him deeply. She stopped being afraid of taking off her mask around him a long time ago. She could just being Selina Kyle around him. Cat scratches and all.

“I think that given how special this time of year is for us, I knew that was the perfect story to tell Helena. We’ll tell her it’s actually our story one day. But for now, she has this childlike hope that I want her to hold onto for as long as she can. I’m sorry that I pushed you at the beginning. I know I did. I was all in, I had fallen so hard in love with you so fast, Selina, that I didn’t want you to slip right through my fingers like so many others in my life, romantically or not, had before. I wanted this. I wanted this day all those years ago. Us retiring to bed on Christmas Eve after tucking our children into bed and making love until the sun came up rather than fighting crime until the sun came up.” He kissed her once more.

“Well then come on then, big fella. No hard feelings, I needed the tough and intense love to realize that I could let myself want this life with you.” She tugged on his hands and led him into the bedroom. Bruce immediately put on music from his one and only piece of technology in his bedroom. That was how he kept his boundaries in life. The only addition had been the baby monitor when Helena was small and now that she was six it was gone.

“Really, you want to play music while we have sex? Bruce, that has been and always will be tacky.” Selina started to unzip her dress but Bruce stopped her. “What?”

“I didn’t get to dance with you at the party.”

“It wasn’t that kind of party.” She chuckled. “But if you insist.” She wrapped an arm around his neck and took his other hand. They swayed gently to the soft jazz music over the speakers.

“I do insist, Mrs. Wayne.” He pecked her lips.

“That has been and will be by far the weirdest thing I have ever been called and I was called a gold digging whore by my mother when we got engaged.”

“Are you still not willing to accept that we’re married and in love even if sometimes we suit up and fight each other.”

“I do accept it. We have to keep our marriage interesting somehow.” She winked.

“I’ll show you interesting.” Bruce picked her up and carried her over to the bed and promptly threw her onto it then covered her body with his.

“It’s only the best way to ring in an anniversary.” Selina said and pulled him in for a hard kiss, ready to spend her anniversary and many more with this man, just like this.

The Wrong Choices

Clan swap for chapter 248! Without the slap… since Meliodas could never slap Ellie… I apologize for every possible mistake that you’re bound to face… or read…

~

He didn’t know her, it was the only certain thing that was within his mind from the moment his mismatch eyes of gold and emerald met her pitch black ones. Her bright and full of life sapphire eyes were now painted in black, looking lifeless, empty and cold… it scares him. Just looking at her now was tearing him apart, slowly… bits by bits and painfully.

And this was all his fault.

“Elizabeth! Let go!” He screamed, barely capable of pulling his voice all together. With his heart aching he doubted that the words he wanted to convey would come out the way he wanted them. He couldn’t look at her, it was him who turned this monster into the kindest and gentle person and he knew and it was also him who turned her back into this…

“Please understand that I am merely doing this for you. Whatever you are there will be no fruit for it.” Better than doing nothing about the one you love planning to leave.

“I told you, I don’t want it!” He screamed, pain pervading his heart tears refusing to stop themselves from falling. He wanted to push her away, pull away from her because looking at her hurts damn badly.

“If it means losing you, I don’t want it! I don’t want it! We’ve hold on for so long! We’ve fought for so long! If breaking the curse would result to that, I don’t want it!” His tear filled eyes locked with hers once again. It was like when he just met her, she was like a puppet merely moving towards her goals, doing exactly what she needed to do…

The Demon King’s puppet…

He hates that man... no, he was a monster.

He saw those eyes change along the way. From those black empty eyes she had started displaying emotions before him, joy, anger, frustration, sadness he saw them all… then he found himself falling for it, like his wings were ripped off from the moment he saw those eyes filled with so much emotions. He was horrified that he didn’t mind losing himself from such beauty.

Then she found himself falling for him as well…

Once feelings were revealed, his heart dropped. He tried to push her away, hurting her in process but he was just scared of what awaits them from this forbidden love. He was the eldest son of the Supreme Diety, she was the only daughter of the Demon King, they were bound to slash each other’s throat like how they were fated to do… yet destiny had other plans…

Yet once she betrayed her clan for him, he had welcomed her with open arms… he was left without a choice but lose himself to it.

He was so happy with her, so he allowed himself to indulge it…

Then their judgement came… he had seen both his brothers corpses before his eyes as vengeance of the demon clan, they also took his friends away completely convincing them to join their league. He could clearly remember it, Gloxinia laughing as he begged to him to stop joking… Dolore, killing his fellow giants that it that it hurts…

Then his brothers…

Estarossa, the silver head whom he loved suddenly going missing. He had devoted himself searching for him for weeks, lost his mind, shed too much tears equally inconsolable like his youngest brother. Yet he didn’t lose hope…

Then they finally found him… his wings were ripped off, purple eyes dull and lifeless thrown into their territory like a broken doll… judging by his appearance, the poor thing had went through torture before he was killed off… He had screamed and cried through the whole day, refusing to let him go, screaming that he was only sleeping, that he wasn’t dead…

That he was still with him.

That this was just a nightmare…

He rejected the truth as long as he could, and when reality sink in…

He realized that he was never going to see the silver head smile again.

Elizabeth had vowed that the demons will get what they deserve, yet he didn’t listen, she knew he didn’t…… he just couldn’t barely bring himself to as he was far too lost in grief.

The next thing he knew was two members of the ten commandments were murdered by Elizabeth herself…

Then Zeldris… he blamed him and Elizabeth for Estarossa’s death completely losing him from then on. He had distant himself from his brother, hating him more than anything in this world, probably more than how he hated demons… It was too much for him, he had pleaded and apologize to him yet the raven head would just laugh telling him that it was too late, that Estarossa was dead and it was all his fault... he had lost both his brothers then, and it hurts damn badly.

A month later…

Zeldris died…

Blinded by rage and wanting nothing but vengeance, he fell into a trap created by the demon clan and when he and Elizabeth had arrived it was far too late…

His only family, his youngest brother, the child he cherished was dead…

Covered in bruises…

Bathed with his own blood…

Wrapped with thorns…

And like Estarossa… his bright ruby eyes were no longer shining like before.

He nearly fainted from utter frustration, wailed while pulling the vines with his bare hands, letting the thorns impale itself over his flesh, blood staining his clothes and face. He ignored the physical pain… yet the pain in his heart was simply something he could not ignore.

And he was in his arms again… like when he was just a small little sunshine of life, bright scarlet eyes staring at him, the purest smile he had ever seen he felt like he was a father. Yet now… he was the first person who lifted him when he came to life… and it was also him who first embraced him when his life was taken away.

He couldn’t breath…

Regret, grief, frustration, sadness, pain, everything just started bottling up within him that he wanted to die. Yet every time his emerald eyes met her bright sapphire ones he manages to find a reason to live remembering that he still has her…

That he was all she had…

That they only had each other.

And he was leaving her… he always did. The only woman he had left, the only woman whom he loved so much, the woman who he dragged into this mess, he left her to face all the pain all by herself…

107 times… 107 times and all he could do was apologize, then leave again, then apologize he was practically torturing her.

He loved her so much and she obviously didn’t deserve this… so she made him promise…

A promise he never though would led to this.

“Elizabeth please…” he begged, not wanting to live on without her.

“Meliodas, this is all I could do…” Was he being selfish? For not wanting this to end?

“Then if this is how it’ll end then I shouldn’t have loved you!” He knew he’d actually regret saying that, but he just couldn’t help himself. He was overwhelmed with so much emotions, particularly pain and it push him to this. She had loosen her grip after that as he finally managed pulling his wrist from her grasp.

“I should have just killed you! I should have just ended your life there in then when I had a chance! But what did I do?! I healed you instead! I let you lived when things could have been far more easier!” He just couldn’t believe himself. She was literally dying, blood was all over her body, few of her hearts lost from the archangel’s attack…

Yet he couldn’t helped but to notice…

A demon child was within her arms as if trying to protect it.

“I should have pushed you away! I should have avoided you! I should have rejected you!” Things could have been more easy. No connection, no pain, no curse and no suffering…

It could have been…

Yet what did he choose?

This was his fault…

All his fault…

Zeldris was right.

His brothers were dead because of him.

She was suffering because of him.

All his fucking fault.

He made the wrong choices, felt the wrong feeling, loved the wrong person…

But it just felt so right…

“I am lossing you anyway so what was the point of having you in the first place?!” He was cought off guard when the demon had suddenly pulled and threw him towards the seat just behind her. He groaned, not really anticipating that.

Gentle warm hands suddenly touched his cheeks, his orbs widening when he felt her lips against his.

“—-lizabeth!” He could barely finish the word, the demon holding his head on place, fingers all over his scalp. It felt so familiar, fingers brushing his hair, lips gentle yet firm were against his, eyes shut close as they’d lost themselves from the world from such a brief moment.

It was her assurance to him…. every time she’d leave, she’d kiss him and promise him of her return, every time he felt fear she does exactly the same and he found himself loving it so much.

And like what it usually does…

He lost himself…

Arms instinctively wrapping itself around her neck, he had shut his eyes just like hers.

She always knew what to do…

And the thing is… right now, she only knew…

The Great War S10

D&D 5e Campaign

The Great War

Session 10

Our heroes wake up from the strangest dream, about a manbearpig , fishsticks and Kanye being a gay fish. The party as they get ready to head out to continue their journey notice their packs are a bit heavier. However before any of them could examine their packs they heard a roar from outside the tavern. As the party runs out to see what is going on, the bartender asks them what they want to eat. Most get a banana thinking they need to eat and run. Rin doesn’t wait on hers to be handed to her and gets a banana to the face when the bartender throws her banana at her. Rooklus catches his banana in his mouth. Once outside the party is greeted by a giant mechanical bear. Tinkerman explains this is nothing to worry about, this is what rune has been working on for him, it is the upgrade to his suitcase he always carried around and serves as his mobile tinkering shop. Rune then steps in through the top of the bear somehow shrinking as he steps into it. That sorted, the party begins looking through their packs finally and notices cheese and a note with 3 words on it in each of their packs. Each set of 3 words is different and can only be read by the person whose pack it was found in. Confused by these words that, while they can read them they have no clue what they mean, decide to seek out divine help. Many of the party seek out Vivec, Rin asks her mother as she has some other questions regarding her new… unusual look that happened to her overnight. Selune simple says to blame her grandpa. Rin is confused by this and tries to get more info about said grandfather but in typical deity fashion gets the run around and not a single straight answer. Vivec manages to give people… semi clear answers as to what the words are about. Although he too is pretty vague, and Rin begins to suspect this is just how dieties are. During this time elsewhere in the world, Ara had finished up her research at the capital of Urildyr finding nothing new there. So she booked passage to Tartraye, which wasn’t leaving until the next day. So Ara decided to visit the local stripclub and enjoy herself after that crazy dream she had last night. She also noticed while reaching for drink money from her pack that she had a wheel of cheese and a note with 3 words on it. She just shrugged it off and kept drinking and enjoying her time until she began her 3 day journey to Tartraye. The party then heads to a dungeon that Rooklus heard rumors of causing problems and many adventurers have gone missing when exploring it lately. Once they arrive at the dungeon they find it filled with enemies everywhere. The monsters numbering easily over 100. The party begins taking out enemies left and right. The girls, Biska and Rin head north clearing corridor after corridor of enemies. Tinkerman and Rooklus had headed south, Angra  took a deadend that turned out to be a sub-boss to the dungeon. Angra realizing he had bit off more than he could chew retreated. It was about this time that Rooklus had made it back and assisted Angra. Tinkerman cleaned up the dead bodies as they were killed. It seemed as though his new bear workshop had a cleaning function and it would slurp up the bodies into its mouth which were then deposited into his workshop to be gone through later.It is at this time that JJJ who had been waiting outside got impatient from watching the door to the dungeon and came in to see what was taking so long. He too assisted Angra and Rooklus who found this sub-boss was a bit tougher than expected. Once the sub-boss was defeated. Angra whistled for the girls to head back this way, there were stairs on the south end that went down stairs. Unfortunately… his whistle awakened something that was best left sleeping. As Biska was making her way back while Rin finished off the last few enemies their direction, she came face to face with a giant bird that had crashed out of its cage, she attempted to take a few shots at it but the bird seemed completely unphased by it. Angra did some quick thinking and activated his magical Rook that created a dimensional space overtop of the bird that kept it from being able to interact with the party for the next 8 hours. So they party took this time to rest and come up with a plan on how to deal with this bird.

The party now well rested and with a plan in mind went to work. Everyone got into position and then Angra lifted up his magical Rook and ran back to a safe hiding spot and whistled which lured the bird his direction  and let the party know it was time. Biska then believing that her 3 words had something to do with throwing her voice attempted to use it and it worked and she threw her voice while safely hidden drawing the bird down to the place the rest of the party had setup the ambush. Once the bird walked into position JJJ jumped out and yelled at it, Fus Ro Dah, which sent it flying down the hallway where Rooklus shouted his phrase and went charging at the bird full speed in a straight line trampling it and he stopped right in front of JJJ. It was at this point that Rin, who had been told her words held the power of wind...  used her words and created a cyclone that sucked up the bird and trapped it. The party then unleashed their whole fury onto the bird, hitting it with everything they had and their different element damage types kept changing the nature of the cyclone. It was a firenado, then a hurricane, then a lightning cyclone. It kept changing from one to the other keeping the bird from being able to find its way out and damaging it constantly. Finally the bird escaped and it started to run away and the party chased after it and managed to almost defeat it and then it suddenly burst into flames, turned to ash and disappeared. It was nearly morning by this point so the party rested again using this time a magical queen piece found on the sub boss before venturing down the stairs as this battle with the bird had taken a lot out of them. After a good rest the party headed downstairs and there they found even more monsters and a barrier. The corridors were narrow here for the most part so a couple party members stayed back and waited for the barrier to fall as the others went ahead to find a way to bring it down. Several enemies later they came across a mage whom after a bit of tough resistance went down. The party then found a magic orb that turned off the barrier when it got close to it. Rooklus who had stayed back quickly charged through the other corridor behind the barrier which was larger and allowed him to grow into his full size as he rampaged down the hall using his 3 words to give him speed beyond speed. He then had the misfortune of slamming into an archdemon. It was at this time the entire floor dropped and the party found themselves in a colosseum like area and an archdemon who had expanded to his full size which dwarfed Rooklus. Rooklus went to attack the archdemon but was told to wait by Rin. There was something… familiar about this archdemon to her. Feeling the tiny aasimar’s eyes burning a hole into him the demon looked at her and asked “Little one why do you stare at me so intently?” in abyssal. Rin, whom to her knowledge didn’t understand the abyssal language somehow understood him clearly and even responded to him in abyssal saying something about him was familiar. He explained that she was similar to him; she was part archdemon. Rin stunned by this and looking to avoid a fight that would surely kill them all. She asked that he please spare her party, they had only come here because adventurers keep going missing. The archdemon explained that it was the other beings inside the dungeons doing, not his. She also told him she would be willing to stay with him and learn of her other half that she wasn’t aware of if he would spare her party and allow them to leave. While this conversation was going on no one understood any of it but them two, and Rin kept going in and out of common and abyssal as she talked at first before going full abyssal. Tinkerman’s helmet couldn’t make out hardly any of it as his helmet did not recognize the language. Also while all of this was going on the others were all tense, weapons drawn ready to fight if they had to. The archdemon then reached out and touched the center of the symbol on Rin’s forehead and she collapsed and began convulsing. Everyone got even more tense and Tinkerman asked what did you just do to her, is she going to be ok? The demon told him in infernal that he gave her what she had asked she had just received a few thousand years of information about demons and archdemons including the particulars of mating and sex of all forms down to every last detail. Rin stopped convulsing and got back up dazed and a bit scrambled. “It's ok just too much info in a short time frame. I’ll be fine. I just need a min, whoo that is a LOT of info.” It is at this time that the big ass bird from before came back again and dropped into the arena with everyone and grew in size to the point it was matching the archdemon. What happened next shocked the entire party as the archdemon began fighting the bird. The attacks and blows were so devastating the party could tell had they fought either of them, they would have surely died within seconds. After many blows the archdemon defeated bit the head off of bird killint it and the party clapped. Rin for some strange reason felt the urge to say go daddy go while watching the fight, but she didn’t have a father… immaculate conception by a female goddess into a female mortal. This confused Rin very much. The archdemon then teleported everyone back to the first floor along with a hefty amount of treasure. They gathered up their treasure, left the dungeon and set up the rook piece again as it had recharged in a small clearing to camp for the next 8 hours and rest before going back to town.

Maria Gancha

Roughly translated to ''Mary Hook'', she's a folklore character that is mostly known in the north of Portugal. And living in the north, I became acquainted with her during kindergarten.

Now, I had an amazing teacher that wasn't the ''the children are too delicate and will be very scarred for many decades'' kind of person, and knew what we could handle. She also probably heard the horror story about a doll we told each order, and though that telling us about this character was an interesting idea.

I was never scared of her stories, but this one made me avoid wells for a while.

Maria Gancha is still well known today, sometimes having different names like Maria da Manta (Mary of the Blanket), Marimanta or Maria da Grade (Mary of the Grid). I was told she had hair running down her face and hooks for hands, which she used to drag children who got too close to the edge of wells, rivers and lakes. But the descriptions vary a lot. Some other sources say she had no hair, that she was an old lady, that she had eyes made of fire or even horns. The only thing all these versions have in common is that she has hooks for hands.

Or hair pins, depends on how you want to go with the translation of the word gancho (which is the right way to say hairpin in Portuguese, but gancha gives the word a more feminine tone)... But in the end, I think hooks sound scarier that old fashioned hair pins (I’m not saying those things weren’t pretty lethal, but still)...

I'm getting off track.

If you're a child, be careful. When you look down, she will see you. Then, she will start climbing up using the bucket rope. She will then use her hooks to grab you and bring with her to the bottom of the well, where she'll drown you.

The children who fall victim to her are usually discovered later by adults that come later to fetch water and see the bodies floating down bellow. And that’s always how the story ends.

I know! I'll just throw rocks to hurt her! That way, she will stay away!

Don't do that. Please. The noise of the rock banging against the well's walls and the water getting disturbed will probably anger her a lot, but she also could be sleeping and that will just get her extra irate.

Oh that’s right, she sleeps... I guess that’s to explain the incredible amount of children that looked down countless wells and survived. Although, I swear to god, I have never heard about anyone who bested her or was able to flee in time once they caught her attention. And I looked for it. Maria Gancha is truly a cautionary tale. She is essentially the Portuguese bogyman for wells. Thankfully, in our urban society there isn’t a lot of use for traditional wells, so I guess that unless you go looking for it, like a fool, you won’t find your death in Maria Gancha’s hooks.

It’s obvious she was made up by parents that needed to convince their dumb children that playing near the wells was a terrible idea. And while ‘’You could fall’’ doesn’t always get the message through, a ‘’There’s a horrible monster that will grab you with giant hooks and drown you’’ works so much better.

But is there more to her?

A person in my family said she was a remain of nymph tales from older times, when the romans rulled the world. Leite de Vasconselos said that she was the distortion of an older iberian diety. I suppose we can agree that she was once upon a time something else. But what? Was it a protector of wells and lakes, and this ‘’I’ll kill your children’’ facet came later? Or like greek god Dionysus, did it have the murderous madness in her since the beguining?

During my research I found a rhyme, which uses the name Maria da Manta, but it’s certainly her.

Maria-da-manta

Tem os boches na garganta

Tem lume nos olhos

E lenha nos cornos

Tem leite nas tetelioilas

Corre montes e vales

E pés de altares

E mata meninos aos pares.

And now the rhyme (which doesn’t really rhyme anymore) translated in English, by yours truly:

Maria-da-manta

Has the guts of children in her throat

Has fire in her eyes

And wood in her horns

Has milk in her tetelioilas

Runs mountains and valleys,

And by feet of altars,

And kills children by the pair.

And it is with this strange information that we leave another post.

Bloody hell, I got the jitters just by writing this. My inner child is squeaking in horror. And that Samara gif isn’t helping (she and Maria Gancha are probably related)... 

On a more good-humored note, I don’t know what tetelioilas means but giving my country’s dumb sense of humor I suspect that it means breasts. Still, I couldn’t find anything to back up my claim, so I left it as it is. Also, boches has a double meaning, able to mean both children and viceras. Which is why I translated with ‘’guts of children’’.

Sources: Oral tradition

‘’Literatura Portuguesa de Tradição Oral’’ by the Project Vercial associated with the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro

‘‘Seres Mágicos em Portugal’‘ by Vanessa Fidalgo

Lusitana Magazine

Several documents I couldn’t place by Leite de Vasconselos

Here’s the ryme: https://renovatio.blogs.sapo.pt/4935.html