#QUEEN LEAVING SEASON CAME SO SOON???? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

frost-queen · 1 month

Text

Love doesn't expire (Reader x Elijah Mikaelson)

Requested by: anon Forever tag:@missmelodramatic, @merlin-dahlia, @alex--awesome--22, @elllie-does-the-posts, @floatlosers, @merlieve, @queen-of-books, @glimmering-darling-dolly@denkisclown, @wildieflower, @meyocoko, @bubblybrianna, @justanothercoco, @subjecta13-thefangirl, @m-rae23, @harleyquinnswifeyfrfr, @swampthing07, @melsunshine, @panhoeofmanyfandoms, @venomsvl, @the-uncoordinated-house-cat, @rosecentury, @imagines-by-her, @evilcr0ne, @vviolynn

Summary: Elijah and you get married in the 18th century. One day when you get hurt, your husband can't control himself, caving for blood. Rather fascinated by him, you aren't scared at all. Once your husband explains what he is, you ask him to turn you as well. Wanting to stay with him forever. Elijah does so, feeling guilty afterwards, making him leave you. In modern times you befriend Elena till one day you encounter your long lost husband once more. Demanding an explination from him. [ Happy birthday to you anon ask!]

Elijah watched as girls were holding hands, dancing in a circle. Spring was arriving so there was a celebration for the season. Amongst them a girl with flowers in her hairs. Her smile so radiant it captured Elijah to the bone. Unable to keep his gaze away from her. From you. You let go of the girl’s hands, spinning around breathless. Your eyes fell upon him, smiling whilst catching your breath.

A girl bumped into you, making you stumble forwards. Elijah rushed over as you had just stumbled a bit forwards. You took a hold of his wrist, smiling mischievous. Before Elijah could react, you pulled him with you into the circle of dancers around the big rooted tree. Grabbing him, you joined him in the dance.

Hopping around the tree with a constant smile on your lips. Elijah felt a bit shy at first, knowing his siblings were watching from somewhere. But soon his shyness faded away when he only had eyes for you. The village girl with flowers in her hair.

You gasped soft when Elijah pressed you against the wall in some alleyway. Smiling before he kissed your lips tenderly. Then forcefully. It was as instant as spring came. The love you were feeling for Elijah and the love he had for you. Not a month later, he introduced you to his siblings. Shared with them that you were going to get married. Niklaus was at first opposed to it. Telling Elijah it was wrong to love you. Rebekah had always been supportive.

Seeing the love you had for each other. Despite Niklaus’s interference, Elijah and you got married. It was a blissful day. You came to live with Elijah in the manor. His siblings lived in an estate nearby. Close, but not close enough to invade your private life. Life was good, life was wonderous with your husband. A husband who didn’t hold any secrets from you… or did he?

Elijah was working in the garden, unrooting a stomp. He paused for a moment, wiping some sweat of his forehead. From a distance he saw you, tending to the roses. He smiled seeing how gentle you were with them. You turned your head to look back at him. Raising your hand with a bubbly smile. Elijah blew you a kiss from afar. You pretended to catch it and pressing it close to your heart. Elijah returned to his work. Nearly having unrooted the stomp.

It stood in the way of the beautiful garden. Elijah grunted, easing in his strength to not draw suspicion to you. Then his eyes widened. The strong scent of blood filling his nostrils at it alerted his brain. He couldn’t help it, but the dark veins around his eyes started to show. Sharp fangs coming out, needing blood. It has been almost months since he last tasted human blood. Keeping his identity secret to you. He looked away, panting loud to supress his hunger.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw you were holding your finger. Most likely you had pricked yourself on one of the thorns. Elijah tore his gaze away, fighting the primal instinct inside of him. His head pounded with desperation for blood, making him press his hands against it.

Unable to control himself any longer, he went over to you. You looked up, noticing your husband suddenly close. – “Oh, Elijah.” – you said as he knelt down beside you, drawing your bleeding finger closer to him. – “It is but a small sting.” – you told him that it was truly nothing. He didn’t need to worry for a little prick. Elijah took in a deep breath, taking in the smell of your blood. – “Allow me.” – he responded bringing your finger closer to him. You smiled expecting him to wrap a handkerchief around it. Instead he brought your finger to his lips, sucking on the blood.

It made you furrow your brows, feeling his tongue brush over your finger. Elijah’s eyes darkened as he kept licking your bleeding finger. The blood wasn’t enough but it satisfied him. You reached out with your other hand to his cheek, touching the area just beneath his eyes. Fascinated by the dark veins. Your touch made Elijah pull away, suddenly aware of what he was doing.

He got up, rubbing his lips and strode off. – “Elijah?” – you said confused to why your husband was suddenly gone. Getting up, you went after him. You knew exactly where to find him. In the library. His hands firmly on the desk, his back turned towards the door. You knocked gently, entering.

“Elijah…” – you started not sure if he wanted you present. – “Go…go away Y/n.” – Elijah responded breathless. You ignored his warning, drawing nearer. Touching his shoulders, Elijah eased in. He slowly turned towards you, seeing those gentle eyes of yours. He couldn’t resist those eyes. He’d do anything for them.

You reached for his cheek again, seeing that the veins had disappeared. Elijah took your hand before it could touch him. – “Y/n please…” – he begged, not wanting you to saddle with his torment. – “Enlighten me.” – you asked. Elijah sighed not able to resist saying no to you.

He cupped your cheeks, explaining everything. Explaining to you that he was a vampire. Requiring blood. Once you understood, you offered him your wrist. Elijah stared confused at you. – “You need it to survive do you not?” – you asked as he nodded. – “I am offering it to you.”

Elijah gently took your wrist. You smiled with a soft nod, letting him know it was alright. You gazed wonderous at him when his fangs appeared. You quietly yelped when they bit through your flesh. The weird sensation it left on you, was unfamiliar and fascinating at once. Elijah grabbed you tighter to get his grip firmer on you. Seeing him feast on you was something that strangely didn’t bother you. Elijah let go, gasping loud. Blood dripping down your wrist as you stared at the wound on your wrist.

Elijah pulled out a handkerchief wrapping it around your wrist to stop the bleeding. – “Can… can you make me like you?” – you asked, catching Elijah by surprise. – “Why would you?” – he replied confused. – “Can we not be together forever than?” – you questioned. Elijah nodded. – “Don’t… don’t you love me enough for that? Am I just an insignificant small memory in your long life?” – you started to doubt yourself. Knowing he would love a dozen more girls after you.

Elijah held his other hand on the handkerchief around your wrist. – “You are not insignificant. Not even close.” – he answered with caring eyes. He kissed your knuckles, never taking his gaze off you. – “Then love me forever.” – you told him. Elijah let his knuckles brush against your cheek. He removed the handkerchief from your wrist, now stained with blood. Your wrist was still bleeding as Elijah took a bite in his own wrist.

He offered you his wrist. – “It will help it heal.” – he told you. You took his wrist, moving it to your mouth. It was strange tasting his blood in your mouth. You kept sucking it, drinking his blood till he pulled away. Looking down at your wrist, you saw the wound disappear. In wonder you stared at your healed wrist, letting your fingers brush over it. That night you prepared yourself for bed. Your words echoing in Elijah’s head. Then love me forever. He couldn’t shake them off. His love for you beyond describing. – “Elijah are you coming to bed?” – you called out from the other room.

Elijah closed his eyes before joining you in the bedroom. You paused, getting in bed. Sheet lifted up as one leg was already in. – “Is everything alright darling?” – you asked as he seemed a bit off. Distant. An impulsive thought crossed Elijah’s mind and he couldn’t shake it off. He rushed over to you, standing before you in a second. His hands around your neck as he turned it, snapping your neck in a split second.

Your body fell weightless as he caught your falling body before hitting the matrass. Looking down at your body, he came to a sense of what he had just done. Your colour fading. He carefully laid you down, hoping you would wake up again. Knowing he had to live with the consequences of his impulsive thoughts.

You awoke many hours later, feeling an emptiness in your stomach. Elijah knew what it was. The first hunger. He offered you his blood, before you could fully process what was happening. Knowing he had finalized the process of turning. The following weeks, Elijah had turned silent. Crawling back in his shell as he watched you. Watched you juggle your normal life with your new life. This wasn’t what he imagined. Not even close. One day after a decade, he vanished.

A car pulled over. You got out, slamming the door shut behind you. You had been touring the world for the past decades now and found yourself in a godforsaken town in need of gas. Mystic falls. Car broken down before you could reach a gas station, you had to walk. Taking out a flask from your trunk, you started the long walk in search for gas. For miles there was nothing but woods. Finally you reached a bit of town as it made you roll your eyes.

Great one of those towns that got stuck in the 1800’s. – “Now for gas, let’s hope you have it.” – you sighed out, doubting if a time stuck town like this even had a gas station. You neared a bar, deciding to head in and ask before you searched every corner of this town. The mystic grill. All heads turned when you entered. You ignored them, knowing they probably weren’t used to outsiders.

Heading straight for the bar. – “What can I get you?” – the boy behind the bar asked, cleaning his hands on a towel. You set the flask on the counter. – “I need gas, do you have a station around?” – you answered. – “Car broke down?” – he responded. It made you roll your eyes. – “Yes, now do you have gas?”

A girl came nearer as you noticed her. – “Not for a long drive. Where is your car at?” – she asked. You sighed soft. – “By the sign.” – you told her. She mouthed a wow. – “That was a long walk.” – she said making you hum in response. – “Well I can always give you a ride?” – she suggested. – “Elena.” – the bartender said with warning eyes. Elena ignored him. – “We’ll fill up there and I’ll bring you back to your car. How does that sound?” – she asked.

“Well that sounds awfully nice Elena.” – you responded. Elena got up taking her purse. – “I’m Y/n by the way.” – you told her. Elena led you to her car. You got in at the passengers seat. On the way to the gas station, Elena and you got talking. Sharing some interest as it felt nice to talk to someone. You had always been alone on your rides. It can be lonely from time to time with no one to talk to in the car.

Elena rode up to the gas station. You got out as you got your gas. Returning to her car, she drove to where your car was parked. You were filling up your car as Elena leaned against your car. – “Are you staying long or passing through?” – she asked. – “Passing through.” – you answered finishing.

“You know… it’s getting late… you should probably eat.” – Elena spoke making you quirk your eyebrow up. – “Is that an invitation to stay?” – you answered intrigued. – “Maybe.” – Elena responded shy. You laughed coming up to her. – “Are you cooking?” – you asked. – “Only for you.” – she chuckled in return. You got in your car, riding behind Elena to her house. A night, turned into a day, into three days, into almost a week now. A week now you got stuck at Mystic falls. Not leaving just yet. Elena and you had become great friends.

“I know this great place.” – Elena said pulling at your arm to get you to follow her. – “Let me guess another founding father thing?” – you teased her with. Elena shook her head. – “Something more modern.” – she laughed out. – “Now you are talking.” – you responded moving along with her. Elena had her arm locked around yours as you walked over the town square.

You saw a small café pulling Elena to a stop. – “Quick bathroom stop.” – you told her, running inside. Elena waited outside. – “Elena Gilbert.” – she suddenly heard. Elena’s eyes widened briefly till she narrowed them bothered. – “Elijah.” – she responded annoyed.

Elijah chuckled moving one hand in his pocket. – “Where’s your lousy brother?” – she asked looking around. Elijah smiled. – “My brother isn’t here so no need for you to be so tense.” – Elijah responded, sensing how tense her muscles were. – “Then what do you want.” – she called out. – “Can’t a man just say hello?” – he answered innocently. – “It’s never that innocent with you originals.” – Elena fired back.

“Elena I’m ready.” – you said getting out of the café. Coming to a sudden stop at the sight of Elijah. Elijah’s eyes widened, removing his hand from his pocket. Elena looked confused between the two of you. – “Y/n…” – Elijah breathed out. The shock in your eyes turned to anger. You rushed over to Elijah, grabbing him firm by his throat. – “Where have you been love?” – you told him bitsy. Elijah choked under your grip. – “Tell me how many years have it been? Decades? A hundred years?” – you called out.

Puffing annoyed afterwards. – “Y/n.” – Elijah grunted trying to catch his breath. You squeezed harder. – “Didn’t think you would see me again when you left me for dead!” – you spitted out pushing him off. Elijah stumbled to the ground, rolling over. He coughed loud, touching his neck.

“You know him?” – Elena asked. – “You mean my dear husband who vanished!” – you replied angered, wanting to have another go at him. Elijah held his hand out, slowly getting up. – “Y/n… please…” – Elijah started. You puffed mockingly, crossing your arms. – “Where the hell were you!” – you shouted. – “I waited days, weeks, years for you to come back. Wondering why you left me. Wondering what I had done wrong to be left alone like this. Tell me husband what did I say for you to pull the earth from around me and make me fall into a dark pit!” – All those years of anger, bubbling back up.

Elijah rushed over to you, grabbing you firm by your shoulders. – “I… I…” – he started not coming out of his words. – “What!” – you snapped at him. – “I felt guilty!” – he yelled. – “I… I shouldn’t have turned you. I wanted you to live a normal life. I took that from you. I couldn’t bear the guilt. Constantly reminded of it when I saw you. It was eating me alive.” – he confessed.

He exhaled deep lowering his head a bit. – “I never stopped loving you Y/n. I just couldn’t stop blaming myself for what I did. I regretted leaving you for all those years. I came back to our house, but you weren’t there. It only made the guilt worse that I couldn’t find you anymore.”

You blinked softly, staring back at him with those gentle eyes he had missed for so long. It made Elijah exhale adoringly that he could see them again. You grabbed Elijah, pressing your lips onto him. Your anger vanished in a matter of seconds. Elena swallowed nervously, looking away at the heated kiss between Elijah and you. Lips desperately on one another.

Needing to fill that longing. Elena eventually cleared her throat as she thought you were going to eat each other with the way you were kissing each other. Elijah and you pulled away, panting. – “Plan on leaving me again in a decade?” – you asked teasingly. Elijah shook his head. – “You are stuck with me for always and forever.” – he responded.

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

Read more of my fics on my Masterlists!

270 notes · View notes

eternal-kosmo-ghoul · 5 months

Text

⭒❃.✮:▹ holiday hoes

“so if you’re keen to listen, here’s an offer i’ll propose. let me work and i’ll provide you with a touch o’ that gold!” —liquid gold, lackadaisy

❝for the christmas spirit I’m going to be doing something… special, this year~

for the following days, i’ll be challenging myself to write an nsfw prompt that’s holiday related, based on the prompt list i gave myself. the masterlist will be posted soon enough, so stay tuned~❞ —kosmo

the list will update as each day passes. all fics are NSFW and must be read with caution!

ALL readers are gender neutral, however some fics may have gendered body language.

┅✦┅

✿ prompts ✿

1. “all dolled up” — phantom x reader, lingerie

- you wanted to look extra pretty for phantom on the holiday season

2. “a different kind of warmth” — swiss x reader, cockwarming

- when the icy cold temperatures hits, swiss has his own unique way of warming you up

3. “gingerbread houses” — aurora x reader, food play

- what a fun little activity to do with aurora! surely she won’t have any other ideas in mind… right?

4. “red ribbon” — rain x reader, bondage

- there was leftover ribbon from gift wrapping that you decided to use, and maybe you’re just the best gift for rain

5. “naughty list” — terzo x reader, spanking

- how sad… you ended up on the naughty list, looks like papa terzo will have to ingrain some discipline into you

6. “candle queen” — sodo x reader, wax play

- the scent of the candles just made this year extra cozy, maybe sodo has some tricks up his sleeve for how to make things cozier

7. “frosted windows” — cirrus x reader, mirror sex

- the fogged windows are perfect places to trace pretty little shapes on, cirrus however has a different shape in mind

8. “come watch me play” — vessel x reader, exhibitionism

- vessel likes to put on a show for the christmas cheers. what kind of performance does he have in mind?

9. “unwrap your present” — cumulus x reader, stripping

- you came home from a long day of work, just finally getting that well deserved vacation. cumulus has a pleasant surprise waiting for you

10. “festive little fantasies” — copia x reader, toys

- your gift for copia surely got him excited….

11. “picture perfect” — iv x reader, aphrodisiacs

- ivy was not expecting this little christmas get together to get all.. steamy.. but now he has you all to himself

12. “not so angelic” — omega x reader, corruption kink

- the little angel that came down from heaven to spread the joyous spirit… surely omega won’t try anything

13. “holiday blow” — iii x reader, blowjob

- as iii is writing letters to his loved ones, you decided to give him a little treat underneath his desk

14. “stuffed like a present” — mountain x reader, cum bulge

- mountain wants to give you something that’ll leave you completely filled

15. “nice list” — secondo x reader, praise kink

- what a good pet you’ve been… and it looks like secondo has taken notice

16. “blind to the light” — ii x reader, blindfolding

- ii wanted to add more spice to the bedroom for this year, and spoil you prettily for his holiday affairs.

17. “give you more” — zephyr x reader, overstimulation

- you decided to be extra generous to zephyr, and assist him when he’s in dire need of some love and affection

18. “my special gift” — sunshine x reader, thigh riding

- sunshine has a special way of showing off what’s hers.

19. “miss me on holiday season” — aether x reader, sexting

- aether is away for the festive spirits, that doesn’t stop you from missing him though

20. “just this once” — ifrit x reader, hate sex

- stuck in a log cabin with an old enemy, except ifrit’s been feeling extra lonely this christmas

21. “take me to church” — swiss x reader, blasphemy kink

- christmas is all about celebrating the birth of jesus… swiss wants to show you off to him

22. “forever ingrained” — vessel x reader, photography

- a new polaroid camera? vessel is getting a few ideas on what to do with it…

23. “christmas tree” — phantom x reader, public sex

- while searching for the perfect christmas tree, phantom finds himself needing some attention

24. “sharing is caring” — sodo and rain x reader, threesome

- sodo and rain learn to share their special gift

25. “merry christmas” — all era iv ghouls x reader, fuck party

- the ministry is all decorated in festive decor and it truly feels like the holidays are in season! now… what do these ghouls want to do with you?

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

#ghost fanfiction #sleep token fanfiction #ghost bc x reader #sleep token x reader #the band ghost x reader #papa emeritus x reader #nameless ghouls x reader #vessel x you #vessel x reader #holiday prompts #holiday writing #smut prompts #smutty drabble #ghost bc smut #nameless ghoul smut #sleep token smut #spicy content #christmas prompts

189 notes · View notes

live-tweeting-hotg · 2 years

Text

my prince [aemond targaryen x reader]

summary: what if, instead of sending Luke to Storm's End, Rhaenyra sends her daughter, childhood sweetheart to Aemond?

pairing: Aemond Targaryen x fem!reader

warnings & content: incest probably, Aemond swears, violence, enemies to lovers?? (he puts a sword to her throat), very slight spoilers for ep 10

wc: 1.6k

a/n: my attempt at salvaging what’s left of my heart after the season finale…

“If you take this errand, you go as messengers, not as warriors.”

Your mother’s voice rings in you head, soft but insistent. You try your best to suppress your rising anxiety as the sharp cliffs of Durran’s Point come into view. You tense slightly, bracing for impact as Seasmoke lands before the gate of Storm’s End. Suddenly finding your throat dry, you try again to remember your mother’s words: Lord Boros is an eternally proud man. He’ll be honoured to host a princess of the realm.

Your clear your throat and jump from Seasmoke’s back in one swift move. As the Baratheon knights move to acknowledge you, Seasmoke suddenly snarls, pressing his head against you, almost causing you to lose your balance— before you look up and pinpoint the source of his threat. A large, looming shadow, almost covering the entire horizon, and you wonder why the fuck you hadn’t see it earlier. Vhagar. Shit.

If Vhagar was here, then her rider had gotten to Boros Baratheon before you. Your mind races, trying desperately to draw up a strategy, both to draw Boros to your cause and to avoid confrontation with him. Aemond. Thinking about his name made you wince. As children, you two had been betrothed and inseparable, and in a different world, you might have even called him your first love. But that, of course, was before Luke took out his eye. After your mother hurried you back to Dragonstone, not another word was said about the betrothal and you had simply assumed you would marry another lord and rid your mind of him.

When you last returned to King’s Landing with your family, before the death of your grandfather, the late King Viserys, you tried not to look at Aemond, instead allowing a thick, unbearable silence to fill the space between you two. And Aemond had not looked at you, when stood up at the table and toasted your brothers as bastards. His face was sharper than you remembered, the corners of his mouth carved mockingly upwards, and his eye shone, wildly, with something you could not recognise. He acted as if you didn’t exist, and when he pushed Jace to the ground, you half-wished that it had been his hands on you instead.

The sound of the castle door opening forced your return to reality. As the knights announce your name and title, you stride into the hall with what you hoped was unbothered confidence. You could see his silvery hair out of the corner of your eye. You would not look at him.

“Lord Baratheon,” you say evenly, forcing your tense shoulders to drop. Your hand are steady as you offered Rhaenyra’s letter to a knight. “I come bearing a message from my mother, the Queen.”

As soon as the words leave your mouth, you regret calling Rhaenyra your mother. It sounded girlish and juvenile, and you were sure Aemond would be suppressing a smirk. You were so close to him. You would not look at him.

Lord Boros smiles, slowly, contemptuously. The letter is in his hand and he glances over it quickly. He had caught on to your slip. “Yet earlier this day, I received an envoy from the King.” He pauses, and you hear a soft exhaling of air, as if a smothered laugh. You wonder if it was Aemond. “The house of the dragon does not seem to know who rules it.”

You bite your cheek as the Baratheon lord continues. “King Aegon at least came with an offer: my swords and banners for a marriage pact, not to mention the seat of Harrenhal.”

A marriage pact? It was suddenly very difficult to breathe. Surely not…? You move your head abruptly to look, finally, at Aemond. He was already looking at you, with a growing smirk that made you want to punch his face in. With some difficulty, you smile stiffly and look back to Boros.

“Harrenhal sits at the heart of the Riverlands. The Houses Frey and Tully both have bent the knee to Queen Rhaenyra before the Iron Throne, and neither has pledged for Prince Aegon’s cause.” A pause. The calmness of your own voice surprises you, and you decide to press further. “How his highness might distribute land that he does not own is beyond me. One might call into question the virtue of his judgement,” You look sharply at Aemond, acknowledging him for the first time: “or, perhaps, his foresight.”

It works like a charm. The smirk is wiped from his face and he stares at you intensely, his jaw firm.

“The wind changes, my Lord. This dance has not yet begun, and the Queen would not yet fault you for waiting to pledge your allegiance.” The Queen would very much mind, but you figure that convincing Boros to stay neutral would be better than nothing, and at least buy you some time in the war. Your eyes flash to Aemond again, and you are suddenly struck by the impulse to do something stupid. “As for his marriage pact, I wish only to remark that Prince Aemond appears to have more betrothals than he does eyes—” This comment was so dangerously ridiculous that you fought the urge to laugh out loud. “Two, that is.”

The court falls silent, and you wonder if you had gone too far. Boros Baratheon laughs suddenly, clapping loudly, slowly, forcing the court to swing back to life. You breathe a sigh of relief, before you hear the grate of a sword being drawn, and then Aemond is striding towards you, blazing. Shit.

“Say that again,” he hisses. He towers above you and you suddenly realise how tall he is, how broad his shoulders had become. Everything about him is overwhelming. You open your mouth and forget what you had to say.

“Not in my hall! I’ll not have bloodshed beneath my roof!”

Lord Baratheon’s words shake you out of you trance and before you realise what’s happening, Aemond’s arms wrap around you wordlessly, practically dragging you out of the hall and into the storm outside. Your boot heels clatter helplessly against the cold stone as he throws you onto the ground.

“Aemond, I—”

“Draw your sword.” His voice was liquid fire, and you know you had fucked up.

“I won’t—”

“I said draw your fucking sword.”

He looks like he wanted to kill you. Instinctively, your hand flies to your sword, pulling it out of its sheath just in time to parry the first blow from Aemond. Seven hells, he actually wants to fight you?! You stumble back onto your feet and narrowly deflect another swing, dancing backwards to try to put more distance between your face and his blade. Your father had trained you well, but you knew you had no chance holding Aemond off for long. Aemond deals another swing at you, which you dodge with a sidestep, but he lunges unexpectedly and locks his sword around yours, twisting suddenly and your sword is falling out of your hand, clattering on the stone. Before you realise what’s happening, Aemond tackles you roughly onto the ground, pinning you in place underneath him. His sword rests against the softness of your neck, the cold pressure almost hard enough to draw blood. The rain pours around you, and you realise you are both completely soaked. His face is mere inches away from yours, and as you watch, a drop of rain drips from his lips to yours. You didn’t know if you want to kiss him or to spit in his face.

“It was a poor joke,” you whisper, breathless. “I swear I didn’t mean it.” It’s a desperate apology. Deep down, some irrational part you you almost wants to laugh at the situation. Hadn’t you wished for this? After what he did to Jace? Aemond’s sword presses a little harder against your throat, making you almost whimper. You feel like a child again under him, and find yourself almost enjoying his proximity. It made the past feel real.

He dips his head to meet your eyes and you wonder how a man with only one eye could have such a splittingly intense gaze.

“Didn’t you?” He sounds faintly mocking, almost amused. You feel a jolt of relieve at the change in his tone. His voice is deeper than you remember. Everything about him overwhelms your senses. “I seem to remember you stood on your brothers’ side whilst they took my eye. You mean to tell me you didn’t mean it?”

“I asked— for forgiveness,” you choke slightly, as a thin line of blood drips from where Aemond had cut you. It was true. You had sold your half your gowns and pearls to a travelling Braavosi to send Aemond an unblemished sapphire, in place of his eye. You never heard back from him.

He hums softly in response and the sword seems to waver. You stare wordlessly at him, remembering just how fucking breathtaking he is. His lips twitch slightly as you cautiously stroke your hand along his cheek, hooking a finger under his eyepatch. Pulling it off slowly.

The sight of the pure, unclouded sapphire sets your heart racing. You smooth your thumb along his healed scar, running down from his eye to his cheek. Aemond takes a quick, shuddering breath, and across the angular planes of his face flickers something almost like vulnerability. You have to admit to yourself that you had never quite gotten over him. You look at him again, with a new certainty, and he understands instantly.

In that second, something shifts between you. The air thins, leaving you breathless, and it suddenly feels like every wrong had been righted.

With the sword still in place, Aemond leans down to kiss you roughly, as you knew he would. The rain run from his hair to your cheek. You freeze for a beat before your body responds almost of its own will, jolting to his touch and gasping as his tongue met yours. Distantly, thunder rolls and you moan softly against him. He has made his claim on you, and you feel like something had clicked back into place.

This feels right.

This time, you feel Aemond’s smirk as it forms against your mouth. “Come with me to King’s Landing.”

Your eyes shoot open. “As your captive or your betrothed?”

His smirk grows. “Does it matter? I have a sword to your throat.”

“Then I supposed I’m in no position to refuse, my prince.”

#aemond one eye #aemond x y/n #aemond fanfiction #aemond x oc #aemond the kinslayer #aemond targaryen #prince aemond #aegon targaryen #house of the dragon #aemond x you #aemond smut #aemond targaryen fanfic

1K notes · View notes

starlostastronaut · 5 months

Text

DAY 01 | A COMPLETE MESS

PAIRING: han jisung x reader

GENRE: fluff, maybe a bit of angst? not really tho

WC: 0.94k

CW: nothing i think, felix featured for like two seconds

PROMPT: "falling for their best friend. stupid, i know. i mean, who does that?" "i did"

the first story is here! i don't even know what happened here but this was born at one am, so that should be self explanatory lol. enjoy reading <3

title from complete mess - 5 seconds of summer

general masterlist here

mctc masterlist | next >>

“I got this,” you said to yourself, pacing in front of the boys’ dorm. Today was the day you decided to finally do it - to finally confess to Jisung. It had been too long, and the pining was getting more and more useless with every passing day. You knew he would never love you back; otherwise, the other boys would have said something by now. You knew you were in for a rejection, but you were tired of hopelessly longing. And it was better for everybody to let yourself be officially rejected and move on.

Your hand reached for the door handle. Your fingers brushed against the cold metal, and you gripped the handle, taking a deep breath. “Nope, I don't get this,” you decided in a split second, suddenly panicking. You let go of the door and turned around, fully intending to march down the hall back to Seungmin to tell him you failed and maybe to cry a little. Seungmin gave good hugs, so you would be okay.

Unfortunately for you, at that moment the apartment door opened and Felix appeared in the hallway. “Hi! Coming to see Jisung?” He greeted you in English, giving you the signature Felix sunshine smile.

You could but dumbly nod. “Yeah, that's what I'm here for. I need to talk to him,” you ended up saying. You probably sounded too serious, because Felix's smile fell for a moment. He composed himself soon enough, though, linking his arm with yours and not giving you the chance to ponder his reaction. He led you inside almost ceremoniously, just like a king would his queen. Felix released you once you stood in front of Jisung's door.

“Well, I'm off to see Channie-hyung. Be nice to Sungie, please. It was hard for him to do,” Felix said, squeezing your shoulder gently as a form of goodbye. Then he rushed off in the direction you came from, leaving you to stand there utterly confused.

What did Felix mean by “it was hard for him”? You haven't seen or heard from Jisung for the last two days. And as far as you knew, Stray Kids were on break before comeback season. And knowing Jisung, his plan on how to spend his breaks included exactly three activities: watching anime with Minho, hanging out with you, and occasionally working on some songs. And neither of those things has ever been "hard", so what the hell was Felix on about?

Lost in your thoughts and theories, you somehow missed that the little blonde gremlin knocked on the door. So you got properly startled when it opened with a click and Jisung's head peaked out. “What are you doing here?” he asked, genuinely surprised.

“Oh, is it a bad time?” you asked anxiously, even the last bits of confidence and determination to confess crumbling down. “I can come back different-”

“No!” Jisung all but yelled. “I mean, no, stay. I actually want to talk about something,” he said, after making sure none of his members were coming to scold him for yelling.

“Okay,” you smiled. “I wanted to talk to you too, so..." You left the sentence unfinished, letting Jisung take the lead. And he did. Jisung grabbed your arm and dragged you to his room without saying another word. Immediately after closing the door, he apologized, reasoning his behavior by not wanting the members who might be inside the dorm to know you're here.

“So, can I-” you both said at the same time. Your eyes met, and the laugh both of you let out was nothing short of awkward. This was it, you thought. I'm going to tell him.

“You go first,” you encouraged him as he averted his gaze. You weren’t sure if you would still have the confidence after letting him speak first, but you would manage. It was better to let Jisung talk first; otherwise, he might get too nervous to speak.

“Okay,” Jisung murmured. "I wanted to tell you, but I never found the courage to, until Felix bullied me into it this morning." He laughed, short and forcibly, to alleviate the heaviness of the situation. Jisung began pacing in front of his bed, not being brave enough to look you in the eyes. “So you know how I usually do a lot of stupid things? Well… I might have done the dumbest one yet. I kinda… accidentally... fell in love. With... with you, I mean. And it's super cliché, I know. I mean, falling for your best friend, who does that?” He chuckled, but it was very clear he's faking it.

You stood there completely in shock. Did you hear that right? He actually loved you back. Your heart did a little happy dance at his words. So that was what Felix meant. He thought Jisung had already confessed, and that was why you came to the dorm. Which was when you remembered you still needed to tell him. Jisung was beginning to ramble, and that was never a good sign. You quickly reached for his hands, stopping him from fidgeting. “Jisung. Jisung, it's okay. I did that too.” You whispered the last part, but your words were still loud and clear for him. Jisung slowly looked up, finding your eyes.

“I'm… I'm your best friend,” he said, so quietly that if it weren’t for your close proximity, you wouldn't have heard him. You smiled and nodded, confirming his suspicion. “Can I..." he asked. It was an invitation rather than a question, and despite leaving the statement open, you both knew what he meant.

“Yes,” you breathed out as his lips pressed to yours.

taglist: @stayconnecteed @saintriots @vivioluh

©starlostastronaut 2023 | do not repost/translate my work without permission

#moony's countdown to christmas #mctc #stray kids x reader #han jisung x reader #han jisung #fluff

119 notes · View notes

wosowrites · 1 year

Text

Yellow Card Madness ( Katie McCabe x Reader )

Warnings: ⚠️Swearing⚠️

A/N: This one is just pure Katie madness. And also three posts today? Woah go me. It will not always be like this i’m just still on march break.

Prompt: Reader and Katie are dating, and reader gets her first red card ever, which leaves Katie slightly proud.

It was known to everyone that your girlfriend was the Yellow Card Queen, the Yellow Card Magnet, the Irish Messi, Katie McCard. All of these nicknames were used to describe her on a daily basis. Whereas people called you Arsenal’s Classic Canadian, the Softie, the Sunshine in the storm. You and Katie were polar opposites, but your relationship was perfect, and thrived on your differences. So when you got two consecutive yellows during a game against Chelsea, when you got your first red card ever, the gunners were in shock, and Katie couldn’t help but feel slightly proud of her girl.

Three and a half hours earlier:

You and Katie climbed out of thr gunners bus and entered Kingsmeadow stadium through the players entrance. You were walking behind Leah, and beside your girlfriend. Your face was stern, taking its firm look only during game days. Katie however, was smiling and lighthearted. Your rolls usually switched when you stepped onto the field.

You did your game day routine. Taped your wrist, put on the captains armband, walked onto the field and did a few keep ups. Soon enough, you were leading Arsenal out onto Kingsmeadow turf, Manu following behind you.

Today was just a season game, but because it was against Chelsea, every player on the pitch was aching for the win. Kickoff was quick, Arsenal started with the ball, and as the striker, you opted to pass the ball back to Leah, whose passes up field were spectacular. The game seemed to play out slowly, and when half time arrived, the score board still read 0-0.

"No card for you yet, Katie." You teased, tapping her ass lightly as you walked into the tunnel. "No goal for you yet." She teased back. "Hey! Not getting a card is good!" You said, pushing her slightly.

You both walked into the changing room, where Jonas gave a quick speech before giving you the floor. "Listen here, ladies. I know, we don’t need to win this game. The motivation is low. But we’re playing Chelsea right now! We’re playing class players, and we are class players. So let’s go out there, let’s score, let’s make more great saves. Manu, god I love you. Let’s make the same clearances, Leah, great work on the left. Let’s keep up with those runs down the line, Katie, Beth, amazing. as always. All you guys are doing great. we’re missing that goal. Let’s also avoid getting booked. C’mon Gunners!" You yell.

It was in the 56th minute that things went downhill. You were running down the middle and looked up to see Beth making a run. You passed the ball perfectly and then accelerated into the box. However, Beth got the ball taken by Millie Bright. You acted on instinct. Motivated by your own speech and wanting a goal so badly, you slid, clearly connecting with the ball before the lioness. But Millie tumbled to the ground, earning cries of "Ref! Come on!" From the Chelsea women and some of "No! That was nothing!" From the Gunners. But the second you were back on your feet, you saw the referee running towards you, brandishing a yellow card in the air. "Hey! Hey no way. Come on that was all ball!" You complained, walking towards the ref with your hands extended at your sides. "Don’t argue with me y/l/n." The referee said, writing your name on the back of the card.

Angry, and even more desperate for a goal, you stormed away from the referee. Leah patted you on the back, telling you it was okay, and Katie came over to you, looking at you with a wider smile that she ever had. "Don’t get booked guys." She mimicked.

You slapped her in the back of the head.

"Hey!" Katie yelled, positioning herself. "People are gonna edit that later."

Your luck came only ten minutes later due to Stina’s cross being blocked by Magda. Leah prepped herself for the corner and sent in the most perfectly weighted ball. You got the back of your head on it, flicking it into the back of the net.

"YEAH!!" You scream, running up to Leah and jumping in her arms. "YOUR PASSES GIRL!" You yelled, jumping down from her arms and shaking her slightly. Katie then came over, grabbing you and swinging you around, making you laugh. Your team congratulated you, hugged you and Jonas have you a big smile. You clapped at the Arsenal fans in the corner of the stadium who had been screaming loudly.

After that goal, Chelsea seemed to go rabid. They were constantly taking shots on Manu and the gunners couldn’t seem to get them out of their half. You played striker, but you were constantly at the edge of the box, trying to help clear incoming shots.

During a cross in by Erin Cuthbert, you jumped up in the air to clear the ball, your body smashing into Guro Reiten who was on the smaller side. The winter went tumbling to the ground, holding her side.

Your heart froze when you heard a whistle blow, and the angry ref stomping over to you. "No. No I did not do anything. We were both going for the ball and-" You started trying to defend yourself, Manu, Beth, Leah, Katie and Stina all hurrying towards the ref. "Get off my field." The referee simply said.

The woman showed a yellow, and then a red, pointing towards the players entrance.

Your face fell completely, feeling as though you had let down your team as captain. You knew a penalty would be awarded and that your team would have to play -1 for the next twenty minutes. You took off your One Love captains armband and handed it to Leah, who grabbed your head between her hands and tried to get you to hear her out. But her words seemed blurred, even when your girlfriend came up to you, you shrugged her off and walked into the changing room.

"FUCK!" you yelled, when you were in the locker room, smashing your fist into the wall in the least canadian way possible. You doubled over almost immediately, holding your knuckles in pain and groaning. A minute later, you heard the crowd erupt, knowing Chelsea had scored their penalty, probably thanks to Guro. You shrugged off your kit, jumping into the shower and washing yourself quickly, cursing your actions. Your first red card. You hated knowing you had one.

You heard the arsenal girls walk in the room as you pulled on your track suit. Your heart felt stiff, and for the first time ever, you were scared of being in the presence of your teammates. What if they were mad? You pulled out your phone and saw that the final score was 1-1. A tie. Better than a loss, so much worse than a win. You opened the door, your hair still dripping wet, your eyes red and your hands shaking.

You were met with every one of your teammates looking at you, but none of them looked mad. Katie was the first to come up to you, wrapping you in a hug and then pulling away to kiss you. "I’m so sorry guys I don’t know what happened. I just-" You started saying. "Don’t apologize." Beth started. "That ref was shit."

Murmurs of agreement echoed in the room, and Katie never left your side.

When you were home, and laying on Katie’s lap while watching The Last Of Us, Katie whispered something to you. "Can I tell you something weird?" She said, brushing her fingers through your hair. "Yeah." You answered, grazing your nails lazily on her bare thigh. "I was so proud of you when you got that red. Like… I was really turned on." Katie said. You let out one of your laughs, that sounded more like a bark. "You are so strange. But I love you." You told her, looking into her eyes. "I love you too."

#katie mccabe #chelsea fcw #arsenal fcw #woso #woso imagine #woso x reader #woso fanfics #woso fic #woso one shot

506 notes · View notes

patheticdarling · 9 months

Text

Mad With Grief

Summary: Queen Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon swore to avenge their son, Prince Lucerys. An eye for an eye. A son for a son. And now Prince Aemond and his sister-wife had to make the preparations for their eldest son's funeral.

Warnings: death/blood & cheese/mourning/death of a child/funeral/crying/depression/incest (Targaryen)/oc children of aemond & reader/suicidal undertones/possible hotd season 2 spoilers!

Word Count: 1861

*NOT MY GIF*

You could not begin to describe the feelings that lingered throughout your body. It seemed as if your soul was detached from your physical being and now you were just a shell of a woman.

"There we are, Princess," your handmaiden finished applying your makeup. You struggled to move your eyes to the mirror in front of you. She had applied a generous amount to brighten up your colorless face, "As beautiful as ever."

You swallowed the lump in your throat, "Thank you," it was barely audible. "That'll be all for now."

She gave you a quick curtsy before gathering the mess and leaving the room. As soon as the door shut, you could no longer hold back the tears as they came pouring down. The sobs followed soon after and you had no care to conceal them.

It was said the night your son was slain that your cries of anguish shook the very walls of the Red Keep.

"Who are you?" you demanded. You didn't recognize the two men before you, instinctively shielding your children with your own body.

"Debt collectors," the smaller of the two men spoke up. "An eye for an eye, a son for a son. We only want the one, t’ square things. Won’t hurt the rest o’ you fine folks, not one lil’ hair. Which one you want t’ lose, Princess?"

All of the hairs on your body stood on end when you realized just what the men meant. Your husband had killed Lucerys and now, a debt was owed.

"No," you shook your head profusely as you pushed your eldest son behind you, your two younger children bundled in your arms, "Kill me instead. Please. I beg you. Don't hurt my children."

"A wife's not a son," the bigger man grunted, "It has to be a boy."

"Please," you continued to plead, your older son weeping as he clutched the skirts of your dress, "Not my boys. Rhaenyra would not want this. She has always been merciful, please."

"Your sister, the Queen, has lost far too much. Her father, her baby, and now her son. By your husband's hand, might I add. I don't think mercy is an option any longer." the smaller man explained.

"It was an accident," you muttered, "A horrible, regrettable accident. My husband may be guilty, yes. But my children are innocent. Please."

"We don't want to hurt you, Princess. But a debt is owed. Besides, you'll still have two more when it's done," the man used his blade to elude to your children, "So, I suggest you make your choice before we kill all three of them."

You fell to your knees, there was no way out of this. One of your boys had to die or you'd lose all three of your children. You looked at each of your sons, caressing their silver locks. You would never forgive yourself for this. "Mummy loves you."

You kissed the head of your youngest son before shakily handing him over to the men, sobbing as you watched him mockingly rock the year old babe.

"You hear that, little boy? the small man whispered to your son, "Your momma wants you dead."

And before you could register the evil grin he exchanged with the larger man, his blade had already murdered your elder son. You felt your heart stop beating before the most Earth-shattering sob left your lips.

Everything after that shifted into a gut-wrenching blur. You could not manage to feel anything other than pure and utter grief, like a dagger was constantly being driven through your heart with every breath you took. You could not bring yourself to eat, drink, or even bathe. Your mother, the Dowager Queen, urged you to stay strong for your remaining son and only daughter. But how could you even bear to look at him? You had named your year old son to die.

You had not seen your husband since. Part of you wanted what every woman wanted from their husband in times of grieving, a shoulder to cry on and a place to feel safe. And part of you couldn't even stomach the idea of seeing him, of knowing that he was partially to blame for the loss of your son.

A soft knock came to the door, "Y/N?" your mother's soft voice called into the room, she let out a heavy sigh at your sobbing figure, rushing over and wrapping her arms around you.

You fell into her touch. You never had the best relationship with your mother growing up but she loved your children nearly as much as you and Aemond did. It was her who looked in on your babies everyday since.

"My dearest girl," she sniffled as she stroked your hair, "Shhh, it's alright. I'm here."

"I cannot do this, Mother," you cried, "I-I cannot say goodbye to him so soon."

"He's in a better place, Y/N," she tried to soothe me, "Somewhere safe, where no one can ever harm him."

"They already harmed him. And I could not protect him. My husband was not here! I was alone-"

It was as if your words held magical intent within them. Your breath hitched in your throat as your husband walked into the room. Your mother helping you both to your feet.

She took in a deep breath, "I'll go see if the carriage is ready. Ring the bell if you need me," she tucked a strand of hair behind your ear before moving to greet Aemond with a quick kiss on the cheek.

Your eyes remained locked with his until the minute the door clicked shut and suddenly you lacked the strength to stand once again. Your knees hit the floor as you broke back into sobs.

Aemond dropped everything and rushed over to hold you, "I am so sorry, I am so sorry," he muttered over and over again.

You couldn't help but cling to him, the contempt you held falling as you grieved your child together, "My sweet boy. My first baby boy."

"I will avenge him, I swear this to you, my love-"

"Avenge him?!" you nearly pushed him back and onto his ass as the blame you placed on your husband returned, "Your vengeance is the reason why Rhaenyra wanted one of our sons dead in the first place!"

Both of you now rose to your feet, "I told you it was an accident. I lost control of Vhagar and-"

"And now our son is dead," you concluded. Aemond's jaw clenched at your words. "Did they tell you what they made me do?"

"Y/N, we don't have to discuss this."

"Did they tell you, Aemond?" you reiterated, Aemond softly shook his head at your question, "They made me choose. Choose which of our sons to die. They said there was a debt to be paid. I begged them to kill me instead. But Rhaenyra wanted a son. Said they would kill all three of them if I didn't choose." Tears fell from Aemond's remaining eye as you continued to speak shakily, "And I named Jaehaerys. Our sweet baby. I thought perhaps he was too young to understand. And Viserys-" your voice caught in your throat at the mention of your late son, "He is our first son and the only heir until Helaena gives Aegon a son. And they butchered him like a sheep for slaughter."

"I never meant for any of this to happen, Y/N. And I will never forgive myself for letting them hurt you or our children."

"I have not been to the nursery since," you ignored his apologies, "How can I mother a child that I was willing to sacrifice? I shouldn't even be allowed to call myself a mother after what I've done."

"Y/N, you are the best mother and our children, they need you. Nobody else could raise them as admirably as you have."

You just shook your head as the bells of King's Landing rang in the background, "We must go. The funeral is starting."

Aemond tried to reach for your hand, "My love, we do not-"

You simply pulled away, not saying another word as you gathered yourself, ringing the bell for your mother and maids to return.

"Are we ready?" your mother asked, you simply nodded before taking her arm.

"Y/N, please," Aemond tried yet again to pull you back to him.

"Aemond," your mother cut him off, "That is enough. We must all be going now."

You could not recall the events of your son's funeral. Not the precession, the burial, the speeches, or even how you returned to the castle after. It felt as if it all took too much effort. Your children were your only reasons for living and yet you couldn't even bear to mother them as you wished. Because wanting was too much. You felt you didn't deserve to want any longer. Living was too much effort.

"Y/N!" your husband's horrified tone rang in your ears. Your mind finally registering what your body had done.

As you looked down at the perilous fall to the spikes that decorated the fall from the Red Keep. Your toes basically hanging off as you stood on the ledge.

"Please, darling," Aemond quietly begged, "We need you. Jaehaerys and Jaehaera, they need you. I need you."

Matching streams of tears ran down both you and Aemond's cheeks. This is what it was to be mad with grief. To be so heartbroken that you cared so little about living.

You were sure the rest of your family was grieving your son as well. But not like this. None of them could even begin to fathom the thoughts or feelings you had, or did not have any longer.

"Y/N, please come down from the ledge," Aemond sobbed and begged. You had never seen him so broken, so fearful. And it might've been at that moment that you realized that Aemond might have been the only person in the whole of the Seven Kingdoms who shared in your despair. Strangely, that relieved you. To know you were not alone in your mourning.

Slowly and with Aemond's muttered encouragement, you stepped down and back onto the floor of your bedchamber. Aemond did not rush to put his arms around you or even rush over to you at all. He took quiet and calculated strides, the anguish that had built in his body at the thought of losing you, seemed to melt away with each step.

Though the tears still poured from both of you as he gently cupped your face in his hands, "I'm sorry, Aemond. Truly, I-"

"Shhh," his voice shook under the softness of his tone. Aemond softly pulled you into his embrace. His sobs muffled in your silver locks and yours muffled in his dark-green clad chest. The two of you gradually sinking to the floor, never loosening your grip on the other. The two of you quietly afraid of what might happen if you let the other go.

That maddening grief settled for a moment.

"We will avenge him."

Before taking over once again.

#aemond targaryen #aemond one eye #aemond targaryen x targaryen reader #aemond targaryen x reader #angst #fem reader #house of the dragon fanfiction #house of the dragon #house targaryen #hotd spoilers #alicent hightower #prince aemond #aemond targaryen angst #aemond the kinslayer #rhaenyra targaryen

388 notes · View notes

donutwatches · 2 days

Text

MHA 2.25 - Encounter - part 1/3

I have finally gotten to the last episode of season 2! It only took me...roughly 100,000 years.

You know, Ol' Chap Lips really needs to work on his social skills. It sounds like he is talking about a tacky outfit instead of people, lol. "That's an ugly purse, and it doesn't even match the shoes."

He is just jealous that the newbies all want to join Staingina George's plastics club, and only want to be around Shigaraki's Lindsay Lohan ass, because they think he's friends with Queen Stain.

It only took 20 seconds for them to try to kill each other. How is Shigaraki going to handle leading a group of villains? He has 0 self-restraint.

Everyone looks crushed, except Denki, who looks like he smoked a blunt before coming to class.

Why is this the happiest I have ever seen Aizawa? He is the kind of guy that pretends he got you charcoal for Christmas when he secretly bought you the biggest gift under the tree.

Good logic! It would make no sense to leave behind the kids that need the most help to improve. I am so happy that everyone gets to go to the summer camp together.

SHOPPING TRIP WHOO! I haven't been to a mall in years. This episode kinda made me nostalgic.

Here we can see the resident bird man regretting taking a nerd out in public. Can't take Deku anywhere, I swear.

Why is everyone attacking Deku today? He just came here to have a good time! They really hit him with 'you scare children', and 'you 're a bug', back to back. Then they DITCHED him!

OH SHIIIIII---------------------------------------------------------(garaki). Man, he has the most recognizable voice. I do not know why he is pretending right now.

Part 2/3 coming soon!

Click here for the masterlist

TAGLIST

@granny-griffin, @blackaquokat, @hyperfixations-and-cringe, @champion-prism, @jessiedead

44 notes · View notes

darknight3904 · 6 months

Text

The Monster and The Lady

Masterlist / Main Masterlist

Happy Loki Season 2 Finale! As my gift to you here's the chapter a day early! ( The finale was amazing and it ripped my heart out and stomped on it.)

Asgard 2011

Astri was polishing her sword when Loki barged into her chambers.

"Remember the conversation we had about knocking, Loki?" She asked without looking up

His lack of response got Astri to look away from her work. Loki was sitting on one of the large pieces of furniture that decorated her room. All of his attention was on his hands as he stared at them.

"If you're upset about what happened to Thor, I'm sure he is fine on Midgard." She said moving to sit next to him. "They love him there."

"Stay back," Loki said, his deep voice suddenly scaring Astri. It was the same tone he often used when speaking to enemies in battle. It was intimidating, mean, and cold, and Astri hated everything about it.

She crossed so that she was sitting across from him, the small table felt like it was keeping her miles away from him. Loki's eyes looked red and swollen as he kept them focused on his hands.

"You've been crying." Astri observed, "What happened?"

"Nothing I can't handle." He lied.

"It doesn't seem that way? Do you want some tea? We can talk about it, I'll send for Drifa." Astri offered gently

"I didn't come here to talk," Loki said

"Then why are you here and not in your chambers?" Astri pushed, she knew he didn't just come here to sit, he had something he wanted to get off his chest.

"I don't want to be alone." He said, looking up, "You're the only thing that makes sense in this damn palace."

Okay...progress. But he definitely had something else he wanted to say, Astri would take that for now.

"You don't have to worry. I won't be going anywhere, I'll stay here with you." Astri assured knowing her words were anything but lies.

"You won't want to once you know though. That's what scares me." Loki said softly

Astri wanted to reach across the table and hold his shaking hands but his harsh tone from earlier kept her grounded in her seat, hands folded neatly in her lap. The doors opened to her chambers and two guards walked in.

"Lady Astri, the queen summons you." The one on the right said.

Astri wondered what could be amiss as she walked quickly through the halls. Loki was uncharacteristically a few paces behind her and dead silent when the guards directed them to Odin's chambers of all places. Frigga seemed frazzled and uncomposed when Astri saw her next to the Allfather. It was strange seeing her so distressed when she normally seemed to have everything under control.

"Astri, Loki." She stood and greeted them both with warm hugs. Loki's stiffened posture didn't go unnoticed by Astri.

"What happened?" Astri asked eyeing Odin's sleeping form

"He has fallen into the Odinsleep. It was too sudden this time. I fear he might not wake this time." Frigga said sadly

"He is strong, Frigga. I'm sure he will wake again soon." Astri said placing a warm hand on her mother figure's shoulder. Was this what Loki wanted to tell her? Did he cause this? The way he was acting made it seem worse than this. Odin had fallen to Odinsleep many times in the past.

The doors opened abruptly to reveal what had to be a full platoon of soldiers on the other side. When Loki turned to them they all bent their knee to him. One came forward and presented Loki with Gungnir, the spear Astri rarely saw Odin without.

"My king, Lady Sif, and the Warriors Three request an audience with you." He said once Loki had taken it from him

Astri felt her face pale when she realized what was happening. Loki seemed to have a similar reaction but quickly recovered and nodded to the man.

"I'll meet them in the throne room," Loki said, dismissing him and his fellow soldiers.

"Loki..." Astri said, reaching out to grab his hand. She didn't know what she was going to say just that she didn't want him to leave her.

"Stay here. With my mother." Loki said, pulling his hand away from her reach

"But I want to-"

"Stay. I'll send Drifa to bring you those cakes." Loki cut her off

"Is that an order...my king?" Astri asked, the words felt bitter in her mouth.

"Yes." He hissed before turning on his heel and leaving the door.

"Come sit with me, darling." Frigga beckoned to her.

⋆⭒˚｡⋆

Loki kept his word and sent Drifa with Astri's favorite cakes. They were delicate little lemon-flavored things with soft powdered sugar on top. Beyond the cakes, he had also sent her the book she had been reading for the past week along with tea and a book for his mother. Even when he was upset, he was looking out for them.

"What's on your mind?" Frigga asked, moving her eyes from Odin's form.

"Nothing." Astri sighed

"Remember when I told you your mother and I were raised by witches?"

Astri nodded.

"That means I can see with more than eyes. Now, why is my son troubling you?" She asked

How does she always know what's wrong?

"He seemed very distraught before you summoned me here. I know it could have just been Odin's condition but it seemed to be more than that." Astri confessed, "He kept staring at his hands too, and wouldn't let me sit next to him which you know he always does."

"I think it's best if I let him tell you what's wrong," Frigga advised suddenly looking away.

"But you just asked me to tell you-"

"When Odin fell asleep, He and Loki were discussing...matters in the weapons vault. Loki told me what happened." Frigga explained, "But, it is not my place to tell my son's secrets to the world."

"But it's not the world. It's just me." Astri reasoned

Silence passed and Astri could tell Frigga was thinking about something important.

"Go to him. If he gets upset tell him he can whine about it to me." Frigga smiled

Astri groaned but stood up and went to the door anyway.

"You're sure you'll be ok alone?" She asked looking back at Odin.

"I have lived for thousands of years, darling. I will be alright." She smiled gently

Astri nodded before quietly slipping out the door. The walk to the throne room was incredibly brief. Perks of being the Allfather, your bedroom is closest to the most important room in the castle.

Loki's armor was complimented by the large throne. The green he normally donned made him look more regal as his golden helmet shone when the light hit it.

"Lady Astri. I thought I ordered you to stay with my mother."

"And I thought you weren't an uptight jerk with a stick up your ass," Astri responded

Loki's sharp gaze snapped to her and she stared up at him defiantly. He might be king now but she knew he'd never do anything to harm her.

"Leave us." He ordered the guards in the room

Astri watched him slowly descend from the throne almost as if it was for dramatic purposes. King of Asgard? More like King of Dramatics.

"What are you doing?" Loki asked, annoyed

"I wanted to talk to you," Astri explained

"That doesn't mean you can call me names like that in front of others." Loki scolded "I'm acting king now."

"The guards do not care what names the king's childhood friend calls him. I bet some of them are old enough that they saw the time you and Thor went running through the castle naked." Astri smiled

"Stop it," Loki demanded, looking around to see if anyone had entered the room

"I'll stop when you talk to me." Astri said, "Do you think any of them remember the time you went crying to Frigga after you had a nightmare from the scary story Thor told at that sleepover we had with Volstagg?"

Loki snapped his fingers in her face before she could think of another embarrassing childhood moment of his.

"Alright. We'll talk. Just stop saying crazy things." He said

"Crazy? All those things happened Loki. Just like the time you farted in front of that gorgeous boy, you tried charming who was visiting from Xandar with her family." She laughed

Loki's face had grown red as he gestured for her to follow him.

"Not another word about me as a child," Loki ordered

"The fart incident was 200 years ago. You were already fully grown at that point." She pointed out

"I'll cut your hair again," Loki said as they reached his chambers

Astri giggled as she sat down on his bed and gestured for him to sit next to her.

"I'll say here." Loki declined still several feet from her

"I'm not going to bite you you know," Astri said

"I just...don't want to hurt you." Loki softly said, piddling with his hands, a gesture Astri noticed he had down since they were children.

"You won't. Just...tell me what's wrong. I'll help you fix it. I promise." She sincerely said

"You can't. I can't. No one can." Loki said looking away from her and at his shoes

"How do you know? What's even wrong anyway?" Astri asked

"If I tell you, you'll be scared of me," Loki said quietly

"I won't. Nothing you do will ever scare me." Astri swore

A soft beat of silence passed over the room as Astri wished Loki would look up at her.

"I am a monster. A relic Odin kept here until he had a purpose for me." Loki said

"You're not a monster," Astri assured, standing and crossing the room so she was close to him again.

"You don't understand...I'm...one of them. One of those monsters who we've been told frightening stories about since we were children. I am a Frost Giant. The monster who Asgardian parents tell their children to be frightened of when they misbehave. I was nothing but a bargaining chip to Odin. Another object in this castle that represents his conquest over these Nine Realms." Loki said angrily, words cutting across the air like knives, as he finally looking her in the eyes

"What do you mean you're a Frost Giant?" Astri asked slowly, surprised at his speech.

Loki led Astri through the castle as he told her the story Odin had told him merely hours before. She stayed silent the whole time, absorbing what came from his mouth. Loki couldn't tell what was worse, her silence or what she might say about who he was. They reached the weapons vault quicker than he would have liked and soon were standing in front of the Joutun's casket.

"I will show you." He said, barely trusting his voice

"You don't have to. Let's go back to the library and read together." Astri said reaching for him again.

Loki ignored her request and placed his hands on the casket again. An indescribable coldless tingled through his body and he watched his hands turn blue once more. He felt it spread across his body and felt the soft facial lines that all Frost Giants bore rise from his skin. When he was sure he had held it long enough, he turned back to his dear Astri, awaiting her judgment.

"I understand if you want to leave," Loki said

Astri was silent as her eyes roamed across him. Her light brown eyes we taking in every inch of blue skin that Loki had exposed to her and when she was finally done looking she opened her mouth.

"I don't care." She said

"What?" Loki balked, feeling his skin begin to change again

"I don't care what you are. Tomorrow you could show me you're actually a dragon with wings the size of me and I'd still stay by your side. What matters to me is that you're Loki. I don't care if you're blue." Astri said finally taking his hands when they had gone back to normal.

"Why?" He asked, closing his eyes and savoring how his hands felt in his.

"Because you're important to me," Astri said pressing her forehead to his "No one knows me like you do, and no one ever will."

No spoilers to the finale but I have never felt more devastated yet fufilled by a Marvel project ever. I don't think I've been this distressed since I watched Infinity War and had to watch Loki die and then 2 hrs later watch Peter "die" in Tony's arms.

Taglist: (Comment below to Join)

@buttercupcookies-blog

@666-gothic-bat-666

@cyberwears

#loki #loki laufeyson #loki x reader #loki series #marvel #mcu #fanfic #loki x oc #loki season 2 #loki odinson #mobius #thor #tom hiddleston #chris hemsworth #owen wilson #frost giant loki #asgard #tva

97 notes · View notes

fangirllena · 4 months

Text

the scandals are flying high in Bridgerton season 2

The truth always come out!!!

I finally watched season 2 of Bridgerton. And it was phenomenal!

The Sharmas have made it to England. Anthony Bridgerton is looking for marriage. Queen Charlotte is looking for the new diamond of the season amongst the debutants. Lady Whistledown is selling her gossip news. And the Featherington family is deeply in debt.

Let the scandals begin!

Lady Danbury has a plan of her own. She is sponsoring Edwina Sharma(visiting from India) who is debuting this season and looking for a husband. After Lady Danbury finds out a secret amongst the Sharmas, she pulls some strings with the Queen to get her to make Edwina the 'diamond' this season to shake things up. I think Edwina makes a nice diamond, but she is so clueless to many things. And finds out the hard way...unfortunately

BUT, before Lady Danbury learns of the secret - Kate, the sister of Edwina goes out for a horse ride and runs into Anthony Bridgerton who she has never met before. Kate is not looking for a husband and is only in England to help her sister find a husband. She and Anthony have an exchange, and he seems intrigued by Kate who's very outspoken. AND she beats him in a race. So he finds her interesting and want to know more. But Kate isn't interested and runs along.

Kate is smart, I really like her. She takes care of her sister, and has a strong sense of reality. I thought she was more ready for a husband than Edwina...but understand why Edwina was the chosen one. Again, more secrets. LOL

Once Edwina is announced as the 'diamond' Anthony- who is looking for marriage, immediately ask her to dance and becomes very interested in her.

Kate notices them dancing and remembers him from the horse ride. She then over hears Anthony tallking stating he is not intereted in love, and looks at the marriage as more of a business situation. Kate becomes on a mission to keep Anthony and her sister apart. However, Edwina becomes more interested in Anthony and hopes that he asks her to marry him. Once again, just pretty clueless and eventually things spiral out of control. YIKES

During Kate's quest to keep them apart, something happens. Things start to shift with Anthony and Kate. And things from here on start to get awkward between them. I love a little scandal...right???!!! things start to get real spicy here.

All while Eloise is obssessed with Lady Whistledown and does everything possible to figure out who is behind putting out all the gossip. She starts lying to her family so she can continue her quest to find out who Lady Whistledown is but then runs into trouble with the Queen. And she meets someone special. Things start to get messy. she WONT stop. lol she is totally obsessed. She drives me crazy with this obsession!!!!

Penelope tries to talk sense into her to leave it alone and stop the quest for Lady Whistledown, as it is too dangerous. Penelope gets worried. Is she getting too close...uh ohhhhh

The Featherington's receive a guest- Jack Featherington, heir to the estate. He comes with some secrets of his own. MORE scandalssss. This guy was my least favorite of season 2. He lacked a personality. LOL, but adding to theme, he came with secrets. Is Jack really trying to save the Featherington's estate or get something else out of all this?? Don't worry he gets called out on his schemes soon enough smh

Everything blows up for everybody. All the scandals, secrets are revealed.

I wont spoil anything, but we did get a marriage, Lady Whistledown will continue to write, even though her cover mayyyy have been blown. Honestly, can't blame her for writing all the gossip. Especially after seeing the ugly things people say about her and laugh about her(not revelaing who she is here...hahaha)

I knew Eloise would figure out who was behind lady whistledown with all the obsession she had with her. We will just have to see how things progress in season 3. Oh, and it looks like Jack Featherington is leaving town...yayyyyy

All in all, I love this season so much. There was always some drama. Some very intense moments. OMG...covers were blown. Just all so good! If you haven't watched...please go watch on Netflix!

Rating: 5/5

#bridgerton #lady whistledown #lady danbury #edwina sharma #kate sharma #penelope featherington #anthony bridgerton #eloise bridgerton #netflix #tv series #tv shows #shondaland #bridgerton siblings #bridgerton s2 #bridgerton netflix

57 notes · View notes

valleyof-goldenlilies · 6 months

Text

Skori Zaldrizes Ropagon (When Dragons Fall) [Jace Velaryon x Reader]

HOTD Masterlist | Main Masterlist |

Warnings: nothing explicit, just lots of character deaths, as in F&B canon

Word Count: 10k+

Pairing: Jacaerys Velaryon x Reader

A huge, huge, HUGE thank you to @asa-do-your-thing for the lovely artwork provided in this fic! I love both the collages you created for the teaser and the actual fic itself, and bless you for putting up with me and my slow responses 💕 this fic is dedicated to the both of us, and I hope you will enjoy it even though I was a complete hot mess struggling with writer's block when I came up with it haha. Special thanks also goes out to @ewanmitchellcrumbs for putting together this Big Bang! I'm honoured to have been a part of it.

A/N: This is the first part of my new fic, Skori Zaldrizes Ropagon, submitted for @hotd-bigbang! The rest of the parts will be released sometime soon, as I was only able to write the first part of my fic in time for the deadline haha. It's my first time writing a Jace x Reader fic, and it is rather lacking in romance, most unfortunately. Still, I hope you enjoy the fic. Thank you for supporting my mess of a writing!

Prince Jacaerys Velaryon was aged only ten and two when he heard the prophecy for the first time.

Ever since his mother had decided to relocate their family to the ancestral seat of the Targaryens, Jace had spent much of his days with nothing but the same foreboding walls he was slowly growing tired of. He swore he knew every single crook and cranny in Dragonstone by now, having spent much of his youth traipsing through the home of his forebears, poking and exploring every inch of it.

Dragonstone was a sleepy island, which did little to quell the young Jace’s thirst for adventure and exploration. But once every six moon turns, the inhabitants of the village located on the rocky shores of Dragonstone would come together for a festival of foods and goods. It was initially a small affair, but upon Princess Rhaenyra’s moving of her household to Dragonstone, many merchants and revellers from all parts of the Realm had flocked to the island like sheep, hoping to curry the favour of the numerous Targaryen royals currently residing at the island, or various nobles who visited the island to pay homage to their queen to be with their goods.

And the festival was exactly where Jace found himself on the cusp of his thirteenth nameday. Sick of the constant gloomy atmosphere of the castle, he had snuck out after bribing one of the stablehands, disguising himself in the simple raiments of a peasant, along with a satchel of various coins concealed in his cloak. He had thought of bringing his dagger for protection, but he winced as he recalled the incident on Driftmark, and decided to leave it in his chambers. He wasn’t expecting any trouble tonight, anyway. All he wanted was a bit of harmless fun, and freedom, under the cloak of anonymity. Just for one night.

The festival painted an animated and cheerful scene, so refreshing in contrast to the rather dismal air in the fortress. For a moment, Jace thought he had been transported back to the streets of King’s Landing, where the nightlife atmosphere was second to no other place in the realm. Fascination lit up his brown eyes as he bought samples of snacks from the street food vendors. Many of them were varieties of whatever fishes that could be caught in Blackwater Bay, but due to the expensive nature of imported spices from Essos, the food was seasoned rather simply. Jace enjoyed it however, the whole experience felt liberating. Here, he could just be among the commoners, someone unnoticed.

Even though their relocation to Dragonstone after the Driftmark incident had brought some reprieve, deep down, Jace still felt tormented by the rumours of his parentage. Harwin Strong was long dead now, and so was his father, Laenor Velaryon, yet Jace still felt affected by their passings, though his mother oddly didn’t. One was his…his sire, the other the father Jace had been brought up to believe as his for his whole life, and though both men had not been present for nearly half of Jace’s life now, Jace still missed them. He remembered Laenor’s smile, his guffawing laugh, his warm touch whenever he herded them back from the Dragonpit and back to the Red keep. And he remembered Harwin’s presence - detached, as a respectful nobleman would keep in deference to a royal, but also warm and more constant than Laenor. Daemon was oft far too occupied with his mother to pay attention to him, Lucerys, and Joffrey, though he seemed polite enough to Jace.

But what Jace craved deep down was for the presence of a fatherly figure: strong, brave, caring. And ever since his mother and Daemon have had little Aegon, Jace oft found that those fantasies of his were becoming more and more impossible to come true. Especially now, when he was coming of age soon, and was expected to bear the brunt of his duties as future Prince of Dragonstone, and heir to the Iron Throne. Little sentiment can be found in his world.

Jace sighed, milling around and mingling with the smallfolk, trying to purge those thoughts from his head. And that was when he caught sight of it.

A caravan sat in a corner of the street, its dark red and blue exterior a stark contrast against the earthy cobblestones of its surroundings. The caravan was beautiful, even in its age, and Jace let his eyes trace over the woodwork and craftsmanship of the carvings of various celestial bodies and strange creatures on the caravan. A simple wooden sign hung outside the bright blue painted door, ‘Come have your fortune divined on this joyous day. Should you choose not to, you might not live to see the next day.’.

Jace chuckled at the words, feeling some derision upon knowing what craft the inhabitants of the caravan possessed. He was not a faithful man, by any means. He worshipped the Seven, like any future crown prince of Westeros ought to, yet he felt no connection to those gods. His mother held a reverence for the gods of Old Valyria, and Jace had inherited that, but fortune telling? It all seemed a bit absurd to him. No one can see the future after all, He began to turn his back on the caravan.

However, Jace was seized with a sudden urge to go inside the caravan. It felt like an invisible force was pulling him towards it, despite his disdain for such practices. What is wrong with me? I am a Targaryen prince for god’s sake- But it was like he was under a spell, as his legs moved on their own accord, much to his dismay.

‘You know what, I came here for a night of relaxation after all. This might prove more entertaining than I expect it to be.’

With that thought, Jace found himself knocking tentatively on the door of the caravan, as the door swung open to reveal the dim interior of the caravan. He found it strange that there was no one behind the door, but shrugged it off, taking in the plush furnishings. Gas lamps and candles lit the small space up, giving the interior an inviting glow. Colourful tapestries depicting the sea were hung on the walls, and thick soft carpets covered the floors - such that Jace felt bad for wearing his dirtied boots into the caravan. But all those thoughts of guilt vanished from his mind as he laid his eyes on what was possibly the most beautiful woman in his life.

She didn’t even look old enough to be considered a woman, no, this was a girl so beautiful, he thought that maybe he was looking at the form of the Maiden himself, descended upon this land to grace him with his loveliness.

“Welcome, my prince.” Her voice was soft, nearly encasing him deeper into the spell that was her, until he realised how she had addressed him. Shock surged through his veins, along with a faint uneasiness. “You know who I am?” The fortune teller tilted her head, lowering the hood of her dark red cloak. The colour of spilled blood. “Of course. My god knows the true faces of all people who enter this caravan. And their fates as well.” She motioned for him to sit in front of her, and Jace obliged, sinking down on the cushion, unable to take his eyes off her. It felt like all coherent thoughts had left him. The fortune teller studied him back, her eyes glowing with the knowledge of endless possibilities.

“My god senses some doubt in you of my abilities, my prince.” Jace was startled by her words, but he quickly recovered, a sheepish smile on his face. “I must confess I don’t quite believe in these things.”

“And yet here you are.” “And yet here I am,” Jace echoed back. The fortune teller slid a cup of tea to him, and he wondered how he didn’t see her preparing it. He eyed the steaming tea, debating on whether he should drink it.

“Relax, my prince, I have no reason to poison you, if that’s what you fear.” Jace was growing more unsettled, it seemed like the fortune teller was reading his mind. Was his thoughts really that obvious? He caved nonetheless, lifting the cup to his lips. Its taste soothed his nerves, and he felt some of his former rationality returning. “If I may ask, who is the god you owe your powers to?”

The fortune teller shook her head with a smile, tapping the crystal ball between them lightly. “Does it matter, my prince?” “Well, it does, if you want me to have some faith in your readings.” The fortune teller looked amused. “You will believe what you want to believe, my prince. And my god prefers to withhold his true name from non-believers.”

Jace wanted to roll his eyes a little at that. It was clear this girl was a con-artist, but suddenly, her eyes grew sharp as her crystal ball filled with dark smoke. Jace drew back instinctively, nearly spilling the cup of tea. “W-what’s happening?”

“My god is revealing your future,” the lightness in her voice was gone, replaced by a sort of seriousness. As sceptical as Jace was, his eyes were fixed on the swirling dark smoke. He was entranced by it when he suddenly felt a warm grip on his wrist. His eyes widened when the fortune teller tugged his hands towards the crystal ball, a slight flush in his cheeks. “Put your hand on the crystal,” her voice was filled with urgency. “There is something you must see.”

Gripped by curiosity, Jace did as she said, placing his palms against the cool surface of the crystal. The curiosity vanished in an instant, replaced by a morbid horror as the scenes were seared in his mind.

The sickening smell of blood. Fire everywhere, the distant roars of a dragon roaring and the screams of soldiers on the battlefield. Two opposing armies, one bearing a quartered banner with the Targaryen, Velaryon, and Arryn sigils, the other bearing a golden three-headed dragon on a black field, clashed with each other. Corpses littering the shores of a river. Three dragons lashing at each other in the sky, as one fell to the Earth with an agonised screech. And now Jace was in the sea, watching as ships were set aflame and a dragon that looked like Vermax falling from the skies. The sky was glowing with the colour of freshly spilled blood, smoke filling the air. Jace felt like he was on fire, as the soft, solemn words of the fortune teller reverberated throughout the horrific scene of bloodshed before him. “As dragons battle with each other, and fall from the skies, kin shall betray kin, kin shall murder kin, and Westeros shall burn alongside House Targaryen’s power.”

Then, fire engulfed Jace as he jolted away in shock. The sound of a teacup clattering on the ground pulled Jace from the nightmare, and he was back in the caravan: far away from the smoke, the screams and the flames. He was still shaking as he recalled the searing sensation of fire on his skin, scorching his bones. The dark tendrils of smoke had seeped out of the crystal ball and were creeping up Jace’s fingers, and he hurriedly pulled away and shook his hands until the smoke had dissipated, feeling sick. “What in the Seven Hells was that?” His voice was tremulous with fear.

The girl’s eyes were grim as she fixed her gaze on him. “The future of your family, and House Targaryen.” Now Jace was shaking with something much more than fear: anger. “You must be mistaken,” his words were not as steady as he had willed it to be, and he tried to correct the quiver in his voice. “Your god is a sham. All that was just illusions of the mind. You’re lying.” She must be.

Now it was the girl’s turn to look incensed, and it was like the fury of a thousand sea storms crackled behind her eyes. “Do not dismiss the abilities of my god because of your fear, Prince Jacaerys. You know that war is inevitable between your mother and your uncle, and you would choose to play ignorant?” Her words struck him as he winced while recalling the scenes he had seen. Despite the cool night air flowing into the caravan through its small windows, Jace couldn’t shake off the dreadful feeling of being on fire.

“...it just can’t be possible,” Jace murmured to himself, running his hands through his hair in distress. The scenes plagued his mind like a disease, and the smell of burning flesh was still ever present, making him nauseous. He reached out and gripped the hand of the girl desperately, “You said that there would be a war. My mother wins, right? She’s the rightful heir after all.” The girl looked troubled, “I cannot divulge more than what my god has allowed you to see.”

“Not even if I paid you a golden dragon?” Jace pressed. The girl’s nostrils flared with indignation. “The visions granted to us by my god is something none of your paltry money can buy, my prince.”

Jace was gripped with despair, as he tightened his grip on the girl’s hand, pleading, “Fine, forget about money. Just please, tell me if my family survives. I need to know, please.” Jace could see the girl’s eyes softening, and he tried to implore her even further. “Please, miss. I just need to know that. Your god has already been so merciful to show me so much, surely one more tiny bit of knowledge will not hurt?”

The girl bit her lip, and looked downwards, as if contemplating. It was true that the prince’s future was bleak, and she knew of his eventual ending, but she must not go against her god’s limitations. And yet, she felt compelled to tell him the truth, to tell him of the bleak fate that awaited him. So she prayed to her god for leniency as she locked eyes with Jace again. Her voice was quiet as her reply echoed through Jace’s mind: which would prove to soon be his source of torment that plagued him for his next years.

“No.”

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

For years, after being told the prophecy, Jace felt like he was no longer in control of himself. His sleep and dreams no longer belonged to him. Instead, they fell victim to the visions and the prophecy that had plagued every one of his senses since that night. His attempts at seeking Maester Gerardys out discreetly for doses of Essence of Nightshade had only succeeded in eliciting the alarm of his mother and brothers, so he had stopped taking them. He found no reprieve in the dreadful tea anyway.

Instead, Jace tried to find solace in other mediums. The library at Dragonstone had essentially turned into his bedroom now, along with the yard where he and Lucerys trained at arms. He toiled through the histories of wars and conflicts, pushing himself until blotches of crimson began to dot the ancient tomes.

He trained at arms diligently, in an almost ruthless, cutthroat manner. Lucerys had since long given up on duelling him in arms, and the knights that had trained the both of them since they were old enough to pick up a sword had pleaded with Jace on numerous occasions to exercise more leniency on his younger brother. Jace’s only response to that was, “Will leniency be afforded to you on the battlefield, Luke?”

To Rhaenyra, Lucerys and the rest of Jace’s family who cared deeply about him, it was admirable that Jace was pushing himself so hard. He clearly wanted to prove himself worthy of the title as future heir to the throne. But Rhaenyra could see far deeper than that. She recognised a reflection of her youth in her eldest son: the constant, debilitating need to prove himself. However, Rhaenyra did not know to whom he was trying to prove to. She had told him countless times of how proud she was of him and his prowess, but it was never enough.

Rhaenyra had not seen a genuine, happy smile grace her son’s face since his thirteenth nameday.

Jace could see his mother’s concern, could feel the worry of his brothers, the anxiety of Baela and Rhaena. He knew his refusal to open up had caused a slow, but increasingly noticeable rift between their relations, but how could he allow his family to witness his demons? To see the darkness that had been eating away at him like a parasite since he stepped foot into that godsforsaken fortune telling caravan?

He couldn’t.

He wouldn’t let the darkness taint his family’s joy, no matter what. This was a burden he must endure alone.

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

The day of Vaemond Velaryon’s petition brought out Jace’s paranoia which had been slowly building up over the years, like an ugly mountain of coal, to the forefront.

But as it always was, fate rendered Jace’s promise useless when they received word that the Greens had repudiated the succession and crowned Aegon as King of the Seven Kingdoms in sight of the smallfolk.

Jace nearly tore himself apart in rage, agony, and horror, at both himself and at the usurpers. How could this have happened? Jace’s mind was numb as he listened to the pained screams of his mother echo through the halls of Drgaonstone. How could he have failed so utterly in his promise to defend his family?

He felt like beating himself up even more when he failed to get Daemon to at least accompany his mother during her labours. It seemed like such a triviality to be angry at, given their circumstances, but watching his mother’s vacant-eyed stare at the corpse of his dead sister just made him want to bash his head with a rock. He felt like a complete failure: he had failed to control his temper around his uncles and to behave in the calibre which the future heir to the Iron Throne should have acted as, he had failed to foresee and prevent the Greens from usurping his mother, and he couldn’t even effectively convince his stepfather to be there for his mother.

And his snowballing of failures had led to the continuous, ominous echoing of the prophecy in his head. The constant feeling of being burnt alive.

But then, the Seven, or whatever capricious deity that held the strings to his miserable life, shone a beacon of light into his life again. When his mother gave him and Luke the task of going as envoys and renewing the allegiances of various lords and ladies in the Realm, Jace was determined to use this mission to make amends. He would not fail his mother no matter what, he told himself as he swooped through the clouds, Vermax rumbling under him, as though sensing his rider’s fierce determination.

He had landed first in the Eyrie, where he had initially received a frosty reception from the Lady Jeyne. With skillful persuasion and a reminder of the lady’s own familial ties to his mother through his grandmother, and the promise to send dragonriders to the Vale, Prince Jacaerys had just successfully completed his first envoy.

He didn’t stay for long however, flying off the next day upon a restless sleep in the Eyrie’s chambers. Time was not on his side when it came to the prophecy, and Jace dreaded to think that every single second he took to idle or dawdle would cost his family their lives. He didn’t want to see the vacant-eyed stare his mother had at his sister’s funeral mirrored in her death.

He then flew to Sisterton, then to White Harbour, and each time, he spoke with the lords firmly, yet charmingly, persuading them to his mother’s cause with promises and betrothals and reminders of their oaths. Jace found that he might yet be a fluent speaker in the language of diplomacy.

However, now, despite his continuous successes, Jace never felt more nervous as he and Vermax soared above the snowy expanse of the North. Enervated grunts sounded from Vermax, and Jace felt sympathetic to his dragon. He clearly does not take well to the cold. But they couldn’t stop now, not when Jace was so close to completing his mission to his mother. He couldn’t disappoint her now.

Cregan Stark was a man with a reputation, and not necessarily a helpful one to Jace. he was known to be stern, formidable, but the Northmen were known to be men of their word, and to have never broken an oath. But the Northern lords always had little interest in Southron politics, and Jace feared that the Wolf of Winterfell might take a stance of neutrality in the conflict instead.

However, he couldn’t turn back now, and it wasn’t like he would do it if given the choice. The prophecy lingered over his head like a dreary cloud as of late, and Jace’s nightmares had intensified in its vivid horror. Vermax let out a shuddering grunt, as if in sync to his rider’s perturb.

I can’t fail. I won’t fail. Jace thought to himself firmly, as Vermax’s leathery wingbeats began to slow as the structure of Winterfell loomed in the distance. ‘There has to be a way to stop the prophecy’s events from coming true somehow. There must.’

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

Jace’s initial reception at Winterfell was as chilly as the climate in the North, even with the heat from the sauna emanating from the walls. Cregan Stark had lived up to everything Jace had been fearing, a stern, formidable man of few words, and seemingly disinterested in the brewing conflict. “The North has no place in Southron politics, my Prince,” Cregan had told Jace. Jace had a feeling he was trying to convey a sort of sympathy in his words, but the man’s face was unyielding as he spoke.

A sentiment that Cregan had expressed had given Jace a small sliver of hope, “However,” the imposing man said, clinking down his cutlery. “Tis’ true that my late father swore an oath of obeisance to your mother. And House Stark, and the North, will honour that oath no matter what.”

Jace had attempted to seize on that to leverage Lord Cregan’s support, but the man seemed adamant not to interfere. Jace spent the next moments picking listlessly at his meal, trying to decide the next best course of action. The Northern lord seemed as unyielding as stone, much to his growing frustrations.

“If I may say something personal, my Prince,” Cregan’s low, thoughtful voice broke the silence. Jace’s heart leaped at the voice, coming to life with the hope for negotiations again. “Please, speak freely, my Lord.” “You remind me of my late younger brother, my Prince.” Jace tried to shove down his spike of disappointment, instead feigning politeness as he asked, “I am flattered. Do you hold fond memories of him?” Cregan nodded slowly, his eyes studying Jace’s every move like a hawk. “Many of them, in fact.” “May I ask in what way do I remind your Lordship of your late brother?” Jace inquired, out of courtesy more out of genuine curiosity.

Cregan fixed his flinty gaze on Jace, the corners crinkling a little in memory. “The burden. The feeling of all the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

Jace didn’t quite know what to answer to that, shrinking uncomfortably into his seat as Lord Stark’s gaze penetrated through him. He suddenly felt more aware of his age than ever.

No other words were exchanged throughout the rest of their dinner.

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

Cregan had seen men driven by many things before: greed, anger, power, but he had never met someone quite like Jace Velaryon. A strange sense of urgency enveloped his every move, like he was racing against an invisible foe better known as time. Every one of his muscles always seemed taut in tension, his eyes broody, his mind clouded with a thousand storms of struggles.

Perhaps it was this sense of oddity that drew him to become more sympathetic to the young prince’s cause. He had noticed that the young prince had grown more dishevelled ever since their dinner in the hall where Cregan had refused to lead troops in Queen Rhaenyra’s name. He looked like a petrified animal, leg stuck in a trap.

Over time, Cregan began to warm up to the young Prince, taking his meals with him as Jace covertly tried to persuade Cregan into contributing his troops to his cause. Cregan was amused, but remained otherwise unswayed.

And then, the raven from Dragonstone arrived.

Cregan didn’t see Jace for a few days after that. The guards he had assigned to the young Prince had reported him looking nigh delirious, refusing to take more than a few bites of his meals, his eyes sunken in, and the occasional sounds of weeping coming from his chambers.

It seemed the young Prince had been truly broken. And who wouldn’t be, with the death of their younger sibling? Innocent blood spilled at war, Cregan shook his head as he reread the letter from the maester of Dragonstone. Kinslaying was a taboo among Westeros, and rightfully so. Even Cregan had been hesitant when dealing with his power-hungry uncle a few years ago, choosing to imprison him instead of carrying out the sentence meant for treason: execution.

When a week had nearly come and gone and Cregan had not caught sight of the Prince, he began to grow worried. The letter Cregan had received had requested for the immediate return of Jacaerys to Dragonstone, but the prince seemed to have no signs of moving in his mourning.

Cregan was startled to see the young Prince appear while he was breaking fast in his solar on the morrow. While he had sent the young Prince an invitation, as courtesy bode, the sudden appearance of Jace had him unnerved. Jace appeared detached, polite, every inch the prim and proper Prince he was. But what sent a chill through even the hardened Northman’s heart was the look in Jace’s eyes.

They looked steely determined, yet devoid of life, like he was a soulless shell of the person he was. The Prince before him was no man, but a wraith, worn thin by his inner turmoil.

As Cregan offered his condolences, Jace had only smiled faintly, thanking Lord Cregan emotionlessly. “I can only hope that the usurpers will be punished by the Gods for my brother’s death,” Jace’s eyes glowed with an unearthly sort of fury, Cregan noted with concern. “My brother committed no act worthy of such a gruesome death. And for the act of kinslaying, my uncle must pay with blood.”

“Justice will prevail, my prince,” Cregan reassured Jace, his black eyes filled with certainty. But what took Cregan aback was the hard look in Jace’s dark brown eyes: it was like wildfire, blazing and ready to consume everything in its path. And what unnerved the young Lord of Winterfell even more were the next words out of the Prince’s mouth: ‘What I desire is no longer just justice, but vengeance. I will rain fire and blood upon those usurpers who have harmed my kin, mark my words.”

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

Ever since receiving the missive informing Jace of Luke’s murder over Shipbreaker’s Bay, Jace felt like all time had ceased to exist. When once he fought to race against the clock to prevent the prophecy from coming true, now it seemed like nothing mattered anymore.

Somehow, he managed to secure an alliance with Lord Cregan, having moved the man enough for him to pledge himself wholeheartedly to his mother’s cause. Jace should have felt relieved: that the task he had set out to do was accomplished, but now, he felt naught but a gaping hole where his heart had been.

Luke had always been his baby brother. Joffrey was his youngest brother, but he was filled with an impish sort of charm and self-assuredness. Luke had been none of those. He was always the more serious, more sensitive of the three brothers. Jace had watched his mother place his dragon egg in his cradle. The first baby Jace had ever held in his arms was Luke. His precious, lovable, younger brother.

And now he was gone, his remains lost forever to the sea. Along with poor Arrax, and the remnants of House Baratheon’s allegiance. With Luke’s death, it was like Jace’s heart had hardened into cold, unyielding stone once more, like it did when he had feared for Luke’s disinheritance and potential punishment during Vaemond Velaryon’s punishment.

Dragonstone was an even drearier place now. The lingering feeling of despair that had been left in the aftermath of his mother’s stillbirth seemed to have increased tenfold, seeping into the walls and hovering above everyone in the fortress like a cloud of anguish.

Rhaenyra had swept Jace into her arms when he had returned. Too tired to even receive her son at the doors, both mother and son held each other and cried in Rhaenyra’s chambers as they mourned Luke, their sweet boy.

But after that, there was no time for tears. At least not anymore for Jace. Though he was still prone to walking into his younger brother’s room every morning to wake Luke up for their daily sparring sessions, he always halted in his path when he remembered. Luke was dead, and there was no coming back for him now.

Perhaps it was this constant feeling of gloom that began to drive Jace back into his old patterns of neglecting sleep. With Daemon gone, and his mother barely a fraction of what she used to be, Jace had to take charge as the future heir to the throne. He initially felt miserable, finding it useless to fight with one part of his heart having been stolen away and smashed to pieces.

Yet the echoing of the prophecy never ceased, and neither did the ticking of time. No, now was not the time for grief. There was still someone left to pay the price for Luke’s death, and Jace vowed that he would kill Aemond One-Eye with his bare hands, along with the rest of his traitorous kin.

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

The Hall of the Painted Table was in tumult, voices shouting over one another, loudest and most outraged among them was the voice of Lord Corlys, Jace’s grandsire.

It had been hours after the Battle of Rook’s Rest, and the Black council was in chaos, as Lord Corlys raged and screamed at Rhaenyra, who looked passive and sickly despite being seated at the head of the table.

“It should have been you,” Lord Corlys had screamed, his face a tangled mess of pure unadulterated rage and grief. Even Jace himself could not find the courage to stop his grandsire’s tirade, having experienced the death of Luke not too long ago. But an uncomfortable tingling plagued him as he watched his grandsire hurl curses at his already frail mother. He wasn’t sure whose side to take in this argument, so he kept silent, despite his reluctance.

The Battle at Rook’s Rest had not been the only blow they’ve suffered. Earlier, Ser Erryk had been slain, by the hands of none other than his turncloak brother, Ser Arryk. The bloody discovery had sent jolts of alarm through Jace, as he soon came to fear for the safety of his younger siblings, who were vulnerable should Dragonstone be infiltrated by any more knights such as Ser Arryk.

The seeds Jace had scattered on his laborious trip as an envoy had begun to bear fruit, and not a moment too soon. Quickly, Jace made arrangements for Luke’s betrothed, Rhaena, to make way to the Vale. going with her would be Joffrey, along with his mount Tyraxes. Too small to ride, yet Jace found a greater purpose in sending him as part of his promise to Lady Jeyne. The Vale was the most secure place in the realm, Jace had reassured his petulant brother, who did not wish to be apart from his family. When that did not work, Jace had instead convinced Joffrey that he was being sent to the Vale so that he may defend it against any of the usurper’s dragons, to which Joffrey eventually reluctantly acquiesced, though with a pout.

Barely had Joffrey and Rhaena been sent away then did Jace start making preparations to send both Aegon and Viserys away as well. Both of them were even younger than Joffrey, and should be kept the in the safest and furthest place possible, lest the usurper tried to use them as hostages. This time, Jace enlisted the help of Lord Corlys, mending the broken bonds between them by naming his grandsire Hand of the Queen, a position Jace knew he had long coveted. With his grandsire’s help, they had made arrangements to send Aegon and Viserys to Pentos. It was more secure than anywhere else in Westeros, his grandfather had reassured him as they sent them both off.

All this had been accomplished within the matter of a few days, yet Jace still felt restless. An unpleasant knot had formed in his stomach at Joffrey and Rhaena’s send off, and it only multiplied in its discomfort as Aegon and Viserys set sail. But I’ve done it , Jace thought, trying to console himself. That fortune teller can’t get all of my family now. I made sure that they were sent to the safest places in the whole of Westeros and Essos. I’m safe. We are all safe.

Convinced, Jace had settled into bed that night, shutting his eyes with a grim sort of victory pumping through his veins. See how your god is a falsehood, he wanted to taunt the fortune teller, triumphant in his victories.

He didn’t feel so victorious, however, when he fell into a deep slumber, and came face to face with the fortune teller’s face. This time his dream was tranquil, with no signs of fire anywhere. Jace had nearly hollered in sheer, utter relief, thinking he was free from the nightmarish landscape of that night’s visions at last.

A slender hand reached out to Jace, and Jace levelled a baleful glare at the fortune teller, who only serenely shrugged and continued holding out her hand. “It is rude to refuse a lady’s hand, my Prince.” That voice that had once enticed him, that had been the source of his dread for the past few years.

He couldn’t tell whether he wanted to throttle the woman or kiss her.

She had looked much unchanged since their encounter in the caravan, Jace thought as he took her hand, slightly relishing in the warmth of it. That certainly didn’t feel like a dream. He looked around, registering nothing but rolling grass fields of an unnatural blue-green hue and trees with leaves of the same colour. Frosty pink roses dotted the landscape ever so often, and their sickly sweet nectar wafted through the air.

“Is this real?” The woman tilted her head, and Jace’s eyes couldn’t help but follow the movement of her neck. Damn, he cursed himself internally. He needed to get a hold of himself. Keep himself focused on whether this was reality.

“It’s as real as my god deems it to be, Prince Jacaerys,” she informed him, and a harsh laugh rolled off Jace’s tongue. “Your god, is nothing but a falsehood, my lady,” Jace informed her, his voice dripping with venom at the thought of what he had lost. Luke. His mother’s joy and happiness. His mother’s and his rightful birthright. Though Jace knew it was the greed of the Greens that drove them to such straits, Jace couldn’t help but feel resentful to this unknown, eldritch god who had driven his paranoia for the past few years.

The woman’s face did not show any visible indicators of outrage, but a thunderous flicker in her stormy eyes made Jace feel a little cowed. He did not believe in the god that this woman did, yes, but he knows that there is something unearthly about the woman before him. Her eyes already narrated such an expressive story, Jace wondered about what would happen if all the power swirling in her was put on display in its full fury.

“I’m sure you thought you’ve evaded sailing into the eye of the storm,” the woman began to walk. Jace stared after her, perplexed, but began to walk with her nonetheless. The sweet smell in the air began to dissipate, and Jace felt a wave of nausea in his abdomen as he began to smell burning flesh again. But it was gone in an instant, replaced by the more calming scent of something like honeysuckle.

“A man seized by fear may do something moronic in the spur of the moment.. A man who allows fear to take control of him is as good as dead.” Anger bubbled in Jace, though he tried to tamp it down, worried that if he broke the serenity of their talk, the nightmarish scenes of fire consuming everything in its path and the dead faces of his family would return. Not that. Anything but that.

“Had your god not shown me those visions, do you think I would have become a man ruled by fear?” Jace retorted in a calm voice, as they strode into a meadow, dotted with red roses. Jace was desperate to keep this conversation going, to know if he had been successful in tricking the heavens. He knew this woman held the answers to his success in the palm of her hand. He just wished he could stop his eyes from wandering and admiring her visage instead of the scenery.

“Every man is ruled by fear, my Prince,” the woman’s voice was amused. “And are you telling me you regret seeing those visions? Would you rather have remained blissfully ignorant?”

“Maybe,” Jace reached out to pluck a blood red rose, admiring its crisp petals. “Perhaps if I did, then I wouldn’t have to watch the ones I love die in my dreams, slaughtered by our enemies. Maybe then, I wouldn’t have to watch my worst nightmares come to reality, to see Lucerys die and be helpless to stop it.”

“But it’s over now,” Jace and the fortune teller turned to face each other. Her impassive look unnerved Jace slightly, but still, against his better judgement and by some raw, magnetic pull of the universe, he tucked the rose he had plucked free of thorns in the woman’s hair.

“Joffrey and Rhaena are in the Vale, the safest place there can be in the realm. And Aegon and Viserys are in Pentos. Or soon to be.” He tilted his head upwards cockily. “I have beaten your god. And he would never be able to get the rest of my family. Not now, not ever, and if he wants to, he’ll have to spit on my dead, cold corpse.”

Jace had intended to provoke the woman, to goad her into admitting that he had played his cards right and well, but her next words caught him off-guard.

“And what of King’s Landing? The Greens and their dragons?” She reminded him. “The murderer of your brother and unborn sister still remain at large, and the usurpers will live to breathe another day, the same as the rest of your family. Tell me, is your happiness truly just relegated to the safety of your family?”

“You know you desire more, Jacaerys Velaryon.”

The meadow filled with an eerie silence. The fortune teller’s eyes pierced through Jace’s, as if extracting all his deepest secrets with just a single, searing glance.

“...you’re right,” Jace gritted his teeth. “It’s not enough. And I will raze the usurpers to the ground, every single last one of them, for conspiring against my mother. For murdering my brother.”

“But if it’s a choice between vengeance and the safety of your family?” The woman’s voice was playful, a stark contrast to the subject matter they were discussing. “Is that your god’s way of telling me that I am doomed to follow one path or the other?” Jace asked sarcastically. He noticed that when he got more worked up, the familiar smell of burning flesh became stronger, before being quickly suppressed by a sickly sweet scent.

“Mortals cannot have it all, Jacaerys Velaryon. We must make compromises.” Jace thought of Luke, poor, sweet Luke, losing his life at the hands of their uncle, thinking of his mother and the pain she had suffered through his miscarriage, hot white anger blinding him. But he also thought of Joffrey, Baela, little Aegon and Viserys, his mother, his grandsire, and Daemon. For all the wrongs the Green had wreaked upon them, if Jace ever came to the position where he had to choose between taking off Aemond’s head with his sword and protecting Joffrey, say, would he hesitate? What would he choose?

“Not any more,” Jace forced out. “I will be controlled no longer by your god’s visions. By the fear he had instilled in me.”

“My family has the power. We have the dragons and strength in numbers,” Jace’s voice rose in conviction. “The rest of my family are safely stowed away. What’s to stop us from raining blood and fire upon the usurpers?” The overwhelming smell of burning flesh was overtaking his senses again, and not even the sickly sweet scent of the meadow could hide it anymore. “I will prove your god wrong, my lady,” he informed her, a crude sort of determination in his voice. “The Targaryens are closer to gods than to men, after all.”

The roaring in his ears grew louder and louder, and suddenly Jace was back in the battlefield of bodies again, the sky filled with shrieks as dragons plummeted to the ground. It was as if the fortune teller’s god was striking him down for his challenge to it. The hellscape blistered with smoke and fire, but Jace was insistent, continuing to yell. “You’ll see! You’ll all see.”

Jace fought back the urge to flinch as he felt the burning sensation of fire engulfing him, forcing his screams of pain down his throat. That nightmare again. So he hadn’t escaped after all. His breathing grew heavier, as the flames grew greater in intensity and temperature. He could barely see anything now, and it felt worse than all the previous nightmares he had had. Was he wrong to have challenged the fortune teller’s god so boldly? To want to turn the tides of fate?

“I will prove you and your god wrong!” Jace shouted, thrashing and trying to wrangle himself free from the prison of flames. “You will not touch my family no matter what! No more of them! I swear this on all my ancestors of Old Valyria, that you will have my family’s lives only if you spit and step on my dead body! Just try it!”

A fiery burst of flame blinded his eyes, and Jace let out an agonised scream as he felt himself being burnt alive.

And then he was falling into an empty pit, his limbs outstretched and his heart seized by terror.

A figure bolted upright from the lavish four-poster bed in one of the more secluded rooms in Dragonstone, gulping in the fresh air greedily. His sheets were stained with sweat as Jace wearily wiped a hand down his face, dismayed but not surprised to see a patch of scarlet stain his palm as a steady trickle of blood dripped from his nose.

His heart thudding, Jace tried to recollect himself as his heart thudded in his chest. Yet again, the fortune teller’s calm, flowing voice filled his head as he recalled the last words he heard while he was hurtling through the empty vortex.

“Dragonseeds.”

A warning, Jace started, or another prophecy. But what does it mean?

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

Jace couldn’t quite find the steely strength that used to take hold of him every morning as he walked down to the Hall of the Painted Table. His vivid dream and talk with the fortune teller the night before had not yielded his intended result, to say the least.

His grandsire was holding court as usual, and they immediately settled on their newest problem now that the younger children were away and out of the castle: the problem of their dragons. While the Blacks did have strength in numbers, having Syrax, Caraxes, Vermax, and even Baela’s Moondancer, as she insisted, against Aemond One-Eye’s Vhagar, the battle to retake King’s Landing or to withstand an assault by Vhagar would be a risky one. The loss of Meleys had been a devastating blow for the Black council’s earlier plans to take back King’s Landing as soon as possible, for it remained a key symbol of legitimacy that supported Aegon the Usurper’s rule.

Jace sat stoically in his chair as Baela and his grandsire fielded suggestions and assessments on the risk factor of taking King’s Landing with their current dragons, lost in thought. His mind was focused on the dream he had last night, of death and battle and destruction that somehow felt more real and close to any dreams he had in the previous years, but also because of that fortune teller.

That darn woman. With her mysterious words, her expressive eyes, her solemn wisdom falling from her very kissable lips-

“Jace.” Jace wanted to kick himself for even thinking about such thoughts, when his betrothed was right next to him. Baela arched an eyebrow, clearly noticing how distracted he was. “My apologies, did you address me?” Jace murmured lowly to her, averting his grandsire’s disapproving gaze.

“I asked what you thought about attacking King’s Landing with our current forces,” Corlys’ lips were pressed in a thin line, looking slightly displeased that his grandson had been caught lacking in his duties. Jace was about to repeat just about what everyone in the room had voiced out, when the fortune teller’s words from last night rang through his mind.

Dragonseeds. Wild, untamed dragons on the island.

Seven fucking Hells.

“I would like to make a proposal.”

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

Lord Corlys had been dubious but intrigued about the plan of the Sowing of the Dragonseeds, but the Black council, including Baela, had seemed receptive to the idea. Particularly the Council. Jace wondered if he had made the right call when he saw the shifty looks on the various councillors’ faces, clearly hoping to claim a dragon of their own. After all, the Targaryens boasted their dragons as their might, should they be lucky enough to get the chance to bond with one…

The gold and knighthood Jace had planned to offer along for anyone successful enough to tame the dragons would pale terribly in comparison to a dragon.

Jace was alone on the balcony with a view of the eastern slopes of the Dragonmont, musing, when he suddenly heard the doors slide open. His eyebrows shot to his hairline and his heart pounded with delight when Rhaenyra Targaryen emerged on the balcony, garbed in black. She had only been wearing black ever since Luke’s funeral, or the makeshift one they were forced to arrange without his remains.

“Mother,” Jace greeted, moving to bow, but Rhaenyra halted his movements, moving to take his hands. “Oh my son,” she murmured softly, stroking Jace’s hair like she used to do when he was younger. “My strength and my consolation.”

Jace felt a fluttery feeling in his heart, but also a deep pit of longing and sadness in his stomach. This was the mother he had missed sorely, not the one tucked away behind the vacant-eyed stare, face subdued during council meetings and always looking preoccupied with her own thoughts.

“Mother. Have you heard of my plan about the Dragonseeds?” Jace asked softly, a warmth spreading across his cheeks as his mother gently stroked his hand with her thumb. His mother smiled, “I have. I think it is a sensible plan. More dragons on our side is never a bad thing.” Her eyes glittered with pride as she reached out and cupped Jace’s face in her hands gently.

Taken aback but not at all averse to the gesture, Jace let himself be soothed, letting all the nightmares, that nonsense about the prophecy be evaporated into thin air. All he needed was his mother’s comfort.

“Oh, my sweet boy, how I have let you down,” Rhaenyra spoke tenderly, sorrow in her voice. Jace felt something in the spell break, Rhaenyra was speaking to Luke. Not to Jace. A bit of Jace’s happiness gave way to sadness.

“You haven’t let me down, Mother,” Jace tried to reassure her, but his voice came out a little croaky. “I should be fighting for you. It is my duty as your son and heir to the throne.”

A little of the vacantness slid back into Rhaenyra’s lilac eyes. “I’m glad you know that, Jace,” she said quietly, but it broke Jace’s heart to see how far away she was. How her heart never fully repaired after Luke.

But for now, Jace was content in acting as a placeholder for Luke, if it meant that his mother would return to him bit by bit. How long it took did not matter, he just wanted his family to be able to heal, to survive. He would shoulder a thousand burdens if it meant he would see them all safe and sound.

The prophecy rumbled through his head again, but he tamped it down, not wanting it to poison his moment with his mother.

“You’ve grown skinnier, Jace,” the pads of Rhaenyra’s fingers gently traced under Jace’s undereyes, where his eyebags were more prominent than ever. “Are you well? You need not feel too troubled, you know. We will win the war, because I am the rightful heir to the throne. The rightful queen of the Seven Kingdoms.” His mother’s voice was so full of conviction, so much like the mother he had known, that Jace didn’t have the heart to tell her that conviction did not win wars.

Whomever favoured fate did.

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

The Dragonseeds plot had worked its magic, and soon enough, four of the six wild dragons had been tamed. While Jace had not come to trust them just yet, he felt a little abashed. Was he just treating them with mistrust just because they were of bastard birth? He knew he had no prerogative to think in that shameful manner, after all, wasn’t that being a little bit of a hypocrite himself?

There was no time to dwell on guilt however. With the sowing of the Dragonseeds, Jace, Rhaenyra and Corlys had been advancing the plan for the taking of King’s Landing at breakneck pace. Jace felt a warm relief spread through him as he began to see his mother participate more actively in council meetings, and he could see how much it invigorated the council too. The former self-assured, rosy glow his mother had would never quite be the same, but Jace was content to settle for this for now.

Alas, all good things did not last.

They had underestimated the strength of the Greens’ alliance with the Triarchy, as demonstrated when his younger brother, Aegon, returned on a faltering Stormcloud, in terror after having been attacked by Triarchy warships in the Gullet, and losing his younger brother, Viserys in the ensuing melee.

Rhaenyra turned pale as soon as she heard the news of Viserys’ disappearance, collapsing into her chair and no longer speaking another word. Still, she listened and watched as Jace and Corlys began discussing plans to counter the threat of the Triarchy, knowing that if House Velaryon’s hold on the Gullet broke, it would be a resounding strategic win and gain in resources for the Greens.

Thus on the fifth day of the new year of 130 AC, a flurry of dragons and ships departed from Dragonstone, all headed for the Triarchy. Jace commanded Vermax, along with the other Dragonseeds, his lips pressed in a thin line and eyes haggard with lack of sleep. His nose had been bleeding oft as of late, even now, as they drew closer to the Gullet, but Jace only wiped it away with a fierce look on his face.

It was his first battle as the heir to the Iron Throne, and he was going to show those Triarchy bastards they had chosen the wrong side to back.

Swooping down on a line of Lysene warships, Jace narrowed his eyes as he heard the alarmed calls of “dragon!” among the crew. Good.

“Dracarys!” Hungry dancing flames licked the wooden remains of the Lysene warships, as chaos broke out throughout the fleet of Triarchy warships. “Hold your formations!” Jace could hear the soldiers scrambling, but more frenzied shouts began filling the air, as the shapes of Vermithor, Sheepstealer, Silverwing and Seasmoke appeared in the skies.

“Fire!” Jace barely had time to react before a Myrish crossbolt had nearly struck Vermax’s underbelly. His dragon let out an enraged shriek as it swooped for the offending vessel, burning it to ashes. Jace gritted his teeth, they had clearly learnt this tactic from their time in dealing with Daemon in the Stepstones.

Egging Vermax on with a roar, he bade Vermax to destroy as many vessels loaded with crossbolts as possible. Already, some ships were beginning to turn, a good sign for them. Jace was confident that the battle would end in a resounding victory for them.

Just then, he flew past Seasmoke, whose rider, Addam Velaryon, looked ashen. Jace’s gaze shot to where he was staring at, where the ships were headed straight for Driftmark and Dragonstone. Fuck.

“Stay here!” He yelled a command to Addam, already directing Vermax to head back to defend Dragonstone and Driftmark. “I’ll handle this. Burn every ship that has one of those fucking crossbolts, and don’t fly too close to the water.”

With that, Vermax’s leathery wingbeats headed for Dragonstone once more. Please, Jace begged, hoping to make it in time. No more of my family. Not my mother, or little Aegon. Please no.

Perhaps if Jace was more careful, more alert, he would’ve noticed the squadron of ships, veiled by the smoke of the fires Jace had set earlier. Perhaps if he hadn’t chosen to fly so close to the edge of the water, hoping to conceal Vermax’s presence and sneak an attack from behind instead of from above, he would’ve noticed the crossbolt aimed at Vermax’s eye.

A loud roar filled the air, one which could be heard all the way across from Dragonstone. Vermax shrieked and flailed, as both squadrons of ships attacked at the same time, loosing crossbolts at him. Jace panicked, trying to redirect him to fly up, to escape, to flee, but a horrific screech erupted from Vermax as a crossbolt pierced his eye. Jace was gripped with fear as he began to unbuckle his saddle as Vermax careened for the waters.

In his frenzied fury of pain, Vermax loosed several fireballs, which hit the ships in front of him, destroying the back of some of the squadron headed for Dragonstone. The ships splintered into pieces as they exploded, and the remaining ships shouted orders to row away from the firing range of the dragon.

As Vermax hit the waters with a loud crash, Jace finally got loose of his saddle. Spotting an adrift, large shipwreck near him, he leaped free…

And landed on the shipwreck, barely clinging on in the freezing waters. He struggled to keep afloat as Vermax continued thrashing about in the waves, and his heart ached as he watched his beloved dragon suffer.

Then, a sharp, excruciating pain filled his left chest, and Jace looked away from Vermax to see an arrow lodged in his chest, piercing his dragonriding leathers.

Fuck.

Jace tried to make himself look smaller, anything to seem less conspicuous, but a volley of arrows were shot in his direction. Most of them missed in the dark, but the pain was blinding to the point where Jace’s feeble grip on the wood slowly loosened, and he thrashed about wildly in the cold sea waters, gasping for breath. The weight of his dragonriding leathers and scarce amount of armour did not work well in his favour however, and the treacherous waves soon dragged him down, into the deep dark depths of the ocean.

I cannot die now, Jace thought, sputtering for air desperately. My family, my mother needs me. She cannot lose another son-

The currents were getting harsher and harsher, as Jace bled out helplessly on the water. Armour, he needed to dislodge his armour- he frantically attempted to remove it, but as he lost more and more blood, his limbs grew number and number, and soon, he could barely retain consciousness.

‘I’ve failed. I’ve failed them all.’ was Jacaerys Velaryon’s last thought as he was pulled beneath the currents by invisible tendrils of water, into the murky depths below.

‘I’m sorry I failed to protect everyone.’

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

In his dreams, Jace was at the meadow again. The woman was nowhere to be seen, but he could feel her presence all around him. A light, serene sort of happiness filled him, and he felt the phantom feeling of warm arms wrapped around him from behind.

It was something he hadn’t felt in years. An eerily calm sense of bliss. But Jace didn’t care, he was too busy relishing in the moment where his mind was free of his demons. Free from worrying about his family’s survival, about the prophecy, and about the war.

In his blurred senses, he could see someone smiling at him, a tender, playful one. A warm breath grazed his ear and the voice from his sweetest dreams and most horrid nightmares spoke in that calm, flowing manner of hers.

“The living are not quite done with you yet, Jacaerys Velaryon.”

And that was the last thing he heard before darkness consumed him once more. At least this time there was no pain.

The first thing Jacaerys registered when he woke up was the faint scent of snapdragons. He groaned as he awakened, feeling an agonising pain in his shoulder as he tried moving.

Aren’t I supposed to be dead? Jace remembered the events of the battle of The Gullet, where he had watched Vermax flail about in the sea, screeching as he fought not to drown in the cold depths of the ocean. His heart ached at the loss. Another one of my family gone, in the blink of an eye. And in the sea too. He wondered how the battle ended, did they win?

But that soon became a minor concern as he began pondering…where exactly was he? He looked around, trying to sit up, but the pain in his shoulder forced him to fall back onto his pillow with a groan. So he was still alive then. Sudden panic gripped him. Had he been taken hostage by the Green forces? But if he had, then he would be in a far worse state than he was now.

He glanced around the small space, noting that he was in a cottage of sorts. The smell of salt was heavy in the air, and the sky outside was grey and gloomy. Had some fisherman rescued him when he washed upon the shore? And if so, where in the Seven Hells was he now? The Crownlands? He definitely didn’t wash ashore on Dragonstone, or he would have been handed over to his mother. His heart ached as he wondered how his mother must have reacted to the news of his death. Once he ascertained his whereabouts and who had saved him, he would fly home for Dragonstone immediately….Jace sighed when he remembered that Vermax was dead now. He would send a raven or any messenger bird he could find then.

The sound of the front door to the cottage opening caught Jace’s attention and he tried bolting upright, but yelped when his shoulder pain acted up again. He waited with bated breath as the door to his room opened, and revealed his saviour and possible enemy. However, the sight before him left him thunderstruck.

In that instant, Jace’s heart felt like it had stopped and then had been jolted forcefully back to life again by a tight grip.

No. No, no, no, it was impossible. He had died, had felt the arrows pierce through his chest near his heart, before he fell prey to the treacherous waves of the Gullet, drowning in his failure. This has to be some false afterlife, set up to torment me.

And yet, the pain in his lungs was overbearing, and definitely real, as he sat on the bed like he had been bolted to it, tightly clutching the coarse bedsheets in his fists.

The whole world seemed to stand still as his eyes took in the familiar figure, holding a basket of herbs in her arms. Garbed in simple peasant clothing, yet that did not diminish her otherworldly beauty.

“ You. ”

“Me.” An insouciant, wry grin graced her lips, and it was like Jace’s most horrible nightmares and his dreams were blossoming before his very eyes.

“Welcome back to the world of the living, Prince Jacaerys.”

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

published as part of the HOTD Big Bang 2023

Part 2 will be published soon! If you made it this far, thank you for reading! 💗

87 notes · View notes

haruchiyo-sanzu · 1 year

Text

━━ 𝗋𝖺𝗂𝗇𝗒 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝗇𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌.

pairing : timeskip!suna rintarō x fem!reader

characters : miya atsumu (mentioned, as the no. 1 drama queen).

genre : fluff

warnings : lowercase, not proofread. time skip! may contain manga spoilers, cringy dialogues and pretentious writing.

notes : so it's rainy season in india, and since rain is so romanticised, it calls for a fic. can you tell i wanna cuddle with rin as we stay in bed whilst listening to the sound of rain? yeah i wanna do that.

ps : i was supposed to post it during june but it really slipped my mind.

it begins as a whisper in the wind.

the night had been beautiful with twinkling stars layering a blanket over the firmament, and the sky ── a dome of midnight blue, with gentle breeze softly sweeping past the streets and roads that occasionally made even the mighty trees to sway to its melody and the leaves to pirouette and prance along its tempo.

but the early morning zephyr that had been still and silent on preceeding days seems to have gained a slight movement as if it has finally discovered its trajectory yet is content to meander at its own pace, has now turned into violent gales, harshly cold by the time morning breaks out in a humid haze. there is tapping on the window which turns into a pitter-patter sound as it showers down; mist lingers in the air as the blazing sun hides behind the mass of grey clouds surrounding the aether ─── simply splendid! raining the day you have an important meeting.

you don't know what time it is in the morning when your eyes slowly flutter open to the sound of heavy rain pouring down onto the earth reaching your ears and the ephemeral scent of petrichor tickling your nose, siesta entangled within the nook your lashes which you rub grogilly, blinking twice to comprehend your surroundings before you try to get off the bed.

key word : try.

suna has an arm wrapped around your waist in a gentle yet tight grip, his face nuzzling in the crook of your neck ── you would have been annoyed at the whole ordeal (first it's raining, second you are most likely going to be late) but looking at how tranquil and peaceful he looks, you cannot bring yourself to push him off and wake him up, and subconsciously your face softens, as you lovingly brush stands of brown hair out of his eyes.

(he had returned home later than usual, having to stay back to get extra practice for an upcoming match, and crashed on the bed as soon as he came back. he really must have been tired because he didn't bothered giving a sarcastic remark or the middle finger when you had made a remark, about how much he stunk because of the lingering sweat).

you reach for suna's mobile phone kept on the bedside table, the sudden illumination of screen glares at you as it reads 8 : 19 in bold, there are several notifications popping up ── mostly from the miya twins and one from his sister. he'll check that later, placing the phone back from where you took it, you try to get him off you (but pushing a 6'3 athlete is no easy task).

his green eyes flick open as they blink at you, adjusting to the light ── up close, you can see the specs of brown in the chartresure of his irises, one look at them and they take you in, holding you captive, as they journey you into the woods, trees upon trees upon trees, with sunlight reflecting on them, a golden tint. they make you dive into nature itself. his eyes are beautiful ─── ethereal, one the poets write about and artists try to capture in their paintings; even now he looks so angelic, that is until you remember that suna rintarō is the devil reincarnate. “morning beautiful.” he mumbles sweetly then adds : “early morning and you're already staring at me. i'm really that irresistible, eh?” he says (his voice deep and husky, it makes your heart flutter), a smug grin on his features, which you wished to wipe off. you only glare at him in response before hitting him with a pillow.

“no. not at all.” you answer rather haughtily, then motion at his arm wrapped around your torso. “actually, i would appreciate if you'd let me get up.”

“no.”

“what do you mean no?”

“no means no.” he asserts, shifting his position to further nuzzle his in the curve of your neck. “did nobody teach you that?”

“oh, shut up rin. i don't have time for this.” you try to push him off but he takes your hand in his instead guiding it to his head, urging you to continue playing with his hair, he adores it when you do that (like a cat! but he won't admit it). so you move your fingers through his hair, combing and curling it (you can swear he is more cat than human) “i have a meeting today, i don't want to be late just because my boyfriend wanted to sleep. so get up!”

“just five minutes.”

“no.”

“come on, don't be like that.”

“no means no. nobody taught you that?” suna can practically hear the grin in your voice.

“it's raining heavily. call quits?” he suggests. “you can get sick.”

suna is clingy this morning (clinger than usual). blame it on his extra practice which ended later than his normal timings, so yesterday night he had been unable to cuddle with you and had dropped on the bed instead.

“i wont be walking there, y'know?”

“car accidents increase during heavy rain.” he's pulling you down with him, leg entangling with your own as he lays fleeting butterfly kisses on your neck.

“stay.” he murmurs, now towering over you, his voice is barely above a whisper, he is looking at you now, his eyes a soothing green, green ── that you swear can pierce your soul and see the crude and raw parts of you, in the most gentle and loving ways, like a childhood wound you get while playing ── clashes with your own. he leans in closer, and the world seems to fade away like rust and dust. the scenery outside, the sound of pouring shower, the empty, rain-stained streets and him ─── it is just too beautiful, and you can spend the rest of your life admiring it. “please.”

he tucks a strand of your hair behind your ear, his breath tickling your ear. “you know, you're staring again. maybe you should take a picture or even create a whole album for yer amazing boyfriend.” apparently that was enough to snap you out of it. you grab another pillow, and awing it at his head ── careful not to hurt him, but suna being number two drama queen (because no. 1 is atsumu, no arguments accepted!) had to let out an ouch! meanie. this gives you the opportunity you needed, (after gathering up all your courage and determination) you finally leave the comfort of your bed, instantly missing the warmth it provided, the silken sheets and suna's arm wrapped around you.

suna has a pout on his face, you merely roll your eyes at him before standing in front of the window ── still raining heavily, the trees outside look too preety to be real, it's almost as if you're in heaven. the glimmering sun is nowhere to be seen, which is a realief from the usual scotching heat of the mornings which only seem to intensify as the sun changes its trajectory. but the peaceful and tranquil rain certainly makes one yearn for a hot cup of coffee and a good book to read. but job is job. so with a sigh you grab your hair tie before pulling your messy, bed hair into a rough ponytail.

the click! sound of photograph is what snaps you attention back towards you boyfriend, who has his mobile phone in his hand and the flashlight zooming in and out of focus as he continues to click pictures of you. tch! clicking your tongue in annoyance you send him a glare before commenting : “Who's clicking pictures now? you're miss me that much while i'll be away?”

“no.” he dedpans as he looks at you bored (you know he's somewhat sad...? or mad...? sometimes it's hard to discern his emotions, but he certainly isn't happy so you made a mental note to watch a movie with him tonight after you get back and cuddle with him and get some popcorn too). “it's actually for my album titled ── vicious monkey.” he says monotonously. you blink, suna can be mean sometimes. your fists clench as you glare daggers at him. that's it! no movies tonight. no hugs. no popcorn. you take the pillow at the corner of the bed, which was almost falling off, and hit his shin with it ── this time with much force (because you don't have a good comeback this time, although you won't admit it ever).

“ow! what's this?” he exclaims (after hissing at you as he gently ran his hand through his legs) in a voice certain octaves higher than usual, as if he's about to announce something very important. he gives you a look before turning back to his phone reading : “breaking news : volleyball star brutally murdered by mad girlfriend.”

“he must have deserved it.” you point out. you know suna has a sarcastic remark to make, which usually lied on borderline offensive, by the look on his face but the ringtone of your mobile grabs your attention.

a call from the office, now? you frown swiping up the green recieve call option, then putting it to you ear, you greet with a simple : “hello.”

suna watches you silently, as you converse ── calls from boss is never good, most of the times they call you for work on weekends, but since you have to work today, how bad can it get? or maybe it can get worse, he doesn't really know, having no experience in working in an office (it sounds boring really. couldn't be him). it must've been important because he knows how much you love day-offs, he'd feel guilty (not that he'd admit it, again, he doesn't admit a lot of things) if you were to be late because of him.

“i could drop you, if you want.” he says once the call is over. you look over at him, a barely contained smile on your face. he archs an eyebrow, what happened?

“severe rain, the other party cannot make it. so the meeting's postponed till further notice.” you explain, although you cannot regain your sleep at least now you can have the day off.

“good for you. should have just listened to me in the first place.”

“hey, how was I supposed to know──” before you finish he is reaching for your hands, holds them in his and slowly pulls you towards him, you can feel his breath tickle your skin and how close he is to you, he leans in and all your previous words and complains hang in. he puts his finger on your lips.

“i'm glad you're here.” he whispers mostly to himself than to you. and you are too.

you have an arm wrapped around him, whilst his fingers find their home in the curls of your hair ── they're tangled, perhaps messy even but he smoothes them out. (he's good at it. sometimes he would even try different braids on your hair)

“your hair is worse than horse mane.”

(and he's also good at ruining perfect moments)

a click of your tongue and a light shove expresses your displeasure, “i hate you”

he kisses your temple, a stupid smile on his face, “i love you too.”

(and you love it when he smiles)

it ends with a whisper in the wind.

395 notes · View notes

mirkwoodshewolf · 2 months

Text

Family matters; Peter Quill x teen reader

*Author's note*

Well this request had been sitting in my inbox for awhile and I hope the anon who requested it is out there somewhere in the deep space of tumblr because I finally came around to writing it. It took some time due to life, work and moving houses during the holiday season but finally I was able to sit down and write this oneshot.

So as with any marvel oneshot there are some warnings of swearing, violence, and alluding to SA and r*pe but not on reader but a side character. So if the last warning triggers anyone just know it's not physically named but it is mentioned so I wont be butthurt of you wish to leave the story and not continue reading. Other than that I hope you all enjoy my darlings :)

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@queen-paladin

@gay-and-ready-to-cry

@queensdivas

@austynparksandpizza

_____________________________________________________________

“How is it that everytime I come up with a plan we always get what we want? But whenever it’s you who comes up with the plan, we get captured?!” Rocket exclaimed as he dangled upside down along with Peter.

“I already told you it was a face off!” argued Peter.

“And we’ve told you that a face off is a trap if you’re facing off against a stronger opponent!” Nebula snarled.

“It was a pretty convincing plan at first but now I agree with Rocket and Nebula, Peter.” Mantis said.

“You are a dumbass, Quill.” Said Drax.

The Guardians of the Galaxy had decided to help aid Thor in the case of the slaughtering of Gods. Shortly after they had parted, they came across the Aztec God temples but were soon ambushed by the Knights of Huitzilopochtli. Thinking he could go against the Aztec God of War, Peter decided to meet with the God himself in what he liked to call a ‘face off’, however Huitzilopochtli had no interest in making any sort of bargain or peace treaty, instead he now had Rocket and Peter dangling over a lava pit while Nebula, Mantis and Drax were bound in chains by their wrists and ankles on top of stone tables.

He would first sacrifice Rocket and Peter to lava pit, but not before cutting out their hearts and feeding them to his prized jaguars.

“Quill, if we get out of this alive I swear I’ll rip your face off!” Rocket snapped as he wriggled in the chains.

“Yeah, yeah and even if we die you’ll still rip my face off. Just-just—let me think.” Huitzilopochtli’s servants soon brought up three large cages that each contained a jaguar pacing aggressively in their cages. Hungry for blood.

“Let the ritual begin!” Huitzilopochtli proclaimed. The drums began pounding as the chanters did their ritual chant. Soon the Jaguar Knight came forward with a five inch steel dagger in his hands. Suddenly a metal wire shot out and knocked the dagger out of the jaguar knight’s hands. He let out a jaguar-like hiss as he looked up only to be kicked in the face by a young woman in pure black and grey metal suit that fit her like a glove. A metal knife suddenly extended out from the wrist gauntlets and she cut both Rocket and Peter free from their chains.

“Come with me if you want to live.” The mechanical voice from her helmet said. It was all a blur to the Guardians, the rescue happened to fast they hardly knew that they were escaping. Metal and rock had flew across the air and soon the jaguars had been released and were attacking anyone close by, devouring their flesh and feasting on their hearts.

When the Guardians finally got back to their ship and took off Mantis turned to the young woman and thanked her.

“We are grateful for your help in rescuing us.” The young woman touched the side of her helmet and it let out a hiss as it unhooked itself from it’s hinges and she removed her helmet to reveal a young teenage girl with what appeared to be a cybernetic gears infused around her left eye and across her forehead (almost like a circlet).

“No problem. Although I didn’t expect to go saving the Guardians of the Galaxy.”

“Okay first question, how much for the cybernetic circlet on your head?” asked Rocket.

“Rocket!” Mantis and Peter exclaimed.

“What?!”

“Hate to tell you this Rocket but this high-grade of metal is infused to my body.” She told them.

“Never stopped me before.” Shrugged Rocket.

“I am Groot!” Groot snapped.

“I think the main question is how did you know we were down at that ritual chamber?” asked Nebula suspiciously.

“Like I said before I didn’t. I originally went to Huitzilopochtli for a faulty deal on some priceless metal my mom had struck a deal with him. My aunt was originally going to take the job but I offered to go in her place. After all, no one suspects a young girl to do any harm, right?”

“That’s the ploy I’ve done in the past.” Said Nebula.

“After securing the right metal and making the point to never cross Zaofu again, that’s when I heard the drums and I saw you guys about to become his prized jaguar’s next meal. Lucky for us, those beasts don’t have any real loyalty to him.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on just a second there kid. You said you came from Zaofu? As in the Zaofu?” asked Rocket in awe.

“The very same. Unless there’s another planet in the galaxy by that title.”

“What’s Zaofu?” asked Peter.

“Oh-ho! Next to Nidavellir, Zaofu is the second greatest planet to ever exist. It’s home to some of the strongest and rarest metal in the entire galaxy. I would very much like to go there.” Rocket boasted.

“He’s right.” Said Nebula. “The metal from Zaofu is not only said to be the strongest but also the most durable. It’s where—Thanos gained some of my parts to make me better than Gamora.” She said looking down at her arm.

“I thought I had recognized that material. That’s our regenerative metal. Able to put itself back together no matter how extreme the damage. But we’ve only ever used that on people with birth defects or amputees. Had my mother known that it went to Thanos of all people, she’d never would’ve agreed. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. I’ve gotten used to it.” Nebula shrugged.

“I have to ask though, what is the Guardians of the Galaxy doing at the Temple of Huitzilopochtli? I mean I know you guys are willing to protect those throughout the galaxy but I didn’t think that included Gods of War.”

“It’s a long story.” Peter started off but Mantis said.

“We’re helping Thor with the God Killer.”

“Mantis!” hissed Nebula.

“What? She seems trustworthy.”

“God killer huh? That’s the first I’ve heard of it. I would’ve thought nothing could touch those deities.”

“So we thought too, but then we received a message from one of golden boy’s friends and apparently someone is literally slaughtering gods left and right. Already over 300 of them have been killed.” Explained Rocket. The girl let out a low whistle and said.

“Hog-monkeys. Well if you’re going up against an opponent like that, you’re gonna need something a lot stronger to fight and protect yourselves with. Cause if you though old Huitzilopochtli was bad, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

“You saying you’re allowing us to come to Zaofu?” asked Rocket.

“If you’re still up for it.”

“Well let me ask the captain about that, oh yeah it’s me. Yes we’ll go!”

“Rocket how many times do I have to say it I’m the Captain.” Hissed Peter under his breath.

“You know you really shouldn’t talk that way about your Captain, Quill. By the way, you never told us your name girlie.”

“Oh right how silly of my. The name’s (Y/n) Beifong. Daughter of High Lady Suyin Beifong of Zaofu.” She introduced herself.

“Wait, Beifong? You mean the richest family in the galaxy Beifong?” asked Rocket. “Say, do you think once we get you home and return the metal you’re people have been swindled out of, we could probably get a little reward for our part in the trade?” (Y/n) chuckled and said to him.

“Slow down there Captain, let’s just get back to Zaofu and talk to my mother about this. She’s the one in charge of the economy.” And with that the Guardians set course for the planet Zaofu.

It was a beautiful planet of green and earth all over the landscape. Lakes and rivers so crystal clear, they reflected the very sky itself and it’s two suns gave plenty of light but no heat to the land. As the Guardians soared over the land they soon came across an advanced city entirely made of metal.

“Agent to tower; this is Agent Beifong Badge #349876 requesting clearance to land. Tower guard this is Agent Beifong Badge #349876 requesting clearance to land.” (Y/n) said after punching in a few codes on the holographic pad in front of her.

‘Tower to Agent Beifong, your request is granted. Welcome home Princess.’ A male voice soon came up over the intercoms.

“Just take us West of the palace and land 50 degrees West heading 0-3-0.” She advised Rocket and Peter who nodded and together they followed her instructions and safely landed their ship on top of a large landing platform that stood just feet from a large skyscraper tower of the palace. (Y/n) grabbed the metal from her ship (that had been piggy-backed in the Guardian’s ship’s lower decks). Their ship opened up and they walked down the stairway and there stood to their right about ten guards all wearing the same metal tight uniform (Y/n) had on.

And just ahead of them stood two women. One wore the exact same armor but over her left breast plate was a silver badge in the shape of a star while the other woman beside her wore dark green tunic that rested over her green pants and sleeveless shirt. The tunic cover had a metal collar going around it with each plate slowly increasing in size before decreasing again as it came back around.

Much like (Y/n) a circlet rested over her head and she also wore gauntlets with metal plates in the shape of pentagons overlapping each other. Both women looked fairly similar to each other in that both had greying hair but were fair looking, although the woman in the armor had a more gruff appearance to her while the other woman had a more gentle facial expression.

The guards all slammed their fists together, the metal from their armors sounding out a loud clank as they greeted the Princess on her safe return. As (Y/n) and the Guardians stood before the two women, (Y/n) greeted them with a head bow.

“Chief, Mother. I have successfully secured the real metal we were promised and gave our message loud and clear to the War god Huitzilopochtli.”

“I never doubted you wouldn’t. You’re one of the best soldiers on the squad, and I’m not just saying that.” the woman in the black armor said.

“I’m just glad you’ve come home safely. And with some new friends I see.” The woman in the green tunic said.

“Yes, Mother, Chief Beifong, I’d like to introduce the Guardians of the Galaxy. They were prisoners of Huitzilopochtli when I went to secure the metal. About to be sacrificed to his prized jaguars. Guardians this is my mother and ruler of Zaofu Suyin Beifong, and my aunt and Chief of police, Lin Beifong.”

“That man knows nothing about diplomacy. Always kills first and asks questions later.” Suyin rolled her eyes.

“He is the God of War for a reason Suy.” Lin told her sister and she came up to (Y/n) and took the chess from her hands. “I’ll take this down to our research facility.”

“Yes Chief.” (Y/n) bowed to her and both her aunt and the police force walked off towards the lab.

“Now I had asked this to your daughter earlier that since we helped your daughter recover some prized and rare metal that was promised to you, don’t you think we should be given a little compensation for helping her return what was rightfully meant to be yours?” asked Rocket as he rubbed his thumb, index and tall fingers together.

“Rocket!” exclaimed Mantis.

“How about this, we’ll talk about payment if you all stay for dinner and take some rest here tonight.” Suyin offered.

“As much as we appreciate that Lady Beifong…..” Peter started off only to be politely interrupted by Suyin.

“Please call me Suyin. Lady Beifong was my grandmother.”

“Suyin. We’re kinda in a tight schedule. Apparently someone’s killing gods and we promised not-very good looking Thor that we’d try and figure out who’s behind the killings.”

“Actually I might have some information in regards to that. But in order to go up against him, you’re gonna need some of our weapons and armor. Come, join me and my family for dinner and we’ll discuss everything.” With that suggestion and offer, the Guardians accepted Suyin’s offer and joined the Beifong family for dinner.

After coming to a negotiation, Suyin had her engineers and scientists build and forge the Guardians new weapons and tech to take down any gods like Huitzilopochtli’s forces and powers. While observing the engineers add some new parts to their ship, Peter soon heard the sound of rocks being thrown around and crashing into a wall.

He went to investigate when he saw (Y/n) bending not only the rocks but metal as well. Shooting out a metal wire to cut apart some trees and pull their branches off, or successfully transform the large boulders into various shapes before firing them at various targets.

“I thought I was going crazy at first seeing you do all that back at Jaguar-man’s palace.” She jumped and fired one of her metal wires which wrapped around Peter in a tight cocoon sending him on his back.

“Oh Star-lord, forgive me I tend to strike whenever someone surprises me like that.” She released her wires and they zipped back into her gauntlets while Peter assured her.

“No worries, I’ve had worse done to me before.” She helped him up and he asked her. “So I’m guessing this is a normal after dinner activity for you?”

“I like to come out here to get away from it all. Don’t get me wrong I love my family to death but—sometimes I feel like I don’t belong here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Promise you won’t go blabbing to my mom about this?”

“Cross my heart.” Peter said as he crossed his heart for emphasis. (Y/n) extended her hand and two small rocks slowly rose up from the ground over her palm and as she slowly wriggled her fingers, the rocks spun in a gentle circle around each other in a dance over her palm.

“Believe it or not, this ability I’m doing right now. I’m the only person in my family that can do this.”

“But don’t the Beifong family have the ability to control metal?”

“It’s true to a degree. The suit of armor that both me and my aunt Lin wear, it helps them control metal but without it, they’re powerless. Ever since I was a young girl and discovered I could bend earth to my will, my mother said it was because of my father’s gift. But the thing is, my father doesn’t have this ability, nor does anyone in his bloodline. I’ve tried to ask my mother for the truth but she always tells me that it’d be too much for me to bear.”

“So you think that your mom—”

“Cheated on her real husband? I doubt it, cause whenever I did ask about him in the past, there’s always this—pure hatred in her eyes. But she always told me that who he was didn’t matter. Baatar is my real father and my real brothers and sister are here. Aunt Lin is my real aunt and I am a Beifong through and through. But deep down I get this feeling that maybe I should make that decision for myself. On whether or not I should have the chance to meet him or not.”

“I get it. Sorta. I mean I thought that when I met my dad, he’d be everything I thought I’d ever longed for. Only to turn out that he killed my mother and tried to use me to conquer the entire galaxy. He may have been my father, but he wasn’t my daddy. I learned that from my real father after he had sacrificed himself to save me.”

“That’s heavy.” Whistled (Y/n).

“Yeah, it was. But Yondu was a good dad to me.” He said as he took out his Zune player. “So your uhh—earth bending powers, how did you discover them?” Peter then tried to change the subject before he started to cry over his memories of Yondu. (Y/n) smiled knowing this type of maneuver (her brothers did this all the time whenever they’d try to be strong and hardcore).

“Like I said, I was a young when it happened. I was just playing with my sister Opal out by the lake skipping rocks when suddenly as I reached out for one, my hands glew this bright blue light and the rock just shot up into my palm. We were both so scared that we ran to my mother crying in fear. I honestly don’t remember much after that but my mother had my aunt teach me how to control it. Got me my first metal-bending suit and I’ve been training with her ever since.”

Hearing her mention the blue light it perked Peter’s curiosity and he asked her.

“This blue light, can you describe it in anyway? Like what it made you feel when it came to you?”

“I—I don’t know how to explain it but….I do remember it being almost like my palms were on fire, yet they didn’t burn me. It felt like—like when you touch warm sand on a beach. Yet there was this feeling of—power to it. Like I could do anything with it.” Peter’s eyes widened.

He did remember that feeling when Ego told him about his Celestial heritage and taught him how to summon the light to his hands. No but it—it couldn’t be? Could it? Could she really be his…….

“(Y/N)! Aunt Lin says she needs to speak to you about your armor! Says she’s got an upgrade for you!” one of her brothers called out to her. She turned and exclaimed back.

“I’ll be there in a sec Wei!” she turned to Peter and said, “Better not keep Aunt Lin waiting. She hates it when people keep her waiting.”

“Yeah, yeah I better go and talk to the team about our next game plan. Also tell your aunt thanks for letting us use some of her police weapons.”

“She may not be happy about lending our weapons to non-Zaofuians but she’ll get over it, especially since it’s going to the Guardians of the Galaxy. But I’ll give her your regards anyways.” They went their separate ways and once Peter saw that no one was around, he took off sprinting towards Mantis’ room and rapidly knocked on her door.

“Could you be any louder at knocking Peter? I don’t think the others from Knowhere heard you.” Mantis whined with a groan.

“We need to talk.” Peter said urgently. Sensing the urgency in his tone and knowing that this was a serious matter, Mantis allowed her brother inside and she shut the door behind her as well as locked it. “You will not believe the conversation that I just had with (Y/n).”

“Are we being taken prisoners again?” asked Mantis worriedly.

“What no! No! Look, I know this may seem out of nowhere, but I want you to tell me first about when Ego found you and tried to make you feel a connection to the Celestial light.”

“Why would you want to know about that?”

“Just trust me Mantis. Please.” She looked into her brother’s eyes and saw the desperation but also some inkling of knowledge that he was going to fill her in on the details later.

“I had lied when I had told Drax and Gamora that Ego found me in my larva stage. He had actually came for me shortly after my mother had passed. Much like when Yondu came for you, he brought me to his planet and trained me just like he did you. But when I tried to make a connection to the light, all that awakened within me was my empathic abilities. Ego then told me that even though I’d never be able to help him with the Expansion, he still could find a purpose for me. And I had been forced to convince various of our other siblings to go along with us, before he said that I would only be used to help him sleep.”

“Wow, he really was a jackass.”

“Now will you tell me why you asked me about that?”

“(Y/n)’s ability to move earth, you know how she could bend those rocks back at Jaguar dude’s temple, turns out she has a connection to the Celestial light.”

“Are you saying that……(Y/n) is our—”

“Sister? I think she might be.”

“But how? When Ego died, you lost your connection to the Celestial light.”

“I don’t know. But the way she described the Light within her hands was exactly the same way it felt with me when I made my connection to it.”

“Did you tell her the truth?”

“Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaa—no.” stretched Peter.

“Peter we must tell her the truth. She deserves to know!” Peter stepped in front of her and said.

“I know she deserves to know but at the same time we can’t cause any family drama amongst the Beifongs. (Y/n) told me how everytime she brought up about her real dad, Suyin got this burning anger in her eyes and told her that they were her family, not him. And after seeing the way (Y/n) fights against Aztec Gods I’d hate to fight against her own mother and aunt.”

“So what are we going to do?” she asked him.

“I’ll think of something. Until I do, this stays between us okay? I mean it don’t tell anyone about this conversation to anyone else, especially Drax. You know he can’t keep a secret to save his own skin.”

“I promise.” She held out her pinkie and Peter wrapped his pinkie around hers. “Sister’s promise.”

“Brother’s oath.” Peter replied back as they shook pinkies.

After about 3 days, the Guardians were finally ready to take off to find more Gods to save and check up on.

“We can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for us Suyin.” Peter thanked her.

“It was our pleasure to help in aiding the Guardians of the Galaxy. And if you’re ever passing by this way again, our doors will always be open to you.” Said Suyin with a respectable bow. The Guardians bowed back to her before heading back to their ship, but it was then Peter stopped midway up the ramp when he said.

“Actually, there is something else we’d like to ask for.” The rest of the Guardians paused and turned to Peter.

“And just what would that be?” asked Chief Lin suspiciously.

“We’d like to extend an invitation to (Y/n) in joining us.” Everyone but Mantis became wide-eyed. “After our experience with the Aztec god of war, we realized that we are heavily out-manned and she managed to take down all his forces single-handedly while also saving our asses. And if ever we need a tune-up she would know more about how to fix your special enhanced metal material.”

“Quill, I only had to be with Zaofu’s engineers for only 2 minutes and I can get the hang of it.” Proclaimed Rocket.

“Still it couldn’t hurt to have an expert who actually came from the place of its origins be with us should we ever need it. Two heads are better than one right?” Suyin was stunned as she turned to her youngest child and asked her.

“This is up to you (Y/n). Do you wish to go with the Guardians?” (Y/n) looked between both her family and the Guardians with a heavy heart. She then walked up to her mother and spoke from the heart.

“My heart will always belong to Zaofu. But from the days that I would be with Aunt Lin on missions, I have seen great suffering. Some of which has been at the hands of our own metal smuggled by black marketers. I feel like Zaofu can do more for the galaxy than we already have.” Suyin sighed as she closed her eyes.

“You are my youngest child (Y/n). And I had hoped to have you remain at my side for a few more years. But now I see that you are no longer a child anymore. And at some point, I must learn to let go. If you should ever wish to return home, we’ll be here waiting for you.” (Y/n) smiled and embraced her mother.

“I love you mom.”

“I love you too.” After embracing her mother, she stood before her aunt and prepared to surrender her badge but Lin held out her hand to stop her.

“Keep it. I didn’t make you an officer of Zaofu for nothing.” She bowed before her aunt before hugging her. Lin smiled softly down at her and embraced her back. (Y/n) then bid goodbye to all her brothers and sister as well as her dad before turning to the Guardians and joining alongside them.

As they entered and the ramp slid back up, (Y/n) took one last look at her family as they bid her goodbye and she wiped her hidden tears away and waved to them in return before the Guardian’s ship left Zaofu.

Now heading to their next destination to answer the next signal from some Light elves on Álfheimr (Y/n) soon spotted Peter on the upper main decks looking out into the endless starry sky.

“So what was the real reason?” she asked him.

“Huh?” Peter turned to her.

“The real reason you offered me a spot on the Guardians.”

“What are you talking about kid? What I said was 100% true. Rocket may think he’s smart but no one can really understand Zaofu metal than someone who was raised there. And…..”

“Peter, I know you’re lying.”

“What so you can detect when people are lying?”

“In a sense. My grandmother was born blind, so one day she ran off and found herself lost in a cave until she came across some badger-moles. They were blind just like her, but they used the earth as an extension of their senses. She learned out to see the world through the earth around her. Feeling seismic energy of people’s footsteps and even hearing their heartbeats through the earth. And when my mom and aunt were born, she taught it to them, and then Aunt Lin taught it to me. And last night, your heartrate was beating rapidly when I told you about my powers. So come on, out with it.” Peter sighed and confessed.

“Okay, so obviously you know how I found out my dad was a real douchebag and tried to destroy the galaxy. But before that, he taught me that being a Celestial he had a connection to the Light, and he taught it to me as well as Mantis. Even though Mantis didn’t have a connection to it, she still proved a purpose by awakening her empathic powers. As for me, I did have a connection to the Light. And it was that same connection that you said you felt when you first discovered your powers.”

“So you can earth-bend too?”

“No. I mean I did when I fought Ego, but after we had killed him to stop the Expansion, I lost my connection to the Light. Yet somehow, you still have it.” (Y/n) stared at him and slowly her harsh expression turned to shock as she cautiously said.

“Wait…….so, you’re suggesting that I—”

“Ego told me he spent eons trying to find a second Celestial to bring forth the expansion but each of his children failed him. So he had them killed. Millions of children slaughtered all because they couldn’t live up to his expectations, except me. And in a way, you. But your mom and the rest of Zaofu refused to surrender you to him. That’s probably why she never talked about your real father.”

(Y/n) was stunned silent as she fell to her knees. She looked down at her shaky hands and Peter slowly knelt down in front of her.

“But he’s gone. He’s gone for good. We blew up his core and there’s absolutely no chance of him ever coming back. And if by some insane, unexplainable reason that he ever does come back, he won’t get to you. Because you’ve not only got your family on Zaofu on yourself, but you’ve also got us, Especially Mantis and I.” (Y/n) looked up at him and asked.

“You and Mantis are……”

“As surprising as it seems, yeah. She’s my sister. Half-sister but my sister nonetheless. And so are you.” He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and gently shook it which got her to smile.

“At least now I can say I’ve got another sister to add to the ranks.”

“Oh come on, having another big brother can’t be that bad. Especially if that brother is me. C’mon at least admit that I’m the coolest out of all your brothers.” She stood back up laughing as she walked away. “(Y/n)? C’mon (Y/n) admit it! I know you want to say it but you’re just too stubborn to admit it. Not every girl can say their big brother is a member of the Guardians, right? Right? (Y/n)! (Y/N)!!!!”

28 notes · View notes

thepaintedlady00 · 1 year

Note

Morpheus x Elemental Queen Reader, where after he is freed from Burgess Manor & while he is on the hunt for his tools, stumbles into the Reader's realm & finds himself surrounded by her elementals. He's brought before her & he meets the elusive & powerful immortal elemental queen. They become allies & she helps him along his journey. They soon become inseparable. Sometime after Dream learns his enemies have been defeated by her & her vast armies. They get married & have an family together.

I love getting to write two badass rulers falling in love and joining their kingdoms together! 😍😍😍 Sorry for the long wait, I hope you enjoy reading it!

Dream of the Endless wasn't expecting to have much trouble in retrieving his tools. After the century he spent in isolation and silent torment all he wanted was to repair his home, to regain the lost power he'd been denied for so long. So you can imagine his surprise when instead of being taken to Hell to retrieve his helm, he and Matthew arrived in a lush forest. All around them there was life, sunlight and warmth, tall fields of grass and raging rivers, animals watching them as they made their way down the neatly paved path. "I gotta say, this isn't what I thought Hell would look like."

"This is not Hell," Dream stated, weary eyes watching as the animals turned away from them, vanishing into the forest brush. "I do not know where we are, nor how we arrived here."

"Maybe you've lost your touch a bit," the raven offered. "Not to imply you're not capable or anything it's just, uh, been a while from my understanding."

Dream looked down at the bird as he hopped through a pile of leaves, the seasons shifting the further they walked along the path. He could sense eyes following them, sense power flowing through the forest and wrapping around him. For a moment he expected that power to crush him, it certainly could given his weakened state, but it didn't. Instead it swirled around him, feeling and sensing all that he was before it was gone and the forest grew eerily still.

The loud rumbling of the trees made Dream and Matthew stop walking as the trees around them grew closer, closing the gaps between them and forming a thick barrier. The bark on the trees twisted and peeled, revealing faces each different in every way but the same in one, their eyes watched Dream and their mouths moved in slow utterings that filled the air with words, a language he did not understand. The path behind them was gone, blocked by the faced trees.

"It appears we are to meet whatever force is responsible for bringing us here." Dream continued down the path, trying to ignore Matthews questions and the sound of the trees shifting behind them, forcing them to continue forward. Their voices, the words, were not possible to ignore and he found himself searching him mind trying to place what language it was they spoke, but nothing came. Either he did not know it or it was one he'd known once but forgotten as the eons passed.

A large tree, roots as tall as the forest around them, sat tall and proud on an island. Crystal clear waterfalls fell from the edges of the island and into a deep crevasse that surrounded the tree, but Dream could see some of its roots acted as bridges, carved and ornate with statues of wood and ice and rock standing guard. The path vanished, the trees forming a straight line behind them and leaving Dream with only two choices, cross the bridge or remain here and wither.

As they crossed Matthew examined the statues, commenting on how intimidating they looked, but Dream was more focused on the tree. Leaves of every color filled its thick branches, vines of silver and gold wrapped around the trunk, glowing with the bright sunlight hit them and casting marvelous kaleidoscope shapes around them. It was beautiful, this whole world that'd he'd just stumbled upon was something he'd never seen before, not even in dreams.

As they neared the tree an ornate door grew more noticeable, two statues of dull embers and molten lava waited for them. When Dream stopped at their feet, their eyes moved, looking down at him with glowing fire. One spoke in the same language as the trees did, it's voice no more than a low growl. When he did not answer, the other spoke, this time in words he understood. "Who are you?"

"I am Dream of the Endless. King of dreams and ruler of the nightmare realms." He said, head held high as the statues looked at one another. "I seek an audience with whatever sovereign you serve, for I fear I know not how I came to be here."

Both statues growled and looked at Matthew, pointing to the small bird. "Your messenger shall go with your message. You will remain, Endless."

Matthew grumbled. "Any ideas on what I should expect?"

"No." He knelt down to the raven and sighed. "Inform whoever rules this realm of the mistake that has happened and tell them we merely seek the exit."

"Got it."

"Matthew," Dream stopped the raven, fear curling in his chest along with memories of Jessamy. "If they should try to hurt you, leave without me. You will be able to find a way to navigate out of here."

The raven scoffed. "I'm not going to abandon you, boss. Just sit tight, I'll be back before you know it."

Matthew hopped up to the guards feet and looked up at them with a nervous cough. The gate behind them opened just enough for him to fit through and then closed tightly behind him. Dream waited, the heavy feeling in his chest not once relenting until the doors opened wider and Matthew came flying down a pair of ornate stairs. The guards stepped to the side and bowed to him. "It seems you have been deemed worthy of an audience, Endless one. Speak with caution."

The raven cawed as he grew closer. "That went better than I expected."

"What manner of being rules this realm?" he asked as they began walking up the stairs.

"I'm not really sure how to describe her..." Matthew chuckled. "She was surprised by the news, but she didn't seem too upset."

"A queen then?" Dream hummed softly. "Is she a fairie?"

"Again... I'm not too sure on what's what. I've only been around for like a day, remember?"

They walked in silence after that until the stairs brought them to a large room at the top of the tree. The ceiling was merely a canopy of leaves and hanging vines holding glowing crystal chandeliers. A long white rug spread across the floor in front of them all the way across the room where a throne stood tall, the right was fire and wood with green leaves and embers floating behind it while the right was stone and ice with decaying branches and jagged crystals growing out of it. Standing before the throne, raised up on the taller steps was a woman, the queen of this land he presumed.

Two large wings of green earth and blossoming flowers spread out from her back, long hair woven between them in an elegant braid. Her skin was covered in veins of green on her hands, but as the veins moved up her arms they shifted to brown and red and blue. She turned toward him, her eyes capturing his and stealing the breath from his lungs. She turned, the jewels that hung in her hair and on her long gown twinkled and clacked together softly. Dream was frozen, rooted in place as she looked at him. She was far more beautiful than he was expecting.

"You are Dream of the Endless." Her voice echoed around him, power washing over him like a powerful gust of wind. "Brother of Destiny and Death."

"You know my siblings?" He asked, voice weaker than he'd meant it to be.

She tilted her head. "Only a few of them. I stopped allowing your kind into my domain after your wretched sibling, Desire, came and abused my hospitality." Dream silently cursed his sibling as she took a powerful step toward him, head high and eyes devouring every inch of him. "Have you come to do the same, King of Dreams?"

"No." He bowed his head reverently. "In truth, I do not know how we came to be here. My sand was meant to take us to Hell."

"Hell," she mused. "A terrible place to visit willingly."

He chuckled, the sound bringing a softness to her face. "It is, but I have unresolved business with the Morningstar."

The queen looked thoughtful for a moment. "It is odd then, that you would end up here. My realm is well hidden, even to beings such as yourself."

"It is beautiful," Dream said, looking up at the leaves and gesturing to the view from the open spaces in the branches. "I've not seen anything like it before."

"High praise, coming from one that sees all the fantasies of men."

Matthew cleared his throat from his perch. "Think you can help us find our way out of here, uh, your majesty?"

The woman held her hand out, beckoning the raven to her. When Matthew landed on her arm she smiled brightly, eyes looking over the sleek feathers of his companion with wonder. "Such a beautiful raven you make. Was the transition difficult?"

"Transition?" Matthew repeated. "I, um, I'm still kinda new to all this."

"Oh, forgive me," she said. "I can help you. So long as you leave me with something."

There is was, Dream thought. "Name your price."

"A promise." She looked up at him. "That you not tell others of what you've seen here, nor of how to find this place."

Oh... Dream nodded his head. "I promise."

She moved toward the open skyline, the branches bending to her will as she gestured out toward another path of ice and snow. "The way out is through the mountains. It is a ways to walk, but if you wish it, I shall accompany you."

"It would honor me," he said, bowing deeper to her.

True to her word, the goddess walked beside him, shouldering his raven the majority of the walk. They made conversation with one another, sharing things between two rulers. Dream thought it would have been more difficult to talk to her, but it wasn't and he found himself wanting to talk to her forever. She was beautiful and kind and he'd not met any like her in all the years of his exitance. At the end of the path she kissed his cheek and pressed a hand to his chest. "I wish you luck on your journey and offer you this warning, on the path ahead you will be faced with choices, ones that will decide your fate. When the spirit returns to his place and the tremors cease, choose the kinder path."

She sounded like The Fates, riddles and unsaid words hanging between them as he took her hand in his, keeping it pressed to his chest. "Will I see you again?"

"If you so wish it." She said with a smile. "First you must choose wisely."

Dream went about his quest, recovering his lost tools and saving his crumbling realm. When faced with Lyta Hall, the goddess' words echoed in his mind and he found himself waiting. He allowed the two to say goodbye and instead of offering Lyta a vague warning, he offered her a promise. Her child would be watched over and kept safe from any that would do him harm. After dealing with The Corinthian and setting everything right with his subjects Dream found himself thinking of the goddess more often, wondering if she would visit him or if she'd forgotten about him entirely.

As if she'd heard his thoughts he entered the library one morning to find her standing there, speaking with Lucienne as his librarian studied her wings, fresh with new flowers and moss. They greeted one another fondly, and each day that passed after that they spent with one another. He would visit her realm and she would visit his. One day upon his arrival into her realm she was not there to greet him, none of her elemental statues or trees or even animal companions met him either.

A faint smell of smoke and blood tinged the air around him, and he found himself running down the path toward her palace. Lucifer and Desire were both set on ruining him, of bringing him and all he loved to the ground. It wouldn't be difficult for anyone to find her if they'd watched him closely enough, something that he should have been more careful of. There across the guarded bridge she stood, wielding a spear of the elements she commanded, the blood of the demons that had attacked her realm covering her dress and arms. She looked at him and smiled, strong and brave and absolutely beautiful. Dream knew then that he loved her and all he could think of from that moment on was how he could make her his queen.

As it turned out, that wasn't difficult. After the first attack, the goddess let loose a wave of her power and effectively smote his enemies. Any that lived, Desire most of all, got the message loud and clear. Dream was hers now, and anyone that tried to move against him would meet her in battle and they would lose. Peace, a thing he'd not truly been able to feel in so long, finally filled The Dreaming. In that peace her realm and his became one, as they did.

Now when Dream would enter his throne room, her throne sat beside his and his wife helped him create new dreams and nightmares to gift to the world of men. And so it would be for eternity.

348 notes · View notes

rhey-007 · 2 months

Text

Drag Queen Lance x Fernando Headcanons + Art

(Onedrive fucked the quality TwT)

Just had this little idea for a Drag Queen Lance cause another season of Drag Race came out recently, I hope you'll like it :))

It's just something light, to get me going on to the next things I want to write, an exercise I may say.

Also it's the first time I write actual strollonso so it might be wonky + please tell me if I should add any # cause I sure missed something TwT

• Lance didn't tell Fernando about his second passion neither before nor after they started dating.

• He was worried Fernando wouldn't understand, laugh into his face and leave him.

• But Fernie wasn't like that.

• Lance wanted to tell him way further into their relationship,

• But when Alonso stayed over at his boyfriend's apartment he accidentally stumbled upon an expensive dress.

• At first he thought Chloe left it there, but it was way too big for the woman.

• So he started to question Stroll until he revealed the truth.

• "Why didn't you tell me... There's nothing to be ashamed of cariño"

• "It's just that- You're- Ugh... You're older, I was afraid you wouldn't understand because most people from your generation see it as something weird, not normal... And I wanted you to get to know me waaay better to make a good decision after I tell you... Does- Does that even makes sense?... "

• Fernando sighed hugging Lance tightly and placing a sweet kiss to his cheek.

• "Of course it does. But you had nothing to worry about. Sure, I don't understand but it doesn't mean I'm gonna leave you right away. I'll never leave you. Now, show your old man what it's all about"

• And with huge smiles plastered on both faces Lance proceeded to explain what drag was.

• Fernando was visibly very interested in what his lover was saying, even making notes on his phone to remember some terms.

• He really wanted Lance to show him at least some photos of him in drag, but figured it could be too early for the youngster and didn't insist.

• Instead, he waited for Lancy to do it himself. And he didn't have to wait long.

• After a few months, the Canadian send Fernie some photos from a recent drag brunch.

• "Wish you could be here 😘"

• Fernando saved that photo immediately then commented on how beautiful the man looked, consciously causing Lance to blush on the other side of the phone.

• And it kept going. Lance sent his lover sweet pics and Fernando sent back a paragraph of praises and love emojis, and over and over again.

• One day, the Spaniard was able to attend one of Stroll's performances.

• He was astonished by the show and the other drag queens, to whom Lance later introduced him, but most importantly he was amazed by Lance.

• With time, when Fernie's grey hair started to peak through his dark locks and beard, Lance started to request grey strands in the wigs he ordered.

• It was a way to not only show his lover that it was normal to have grey hair, but also to thank him for the big support on his passion.

• One of the things the "big support" was, was the Spaniard buying Lance expensive dresses, shoes and accessories along with other gifts.

• The Canadian felt a little stupid cause he could afford them himself, but eventually gave in as Fernie was too stubborn and insisted on spoiling his sugar.

• The older man just loved to spent his money on him, no matter the amount.

• After some time Lance was brave enough to announce it to his paddock coworkers and fellow drivers.

• To his surprise, everyone was okay with it, some even getting very excited by the information, begging to see his in action.

• And if someone wasn't, they soon became after Fernando's little threats Lance had no idea about.

• Even when Esteban, or anyone else, just joked about it fire appeared in Alonso's eyes, his brows furrowed deeply and then everyone knew it was time to drop the topic before he exploded.

• He couldn't let anyone to hurt his baby even a little bit.

And that's it as for right now!

Maybe I'll add something later, or maybe you have some ideas? Let me know :))

Thank you for reading! 💞

#strollonso #lance stroll x fernando alonso #lance stroll art #lance stroll #fernando alonso art #fernando alonso #f1 #formula 1 #formula one #f1 art #ls18 #fa14

27 notes · View notes

banana789 · 1 year

Text

You are Betty's best friend and are crushing have been crushing on Veronica since she arrived in riverdale. You three are really close but you still struggle to talk to her because of how shy you are. Betty decides to help, much to your dismay.

This is set around season 1 and 2 and Archie and Veronica never get together, instead Betty is still crushing on Archie and he likes her back. (Grundy never happened)

Y/n's pov

As I slowly walked through the halls of Riverdale high I kept my head down. I have known the people around me for years yet I only know half of their names and I'm sure even less of them know mine. I generally try to keep to myself. However I wouldn't class myself as a loner, more the shy nerd who prefers fantasy to reality and always has her head in a book. My only close friends being Betty and her group. Me and Betty met in preschool so I find myself more confident around her, more comfortable to be my nerdy self, meaning she has to listen to all my rants about Marvel or whatever book I'm currently reading. But she can't complain after all the lovesick rants I've heard about Archie.

All of this aside me and Betty have always been there for eachother, she was the first person I came out to and I was there through all the nights she would cry over Polly and her family. It was the two of us against the world.

Until Veronica arrived in Riverdale.

However things did not go how i thought. When Betty first told me she would be showing the Veronica Lodge around thought that she would give the tour and that was it. Veronica would instantly bond with Cheryl and the cheerleaders and become the queen bee. But as soon as I saw her in pops that night with Betty and Archie my opinion of her changed.

Flashback

I slowly sipped on my chocolate milkshake as I sat with Betty and Archie, smiling at how red my friends face was becoming while talking to her crush and at how painfully obvious it was about the unspoken love between the two.

As Betty began to tell Archie how she has been thinking about them and their friendship I suddenly felt awkward at how I was sandwiched inbetween the wall and Betty so not wanting to ruin the moment by asking her to get up so I could leave them alone I got 'The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo' out of my bag and began reading. The conversations happening between the characters drowning out my friends voices. That was at least until I heard a soft unfamiliar voice next to us, asking Pop about an order for Lodge.

I looked up and was met with a pair of beautiful brown eyes looking back at me. The girl gave me a kind smile as she stood at our table, as I saw her eyes flick down to my book I suddenly became embarrassed and kept my head down ,realising how antisocial I must have looked.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Betty nudging my side, pointing her head towards Veronica. I looked back up to the girl with a stunned look .She giggled and gave me a small smile before repeating her question.

'I just asked how the onion rings were here' she laughed.

Shocked that she was even looking at me,I struggled to reply.

'Really good' I replied quietly, shocked I didn't stutter.

I felt myself blush as she smiled and nodded at my reply then ordered a side of onion rings.

As she began to talk with Betty and Archie I once again tried to keep to myself and get my nerves under control simply nodding as she asked us if we went to riverdale high then going back to staring at the front cover of my book that was now laying forgotten on the table.

'Veronica Lodge'

As I heard her introduce herself I was filled with shock, this was the girl who me and Betty were showing around tomorrow. Well Betty was showing her around but I know she would drag me there too, trying to encourage me to be more social. As she shook hands with Archie and began talking to Betty I began to get nervous and gave a pleading look to Betty .She seemed to get the hint and introduced me so I wouldn't have too.

As she declined Archies invite to join us I felt both disappointed and relieved. Before she left she looked over at me and gave me a warm smile.

'That's a great book by the way' she said in a soft voice, then gave me a quick wink and walked away.

After she left both Betty and Archie teased me relentlessly about how red I was , both knowing I had developed some type of feelings towards the girl.

Back to present

I smiled as I replayed the memory from a few weeks ago in my head.Since then Veronica had hung around with us a lot and I found myself becoming more confident around her. I had even ranted to her about Wandavision once. She made a comment about how cute I was when I talked about it.

Her and Betty had also convinced me to join the River Vixens. However by convinced I mean they literally dragged me to the gym. There were several threats from Betty about burning my favourite book but Veronicas puppy dog eyes alone had me agreeing.

I was once again pulled from my thoughts as I felt a familiar raven haired girl appear at my left and loop her arm through mine as I felt my face already beginning to blush.

'I though we were meeting at my locker?' She asked in an adorably confused voice. As she pulled us to stop and stand by a classroom door.

'We are ... I was just heading there now' I said quietly, proud I didn't stutter.

'Well you walked straight past me' She said a she giggle shaking her head.

' Honestly, you need to look where your going or one day your gonna get yourself hurt' she scolded softly , looking into my eyes.

'Oh haha sorry' I said rubbing the back of neck giggling.

'Adorable' I heard her whisper under her breath with a smile.

'We should get to the locker rooms , Cheryl's gonna kill us if we're late' She said.

Once again looping her arm through mine and pulling me down the hall. As I stood still flustered from the Adorable comment.

As we strolled into the Vixens locker room we were shocked to find the usually busy area completely empty.

'Oh crap, it must have started early' I said panicked as I did not want to suffer the wrath of Cheryl.

'Hey hey don't worry, she didn't tell us so we did nothing wrong. Maybe everyone else is just late.' Veronica said , rubbing my arm, trying to reassure me.

' Let's just get dressed and go to the gym' She said with a smile.

I nodded and slowly walked over to my locker next to Veronicas. I opened it up to get my cheerleading uniform out trying to reassure myself that Cheryl would not be mad. She was really scary.

I jumped as I heard Veronica gasp beside me. I looked over and saw her looking at the inside of my locker. In it were pictures of various movie characters, as well as pictures of me with my friends, including one of me and Veronica that we had recently taken at Pops. I quickly slammed the locker shut , embarrassed. I'd forgotten I'd put that in there ,what if she thought it was creepy.

'Awwwww you have a picture of us , that's so cute' she gushed with a big smile on her face. As she gave me tight hug. I once again began to blush.

'Can I see the others?' She asked as I was now holding the locker door closed . Stupid faulty lock.

I suddenly shook my head with a pout , embarrassed that she might also see all the movie pictures, even though she already knows I'm a nerd.

She smirked and squinted her eyes at me .Giving me a determined look as she tilted her head .

Uh oh . This was the same look that had she'd given me the other night.

Flashback

I sat next to Veronica as 'Notting Hill' played on the tv. I had been fighting to stay awake for the past 20 minutes. Personally I didn't like rom coms , I prefer superhero films or just tv shows .I also found then unrealistic but that just might be me being bitter about my non existent love life. But this was my first sleepover alone with V and I wanted her to be happy so I agreed to watch it.

I suddenly heard a loud gasp next to me and felt a pillow get thrown at my head. I jolted awake and sat up , looking over to see Veronica glaring at me with an offended look on her face.

'How can you be asleep?!! This is one of the most romantic movies of all time? ' She exclaimed.

I giggled at the shocked look on her face and quietly replied

'I don't know, I think Rachel getting off the plane for Ross is better' I said with a small smile on my face.

Veronica gasped loudly again and glared at me. My smile dropped as she got up from her seat on the floor in front of the tv and began making her way over to me on the sofa. She smirked and squinted her eyes at me, giving me a determined look as she tilted her head.

Before I knew it she has pinned me to the sofa, kneeling on my arms and looking down at me with an evil smile. She slowly leant down and whispered in my ear .

'Take that back'

I was basically going into gay panic at this point but for some reason I replied with a 'never'.

Veronica sighed and pouted but just as I though she was going to get up she suddenly began relentlessly tickling me .Running her hands all over my ribs and stomach ignoring my squeals. Only shouting over my laughs for me to take it back . As I felt myself becoming breathless she stopped . She looked into my eyes. That evil smirk still on her face .

'Now ,are you ready to admit that this movie is sweet and romantic or do I need to find out if you feet are ticklish.' She threatened once again holding her hands up in the air. I gasped knowing my feet were extremely ticklish and whispered what she wanted me to say.

'I'm sorry what was that I couldn't hear you?' She said with laugh

' Notting hill is sweet and romantic' I said, slightly louder.

Veronica smile at her victory and looked down at me .

'Sorry about that' She said with a laugh, then she leant down and kissed my forehead .I once again felt a blush on my cheeks.

I felt my eyes travel down to her lips and noticed hers lingering on mine too. I slowly felt her beginning to lean in before we were interrupted by the sound of the oven going off.

' Oh the pizza I forgot' she said with a laugh as she jumped off me and ran to the kitchen . Leaving me on the couch flustered .

'Greys anatomy is more romantic tho I mumbled as I sat up.

'What was that?' She shouted from the kitchen.

'Nothing' I yelled back , not wanting a repeat of what just happened. Well not the tickling part anyway.

Present day

I quickly began to retreat as I saw Veronica step towards me and reach her hand towards my ribs. Instantly opening the locker for her, she looked at me with a smirk as I once again began blushing .She smiled as she saw a picture of me Betty, Archie and Jughead as kids. Her smile turned into a smirk as she saw a scene from Notting Hill amongst the pictures of scenes from my favourite movies at the back if my locker .

'Ha I knew you'd like it' She stated with a victorious smile. I had mainly out that in there because of made me think if Veronica but I had to admit that the movie had grown on me.

'I still think Rom coms are unrealistic though, I mean I dont even have the confidence to tell you I like you now , let alone after a big fight . ' I gulped as I realised what I had just said . Fear consumed me as I froze on the spot and quickly looked down to the floor . I had just told Veronica I liked her . We hadn't even known eachother for a month and we were becoming really good friends and I've ruined it. I was consumed by panic as I realise I could have ruined Betty's friendship with Veronica too .

I was brought out of my worries by the feeling of a soft hand on my chin, gently lifting my head up so that I was gazing into those beautiful brown eyes.

'Don't worry, I haven't had the confidence to tell you I like you either. I'll admit that part is a little unrealistic sometimes.' She said with a loving smile as she tucked a stray piece of hair being my ear. Before leaning in and giving me a soft kiss on the lips. She slowly pulled back and looked onto my eyes.

'Y/n , you are the most adorable little nerd I have ever met. And before you get insulted that I called you a nerd I want you to know I mean it as a compliment. I really like watching you rant about Marvel and watching you cute expressions when your reading a book. I really like the way you will sit through a Rom com because you know it makes me happy and how flustered you get when I compliment you. Exactly like you are now. But most importantly I really like you. I was hoping that maybe you would like to go to the movies with me on Friday? We can can watch the new Doctor Strange and I promise if anything bad happens to Wanda I'll listen to you rant about it afterwards and cuddle you during the film'

At this point I was as red as a tomato. Scratch that I was even worse .I stood there with my mouth open as I held onto Veronicas hand that had moved it's way down to my waist . Suddenly realising I had been quiet for quite some time I suddenly began stuttering out an answer

'Uh .. yh ..I mean ... yes definitely ... Sorry V I would definitely love to go ... kinda scared for the movie tho ... But yes definitely '

Veronica cut me off with a laugh and a peck on my lips. Stopping my nervous ramble .

The sound of a cough at the doorway cut us off as we both jumped apart and saw none other then Cheryl Blossom stood at the doorway. I quickly hid behind Veronica , not wanting to face the gingers wrath as we were definitely late for practise.

'What are you two doing in here , I told Betty to tell you practise was cancelled today' She said in a frustrated tone.

Me and Veronica both gasped as we realised that Betty had probably 'forgotten' to tell us knowing we would be alone in here together.

'Sorry Cheryl we weren't told' Veronica explained as she pulled me out from behind her.

'Ok whatever 'She said harshly. Then in a softer tone she added

'I wont tell anyone by the way. Even though it's been painfully obvious that you two lovebirds are crushing on eachother.'She said with a laugh as she walked out.

Me and Veronica both gathered our things and walked out, holding hands.

'Ok I need to go speak to my English teacher so why don't you go and meet everyone in the cafeteria and I'll see you there'. Veronica exclaimed as she gave you a peck on the lips. She knew we how much you hated talking to teachers.

'Finally' We heard a voice say behind us. As we turned around we saw Archie stood there with a big smile plastered on his face .

'You knew we liked eachother?' Me and V both said, shocked that everyone seemed to know except us .

'Of course I did, congrats guys. Ive gotta go but i want details later'He said with a laugh as he headed to football practise.

'Hey Archie' I called after him , an evil idea popping into my head .

'Betty wants you to meet her at Pops after school. She has something she needs to tell you' I explained

'Ok tell her I'll be there 'he shouted back as he jogged to practise.

'But y/n we're meant to meet Betty at Pops... ?'

She gasped and lightly slapped my shoulder realising my plan. Shocked to see this new side to me.

'She did it to us' I replied with a quiet giggle.

Veronica giggled and leaned in to peck me on the lips

'And I'm so glad she did'.

#Veronica Lodge #Riverdale #Veronica x fem reader #Veronica lodge x reader #gxg #cute #shy #nerd #Riverdale x reader

103 notes · View notes