#in which Felix Gets Mutilated but Only For A Minute
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So I was going through my shit and uh
Found a thing I wrote a while ago.
It's kinda spooky so fucking uhhh
HERE IT IS I GUESS???
There's a lot of sentences I wouldn't write nowadays but here's how I wrote things... Whenever this was written. I don't actually know for sure.
Without further ado, here's "Two friends, then a third additional friend, which is me, who survives.", which... Is the actual name of the google doc I found it in.
Well.
You ever find yourself in one of those moments where your life should be flashing before your eyes, but you only have time to recap the last six hours?
I think that's what my friends have been telling me they experienced.
For some reason.
Sorry, let me introduce myself, in case I don't survive.
My name is Richard Pierce, and this is my diary. If you find it in a creepy old haunted mansion, that would mean that I am very much departed.
I went in with my friends Sadie Lockpin and Felix Castellan, both of whom are… Dead. Murdered by what lurks inside this abominable building. Sadie went to see what was in the kitchen, and had her head bitten off by a gross maggot man with a swollen head and deadly mandibles, whom Felix and I caught chewing through what was left of her neck. Felix died while we were trying to run away from the maggot man. I couldn't get a good look at what did it (And he won't tell me the details), but it seemed to be using many broken garden gnomes as an exoskeleton. You would think this would all be extremely traumatizing once it settled in, yes? Well, it was! For a few minutes! And then… Well, you probably figured it out already. My friends are now… Ghosts, hence why they've been telling me about how the last six hours of their lives flashed before them. It's really annoying, if I'm being honest. Running out of space on this page, so I'll keep writing tomorrow.
——————————————
Richard put the book down. Much to his chagrin, Felix had figured out some kind of weird ghost magic that stopped him from writing on more than one page per day.
"C'mon, Ricky! It's not that bad, is it?"
Speak of the devil…
"It kind of is, Felix."
Richard was a nervous wreck. In the two days since Felix and Sadie died, which he hadn't gotten to write anything about yet, he'd encountered two more maggot men trying to eat each other, only to chase him down when they noticed his presence, a living pincushion that fired the pins fast enough to crack a brick wall, and a three-headed snake that bit one of its own heads off so it could throw it at him. Thankfully, that last one didn't try to chase him after he ran off.
"Hey, you haven't gotten mutilated by the thing in the walls yet, so that's a plus!"
Felix willed his head to pop like a balloon, spraying bits of ectoplasm in a small circle around himself to emphasize his point. Richard, for whatever reason, genuinely believed Felix was trying to be helpful for once.
"...There's something in the walls?"
"Well… Yeah! It's been following you for the last hour or so!"
With shaking hands, Richard began pointing a broken and rusty water pipe, the only weapon he could find here, around frantically, as though it would save him from the coming ambush.
"G-get out of the walls, damn you!"
"...I mean, if you insist."
Whipping around, Richard found himself staring at Sadie, who was poking most of her spectral form through the wall behind him, grinning like she and Felix had played a particularly good joke just now.
"I- Tha- THAT'S NOT FUNNY!"
Both of them immediately started laughing smugly in disagreement. Sadie was the first to regather her wits.
"Pfahah… Ah… Seriously though, there is one of those gross maggot people coming here. I think it heard you scream when you saw that cerberu-snake in the side room."
Richard immediately began running in the opposite direction from the one Sadie had indicated while Felix gave her a mildly unimpressed look.
——————————————
"Do you ever go to sleep and just find out a block of cheese the length of your stomach inhaled your head while you slept when you wake up?"
Felix "What Is Humour" Castellan indicated to his conspicuous lack of a skull. Allegedly, he'd seen a cheese snake run off with it upon waking up, but neither Sadie (Who could confirm that ghosts don't need to sleep, nor had Felix chosen to do so that night) nor Richard (Who doubted a cheese snake would survive very long in here) were buying it.
"Felix…"
"I'M TELLING THE TRUTH, RICKY!"
Both his fellow ghost and the human survivor were clearly judging him.
"FINE! Geez! I'LL CATCH IT MYSELF!"
Huffing and puffing like he could somehow blow the supernatural torture dungeon they called a haunted mansion down, Felix flew through the wall.
"So he was just bullshitting, right?"
"Definitely. I've been through the entire mansion twice over while you were sleeping, and there's no living cheese here."
"Wh- I- YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE KEEPING GUARD?!"
Sadie looked to the side, as though astonished Richard remembered that.
"Oh, uh, look at the time. I gotta go."
In a supernatural poof, she was gone.
Half an hour of grumbling later, Richard fell out of his chair when Felix opened the door like a normal person and presented a living snake made of cheese, which spat his head out.
He wisely decided not to tell Sadie Felix wasn't making it up.
——————————————
Richard was trying to sneak past a truly horrid creature in the middle of what he presumed was a small child's former room. Consisting of the burnt, blackened spines of three or four humans wound into a snakelike shape, with a dozen arms serving as legs and a human skull for a head, with a yellow/orange eye in its jaws, along with an eye in each armpit, it was horrid to even look at. Felix and Sadie, however, were trying their best to play peek-a-boo with the sleeping monstrosity.
"Where's the monster?"
Thankfully, they were failing. The monstrosity did not stir even when Felix tried to see if sticking his arm through the closed mouth and shining his ghost-glow into the "main' eye would work. It DID, however, start shifting when Richard started opening the door he'd been moving towards, prompting Sadie to start miming mockery towards Felix, who was loudly complaining to Richard how unfair this was.
"I try for SEVERAL MINUTES, and YOU wake the cool bone snake up by OPENING A DOOR?!"
It continued shivering. Richard tried to stand still, not turning the obnoxiously loud door handle any further. It didn't work, as Richard realized when he heard its boney hands scratching across the floor.
Turning around, the disturbing approximation of a centipede crossed with a 7th degree burn victim was staring him right in the eyes. Awkward moments rolled past while Sadie was tossing a handful of pebbles into her mouth like it was popcorn, clearly adoring the realization that, as a ghost, she was now immune to indigestion. Felix was squee-ing at how cool the abomination seemed. Finally, it broke eye contact… And scurried away, tearing the door Richard entered through off its hinges. Not so far away, the horrific screech of one of the many maggot men was heard before a wet squelching noise cut it short.
Richard did not hear it, as he'd long since ran through the door he didn't enter the room through.
——————————————
"...What."
There was a garden. Indoors. In the basement. Richard ran his hand along a tree just to confirm it wasn't plastic, retracting it when he got the feeling he was about to get splinters stuck in his fingers.
"This- I- Wh- HOW?!"
Felix immediately ate one of the flowers, as Richard expected. Sadie, meanwhile, was inspecting a large mass of moss that seemed to be growing around something only slightly less large.
"...Guys? I think this thing's breathing?"
Felix poofed in and out of existence next to Sadie, inspecting the weird mass beneath with great enthusiasm.
"Real shit?"
Richard carefully approached it with the broken and rusty water pipe pointed towards it. Now that he was closer, it did indeed seem to have a slight bob. Once he got within striking distance, and acting under the assumption that it was faking being a rock and about to attack him, Richard struck it. The response he got was neither the feeling of successfully hitting something soft and organic, nor the dull sound that came from striking a rock. Rather, a sharp CRACK emanated, as he had barely enough time to note that it seemed brittle. And hollow. Like an egg. In the middle of attempting to back up, Richard was pushed back by a screech so loud it seemed to have physical mass. Falling onto his behind, Richard felt helpless as the creature within the egg broke out. It seemed composed of some sort of dark, slimy green goo, and emitting gas that instantly caused any plant in contact with it to wither and die. Most striking were its eyes, as they shone like flashlights, and, despite the lack of pupils, were obviously focused on Richard.
Sadie, responding to her ranidaphobia, jumped behind Felix.
"GAH! FROG!"
Felix, meanwhile, tried to hold a nearby rose in front of the monster's face. It immediately proceeded to decay into dust, leaving Felix with an empty hand. Richard did not know nor care why Felix did that. Acting on a fear response, the sole human of the trio jolted upright and back away. The creature that was… Imprisoned? Resting? Born? In the room began to approach. Despite it's clear intent to kill, it was quite slow. Richard managed to take advantage of this after putting a tree between it and him, somehow distracting it long enough for him to bolt past and to what he hoped was the exit door to the garden.
"Oh, what am I gonna name you?"
Felix, unlike Sadie who'd fled before even Richard, was inspecting the smoky ooze frog even as Richard closed the door behind him. As soon as Felix appeared beside him again, the beast started banging itself against the door, prompting the ghost to respond:
"Who's there?"
While Richard ran away.
——————————————
Finally.
They were finally back at the entrance. Only… Two, maybe three more rooms left, including the ones where Sadie and Felix… Died. They'd blown off the possibility of a post-traumatic panic attack when Richard asked. Both in their own ways. Sadie'd joked that she wouldn't even recognize her body, if it was still there at all, and Felix said he'd be too busy with, and I quote, "Shoving [his] spectral fist so far down that gnome-wearing bastard's throat it'd pop like a bug being stepped on" to notice.
In the first room, the hall that Felix was snatched in, they recovered what they assumed remained of his carcass.
Two ribs.
And by "they", I mean "Richard", since Felix was too grumpy to do it and Sadie… Wasn't there. Richard didn't know why, since she was right next to him before they'd entered the hallway.
"C'mon, Ricky. Grab the old me's ribs and let's get going. The bastard clearly isn't here…"
Hesitantly picking up the bone fragments (Through three layers of gloves), Richard placed them inside of an empty bag of chips, which was what he'd been eating for the last three days, and returned it to his backpack. He didn't know why Felix wanted him to carry these with him, but he hoped cooperating would make his friend more helpful.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
A hissing, black fluid began coating the ground behind Richard. Raising his eyes and gazing around in a rush of panic, he once more spotted the entity that'd slaughtered Felix. Now, he could finally get a good look at it. Yes, it was wearing shattered garden gnomes, but that wasn't all. Pieces of wood, bone fragments, stones, kitchen plates… Anything solid it seemed capable of finding. The only visible piece of its actual body was the left shoulder, which looked torn open with a fresh wound, and leaking the hot, sizzling liquid that alerted Richard to its presence.
"IT'S THE FUCKING- THE- THE- Y'BACKSTA-!"
With these… Choice… Words, Felix flung himself at the monster, which ignored the ghost. Richard, frozen to the spot, stared the beast down. Had he been braver, he would've considered trying to jam something, such as one of Felix's ribs, into the open wound on its shoulder. However, Richard is not that brave of a brave person, and thus turned to flee.
With eye contact broken, the scavenger-beast roared, released its grip on the ceiling, and began sprinting after Richard on all fours while Felix was trying to fight it. Sadie was still gone.
"DAMMITDAMMITDAMMITDAMMIT-"
Richard had come to the depressing conclusion that the door he intended to flee through was locked. looking over his shoulder, he found that the entity had slowed down, stalking forwards with all the smugness of a child with a team of legendaries about to get destroyed in a Pokémon battle by someone who was actually good at the game.
A click in the lock. Something moving within. Something metallic. Sadie's voice finally announced her presence.
"Hold on, it's almost open…"
Reacting to the ghost girl using the ability to move small objects to try and pick the lock, the scavenger-beast hissed in pain(?), and began sprinting at full force again.
Richard was about halfway through the doorframe when his instincts told him he was too slow.
and he would've been disemboweled, had Felix not accidentally proven useful, and pushed his head, which he'd torn all skin from in an attempt to scare the entity, through said abomination's head. For once, it reacted. Reeling back in horror, the crime against nature with comically hypersensitive eyes paused its attack on Richard, who closed the door and sprinted through the empty room behind to put more distance between it and him. Sadie and Felix had then appeared out of thin air when he hesitated to go through the final door. The door to the kitchen, which connected to the entrance and exit. Sadie, initially, had been giving Felix a sheepish smile, as though embarrassed about something. Felix, however, was busy celebrating the "defeat" of the scavenger-beast to notice. Once it looked like it was done chasing them, Richard settled down for the night, needing some rest after that particular encounter.
——————————————
Dear diary.
It's me, again. Richard Pierce.
I almost died. Again. Felix is VERY UNHELPFUL, as I've documented several times. We ran into that thing wearing gnomes again, but there were more things on it. I'd rather not recall it in detail. Tomorrow, we'll either get out of here or I'll finally die.
As a side note, Felix was unusually insistent on me taking two of his ribs back home. Maybe he just wanted some kind of proper funeral? I guess it might be that he wouldn't be able to leave the house without them being outside? I don't know, and I don't really care, if I'm being honest. He's been a bit callous about my safety, yeah, but we're still friends. None of us would leave either of the other two behind.
I have to believe that.
I know Sadie wouldn't leave me behind.
——————————————
Waking up to a cold feeling in his shoes, Richard found them full of ice cubes, with a giggling Sadie and Felix floating next to him.
"...Where did you even find these…?"
Sadie gave a Shrug, and Felix mumbled something about a fridge. That'd require the two to go into the kitchen, though, so Richard didn't think that was true.
Whatever. Getting out of here was more important.
Opening the door to the kitchen after confirming with Felix that it didn't lead to the hallway with the scavenger-beast, Richard was met with two things. The first of which being Sadie's request.
"Oh, and, uh, could you, like, pick up a bone from my body if it's still there?"
The second was the sight of… Something.
It was just standing there, as though it had no mind or will to speak of. Visually, it looked somewhere between a ghost and a human. It was obviously solid and not see-through, but it still emitted a blue glow, and it's skin looked… Wrong. Purple and glacial ice-blue, depending on which part of the body you were looking at. Its fingers were extended, almost like claws, with none of the sharpness. Finally, its head seemed ablaze with a ghostly flame. Blue, but harmless, considering an open, wooden shelf was in direct contact and remained unscorched. It was clearly wearing clothes, but that did little to make it less unnerving. Both of the actual ghosts experienced several emotions at the sight of it, such as annoyance, or that sensation you find in the uncanny valley. After at least two, maybe three, seconds of nothing happening, they concluded that it was both harmless and interesting, and went to take a closer look. Richard, for his part, was staying clear from its line of sight as best he could. Then… Sadie's corpse entered his line of sight. Decomposed and partially eaten, but far more intact than Felix's. With great hesitation, he grabbed a tibia that'd been snapped in half, presumably by the roach man that'd been eating her, and put it with Felix's ribs. He was definitely washing his hands after this, even if he never directly touched a bone.
He really needed to clean himself, anyway.
Still, the cold-looking semi-ghost-ish person did nothing but stare ahead, dead silent, expressionless. This did not change when Felix made taunting faces at it, nor when Richard opened the kitchen door with a loud creek and cringed at the noise, waiting for it to turn. Richard hurried outside, and slammed the kitchen door shut behind him, and prepared to leave this horrid building as a whole when Felix and Sadie lost interest in the kitchen entity.
——————————————
Finally. Home. After hours of walking after leaving the probably-still-haunted mansion, Richard could see the town they lived in on the horizon. Felix then gave him something to think about.
"So… How're you gonna explain all this?"
Richard immediately froze. Assuming the other townsfolk could see Sadie and Felix, it'd go far smoother. If they couldn't, he could say they were attacked by a wild animal on the way to wherever it was they'd been going, and he got lost.
But then he'd still have to explain the bones in his backpack, and the rambling about ghosts and the supernatural in his diary, assuming his parents read it.
Oh god, their parents.
"Hey. Let's not overthink this."
Sadie was, once again, floating just above him.
"If nothing else, you won't have to buy snacks for us when we hang out anymore."
Chuckling to himself, Richard decided to simply go into town and do his best to explain himself.
Going to prison was probably better than spending forever in the wild, right?
#my writing#writing#spooky#spooky stories#find all the references if you can#But good luck#Some of these are really dumb#tw body horror#body horror
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Even a Worm will Turn
last / current / next
#even a worm will turn#felix culpa#alya cesaire#ladybug#chat noir#akuma#my art#feralnette au#in which Felix Gets Mutilated but Only For A Minute#also chaton IS a good swordfighter#him being bested is in fact not his fault and that'll be explained in the next part lol#and before anyone asks - the sword helmet and armor are all one thing basically#he just hadda get the sword
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Hiraeth - I.X: Was it Worth it in the End? Part Two
pairing(s): Hybrid!Im Jaebeom x Reader, Witch!Mark Tuan x Reader, Werewolf!Jackson Wang x Reader, Vampire!Park Jinyoung x Reader, Supernatural!Got7 x Reader
genre: Supernatual!AU, Dark Magic!AU, very heavy Angst, eventual Smut
warnings: Mature language, violence, explicit descriptions of fighting and injury, weapons, blood and gore, brief mention of a mutilated animal corpse, minor character death, description of trauma and mental illness, brief mention of suicide, mentions of murder, satanic themes and ritual, etc.
Trigger Warning: This chapter does contain graphic and explicit themes regarding violence, trauma, and death. Please do not read if this will harm you. This is your final warning.
word count: 10,6k
synopsis: How far are you willing to go to find out the truth about Moon Dye Bay?…
chapter directory
The nighttime is hushed, almost anxious as Minho maneuvers his way past gravestones and overgrown shrubbery. It’s almost like nature itself is too afraid of accidentally provoking the witch, sensing the torpedo of dark magic and violent sorrow stirring through his veins. He peers up at the crimson moon, grateful for the illumination it provides, and continues down his path—ignorant of the cold air bleeding into his flesh.
Minho knows this is probably not the best time for a visit, aware that his ex-covenmates are likely plotting some sort of mission to overthrow him, but he doesn’t care—he can’t care anymore. A part of him, the shameful, guilty part of his mind. actually hopes they will succeed, at least then, he would no longer have to endure the pain that comes with bearing this black magic. He can feel its poison rushing through his veins, seering his body from the inside out, killing his soul over and over and over again…
But isn’t this what he wanted? Revenge? Retribution? Minho performed that spell to hurt the very friends that hurt him—to hurt Mark, and he got his wish… so why does it feel like the world is caving in around him, swallowing him whole?
Once he reaches his destination, Minho collapses to his knees, unable to bear the weight of his burdens. His eyes burn with tears, but he doesn’t allow himself to cry. A silent gust of wind strokes his cheeks, painting his skin red with bitterness and anger. He welcomes the cold air, accepting the punishment, before lifting his hand to splay his fingers against the even colder surface of the headstone.
“I’m sorry…” Minho whimpers, “It didn’t have to be like this…”
The silence heightens his anguish—deepens the wounds in his heart.
If he could take it all back, he would… but he can’t.
“I wish you were here, noona…”
His murmur is lost to the wind, but it doesn’t matter. He climbs back to his feet before sparing one final glance at the burial place of his lost friend. After a deep inhale and a wordless goodbye, Minho turns and hastily begins back toward the mausoleum.
He was allowed this one moment of weakness—now he must get back to the horrible reality he manifested for himself.
☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾
“Can you be any more obvious…?”
Mark quickly awakens from his mindless trance, discovering, to his dismay, Dahyun looking down at him with a single raised, all-knowing eyebrow. He fakes a cough into his elbow before shrugging his shoulders, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re kidding me, right?... You literally haven’t taken your eyes off of her since we met up in the forest.”
Heat immediately rises to Mark’s cheeks. As if on instinct, his eyes trail back to his subject of interest, watching as you wipe the sweat from Jaebeom’s girlfriend’s forehead and neck before shifting to do the same to Felix. It’s such a simple action, but you somehow look so ethereal—almost like an angel sent from heaven.
He curses himself for his own cheesiness, then releases a defeated sigh.
“We got into a pretty big fight earlier.”
“Then don’t you think you should—I don’t know—talk to her instead of staring her down like a creep?”
“I think the last thing she wants to do is talk to me.” Mark drags a hand through his hair. “I�� said some really stupid shit in the heat of the moment. She probably hates me.”
Dahyun scoffs, “God, you are such a fucking idiot.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you need to get your ass over there and apologize to that girl.”
Her harsh tone doesn’t falter beneath his glare, nor does her tenacious expression as the two proceed with their silent staring contest. After a minute or two, Dahyun breaks off the competition with a long, heavy sigh. Her eyes are soft when she looks back at him, and suddenly Mark finds the dried mud on his shoes a lot more interesting.
“Mark, anyone can see how much you care about her—how much she cares about you.” Even when a gentle hand caresses his shoulder, the witch keeps his attention to the floor. “(Y/N) could never hate you—no matter how much stupid shit you pull.” She snickers, “And you pull a lot of stupid shit, so that has to account for something.”
He can’t help the amused chuckle that falls from his own lips.
“Thanks, Dubu.” Mark says, tilting his head to finally meet the warmth of her gaze.
“She’s a good one—a really good one, Mark.” The wolf hums, “Don’t let it be your fear that pushes her away.” She doesn’t give him a chance to reply further, pacing to a nearby corner to join a conversing Bang Chan and Yugyeom.
Sparing the wolf trio one final glance, Mark musters up the remaining courage he has left and pushes from his perch against the kitchen countertop. He forces himself to walk in your direction—each step releasing more butterflies into the confines of his stomach. Once he reaches you, close enough to touch your turned back, he almost chickens out, content with spending the rest of the night watching you like hawk, but the sound of Felix’s breathy voice locks him in place:
“—Channie-hyung and I have always wanted to go to Chicago… Is-Is it as windy as they say?”
“Even windier.” You say with a laugh. “I can’t tell you how many scarves I lost, and don’t get me started on how freaking cold the winters are.”
Felix laughs too, although it resonates as more of a wheeze than anything.
You shrug, “It’s a gorgeous city though—probably my most favorite place I’ve ever lived.”
“Then why did you leave? If you loved it so much?”
Mark’s interest piques when he notices how your figure grows tense at the young boy’s croak. He’s heard his fair share of stories of your heartfelt time in the Windy City, but he never quite figured out why you ultimately decided to move to Moon Dye Bay. You’ve always been reluctant to reveal certain details from your past, especially regarding your time in the foster system, but even then Mark has been able to pry the worst memories from your brain.
This subject, however, has been a brick wall.
“Because I couldn’t stay.” You finally answer, “It’s complicated, but something happened and basically I—”
“(Y/N)?”
He silently cusses as Felix interrupts your explanation, but his annoyance dissipates at the panicked expression etched along the teenager’s sweaty face.
“What is it, Felix?” You shift your position on his bedside to better face the boy, leaning forward to place a gentle hand on his forehead. Mark can only imagine how hot the skin is to the touch.
Felix’s words crack as they leave his lips, slicing at the witch’s heart like a dagger:
“Am… Am I gonna die?”
“Of course not.” You immediately say, but Mark can sense the uneasiness in your tone. “Everyone is doing everything they can to help you, okay?... You’re gonna get through this, and one day you and your brother are gonna go see Chicago yourselves and try not to get blown away into the next century.”
Felix sleepily chuckles, “Thanks, (Y/N).”
“You should get some sleep.” The moment the command leaves your lips, Felix is already closing his eyes and diving headfirst into dreamland. Not wanting to startle you, Mark waits a couple seconds—partly to give you time to regain your composure, and partly to give himself time to think of what to say. However, he doesn’t have much of a choice when you suddenly turn, growing aware of his presence. A frown overtakes your face, and he instantly regrets ever leaving his countertop.
“Did you need something?”
“No—yes, I mean—shit.” Mark buries a hand in his tresses to tug at his roots, attempting to juggle between putting together the right spoken words and reminding his body to breathe. “(Y/N), I—”
“If you came to apologize, I don’t want to hear it.” He helplessly watches as you rise from the bed before tossing your used rag on a nearby table. “I think you made yourself pretty clear back at my apartment.”
“I shouldn’t have said what I said—” Before you can storm away, Mark latches his fingers around your wrist. “—please. Just give me a chance to explain.”
Your shoulders rise and fall in a heavy sigh, but you make no move to tear away from his grip and he takes it as a chance to continue:
“After my mom died, I was so fucking angry…” Mark notices your surprised gaze when you lift your head, but he doesn’t meet your eyes. “I was angry at the world, at her, at myself… and when my magic began to show up, things got a whole lot worse.” He shakes his head, “I thought about just ending it—jump into the bay or maybe drink myself to death—but then I met…”
“Then you met Jackson.”
“He taught me how to deal with the anger—to use it as a tool, not a weapon.” His eyes begin to burn at the countless memories that reel through his mind. “It was because of him I learned how to control my powers, and I was able to bring the coven together—hell, he was the one who told them to nominate me as Regent, which right now, seemed like the worst fucking decision on the planet.”
Mark takes a moment to blink away his tears before taking a seat on an empty cot. He still can’t find it in himself to glance at your face, keeping his eyes trained to the wooden flooring.
“But when Jackson had an idea, there was no stopping him.” He chuckles sarcastically, “The bastard was as stubborn as a goddamn mule.”
“What happened to Jackson, Mark?” Your voice is both a sweet lullaby and a screeching siren against his ears. “How did he die? Really?”
“The initial plan was to infuse enough magic into Jackson’s werewolf form so his venom would be lethal to the Primes, or at the very least, to Jinyoung. It all went smoothly in the beginning, I was able to channel enough power to complete the transformation… but something went wrong—
“—Jackson was different when he shifted. He was ruthless… He didn’t want to just kill the Primes—he wanted to slaughter every vampire along with those who protect the secrets of their existence… no matter if they were witch, werewolf, human—they all deserved to die…
“The combination of his determination and the bloodlust drove him fucking mad… If Jaebeom hadn’t ripped out his heart, there’s telling what he would have done—who he would have killed…”
Mark leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees, attempting to hide his shame beneath the curl of his bangs. “—Jaebeom may have dealt the final blow, but Jackson died because the dark magic I used turned him into a monster—he’s dead because of me…”
Silence encompasses the room like a vice grip to the throat. For a moment, Mark believes you left him, too disgusted and ashamed to even breathe the same air as him, but the entrance of your worn boots into his vision proves otherwise. The image is replaced by your face when you kneel in front of his broken figure, laying your hands over each bicep. He notices your touch is gentle, but not hesitant, and warm—always so warm.
“You can’t blame yourself for his death, Mark.” Mark doesn’t realize he’s crying until you wipe a tear from his cheek. “How could you have known what that spell would do? You couldn’t have—”
“Magic always comes with price—especially dark magic.” He whispers, unable to hold back more liquid sadness as it trails down his skin. “(Y/N), if I ever lost you the same way I lost Jackson, my mom, I—”
Mark’s voice cuts out into a sob, and once your arms wind around his form, he completely breaks, releasing every ounce of repressed sadness and despair and pain into the crook of your neck. He knows he’s selfish for melting into your embrace—for consuming your comfort like a demon expelled from the heavens—but he doesn’t care.
When you guide his eyes to meet your own, Mark can spot the glassiness of your own orbs in the artificial light—along with enough compassion and ardor to send another flood of tears down his face.
“I’m not going anywhere, okay?” You affirm, your tone unwavering and stern. “I’m here—and no matter how many times you fall, I’m gonna be here to pick you up…
“I’m here, Mark… Do you understand me?”
He nods with a sniffle, tightly squeezing your hands between his own.
“I’m sorry.”
You smile at his apology.
“I’m sorry too… for everything.”
“Just… No more secrets. For real, this time.”
“For real, this time.” Mark’s heart rate picks up when he suddenly notices how close his face is to yours. From this angle, he can count the constellations glistening within your eyes and map the delicate curves of your facial features. If he were to lean just an inch closer, just one tiny inch, his lips would be on your own—
“Sorry to interrupt, but we have an issue.” At Yugyeom’s statement, you and Mark immediately wrench away from one another, almost as if having been caught engaging in forbidden territory. Mark pretends he doesn’t miss the weight of your hands inside his own as he rises from the cot, making sure to put an appropriate amount of distance between his and your shoulders.
He clears his throat before humming, “What’s going on?”
“Chan wants to go and find Chaeyoung’s body.” Although Yugyeom’s face remains neutral, Mark can see the sadness lingering within his eyes at the mention of his fallen packmate. “He doesn’t remember exactly where she was, so him, Dahyun, and I are going to search the forest.”
You immediately shake your head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Sunrise isn’t for at least another hour, and we have no way of knowing Youngjae broke the curse yet.”
“I’m with (Y/N) on this one, Gyeom.” Mark agrees, “We’re safest here in the bunker.”
“We can’t just leave her out there. I mean, she���” Yugyeom cuts himself off with a heavy sigh, before continuing in a softer tone, “You know how it feels to lose someone, hyung… Chaeyoung is—was… our family.”
Mark takes a moment of silence to ponder, conflicted between his common sense and Yugyeom’s pleading gaze. As you said, sunrise is an hour away—but Youngjae, the coven and the Primes should have overthrown Minho by now, right? Plus, he literally blew Changbin’s head off with that shotgun. There’s no way his body could regenerate that quickly…
“We’re all staying together.” He finally says, moving toward the kitchenette to grab his weapon from its perch on the counter. “And if anything seems shady, it’s an immediate retreat.”
Yugyeom delivers a nod before heading off to gather the other wolves. Mark moves toward the bunker exit, but is stopped by your form. A heavy sigh cascades from his lips—just from your expression, he knows this conversation isn’t going to go his way.
“(Y/N)—”
“If you’re gonna tell me I can’t go with you, don’t even bother.”
He shakes his head, “It’s too dangerous…”
“If someone tells me that one more goddamn time—” He can’t help the tiny smile that spreads across his face at the sassy way you roll your eyes. And he doesn’t protest when you move to follow Dahyun up the ladder.
☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾
Youngjae inhales a deep breath, taking the moment to feel his lungs expand, before releasing the air in an even deeper exhale. Even with the relaxation attempt, his body remains tense and his thoughts disorderly. He can’t help but feel as if Minho is waiting somewhere in the darkness of the crypt, ready to pounce on him like a predator to its prey.
Would he toy with his catch first? Or would he skip the pleasantries and go right in for the kill?
A hand appears on his shoulder, wrenching Youngjae from his morbid daydream. He angles his head to meet Lia’s concerned gaze and immediately tries to mask his fear beneath an expression of indifference. Unsurprisingly, the female witch sees right through his facade:
“I’ve known you practically my whole life, Youngjae. Whatever it is, you can’t hide it from me.”
His shoulders sag in defeat as a sigh blows past his lips.
“I’m just… worried about Mark-hyung. He’s powerless out there.”
“Mark is smart—he’ll know what to do if he finds himself in trouble.”
“And if he doesn’t?... I-I mean, what if Minho or Changbin found him before he could warn the pack? He could be dead for all we know—”
Lia silences his desperate quip with a shake of her head, “You shouldn’t think like that right now—”
“What else am I supposed to do?” Youngjae runs a frustrated hand through his hair before gesturing toward the main exit of their underground penitentiary. “Even with yours and Jisung’s energy, I don’t have enough power to take down the barrier spell.”
“Help is on the way—”
“How do you know that for sure?”
Lia remains silent, simply continuing to stare at Youngjae. He feels almost uncomfortable beneath her gaze, resisting the urge to shrink back and become one with the shadows.
“I don’t know… but I have faith.” She murmurs after a brief moment. “We’ve lost a lot, but I still believe that we’ll all somehow manage to come out of this alive. You should try doing the same.”
With that, Lia leaves to speak with a dangerously quiet Jisung. Youngjae spares the pair a single glance before heading toward the crypt entryway. A single beam of moonlight illuminates the exit stairway, almost as if mocking him about his inability to escape the dingy prison.
Youngjae knows Lia is right—of course she’s right. Worrying about the possible pitfalls of this plan won’t help him, or Mark, or anyone. He can only pray that his mentor safely found his way out of the cemetery and is sending backup right this very moment.
He needs to have hope, if nothing else.
“What if we somehow lure Minho down here?” Youngjae’s thoughts quiet at Lia’s suggestion, angling his head to meet her gaze. “Technically Youngjae just needs to touch him to siphon his magic… so why don’t we bring him to us?”
“Minho-hyung won’t step past the barrier.” Jisung dissents, dragging his fingers through his already tousled hair. “He probably knows we’re planning something against him, so there’s no way he’ll believe whatever ruse we try to pull.”
“Then we have no choice. Youngjae, are you sure you can’t take down the spell?”
Youngjae sullenly shakes his head.
“Is there something else you can siphon? Maybe the crypt itself?”
“The crypt was built by humans.” He answers, “I can only draw power from the supernatural—”
“Then it’s a good thing my dear brother and I weren’t turned into superwolf bait.”
Youngjae, along with the other witches, nearly leaps a foot in the air at the sudden voice. He whirls around to face the stairwell, which to his surprise, is now occupied by the last person he ever expected to see:
Im Jaebeom.
Jisung chokes, scurrying backward into the shadows as the hybrid approaches the trio. After taking purchase against the doorway, he offers his signature sly smirk.
“Evening, Harry Potter and friends… Funny meeting you down here.”
“Now is not the time for games, hyung.” Youngjae breathes a sigh of relief as Jinyoung’s voice echoes throughout the stone walls. Seconds later, he comes hustling down the staircase before shoving Jaebeom out of the way. The vampire then peers into the crypt, his gaze burning with the determination of a man at war. “Is anyone hurt?”
“No. We’re okay.” Lia steps forward. “If you’re here, I’m guessing Mark reached the wolf pack?”
“Your guess is correct.” Jinyoung nods, placing a hand against the invisible doorway. “My brother and I will do everything we can to help disarm the rogue, but I think it’d be best to free you all first.”
Youngjae joins the conversation. “I can take down the barrier spell, but I’ll need to draw energy from one of you to do so.”
“Let’s do this quickly then.” Jinyoung goes to roll up the sleeve of his white shirt, but is halted by his immortal companion. Surprise filters through Youngjae’s veins as Jaebeom shrugs the leather jacket from his shoulders with a huff:
“With my luck, he’ll drain you dry and I’ll have to deal with this voodoo fucker myself. I think it’s best we use my energy—sorry not sorry.”
“Alright, then.” Youngjae hums, “I’ll need you to push through the barrier just enough that I can touch you… It’s gonna hurt. A lot.”
“Good thing I’m a sadomasochist.” Jaebeom snickers at his brother’s unamused expression, “Too much?”
“Move your hand through that goddamn barrier before I throw you to the superwolf myself.”
The hybrid rolls his eyes, but follows Jinyoung’s instructions and proceeds to force his limb past the invisible blockade. He remains silent, but Youngjae can spy the uncomfortable twitch of his eyebrow and the tension along his stone-cold features. Blood begins to bud along his knuckles like a patch of blooming roses before flowing down his pale skin the more he presses against the barrier.
The siphoner raises his hand in preparation. “Just a bit more.”
A mere couple seconds later, Youngjae feels Jaebeom’s bloody flesh brush against his own. The skin-to-skin contact is slight, but enough, allowing the hybrid’s energy to spread through his veins like wildfire. Youngjae almost cries in relief as the magic conquers his entire body—a new kind of hope sparking somewhere within his chest.
“Phasmatos Siprum… Emnis Abortum…” Youngjae murmurs, positioning both hands against the invisible wall. He feels it crumbling beneath his fingertips, unable to withstand the power flowing through his figure. “Fasila Quisa Exilum San… Fasila Quisa Exilum San…”
A proud grin stretches along his features as the barrier buckles, then completely shatters. With Lia and Jisung in tow, Youngjae beelines out of the crypt and into the stairwell where Jaebeom, who’s cleaning the crimson from his knuckles, and Jinyoung reside. The latter nods, which Youngjae is quick to return.
“‘Kay, they’re free… Now what?”
“Now we find Minho and end this once and for all.” Lia answers, not sparing the hybrid a glance as she dashes up the stairs. Youngjae and the rest of the group try to keep up with the female witch as best as they can, not faltering until they reach the surface. The cemetery is quiet when they emerge from the crypt, Youngjae notices—almost too quiet.
He takes a short moment to breathe in the fresh night air before turning to a tense Jinyoung, “I need to get close enough to siphon Minho’s magic to perform the counterspell. You think you and your brother can find me a way in?”
Jinyoung nods. “You can count on us.”
“Stay close…” Lia warns with a sigh, “I wouldn’t be surprised if the bastard already knows we’re free—”
Lightning suddenly strikes a mere few feet from where Lia is standing, earning a chorus of screams and surprised gasps from the witch trio. Youngjae watches as Jinyoung speeds forward, grabbing Lia just in time to avoid being burnt to a crisp by a second bolt. With Jisung at his side, Youngjae quickly takes shelter underneath the overhang of a nearby tomb as even more lightning bombards the earth. He surveys the area, searching for the perpetrator responsible for the weather abnormalities.
“Minho!...” Lia screeches from behind a large tree, her tone far less than friendly. “Quit being a fucking coward! Come out here and face us goddamnit!...”
Youngjae huddles closer to Jisung as the wind suddenly picks up, ripping at his hair and clothing like a vengeful spirit. He moves to speak to his younger companion, but his words die on his tongue as the subject of the hour waltzes into view. The heavy gusts don’t seem to affect him, though that’s no surprise since the wretched weather is his doing.
Minho smirks, “They say lightning never strikes one place twice… You must be really special then, Lia.”
“Oh fuck off! We’re tired of playing your stupid games!”
“This only ends one way, Minho—” Jinyoung says, cautiously moving from Lia’s side to approach the powerful witch. His steps, however, are halted by another vicious bolt of electricity. Youngjae attempts to make out Jaebeom’s form through the blurriness of his wind-induced tears, but the hybrid is nowhere to be found. “—so we can do it the easy way, or the hard way! The choice is yours!”
“Last I checked, this isn’t your fight, Prime.”
“It became my fight the moment you threatened my family and my friends!”
Minho snickers, “Trust me, I had every intention of ridding this town of you and your brother’s filth.”
“Was it also your intention to kill an innocent werewolf girl!?” Youngjae’s heart drops at the vampire’s following statement. “Son Chaeyoung is dead because of Changbin—because of you!”
“Every war has its casualties.”
“And what of Felix!? Will his death just be another trivial loss in your obsession for revenge!?”
This time, Youngjae notices the cockiness melt from Minho’s features into something akin to trepidation. The wailing of the wind picks up to a screech, nearly drowning out the dark-haired witch’s weak inquiry, “What are you talking about?”
“Felix was bitten… and is dying as we speak!” Jinyoung shakes his head frantically. “Do you believe he deserves this, Minho!? Do you believe Chaeyoung deserved to die!?... You can fix this—make this right!”
Minho remains silent, and for a moment, Youngjae wonders if the witch will actually come to his senses and call off this whole ordeal. But just as soon as it appeared, the pained look along his features transitions into something more sinister.
“We’re all gonna die someday, so what does it even fucking matter!?”
“Are you hearing yourself!?” Lia screams from behind a nearby tree, “Look what you’ve become, Minho! How would Nayeon see you right now!”
“Don’t bring her into this!” Minho’s hiss blends with the moans of the wind. Massive raindrops begin to pelt down against the earth, immediately soaking Youngjae to the bone. For the first time, he notices the dark witch’s position in relation to his own. Realistically, Youngjae can be at Minho’s side in mere milliseconds, before he has a chance to blink. If only he can get him to move a bit closer…
As if reading his thoughts, Jinyoung attempts to coax the witch another step forward.
“Please, Minho… I don’t wish to hurt you.”
The latter shakes his head with a chuckle. “It’s too fucking bad that you think you can.”
Minho raises his hand, harshly forcing the vampire down against the muddy earth. Youngjae watches in horror as Jinyoung’s limbs begin to contort and rearrange against his own will—the sound of cracking bones and the vampire’s pained groans filling his ears like a haunting melody. He forces his gaze away from the gruesome sight and prepares to advance on the dark witch, but Jisung stops him with a hand to his shoulder:
“Not yet, hyung.”
“But Jinyoung—”
“Trust me.” His eyes are wide with determination—Youngjae can’t remember a time he’s ever seen Jisung so fierce. “I have a plan. Wait here until my signal.”
Though filled with confusion, Youngjae does as the young witch requests and stays in place while Jisung himself carefully maneuvers his way through gravestones and buildings, attempting to remain out of sight. A sudden burst of lightning cracks through the atmosphere, and at first, Youngjae fears Jisung has been caught, but quickly realizes Minho has his sights set on another party:
“I was wondering when you’d join the fun—I looked forward to tearing your bitch-ass apart.”
“I would say I’m flattered, but I rather like my ass.” Jaebeom saunters across a nearby rooftop. In the midst of the storm, he almost reminds Youngjae of a superhero—or more likely in his case, the psychotic supervillain. “Look, you’ve had your fun, kid. Now I suggest you release my brother and cut out all this petty-teenage bullshit before I break your body in places you never thought possible.”
“That’s it?... And here I thought you’d want the antidote?”
Jaebeom’s face darkens.
“...So there is a cure?”
“Of course. Every spell has its loophole.” Minho finally lowers his hand, ceasing the painful reconstruction of Jinyoung’s skeleton. Youngjae watches in confusion as the former retracts something from his pocket—some sort of vial, it seems—and offers it toward the hybrid. “The blood which Changbin drank to turn—it’ll heal anyone fallen victim to his bite.”
“You better hand that over before I rip your teeth from your skull.” Jaebeom growls darkly, hopping down from his overhead perch.
The witch shakes his head, “Not so fast, Mr. Wolf… See, there was only so much left—enough to heal one lucky soul.”
“You’re a sick fucking bastard,” Jaebeom spits. “You wanted this to happen—”
“Your little bloodsucking girlfriend is dying, isn’t she?” Minho tosses the vial toward the hybrid, who effortlessly catches it between two trembling fingers. “If you want to save her life, then I suggest you go before the venom does its job.”
“Jaebeom-hyung, don’t—!” Jinyoung gasps, slithering across the muddy earth like an earthworm lost to the world.
“You know she doesn’t have much time—”
“We can’t do this without you—we need you!... I need you, hyung!”
Jaebeom, staring at the tiny container in his grasp, doesn’t reply to his incapacitated companion. Youngjae curses the smirk that spreads across Minho’s face—a sign of victory—and attempts to spot Jisung and Lia somewhere between the ferocious raindrops. He has no such luck, and instead decides to pray for a miracle instead.
“If you hadn’t fucked around with the few people I care about, I might have actually liked you.” Jaebeom murmurs with a sigh before tucking the vial into his pocket and sending the dark witch a malicious sneer. “Well isn’t that too fucking bad.”
Youngjae leaps almost ten feet in the air as lightning strikes for what seems like the millionth time, although this time, it’s inches from where Minho is standing. After searching the area, Youngjae discovers Lia and Jisung across the way, hands clasped, eyes bright with passion, uttering some sort of offensive charm. Minho attempts to sprint in the opposite direction, but Jaebeom easily tackles the witch before he can get far.
“Now Youngjae-hyung! Do it now!”
At Jisung’s cue, Youngjae takes off into the rain. The bitter feel of Mother Nature’s tears against his skin quickens his movements, wanting nothing more then to end this hurricane, both literally and figuratively, once and for all. He reaches Minho in what seems like hours and hurries to grab his wrist—but just like the tides during a storm, the tables quickly turn.
At the wave of Minho’s hand, Jaebeom goes flying across the cemetery, crashing into a stone statue and collapsing into the resulting rumble. White-hot pain spreads through Youngjae’s veins like a poison, freezing his muscles and immobilizing his limbs from any further movement. He collapses to the ground, where mud immediately clings to his clothing.
Minho rises to his feet before stepping on Youngjae’s hand with a cackle, “Don’t you fuckers get it!? I’m untouchable! You can’t fucking win!”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Minho…” Youngjae chuckles, curling his fingers around the tread of the dark witch’s boot. Minho realizes his mistake as soon as the former’s hand begins to glow, foolishly attempting to squirm from his touch.
Thunder roars in the distance as Youngjae grins in triumph:
“Because unlike you… we’re not alone.”
The last thing Youngjae sees before he loses consciousness is a flash of white and the bewildered face of the dark witch as he collapses beside him.
☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾
“I take it Mark apologized?...” You nearly leap out of your own skin at the sudden inquiry. With a less than agitated frown, you turn to acknowledge the culprit for your almost heart attack. If you didn’t know any better, you’d swear some of these supernaturals have powers of teleportation or something…
“Goddamnit, Dahyun. Not all of us have superwolf hearing.”
“Sorry, dearie. Force of habit.” The she-wolf offers an apologetic smile, moving forward to hook her arm with your own. She allows Yugyeom, Chan and Mark to gain a bit of distance ahead before repeating again, “So Mark…?”
“We both talked it out and apologized… so everything’s okay now.” You hum—the tiny fib leaving a bitter taste in your mouth.
Truthfully, your encounter with Mark left you conflicted. Of course, you’re more than glad he finally opened up about his past, and even more glad that he trusts you enough to reveal his lingering feelings of trauma, but there’s still a pretty big fucking elephant in the room—one involving his dead best friend and the fact you can talk to him beyond the grave.
You should have told him then and there—right after you promised to abolish all secrets—but something inside you couldn’t do it… and you don’t know why.
“Why are you so interested in Mark and I’s relationship anyway?” You utilize your curiosity as a distraction from the guilt breathing down your neck, angling your neck to peer at Dahyun’s side profile. “Is there… history between you two?”
“No, no—nothing like that. Mark and I have just known each other since we were kids. Our moms were close friends, so Mark, Yugyeom and I pretty much grew up together.”
“He never told me that.”
“Don’t take it personal, sweetheart. Mark doesn’t like to talk about his past—” Dahyun sighs, “—too many bad memories between his dad and the bullshit that happened with his mom. He’ll come around eventually… he just needs more time.”
“I know his mom passed when he was a teenager, but Mark never actually mentioned how she died…” You bite your lip, sending a curious glance to your wolf companion. “It’s really not fair to ask you, but—”
“Mark found her in their own kitchen with her entire throat ripped open.” Dahyun’s blunt answer leaves your throat dry, unable to speak another word if you wanted to. “The sheriff ruled it as an animal attack, but I’m sure you’re smart enough to figure out what really happened.”
Your heart sinks, and you choose not to say anything further.
“Dahyun! (Y/N)! Don’t get too far behind!” Chan’s voice echoes from somewhere up ahead. With the black of night beginning to fade, you can just make out his, Yugyeom, and Mark’s silhouettes a couple dozen feet away. Dahyun gives your forearm a gentle squeeze before releasing your conjoined limbs to catch up with her packmates. You do the same, meeting an armed Mark about halfway.
His eyes glitter with concern underneath the fading starlight.
“Everything okay…?”
“Yeah, Dahyun and I were just catching up.” You inhale a deep breath before releasing it in an even heavier exhale. “But there is something I need to talk to you about—about Jackson and the whole resurrection thing.”
Mark shakes his head, “You have every right to make your own decisions, (Y/N), but I wish you and Youngjae would have come to me.”
“I know that, but it was more complicated than that—” You try to gather your thoughts while also attempting to make sense of your words. “I couldn’t tell you because, well—because Jackson told—”
“Mark-hyung! We’ve got an issue!” Yugyeom’s warning immediately cuts off your explanation. Mark shoots you an apologetic glance before hurrying the two of you forward to join the wolf trio. It only takes seconds for you to distinguish the cause of the beta’s distress.
A deer carcass lays precariously on the forest floor, and albeit it’s practically torn to shreds, you can just make out a single word carved into its bloody flesh:
Die.
“Shit—we need to go. Now.”
“We’ve already come this far. Chae should be around here somewhere.” Chan ignores Mark’s directive, stepping over the animal corpse to traverse further through the forest. He barely takes a step before the witch is grabbing his wrist. “Let me go, hyung.”
“Don’t be an idiot.”
“Don’t tell me what to—”
“Shut the fuck up. Both of you.” Dahyun quietly hisses, “Listen.”
You try to do as the she-wolf says, but all that meets your ears is the combination of your own labored breathing and uneven pulse. Judging by the confused expression along Mark’s face, he’s probably dealing with the same situation.
“What is it?”
“We’re being watched.” Yugyeom answers Mark’s inquiry in a whisper. “Mark, you and (Y/N) need to find somewhere to hide right now—Chan, Dubu, get ready to fight—”
As soon as the command leaves Yugyeom’s lips, Mark takes you by the arm and drags you behind a broad tree trunk. You fish Jinyoung’s pocket knife from your pocket while Mark cocks his shotgun in preparation. Who knew the day would come that you’d actually be grateful for the presence of two dangerous weapons…
“If anything goes wrong—you run like hell, got it?”
You shake your head at Mark’s demand. “I’m not just going to leave you—”
“Yugyeom! Above you!” At Chan’s warning, you’re suddenly shoved to the ground by the witch, watching in horror as a deranged Changbin descends from the treetops onto the beta himself. His skin is a sickly ashen shade, and his black veins so prominent it would make a nurse weep. There’s no human emotion left inside his dark eyes as he strikes Yugyeom over and over again with his lengthy sharp talons, tearing open his skin like a birthday present—he’s a complete animal.
“Bin, stop!” Chan throws his arms around Changbin’s shoulders in an attempt to pull him from Yugyeom, winding a tight arm around his throat before thrusting a knee against his spine. “Think about what you’re doing!”
With Dahyun’s assistance, the two wolves manage to separate the dark wolf from that of Yugyeom’s wounded self. Even so, Changbin clearly does not appreciate being stolen away from his prey. He easily escapes from Chan’s hold, landing a couple heavy hits against the latter’s nose before shoving him to the ground. Dahyun takes the moment to strike, bringing the dark wolf to kneel with a harsh kick to his knee, but the action does minimal damage. Changbin punts the she-wolf a dozen feet away as if she weighs nothing. You wince as Dahyun connects with a nearby tree trunk with a vocal thud before dropping to the ground with no movements of rejoining the fight.
“Shit…” You curse to yourself, “They won’t be able to take him down by themselves—he’s too fucking strong.”
“Watch your ears.” You notice Mark aiming his gun toward the dark wolf, waiting for an opportunity with his finger on the trigger. At his discretion, you cover your ears just in time for him to fire a first and second shot. A ferocious growl echoes through the trees, spreading goosebumps across your flesh like wildfire.
You watch both Chan and Yugyeom take advantage of Changbin’s distraction. The alpha delivers a swift, yet heavy hit against his wounded shoulder while the beta goes for his legs. Similar to Dahyun, they manage to pin Changbin to the forest floor. For a moment, you almost believe the fight has concluded in your team’s favor—but the tides shift. In the blink of an eye, Chan is impaled with a large jagged branch and sent tumbling into some foliage whereas Yugyeom is dealt punch after strike after kick, unable to escape the barrage of Changbin’s wrath. He eventually, like the former two, collapses to the earth and makes no move to rise.
Changbin cracks his neck before stalking toward where you and your companion stand.
“Mark—”
“I got it!” Mark quickly feeds another couple shells into the shotgun barrel, cocks the weapon, then aims down sight. He manages to sink a bullet into your target’s abdomen, followed by another in his bicep, but Changbin merely releases an annoyed snarl and continues charging forward.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck—(Y/N), move!” You leap out of the way just in time to avoid a powerful strike. Changbin’s hand splinters the trunk of the tree, sending pieces of bark in every direction. A particular shard catches the bridge of your nose, causing blood to warmly cascade down your skin. You quickly wipe the liquid from your right eye, ignoring the nausea fluttering inside your gut, before focusing back on the situation at hand.
You look up in time to watch Mark swing his shotgun harshly against Changbin’s skull. Taking advantage of his disorientation, you rush forward to stab your pocket knife into the wolf’s back. Changbin practically roars in fury, angling backward to land a hit to your face before you have time to react. The force of his strike throws you to the ground, a sharp pain lingering in your left cheek.
“Don’t fucking touch her!” Mark throws himself against Changbin, delivering hit after hit to anything and anywhere. Still, Mark’s human strength does little to outbeat the dark wolf, and you watch in horror as Changbin effortlessly pins the witch against his chest with a bloody hand around his throat. You desperately search for something, anything, in hopes of saving Mark from whatever deadly fate awaits Changbin’s bloodlust, but fate doesn’t seem to be on your side.
“Changbin—please don’t do this!” You cry, praying to some type of deity that the wolf is sane enough to understand your words. Even so, your confidence is low, seeing as talking clearly had no effect during your last encounter, but you’re fresh out of options at this point. “You know this isn’t who you are!”
To your surprise, Changbin actually answers, “You don’t know anything about me.”
���Maybe not, but I know you don’t actually want to hurt anyone…” You cautiously rise to your feet with a shake of your head, wary of the tight hold Changbin currently has on Mark’s jugular. “Your thoughts are all sorts of fucked up right now because of the dark magic, so why don’t you just let Mark go and we can—”
“Don’t you fucking get it! This fucker—” He yanks at Mark with more force than necessary, “—took everything from me! He took my pack, my alpha—the only people I ever felt safe with!”
“I understand you—”
“No, you don’t!” Changbin wails, “You can’t even imagine how I feel! How fucking hard it is to wake up in a world you know you’ll never belong! How much it fucking hurts just to go on and pretend like everything’s normal when it’s fucking not!”
“Tell him it’s okay to feel angry—” You whirl your head around to find a seemingly exhausted, yet wild-eyed Jackson Wang at your side. “—but none of this was Mark’s fault.”
You’re mortified at first, having never encountered the ghost anywhere outside your bedroom—but whether it’s the desperation etched along his features, or the flush of purple that overtakes Mark’s complexion—you quickly transfer back to reality:
“Changbin, it’s perfectly normal to feel angry and cheated, but this wasn’t Mark’s fault—deep down, I think you know that.”
“What does it fucking matter anymore? I’m all alone anyways.” The pure agony etched along his face has your heart splitting in two.
You’ve never seen a creature so strong and so powerful look so… vulnerable.
“You said the exact same thing to me when we first met…” Jackson murmurs softly.
“You told Jackson you were alone at one point too…”
An obvious wave of tense silence washes through the forest, making the beat of your heart that much more prominent in your ears.
Changbin’s whisper is dark—dangerous. “How the fuck do you know that?”
“Because… Because he’s here, Changbin.” You say, your eyes meeting Mark’s as the words leave your tongue. “You’re not alone because Jackson is still here.”
You don’t know what kind of reaction you expected from your revelation, but it certainly is not the heinous laughter that spills from the dark wolf’s lips.
“You must have lost your goddamn mind… Jackson-hyung is dead!”
“Maybe physically, but his spirit still remains.”
“You mean—” You turn to discover a bewildered Yugyeom unsteadily leaning against a tree, “—his… ghost? You—You can see his ghost?”
You nod.
Changbin sneers with a low growl. “I don’t fucking believe you.”
“There’s a cliffside back along the bay about twenty miles from the lodge,” Jackson begins, his tone a blend of nostalgic and sorrowful. “Changbin and I used to go there to watch the full moon rise before we turned into our wolf forms… I-I’ve missed that so much…”
“You and Jackson would always watch the full moon rise on a cliff overlooking the bay before you transitioned,” You repeat. “He says he misses those moments with you…”
“Stop it!” Changbin frantically shakes his head, “You’re lying!”
“He’s here, Changbin… He’s really here.” You move forward again, more confidently this time, and raise your hands in a sympathetic gesture. “And the last thing he wants is for you to make the same mistakes he did, so please—let Mark go and let us help you…”
It’s as if time freezes for a moment. Changbin seems to fight a battle with himself—countless emotions rushing through his teary eyes. You watch the dark wolf glance toward an unconscious Dahyun and Chan, then to a silent Yugyeom, before finally setting his focus back to you. You can only pray your face reflects the hope swirling throughout your veins—pray that Changbin will do the right thing.
To your delight, the blackness of his veins gradually begin to fade and the sharp claws protruding from his fingertips recede. You don’t realize you’ve been holding your breath until Changbin finally retracts his hold from Mark’s neck. You’re quick to take the unsteady witch in your own arms before sending the now normal wolf a thankful smile.
“Thank you, Changbin…”
He nods shyly before wiping a couple tears from his cheeks. You watch as Yugyeom cautiously makes his way toward the younger boy, murmurs something, then tugs the latter into a tight embrace that pulls even more liquid sadness from his eyes. The sight has your heart melting into a puddle of warmth—the emotion doesn’t last though, not when Mark’s dark croak enters your ears:
“You… can see Jackson…”
You shrug sheepishly, “I wanted to tell you, but he said not to… He didn’t want to hurt you anymore than he already had.”
Mark remains silent. You try to search for his features for some kind of anger or disappointment, but are only awarded with his surface level blank stare. Worry flooding through your veins, you look to Jackson for any possible guidance, but the ghost merely shakes his head.
After a couple tense seconds or so, Mark finally murmurs, “Jack… I—I’m so sorry. For everything.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Jackson says immediately, “If only I had listened to you, then maybe things would have played out different.”
“He says it wasn’t your fault—he should have listened to you.”
“We both made some pretty shitty mistakes.” Mark hums, “I miss you, man. So fucking much.”
You don’t wait for Jackson to reply, already knowing his answer.
“He misses you too, Mark. Just as much.”
“How is this even possible…?” You and Mark turn to find the shocked gaze of Yugyeom, who is closely followed by the despair of that belonging to Changbin. “Supernaturals can’t even see spirits, much less mortals…”
“We never exactly figured that out. Jackson said he felt drawn to me from the Other Side—he kind of just showed up in my bedroom the night after Mina and Momo died.”
“Any contact with the dead usually requires some sort of spell or medium.” Mark bites his lip in confusion. “I’ve never seen anything like this before, not even in any of my mother’s grimoires—”
“Jackson!” Your body grows rigid as Jackson suddenly collapses to the ground with a pained groan. You hurry forward, kneeling next to the man, and reach for his shoulder. The realization of his phantom existence hits you like a bag of bricks when your fingers phase through his form. You settle for calling his name again instead, “Jackson—what’s wrong?”
“What the hell is going on?” You hear Changbin stress from somewhere behind you, but your focus is completely on the ghost in question.
Jackson lifts his head with a gasp, revealing a line of blood dripping from his nose. “I-It’s the witches!... They know about our plans—they’re trying to force me back to the Other Side—”
“(Y/N)?”
You shake your head feverishly, “It’s, uh, it’s the witches on the Other Side—they don’t like Jackson crossing over, so they’re trying to bring him back…”
Mark nods. “Witches, dead or alive, will do anything to maintain the balance of nature.”
“(Y/N)—shit—I don’t have a lot of time—” Your chest tightens at the urgency behind Jackson’s words. “I know so much just went down, but—”
“Don’t worry, Jack. I won’t let you disappear again.” You affirm before climbing to your feet to face your new subject of interest. “Mark—I need you to perform the resurrection spell.”
“Woah, wait—” Mark shakes his head, “(Y/N), I can’ t—”
“If we don’t resurrect him now, then Jackson is gone forever!” Your warning spreads a new tension across the atmosphere, manifesting in the form of sullen and panicked expressions. “Please, Mark—we have a chance to bring him back!”
“I can’t do the spell because I don’t have any magic…” Your heart sinks at Mark’s revelation. “Minho absorbed all my magical energy back at the graveyard… I’m so sorry, Jackson…”
“Hold on, you told me that there’s different types of magic…” You push, “Can’t you draw energy from something? Like the forest, or the moon, or, or—”
“Or me.” You turn, discovering the speaker of the response to be none other than a determined Changbin. “Minho-hyung’s spell may be gone, but I can still feel the magical energy lingering through my body.”
Mark hesitates, “I-I don’t know if it will work… and if something goes wrong—”
“Do you want Jackson-hyung back or not?...”
A moment of silence passes after Changbin’s question. You keep an eye on a repeatedly wincing Jackson, and the other on the witch’s face, attempting to decipher his thoughts inside the glow of his gaze. For a moment, you wonder if Mark will even provide an answer, until the words finally leave his lips:
“Fuck the balance of nature. I’ll bring you back, Jackson—I promise.”
☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾
Jinyoung stares at the sun as it gradually rises past the horizon, bathing his skin in a warm, celebratory light. His gaze wavers across the cemetery to the notorious mausoleum, where he watches Lia and Jisung carefully assist a barely conscious Youngjae past the doorway. After this crazy night, the siphoner definitely deserves a good, long rest. Then again, so does everyone else.
He releases a heavy sigh before shifting away from the witch trio. After sparing one final glance to the sunrise, Jinyoung allows his feet to carry him through the early morning glow, past countless tombstones and other structures, and settles beside a second figure in front of a particular burial site. He silently reads the engravings along the headstone before addressing his companion without so much as a glimpse:
“I assumed you would be halfway back to the bunker by now.”
Jaebeom doesn’t respond, not that Jinyoung really expects him to. He peers at the hybrid through the corner of his eye, attempting to seek meaning beyond his blank features. Centuries later, Jinyoung still can’t predict the workings of Jaebeom’s inner thoughts. Especially when it comes to the situation at hand.
“Mark called. Changbin is no longer affected by Minho’s spell.” He explains, “They’re also preparing a ritual to resurrect Jackson Wang—”
“Tzuyu…?”
Jinyoung’s chest tightens as the name falls from Jaebeom’s lips.
“Their youngest, Ryujin, is looking after both her and Felix.”
“So she’s still alive…?”
“It seems so.”
A brief moment of silence passes between the pair. The earth grows brighter and brighter as the seconds roll by, reminding Jinyoung that time is a friend to no one.
“Hyung, did you… truly switch off your humanity?”
“I did, at first.” Jaebeom’s answer is quiet, and Jinyoung can detect the subtle hint of vulnerability hidden beneath his gruff tone. “But I guess I can never completely turn it off.”
“It’s alright to feel, hyung—be it anger… or passion… or fear…”
Jinyoung notices Jaebeom shift uncomfortably before glancing down at the glass vial in the palm of his hand. For once, he can actually distinguish the emotions present within the hybrid’s dark eyes. The knowledge only jabs at his heart.
“Everything is taken care of, right?”
“The night has ended, and Minho is safely sealed away in the crypt.” Jinyoung nods, “We live to see another day.”
He watches his companion tuck the precious vial into the pocket of his jeans before turning away from the headstone. Jinyoung is not sure where the urge comes from, but he abandons his perch, grabbing Jaebeom’s shoulder before he can leave the cemetery. He ignores the hybrid’s confused expression and pulls him into a tight embrace.
“Thank you for staying, hyung…” Jinyoung’s murmur is slightly muffled against the fabric of his jacket, but he knows his companion heard them loud and clear.
Jaebeom hesitates for a moment, clearly taken aback by the sudden act, but eventually winds his arms loosely around Jinyoung’s back with a gentle murmur of his own:
“You will always be my family, Jinyoung… Always and forever…”
☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾
“I’ve never used magic like this before, so I can’t promise this will work.” Mark glances to where he assumes Jackson’s spirit is located inside the white circle makeshifted out of a bag of flour Dahyun managed to find in a bunker cabinet, before glancing to the companion at his side. “You sure you’re up for this? It’ll feel like I’m literally sucking the life force out of your body…”
Changbin nods, “If it means bringing Jackson-hyung back.”
“Okay, then.” Mark turns to the surrounding crowd next, “In order to do this, I’ll need to lower the veil to the Other Side. This will create a temporary door that Jackson can pass through to physically enter our realm. Once he crosses over, he should become mortal again.”
“Seems easy enough.” Dahyun snickers, although the sound is dry and forced. “Anything else we need to know?”
“Whatever happens, do not enter the circle.” His eyes drift from the she-wolf to your silent form. As if sensing the scrutiny, your gaze connects with his own, and knowing he has your attention, Mark continues in a darker tone, “Just as spirits can pass into our realm, we can cross to the Other Side… so for the love of god, don’t do anything stupid.”
Your and Mark’s staring contest ceases when your head snapes toward the circle. Seconds later, you break the tense silence with a soft murmur, “Jackson says it’s getting worse. He can feel the witches trying to drag him back.”
“Then I guess that’s our cue.” He sighs before nodding toward the circle one last time, “I’m gonna do my best, Jack. Just hold on.”
With one final glance to the grimoire you gave him earlier, Mark inhales a deep breath and takes Changbin’s outstretched hand into his own. He closes his eyes, focusing every part of his brain on the electrifying sensation of the magical energy coursing through the wolf’s body. Bit by bit, he feels Changbin’s power bleeding into his own veins, awakening the slumbering supernatural nature of his soul. Once he’s sure enough he’s acquired enough magic, Mark opens his eyes and begins the incantation:
“Vita mortem, mortem vita est… Partis inferioris velum, partis inferioris ante illum vetum…” Almost instantly, the wind picks up while the air grows uncomfortably cold. He ignores the violent shivers wracking through his limbs and proceeds to repeat the words as the temperature continues to drop. With each spoken syllable, Mark’s head becomes dizzy and his flesh feels as if it’s being scorched off, but he continues.
No amount of pain could ever dull the hope of seeing his best friend alive once more.
“Holy shit—it’s actually working!”
Mark doesn’t realize he had shut his eyes until he opens them, nearly yelping in delight when he discovers the image of said friend standing in the center of the white circle. Jackson looks no different than the day he last saw him, and he can’t decide if he wants to laugh out of irony or burst into tears.
“The veil is down! I’m gonna start the spell to cross you over!” Mark yells over the howling of the wind, clutching Changbin’s hand tighter as he transitions to the next phase of the spell. “Ohto eestanay as vazat esvet ohnaz eespalit… Ohto eestanay as vazat esvet—fuck!”
A brutal force comes down against his head, almost resembling that of a punch, before spreading hot fire down his neck and to the rest of his body. Mark doubles over with a wheeze, attempting to fight against the painful sensations by grounding himself in Changbin’s touch. However, as soon as the first wave concludes, a second, even more excruciating one follows. He feels as if someone is trying to crush his brain—to kill him from the inside out.
“Mark-hyung! What’s wrong!?”
“It’s the witches!...” Mark is thankful that Jackson answers Yugyeom’s panicked inquiry, “They’re trying to break the spell!”
“Like… hell they will…” Mark hisses, righting himself with a pained groan before grabbing Changbin’s other hand. “I’m not going down without a fight—hold on!...”
He jumps back into the spell, weakening the manipulated pain through the absorption of more of the wolf’s energy. Borderline high off the power, he pushes everything he has into the ritual, determined to see it through to the end. After a minute that passes like a decade, Mark detects a shift in the atmosphere, indicating the near completion of the spell, and shouts:
“Jackson—get out of the circle! Get out now!”
As if in slow motion, Mark watches Jackson quickly move to escape the white border. But just as soon as his toe brushes the edge, he is wrenched away and lifted from the ground.
Dahyun cries, “What the hell is happening!?”
“They won’t let me cross over!” Jackson squirms and writhes, attempting to escape whatever invisible grip is holding him hostage. His efforts are futile, and he continues to rise higher and higher off of the ground.
“Hang on, Jack!” Mark releases Changbin’s hands and raises his own palms in Jackson’s direction. However, the same torturous pain from before returns once more, hitting his nerves like a sledgehammer to a brick wall, and throws him to the earth. “Shit—no! H-He has to pass through the circle!”
“(Y/N)! Don’t!”
Mark raises his gaze at Dahyun’s shriek, only to watch in horror as you rush past the flour boundary and grab hold of Jackson’s hand. A blinding light immediately erupts from your clasped palms, expanding through the area until all Mark can see is white.
After a long moment, his vision eventually returns, and he finds the forest completely silent. The temperature is no longer frigid, he notices, and the strain within his brain is gone. For a moment, Mark is filled with prowess, victorious at the fact he successfully carried out an ancient resurrection ritual, however, his triumph is temporary, especially when he notices your form laid motionless in Dahyun’s arms.
“(Y/N)—fuck!” Mark hurries to where you lay, stealing your figure from the she-wolf to cradle you in his own hold. “Shit, shit, shit—she’s not breathing! Fucking goddamnit!”
His panic only grows tenfold when he hears the murmur cascade from Dahyun’s lips:
“Mark… where’s Jackson?”
☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾
Jaebeom scales the final rung of the ladder before making his way toward the corner where the snoozing trio resides. He moves cautiously, mindful not to awaken the young werewolf caretaker, yet eventually finds himself perched on the edge of a familiar cot. His heart thunders inside his chest, and he cannot tell if it’s out of anxiety or hope. Though at this moment, Jaebeom can really care less to find out.
“It’s about time you showed up…” He winces at the broken husk of his companion’s voice, attempting to keep his expression as neutral as possible. “I thought you were actually going to leave me to die in the hands of a neurotic teenage wolf…”
Jaebeom doesn’t respond to her quip—he can’t find it in himself to do so.
Tzuyu raises an eyebrow, “What’s with the face? Did you take down the witch or not?”
“We did.” He hums, “The spell is broken.”
“Good thing—” The vampire pauses to cough, and the sound is like broken glass against his ears. “—you and your brother are safe for the eternity to come.”
“Tzuyu… I found the cure.”
“What are you waiting for then? My consent?” She snickers playfully, “We fuck for over a century and this is the most gentlemanly behavior I’ve ever seen from you, Beomie.”
Again, Jaebeom remains silent.
Recognizing the obvious tension in the room, Tzuyu’s face falls. “But… I guess it’s more complicated than that, hm?”
“There’s only enough for…” He’s unable to finish his sentence, not when his companion’s eyes are gazing at him with such sullenness and sympathy. Jaebeom has to look away for a moment, though the action does little to relieve the tightness of his chest.
“Ah, I see.” Tzuyu hums, glancing across the way to a slumbering Felix. Her pale lips twitch, as if attempting to upturn to a smile, but it instead appears as a weak grimace. “You know, I really never meant to hurt (Y/N)… or you.”
“Tzuyu—”
“I’ve known you for decades… but I’ve never seen you look at someone the way you look at her.” Another violent cough wracks through her body, expelling a mass of dark blood past her lips. Jaebeom is quick to wipe the splotch from her skin with the blanket, trying not to dwell on the fact that her skin is ice cold. “I’ll admit, I was jealous at first… I’ve always wanted someone to look at me like that…
“I know you’re afraid to care—to love, Jaebeom.” Tzuyu murmurs sadly, lifting a hand to rest against the hybrid’s cheek. “Especially someone like (Y/N)… and you’re right to. She’s too good… too human.
“One misstep and you could lose her forever.”
“I want to be selfish…” Jaebeom whispers, “I want to be selfish so fucking bad—”
“But you can’t be, Beom. Not with her.”
“Then let me be selfish with you.”
Tzuyu smiles.
“I’ve lived over three lifetimes, and he is barely a ways into his one—so you’re going to give the cure to that damn kid, Im Jaebeom.” He leans further into her touch as she caresses the apple of his cheek. “Promise me that you’ll stay away from her—to keep her safe?”
He nods.
“Good… Can you hold me for a moment? I’m cold.”
“I’ll hold you as long as you want me to.”
And so Jaebeom takes Tzuyu into his arms. However, it’s not until the vampire grows still does he allow a single tear to cascade from his eye, staining the bloodied bed sheets with the agony of a heart that has been broken too many times to count.
#got7#got7 fanfic#got7 fic#got7 imagines#got7 x reader#got7 angst#got7 smut#got7 au#im jaebeom#im jaebeom x reader#im jaebeom fanfic#mark tuan#mark tuan x reader#mark tuan fanfic#jackson wang#jackson wang x reader#jackson wang fanfic#park jinyoung#park jinyoung x reader#park jinyoung fanfic#kpop fanfic#kpop au
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Authority Figure
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Vicar Max x Fem. Captain
Warnings: Language. Emetophobia. Mentions of cannibalism.
A/N: Of course, some of this dialogue is straight from the game :) Let’s see how this goes...
Word Count: 2,886
“Will you stay with me tonight?”
__
It took a lot to shake you up. You were tough, fierce, and independent all at once which enabled you to have thick skin against anything thrown your way. You had fought off marauders, murderous outlaws, blood hungry raptidons, you name it. You had seen your fair share of horrifying. This had been very, very different than anything you had ever encountered.
It seemed like an easy mission. You were searching for a man by the name of Braxton and a tip had led you to this home. From the moment you stepped foot into the Mather’s household, you knew something wasn’t right. There was an uneasy feeling...and scent in the air that made your stomach queasy. For starters, it was odd that the front door had locked behind you as you entered with Max and Nyoka. It was unusual for someone to lock their door after a trio of strangers entered their home.
Secondly, the Mather family was way too inviting and friendly towards a group of people they didn’t know. This was in the middle of Monarch, outside of Stellar Bay. You could’ve been disguised marauders for all they knew. So they ask you and your companions to stay for dinner? It just wasn’t normal in any way. This family was hiding something.
Max wasn’t bothered by this at first. He found it rather uplifting that this seemingly normal family was offering three extra seats at their table. Nyoka, on the other hand, was definitely on edge.
Mr. Mather gleefully let you roam about his family’s home while his wife prepared dinner. You took him up on his offer, thinking you could find something pertaining to Braxton’s whereabouts. You found what you were looking for...just under terrifying circumstances. You stumbled back a foot or so upon being met with the most putrid smell that ever did fill your nostrils after getting into one of the upper rooms. You were met with a gruesome sight. A steadily decaying corpse that was missing limbs and a head.
“These sulfur-sodden assholes. Ain’t enough that the rapts eat everyone...now people are doing it too?” Nyoka cursed, holding the back of her hand to her nose.
While there wasn’t any outside proof of identification, you did muster enough courage to check in the pockets of the body. You found an ID card belonging none other than to the man you had been searching for.
“I thought I’d seen the worst of humanity before. ” Max stated after observing for a moment or two.
In the shock of finding Braxton dead, the more important issue didn’t immediately register with you. You were in a house full of murderers. That’s when you remembered what you had been told when you first entered Stellar Bay.
Not only were you in a house with murderers, you were in a house of cannibals.
For the first time since being revived, a surge of real panic flooded through your blood. Fear and alarm was very clear on your face as you gripped Max’s shoulder for stability at what was happening;
“Captain, are you alright?” He asked furrowing his brows.
You looked between Nyoka and Max, your voice having more urgency than it had ever before;
“We need to get out of here now.”
Within milliseconds, the three of you bolted down the stairs like a hungry pack of mantipillars. Even Nyoka’s usually strong stomach did a flip at the thought of possibly becoming dinner. Your plan was to book it down the stairs and bust through the door, to run all the way back to the ship and forget whatever the hell you had to do in Monarch. You realized it wouldn’t be so simple when you were confronted on the lower level...as well as the front door being locked from the outside. Edgar rose from his chair, brows raised;
“But what’s this? You’re tracking blood into the kitchen,” He stated. You swear his eyes went completely dark when he knew you had found the body; “Oh, dear. You’ve been nosy, haven’t you?”
His words echoed in your ears. Your flight response fizzled away as you noted you’d have to kill this family. It was the only way you’d make it out alive. Truth be told, you were shaking in your boots. This was the most scared you had been in a long time. However, you stood your ground and snarled at the man;
“The murdering cannibal accuses me of being nosy?”
Your heartbeat was loud in your head, his wife saying something about the meat spoiling and that you were agitated. Before you knew it, you were firing away at this family, shooting bullets mercilessly into their frames. You were not going to die this way. In an adrenaline flooded blur of events, the Mather family was dead and scattered across the floor. After a few moments, your heart rate returned to normal and your nausea returned.
“Damn cannibals. I knew something wasn’t right...nobody outside the walls are that fucking nice.” Nyoka said taking Mr. Mather’s key off of him and unlocking the front door before returning back to the kitchen.
“It’s clear that Mr. and Mrs. Mather had brainwashed their children. That explains their peculiar behavior when we arrived.” Max added.
You approached the stove where Mrs. Mather had been cooking, the pot atop was still steaming. You peered into it and felt your stomach take an overwhelming lurch into your throat. The uneasy smell that you originally had noticed had indeed been coming from what she was cooking. You could only assume that Braxton’s remains were floating around in there...amongst other things. You were trembling something awful, a disgusted mix of a gag and a groan erupting from your diaphragm. This could’ve been much worse if you hadn’t listened to your intuition. What kind of family was this? Even on Earth cannibalism wasn’t that common. The thought of what they had done sickened you. You’d have nightmares for the next week.
Nyoka watched as your expression morphed into something she had never seen in her entire life;
“Cap?” She asked in a concerned tone.
You shook your head in disbelief, your eyes wide and voice quaky.
“I think I’m gonna be sick.” You declared, pushing past her and Max.
You retched and hurled the contents of your stomach once you made it outside. You couldn’t get the images out of your head. The sight of Braxton’s mutilated body. The smell of his flesh being prepared on the stove. And to think that would’ve been you if you had waited a few moments longer. You felt the presence of someone kneeling next to you. In your peripheral vision, you saw Max at your aid. Nyoka stood a ways back, keeping an eye out for any raptidons in the area.
Max’s soothing voice was comforting as you continued to upchuck whatever was left of your breakfast from earlier in the day;
“I know. Let it all out.” He persuaded as another gag and heave sounded through the air.
His other hand rubbed circles on your back once your convulsing slowed a bit. It took a few minutes before you finally stopped throwing up. You felt better physically, but mentally you were worse. The sky was almost dark now, the temperature was dropping quickly signaling that it was time to trek back to The Unreliable. You leaned back onto your heels, relieved that your sickness had ceased.
“Captain, love, are you feeling better?” He spoke in a hushed tone to ensure Nyoka didn’t hear his endearment. When you nodded, he continued; “I think it would be best to head back to the ship.”
Nyoka rushed over to your other side, grabbing one of your arms while Max grabbed the other. They helped bring you to your feet, only letting go once they were assured that you wouldn’t fall over on your face. They had never seen you so rattled before. Max was especially worried. He was protective over you and he often feared how stable your mental state really was. You had a lot of pressure on you and a lot of traumatizing things getting in the way.
The walk back to the ship was long and you felt like it was miles away. Your entire body felt filthy. Between the vomiting and touching Braxton’s dead body, you felt like there was a thick layer of germs on your skin. You just wanted to get clean and go to bed. You even thought about getting SAM to sanitize you down.
When you finally entered the ship, you felt a subtle sense of calmness. This ship was your safe place, even after the hardest missions. While you felt a little more at ease, there was no amount of familiarity would rid you of what you saw today. It take a day or two to bounce back and shake it off. It was so late by the time that you returned that everybody else had gone to their respective rooms for the night. Well, except for Felix who was more than likely watching the new episode of his favorite Tuesday night aetherwave serial. Normally, you’d be a little disappointed to not be able to speak with your crew, but tonight it was a relief. You really didn’t feel like talking to anybody.
Nyoka put her armor away in one of the lockers by the entrance of the ship as you silently approached the terminal. She glanced around the side of the doorway before turning to Max, who was also putting his gear away;
“Shit. I’ve never seen her so quiet,” She stated; “Make sure you take extra care of her tonight.”
A hard blush crept onto his face. In the beginning of your relationship with Max, you both agreed that it’d be best to keep it on the down low for awhile. It wasn’t that the rest of the crew didn’t deserve to know, it was just that you weren’t sure how kindly they’d take to Max dating their captain. The last thing you wanted was anybody thinking that you cared for anyone any more or less. You just cared about Max in a different way.
However, now it seemed that at least Nyoka knew of your relationship. Honestly, of all the crew she’s probably the one you’d trust the most to keep it a secret. It was probably a little foolish thinking that she wouldn’t notice such a thing. She had always been the most observant. Max nodded with a hint of a smile at her. Maybe he didn’t always agree with the way she handled things, but Nyoka was a damn loyal friend.
Now it was Max’s turn to peer into the room once Nyoka trudged up the stairs. Even though he could only see the back of you, he could tell just by your posture that you were upset. Your shoulders were tense and your movements were much slower.
You stood at the navigation terminal, inputting for ADA to fly the ship to Groundbreaker where they’d dock until in the morning. Once your route was in place, you could finally finish off your day. You knew one thing for sure.
You didn’t want to be alone tonight.
“Max.” You called quietly as you exited the terminal room.
His gaze was already on you. His entire demeanor was different. He knew you had been affected greatly by what had happened today. He could see it. He could sense it.
“Will you stay with me tonight?” You asked rather pitifully.
His heart skipped a beat at how you had asked such a simple question in such a fragile way. He never wanted to see you so down and so broken, because that wasn’t who you were.
“Of course. Always,” He accepted graciously; “How about you get washed up and I’ll be waiting upstairs.”
He turned to walk away, but was stopped when you abruptly grabbed his hand;
“No,” You said desperately; “Please, don’t leave me.”
He breathed out a sympathetic huff. He wanted to take care of you. To alleviate you. He followed you into the shower (the only one on the ship), stripping you of your clothes as well as his. His fingers danced and traced over your skin, the feel of his touch feeling heavenly. He lathered you with soap, littering your newly fresh skin with kisses. You basically clung to him the entire time, feeling like he’d just float away if you let go. He washed your hair, massaging your scalp, and tenderly rubbing your head. He let your hands roam his body wherever they pleased. Although, he would’ve let you do that under any circumstances.
Once you were both clean and changed, you finally were off to your room with Max in tow, hand in hand. The second the doors whirred shut, you were in his arms and the sobs came out. You buried your face in his chest as your body shook with your cries;
“Oh, darling...” He hushed tenderly; “What’s the matter?”
You weren’t ready to talk yet. You had been holding it together to seem strong in front of Nyoka, but now in the safety of your dear Vicar Max, you lost it. He was warm and cozy as he rested his chin on the top of your head, rubbing your back and giving you time to gather yourself.
Your voice was muffled from being pressed against his shirt, your tears staining the material;
“Max, I messed up so bad today. I almost got us all killed,” You quivered; “I failed as a captain.”
Max was immediate with his answer;
“No, you certainly did not fail. You are a damn great captain,” He said; “You assessed the situation and ordered us back to safety.”
You shook your head, pulling away from him to finally look at him. It was heartbreaking to watch the tears stream your delicate face that was usually so full of determination and happiness. This just wasn’t you.
“I shouldn’t have put us in that situation to begin with. I was moving too fast and I didn’t take the time to judge what was happening. If I had been just a little bit later, we could’ve ended up as their main course,” You said taking in a shaky breath; “I knew what everyone said about people living outside the walls. My irresponsibility almost got us killed.
Max wiped your tears with his thumbs and looked into your watery, glazed eyes;
“I will not hear another word of this. You are a responsible captain. Part of being a captain is being able to get your team out of potentially threatening situations. That’s exactly what you did today,” He said sternly; “If you had put us in any unnecessary danger, I assure you that Ms. Nyoka would’ve let you hear about it.”
You chuckled half-heartedly at his joke. He did have a point. Maybe this was all just the result of the stress finally catching up to you. Thankfully, you had the love of your life to guide you through it.
“Max, I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.” You sniffed.
“Nonsense. Today was challenging. You’ve taken numerous hits recently. You deserve to let it out,” He said kissing your forehead; “I’ll be here for you always.”
You nodded, hugging him again before he led you to your bed and let you snuggle up next to him. You decided to take it easy the next couple of days and let yourself and the crew recoup. You weren’t as worried anymore.
“Speaking of Ms. Nyoka...” He said recalling his interaction just a few moments before.
You looked up at him;
“Uh-oh. What?” You asked, getting a sense of what he was talking about.
He sheepishly laughed, scratching the back of his head;
“I’m sure you’ve noticed, but she has a very keen sense of observation-”
“Does she know?” You asked, slightly amused.
He rambled on;
“We’re both aware that not many details get by her and perhaps we weren’t as discreet as we-”
“She knows.” You said holding down a laugh.
You figured as much. You knew it was only a matter of time before somebody caught on. Truthfully, you thought it would be Felix or Parvati who found out first. Parvati was usually the first one awake in the mornings, even before ADA’s morning alarm. You always suspected she’d catch Max leaving your room in the early hours as he usually did. Felix had a tendency to forget to knock before entering. It was a wonder he hadn’t walked in on the two of you yet.
“Yes,” He replied meekly; “I neither confirmed nor denied.”
Your laughter finally bubbled out of you at his words. It wasn’t a big deal. You didn’t really care if she knew at this point.
“It was only a matter of time,” You admitted; “I’m just glad you’ve stuck around this long.”
He smiled, kissing your head;
“Oh, I’m not going anywhere...as long as you’ll have me.”
And that was really the end of your night. That was not the first and definitely wouldn’t be the last bad day you’d ever have in your life. You had plenty of unfortunate days to come. But with the support you had, you could easily get through them.
Especially with Max by your side.
#vicar max#the outer worlds#the outer worlds max#vicar max x reader#vicar max fanfiction#vicar x reader#The Outer Worlds x reader
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How it may have gone - Humble Beginnings
A fic taking place in the marauders era. While the political climate seems to head to a conflict, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter are still just teenagers. Dealing with typical teenage problems.
But this year their little group grows. Who would have known that more prefects would be a good thing?
Masterlist
Nine: A hard night's day II
The common room slowly came to live and I vaguely answered the question as to where I’d been that night a couple of times but mostly ignored what happened around me. Until all four girls stood in front of me and ordered me to breakfast.
“Let me get dressed. I probably look like I feel. I’ll meet you in five minutes.”
“You promise?”
“I’d take an oath.” They left and I went upstairs. Looking at my closet I landed on black Jeans, a black and grey flannel and a black cardigan. I redid my hair into the topbun and put on some make-up after brushing my teeth. Just to cheer me up a bit I popped on my favourite ring.
I didn’t quite make my five minute promise but I got up to the Great Hall as quickly as possible. When I entered, though, I considered turning back around and asking Mimi for that toast and jam she had mentioned. They all sat at our table. Milla next to Remus and Peter, who bumped elbows with Nica. Nica talked to Blair who sat across from her and in between Chloe and James who stole some bacon from Sirius’ plate. Why?
I sighed internally and very slowly walked towards the Hufflepuffs. Maybe if I walked slowly enough they’d be done eating and I could not feel that badly. But since I didn’t move at the speed of a flubberworm, I arrived at the table before Peter had started his second course. I sat down next to Mag and across from Toby, keeping some distance between me and the Potter-posse and Crick.
“Morning, you look terrible!”, Magnus greeted me and won a slap against the shoulder.
“Charming.” He grinned at me and handed me a cup and the pot of coffee. “Thanks.”
I mindlessly grabbed a raisin roll and a chocolate muffin and started plucking them apart without really eating.
Nica waved at me.
“Huh?”
“Ugh, if you’re sure you don’t want to come to Hogwarts and spy on those two lovebirds?”
“I am. Got homework and detention.”
“Right! What d'you get?”
“Caring for the plans in the greenhouses one hour a day. Not too bad, actually.”
“You could do both tonight, you know”, Peter said trying not to spit out his sausage and fried egg.
“Not if I want to sleep at some point.”
“Sleep is for the weak! Live a little, Goods! So what if you don’t have all your homework? Nobody will die from it.” Hoarse voice, cheery tone, friendly, casual, not a trace of hostility. Was he kidding?
“Consider me weak then.” I pushed an enormous piece of muffin in my mouth and nearly suffocated.
“It will be so much fun though, shopping and following them around just the right amount”, Blair tried to change my mind.
“I hope you’ll have much fun. But I’ll sit this one out.”
“You’ve sat everything out, since the year started, Tea!”
“Was I talking to you?”
“No, but since we’re friends again, I reckon I can take an interest in your wellbeing again. You’ve spent five weeks in isolation, Black’s right, you should live a little.”
“Thanks for the input.”
“Have I done something?”
“No Crick, course not, sorry. I snuck off to the kitchens yesterday and fell asleep there, I’m just grumpy. Which is another good reason to stay here, by the way. Get some decent sleep.”
“No changing your mind?”
“None.”
The group went back to loudly planning how to spy on Remus and Milla which had those two groan, roll their eyes and giggle. I stayed out of most conversations and focussed on the destruction of yet another raisin roll. My untouched coffee had gone cold by the time the others got up.
“Coming?”, James held out his hand to help me off the bench.
“Sure”, I sighed and took his hand.
He held me back from the others a bit.
“You should have come with the others last night.”
“I was making up with Crick.”
“Before that I mean. You should’ve come outside with them.”
“To do what exactly?”
“Listen to Sirius explain.” I didn’t answer.
“He did explain all of it. Granted, it took him forever which is way too long, but he did. And I think you should have heard it. Maybe even before the others.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m glad he feels… Forget it. It’s fine.”
We arrived outside and pulled out our cigarettes while Milla and Remus waved and made their way to the village.
“This is going to be great!”, Sirius triumphed.
“It better be. We’d have one hell of a mess on our hands, if it isn’t”, Blair answered.
“Don’t be a spoilsport. It will be great, they will come back coupled up and we won’t have to listen to Remus whine about her anymore.”
“Does he do that?”
“What? No, of course not, never, don’t know why I said that”, he recovered very unconvincingly.
I took a last puff, threw the fag on the ground and went back to the foyer.
“Where do you think you’re going?”, Nica shouted.
“To bed! You are off in a minute anyways, aren’t you?”
“We’re giving them an hour head-start. Come back!”
“I’m knackered Chloe, I’ll have a lie-down.” Spoken and disappeared.
“All is not well with you.” Crick had waited for me.
“I’m really tired. Maybe some other time?”
“If you want to talk, I’m here, yeah? Even if some idiot breaks your heart.”
“Noone did. And I wouldn’t come to you with that. I’m not a sadist.”
“You could, though.” I hugged him a little longer than usual trying to express my gratefulness, appreciation and how bad I still felt, then I left him standing in the foyer and went to bed.
Felix had come up to the dorm and woken me up with a weird expression on his face, informing me that Sirius stood in the corridor waiting for me, bothering everyone who went in or out, asking them to get me for him. Groaning I got up and dressed again. I reckoned that I didn’t have a choice to avoid talking to him. After all I had just accused him of ignoring me for no apparent reason, it would be childish to do the same to him.
Breathing in and out two or three times I stood in the common room before opening the door and stepping onto the corridor.
“Goods, hey.”
“Hi.”
“You seemed…discontent this morning.”
“How late is it?”
“Just about lunch time.”
“Bloody hell, I slept for a while, then”
“Yeah, you did. I’ve been here four hours and most of your hosuemates proper hate me by now. Felix was really annoyed when I asked him to get you.”
“He’s thirteen, he’s always annoyed.” I tried a smile. It felt weird.
“Listen, you want to grab a bite and have a chat? I reckon I owe you one.”
“I’d rather not, Sirius. I’m pretty sure I know all I need to know. It’s fine. Kind of.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, yesterday cleared a couple of things up.”
“It did?”
“Yes. Just leave it, yeah?” I turned to either climb back into bed or confront my mountain of homework.
“Goods, I want to talk to you, hold up!”
“You want to talk to me? You want to talk to me? I’ve wanted to talk to you for five bloody weeks. And I’ve tried and sensationally failed, haven’t I? Can’t always get you want.”
I knocked against the barrel.
“Goo…Jette! I’m an idiot, okay? I know. But you deserve a conversation.”
“Damn right! I deserved one first day back from Christmas. Or the day after that. But I didn’t get one. I got death stares and ignorance like I had bloody murdered someone.” I stepped back from the door and lowered my voice again as more and more of my housemates went to lunch.
“I’m sorry”, Sirius hissed. “Which is why I’d like to explain it to you.
“What’s there to explain?”
“All of it!”
“You okay?” Felix and Marvin had just climbed out on the corridor.
“Sure”, I answered.
“You don’t look it.” He turned to Sirius. “She hasn’t had an easy couple of weeks, right? And she’s not good with waking up. Don’t upset her anymore, mate.” He looked into Sirius’ face all earnest and protective and I didn’t think I either ever respected or loved him as much as in that moment.
“I really don’t intend to upset her. I’m trying to apologise and make things right.” What I saw of Sirius’ expression was melancholic.
“You’re a stellar brother, Felix, you know that? She’s lucky to have you.”
“She really is”, I agreed kissing Felix on the cheek and sending him away.
“He’s looking out for you”, Sirius sadly smiled.
“He better be. I’ve done enough of that for him for years. Should’ve seen him in his first year. Lost little idiot.”
“Yeah, I can imagine. Same thing with Reg…” The smile vanished from his face.
“Fuck, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. But I am. So, please have lunch with me?” I sighed deeply. I contemplated for a moment. I walked towards the stairs.
“Thanks, Goods. I appreciate it.”
“Hang on! Should you not be in Hogsmeade spying on Remus?”, I suddenly asked when it occurred to me that he had so looked forward to that little mission.
“Oh, the rest are covering that. Thought this was more important.”
We went up in silence, both wondering where this talk would actually leave us. Sirius pulled me to the very empty Gryffindor table. It was the emptiest of all four of them, only first and second years, Sirius and I. My own table next to it was a little more populated. Obviously the snow and cold kept some people form the village. Most Slytherins were apparently battling the weather and most Ravenclaws had decided to stay in.
Staring at the bowls and plates in front of me I realised I still wasn’t hungry although I barely touched my breakfast apart from brutally mutilating it. Unwillingly I piled some salad on my plate and decorated it with a bit of chicken breast. Sirius took half the total amount of chicken wings and drowned them in ketchup. I waited for him to speak, but he didn’t. He thoroughly enjoyed his food and I forced myself to finish mine. When a third of his plate was cleared he looked up from it and turned to his left, facing me. His face was covered in ketchup, he didn’t care or didn’t notice. I handed him a napkin.
“What did you mean when you said that yesterday cleared up things? I mean it might have for the others because they didn’t know what you knew, but what on earth did it clear up for you?”
I bit my lip and hesitated. He jumped his shadow, I should, too.
“The girls said some things, when they wanted to come pick me up to go upstairs that just…made me understand things better. No need for you to repeat it.”
“Come again?”
“They said that you had told them all about it because there was no need to keep it a secret from your friends.”
“Exactly.”
“That’s that, then.”
“What?”
“Well, I took the hint. That’s why I didn’t join you guys.”
“What hint?”
“Are you serious?”
“Always.” I couldn’t help but chuckle. Should’ve known better than to use that word.
“The way they found out is identical to the way I found out. Not asking for it but hearing it anyway. And you tell them all about it because they’re your friends.”
“Right…”
“Well, that told me all I needed to know.”
“I’m clearly missing something. Mind just telling me what you know.”
“Ugh…” I pushed my plate away and rubbed my hand over my face probably messing up my make-up.
“Do I have to?”
“Please. You seem to think that that means more than it does and I’d like to understand that.”
“It’s not that difficult: They are your friends, so you tell them what’s up when they hear about your housing situation. I’m not your friend, so you don’t tell me. I get that. So,I guess I can go?”
I got up and walked outside to the courtyard. Sirius caught up with me at the first of the icy steps.
“You don’t really believe that, do you?”
“What else should I believe? When I found I seized existing for weeks.”
“Well, yeah, but…”
“But what. Look, it’s fine, really. I don’t fully understand what I’ve done wrong but nobody can be liked by everybody and you don’t have to be friends with me to be friends with them. You just have to accept my presence. As long as you can do that…”
“Will you shut up?”, Sirius interrupted my babbling. “That is not true. None of that is true, yeah? You are my friend. I took a bloody punch for you. By a guy who’s built like a small mountain troll. I do not do that for people I dislike.”
“But…why… how…what?”
“I would have talked to you last night anyways, Goods. James, Remus and Peter set me straight. They were furious. Don’t ever doubt their friendship; I think they were ready to drop me for you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
“Maybe not dropped me completely. The point is that I’m an idiot and you’re my friend. If you still want to be. Seeing how I’m an idiot…”
“Yeah, I want to be your friend, why d’you think I blew up at you.”
“Fine. Friends. Good Merlin. Thought that was obvious after we rescued you from Cricket…”
“So, did I but then you ignored me…”
“Said I’m sorry, haven’t I? Can you just let me explain?”
“Only if we go back inside, I’m freezing.”
He smiled and led me back into the castle and the prefect lounge. We didn’t talk on the way up. I didn’t know what to say anyways, I was rather confused.
In the lounge Sirius ignited the logs in the fireplace and I found some left over bottles of butterbeer.
“Nice!”
“I’m all ears”, I said after the first sip and gave Sirius my undivided attention.
“Right. Okay. Where do I start?”
“Where did you start yesterday?”
“Answering all the question the girls had”, he laughed.
“I have a question but I don’t know whether I want it answered.”
“Go for it.”
“When I realised you lived with James although your parents are alive and well I kind of assumed they… chased you out of their house. That right?”
“Sort of. I mean, you could say that. Look, I’ll go a bit far back in the story to answer that, yeah? That might be easiest.” I nodded.
“Here we go: My parents are pathetic, vile, racist people who love their so called blood purity and hate everything that isn’t a pureblood wizard or witch. I didn’t get that when I was young and I don’t get it now. And I’ve always let them know that I neither understand nor agree. When I was younger they didn’t make a big deal out of it, kept repeating their credo to me and hoped with all the traditional pureblood education I’d get the hang of it in time.
That changed when I started Hogwarts, got sorted into Gryffindor and befriended James, Peter and Remus. A bloodtraitor and two halfbloods were not who my parents wanted me to spend my time with. When I came home for Christmas they told me they were disappointed and expected me to use my position in Gryffindor House to spy on all those unworthy of magic so they could use that information in the Ministry to get unpure blood banned from Hogwarts. I refused. I told them I liked the blood traitors and halfbloods I knew and stuff like that. That’s when it started.” He paused and took a sip of his drink. He didn’t start talking again.
“The violence?”, I asked in a whisper. Truly, I wanted him to say no.
“Yeah”, he answered just as quiet. He took another sip of his bottle. “At first it was just a well-placed slap across the face and some yelling about how I was not serving my name. But the more they forced their views on me, the more I rebelled against them. Didn’t help that James and his family are normal purebloods who showed me how it could and should be done right. That made me even angrier at their ideals and twisted darkness. So, basically I escalated the rebellion and they escalated the repercussions. Slaps became punches, one became five and then ten and then don’t ask me how many, telling me I wasn’t serving my name turned into calling me a disappointment, a disgrace, a waste of space. You know…”
“I knew I didn’t want an answer to that question.” I felt a lump build in my throat and my eyes water. I usually wasn’t such a cry-baby.
“Oh, it’s no big deal…
“Yeah, it is! How could you even say that? It’s the biggest deal! They are your parents, they’re supposed to protect you and love you and tell you everything’s gonna be alright and be proud of you and support you. They’re not supposed to harm you, Sirius! Or break you down mentally. It is a huge deal.” While I spoke the lump in my throat grew and got audible, my voice cracked a bit. Sirius looked up at the sound of that.
“Woah, no crying! It’s alright.”
“It’s not alright! It’s amazing you’re not some whimp or an elitist arsehole or the worst person ever, fucking miracle that! You deserve so much better! Don’t tell me it’s alright! It’s not. Not even a bit.” By now tears were streaming down my face, clearly alarming Sirius.
“Goods… I don’t know what to do, now. The other girls didn’t cry. What do I do?”
I didn’t answer but leaned over and hugged him tightly. Sobbing like a toddler at the idea of the terror that he’d been through for the past five years. After a moment or two he hugged me back, rubbing my back, going “shhhhh” all the time.
“You know it’s not alright, yeah?”, I asked when I had calmed down enough.
“I know it’s not normal. And I know they’re wrong. But I am alright. Because I’m with the Potters now, and I got a family that actually functions and very good but sobby friends. So, please don’t feel sorry for me.”
“Of course I feel sorry for you!” Sirius let me go and pushed me away, his eyes narrowed and brows furrowed. I was confused. What had I done now?
“I knew it! This is exactly what I told them and they all went ‘no, she’s not like that, she won’t look down on you.’ And I believed it! I don’t need your pity!”
“I don’t pity you”, I forced myself to sound calm and neither shocked nor offended. “I am sorry for you.”
“Same bloody thing!”
“Not at all. You are my friend. I respect you and I care about you. That means I want you to be happy. I want you to be well. I want you to be unharmed. I want you to be as whole as possible. So, when you’re not happy, when you’re not well, when you are harmed, when you’re being broken, I feel sorry for that. Not because I look down on you but because I’m hurt on your account. You honestly think, I’d cry for you if I didn’t respect you? If I didn’t care?” I still forced myself to remain calm but it took all I had.
“You don’t think I’m a pathetic loser?”
“Sirius, why would I?”
“Cause you have such a perfect family. All of you. You all managed to be yourselves and believe in the right thing and make your parents proud. Why would you not think I’m an utter failure?”
“They are the failure! They failed you! And if you think any of us would judge you for what you’ve been through, then we have, too. But not you. Not you.” I closed the distance between us and forced him to look at me by pulling up his face with both my hands.
“You have done nothing wrong. And we all know that. You’ve stood up for what you believe in to terrible and horrifying people and you’ve come out a strong and kind person. We know that and we see that and we respect that, so much. But we still hurt for you. We’re still sorry you had to go through it. You got that?”
“I got that.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.” I let go of him and returned to where he’d pushed me.
“Is that why you didn’t talk to me. Because you thought I’d judge you, I’d laugh at you?”
“Honestly, after that speech I’d rather not say…”
“As long as you don’t think it anymore.” He gave me a weak smile.
“Not anymore.”
“Good.”
“Want to hear the rest of it?”
“The rest of it?”
“Like how I ended up at James’.”
“Yes and no.”
“So, my parents had a dinner discussion about werewolves, one night. It was during the summer holidays and there had just been an article in the Prophet about how there is a German organisation that has set up a full-moon-camp for werewolves. If you’re affected you sign up and then they take care of you over the full moon. The idea is for families to not be as affected or whatever. Great initiative. Obviously my parents hated it.
They told each other how it would be a great idea to set the whole camp on fire on a full moon night just to ‘end that pest’. Now, I don’t know what you think of werewolves but I tend to think they shouldn’t be liquidiated for existence.”
“Agreed. Most days they are just normal people and when they turn, they’re not themselves anymore. I’ll be honest: I do not need to run into a werewolf during a full moon. There’s a reason they are classified as one of the most dangerous creatures, but I’m mainly sad for them. The people I mean.”
“Well, my parents would hate you. Even more. Anyways, I told them pretty much what you just said. Which… didn’t fly with them. And because they had spent the entire time I was with them by screaming at me and using me as their personal punching ball – don’t look like that! – they decided I would be given one more chance to return to their noble and ancient ideals. So, they made me. Literally. They made me do what they wanted me to do. Brought in a stray mixed blood dog and had me kick it.”
“When you say made me…”
“Imperius.” I had to find every last bit of strength to not cry again. There was a very good reason that curse was an unforgivable one.
“And when that didn’t have the desired effect they rounded the evening out with a Cruciatus. I was knock-out for about half a day, then I wrote to James and flooed over there. Never looked back.”
“Thank God for Euphemia and Fleamont. I’m glad you’re out of there.”
“So am I.”
We drank up our butterbeers without another word and silently agreed to go back out to the courtyard after a while. Before we opened the door of the prefects’ lounge I hugged him again. Practically buried my face in his neck, one arm around it, one around his waist. I didn’t cry, I didn’t say anything. I just stood there wrapped around him, trying to stop his hands from shaking, which hadn’t been still since he told me about his sorting. I hoped he’d understand what I was trying to convey.
“You smell like something very familiar but I can’t put my finger on it”, Sirius said after half an eternity. Difficult to say if I had succeeded in my mission.
“Coconut”, I answered.
“I like it.”
“Thanks.”
“You can let go now, Jette. I’m good. We’re good.” I let go and smiled at him. He opened the door and we left.
#marauders fanfiction#marauders era#james & peter & remus & sirius#james potter#remus lupin#sirius black#peter pettigrew#harry potter#original character
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like siblings - under pressure
Rating: G
Pairings: Marinette & Adrien, Ladybug & Chat Noir (No romance)
Length: ~ 4,180 words
Type: Original chapter
(Takes place immediately after Volpina)
♪~ ᕕ( ཀ ʖ̯ ཀ)ᕗ
After the trouble with Volpina, Ladybug rushed back home; school could wait, Tikki’s frantic excitement and worry had infected her. She would have to think hard to come up with an excuse that both her friends and her parents would believe. Her balcony offered refuge from prying eyes, and she slipped quietly into her room to detransform. Hopefully, Gabriel hadn’t already realized that the book was gone. Marinette’s heart tightened with anxiety when she thought about Adrien being in the proximity of Gabriel’s inevitable anger.
Tikki was already inside the chest with the book and the Peacock Miraculous by the time Marinette had unlocked and opened it, and she was flipping through the pages and frowning at the pages. “We have to get this to the Guardian.”
“That sounds like something you’re going to have to explain to me, Tikki,” Marinette said with no emotion. She knew Tikki had to keep important secrets, so important she couldn’t even tell her Chosen, but Marinette couldn’t help the betrayal she felt when Tikki revealed something new. She supposed it wasn’t even directed at Tikki, and instead at the situation itself, the unfairness of everything.
Tikki frowned apologetically at her, and Marinette knew Tikki was unhappy to have to keep secrets as much as Marinette was. “Have a seat, Marinette,” she said softly, flitting up to sit on the backrest of the chaise, “We must hurry to visit him, but explaining some of this to you myself will be more efficient in the long run.”
The two sat and talked, Tikki explaining who the Guardian was, what his duties were, what the Miracle Box was, and finally, what the book was. “It holds the secrets to unlocking more power and potential from the Miraculous, giving us kwami special abilities that we can pass on to our wielders for a short time. If this fell into the wrong hands, Marinette, and they were able to translate it... It could cause devastation to Paris, to the world, even to kwami ourselves.”
“And Gabriel had this, hidden in a secret vault, along with the Peacock Miraculous, who had been missing for quite a while, and is currently broken?” Marinette waited for Tikki’s confirmation that she understood the situation, then continued. “Something tells me that he didn’t only have this book for fashion inspiration... Something tells me we need to make sure Adrien stays safe.”
With Tikki’s agreement, Marinette sent Adrien a text with an open invitation to come over that night, if he wanted to. It may have been a school night, but Marinette lived close to the school, and at least Adrien’s bodyguard trusted the Dupain-Chengs enough to let him stay in their house without a chaperone. An arm wrestling match with Tom had seemed to assure him that someone with at least as much physical strength as himself would be able to protect Adrien, should it come down to it.
Packing the book and the brooch into her school bag and sneaking down the stairs to the back entrance of the house, Marinette got out unseen. She stopped in at the bakery to let her parents know she was okay after the akuma alert; she had hidden in the supply closet, you see, because she got the akuma alert on her phone on the way back to class, and she got stuck until the maintenance worker came in for a step-ladder after classes ended.
Thankfully, her parents bought the excuse. She let them know Adrien might come over tonight, and she explained she was going to check out a meditation lesson (an excuse Tikki had provided her with) and might not be back until it was dark, and she would have to keep her phone off for the lesson. It was good to know her parents trusted her as much as they did, though it broke Marinette’s heart that she had to lie to them.
With explanations done, Marinette left, and let Tikki lead her through streets and alleys to the Guardian’s house.
♪~ ᕕ( ཀ ʖ̯ ཀ)ᕗ
Adrien’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He was in the middle of his piano practice, but his attention had wandered so far from the piece he was supposed to be playing that his muscle memory took over and he had switched to a song he was much more familiar with. The text alert drew him out of his trance, and he was relieved to see Marinette had invited him to come over that night. He checked the clock; his practice was over in a few minutes and then he could go find Natalie to ask her. He hoped she said yes, he didn’t want to have to sneak out and sneak back in very early in the morning as Chat Noir.
A familiar but intense pang of emotion hit him, and he rested his forehead on the piano keys, maybe a bit to hard. The resulting discordant noise shocked Plagg awake, and he flew over from under Adrien’s covers to sit on his head. Usually, in situations like these, Plagg would make a snide remark about Adrien moping, or give him some unwanted advice that would probably get him in trouble if he followed it, or complain about a lack of cheese. Today, though, he was quiet, and while Adrien appreciated the silent comfort, he also recognized that this situation actually was as serious and bad as he thought it was.
“Plagg, I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Plagg didn’t answer, just patted Adrien’s hair with his tiny godly paws. “If Father really is... him, what am I going to do? Mother is already gone, and what will happen to Father? What will happen to me?”
Plagg purred, but it wasn’t the kind of purr he made when he was happy. It was the kind of purr he made when Adrien woke up covered in a cold sweat, a scream in his throat, mind reeling in fear from a nightmare. “We’ll get through it together, kid.” Adrien wished he felt as confident as Plagg sounded.
The anxious thoughts running through his head kept coming back to one thing. Custody. If something happened to his father, would Adrien be forced to stay with Aunt Amelie and Felix? Would Natalie or the Gorilla be assigned as his new guardian? While he liked both of them, he wouldn’t want to be put under their care. What about Chloe? She would probably fight to have him live with her, and as much as she was getting somewhat better at being ni- ... well, less intentionally mean, he still would hate to spend the rest of his childhood with her stuck to his side.
Maybe...? No, they probably didn’t... But... In a world where at least some of Adrien’s wishes could be granted, Tom and Sabine would be legally appointed his guardians. Their apartment felt more like a home than his mansion ever had, their food was better than what any of the professional chefs made for him, they even seemed to spend more time with him than his father, or even his mother, ever did. But they wouldn’t want to adopt him...
.... Would they? Marinette always joked about it, or at least he thought they were jokes, but looking back he realized that most of the times she’d said that, it was after Adrien had had a particularly stressful or harrowing day because of something his father had done. He felt tears rise for the umpteenth time that day, and pressed his hands to his eyes to try and stop them.
She had invited him over. He wanted so desperately to go. He had to wash his face, think positively, and face Natalie. With Plagg following him like a lost kitten, Adrien packed an overnight bag with pajamas and clothes for tomorrow, his review homework, and some Camembert for Plagg- sealed securely in an airtight bag. When his bag was packed, he washed his face, practiced his smile in the mirror, and went to find Natalie.
♪~ ᕕ( ཀ ʖ̯ ཀ)ᕗ
Master Fu wasn’t quite what Marinette expected. He was shorter, for one, and wore a more vibrant shirt than she was picturing. He knew who she was immediately, and though it took her a few moments to place it, she was familiar with him from when she brought Tikki in to be healed. Tikki, for her part, seemed to be superior to the Guardian from the way they interacted with each other.
After official introductions and serving tea and snacks, the two humans, along with their kwami, got down to business. When Master Fu explained in more detail what Tikki had already shared, Marinette made careful note of everything. She may forget dates and times, but when it came to important information like this, something she was invested in, her memory was sharp as a tack.
Eventually, though, Marinette had to bring up the bad news. “The book was found by Adrien Agreste in his father’s safe, along with the Peacock Miraculous. From what I know about Gabriel Agreste, he’s never been akumatized, and he’s cruel enough to his employees and his son that I wasn’t even shocked at the idea that he might be Papillon.”
“This is troubling news. I take it you and Adrien are friends, then?”
“Friends is an understatement. He’s more like a brother to me now. I trust him with my life. Oh, but! Don’t take that to mean I’m biased. Well, maybe I am, but I’m willing to look past biases. Sorry, I’m just worried about what this means for him, if Gabriel actually is Papillon.” She broke a wafer cookie in half, and though the baker in her was yelling at her not to waste her now mutilated snack, her appetite had disappeared.
“Regardless of whether he is or not, Gabriel had the book and a Miraculous in his possession. I will personally monitor Adrien’s safety if need be. Do not worry, Marinette, you are not in this alone.”
“Speaking of which... I’d like to share what’s happened with Chat Noir. He deserves to know this too, he needs all the information I can safely share with him to keep himself safe.”
“Marinette, there is much that we cannot share with Chat No-”
“Marinette.” Tikki cut off Master Fu, who seemed shocked, with a stern look. “We are considering making you the next Guardian, if all goes well. Don’t- I can see you starting to panic, don’t do that. None of that is immediate. Take a few breaths, and listen.” She floated down to the table, resting her paws on Marinette’s hand. “Master Fu has been the Guardian for a long time now, and though he currently shares Wayzz’s power, he is human just like you and he cannot live forever.”
Though the Guardian looked worried, Tikki seemed to pay no mind to him, so Marinette gave the kwami her full attention. “We’ll train you over time, there is no rush for you to learn. You will take over when you’re ready. For now, what you need to know as the next guardian in training, is that it’s your own decision what to share with Chat Noir- to an extent. Sharing your identities is still very dangerous, even more so now that we know who Papillon may be.”
“I wasn’t going to share my identity, just about the book, the Miraculous, and who it was taken from.” Tikki gave Marinette a smile, floating back up to eye level again.
“Master Fu, I take it you have no objections to this?” Marinette couldn’t see Tikki’s face when she turned to talk to him, but she didn’t have to in order to know Tikki was using her Boss face. Master Fu shook his head, and bowed slightly at the small god. “Then it’s settled. Marinette, your meeting with Chat Noir is soon, do you have any other questions?”
Glancing at the clock, Marinette realized her timeblindness had gripped her again, and she nearly cursed. “For now, I think... Just one. You said there are other Miraculous. Papillon uses the Butterfly Miraculous. Are there any other ones missing?”
“The only Miraculous out of the Miracle Box at the time are the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous, the missing Butterfly Miraculous, and Dusuu’s brooch, which I will get to repairing immediately.”
“Are the other Miraculous able to be used?” Master Fu and Tikki shared a look, before Tikki answered.
“We mustn’t leave more Miraculous outside of the Miracle Box’s protection. However, if the need arises, you can take one out to lend to a trusted ally. Marinette, I know your mind went to Adrien immediately, but until we figure out what’s going on with Gabriel, we can’t risk making a link between Adrien and the Miraculous. You should avoid talking to him as Ladybug as much as possible, as well.”
Marinette nodded, disappointed but understanding of the situation. “Well, thank you for tea, Master, but I have an appointment.” She stood up to go and Master Fu stopped her before she left.
“I’d like to talk to Tikki briefly, if you don’t mind.” Marinette got the hint, and glanced at Tikki. When Tikki smiled and nodded at her, Marinette was reassured, and went outside to wait for Tikki.
♪~ ᕕ( ཀ ʖ̯ ཀ)ᕗ
Chat Noir laid flat on his back, sprawled out on the empty viewing platform of the Arc de Triomphe. It felt like he was there for hours with his eyes closed and a breeze cooling his cheeks. Logically, though, he knew it had only been a quarter of an hour or so that he’d waited for Ladybug. When he heard the wind whistle, and her light landing on the stone tiles, he sat up and looked for her. “Nice to see you again, Little Bug!”
“Hey I’m only a few inches shorter than you,” she said with faux irritation, poking him lightly in the forehead. “I’m glad you’re here, Kitty. There’s... A lot to talk about.” She sat next to him on the cold floor, drawing her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. “Get comfortable.”
“So, I guess, to start... You know Adrien Agreste?”
“Yeah?”
“Well. Today, he gave me a book. He gave me a book containing ancient and secret knowledge of the Miraculous, including knowledge to give kwami and their partners special abilities temporarily, but also knowledge to control kwami. He also gave me another Miraculous, one that’s broken and has been missing for a long time.” She didn’t look at him, and Chat put his hand on her shoulder briefly.
“The thing is, Chat, he found it in his father’s safe.”
“Gabriel Agreste.”
“Yes.” She let out a heavy breath, and Chat Noir wished he could do the same without revealing how close he was to the situation. “So I brought the book and the Miraculous to an ally.” This surprised Chat Noir, more than hearing about Gabriel Agreste’s involvement, and he hoped it didn’t show in his body language.
“An ally? Who, another Miraculous user?”
“Yes and no. He once was, but he’s retired from that now. He’s the Guardian of the Miraculous. My kwami introduced me to him today, and we talked about the book and... and the whole situation,” she said, with a vague wave of her hands. Chat knew how she felt- this whole thing was bigger than they’d originally thought.
“I don’t think he wanted me to talk about most of this with you, but Tikki- my kwami- she overruled him. She said, get this- she said I’m the next Guardian, in training now I guess. I went from having no idea who or what the Guardian was, or even that he existed, to becoming the successor in this line of very important people, with very important responsibilities. I’m- I’m already Ladybug! And I have a civilian life- a BUSY civilian life!” Ladybug was yelling, but Chat didn’t think she realized it.
He put his hand on her shoulder again, turning her gently to look at him. “LB. I’m here for you, I’m here with you. You know that I’ll help you in any way I can, right? Anything you need.” He let her lean into him, giving her a tight hug, and then letting her sit up again.
She sighed heavily. “Thanks, Chat. I think I just needed to have an outburst. That hug helped, too. In any case, Tikki thinks that since I’m going to be the next Guardian,” she still sounded frazzled about that whole thing, “I should be given the responsibility to choose what gets shared with you, and I quote, ‘to an extent’. Identities still have to stay secret, especially with the new information we have.”
“That’s alright with me, Bugaboo. Is there more I should know?”
“... Yes. There are more Miraculous than the ones we knew about, and we have access to them.” Chat Noir took a breath to speak, but Ladybug cut him off. “In certain situations. It’s important that they stay in the Miracle Box, to protect the Miraculous and the kwamis they’re home to. We can’t take a bunch out or give them to allies every battle, we have to be responsible and extremely careful. I don’t think we should both know the identities of any ally we choose, but the people we choose need to be people we trust. We need to take the Miraculous back after the battle, and return them to the Miracle Box.”
In Chat’s mind, there were endless possibilities. How many Miraculous, how many allies? ‘A trusted ally’ immediately brought thoughts of Marinette, but fighting akumas was dangerous, and he didn’t know if he was willing to bring Marinette into the responsibilities and secrets of the Miraculous at all. Especially with Father now being involved. If he gave Marinette a temporary Miraculous, and his father and/or Papillon found out and targeted her? He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. She was too important to him.
“I understand, Ladybug. It’s good to know we have access to allies, but at the same time, I hope we won’t ever have to use them.”
“Exactly, I’m glad you feel the same. It’s difficult trying to think of someone I trust enough to fight alongside me, that won’t directly link back to me if they were discovered.”
“I know some people... Though, I don’t know if they’re ready yet. I guess we’ll see if it comes to it,” he said, trying to reassure Ladybug with a smile. She smiled back, but he could see the stress weighing her down. “We’re in this together, Ladybug.”
She nodded, and the serious conversation came back. “I guess, to sum up what the Guardian, Tikki, and I talked about... Gabriel Agreste has some connection to the Miraculous and may or may not be Papillon, or an ally of him. The Peacock Miraculous that Adrien recovered is broken, but the Guardian is working on fixing it. Speaking of Adrien, we need to limit our contact with him in order to make him less of a target, and less suspicious to his father in the case of the missing tome. We have other Miraculous within reach and we can, if needed, gain a temporary ally. Our kwami may be able to gain temporary abilities that will affect our powers when we’re transformed. And, last but not least, I’m supposed to become the next Guardian of the Miraculous, some of the strongest forces in the universe, and I’m just a normal person and I don’t know how I’m going to deal with this.” By the end of the sentence, her chest was heaving and she was starting to hyperventilate.
Chat leaned over and gave her another hug around her shoulders, resting his head on top of her shoulder. “Deep breaths, LB.” He waited until her breathing was back to normal before he released her. “Better?”
“Better.”
“Your kwami will help you. I’ll help you too. For now, it’s night time, and you don’t have to think about it right now.”
With another deep breath, Ladybug stood up, and Chat Noir followed. “Speaking of night time,” she said, “I should be getting home. Stay safe, Chat.” She gave him one last hug, and swung away on her yo-yo.
Adrien had gotten permission to stay at Marinette’s house, and his bodyguard dropped him off near the bakery earlier, though he hadn’t actually gone inside. With his duffel bag, he had transformed and went to meet Ladybug. With it getting as dark as it was, Marinette would worry if he wasn’t there soon, so he took one last look at the sky, disappointed by the light pollution blocking out most of the stars, and vaulted away towards the bakery.
♪~ ᕕ( ཀ ʖ̯ ཀ)ᕗ
The spicy-sweet smell of dinner tempted Marinette up the stairs when she got home. Adrien wasn’t there yet, but her parents were setting four spots at the table anyways. There were extra blankets on the couch, a few game controllers out, and a tray of leftover bakery treats on the coffee table. Just knowing that Adrien would be there soon lifted a weight off of Marinette’s shoulders.
“What’s for dinner?” Tom turned around at grinned at his daughter, and gave her an almost-crushing hug.
“Some recipes your great-uncle sent us to try! He told your mother he wanted Adrien’s opinion on them, too,” he said with a wink. “I think he likes Adrien just as much as we do!”
There was a knock on the door, and then Adrien came in- the three residents had always told him he was welcome to let himself in, and after a year of knowing the family, Marinette was glad that he was starting to become comfortable with such casual behaviour. “Hello, everyone!” he said with a wave. Tom gave him just as big of a hug as he had given Marinette, and Adrien let out a laugh as he was released.
“Ready for some new dishes, Adrien? Cheng Shifu is working on a cookbook and sent us some recipes to try,” Sabine smiled, and gave Adrien a comparatively gentler hug. She took his bag from his shoulder and set it beside the couch. “Both of you go wash your hands for dinner, it’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
In the washroom, side by side at the sink, Adrien asked, “Did you just get home?”
“Yeah. I was out at a meditation lesson.”
“They have those? You should teach me some stuff.”
Marinette blushed and let out a laugh, “I don’t know if I would be a good teacher for it. You know how high-strung I get around the beginning of the school year.”
“Oof, yeah, I do. Need help with anything? I brought the review work; I was looking at it earlier and I think I have most of it figured out.”
“I could definitely use some help. The review is a good place to start, but I’ll have to figure out what my next task list is and see who can help with what, and I’ll let you know.”
“Sounds good, Mari,” he said, grinning at her in the mirror. They took turns rinsing the soap from their hands and arms, and soon they were all sitting at the table.
“This is meant to be an appetizer,” Sabine explained, pointing at a dish of finger foods. Next she pointed to a delicious smelling soup and a salad of fresh vegetables, “and these are the main courses. There’s dessert setting in the fridge for later!”
“Dessert?? Maman, there’s already so much stuff brought up from the bakery! How am I going to choose what to have?” Letting out a laugh, Marinette started helping herself to the food, knowing Adrien wouldn’t serve himself until everyone else had gotten some of everything. “I guess I should try Uncle’s dessert, if he needs opinions on it. You both already know that everything in the bakery is great!”
“I second that,” Adrien said with a charming smile. He was almost able to hide the stress he was under, but Marinette could tell, even without knowing what he was going through. She was glad to have him here, to have him home.
♪~ ᕕ( ཀ ʖ̯ ཀ)ᕗ
After a boisterous dinner and dessert, some Ultimate Mecha Strike II, and some quiet work on their review work, Marinette and Adrien were both feeling better. Though they were both still too stressed for a pair of fourteen year olds, knowing this sense of home would be waiting for them every day filled them with hope. With people like this at their backs, the two superhero teens felt more prepared for what was to come.
Meanwhile, Tikki made her way from Marinette’s bag into Adrien’s bag. Even through the plastic and the wrapping, she could smell the Camembert. Before now, she had chalked it up to coincidence, that Adrien just enjoyed the stinky cheese. Now, knowing what the Guardian told her, Tikki understood. “Plagg,” she said, covering his mouth so he wouldn’t shout when he woke up. “We need to talk.”
#miraculous ladybug#miraculous adventures of ladybug and chat noir#miraculous ladybug fanfic#ml fanfic#my first original chapter posted! hooray for me#friendly reminder that Gabriel Agreste is more stinky than Camembert. more cold than the arctic. and more cruel than a dolphin.#yes. dolphins are cruel. dont fight me on this.#like siblings au#no beta we die like prehistoric transitional mammals#-uses sad face emoji instead to denote this one is slightly more angsty than usual-#i dont mean to cast shade on fu but we all know tikki is the real boss here
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Quantum of Solace (2008)
Today Drew is forced to watch and recap 2008’s Quantum of Solace, the twenty-second James Bond adventure. We might have cashed out of the Casino Royale, but Bond’s still got some cards to play and some scores to settle. Bond finds himself caught up in the schemes of a supposed philanthropist, but M worries his hunger for vengeance will get in the way of him doing his job. Can Bond put his personal feelings aside long enough to stay alive, or will he be swept away in a wave of black gold?
Keep reading to find out…
Eli, I’m sorry you’ve been having such a rough time during your stay at the Golden Palace! I think the next episode you have to cover, “Tad”, is probably the best episode of the whole show, so hopefully you get some enjoyment out of that one. I’ve checked out of the Casino Royale, but I still have a lot of Bond adventures to go so I’m gonna get to it!
Buttocks tight!
Screenplay by Paul Haggis & Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, film directed by Marc Forster
PREVIOUSLY ON ONE OF US!
Bond got tangled up with a gambler named Le Chiffre who laundered money for a mysterious, conspicuously unnamed terrorist organization and got his balls whipped clean off by a rope. Turns out Bond’s new gal pal, Vesper Lynd, was being blackmailed by the organization into stealing money for them. Le Chiffre got shot in the dome by a member of the organization named Mr. White and Lynd drowned in a building. Bond, hungry for vengeance over the loss of Lynd and his entire dick, tracked down and confronted White.
AND NOW, THE CONTINUATION
Bond races through the streets of Siena, Italy with some goons hot on his tail. We were blessed in so many ways by Casino Royale, but one of my favorite things about it was the lack of ubiquitous vehicle chases that have plagued this franchise for far too long. I guess we all have to pay the piper at some point, though, and our check’s getting cashed today. After three straight minutes of driving, Bond loses his pursuers, pulls into a shady tunnel and opens the truck of his car, revealing a kidnapped Mr. White.
Onto the opening credits! Oh, no, wait a second! We can’t be at the credits already, can we? Something’s missing! I can’t quite put my trigger finger on it, but there’s definitely that’s supposed to go in between the opening scene and the credit sequence… Oh, well, I’m sure it’ll come up sooner or later. In a first for the series, we’re treated to a duet at Jack White and Alicia Keys belt out “Another Way to Die” as a CGI Bond makes his way through the desert from Journey. Another thing I loved about Casino Royale was how rad its credits sequence was, and its lack of silhouetted naked ladies flailing around. Once again the gifts of the past have been turned into a curse for the present as those shadowy, irrepressible vixens retake the stage. Honestly, there’s not a lot else I can say about this; Bond’s wandering a desert, shooting his gun at random intervals while the naked lady silhouettes do their thing. At one point there’s this bit where a whole gaggle of them spin around Bond as he falls through space or something and they’re animated like a zoetrope and that’s pretty neat, but other than that this one’s a bit of a snooze fest. The colors are nice, though, I’ll give it that.
Anyway, Bond delivers White to M. Bond and M catch up a bit; the Americans were supposed to get Le Chiffre after Leiter bailed Bond out during the poker game, so they’re not happy about him being dead. Also, Lynd’s boyfriend, Yusef Kabira (Simon Kassianides), the guy she was trying to save in the first place, is also dead as hell. Or is he? Turns out the DNA of the mutilated body that’s supposed to be the remains of Kabira doesn’t match the DNA M got from Lynd’s old apartment while she was out playing CSI. Bond surreptitiously snatches a picture of Lynd and Kabira while M lets him know straight up that she’s concerned about his reliability. Bond assures her he super absolutely for sure doesn’t care about Lynd and has no interest in tracking down Kabira or avenging what’s-her-name. M begins to interrogate White and puts on her best tough gal act, but White isn’t intimidated. If anything, he’s more delighted than anything at the clear ignorance MI6 has in regards to him and his mysterious, conspicuously unnamed terrorist organization. M learns a hard lesson when White reveals that his organization has people everywhere, including MI6. M’s bodyguard, Mitchell, pulls out a gun and shoots an agent before taking a shot at M. Mitchell and White both run for it and M is lying on the ground wounded, but Bond chooses to chase after Mitchell.
Bond chases Mitchell out of the cellar they’re in and onto a crowded street, resulting in a few innocent bystanders getting shot full of lead. It’s another balls to the wall chase scene, and it ends with Bond shooting Mitchell while hanging upside down from a rope after they both fell out of a bell tower. Bond returns to the cellar but both M and White are long gone. He finds her back in London where she and the other members of her Forensics Club are going through Mitchell’s apartment. She’s pretty shaken up, but not about getting shot; Mitchell worked as her personal bodyguard for eight years, and no one at MI6, including herself, had the slightest clue he was dirty. M wants to know what the hell this organization is, who the hell is in it and how the hell Mi6 doesn’t know anything the hell about them.
It takes a while, but MI6 finally gets a lead in the form of digitally marked bills that had been introduced into Le Chiffre’s money laundering operation. Some money found on Mitchell is tied to money belonging to one Edmund Slate (Neil Jackson) who’s currently living it up in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. That’s enough for M, so Bond heads straight for Haiti and begins snooping around the hotel Slate is staying in. Slate and Bond fight in Slate’s room, but the fight doesn’t last long and Slate ends up bleeding out after slicing his neck on a widow and getting stabbed in the thigh by Bond. Jeez, this terrorist organization should really be paying Bond to clean up all their loose ends so efficiently! Bond steals some of Slate’s clothes and assumes his identity. He collects a briefcase Slate had stored at the front desk and makes his way outside, only to immediately be ordered into the car of a mysterious woman (Olga Kurylenko). The woman notices someone following them on a bike, and then both she and Bond find out that someone had hired Slate to kill her. Thinking Slate is Bond she pulls a gun on him herself, then kicks him out of her car and speeds off. The guy on the bike catches up and, also thinking Bond is Slate, chastises him for not killing the woman like he was supposed to. Bond steals the guy’s bike and pursues the woman, following her to a guarded compound.
The woman, whose name is Camille Montes, confronts her lover, Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric). He readily admits to hiring Slate to kill her, accusing her of trying to betray him. She tries to put his mind at ease, but he’s not having it and says the only reason she’s having anything to do with him is because she wants to get to General Medrano (Joaquín Cosío), an exile of Bolivia whom Montes has a grudge against. Greene and Medrano meet, and Greene promises to destabilize the Bolivian government enough to allow Medrano to seize power. In exchange, Greene wants a seemingly worthless patch of desert. Greene and Medrano discuss Medrano’s connection to Montes, specifically that he had her family killed before he was exiled, and then Greene gives Montes to Medrano as a gift. Gross! Medrano takes Montes and he and his posse set off in a yacht, but Bond quickly crashes into it with a speedboat he stole. He rescues Montes right before she can kill Medrano, much to her frustration, because Bond can kill as many people as he wants but heaven forbid a woman in this franchise be allowed to avenge her murdered family. We’re really making up for the chase scene respite we enjoyed in Casino Royale, because now it’s time for a boat chase. It doesn’t take Bond too long to give the General’s men the slip, though the chase does result in Montes getting knocked out on the floor of the boat.
Bond unceremoniously dumps the still-unconscious Montes onto a random dock worker and follows a signal from a tracker he managed to plant on one of Greene’s men. He calls MI6 and asks them to look into Greene. Greene is a much more common surname than, say, Goldfinger or Scaramanga, so you can imagine that this is not an easy task for the old HQ. M is pissed at Bond for killing Slate, but Bond refuses to give a shit about his actions or her frustrations. MI6 is able to put together that Dominic Greene is the CEO of a utility company called Greene Planet, which has been doing a lot of philanthropic work lately and has been buying up land under the guise of setting up ecological reserves. M calls the Americans to ask about their boi, and they send her to Greggory Beam (David Harbour). Beam assures M the American government has absolutely no interest in Greene, but M calls bullshit. Beam is the head of the CIA’s South American section, and how would they have known to sent M to him unless they were keeping tabs on Greene and knew he was in Haiti? Hot damn, the gals in the Forensics Club are gonna have a field day with this one!
Bond follows his tracker to an airfield, where Greene boards a plane. Inside Greg Beam and our old friend Felix Leiter are waiting, and soon the whole crew sets off for Bregenz, Austria with Bond following close behind. While in the air, Greene and Beam spell out their deal for us. The US won’t interfere with General Medrano’s coup in Bolivia in exchange for the US getting the rights to any oil found in Bolivia. Beam is tickled pink by the prospects of some black gold, but Leiter is pretty disgusted by all this. Greene has his man show Beam and Greene a pic of Bond that his man snapped and tells Beam he’ll need to be eliminated. Leiter, a true blue bro to the end, denies recognizing Bond, but after a second look Beam recognizes him and announces to the whole plane that he’s James Bond and that he works for British Intelligence. Way to go, Gregory. After the plane touches down Greene and his man depart and Leiter tells Beam this whole thing is an obviously bad idea. Beam doesn’t care and tells Leiter to keep his nose clean if he doesn’t want to lose his job.
In Bregenz, Greene goes to see Tosca and Bond follows him after pilfering a tux. While all patrons receive a swag bag upon arriving, Bond notices that certain attendees get super secret special bag. Assuming the bag contains invaluable collectables that any PucciniHead would die for, Bond relieves a man of his while they’re in the bathroom and is disappointed to find it only contains a pin in the shape of the letter Q and an earpiece. Greene also received one of these special bags, and during the opera, while all the real fans are being swept away by Puccini’s masterpiece, he and several other people in attendance communicate surreptitiously using the earpieces. Bond listens in while they discuss the various workings of their organization, which they refer to as Quantum, and then chimes in himself in order to spook several of the members into leaving the show. Once they’re up and headed for the exits Bond is able to snap pictures of them, which he sends to MI6. Mr. White, who is also in attendance, is unimpressed.
Bond makes a run for it before he can get pinned down, and runs right into Greene and his posse as they head for the exits. Greene sends his goons after Bond, which results in a shoot out in a fancy restaurant and the deaths of several more innocent bystanders. Bond manages to get his hands on one of the goons, only to drop the guy off a roof when he refuses to say who he works for. Man, Bond just refuses to bring anybody in for interrogation! This guy hates information! The guy lands on Greene’s car and Greene’s man shoots him to death. This is a real fly in the ointment, because that guy was a Special Branch operative working as a bodyguard for Guy Haines (Paul Ritter), a special envoy to the Prime Minister. Now it looks like Bond killed the bodyguard of the Prime Minister’s buddy, which is not a good look.
M calls Bond and tells him he needs to come in while this is sorted out, but he refuses. M cuts off Bond’s access to MI6 resources and puts an alert on his collection of passports while MI6 digs up the dirt on Haines. Being cut off from the family money instantly puts Bond in a tight spot, as he’s not able to buy a plane ticket he needs to keep tracking Greene. He’s able to make his way to Talamone, Italy, where he meets with his old, now-retired friend René Mathis. Keep in mind, the last time Bond and Mathis hung out Bond had Mathis branded as a traitor and he was locked up by MI6. His name’s been cleared in the days since all that happened, which is good, but now Bond is coming to him for help. Bond shows him the pictures he got of the Quantum members at the opera, and Mathis recognizes Haines and says he’s nobody to trifle with. Despite living the good life and having no conceivable reason for wanting to help Bond, Mathis agrees to join him on a trip to Bolivia.
At La Paz, Bolivia, Bond and Mathis are confronted by Miss Fields (Gemma Arterton), a consulate worker with orders to get Bond on a flight to London. The next flight isn’t until tomorrow, so Fields agrees to tag along with Bond and Mathis while they get up to trouble. Bond and Fields immediately sleep together, and Mathis later informs Bond that he’s been invited to a party hosted by Greene Planet. At the party, Greene gives a speech about ecological peril and discusses environmental issues with his guests while also sowing seeds of unrest directed at the current Bolivian government. A positively sloshed Montes keeps this from going smoothly by telling Greene’s admirers about how land he’d previously bought to use as an ecological reserve was sold off to a big company that stripped it bare. Greene drags Montes away, all the while being observed by Felix Leiter. Montes is still obsessed with getting revenge on Medrano, and Greene prepares to push her off the ledge of a balcony when Bond swoops in to save her. Greene sends a man after Bond, but the scrappy Miss Fields manages to trip him down a flight of stairs so Bond and Montes can put some safe distance between them and Greene.
Bond tells Montes he needs her to get more dirt on Greene’s secret projects, but they barely make it out of the party before they get pulled over by some cops. The cops are clearly dirty and they tell Bond to open his trunk, where an unconscious Mathis is found. The cops shoot Mathis in the back as Bond helps him out of the trunk, and Bond kills them in kind. Bond holds Mathis while he dies, following through with his plan to ruin this man’s life right up to the end. Mathis says he forgives Bond and asks him to forgive Vesper Lynd for betraying him. Mathis dies and Bond tosses his body into a dumpster after stealing some cash off him.
The cops blame Bond for Mathis’ death, so now M thinks he’s on a full-blown rampage, and after the whole Mitchell thing it’s easy to understand why she’d be ready to believe someone she trusted was dirty. Bond and Montes get their hands on a plane, which Bond flies while Montes guides him to the land Greene bought from Medrano. During the flight Bond causally informs us that Montes was formerly an agent of the Bolivian Secret Service. Bond spots some sinkholes in the desert, and then their plane is suddenly shot up by some of Greene’s flyboys. You guessed it, we’ve had car chases, foot chases and a boat chase, so naturally it’s time for a plane chase. Bond barely keeps his bird in the air, but the other plane is still coming for them and it shoots out one of their engines. Bond uses the smoke from the dead engine to blind the enemy pilot and trick him into flying into the side of a mountain.
Bond has Montes put on a parachute in preparation for abandoning the plane, but then out of nowhere a helicopter pops up and picks up the crashed plane’s shooting slack. This is too much for the plane, and it’s finally going down. Bond jumps out with Montes and only one parachute between the pair of them, and they fall into a sinkhole. They manage to grab onto each other and deploy the ‘chute just before hitting the ground, but they still hit hard enough to knock both of them out. M is called into a meeting with a government bigwig and informed that the British government is now preparing to do business with Greene. M protests and asks for time to gather evidence to prove Greene is a rude, crude dude. The official doesn’t really care if Greene is a bad guy or not, and tells M to pull Bond in before the Americans can kill him.
Back in the sinkhole, Montes tells Bond about her tragic backstory and her thirst for vengeance. Now that he knows how horny Montes is for killing Medrano Bond apologizes for stopping her earlier, and the two set off to find a way out of their hole. They discover that Greene has secretly dammed up an underground river, causing an artificial drought, and when they make it to the surface they see some Bolivians desperate for the water Greene is hording below the surface. Bond takes Montes to his hotel, where he’s informed that Fields has left a note for him. The note tells him to run, but he’s got to check his room first. In the room he finds M and a whole squad of goons. Bond and M are both mad at each other; Bond is mad at M for getting into bed with Greene over nonexistent oil, and M is mad at Bond for getting so caught up in his grief over the loss of Lynd and his thirst for vengeance. Bond finds out that Fields has been killed by being drowned in oil and that her oil-coated corpse has been left on his bed. M knows Greene is behind this just as much as Bond does, but she still blames Bond for her death. Fields was an office worker who was only in Bolivia to collect Bond and take him home, and she only got caught up in all of this because she had a crush on him. M suspends Bond and has him escorted away by guards, but he beats the guards up in an elevator. Bond catches up to M and points out Fields’ bravery before telling her that the two of them need to finish this. M says there’s nowhere to go and that there’s a capture or kill order out on him, but she doesn’t stop him from scampering over a balcony to escape the never-ending swarm of agents coming to collect him. She tells her assistant to have him followed because he’s onto something, and tells the CIA to piss off because Bond is her agent and she trusts him.
Outside the hotel, Montes swoops in to give him a ride. Meanwhile, Leiter and Beam are chilling in their hotel room when Bond gives Leiter a call. Leiter meets Bond in a bar, and the two discuss the ethics of oil, money and Greene. Leiter had to report making contact with Bond so some CIA goons are about to tear this place apart, but Leiter has enough time to tell Bond that Medrano can’t stage his coup until he pays off some officials and he has to get money from Greene before he can do that. Leiter tells Bond where Medrano is meeting with Greene to get his cash, and lets Bond get away before his fellow CIA agents can capture and/or kill him.
Bond and Montes prepare to storm the hotel as Greene arrives with Medrano’s spondoolies. Greene does indeed bring the skrilla, but he also brings a contract for Medrano which will make Quantum the sole provider of Bolivia’s utilities. Medrano’s pissed about this bit of extortion, but after some threats from Greene he signs the contract and gets his money. Montes infiltrates the hotel and finds Medrano’s room, where she hears him assaulting a woman who brought him a beer earlier. Bond, meanwhile, goes on a rampage in the parking garage to prevent Greene from getting away. Montes gets into Medrano’s room and the two start beating the hell out of each other just as Bond catches up to Greene and the two of them start beating the hell out of each other.
Bond set off a chain reaction of explosions during his rampage, so it should be noted that both of these fights are going on while the hotel is exploding around them. Bond gets the better of Greene just as Medrano gets the upper hand and shoots her family’s murderer. Bond chooses not to kill Greene, and instead rescues the trapped Montes from the burning hotel room. He sees Montes through her flashback to her traumatic childhood and then the two escape, catching sight of Greene limping away in the distance. It doesn’t take Bond long to track him down once he finds a car that hasn’t exploded yet, and after interrogating him offscreen Bond leaves him in the middle of the desert with only a can of oil to drink.
Bond drives Montes back to civilization, and the two make plans to dismantle Greene’s dams and get water flowing in Bolivia again. They give each other a kiss goodbye and Bond sets off for Kazan, Russia, where he’s able to track down Yusef Kabira. Kabira has moved on from Lynd’s death and has a new girlfriend who works in Canadian intelligence. Bond explains to the woman that she has access to some sensitive material, and soon Kabira will be threatened and she’ll be blackmailed into giving that information up. Kabira’s entire relationship with Lynd was built on this same scheme, and him getting her involved in the mess at the Casino Royale led to her death. Bond sends Kabira’s new gal pal off and allows MI6 to take Kabira into custody. That’s right, he didn’t kill the guy! Who’d have thought! Bond and M meet outside the hotel, and M lets Bond know Greene was found shot to death in the desert and Felix Leiter got a promotion. Bond lets her know he’s forgiven Lynd for betraying him and is finally moving on from his grief.
The –
Oh shit, just kidding, right before the final credits role we get our first real barrel shot featuring Daniel Craig! I knew something was missing from earlier!
The End
~~~~~
Phew, let me catch my breath after being so long winded! I know from my general understanding of the Bond franchise that this movie didn’t receive the same fanfare that Casino Royale did, but I’ve got to say that I really enjoyed it! I think Casino Royale is probably the closest to a perfect Bond flick that I’ve seen so far and I can’t say that Quantum of Solace reached those same heights, but it was still a very well-made movie. I think one of the things I appreciated so much about Casino Royale was its willingness to step away from established tropes and do something that felt fresh and new to me, and that’s one area where I think Quantum of Solace stumbled. There were so many chase scenes in this movie! Boats, cars, planes, you name it, Bond was being chased by it. Also, I know this is a weird thing to be so bugged by, but I was really disappointed to see the return of the naked lady silhouettes in the credits sequence. Let’s leave those in the past already! One thing I loved about this movie was the character of Montes, and her being able to claim the vengeance she’d more than earned felt like a personal apology from the franchise over the travesty that was Melina Havelock’s arc in For Your Eyes Only. But we still had to have a disposable woman character murdered in order to piss Bond off in the form of Miss Fields (to be fair, that’s one trope Casino Royale also used). I don’t think Greene was as memorable a villain as Le Chiffre, and even though I think Mathieu Amalric did a fine job in his performance I never found myself really digging his character. Maybe it’s the fact that oil as a motive has already been used in the franchise, I don’t know. One thing I really liked was how much screen time M got, and she even got her own little arc about learning who she can trust. I also just really love Jeffrey Wright as Leiter, and was glad we got to spend more time with him here. Also, this is just a frivolous aesthetic note, but I really loved the way the each location name was shown with its own bespoke font. There were plenty of things I didn’t like about this movie, but there were a lot more things that I liked and overall I think this is a standout entry in the franchise.
I give Quantum of Solace QQQQ on the Five Q Scale.
Check back soon to catch Eli’s recaps of the next couple of episodes of The Golden Palace, “Tad” and “One Angry Stan”, and after that believe it or not I’ll be covering the penultimate James Bond film when I recap Skyfall.
Until then, as always, thank you for reading, thank you for that sweet, sweet vengeance and thank you for being One of Us!
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