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barnesmurdock · 3 years

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Pretty boys and fondues.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Enhanced!Reader.

Summary: You and Steve take Bucky to Coney Island, and it pushed you and Bucky to act on your feelings for each other.

Word count: 4880 (ik, wtf)

Warnings: fluff, pining, me not knowing shit about Coney Island and probably being inaccurate about it, Steve being the third wheel (sorry bby ily). Things getting steamy, but no smut.

A/N: I just started writing and writing and this came out. This was requested by a beloved friend and I've never been to Coney Island so sorry in advance for any potential stuff that doesn't make sense!

Also, this is long, so I just read over it twice. Sorry if there's any mistakes!

As always, Bucky is beefy in this because beefy!Bucky is my favorite.

Please consider reblogging if you enjoyed it <3

Masterlist

After having the Compound destroyed by Thanos, the new Avengers Compound was under construction and so you and Steve decided to get an apartment together and, of course, with Bucky.

You and Steve had been inseparable from the moment you met and you were well aware of how important Bucky was to Steve, so you had no problem living with him.

You had been in Romania with Steve to help Bucky, and Germany, and you had ran away with him, and you had been to Wakanda a handful of times when Steve went to visit Bucky when it was safe. So, you knew Bucky a bit. Actually, you've had massive heart eyes for that man from the moment you first saw him, but you never did anything about it. Both of you were Steve's best friends, his family, and if Bucky didn't feel the same you really didn't want to make things weird for Steve.

There was this weird tension between you. The good kind of tension. With lingering gazes and small touches and smiles, the small gestures, the moments when you found Bucky late at night sitting in the living room, looking like shit after having another nightmare and you made him some tea and put something on the tv to keep him out of his thoughts for a while… Which Bucky deeply appreciated, especially since you didn't push him to talk about it. He was comfortable around you, and that was something that didn't come easily for him these days.

Had Bucky been the confident, charming young man he once was, he wouldn't have hesitated to do something about said tension, but he wasn't. And you were Steve's friend, so he didn't want to fuck it up.

Steve, bless his soul, seemed completely unaware of what was going on and he just thought his two best friends got along really well.

It was Steve who suggested taking Bucky to Coney Island now that the weather was nicer, so there you were between two massive super soldiers, with Steve's arm casually draped on your shoulders while he talked to his old friend, who had his hands inside the pockets of his leather jacket.

"So, where do you wanna go first?" You asked the brunette, his long hair getting on his face with the breeze. You took a hair tie from your wrist and silently offered it to him with a smile.

He thanked you with a court nod and hummed pensively as he tied his hair in a bun. It was getting too long, but you'd said you liked how it looked a couple of times so he let it be.

"Uh… Cyclone? Wanna see how Stevie holds up now he's all big and healthy." Bucky said with a smirk, looking up at his blonde friend as he tried to tease him.

"I'll have ya know that I didn't throw up last time we were here." Steve rushed to defend himself, faking being offended.

"But don't spoil it for him!" You nudged Steve's side with your elbow, chuckling as the three of you started heading towards the roller coaster.

You ended up sitting in the cart with Bucky, Steve sitting alone in front of you. The guys initially wanted to sit together but the seats weren't wide enough for both of their stupidity beefy bodies to fit. Hell, even you and Bucky were a tight fit, your bodies completely pressed against each other.

"This feels just like the back of that stupid tiny car Steve stole in Germany." You said with a sigh as you waited for the rest of the people to get in, looking at Bucky with amusement.

"Yeah, not his best moment." Bucky chuckled, trying to make some space for you, even if he was more than okay to have you that close.

"Guys, y'know I can hear you, right?" Steve turned on his seat to give you two a stern look, which you responded to by showing him your tongue, making laughter bubble in Bucky's chest.

"I don't remember these being so small. Last time we came here I had to hold you in place, remember?" Bucky commented once his laugh died down.

"It was a nightmare, I really thought I was gonna fly ou-Oh, it's starting." Steve was cut short when the ride started moving, turning around and getting ready.

"You nervous?" Bucky leaned towards your ear, his low tone making goosebumps rise on your skin.

You bit your lip and you shook your head, looking away from his face. He playfully nudged your arm with his, not taking it away afterwards.

"I don't know if we should trust something made in the 20s." He commented as the ride started to get close to the top.

"Bucky, you're literally ten years older than this thing." You said with a chuckle.

You went to look back at him just when the cart started to tilt down, making you yelp and grab onto Bucky's hand as the ride dropped down.

"I thought you weren't nervous." Bucky chuckled once you went up again, adjusting your hands so he could grab yours better.

"Shut UP!" You ended up screaming into the next drop, making both super-soldiers laugh.

Bucky didn't let go of your hand the whole ride and neither did you. And neither of you commented on it. He helped you out of the ride, his hand still on yours as you got off the cart still laughing.

It was only when Steve turned his attention back to the two of tou that your hands dropped to each other's sides, yours going to put some of your hair behind your ear and Bucky's casually going back to his pockets.

"How was it?" Steve asked Bucky with a wide smile, his hair terribly messy from the ride.

"Just like the old times." The brunette responded, giving you a side glance and smiling to himself as you started walking out of there. It kinda was like the old times, him, his best friend and a gorgeous dame by his side. Except, unfortunately, you weren't his date.

"Where do you wanna go next?"

Bucky ended up wanting to go on almost every ride in the park and both you and Steve gladly indulged him. Bucky usually wasn't as gloomy and brooding as he was when you first met him, but you'd never seen him have that much fun, his face glowing from laughing and his hair mussed from all the rides.

Steve was definitely happier than ever, seeing Bucky like that and finally having some well deserved fun like regular people. Especially after over a decade of constant fighting and running.

You, on the other hand, while having a very good time with them, were starting to struggle to keep your heart from getting out of your chest from all the fluttering. Up until now, it had been moderately easy to keep your feelings for Bucky in check, but he was more his old charming flirty self than the snarky awkward Bucky you were used to (and adored) and that was way harder to ignore. It was harder to ignore how he had held your hand on the Cyclone, how your hands brushed while you walked side by side, how he whispered things in your ear even when you could've heard him fine without doing that and gave you that smug smile of his. You could see a little bit of that Bucky Steve had talked to you about so many times.

Steve had been recognized by some kids and had told you two to run while you could while he handled that, knowing Bucky wouldn't like a lot of attention directed at him. Bucky grimaced as you both watched a small crowd form around your friend. Not wanting to simply stand there waiting, you scoped your surroundings for something to do. Once you got it, you tugged at his sleeve, redirecting his attention to you.

"It'll be a while before they let him go, how'bout I win you something?" You said with a playful wink, laughing at the dumbfounded expression on his face after he heard you.

"Doesn't that work the other way around?" He said with a raised brow, letting you guide him to the stand with the cute cat plushies you thought he would like.

"You gonna feel emasculated if I give you a gift?" You said teasingly, walking backwards towards the stand so you could still watch him.

"More like I'd like to win you something." He confessed with a side smile, looking at you with fondness. He thought he was going to be able to keep his feelings in check but, perhaps he couldn't do that anymore.

You stopped on your feet and opened your mouth to say something, only to end up biting your lip and sighing lightly.

"Well… we can win each other something, then." You suggested with a shrug of your shoulders, your hand letting his sleeve go and trailing down his arm to hold his hand.

You looked behind him to see how Steve was doing. Still there with the kids. Bucky turned slightly to check what you were looking at but ended up being urged to walk again by the tug of your hand in his.

He smiled, his gaze moving from your back to where your hands met before he picked up his pace. His flesh hand, free on his side, was starting to sweat inside the leather glove. It seemed like two were finally doing something about this thing between you and he was getting giddy and nervous. He felt weird, good, like… fuck, he felt young again doing this silly thing with you.

You chose the game where you have to clear a pyramid of cans with balls and, because Bucky was always a gentleman, he let you go first.

You decided to get only 2 balls, the minimum, confident in your skills. Then, you got ready to throw the first one, debating between using your telekinesis or not.

"No powers, Y/n... cheating s'wrong." Bucky said after he felt the hair on the nape of his neck rise (something that always happened when you did your thing), leaning from behind you to whisper in your ear. You knew he was smiling from his tone alone.

You showed him your middle finger without even turning to see him, making him laugh and take a step back to give you some space. You could do 'no powers' just fine ,so you adjusted your stance, took a deep breath and aimed at the cans.

Bucky whistled behind you, impressed when the pyramid crumbled down with just one throw. "That was a great throw."

"Right? And you thought I was gonna cheat…" you sighed dramatically as you turned on your feet to face him. Bucky chuckled and apologized briefly. "C'mon pretty boy, pick a prize." You winked at him, pointing behind you with your thumb.

Bucky's cheeks rapidly flushed pink at the name, but he played along, staring pensively at the assortment of stuffed animals hanging from the ceiling.

"Hmmm, I think I'll go for a white cat. Y'know, like Alpine."

You asked the guy running the game for the cat Bucky wanted and handed it to him with a triumphant smile on your face.

"Here you go, great choice."

"I have great taste." He tilted his head, raising his eyebrow at the same time he gave you a teasing smile. It was your time to blush. "Keep it for me, I have to win ya something now and I don't think I can top your throw." He said with a wink of his own before walking past you to shoot his shot.

You scoffed behind him, crossing your arms around the stuffed animal as you watched him. Your throw had been excellent but you knew Bucky had already been a great marksman before he got the serum.

And, as expected, Bucky threw the ball perfectly and made all the cans fall to the ground, same as you.

"I thought you couldn't top my throw." You said teasingly, walking up to his side.

He simply shrugged and casually wrapped his vibranium arm around you. "C'mon, pick something, the cat's mine." He said as he grabbed the cat's large head and carefully pulled it out from your embrace.

"Okay, okay! I… will get that cute fluffy wolf over there, please." You said, trying to ignore how you felt a rush of warmth to your cheeks. You offered him a cheeky smile when he raised his eyebrow at you.

"Didn't know you liked wolves." Bucky said, his tone deeper, while he got the fluffy white wolf plushie and offered it to you, dropping his arm from your shoulders so he could face you. You immediately missed feeling his arm around you. The vibranium wasn't warm, but his absence left you colder.

"I mean… I am particularly fond of one in particular." You looked at him through your lashes, trying to suppress a smile, your head tilted to the side.

Bucky licked his lips, about to say something, when Steve interrupted.

"Hey, guys. I swear that crowd just got bigger and bigger." He said as he approached the pair, sighing loudly with his hands on his hips. "Anyway, wanna go eat something?" Steve pointed somewhere behind him, ignoring the evident moment you were having.

"Uh, sure."

"Yeah, yeah. Eating sounds good." You and Bucky said nonchalantly at the same time, pulling away from each other now that the moment was gone.

Steve and Bucky got a lot of food. Like, a lot. And yeah, you were used to them eating like a family of 7 but it was fun to see them try everything they saw available and compare it to what they used to eat when they came to Coney Island back in the day.

At some point, you had complained about your feet hurting and Bucky had to remind you how he warned you should've worn your old boots instead of the new ones 'cause they were already broken into. But even with his 'I told you so', he patted his lap for you to put your feet up to give them a rest and he kept his metal hand on your calf as he chatted with Steve, mindlessly drawing soft circles on your jeans.

After getting stuffed with food, Steve suggested getting on the Wonder Wheel before going home. Absolutely refusing to get on the swinging ones in fear of throwing up everything you ate, you opted for the regular carts outside the wheel. You got in first, holding close the wolf Bucky had won for you. Speaking of the brunette, he got in next to sit by your side again, leaving Steve the seat behind yours.

You were distracted looking at the view when you felt Bucky's warm and callused flesh hand tentatively reaching for yours. You looked down at your hands to find that he had taken the glove off. Your gaze looked up to his face to find him looking back, smiling fondly as his fingers stroked yours, interlocking them. He was just going for it. You smiled back, feeling butterflies in your stomach. By then you had already forgotten why the fuck you hadn't done this sooner. You also had forgotten to enjoy the view from the wheel in favor of keeping your eyes on the massive man sitting next to you, who appeared intimidating to the rest of the world yet was so soft and cute with his cheeks flushed red and his small smiles.

Steve had been doing what you were supposed to be doing, enjoying the view, when he looked to the front again and found you and Bucky ogling at each other.

"Oh." He said to himself, a small smile on his face when he realized what was going on. "Y'know Buck, when you said this was just like the old days I wasn't expecting to end up being the third wheel again." He said with a dramatic sigh, amusement clear in his voice.

You felt your face get warm in an instant, your eyes widening and making Bucky laugh after you had been pulled away from your moment once again. He gently squeezed your hand before slightly turning on his seat to look at his friend.

"Shut up, punk." Bucky said with a breathy chuckle. "You introduced us, that's on you."

"So, you and Bucky." Steve said from his side of the island counter in the kitchen while he was making some tea. Alpine hopped on the counter when she heard his human's name and meowed. Bucky was the last one showering and she had been waiting for him outside the bathroom until Steve mentioned him.

"Don't worry, we haven't fondued." You joked while you scratched Alpine's chin.

"I don't know why I tell you anything." Steve sighed dramatically as he placed a mug in front of you. Ever since Steve had told you that story you'd been using the term to tease him.

"Because we're besties and that story is hilarious." You smiled proudly at him before sipping on the tea he made for you.

"I guess it is…" He nodded in defeat, a small side smile on his face. "I just wanted to say I think it's great. You two, I mean." He said to redirect the conversation.

"Well thanks… I mean, nothing's happened, but yeah." You said, looking down at your tea as you made the liquid swirl by just moving your index finger.

"Then make it happen. I don't know when it started but I know what I saw back there." He said with a pointed look before drinking from his mug. He heard the water being turned off, and he thought that was his cue to leave to give you some alone time. "Just… don't fondue on the common areas."

"Wha-Steve!!!" The corners of Steve's mouth tugged up, happy with your reaction when he heard you exclaim his name. He then simply picked up his tea, wished you goodnight and retreated to his room.

You were sipping on your half empty cup on the couch when Bucky came out of the bathroom, a cloud of steam framing his body. He had gotten dressed with some sweatpants and a t-shirt that was getting wet at the shoulders from the droplets falling from his hair. He had it pushed behind his ears and his cheeks looked flushed from the heat, looking so good you almost dropped the mug on your hands.

Alpine shamelessly abandoned your lap to run towards Bucky and rub against his legs. You pouted as you watched her leave and Bucky smiled, bending over to scratch her small head before heading to the couch to sit with you. Alpine followed him and stretched herself on the armrest. You took your legs off the couch to give him space but he just laid them back on his lap, his now bare hands stroking your bare legs.

"Don't look all sad, you already know I'm her favorite." Bucky said with a smug smile, his hand trailing under one of your legs, softly massaging the flesh. He had been ignoring every time he wanted to touch your soft skin like that for a long time. Now that it seemed okay to do, he was going to do it as long as you allowed him.

"Hmm." You got comfortable on your side of the couch, enjoying Bucky's ministrations on your legs. "I get it. I'd run to you every time I saw you if you did this regularly." You said, wiggling your toes when his hands move to massage your foot. He remembered your feet had been hurting for hours and he wanted to soothe your pain.

Bucky huffed a laugh, looking down at what he was doing. "I can do that."

"You have a thing for feet or what?" You joked, lifting your free foot closer to his face only to be fastly grabbed by his metal hand and put back down gently on his lap to resume his work, unbothered.

"Nah, just have a thing for you." He said faking being nonchalant about it, moving to soothe your other foot. It was easier to say it if he wasn't looking at you.

"You can't just say stuff like that. Where's the romance?" You teased him, shoving his shoulder without much force, acting like your heart hadn't started pounding inside your chest at his confession.

Bucky licked his lips, amused by your comment, and slowly stopped his movements to glance at you.

"You'll have to forgive me, I haven't flirted with anyone since 1945."

"That's alright, I already liked you when you were just broody and awkward all the time." You said teasingly, finishing your tea and making the mug travel through the air to leave it on the sink. Bucky was already used to it but seeing things fly around the house gave him more than one scare when he first moved in, having thrown a knife at something dying past him more than once.

Bucky huffed anda tugged at your ankle to pull you closer to him, making you yelp and giggle, ending up sitting on his lap, his metal arm wrapping around you for support.

"You can't just say stuff like that." He joked, recalling your previous words, his eyes narrowing before you both chuckled together.

"Shut me up, then." You dared him once the laughter died down, your gaze dropping to his lips, then going back to his eyes.

Bucky licked his lips again, his flesh hand leaving your thigh to cup your cheek before leaning towards you, getting closer. Before his lips could meet yours, he stopped for a moment.

"For the record, I don't want to shut you up, just really wanna kiss you."

Not wanting to waste another second, you fisted the fabric of his shirt to pull him in, your mouths finally meeting each other in a slow, passionate kiss.

Bucky worried for a second he would be too rusty and would've forgotten how to kiss, but once he felt your hands snake to the back of his neck to pull him even closer and the way you seemed to melt in his arms, any worry he had went away.

He felt your fingers playing with the ends of his hair and purred into the kiss, inevitably making you smile. You slowed down, your lips now tenderly brushing against his, enjoying how soft his lips were and how perfect they felt against yours.

Bucky's fingers softly brushed against your jaw and neck, his vibranium hand caressing your side. You then caught his lower lip, gently sucking on it, making Bucky groan, his hold tightening around you. You weren't even using tongue yet and you made him feel like he was on fire. Being like this with you woke up feelings that were long lost inside him. And this was just your first kiss. You had just sucked his lip.

He had to break the kiss, overwhelmed for a moment, giving you another one before pulling away enough for him to look at you.

"You okay?" You asked once you saw his face, your thumb stroking the nape of his neck, his lips slightly parted and puffy from being loved and his gaze fixed on yours so intensively.

Bucky then exhaled a breath he didn't know was holding, the hand on your jaw twitching slightly for a second. He wasn't able to respond. He was okay. Fuck, he was way better that. He swallowed before finally nodding and giving you a small smile.

You smiled back at him and moved one of your hands to cup his cheek before leaning in to peck his lips.

"You sure? If it was terrible you can say it. I'll only be mildly devastated." You said jokingly, wanting to make sure he was actually fine without making it awkward.

"God no, you're perfect." He rushed to say, his cheeks turning red at how fast he just said that. "I haven't kissed anyone in almost 80 years, doll. Just needed a moment." He smiled again for you.

"Doll? Isn't that what you called the ladies back in the day?" You raised an eyebrow at him.

"I can think of something else if you don't like it." He said sheepishly. He had called you that without even thinking about it, like it was something natural for him.

"Hm… like what?" You said playfully, but you knew it didn't matter. Whatever pet name he called you would have you melt into a puddle of goo on the floor for him.

"Like 'my girl', maybe?" Bucky said with a smirk, equal parts proud and impressed with himself.

"Fuck, Barnes, that was smooth…" You bit your lower lip, Bucky's thumb moving to carefully free it from your teeth and running soothingly across it as he smiled at your comment.

"S'that a yes?"

"Of course it is." You pulled him in once again to kiss him, clashing your lips against his, both of you pouring all of your affection into it.

Bucky's arms held you closer to him as you both deepened the kiss, your tongues exploring each other's. You wrapped your arms around his neck, once again playing with his now damp hair. Bucky felt the goosebumps rising on his skin and wondered if you were aware of how much he enjoyed having his hair played with. One of his hands moving up and down your thigh, his grip tightening for a moment when you playfully liked his lips and giggled. God, he loved that giggle. He kissed you hungrily in response, euphoric from the overload of good feelings bubbling up inside him. He wasn't even sure he ever felt like this with someone before the war and he didn't know how to show you. Definitely not with words.

Suddenly, you felt Bucky stand up, carrying you bridal style, and you let out another yelp, bursting into laughter.

"Shh, Steve will get mad if we wake him up." Bucky whispered as he started walking down the small hallway to his room.

"What are you doing?!" You whispered in his ear, trying to contain your giggles.

"Don't know yet." He honestly said with a shrug, simply focused on taking you to his room.

"Are we going to…?"

"If you want to, absolutely." He smiled down at you.

"I definitely want to." You agreed and licked your lips at the thought before you opened the door with your powers.

Suddenly, Bucky's enhanced hearing heard Steve groan a complaint, so he started laughing.

"What?"

"Steve's awake." He let you know with an amused sigh, carefully dropping you on the bed before paying attention to what Steve was saying in the other room. "He says 'Oh, God. Please, don't." He reported as he sat down beside you, running his hand up and down your side.

"Steve! Don't start cockblocking!" You exclaimed with a groan.

Bucky chuckled and got in bed with you, snaking a hand around your back to pull you closer, urging you to lay almost on top of him. "S'fine. It's been 80 years, I can wait." He concluded with a kiss on the tip of your nose, making you scrunch it.

You sighed dramatically in defeat, snuggling up against his thick yet soft body, so warm and inviting, a hand sneaking inside his shirt to stroke his skin. "Okay… but we're gonna buy him some earplugs tomorrow." You concluded and placed a kiss under his jaw while your hand drew shapes on his ribs.

Bucky smiled, closing his eyes as he let himself enjoy your caressing. "We're gonna need the best ones we can find."

You chuckled and buried your face on his neck. "Definitely." You nuzzled his skin, peppering small kisses below his ear, your leg moving from in between his to lay higher up.

Bucky took a deep shaky breath, his hand gently gripping your thigh, trying to pull you even closer, even if it wasn't possible. The sudden feeling of your tongue tentatively licking the side of his throat made him shudder and swallow as he felt himself starting to get hard.

"Doll…"He breathed out, almost inaudible.

"Too much?" You whispered, pulling your face away from his neck to check on him.

He shook his head, then mouthed Steve and pointed to the wall with his finger before putting his hand back on your thigh.

You glanced at the wall he shared with the blonde's room for a moment before looking back at him, a mischievous smirk appearing on your face. You lowered your head to bring your lips closer to his ear, teasingly nipping at his earlobe.

"You'll have to be really quiet then, pretty boy." You whispered against the shell of his ear, your lips brushing against it while the hand under his shirt trailing down his abdomen.

Bucky's eyes fluttering close in anticipation at the feeling of your teasing fingers getting inside the band of his sweatpants.

He took a second to mentally apologize to Steve, knowing where this was going, before preventing your hand from going further down and rolling you in bed, getting on top of you.

"Let's see if you can be quiet first, doll."

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ot5ismyhome · 3 years

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33. Destruction Breeds Creation

To read from beginning click here.

*****

Coulson looked at agents- remaining agents- in front of him. They all had the hollow frightened look in their eyes. If he was alone, he would have adorned the same look but he had seen and gone through a lot to know that the team is just the reflection of the leader. When he spoke up, his ever-playful chirpy voice filled the room.

“No Darkhold. Base gone. If anybody has ideas now would be the good time to say it.”

“Me and Fitz have been looking up about Loki. The normal ways used to kill a vampire will not work on him” started Simmons.

“How fucked are we?” Hunter quipped.

“He is a vampire and a witch” Fitz replied with a tilt in his head. “Sunlight, Holy fire, Stake, I guess even beheading cannot stop that guy. So, I will say very much.”

“That explains his powers. I knew something was up with that guy” Mack said.

Simmons cut through the banter bringing the focus on the research. “Sir, All the powers, every single thing we saw out there was witchcraft. Actually, he is a winter witch. His powers are more prominent in colder weather. According to the data Agent Romanoff provided earlier, he can bring winter anywhere.”

“He needed the Darkhold to cast permanent winter. If he succeeds, we can’t turn it back. Maybe the book would help us turn it back but it’s just a theory” Fitz said. He sighed and placed his hands on his hips.

“But there is one thing that could bring him down. The Stake of the First Vampire”

“Now, we just need to know where it is” Hunter said looking expectantly at Lincoln.

“I have no idea,” Lincoln shrugged.

“I will contact Jiaying. Trip and Thompson evacuate the city. Hunter and Elena run ops.”

The agents nodded to their Director’s order and took off.

“Sir, I need permission to bring my daughter back here,” Mack asked. When Coulson gave affirmation, he left with Trip and Thompson.

…..

The young man walked into the Gothite Industries. He was stopped by the security.

“Who do you want to see?”

“Oh yes. Mr. Malick. You could say I’m his family. Hail Legion.” Nathaniel said the last two words in the guard’s ears. The guard immediately stepped aside.

“Sorry sir. I didn’t know you were... But I have never seen you around.”

“This visit is long overdue.”

…..

“We came across five bloody massacres and we still haven’t covered Brooklyn.”

Elena sighed. “We need to prepare for the upcoming battle.”

“Hey. You there. What are you doing here?” shouted a man grabbing the duo’s attention. They turned around to see a policeman. “Don’t you know you have to vacate the city?” he shouted. “Fuckers. Making my job difficult.”

Back in the jeep Elena’s mind was racing on what to do. “We need to do something,” she told Hunter.

The policeman shouted racial slur at a black teenage boy who just exited the nearby shop. The police neared the terrified boy.

“What have you got there?” sneered the man, taking his gun out. “You are stealing, aren’t you?” he threatened the kid.

The kid started stammering and dropped the things down. He lifted his arms above his head.

“No sir, I left some mone-”

The kid’s eyes widened in surprise. He didn’t finish his sentence as he saw a man sneak behind the harasser and sucker punch him. The policeman went down to the ground, unconscious. Hunter turned towards Elena and made an ‘okay’ gesture with his hand.

Hunter approached the kid. “Hey are you okay?” he asked, still keeping his eyes on the police.

“You punched him.”

“Yeah, if I hadn’t, he would have shot you”

Elena making her way towards them. “What’s your name?” she added looking at the boy.

“Flint”

“Flint, the city is in great danger. We need you to get out as soon as possible. There is a bus five blocks away. We will drop you there.”

“No. I can’t leave my sister. She is handicapped. I need to take care of her.”

“Then let’s get your sister.”

…..

Mack went to collect his daughter. When he reached school, he saw that it was a total mess. All the parents and children were running around trying to find each other. Mack joined them desperate to find his daughter.

“Hope” he shouted. There was no response. He called her for her again and again. Finally, he heard a feeble voice answering back.

“Hope” he shouted again.

“Daddy” a little girl shouted from inside the classroom. She ran to him and he swept her in his arms.

“Daddy, what’s happening?”

“A bad guy had taken over the city. We need to get out soon.”

“You always said we should always fight back. Also help others. Aren’t we going to do that?”

“First, I’m taking my little princess to safety”

As he reached the Quinjet, he placed Hope on the seat. “Be here. Daddy will be back.” He turned to Trip, “Can you watch her till I come back?”

…..

Gideon Malick was on the conference call with the higher ups in the government. He used them as puppets in his master plan. What he didn’t expect was Loki coming back. He needed to put an end to it. For the Legion to grow over here, he needed to have control over The Council. Had Loki not come back, the ATCU would have been a success.

Gideon heard a rapport knock on his door. He wasn’t expecting anyone. He signalled to Giyera to be on alert as a young man stepped inside. The blood drained from the businessman’s face. His eyes widened and beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

“You weren’t expecting me, were you? I have always wanted to hunt you down. But Barnes and Wilson were also about letting it go. They don’t know the inner turmoil. They don’t know what you did to me” Nathaniel said pacing the big office. Giyera was on his guard ready to attack on his boss’ order. Gideon had lost the ability to speak as he looked at his so thought dead brother.

“Finally, my time has come. Anarchy is here. The Council would never understand that” Nathaniel stopped his pacing and glanced at his petrified brother. “Gideon, you trapped yourself in the Legion and the government, bound by their history, rules, hierarchy” he spat the last word. “You go around saying ‘Hail Legion’ and ‘God bless America.’ Say goodbye to all that. Say hello to anarchy.”

“Nathaniel-”

“I didn’t come here to listen to your pathetic pleas.” Nathaniel closed his hands around his elder brother’s neck and lifted him. Giyera ran forward to stop him. But he caught the bodyguard with his other hand and threw him against the wall. Giyera went down unconscious. He turned his attention to Gideon.

“You planned and tried to kill me back then. Just for this Legion. You know what? It all turned out good. Your organizations are all the same. More and more hierarchy. It diminishes one’s true potential. It creates unbalance. I’m going to destroy all that. Destruction breeds creation.” Nathaniel snapped the neck of Gideon Malick. He dropped his brother’s limp body and walked out.

…..

Flint took the agents to his home. The door was slightly open and there were signs of forced entry. Elena and Hunter shared a look but didn't say anything.

"Tess" called out Flint. Hearing no reply, he panicked as he approached her room. He opened the door to see his sister lying on the bed. At first it looked normal but on closer look he felt something was not right.

Elena and Hunter noticed that Tess was pale. Her skin looked grey. Flint shook his sister awake but got no response. Hunter checked the pulse. He realised she must have just died now. There was no pulse but the body was still warm.

Hunter signalled Elena to scan the house. As she slipped away quietly, Hunter pulled the crying boy towards himself. He tried to get Flint out of the house but he resisted.

“Lad, we need to get out soon,” Hunter urged. But Flint pulled himself away from Hunter’s hold.

“My sister is dead, man. I’m not going anywhere” he shouted as he pushed Hunter further away.

Hunter’s eyes widened as he saw the figure in the bedroom doorway.

“Duck” he shouted as he drew out his gun and pointed at the man. The man came out of the shadows. He wore old crumpled clothes. His face was in contrast. His skin glowed healthy. His eyes were red and his fangs had descended. Hunter shot the man but it was in vain. He kept shooting again and again. Blood poured out of his chest but he kept walking. Hunter protectively pushed Flint behind him.

Elena was in the other room when she heard the gunshots. She hurried back to check on her companions. She saw an unknown man approaching Hunter and Flint. Hunter fired the next consecutive shots but it didn’t seem to stop the stranger. Elena took out her gun and shot the man straight through his skull.

The vampire fell down. Everyone breathed out in relief. Hunter kneeled down to examine the body. He noticed that the bullet was still lodged in the skull.

“Does a bullet kill a vampire?”

“No. I don’t think so.”

“Why isn’t he moving?”

“Do you want him to?” she said snarkly.

A new person appeared on the doorway startling the group. Elena swung around her gun raised. A man holding a baseball bat was standing there.

“He is a friend,” said Flint, putting himself between the two. Both of them lowered their weapons.

The newcomer was Mike Peterson. He was in the apartment next to Flint’s. He and his son were on the way to the evacuation bus when he had heard the commotion. So, he came to check on his neighbours. Hunter gave his gun and ammo to Mike. He asked them to head to safety.

“What should we do with him?” Elena asked pointing at the wounded vampire on the floor.

“Simmons would have fun cutting him up.”

*****

Chapter 34

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the-ship-maker-2 · 4 years

Text

The Shadow Queen (book 1)

This is the first book in my series that I'm writing. Its entirely original and all of these characters are mine.

Rated:M for mature. There's some strong language in here so if you're sensitive please don't read it.

Warning(s): character death and violence. If you're sensitive please do not read and I'm not saying who it is.

Summary: Two demon princes from the underworld of Hell go up to the forbidden land of the living (Earth) on a loose trail of a prophecy that could potentially change Hell for better or for worse. What happens when they find the main part of the prophecy? A human infant no more than six months old baring the gift of The Sight. A rare gift that is naturally born with. Could this be what they're looking for?

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

Prologue

"Are you sure about this?", asked the demon prince, Kael as he eyed the baby in its crib in a mixture of distrust and disgust with his golden brown eyes.

He didn't like humans as it was especially live ones and especially tiny ones. There was just something about tiny humans that made him automatically distrust them. They were always planning something. Also humans dead or alive were always useless and primitive, far less superior then he and his friend was.

"I'm positive I wouldn't have pulled so many strings just to drag you up here for nothing", said his friend Jorggon,"this is the one Satan himself said that this was the one" he picked up the infant that was already squirming in its crib.

"Right but are you sure we can trust him? I mean he could be wrong. We could be wrong. I mean we came all the way up to Earth for that?", Kael gestured to the baby in Jorggon's arms.

"I have no reason to believe that he would misinform us. I mean what reason would he have to lie to us? You just don't like the fact that she's not all grown up so she can take care of what she needs to take care of now. You were always so impatient", said Jorggon as he stuck his tongue out at him and went back to smiling at the baby.

Kael sighed and crossed his arms and looked away. They have always been complete opposites. He has always been a warrior type. Which explains his muscular well toned body structure. Rough and tumble style, fight or die attitude. Jorggon was more of an intellectual type with a lean body. Jorggon's pale skin made him look like a ghost in the infant's dark room. Even in his shadowy mist form he was easy to pick out. Whereas Kael had a dark tan complexion. It made him even harder to pick out in the pitch black room. And in his shadowy mist form; everyone will be none the wiser.

He took a moment to really take in the room around him. The room was pitch black. You could only make out a shape that was most likely a dresser. The walls were bare white and the crib was made out of oak wood with a mattress in it and on the side of the wall that the crib was pushed up against had what he assumed to be the baby's name hung up. The floor was made of unfurnished creaky wood that was gray and black from the dirt and the old age of the house that they were in.

The room was plain and bare. Most likely the infant's family didn't have much to work with. They were poor.

"We're just lucky that the princess is only an infant for now like that thing over there and who the hell names their child Talura?", Kael pointed to the name hanging up on the wall.

"Apparently her parents", said Jorggon,"pay no mind to him Tal". He nuzzled the baby.

"You're giving it nicknames now?!", he exclaimed exasperated and in disbelief.

The baby giggled and looked up at Jorggon into his pale blue eyes with her unnaturally wide blue-green eyes. Taking in all his features.

"This is definitely the one", confirmed Jorggon.

"How do you know?", asked Kael unsurely.

He handed baby Talura over to Kael as she had a fistful of his curly blonde locks. Kael retreated further into himself practically hissing.

"I'm not holding that thing!", he refused.

"Stop shouting you'll wake up her parents! Wait where are they anyways? Normally parents run into their children's bedrooms if they hear their children in the night" Jorggon whispered hissed.

"They're either heavy sleepers or very neglectful", huffed Kael,"besides we can easily cloak ourselves in our shadow form and no one will be able to hear us. We can do that you know"

"Stop being a little bitch and hold Tal and look at her eyes", said Jorggon getting annoyed holding the baby out for Kael to take.

Kael sighed and reluctantly took the child. He held her out away from him and inspected it suspiciously.

"What's so special about this thing? She seems relatively healthy. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her. There's no way that she could possibly be- oh my dear sweet darkness", he realized in thought.

Those eyes. Those eyes. Those eyes.

He couldn't look away even if he wanted to. His golden brown eyes met her blue green ones. But they were so unnaturally wide. She was definitely going to get bullied for that as she grows up. But he was sure that she could deal with it when the time came. Her eyes were like windows to the soul and right now she was still so very still. She looked at him with her mouth slightly agape. He sucked in his breath not daring to make a sound or move. Then she suddenly broke into a smile and a fit of giggles. She reached her hands out trying to grab his slicked back dark chocolate brown hair.

"Ah ah I ain't falling for that one", he told her as he held her out as far away from him as possible. "Here take her back and put her in her crib please".

"Do you believe me now?" He took her back and gently laid her back down.

Kael nodded, "she's gifted, she has The Sight. Not many people are born with that. Normally they either get it by sacrifice or after death. She is The Sight part of the prophecy"

"You know we're both going to have to train her how to use The Sight", said Jorggon as he looked back at him.

"I know but you know I can't do much", said Kael softly as he looked down.

"Then do what you can when you can", said Jorggon as he ran his hand over baby Talura's head and to her temples and whispered a spell to make her sleep.

Baby Talura yawned and her eyes were beginning to get droopy. Satisfied with his work he turned to Kael.

"We should get back before you get into trouble".

He turned into a mass of shadowy mist and went through the wall. He popped back out.

"You coming?", he prodded.

Kael nodded.

"Yeah in just a few minutes"

He shrugged his shoulders "okay just don't stay too long".

And with that he disappeared into the wall. That just leaves Kael alone.

He walked over to baby Talura's crib quietly, careful not to disturb her. He looked down at her sleeping figure. Her head leaning to the right and her arms up, her chest slowly rising and falling as she's taking rhythmic shallow breaths.

He took a deep breath.

He looked down at her with pity. She was destined to be a coward. With that she wouldn't be able to survive in either Earth or Hell. It was unlikely that she would have many friends or a good family to support her.

He couldn't do much as his time was running out and he was unfortunately limited in his powers. But there was one thing that he could do although it was very risky for both him and her. If his Queen found out anything about her being part of the prophecy she would destroy her in no time. He didn't mind the punishment for himself he's willing to make that sacrifice.

But he believes in fair punishment people should get punished for their own stupidity not someone else's. He just doesn't think he can live with himself knowing that he helped ensure killing an innocent's life before it even began.

But if he wanted a hell's chance in even remotely having the prophecy come true he was going to have to risk it.

Yes he was being selfish. And he knew that but he quickly justified it with what he'll do is for her own good and he can leave with a semi clear conscious.

He looked back and forth to make sure no one was watching.

"Alright little one I'm going to do something that will only hurt for a moment but it will be for your own good and one day you'll thank me", he whispered cooed to baby Talura.

She shifted in her sleep as Kael took her tiny hand. With his other hand he took his sharp nail and poked his hand and her hand to draw blood. She began to cry.

He sucked in his breath as he felt a twang of pain in his heart as he heard her cry. For a moment he almost knew what it felt like to be a parent.

"I know, I know little one but the pain will subside soon", he whispered as he was trying to reassure the crying child.

He pushed away any feelings of guilt and pain and he got down to business. He put his bleeding hand into hers.

"I hear by swear on everything that I am and everything that I was that I give you the gift of Intuition. This will help you see what's really there and to help you make decisions based on what you think is right. I believe that I'm doing this with benevolent intent and this promise-gift is now bonded by blood and it can never be broken as a blood promise", he whispered,"And you always keep your promises"

He used his magic to heal them both and ran his hand over her head and whispered the same spell Jorggon used to make her fall asleep the first time.

By a few minutes later she was fast asleep again.

He sighed in relief but then he was overcome with worry.

"Although I gave her a gift, whether she uses it or not is on her. It could be potentially useless. And it's not an exact science. She'll need to practice and hone that just like The Sight. She's going to be wrong most of the time and not to mention people that will cut her down and try to break her….", he was letting his thoughts ramble.

He took a deep breath and shook his head to clear it. He realized that he had something that he hasn't had in a long time.

Faith.

He had faith that she'll grow up to be enough of a person and she'll practice and hone her gifts. Despite what anyone says or does. He chuckled to himself. He had quite the feeling that she'll be someone who makes their own way regardless.

Satisfied with what he did and his worried thoughts put to rest for now he really needed to get back before his Queen suspects anything. He changed into a mass of shadowy mist and went through the wall to get back. He popped back out to take one last look at the sleeping child.

He went back alone with his thoughts. He hoped that he put his faith in the right place. He hoped that he was right in what he did and thought.

And right now that's all he really can do.

Hope.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4 Years Later

It's been four years since that fateful night. Talura was a small petite child with a head full of short wavy hair that couldn't decide whether it wanted to be brown or red. She still had those unnaturally wide eyes that fluctuate from blue-green to blue-gray or to sometimes a mossy green. They framed her face in such an awkward way but when she grew into them there's no doubt that she'll be considered some form of attractive. She had fair tan skin from playing out in the sun all day. She was small for her age due to slight malnourishment but that didn't stop her from anything. She was a big ball of contradictions. She was timid yet very excitable. Bold and daring yet wary and cautious. She was a whirlpool of emotions. Jorggon thought that it was charming that she was, to put it nicely, unpredictable.

Kael on the other hand found it quite annoying. He couldn't pinpoint a pattern with her. Yet another reason why he wasn't fond of children. They were always changing and springing surprises on adults. He didn't like their unpredictableness. She was an open book but he didn't know how to read her. The one thing he could see blatantly was her emotions. He sincerely hoped that she'll grow out of that as he firmly believes that no one has the luxury to be vulnerable with their emotions in any world.

But what they could both agree upon was that they were happy that she was practicing and honing The Sight.

Jorggon was more patient than Kael was because Jorggon was there more often than he was. From the ages 1-2 Jorggon got her to take her first steps and got her to form simple, incomplete polite sentences. They taught her that she could not just simply run up to them. It took her awhile to catch on to that concept but eventually she did. She learned to wait patiently and say "come please". It wasn't guaranteed that they'll always show up to teach her that she can't always get what she wants. But most of the time they came to her. Only in their shadow form to make it easier on them. Results varied from her throwing a temper tantrum when it didn't work to her just gracefully accepting it and focusing on something else. By the ages 3-4 she learned to be patient and accept that sometimes The Sight didn't always work to the best of her ability. She started forming simplistic but more complete sentences and talked non stop. Sometimes it was about her day or what was bothering her or what was just on her mind. Although she didn't know anything about them as far as she was concerned they were just shadows that sometimes showed up and she'd talk to them. They would always take the time to listen to her however serious, dull, amusing or confusing as it may be.

Kael didn't show up often as he had other things to take care of. But when he did he was always amazed at how fast she was developing. Whether it was with her gifts or just growing up. He was always secretly proud when she learned a new skill set whether it was mundane or had to do with her actual gifts.

What he was most proud of was that she was always using his gift of Intuition. He didn't think that she fully realized that she was using it but when she gets older she'll realize it more and hopefully use it to its full potential. She was wary and cautious so she didn't get into as much trouble as other kids her age. But make no mistake that she made mistakes so she got into some trouble as that's what children do.

He was relieved that his efforts were not in vain and that was good enough to him.

Kael would never admit this to anyone especially to Jorggon, his closest and oldest friend. But he was sort of getting attached to the child. Like a reluctant big brother. He felt sorry and angry for the child. Her mother was either busy working or sleeping. I mean she always made sure that there was always food Talura could get. Bless her soul her mother was a good person but she wasn't very strong in any way. Her father on the other hand was a brute and a bully. Always beating on her mom or just neglectful towards Talura. He felt sorry for her because one of his predictions came true. She's going to have a tough home life. But hopefully the Intuition will help her stay on the right path. And he feels angry towards her parents because they won't take care of her properly and she doesn't deserve that. He almost decided to say fuck it and just bring her with him and have Jorggon take care of her. Raise her in his royalty status and give her the best life and when the time came they could fulfill the prophecy. But he always decides against it. She needs to stay here to keep her safe. It may not be a good place but it's safer than Hell. And she needs to go through all these hardships because that's just the way it has to be.

However what he has been doing to protect her somewhat is developing and casting a protective cloaking spell made specifically for her very little at a time since he's limited in what he can do. It's not much but at least she can be safe and stay under his Queen's radar until she gets distracted by something else. Just in case shit hits the fan and they can't be there to protect her.

And they both knew it would happen, it was only a matter of time…

It was just like any other night really. Kael was waiting for Jorggon at the portal gates. That's not what they're actually called. But that's what everyone identifies the place as. You just say the portal gates and immediately everyone in Hell knows what you're talking about. But like the gates and landscape the real name has long since faded away.

Don't get me wrong it used to be a beautiful place. Although all of the colors have been drained out of Hell over time. You could once tell that the gates were of gold color with vines and brambles long dead growing in between and up the bars. However, the plants still haven't completely taken over yet as you can still see through some of the bars to see what it was and what it might have been. You could see stone benches scattered throughout that was overcome by shrubs and other plants. The grass was long overdue for a cut. The trees were dead and barren. Nothing has grown on them for a long time. Most likely due to neglect the ground was stripped of its fertility and nutrients that it can no longer support any living life.

Not only was the place at one point in time breathtakingly gorgeous in some angles but it used to be a place of myth and legend. As little boys he and Jorggon used to love hearing stories about the portal gates. Legend has it that the darkness herself came here from another world through that clearing and founded Hell and the ways of the afterlife. It was said that she even taught Satan the high lord of Hell himself everything that she knew when Satan first arrived. But all of that was just myths and legends.

What can be confirmed though is that there used to be a coven of witches and warlocks that used to use this spot for their rituals, celebrations and to practice their craft. The Coven of the Earthen. Or The Earthen Witches to put it simply. It was top secret since no one really knew what they were up to. Only the very elite, rich, gifted, or intelligent could be invited and initiated to join. But no one except the people within the coven knew how to go about that. The original first generation of the coven was made up of five witches and warlocks. One for each of the main gifts that they were naturally born with. Sight which included visions (most prophets have The Sight), and can see right through people and other paranormal things. They are often truth seekers and always have the executive decision. But The Sight is the rarest gift to be naturally born with. Next, we have Hearing. They are very good listeners and make very good spies. They can truly listen to what their mind, body and soul wants hence they are very balanced in their emotions and logic. They also listen to what nature tells them if you listen closely you can hear the whispers of the wind. Next we have Touch. They are more sensual and sensitive of the bunch. With this gift they can often feel the emotions of other people and objects. They can often read people better. Next, we have Taste. Taste is very interesting. People who have this gift have a better sense of fashion and food and like to live the high class life. But they're able to sense if anything has been poisoned. Same thing with people who have the gift of smell. They follow their intuition with their nose. The original coven is made up of the top five witches and warlocks alike. They are the ones who get the executive decisions. Those gifted with Intuition and strength are below the main 5. They were the advisers. The rest were below them respectfully and they were gifted with someone else or highly intelligent. Hell's golden years.

Kael slowly frowned.

But as time went on the ruling powers in all five realms gradually became more and more corrupt and greedy and selfish. It was to the point where it even began to spill in over to the Coven of the Earthen. Instead of staying as as place of peace, prosperity and through hard work and dedication and honor, it became a place of elite greed. Anyone with money and ambition could get in. The coven became a hollow shell of its former self and so has the portal gates.

"But soon all of that would change for better or for worse", said Kael in thought as his thoughts drifted over to Talura.

They haven't checked up on her in a while. He really wasn't sure how much time has passed on Earth. The child had to be no more than five to six years of age by now give or take with how long it's been. But security has been tight around Marbleedge. Turns out Queen Victorienne was getting suspicious of Kael's and Jorgon's disappearances even though it wasn't often or for very long. But today they managed to make time for this visit.

What was beginning to worry him was that Jorggon hasn't shown up yet. It was an hour later. Normally Jorggon was the one who arrived early or they showed up on time together. Something told him that something was very wrong here. There was only one place Jorggon would be since he wasn't allowed to go out much along with Kael. Not being the one to ignore instincts and intuition he ran back to the palace and prayed to the darkness that the worst of the worse didn't happen.

"Sweet darkness not today, I knew that it was only a matter of time, but not today", he prayed in thought over and over again.

He got to the palace and to his spot where he can normally sneak in and out with ease. But the guards beat him to it.

"Halt! Kael Bloodsworth you're under arrest for committing high treason", said one of the guards as two others handled him roughly since Kael wasn't going down without a fight.

But in the end Kael was on the ground face planting the dirt with his arms tied behind his back.

"You have no proof that I committed high treason", mumbled Kael since he was in the dirt.

"I'm sorry what was that?", asked the first guard who ordered his arrest.

The guard on his right pulled his hair to make his head go up.

"I said that you have no proof that I committed high treason", said Kael through gritted teeth as he spit out the dirt.

"Oh but we do~", said a silky predatory voice coming from the shadows of the trees that he knew all too well.

"Queen Victorienne", he spat out,"should have known it was you".

Victorienne came out of the shadows. She was strikingly beautiful. She had milly pale skin with raven black hair with purple streaks in it. She had light brown almond eyes. With plump lips that she used as a sweet poison. She has a nice figure to her that would make any woman dead or alive jealous. She had curves in all the right places. She had breasts that were plump and perky but they weren't so big that they got in the way. Her ass swayed when she walked like she was harmony personified. She had on a silky sparkly black dress with it slit to the side just to tease the people as she walked by with her fair legs.

To Kael she reminded him of a cross between a viper and a black widow.

"And you should have known that you couldn't get past me. You would fail eventually it was only a matter of time", she spoke like she was scolding a child for trying to pull a prank on her.

It made him sick that she was speaking to him in such a manner because he knew the truth of what lays deep inside her nonexistent soul. Nothing but cold anger, hatred and wrath.

"Where's Jorggon?", said Kael fighting against his restraints as he got to the point.

"Oh you'll see", said Victorienne darkly smiling viciously.

She turn to the first guard,"bring him to the throne room!"

She strutted, leading the way with all of them following her.

When the got to the throne room Kael was shoved roughly down to the floor getting a face full of floor and dust. Kael coughed and struggled to at least sit up and he didn't like the sight that he saw.

"Jorggon!", yelled Kael desperately.

Jorggon snapped his head up, "Kael!"

He had his head locked in place in the guillotine with the silver blade hanging high and his hands and feet were tied.

"I'm so sorry Kael! I tried! I tried very hard but I was caught! But I-I still didn't tell her anything!",blubbered on Jorggon as he was crying.

He realised that this was the end for him.

"Shhh...it's okay you did nothing wrong I appreciate your loyalty and effort. May Hell be forever grateful", said Kael as he tried to reassure his best friend.

"He should have been loyal to me! You should have been loyal to me! Everyone should be loyal to me!", hissed Victorienne angrily.

Honestly she acts like a child when she doesn't get what she wants.

"Give me one good reason why I should give you my loyalty to someone who is unfit to rule", said Kael rather nonchalantly.

She moved fast with the speed of a viper and smacked him so hard across the face you could hear a crack. It took him a couple of minutes for him to process what happened and to move his face back to look her in the eyes.

She grabbed his chin to make damn sure he was paying attention.

"Why you should be loyal to me?", she said in disbelief, "why you should be loyal to me?". She said it a second time more loudly and angrier.

She got really close to her face,"When the Great War was over and your mother died and I ascended to the throne. I could have killed you along with her but I decided not to. I saw potential in you. You would make a fine young prince and a deadly weapon! I couldn't just leave you on the streets".

Kael spat in her face,"Don't pretend you took me in out of the kindness of your heart when you don't have one. You killed my mother just for the chance to get the throne. You only left me alive and took me in because you needed weapons a new generation of tools for your disposal".

Victorienne feigned a hurt look,"The game of power and politics is a very dangerous one. It's not my fault that your mother was too weak to win the game. Weakest links get cut off in the end your mother should have known better. And don't be like that. I gave you a friend and freedom"

"You put so many restriction spells on me that I can't even remember what they were. You limited my powers because you knew that I would become too strong and defeat you. So you couldn't take that chance. I can't go anywhere because I'm under heavy surveillance here. Tell me where's my freedom?", he looked over at Jorggon who had his eyes wide as a bunny rabbit,"as for a friend. He is also your son. You just had him so you could keep your legacy going long when you die. But he doesn't see you as a mother. He just sees you as the bitch whore that had him. Nothing more nothing less. Whereas I took the time to raise him and myself. I have always been there for him and have always been his true friend. So of course his loyalty is to me"

She looked like she wanted to snap his neck and she could in a fit of rage that was boiling inside her right now. Instead she shrugged and let go of his face.

"It doesn't matter anyways. Because if you don't tell me what he wouldn't tell me then I'll behead him. You don't want to be responsible for his death do you?, She walked over to the guillotine and put her hand on the lever

Kael hesitated for a moment. He looked down. He was put into the type of situation that he absolutely hated. Someone else was going to die for his actions. He looked at Victorienne, calculating. She was trying to leverage Jorgon's life in exchange for information.

"Selfish bitch", he thought,"sacrificing her own son to for the chance to eliminate a person who could potentially threaten her power". Although he didn't agree with the method it was indeed a smart move on her part. He had to give her that much. He decided to throw her a bone and see if he could get away with it.

"We…", he hesitated and attempted to swallow the lump in his throat that was forming,"we sneak out to the portal gates"

Jorggon let out a sigh and hung his head in defeat.

Victorienne nodded,"and why did you go to the portal gates?"

He hesitated trying to filter out what information he should give out that would be sufficient enough to spare Jorgon's life and not give out too much information that could harm Talura and still try to get the prophecy to happen.

"To...to try to fulfill the prophecy", he uttered out.

"Which prophecy?", she narrowed her eyes.

"You know…the prophecy", he looked down.

She broke out into a cold smile and slowly let out a giggle and then she went into full blown laughter.

"Are you kidding me?! Are we talking about the prophecy? The one that caused the Great War 5000 years ago?", she said in between laughs.

"The Sight, The Strength, The Hearing, The Healing, and The Touch all come together. These five things become one when a shadows circle is cast on the night of the ashen moon. Destruction and a new path of hope lie in its wake and put the wrong things to right",quoted Kael from memory.

"Oh please did you two actually think that you two could fulfill the prophecy by yourselves?"

"Actually yes",asaid Kael.

"Interesting…", she mused,"and tell me did you two actually figure out who or what else was part of the prophecy?"

He kept on looking between Victorienne and Jorggon. He didn't know what else to say that would be walking along a fine line. If he said nothing more his friend would die and it would be his fault. But if he said something that would give away Talura and then the prophecy would never happen and the vicious cycle would spread and repeat. He also believed that a few sacrifices were needed for the greater good of many. He needed to keep on trying to fulfill the prophecy so that he could change all of Hell so no one has to suffer like they did even at the cost of their lives. He just never expected it to be Jorggon. He couldn't give up. He had to keep trying for Jorgon's sake. He at least owed him that much.

He looked over at Jorggon with eyes that said "I'm so sorry". Jorggon craned his head to look at his mother then at Kael. His eyes were heavy with dread but they had a resignation to them. His eyes said "It's okay, it's for the best". Jorggon swallowed, nodded his head and looked down.

Kael said nothing.

"Well I'm waiting", said Victorienne impatiently.

A few moments of silence goes by and Kael says nothing.

"Answer me!", she said getting angry.

Kael still said nothing.

"ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW!", she yelled as he hand tightened on the lever.

Nothing. Not a word. Not a sound.

"Fine. OFF WITH HIS HEAD!", said Victorienne as she pulled down the lever sending the blade falling down.

"JORGGON!", Kael screamed desperately trying to find something to do to stop that blade but there was nothing.

"KAEL!"

Chop. Plop.

The room went quiet. It was too quiet. The silence was deafening to Kael.

Those would be the last words of Jorggon Paleblood. As his head fell off his now lifeless body. It slowly rolled a few times before stopping and looking directly at Kael. Kael watched in shock and mortified as he saw the light gradually leave his eyes.

In Hell there was dead and then there was dead-dead. Dead means you have a chance of coming back if you find the right person and if the price is right. That's why so many humans make deals with demons in exchange for their soul just to see their loved ones again. Dead-dead meas there is no possible way that you can come back. It doesn't matter if you're demon-born, demon-dead or just dead. Once you're dead-dead that's the end of the story for you.

And unfortunately for Kael, Jorggon was dead-dead.

Once the shock faded a little Kael looked down to give Jorggon a moment of silence.

"Thank you brother. You were the only one who's had any faith in me. You knew what I was and you never ran away not once. I promise that I will do everything in my powers and in all five realms of Hell that I will fulfill the prophecy and Hell will change for the better. I owe you at least that much. Thank you for being a true friend and Hell will be eternally grateful for your sacrifice. May the darkness be with you and merciful wherever you are".

"Guards! Clean up this mess at once!",commanded Victorienne.

A few of them mumbled 'yes my lady' and got to work right away.

She walked over to Kael. He made damn sure to look up at her dead in the eyes with the most hateful cold look up to date.

"As for you my prince", she turned her gaze away from him and looked at the two guards that was still holding him,"take him to the dungeon"

A few moments later he was tossed down the stairs and into a cell with the other slaves that were already in there.

"I can't kill you. You prove to be too useful. You're just an asset that we can't afford to throw away. So as your sentence for high treason instead of a high servant. You're being demoted to Slave. Your duties are to work in the obsidian quarry with the others, tend to me and other company that I decide to have over, and help around the palace cleaning and cooking. Any crime will be punished by 50-100 lashings or up to permanent death depending on the crime. Do you understand?"

Kael didn't say anything at first but then he nodded his head curtly.

"Good"

Victorienne slammed the cage door shut and locked it with the jingling of the faded golden keys. She looked at him with a pitiful expression.

"Poor Kael Bloodsworth. You just don't understand how to play the game do you? You threw away your greatest and only asset that you had. And for what? For a prophecy that may or may not exist? For a chance to overthrow me?", she took a deep breath and pretended to wince,"not your best move there Kael".

Kael didn't give her the satisfaction of saying anything in response. He just turned away from her, settled into his corner that he now calls home and looked out the barred window.

Victorienne waited a few minutes for any sort of retort. When she realized that she wasn't going to get one she shrugged and turned away to head up to the palace main room. Kael heard the clicking of her heels fading away and then the slam of the dungeon door.

Kael looked around to take in his surroundings. The rest of the slaves all looked at him and were whispering to one another. The walls and floor was damp and musty. Definitely some of the stone eroded away. It was also dark in there too. It was going to take some getting used to the sun again. If he ever got out for good. He looked around. It wasn't overcrowded but there werea too many people to make it uncomfortable. He saw the piles of straw that the slaves used for beds that were probably covered in urine and feces not to mention mice and insect infected too.

"If you have something to say about me, say it to my face! And if you don't quit whispering about me like I'm not here I promise you that you won't wake up the next day!", his voice boomed.

There was a stunned silence for a few moments. Then the rest of the slaves scurried back into their respective groups and began to talk quietly among themselves.

Kael turned away and tuned them out. He looked out the barred window out to the obsidian quarry which is no doubt where he'll be working first thing tomorrow. His mind wandered over to what just happened like fifteen minutes ago now.

"I'm so sorry Jorggon. But I had too it was for the cause. It's all my fault",he said in thought.

He let out a sigh and leaned his head against the damp stone wall and closed his eyes. The dampness provided some cool relief.

Victorienne was wrong about a lot of things. She was wrong about Jorggon being just an asset. He was so much more than that. He was a true friend and brother and was always there when he needed him the most. They have been through so much stuff together at the hands of life and Victorienne themselves that they formed a bond that even surpassed a blood brother.

She was also wrong about the prophecy. If it wasn't real then why was there a great big war about it? Why was Victorienne pressing questions on who else was part of the prophecy? Because on the off chance of what if? It was prophesied so long ago now that it's more of a myth. But every myth comes from a slim line of truth. There's always that chance of what if? And that was a chance Victorienne wasn't going to take. She'll destroy anyone who challenges her power and gets in her way.

But at least he kept Talura safe.

For now.

But at what cost? The life of his friend?

That's when it dawned on him.

Everything has a price

I mean of course he knew it. Everything has their consequences. You just don't know how big those could be. That's the gamble. But this was the first time he really thought about it more than just having it be common sense.

Is it worth it?

He honestly couldn't answer that even if he wanted to. But he believes that there needs to be a few sacrifices for the greater good of others. It just so happens to be his best friend. As much as he didn't like it his instincts and intuition told him that he did the right thing. He would have to wait until the child was of age and come down here to fulfill the prophecy and hope that Hell would change for the better.

Sweet darkness he hoped that he did the right thing.

But that's all he really can do for the time being.

Is just sit back and hope.

#original story #original content #orginal character #series #prolouge #my demons #humanity #friendship #loyalty #prophecy #character death

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miguel-manbemel · 5 years

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Aspects & Fanfics Ep. 9: A Journey to the Center of Thomas

New entry of the Aspects and Fanfics blog, inspired on Sanders Sides, created by Thomas Sanders and Joan. This one is the 9th entry, and it took longer than I expected, not only because it’s a long one again (still not the longest, that is still “Virgil’s Revelation”, the first entry, but this one comes really close), but because my computer got broken for a couple of days and that delayed me. In this one, I’m going to go ahead and give my own version of how the rooms that we’re yet to see are going to be. Because in previous episodes I realized that I lacked settings for some scenes, and since now this is a forked AU, why not? They probably won’t look at all like what the Foster Dawg team are planning, but I hope they’re nice, anyway.

As always, you can look up previous entries of this blog right here. Thanks to anyone who has liked or reblogged any of my entries. I really appreciate that anything I write is considered good enough to deserve that. In this episode I play with several ships for the first time, all in a platonic way... maybe... The most evident, some Prinxiety and some Moxiety.

SYNOPSIS: Joan hears in excitement about Thomas and the Sides’ last adventure and wonders if they could join in those adventures too, so they ask Thomas if they could enter the Mind Palace too. Logan tells them that synchronizing their brainwaves with Thomas’ with hypnosis, they could enter the Mind Palace. But something goes wrong during the process, and most of the Sides switch bodies. Roman gets in Virgil’s body and vice versa, and Patton gets in Deceit’s body and vice versa. Chaos ensues.

WARNINGS: This episode has moments of tension, but I don’t think it contains anything that could be a bad trigger to anyone, even though at the end card there are mentions to one of the original characters feeling loneliness, lost and not knowing where to go. I always like to give too much warning rather than not enough, so there’s the warning just in case that it could be a trigger to anyone.

EPISODE INDEX

[Thomas, Joan and Talyn are having cups of tea on the couch]

THOMAS: ...and then we shot a full rainbow right on his face, and he exploded as if he was a huge expansive wave of Skittles. You should have seen it, Joan.

JOAN: Yeah… I wish I could have…

TALYN: Thomas, your adventures with the Sides are amazing. I mean, if we hadn’t seen them with our own eyes we would think you’re hallucinating or taking… something.

THOMAS: [speaking quickly with a serious voice, like when Logan goes on a rant] Like when you two almost called my family so that they sent me to a sanatorium because you thought I had lost my mind and for a moment you made me feel desperate and that you didn’t trust me and the idea that you were not my friends crossed my mind? Like that?

TALYN: [beat, then remorseful voice] Yeah… like that…

THOMAS: [over the top happy voice] But no grudges, okay?

[short uncomfortable silence]

[intro sequence]

THOMAS: What is up, everybody?

JOAN: Who are you saying that to?

THOMAS: We’re recording, Joan. You never know when the Sides are gonna appear and I need all of their appearances to be documented in case I need them. And it’s not polite to start a video without greeting anyone watching, is it?

JOAN: Only you would greet potential viewers of a video that probably no one is going to see…

THOMAS: Hey, who knows? What if we were characters of a series where someone is watching us constantly on YouTube, clicking on like and writing commentaries about us?

[Joan and Talyn look at Thomas, too stunned to say a word, while Thomas looks around him. Then he looks to the camera and waves his hand with a wide smile]

JOAN: Again, what are you doing?

THOMAS: Just in case, I want to be friendly to these viewers, I don’t want them to press the don’t like button because they think we’re being rude for ignoring them.

JOAN: [beat] O… Okay, Thomas, let’s talk about something else. I wanted to ask you something.

THOMAS: What is it, Joan?

JOAN: The way you’ve said how you dive into your own mind and see a huge universe has made me wonder something… Could it be possible that… somebody else, other than you and your Sides, could enter into that universe, into the… Mind Palace of yours? I’ll cut to the chase. I want to know if it is possible that I entered into your Mind Palace with your Sides and you.

THOMAS: I… I had never thought about that. Of course, up until very recently I had never shared this experience with anyone, so I never had the idea of something like that…

JOAN: But could it be possible?

THOMAS: I don’t know, Joan. As Logan said, and I confirm it, I don’t know how my [making the quotation marks gesture with his fingers] “powers” work. I just use them naturally, but I still have a lot to discover about them.

JOAN: Could we ask Logan? Perhaps he knows something you don’t.

THOMAS: Well, we don’t lose anything for asking.

[They all get up and go to Thomas’ usual spot]

THOMAS: Logan!

[Logan rises up, he’s reading a book that reads on the cover “Fantastic Idioms and Where to Use Them”. For a few seconds, he doesn’t notice he’s been summoned, until he looks up and sees Thomas and his friends]

LOGAN: Um… What did I tell you about giving fair warning before pulling us into one of your vlogs, Thomas? One day you’re gonna catch us in the shower, and it won’t be pleasant. [slightly pedantic voice] Maybe for you, but not for us.

THOMAS: You take showers?

LOGAN: I’m offended that you would ask, Thomas. Do you think our clean, unpolluted shape is because we repel dirt or something? We have to do our part of hygiene like anybody else. It is you who have been wearing that same shirt you’re wearing right now for two months without letting it approach the washing machine. Again.

TALYN: [horrified annoyed expression] Thomas!

JOAN: [they had their hand on Thomas’ shoulder, upon hearing Logan, they remove their hand, disgusted] Ewww!

THOMAS: [annoyed and ashamed] Okay, maybe I should also summon Deceit so that he makes you cover your mouth before you say another inconvenience…

LOGAN: [the book disappears from his hands] Okay, Thomas, what do you want from me?

THOMAS: We actually had a question for you. Is it possible for someone other than you and me to enter into the Mind Palace? Putting it simple and cutting to the chase, I want to know if Joan can enter the Mind Palace.

LOGAN: [nervous look] No, Thomas, they can’t.

[Deceit appears, he also seems to have been caught off guard, as he’s holding a toothbrush full of a green viscous substance, and his teeth are all green]

DECEIT: [confused] Um… What am I doing here?

THOMAS: [looking at Logan with a suspicious face] I wonder…

JOAN: [face of disgust] What I wonder is what is that disgusting green thing…

DECEIT: [offended] Hey, cut me some slack! It’s not easy to brush your teeth when they excrete venom all the time. That thing destroys all my toothbrushes and I lose a lot of time invoking new ones again and again.

LOGAN: Do you see how we’re all on point with our hygienic routines, Thomas? Even Deceit.

DECEIT: [the toothbrush disappears and his teeth are now white, he frowns at Logan] I didn’t like the tone in which you said “Even Deceit”.

THOMAS: Okay, Logan, don’t divert the conversation. You said that it was impossible for Joan to enter the Mind Palace, and then Deceit immediately shows up without being called and without him doing it on purpose? Don’t you think that’s suspicious? What are you hiding? And what could be so serious that would push you to say a falsehood?

LOGAN: Okay, Thomas, you caught me with the bottle of crackers…

THOMAS: [beat] You mean with the cookie jar?

LOGAN: Oh… I think I wrote that vocab card wrong… Okay, Thomas, I’ll level with you. It is possible for Joan to enter your Mind Palace, but it’s tricky.

THOMAS: When isn’t it tricky?

LOGAN: And it also involves risks. Not for you, but for Joan.

JOAN: For me?

LOGAN: Yes.

THOMAS: What kind of risks?

LOGAN: Well, in order to enter into Thomas’ Mind Space, Joan must synchronize their brain with Thomas’.

THOMAS: What do you mean?

LOGAN: As you know, a brain produces brainwaves when functioning due to the electrical activity that happens into it. The figurative portal to the Mind Palace uses your brainwaves as fuel. But each human being has their own pattern of brainwaves. So Joan’s brainwaves must be synchronized with yours so that they can be “compatible” with the Mind Palace.

THOMAS: And how do we do that?

LOGAN: Well, the only thing that comes to my mind is putting you both in an alternate state of consciousness that allows for the manipulation of brainwaves. [looking at Thomas’ face of confusion] I told you it was tricky. I can’t think of a way to do that. A safe, healthy way, I mean.

TALYN: Could hypnosis be useful?

THOMAS: Hypnosis?

JOAN: Yeah, lately they’ve been reading books about hypnosis and watching YouTube tutorials about it.

THOMAS: There are tutorials about hypnosis on YouTube?

JOAN: Yeah, the more you know…

TALYN: It was just for fun, but maybe something I learned could help on this matter.

THOMAS: Could it work, Logan?

LOGAN: I don’t know. Hypnosis certainly seems to put a human brain in that special state of consciousness in which suggestion could help to manage that synchronization. As we have never been hypnotized, I don’t know much more.

JOAN: Okay, but you said it was dangerous for me. Why not for Thomas if we both have to be hypnotized?

LOGAN: Well, manipulating brainwaves is a risky task by itself. We don’t know what secondary effects that could have on your psyche, Joan, or even in your vital functions. Also, no offense, Talyn, but do you think it’s wise that you try to hypnotize them both by yourself? Wouldn’t it be better to get assistance from an experienced professional?

TALYN: [sarcastic] Oh, sure, I’ll search for a hypnotist on the Yellow Pages and I’ll tell them, “Hey, may you help me? I want you to hypnotize my partner Joan so that they can teleport to a magical dimension inside of my friend’s brain.”

LOGAN: [not getting the sarcasm] Sounds like a plan.

THOMAS: Logan, they were being ironic.

LOGAN: Oh…

THOMAS: Obviously we can’t do that, Logan. No one must know that you exist, remember?

LOGAN: Yes, yes, you’re right.

THOMAS: I am willing to try.

VIRGIL: [appearing] Not so fast, Thomas. I agree with Logan, if it’s dangerous, you should think twice.

THOMAS: Come on, Virgil, Logan has said that there’s no danger for me, so why are you so hyped?

VIRGIL: You forget that I also care about your friends’ security, Thomas.

JOAN: Well, thank you Virgil, but it is I who must make that choice, and I’m willing to try too. What could go wrong?

VIRGIL: Do I need to answer to that?

THOMAS: You don’t know, do you?

VIRGIL: No, but I know something can go wrong.

THOMAS: Vague as always, Virgil… But anyway, it’s settled. I’m ready if you’re ready, Joan.

JOAN: Ready, buddy.

LOGAN: Okay, if you say so. Talyn, are you ready? You can start by making them sleep, and I will guide you from then on.

TALYN: Luckily, I’m carrying this little pocket flashlight that will come in handy. Let’s go to the couch, guys, sit down in the most comfortable way you can and pay attention to me.

JOAN: Okay.

THOMAS: Gotcha.

[Joan and Thomas sit down on the couch by the wall. Talyn sits in the other couch with the kitchen behind it. Talyn starts turning the flashlight on and off in regular intervals, speaking with a monotone, calming voice. While Talyn speaks, Thomas and Joan slowly fall asleep]

TALYN: Now, relax. Concentrate on the light. Feel your own breathing. It is synchronizing with the rhythm in which I turn the light on… and off… on… and off… You’re so relaxed… The rest of the world ceases to exist… nothing exists… except this light… see how I’m relaxing the rhythm I turn it on… and off… on… and off… Your eyelids are getting heavy… You may drop them slowly, but with your eyes closed you still can see the light that is going on… and off… on… and off… I’m gonna count backwards and when I get to zero, you will be asleep. Don’t forget that the light still goes on… and off… on… and off… Five… Four… Three… Two… One… Sleep… [to Logan, with a low voice] Okay, Logan, it’s done.

[Logan is awaken, but Deceit and Virgil have fallen asleep too.]

LOGAN: It’s a curious state, hypnosis. All of Thomas’ functions are asleep, but unlike regular sleeping, I am relaxed but fully sentient… Okay… To synchronize their brainwaves, I’m gonna need something in Thomas’ mind to which Joan can cling to, some sort of beacon reference to guide them. I’m creating a room in Thomas’ Mind Palace. It is a white infinity, and I’m getting into it a wooden chair with my brain logo carved on the back. You must tell Joan to visualize that wooden chair in his mind, then tell them to travel there, and sit down on that chair. When they do that, wake them both up. Let’s hope it works.

TALYN: Okay. Joan. Can you hear my voice?

JOAN: [sleepy voice] Yes…

TALYN: You are no longer in Thomas’ couch. You are walking through a white void. Everything’s calm and safe. There is a chair in the distance. Can you see it?

JOAN: Yes…

TALYN: Get closer to the chair, Joan… One step after the other… The chair is closer… and closer… Now you are next to it. The chair has Logan’s logo of a brain with glasses carved on it. Can you visualize it?

JOAN: Yes… It is a beautiful chair…

TALYN: Good. Now, sit down on the chair, Joan. Are you sitting down?

JOAN: Yes… The chair is hard, but it’s comfy.

[Talyn looks at Logan]

LOGAN: Now, Talyn.

TALYN: Okay, when I count to three, I’ll clap my hands and you will wake up, and so will you, Thomas. Okay… One… Two… Three!

[Talyn claps their hands. Joan and Thomas open their eyes. Virgil and Deceit also wake up.]

TALYN: Okay, guys, how are you feeling?

THOMAS: Wow… I feel so refreshed… As if I had been sleeping for 12 hours.

JOAN: Me too… It’s a good feeling…

[Screaming by Virgil and Deceit startle everyone]

THOMAS: Whoa! Guys! What is going on?

VIRGIL: [with Roman’s voice] That’s what I want to know, Thomas. What have you done to my beautiful regal appearance!?

THOMAS: [shocked] R… Roman!?

DECEIT: [with Patton’s voice] Where… where is my cat hoodie, kiddos? And why am I wearing a bowler hat?

THOMAS: And… Patton!?

LOGAN: [chill voice] All right, I didn’t see this one coming, at all.

THOMAS: What has happened, Logan!?

LOGAN: I told you that hypnosis could have unexpected secondary effects, Thomas!

THOMAS: But you spoke about Joan, Logan! You never said that I, or any of you, could also experience secondary effects!

LOGAN: And I also told you that I had never experienced the effects of hypnosis, so everything I was saying were unverified theories!

[following instances show the Side that is speaking, even if they are in the body of other Side]

ROMAN: Will you two shut up!? Help us, for Fairy Godmother’s sake! I don’t wanna be an emo!

PATTON: And I don’t wanna lose my cat hoodie, it was a present from Logan and it’s very dear to me!

[Logan looks at Patton with a surprised and subtly happy, moved smile]

THOMAS: Okay… Let’s calm down. What were you doing, guys?

ROMAN: I was in my room, making plans for your future Cartoon Therapy episode, when I suddenly fell asleep, and then I woke up like this!

PATTON: Same with me. Well, I wasn’t writing anything about cartoons, but I was feeding Ultimate and Storytime.

THOMAS: Ultimate and Storytime?

PATTON: Two of the puppies Roman conjured for me as a present. I named them Ultimate and Storytime. When I was putting food in their bowl, I suddenly fell asleep and… [concerned] Oh, my goodness, the poor things! I didn’t get to refill their bowl of water! They must be thirsty!

THOMAS: [face of realization] Wait a minute… If you are here… then that means…

DECEIT: [rising up in Patton’s body, angry voice] You’ve gotta be kidding me!

VIRGIL: [rising up in Roman’s body, voice of panic] My eye bags! I can’t have highlighter on my eye bags!

THOMAS: Yep. Confirmed.

TALYN: [guilty voice] Oh, my goodness… This is all my fault! I did something wrong with the hypnosis!

JOAN: No, it’s my fault. It was me who suggested the idea.

THOMAS: No, guys, this is not your fault. It’s my fault. I should have considered the risks.

VIRGIL: [angry yelling] Will you all stop looking for a culprit and start doing something!? Don’t you see that we’re trapped in a body that is not ours!? I’m full of glitter and I hate it! And my bangs are full of bobby pins, it hurts!

ROMAN: Hey, don’t complain. You at least have ended up being quite improved with the change… [sassy voice] My… This is the first time I see my body from the outside, and I really love the view…

VIRGIL: [unsettled] Roman, stay away from me before you try to kiss me, okay?

ROMAN: [checking him with the look, with a seductive smile] Don’t give me ideas…

[Virgil looks at Roman with a mixed face of horror and bashfulness]

DECEIT: [uncomfortable] Guys, get a room…

LOGAN: [sighs] Only Roman would fall in love with himself. Why am I not surprised…

THOMAS: Okay, we’ll think of something, but first… where is Honesty?

DECEIT: And Wrath. Maybe they’ve been affected by this mess too.

THOMAS: I guess we’ll have to go look for them, then. Joan, are you ready?

JOAN: Ready for what?

THOMAS: Well, this was all because you wanted to enter the Mind Palace. This is your chance.

JOAN: Oh, cool. I wish it was under better circumstances, though.

THOMAS: We’re going to Honesty’s room to see if he’s okay. Besides, we have to check if it worked and this mess at least was worth for something. Logan, you’re coming with us. The rest of you, go to your rooms, and I mean the rooms of the bodies you’re occupying. It will be better if you don’t move around the Mind Palace for the time being until we can think of something to fix everything.

VIRGIL: [sinking down] You’re the boss, Thomas. [to Roman] Don’t touch my Disney posters, Roman!

ROMAN: [sinking down] And you, don’t touch Mrs. Fluffybottom, Virgil!

PATTON: [sinking down] Please, take care of Ultimate and Storytime, Deceit, see that they get some water.

DECEIT: [sinking down] I won’t! [giggles] Just kidding…

THOMAS: Okay, ready, Joan?

JOAN: Ready. But how do I do this?

LOGAN: Just close your eyes and let yourself get carried away by Thomas. He will lead you. Thomas, you know what to do to get to Honesty’s room. Taking Joan there is just like when you take us there. You already know.

THOMAS: Yeah, we’ve just been there. Although Joan’s gonna be a little disappointed… Okay.

[Joan closes their eyes and Thomas concentrates. Soon after, they both sink down, and so does Logan. Talyn stays alone in the living room]

TALYN: [tiny worried voice] And what about me?

[There’s a white flash. Joan, Thomas and Logan emerge in Honesty’s room.]

THOMAS: Okay, we’re here.

JOAN: And what’s the difference?

THOMAS: Told you you would be disappointed. Honesty’s room is exactly the same as the regular apartment.

JOAN: Okay…

THOMAS: But where is Honesty?

LOGAN: I don’t know, could he have gone to the outer world while we were coming? Maybe we crossed ways without noticing.

THOMAS: No, I don’t think so. He would have come earlier.

LOGAN: I’ll call him. Honesty! Honesty, where are you?

HONESTY: [voice yelling from upstairs] I’m coming!

LOGAN: Oh, he’s upstairs.

[Honesty walks down the stairs and goes to his position, he’s wearing an orange bathrobe and orange bath slippers]

HONESTY: What are you doing in my room, gentlefolks? Is anything wrong?

THOMAS: Honesty, there you are… It is you, isn’t it?

HONESTY: Thomas, are you okay? Of course it’s me. Who else would I be?

THOMAS: Then you haven’t noticed anything wrong happening. Didn’t you fall asleep?

HONESTY: As a matter of fact, yes, I fell asleep, but who wouldn’t? I mean, I was having a super relaxing warm bubble bath. I fell asleep several times. And I’m unaware of anything that could have happened in the last half an hour. I was in autopilot.

LOGAN: [to Thomas] You see how Honesty also takes baths to…?

THOMAS: [annoyed] Shut up, Logan.

HONESTY: [now wearing his habitual clothing] Has anything happened that I should be worried about?

JOAN: As a matter of fact, yes. As a quick summary, Talyn hypnotized us so that I could enter the Mind Palace, but in the process the rest of the Sides switched bodies. Deceit is in Patton’s body, Patton is in Deceit’s body, Virgil is in Roman’s body and Roman is in Deceit’s body.

HONESTY: [shocked with his mouth wide open] Oh, my giddy aunt Patty! You can’t go get a bath without missing all the juicy stuff, can you!?

THOMAS: For a moment we thought that you could be Wrath in Honesty’s body, but I see that you are okay… But why are you okay?

LOGAN: [thinking] Mmm…

THOMAS: Any ideas, Logan?

LOGAN: I was thinking on a crucial detail. When everything happened, Honesty was in autopilot. Maybe that’s the explanation. Autopilot prevented him to suffer these secondary effects.

THOMAS: That makes sense… Now we should go check out if Wrath is okay.

LOGAN: Thomas, no. Wrath’s room is in the Dark Realm.

THOMAS: But the Dark Realm is a safe place now, and now we know that the realm by itself doesn’t corrupt you as we thought. So, what’s the big deal?

LOGAN: I was thinking about Joan, Thomas. We don’t know how it could affect them. And you don’t want to run any more risks blindly, do you?

THOMAS: Yes, you’re right. One scare is already enough for a day. But then, what?

LOGAN: Perhaps it would be better if we summon Wrath here. You don’t mind, Honesty, do you?

HONESTY: No, of course not, consider my room yours.

THOMAS: Wrath! Wrath come here right now! Wrath, can you hear me!?

JOAN: It looks he’s not listening.

LOGAN: Perhaps he’s in autopilot too? If he is, he can’t sense you.

THOMAS: Well, that’s gonna be a problem.

LOGAN: Not so much. If he’s in autopilot, he can’t sense you, but he can sense me and other Sides while inside the Mind Palace, remember how I’ve just called Honesty. However, if he is in autopilot, he’s unaffected too, so we shouldn’t worry about him.

THOMAS: You’re talking to a habitual worrier, Logan.

LOGAN: Oh, yes… I forgot. But, seriously, don’t worry, Thomas. You still have the capacity of getting angry, don’t you? Think about homophobic people, disrespectful politicians, innocent victims of unfair circumstances. How do you feel?

THOMAS: Sad.

LOGAN: Only sad?

THOMAS: Yeah, and angry too, and that I’d wish to do something to change things.

LOGAN: Then everything’s fine. Wrath is okay or you couldn’t feel angry at all. He’s certainly in autopilot, let’s leave him alone for now. If he wasn’t okay, he would have come to us, wouldn’t he?

THOMAS: I don’t know. Wrath is quite a mysterious dude, we don’t know him quite well yet.

LOGAN: We’ll have our chance in time, if and when he decides to open up to us. It wouldn’t do any good to force him in, and we should respect his personal space.

THOMAS: Yes, I know. Okay. We should go to talk to the others, room by room, to warn them.

JOAN: Oh, great, a tourist trip through your mind…

LOGAN: Honesty, it will be better if you stay in autopilot for the next few minutes. I have the theory that, if we hypnotize Thomas again while we’re all in autopilot, everything should go back to normal.

HONESTY: Got it. Good luck gentlemen, and gentlefolk.

JOAN: Bye, Honesty.

THOMAS: Okay, we’ll start with Virgil’s room in the Light Realm. Remember that you can’t stay there for too long, Logan.

LOGAN: How could I forget?

THOMAS: [sinking down] Let’s go.

[Logan and Joan sink down too. Then they rise up in Virgil’s room. Roman is waiting for them in Virgil’s body, except that he has made changes to his outfit. Now he’s wearing a white hoodie over a red shirt, and he’s wearing dark eye shadow under his eyes, but sprinkled with glitter]

JOAN: [mumbling to Thomas] Virgil’s not gonna be happy about this extreme makeover, is he?

THOMAS: [mumbling back to Joan] When is Virgil happy, anyway? [to Roman, with an exaggeratedly happy voice] Hi, Roman, you look great!

ROMAN: [smiling] Hi, guys, I know! It was just a little royal touch in Virgil’s dismal appearance. He will thank me later, I’m sure.

THOMAS: [fake happy voice] Of cooourse, of course…

ROMAN: Did you make any improvements about all of this mess?

LOGAN: As a matter of fact, yes. We’ve discovered that Honesty was unaffected because he was in autopilot.

ROMAN: Oh… I see.

THOMAS: We’re going room by room, warning the Sides of this. You must enter in autopilot for the next few minutes. We’ll see if it works to revert the mess.

ROMAN: Okay, I hope you’re right and it fixes it. Now I’m more comfortable in the emo boots, after my little makeup, but since I’m trapped in Virgil’s body, the only stories that come to my mind are ghost and horror stories. I can’t think of anything else to write, and that’s a handicap for you.

THOMAS: Oof… Yes, it would be. These are not exactly the best stories for my habitual audience to watch.

JOAN: Well, I enjoy them. Please write them down for me to read them.

ROMAN: Okay, if you insist, Joan.

THOMAS: Remember, autopilot from now on, okay?

ROMAN: You can count on me, Thomas!

THOMAS: Okay, one down three to go. Next will be… Patton’s room. There’s Deceit, right?

JOAN: Right.

THOMAS: All right, let’s go. [mumbling] I hope he hasn’t done improvements to Patton’s outfit, he would hate to see his cat hoodie ruined.

LOGAN: And I would hate it too, Thomas.

[They all sink down. There’s a white flash, and they appear in Patton’s room. Deceit is there in Patton’s body. He’s wearing Patton’s old cardigan, and his polo shirt is now yellow instead of blue. He’s playing happily and cutely with two dogs. He’s so absorbed into it that he doesn’t notice Thomas and the others coming in]

THOMAS: [squealing upon seeing the dogs] Puppieeees!

DECEIT: [jumping scared] OH, GOSH!

THOMAS: Oh, I’m so sorry!

DECEIT: [trying to act cool as if nothing had happened] Oh… [clears his throat] Here you are. I was here taking care of Ultimate and Storytime. And you didn’t scare me, I was just… yelling at how cute these furry quadrupeds are…

THOMAS: [voice of obviously not believing him] Yes, of course you weren’t scared, Deceit, of course you weren’t. Well, we are here because we may have found a way to fix this all.

DECEIT: What is it?

THOMAS: You must enter in autopilot mode. Honesty was not affected because he was in that mode when everything happened.

DECEIT: Oh, glad to know that he’s okay.

THOMAS: So you must enter in autopilot for the next few minutes, and we’ll see if we can fix it all.

DECEIT: I don’t understand. I mean… I do, I’m a little nervous, you know, and when that happens I can stop lying. I mean… I can’t.

JOAN: Cool, two down, two to go. What room comes next?

THOMAS: We’re going now to Deceit’s room. But didn’t we talk about not getting into the Dark Realm with Joan?

DECEIT: Oh, don’t worry, I have a room in the Light Realm now, just like Virgil. It is a copy of my room in the Dark Realm, so it will be familiar to you.

THOMAS: Okay, I hope Patton decided to go to that room instead of the Dark Realm.

LOGAN: Don’t worry. I doubt Patton would have wanted to go to the Dark Realm on his own, and Deceit told us about his new room a couple of days ago.

THOMAS: Okay, let’s go, then.

[They all sink down. There’s a white flash and they rise up in Deceit’s room, which, as Deceit said, is identical to the old room. Patton is there in Deceit’s body. He’s wearing his cat hoodie over the capelet.]

JOAN: I love the posters!

THOMAS: Oh, Patton, there you are. I see you’re wearing the cat hoodie.

PATTON: I didn’t want to change Deceit’s outfit, kiddos, but I feel naked without my hoodie, so I sneaked into my room and took my hoodie.

THOMAS: Patton, we told you not to travel between rooms…

PATTON: I know, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help it…

THOMAS: Okay, it’s okay. Anyway, we’re coming from Deceit’s room.

PATTON: Oh, how are Ultimate and Storytime? I traveled to my room and returned so quickly that I didn’t notice. Are they okay? Did they survive the thirst?

LOGAN: Patton, you’ve been out only for a few minutes. How do you expect two dogs to dehydrate in 30 minutes? Besides, Deceit has given them some water, they’re okay.

PATTON: [sighs relieved] Okay…

JOAN: Now, to the point we came here for…

THOMAS: Yes. Patton, you must enter in autopilot mode for the next few minutes. We think it could help to fix the issue with the body swapping that has happened.

PATTON: Got it, kiddo.

JOAN: Three down, one left.

THOMAS: Well, now the tourist trip starts for me too, because I have never been in the next and last room we’re going to visit, which is Roman’s room. I’m gonna discover it at the same time as you, Joan.

JOAN: Oh, cool.

LOGAN: Let’s go, then. Thomas, you must think about all the stories you have ever invented, all the characters you have created and all the works of fiction you have read, watched or listened to, anything that could have inspired you to create anything, and above else, all the things that are still in your mind waiting to be written, sung or filmed. That’s the path to Roman’s room.

THOMAS: Got it…

[They all sink down. Then, there’s a white flash and they appear in Roman’s room. In the back wall there’s a huge royal portrait of Roman riding a horse, holding his samurai sword with one hand. Below the portrait, on the back couch, there’s Mrs. Fluffybottom, the bunny doll, and the shelving is full of fairy-tale books. The kitchen counter is full of medieval-like pots, huge wooden spoons, a roasted turkey, etcetera. In Logan’s spot there are books of spells, magic wands and bottles with potions. In Virgil’s spot, the walls are covered with a forest of thorns, but there’s a beautiful purple rose blooming from one of them. Roman’s spot has a huge golden throne with Roman’s shield hanging above it, and red curtains framing it. In Patton’s spot there’s a whiteboard full of child-like drawings, and there are several color markers on its little counter. Virgil is in Roman’s body. But he’s wearing a black royal uniform with a purple cape, a crimson sash and a golden crown.]

JOAN: Wow… this room is as extra as Roman.

THOMAS: [mumbling to Joan] Not as extra as Virgil’s revision of Roman’s uniform…

JOAN: [mumbling back to Thomas] Guess he won’t have a right to complain when he returns to his body, then…

THOMAS: Um… Hi, Virgil.

VIRGIL: [cold malicious voice] Call me King Virgil, peasant, and kneel before me!

THOMAS: What?

VIRGIL: [back to his normal voice, he smirks] Just kidding, I made some tweaks to Roman’s dull uniform. He’ll thank me later. Okay, any progress?

THOMAS: Yes, you’re the last one we’re talking to. We think the solution for this mess is that all the Sides enter in autopilot mode.

VIRGIL: That’s not a thing I use to do. If I’m working, I’m working with my full senses alert, or else I’m gone with everything. I’m not the half measures kind of gay… I mean guy… Well, both apply, to be honest.

THOMAS: Yes, don’t remind me of the time you ducked out…

VIRGIL: Quack… Sorry, Patton’s not here, and it felt like something was missing.

THOMAS: But this time it’s necessary, Virgil. Enter in autopilot for the next few minutes, and we’ll see if it works.

VIRGIL: Okay, if you say so, Thomas.

LOGAN: Well, everybody has been warned. Now, we should go back.

JOAN: Um…

THOMAS: What?

JOAN: I understand that you don’t want to take me to Wrath’s room, because it’s in the Dark Realm and all that jazz, but Logan’s room is accessible, isn’t it? Couldn’t we take a roundabout route and visit Logan’s room? Please?

LOGAN: Joan, this is not a pleasure trip, we have a task to do…

THOMAS: Oh, come on, Logan, it’s just a couple of minutes. And I would love to see your room too, I don’t know it either.

LOGAN: [sighs] Okay, if you want it so bad, I’ll show you my room. Think of all the things you’ve learned in your life, like school, college, life in general… Not only that, but remember the studying techniques you used to apply when learning such things. Concentrate in all of that. Very good…

[They all sink down, then there’s a white flash and they rise up in Logan’s room. The back wall holds a periodic table and the shelving is full of books of chemistry. In Logan’s spot there’s a blackboard and some chalks. In Virgil’s spot there’s a teacher’s table, full of exams ready to be revised. In Roman’s spot there’s a school desk, with pencils, papers and pens. In Patton’s spot there are old exams with huge A+ marks on them, hanging on a cardboard fridge in front of the curtain.]

THOMAS: Wow… it’s as if we were back to high school again. That periodic table brings me so many memories.

LOGAN: Of course it does, Thomas, you dedicated five years of your life to study what these elements were and how they interacted with each other.

THOMAS: Yes…

JOAN: I still can’t believe that you are a proper chemical engineer, Thomas. You truly are a Renaissance man, like Leonardo da Vinci. He also dominated several sciences of his time apart from being a master of arts.

THOMAS: Well, you better don’t make me try to paint the Mona Lisa, Joan…

JOAN: Okay, maybe painting is not your strongest virtue. But you dominate the art of literature, the art of music, the art of stage performance… Add the art of science and we have a true reincarnation of da Vinci in you.

THOMAS: You are too kind Joan. And too exaggerated.

LOGAN: Okay, guys, you have seen my room. Are you happy now? Can we go back?

THOMAS: Okay, okay, let’s go back now. You’re happy now, Joan, right?

JOAN: Yeah, right, let’s go back.

[They all sink down. There’s a white flash and they all rise up in the regular apartment. Talyn is there sitting on the couch, looking at her phone]

TALYN: Oh, you’re back, finally! It’s been three hours! I thought something had happened to you!

JOAN: [in shock] Three hours already? It looked like minutes for us!

LOGAN: Well, time is relative. Entering the Mind Palace is in many ways like entering the TARDIS. What looks like minutes inside, can be hours outside.

JOAN: What’s the TARDIS?

THOMAS: [angry squealing] You haven’t watched Doctor Who!?

JOAN: Nope.

THOMAS: Cool, now I know what we’re gonna do for the next twelve hours in this house… Okay, the Sides are all in autopilot.

LOGAN: Not all of them, Thomas. I’m also going to enter autopilot, just in case. Talyn?

TALYN: Yes?

LOGAN: I’m gonna enter autopilot right now. When I do, I won’t be able to guide you, so listen carefully. I want you to hypnotize Thomas, only Thomas this time. You wait a minute, and then you wake him up. And we’ll see if everything goes back to normal. Got it?

TALYN: Got it.

LOGAN: Okay. Entering autopilot… now.

TALYN: Okay, Thomas, you know what to do, sit down on the couch and relax.

THOMAS: Right…

[They repeat the same operation of earlier, and Thomas falls asleep. After they wait for a minute, Talyn claps their hands and Thomas wakes up]

THOMAS: Well, it’s done. Logan, can you hear me?

[Logan ignores Thomas, as if he was deaf]

THOMAS: [yelling] HEY, CAN YOU HEAR ME!?

[no response]

THOMAS: Oh, my goodness gracious…

[Thomas starts jumping and waving his arms and legs almost as if he was a monkey. Finally, Logan looks at where Thomas is and sees him]

LOGAN: Oh, excuse me… [to himself] Autopilot off… now. [to Thomas] Sorry, Thomas, in autopilot we’re not able to hear you unless we decide to check on you.

THOMAS: [panting] Well, glad to have your attention now. Do you think it worked?

ROMAN: [rising up in his own body, yelling] Virgil has ruined my royal outfit!

VIRGIL: [rising up, also yelling] I didn’t ruin anything! You have ruined my appearance! How am I supposed to be dark when my eyes look like the Milky Way with so much glitter!

PATTON: [rising up] Where is my cat hoodie? I can’t find my cat hoodie!

DECEIT: [rising up, he has the cat hoodie on his shoulders] I don’t know where your stupid cat hoodie is!

LOGAN: [pointing at Deceit] FALSEHOOD!

THOMAS: Guys, guys! Everyone, relax! How is it going? Did it work?

[everyone suddenly realize that they’re back in their own bodies]

ROMAN: Oh, sing, sweet nightingale! It’s true! I’m back to my old self… well, almost. Virgil, I’m a prince. I’m not a king yet, so I don’t need a crown till I’m properly crowned. But it’s heartwarming to know that I deserve a crown in your opinion…

VIRGIL: Don’t jump to conclusions, Roman. It’s just that I felt more threatening with a crown, that’s all.

[Deceit looks at Virgil and smiles mischievously]

PATTON: Oh, I forgot I took my hoodie from you, Deceit, so now you’re wearing it.

DECEIT: [looking at his shoulders with a face of shock] How could you swap the hoodie on my shoulders for the cardigan without me noticing? I didn’t even see you there!

PATTON: Oh, it’s just a matter of practice.

ROMAN: My goodness… So you are an expert pickpocket, Patton…

PATTON: No, I’m not! Stealing is wrong! But I have frequently used that ability to put things on your pockets instead…

VIRGIL: So that’s why I suddenly find all kinds of sandwiches that I didn’t summon inside my pockets… It was you all the time?

PATTON: Yes, kiddo, did you like them? I was afraid that you would call me out for treating you like a child, but I couldn’t help doing it.

VIRGIL: I could have used a little mayo and mustard, but they were good.

PATTON: Glad to hear, I’ll write that down…

VIRGIL: And you didn’t have to be so secretive about it. I never reject a good sandwich, especially coming from the best of my best friends.

PATTON: Awww… Thank you, kiddo.

VIRGIL: No, thank you, Dad. You’re always looking out for me, taking care of me and making sure that I’m doing okay, even when I’m on my lowest, and I never thank you enough.

PATTON: It is my pleasure, son. Next time, we’ll do the sandwiches and eat them together, okay?

VIRGIL: I can’t wait, Dad.

THOMAS: This is so pure…

LOGAN: Okay, with this fixed, I’m going back to my room to take a nap, since I’m the only one that couldn’t do it today. [sinking down] I’ll be in autopilot, so don’t do anything I wouldn’t do while I’m asleep, Thomas.

THOMAS: Gotcha. Have a nice nap, Logan.

VIRGIL: Okay, I have a lot of work to do. Getting rid of this glitter will be tricky.

ROMAN: Then don’t take it off! You look good as you are!

VIRGIL: No offense, but if I intend to have a dark persona, and I need it for my job, it’s imperative that no one can see me sparkling from 500 miles of distance.

ROMAN: [sighs] You may be right… [sinking down] Come to my room, I’ll give you some extra strong makeup remover.

VIRGIL: Everything in your room has to be extra, right? [sinking down] Thanks for understanding.

DECEIT: Okay, Patton, here, have your hoodie back.

[Deceit throws the hoodie to Patton and it falls on his head]

DECEIT: Woops! I’m so sorry.

PATTON: [taking it off his head] It’s not your fault, kiddo. I’m not good at catching things.

DECEIT: And thank you for respecting my outfit.

PATTON: I did not have the right to change your appearance. I would have felt rattled if I did.

DECEIT: [sinking down] Well, you would have felt rattled anyway, you were being a snake, right?

PATTON: [sinking down, giggling] Right, kiddo, right.

THOMAS: You know what, Joan?

JOAN: What?

THOMAS: I think this experience has been overall positive, despite the struggle. Now each one of them have had time to physically put themselves in the other’s shoes, and that will help them understand each other better.

JOAN: I think you’re right. And I’m glad that I didn’t cause any permanent damage to you or your Sides in the end.

THOMAS: That only shows that we have to be brave when taking steps on doing something, but we mustn’t do it blindly, cause that’s not brave, that’s irresponsible, and I should have taken care of all possible risks before jumping into action. [to the camera] I hope anything you’ve seen has been useful to you in anyway, and until next time, take it easy, guys, gals and non binary pals. Peace out!

[end card]

[Deceit is in his room. Wrath appears]

DECEIT: Hi, Wrath.

WRATH: Hi, Deceit.

DECEIT: Are you okay?

WRATH: What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I be okay?

DECEIT: So you haven’t noticed anything weird happening.

WRATH: No, I was in my room, in autopilot. I was watching The Sound of Music… I was so relaxed that I fell asleep twice.

DECEIT: I wouldn’t have pegged you to like that kind of movie.

WRATH: Why not? It has a lot of scenes in forests, hills… and I love it. It may be my bear side and my love for nature.

DECEIT: Well, I am part snake and I don’t specially enjoy watching movies set in trees and holes.

WRATH: Could that mean that your human part dominates in you? It also called my attention that you barely hiss.

DECEIT: [hissing like a snake] Who knowsssssssss?

WRATH: Anyway, what happened?

DECEIT: It will be long to explain. What I’m interested to know is, when are you going to make up your mind?

WRATH: About what?

DECEIT: About opening up to us. I don’t mean to push you or anything, and I know that the others are willing to respect your personal space, but I know that you want to join in with us. It’s not good to be so alone as you are, isolating yourself on your own in the Dark Realm.

WRATH: I’m scared.

DECEIT: Scared? Of what?

WRATH: Of how they’ll treat me. I wasn’t exactly the kindest person when I introduced myself. Patton even slapped me.

DECEIT: Oh, Wrath. That’s in the past. We have also seen that, when justice was compromised, you took our side. You redeemed yourself and I’m sure they won’t hold anything against you. And, now that they’re not hearing us, I’m gonna tell you that Patton is the nicest person you could ever meet. He was also harsh against me in our first encounters, but we have made up since then, and now we’re friends. It will be the same for you.

WRATH: I don’t know… And also, there’s another thing I’m afraid of.

DECEIT: What?

WRATH: I’m Wrath. I’m the personification of anger and fury. And I’m afraid that because of me Thomas becomes an angry and bitter person. Now that the Dark Master is gone and I’m no longer under his influence, I can see clearly that, if I join in, I could mess everything up.

DECEIT: The key is self-control, Wrath. Look at me. Roman once called me Jack the Fibber because I couldn’t stop lying, and look at me now, I control myself most of the time.

WRATH: But you had Honesty. He helped you on your way. And I have to go down that road all alone, on my own.

DECEIT: No, you don’t. For starters, you’ve got me. We’re friends, you can count on me. And if you make up your mind, you’ve got six more friends waiting for you, plus Joan and Talyn on the outside.

WRATH: Thank you, so much.

DECEIT: You’re welcome. And I really mean it. You’re really welcome.

[Wrath gives a grateful smile to Deceit]

#sanders sides #fanfic #ts fanfic #sanders sides fic #thomas sanders #thomas sanders fanfic #prinxiety #moxiety #roman sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #deceit sanders #aspects and fanfics

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nomattertheoceans · 6 years

Text

My thoughts on Kingdom of Ash

Ok I just finished the book (and yes, I slept no more than 5 hours since Friday night, but hey, what are you gonna do?) so all my thoughts may still be a bit raw, but I need to talk about all of it!!!! All of this will be extremely random though.

Ok so first of all, thank you thank you thank you Sarah J Maas for giving us once again a very well crafted story that satisfied me so much, that allowed us closure for every storyline and character arc established in the books. I loved every second of it.

So, where to start?

Lysandra disguising as Aelin: Ever since the end of Empire of Storms, I knew it wouldn't work, and it was likely to fall apart at the first battle because of Aelin's power (and the lack of it in Lysandra), and I was hoping Maas wouldn't find a weird reason for it to hold when it was destined to fail. She didn't, and the disbelief and betrayal the soldiers felt was very realistic and very sad.

Speaking of Lysandra: her relationship with Aedion was... I have very mixed feelings about it. I'm very glad of how it developed (honestly I never saw much development between them before so that felt good). Aedion was... such an ass. Like, I get he's pissed and all, but come on, you don't throw someone naked in the snow because they lied at you, that was such a dick move. But this allowed for a development I loved, the dynamic between them throughout the book: Aedion being an ass even though Lysandra tries to explain, then he realizing how wrong he was and going to her, and then her being all "are you kidding?" And refusing him because he was such a dick. I loved it, Lysandra held on to her pride and didn't crawl back to him the second he wanted her to. Instead they rebuilt a mutual trust together. So in the end I managed to be happy about their love, and I know I wouldn't have been if she'd accepted his first apology, because he wasn’t worthy of her affection at that point.

Aelin in the coffin: ugh every second of this broke my heart, it was awful all along.... the idea of her suffering so much that they had to rebuild her body was... oh everything was horrible. The worst, I think, was when Maeve told her Rowan had been spotted in Terrasen, and Aelin admitted to herself that she'd hoped he would come for her. I literally was talking to my book going "noooo he's coming, don't lose hope!" It was so painful. But the way they freed her was amazing, the fact that their plan allowed her to free herself at first and then they helped her, all this was the best way it could’ve happened. Also, the scene where she yelled to take off the mask and the chains was... again heartbreaking but necessary I think.

Her relationship with Fenrys was EVERYTHING. The fact that they supported each other for all this time, the bond it built between them through their trauma, I loved it all. The scene in the cave when they say they'll be here to listen if the other needs to talk about it, it was great. Also, I loved the fact that it helped them in the end, with her helping Fenrys against Maeve. Amazing, all of it. And Rown wasn’t jealous or anything (maybe a bit hurt at first because he thought Aelin might not want him again, but then it got resolved quickly enough to not ruin anything).

Rowaelin. Oh these two gave me ALL THE FEELS. At first when Rowan is low-key afraid that Maeve broke their relationship, but then Aelin gives him the wedding bands 😍. And then their entire conversation about Lyria and the mating bond was perfectly crafted. But oh my god did my heart break when Aelin was on the verge of dying and Rowan felt the mating bond slowly disappear... awful. I loved it haha. Rowaelin always made me feel a lot, and this book was no different.

I have too many thoughts honestly, I might forget a lot xD

Aelin losing her scars and then later her human body was so sad.... Rowan describes her as haunted and it's heartbreaking.

I can't remember in which chapter it was, but can we agree that we had a scene where Fenrys describes being raped by Maeve whilst his brother’s blood was still on the ground? It wasn't that explicit, and I can't remember when exactly it was, but it was awful and made me cry.

Oh and I don't understand how Dorian's shape-shifting power works? Like, Lysandra always swaps back naked, but he somehow manages to keep his clothes and his sword and all? I don't get it. Maybe I missed some kind of information?

The wave of power in Anielle: I loved the whole scene, Aelin's power was amazing (I saw it coming from far away but it was still good. I'm generally surprised by Maas' twists but this one I knew was going to happen ^^)

Oh Anielle makes me think of my lovable married couple chaorene: the pregnancy thing was... very cliche, but I didn't mind it. I want them to be happy and hey, if they're happy with getting married and having a kid this fast, I'm fine with it. I'm a sucker for fluff anyway so I loved it even if it was cliche 😂 I was low-key terrified that they would survived but she would lose the child somehow... thank God that didn't happen!

Another thing I'm once again very happy with one of Maas’ books: she is not shy around the idea of her characters having healthy, enjoyable, sexual relationships. In this book, I loved the way she described Manon and Dorian in particular. Throughout the whole first part, they sleep together just because they want to, they're not in love, they're not involved in any other manner, but they enjoy each other and they both want it, so yeah, they have sex and nobody blames them or demands they be more "serious." It's great.

Dorian deceiving Maeve so easily was soooo satisfying XD

The King of Adarlan being able to replace his son because he'd been cursed to forgot his name was a bit... far-fetched? But it allowed to save Dorian's life so I'm not complaining ^^

Aelin trying to exchange Elena against Erawan annoyed me. I know we're probably supposed to consider it this grand noble gesture but... Come on, Elena died literally a thousand years ago, and destroying Erawan has the potential to destroy his whole army (and as we see in the end, it does), so no, saving Elena's soul was not a good idea from Aelin's part. And we don't know if the Gods wouldn't have betrayed her anyway and not upheld their end of the bargain even if she hadn’t asked for it, but I totally get why the khagan royals are mad at her. It was a reckless move and she's very lucky it ended well after this particularly bad decision.

Completely change of subject, but.... Nox was back!!!! I'm so glad we got to see him again even if it was a small role!! Great callback to the first book!

Speaking of cameos..... Feysand!!! I loooooved it XD Mainly because I’m in love with every little mention of Feysand because they’re perfect 😍 But also because it definitely disproves any possibility of their story happening in the same world but at different times. I never very much liked these theories personally. But the idea of them in different worlds connected was so good. Plus, it gave me this new headcanon that maybe this happened during Starfall in the Night Court, and that the spirits might be indeed travelling like Aelin was in that case. There’s no evidenceof this but I love the idea (and it would strenghten the reaon why Amren prefers to stay alone during Starfall...), so I’m keeping it ^^

Manon once again was amazing. Her character proves once more that she's not perfect, she's willing to sacrifice some witches to gain their trust, but she still grew into a better person in the end and she does manage to reunite the clans. She learns to feel even more than in the previous books and I love it. Her letting Dorian hold her and telling him that she misses the Thirteen was a perfect moment of sadness.

I kind of knew some of the Thirteen would die but.... all of them?!?! I cried during the whole thing.... All of them looking at one another, Asterin smiling and saying goodbye, the collective yelding while Manon shouts for them from the city, and then the whole homage... all of this was so emotional....

I was also very sad when Gavriel died.... less emotional in a way because we know he died proud of his son and happy that Aedion accepted him, but ugh still so horrible when you understand he's sacrificing himself.... right in the feels :(

On a happier note, this book was so full of love, it was like an giant balm to my heart. Chaorene are the sweetest; Rowaelin are the most intense and perfect couple; Lysaedion were just the right amount of angst I need, with Lysandra being a badass; Nestaq was awesome through and through. I'm glad Manorian didn't exactly go canon in the end, the future is open for the both of them and I love it. Elorcan... I never cared much about their relationship so I would have been fine if it had been only left as a possibility, but hey, I'm still glad they found each other in the end.

Yrene is such a great character. She's soft, she loves her husband very much and needs him when she's afraid, she's very happy to be having a baby and to build a home for her family. And yet she's an amazing healer, she's not easily afraid, she's strong and willing to risk her life for the greater good. And those characteristics are not in contradiction to one another, they fit perfectly well. I love her, I think she might be my new favorite character.

Chaol telling her "Go save the world, Yrene" gave me life. Before the release of the book, I saw a lot of posts criticizing Chaol, people being sure he would ressent her for taking away his ability to walk when she worked, and not wanting her to risk her life. Those posts annoyed me a lot because Chaol is (was haha now it's his wife) my favorite character, and though he deserves a lot of criticism, I feel like a lot of people hate on him for no good reason, and will take the opportunity to hate on his character even if it forces them to criticize things completely out of character for him. And him resenting his wife or prohibiting her to do anything would have been so out of character. Anyway, I'm glad Maas included this awesome line for them!!!

Also, the two Valg royals being killed by the powers of the healers was amazing. But I was glad Fenrys got the first blow at Maeve. God knows he deserves it.

Ok I'm going to stop here I think. I'm sure I forgot a looooot more but I can't remember everything ^^

EDIT because I already have more to say xD

Dorian mourning Sorcha was so on point, it felt strange to me that he seemed to not think about her in EoS but his grief in this book was very well written.

And also

The scene at the end with only Dorian, Chaol and Aelin. THAT was perfect.

Overall, I'm very, very happy with this book. The happy ending was just amazing, it made me so happy myself (and honestly that's all I'm looking for in a book, to all the characters to get their HEA after all their sufferings). Some small points gave me mixed feelings but honestly, the rest was so satisfying that I don't even mind.

I loved it.

Don't hesitate to tell me what you thought, I want to talk about this book so much!!!! I would love to hear what you all thought so if you want to write to me about it (by ask or by message) I will be thrilled!!!!

If you want to read my other thoughts on stuff

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trustonlylokiposts-blog · 5 years

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Diagnosis: Chapter 2

Stark Tower and Nailing an Interview: chapter two.

I said my goodbyes to Koda and summoned an Uber, they smelled better than Taxis and I wanted to impress my interviewer. My long brown hair was pulled back into a neat pony tail, I wore a black blouse and a black pencil skirt, a green silk shawl, a modest silver necklace. I opened my phone and checked my messages, a few friends from the clinic I used to work at had all spammed me with questions, apparently I should have elaborated on where I was going to interview, and who I was going to work for. And who I was going to be my patient, or patients. I was excited

Trust me, I’ve never felt this excited before. I mean, practicing medicine for the Avengers, that’s insane.

I also had a few concerned texts from my mom after I had told her what happened the night before. Coming from a small town in Utah meant that we never had to worry about cat calling, potential rapists. I reassured her I was fine, and that Koda does a fantastic job of keeping me safe. As we neared the tower the driver broke the silence, “Stark Industries? What kind of secretary are you going to be?” I snorted, “Actually I a medical doctor. I am applying to be the Avengers on staff physician.” After a moment of really awkward silence, “Oh, my apologies doctor..” We pulled into the entrance and I stepped out, waving goodbye and rating him at a salty 5 stars. I stepped inside and walked to the front desk and cleared my throat, a women with a tight platinum blonde bun looked up at me. She plastered a fake smile and asked how she could help me. I explained that I was here for an interview for The Avengers physician. I let her scan my ID and take my picture which she printed off and put inside a little clip labeled “visitor”

I made my way to an elevator and followed the directions on which floor to head to, as the elevator made it’s way up the tower I began to feel slightly nervous, this kind of job sounded amazing, what if a more competent physician applied? I knew I was brilliant and was known as a prodigy, (not to toot my own horn) But for an opportunity like this, there had to be all kinds of amazing doctors applying. The elevator opened and I stepped out, woah. I was greeted to something I would expect in a high end Penthouse. A large open room with tall windows that boasted an excellent New York view, near the windows were several luxurious couches and loves seats, to my left was a bar that had more high-end liquor than the entire state of Utah could ever allow in a single building. “Ah, look at that our young doctor appears!” I was fairly surprised to see that it was Tony Stark who greeted me, I stepped forward and shook his hand with a warm smile, “My name is Doctor Julie Stirling, it is my absolute pleasure to meet you, thank you for this incredible opportunity.” Stark grinned at me and lead me to the bar and pulled out a stool for me then sat down and gestured for me to follow suit, which I did while trying my best to keep my jaw from hitting the floor. “Can I offer you a drink? Water, tea, coffee, I wouldn’t recommend alcohol this early, but you do you.” I chuckled and declined his offer as I pulled out of resume, cover letter, and a list of my references and their recommendations and admirations. Tony skimmed through the information I handed him and let out a low whistle. “29 years old and already such an incredible physician, young, brilliant, capable, a genius among men! You remind me of myself” Stark added with a chuckle, “I did hear that you abruptly left your previous job while cursing your employer out. Care to elaborate on that?” I bit my lip and felt embarrassment rise through me, “I.. It’s not like me sir, he is a very disrespectful man and I had enough. I knew my skills and knowledge were going to waste and I couldn’t stand being belittled anymore. Trust me when I say I am very professional and my bedside manner is excellent I-“ Tony cut me off with a wave of his hand, “Trust me I know about Doctor Wallis, that creepy old man has brought nothing but complaints from the people I’ve asked. Plus hey, I need something with the backbone to stand up for themselves. You’ll be working with some thick headed assholes, myself included. I need to know you wont be pushed around when it’s unnecessary.”

Tony looked through my resume once more and added “You are young, and you don’t have as much experience under your belt as the other applicants but.. That might actually prove useful. I need a fresh mind, something who is willing to take a step into medicine that may be more complicated than what other doctors have studied and worked with. And reading about your incredible track record of absolutely blowing away the universities you studied under I am certain that you learn quickly, and you’re fast on your feet too.” We talked for a little longer, Tony explaining how things generally worked around the tower, “Most of your responsibilities are focused on the Avengers, however if needed I will have you tend to Stark employees as well. However they all have their own doctor they see when necessary. I guess you’re just a backup when needed. But I don’t think it would come to that, plus you will have enough on your plate anyway. With keeping up with the team and building your understanding of erm.. Otherworldly beings, Dr. Banner is also adapt in medicine and is incredible and will work along side you when it comes to finding things that can keep up with different physiologies and metabolisms.” Tony stood and motioned for me to follow, “I like you kid, come with me, I’m thinking I want to hire you. But I need you to meet someone first. He has been so gracious as to agree and let us heal him. He allows us the possibility to understand Asgardians and well.. He has no choice to be here and isn’t quite healthy enough to do much about it anyway.” I followed Stark through a set of doors and was led down a hallway and through another set of doors, I raised an eyebrow when I noticed what looked like two SHEILD agents guarding the entrance. Stark breezed past them and opened the doors and walked in, I followed closely but halted when I noticed a hospital bed, connected to a few IV’S and a heart monitor was the one and only Loki. He was propped up on the bed reading a book. He was pale, way paler than he was when he was last seen on TV. His hair was an absolute mess and while he seemed tired he also gave off the vibe that he was still not to be messed with. Stark cleared his throat and introduced me, “hey Prince of Jokes, we have someone who might possibly be tending to you. Say hello!” Loki looked at me and I felt myself tense, How in the actual hell am I suppose to take care of him?

“Hello, worry not mortal, I am under very direct orders not to cause chaos, else I am thrown back into my cells on Asgard which would not be pleasant due to my current condition. It appears that aiding Thor in stopping the Dark Elves from destroying everything and consequently being stabbed by a kursed blade only earns me a break from my imprisonment on Asgard, to one here. To be a test subject for idiot Midgardians to use their barbaric technology to learn how to heal their precious Avengers.”

Tony rolled his eyes and said “Don’t worry, Thor was able to get some direction to help heal him, under these special circumstances it would be difficult to keep him from dying without a little Asgardian aid, they have provided strong drugs to give his body the energy and… Cider?” “Seidr” Loki cut in, “Seidr, anyway, that is some of what we have running through his veins right now. His body heals at an incredible rate but what went through him on that strange elf planet puts up a lot of fight. Combining drugs that keep his energy from draining we can allow him to do most of the healing on his own. What you will be doing is keeping a stable eye on his vitals and pain. We do have very potent pain killers for when he needs them. Trust me you’ll know. You think he’s a prick now? Wait until his ouchie is hurting, he’ll bitch at you until you either decide to give him the precious drug or kill him.” Loki rolled his eyes, “I would hardly call it bitching, if you even could fathom the amount of pain I am forced to endure while under the mockery of mortals you would be irritable as well.”

I looked Loki over then looked back to Tony, “I think I can handle him, at least as long as he continues to be relatively harmless.” Loki sneered but said nothing, Tony clapped his hands together. “Yes! Okay, I am going to offer you this job. For the foreseeable future Loki is your main concern. Keeping his pain under control, his healing on track and making sure his bandages are changed and infection is avoided. He may be ‘godly’ but he still is vulnerable at the moment.” That earned an insulted scoff from Loki that Tony promptly ignored, “Thor was told that Loki’s estimated healing time should be a month if everything goes smoothly. After Loki is healed we will go from there. Oh, because you are our on sight physician I have provided a modest apartment here at the tower. Your home will be located on the same floor as the handful of Avengers who live here. Thor is off and on when it comes to being here on earth, but you’ll get to know Natasha Rominoff, Clint, Bruce, Steve, and of course myself.”

Over the next couple hours I was given a thick stack of nondisclosure forms, another thick stack of pretty much everything that Tony and I had discussed before, a bunch of notes on dealing with Asgardians, more specifically wounded Loki, an in-depth description of my salary, paid time off, and work related perks. I was given a set of keys and taken down to what was called “Avenger’s floor” I walked to the end of the hall with one of Stark’s employees, she was a bubbly redhead who seemed super pumped to be here at all times. “Here is your home!” She opened the door and waited for me to enter before following me. “You have two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a full bathroom with the master bedroom, and a half bathroom in the hallway.” Alex, as she had liked to be called stood in the center of the large room. To my right the apartment dipped down slightly into what would easily be a modest living room, tall windows that made me feel a little light-headed reminded me of how high up I was. Although you really did get a killer view from up here, and there were massive grey curtains that I could pull over if I needed to. To my left was a large dining and kitchen area, it was also very open, it already had a dining table that could gracefully seat six people. Behind the table was a rather cozy kitchen, I didn’t need anything fancy, in fact this really was more than I was expecting. Alex let me take it all in before leading me down the hall, the first door on the right she opened and gestured for me to follow. “This is the guest bedroom but could easily be a study, or anything you want really.” The room wasn’t small, but not overly huge either. I didn’t expect to have many guests so a study would be really nice. Alex made her way out of the room and guided me to the next door, “and here we will have the master bedroom.” I stepped in behind her and looked around. This room had to be about half the size of my old apartment. It had a nice window that let in sunlight and fresh air without making me feel like I was going to fall to my death. I walked to the end of the room and opened a door to find a master closet, “Huh, don’t think I have enough clothes to come even close to fitting in here.” I laughed to myself but Alex tilted her head, “aren’t doctors supposed to be rich?” I really laughed this time, “yeah, but not starting out. I’m in debt up to my eyeballs. My last apartment was pretty much a cement box.” My preppy tour guide shrugged and opened the door to reveal my bathroom. A freaking Jacuzzi tub sat at the far end of the room under a beautifully arched window, gorgeous white curtains were tucked back. I took in the sight, a large walk in shower, a complicated looking toilet.. A Bedit? And a marble sink blew me away.

Alex left me to explore the rest of the apartment on my own, there was really only the guest bathroom left anyway, and while it was a nice bathroom, it’s just a bathroom. Tony had given me a week to get myself moved and settled in, then it would be time to work. I was actually pretty proud of myself for convincing Tony to allow me to keep Koda, (it was less “convincing” and more me telling him that I am a package deal and Koda comes with me.) I had to show him every ribbon she’s earned, ever certificate and proof of vaccines. But he agreed and I was excited to bring Koda on this new adventure with me.

#Loki Loki fic Loki x Female OFC Avengers fic

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howtoloseweightfastsafely · 5 years

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Part 2 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Part II:

Moving on, I feel compelled to share this next short piece, because it concerns a topic that is near and dear to my heart: depression and low self-esteem.

This essay of sorts was actually written to a friend of a friend who has been struggling with his own depression, low confidence, and feeling "stuck" for lack of a better word.

Also, this man, Chris, is not exactly dealing with the best of circumstances.

He is a young, 18-year-old man just out of high school, coming from a single-family home in gang-heavy Camden, NJ (one of the deadliest and most under-served cities in the U.S.)

The good thing is he is on the right path and has entered college as of September 2013. And from what my friend tells me (she was his high school mentor), he is a very smart, kind, and caring young man.

Chris wrote my friend, Melissa, an email telling her how life has been very tough, he's sad all the time, has trouble finding true friends at school, and that he feels like he's stuck with "no way out".

My friend then asked for some guidance from me, as I've dealt with many of the same exact issues myself in the past.

Here's what I said, and here's what I think anyone can apply to their life, whether depressed, just feeling down, out of luck, or feeling "not good enough" or "not worthy" or "defeated" or who think it's "too hard", or whatever it is keeping them from their goals, desires, and dreams:

"I know how you must feel, but it's not true that things won't get better. They always do. It just takes longer for some.

But that's never a reason to give up.

And I know it's hard to see now, but there's a good side to this, as there is with everything in life.

In this case, the good side is you're getting stronger every single day that you push through the struggles, hard feelings and negative thoughts.

You get so strong that by the time you overcome this (it always happens), you're a machine and nothing fazes you.

You will see amazing things come into your life and you will start doing amazing things.

And while everyone else is doubting themselves when the going gets tough...you'll laugh and get through difficulties like a walk in the park.

Because you've already done the hard work. You've seen the living hell on the bottom and you still fought it and made it out.

You've developed a massive level of inner strength and confidence, whether you realize it or not.

And when you bring this strength to anything in life, whether its writing music, starting a business, getting lean, or doing whatever you want in life...you'll see that it's much easier for you than anyone else.

You've already done the much harder work of battling depression, and you're winning. Keep this with you when your mind keeps filling with negativity and self-hatred. As real as it feels, every single second you fight it, you get better, smarter and stronger.

Here's a fun little exercise: think about anything and everything you want, no matter how insane it sounds. And write it down. If you want ten million dollars or a threesome with some gorgeous models or you want to buy your own island, or be famous, or have a 3 car garage with a Mercedes, Ferrari, and Aston Martin...or if all you want is to be happy every day, write it all down.

And understand that you can have it ALL. And you will.

When the time comes that you realize your true strength and potential, you'll see a miraculous transformation where you go after all your goals and desires...without letting anything stop you.

You'll rip shit up and destroy the competition, and you'll do it better and faster than anyone else.

So as bad as it looks now, just keep looking up. Keep on searching and striving for more.

A lot of people are stuck in depressive, hellish situations, and it definitely sucks, but there is ALWAYS a way out. Don't give up.

Also, there are little things you can do every day to start feeling better.

You see, every day is a chance to have an amazing life and do amazing things. Even more so, every day is a chance to help someone else or do a simple little thing to brighten someone's day.

The thing about life that most people don't tell you is...to build self-esteem and to feel better, you have to:

1) Do esteem-able things

2) "Fake it til you make it"

Remember that you're the shit and you have an amazing personality. You have so much to give to others.

So much so that it'll make them smile and laugh and love their life...and after you do this, you'll see the rewards and happiness come back to you tenfold.

To be clear, you don't have to anything above and beyond to reap the benefits.

A simple smile or hello or just holding open the door could mean the world to someone.

While you're in your own dark spot, someone else could be in the same spot too. And you never know if you saying "hi" or smiling to them was the 1st nice thing someone said to them all week.

That simple little gesture could make someone's day, week or month. You just never know. So give a little bit back whenever you can. And when you see the joy it brings them, you'll slowly but surely feel better too."

Moral of the story: NEVER give up. Keep pushing, keep working, and keeping reaching to be the best you can be. And one day you'll get it. And then you'll move on to even bigger and better things. Most importantly, keep helping others. Give all that you can through love and kindness, and you will reap the rewards tenfold. Challenge yourself and greatness will come. It isn't always easy, that's for sure, but it is definitely worth it.

Interested in losing weight? Then click below to see the exact steps I took to lose weight and keep it off for good...

Read the previous article about "Part 1 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality"

Read the next article about "Part 3 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality"

Moving forward, there are several other articles/topics I'll share so you can lose weight even faster, and feel great doing it.

Below is a list of these topics and you can use this Table of Contents to jump to the part that interests you the most.

Topic 1: How I Lost 30 Pounds In 90 Days - And How You Can Too

Topic 2: How I Lost Weight By Not Following The Mainstream Media And Health Guru's Advice - Why The Health Industry Is Broken And How We Can Fix It

Topic 3: The #1 Ridiculous Diet Myth Pushed By 95% Of Doctors And "experts" That Is Keeping You From The Body Of Your Dreams

Topic 4: The Dangers of Low-Carb and Other "No Calorie Counting" Diets

Topic 5: Why Red Meat May Be Good For You And Eggs Won't Kill You

Topic 6: Two Critical Hormones That Are Quietly Making Americans Sicker and Heavier Than Ever Before

Topic 7: Everything Popular Is Wrong: The Real Key To Long-Term Weight Loss

Topic 8: Why That New Miracle Diet Isn't So Much of a Miracle After All (And Why You're Guaranteed To Hate Yourself On It Sooner or Later)

Topic 9: A Nutrition Crash Course To Build A Healthy Body and Happy Mind

Topic 10: How Much You Really Need To Eat For Steady Fat Loss (The Truth About Calories and Macronutrients)

Topic 11: The Easy Way To Determining Your Calorie Intake

Topic 12: Calculating A Weight Loss Deficit

Topic 13: How To Determine Your Optimal "Macros" (And How The Skinny On The 3-Phase Extreme Fat Loss Formula)

Topic 14: Two Dangerous "Invisible Thorn" Foods Masquerading as "Heart Healthy Super Nutrients"

Topic 15: The Truth About Whole Grains And Beans: What Traditional Cultures Know About These So-called "Healthy Foods" That Most Americans Don't

Topic 16: The Inflammation-Reducing, Immune-Fortifying Secret of All Long-Living Cultures (This 3-Step Process Can Reduce Chronic Pain and Heal Your Gut in Less Than 24 Hours)

Topic 17: The Foolproof Immune-enhancing Plan That Cleanses And Purifies Your Body, While "patching Up" Holes, Gaps, And Inefficiencies In Your Digestive System (And How To Do It Without Wasting $10+ Per "meal" On Ridiculous Juice Cleanses)

Topic 18: The Great Soy Myth (and The Truth About Soy in Eastern Asia)

Topic 19: How Chemicals In Food Make Us Fat (Plus 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply)

Topic 20: 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply

Topic 21: How To Protect Yourself Against Chronic Inflammation (What Time Magazine Calls A "Secret Killer")

Topic 22: The Truth About Buying Organic: Secrets The Health Food Industry Doesn't Want You To Know

Topic 23: Choosing High Quality Foods

Topic 24: A Recipe For Rapid Aging: The "Hidden" Compounds Stealing Your Youth, Minute by Minute

Topic 25: 7 Steps To Reduce AGEs and Slow Aging

Topic 26: The 10-second Trick That Can Slash Your Risk Of Cardiovascular Mortality By 37% (Most Traditional Cultures Have Done This For Centuries, But The Pharmaceutical Industry Would Be Up In Arms If More Modern-day Americans Knew About It)

Topic 27: How To Clean Up Your Liver and Vital Organs

Topic 28: The Simple Detox 'Cheat Sheet': How To Easily and Properly Cleanse, Nourish, and Rid Your Body of Dangerous Toxins (and Build a Lean Well-Oiled "Machine" in the Process)

Topic 29: How To Deal With the "Stress Hormone" Before It Deals With You

Topic 30: 7 Common Sense Ways to Have Uncommon Peace of Mind (or How To Stop Your "Stress Hormone" In Its Tracks)

Topic 31: How To Sleep Like A Baby (And Wake Up Feeling Like A Boss)

Topic 32: The 8-step Formula That Finally "fixes" Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested (If You Ever Find Yourself Hitting The Snooze Every Morning Or Dozing Off At Work, These Steps Will Change Your Life Forever)

Topic 33: For Even Better Leg Up And/or See Faster Results In Fixing Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested, Do The Following:

Topic 34: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 35: Part 1 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 36: Part 2 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 37: Part 3 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 38: Part 4 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 39: How To Beat Your Mental Roadblocks And Why It Can Be The Difference Between A Happy, Satisfying Life And A Sad, Fearful Existence (These Strategies Will Reduce Stress, Increase Productivity And Show You How To Fulfill All Your Dreams)

Topic 40: Maximum Fat Loss in Minimum Time: The Body Type Solution To Quick, Lasting Results

Topic 41: If You Want Maximum Results In Minimum Time You're Going To Have To Work Out (And Workout Hard, At That)

Topic 42: Food Planning For Maximum Fat Loss In Minimum Time

Topic 43: How To Lose Weight Fast If You're in Chronic Pain

Topic 44: Nutrition Basics for Fast Pain Relief (and Weight Loss)

Topic 45: How To Track Results (And Not Fall Into the Trap That Ruins 95% of Well-Thought Out Diets)

Topic 46: Advanced Fat Loss - Calorie Cycling, Carb Cycling and Intermittent Fasting

Topic 47: Advanced Fat Loss - Part I: Calorie Cycling

Topic 48: Advanced Fat Loss - Part II: Carb Cycling

Topic 49: Advanced Fat Loss - Part III: Intermittent Fasting

Topic 50: Putting It All Together

Learn more by visiting our website here: invigoratenow.com

#weightloss #diet

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madlysanecatlady · 7 years

Text

Mother’s Day

I’m in a weird mood today. I needed something sorta hopeful.

Mother’s Day had become difficult for Oswald. Theo Galavan had seen to it that Oswald would never look at it the same way again. He pulled the covers over his head and stifled a sniffle. He wasn’t so sure he was ready to face the day just yet. Not yet. He wasn’t strong enough.

He had been through hell in the past year. He’d had his heart torn to out and shredded more times than he could count – it was more than anyone should need to live through. First his mother was ripped from his life – taking her away from him and ensuring she would not be there to help him rise back up each time someone knocked him down. Then, his father had appeared, tantalisingly dangling the prospect of a new family in front of him, only to slip through his grasp as well, before he had even had the chance to fully recover from his first tragedy. And then Ed. Oh Ed. Ed had possibly been more painful, coming on the tail end of tragedy like a balm, only to turn around, tear out Oswald’s heart, then stomp on it all while looking him in the eye.

Things were better now. Well, as good as they could be, he supposed. He had returned to Gotham, broken and alone, but he had healed again and was stronger now than ever before. He and Ed had reached an understanding – or at least, Oswald was hesitant to call it more than that, lest he get what was left of his heart mangled any further. But the truth of the matter was that now they had each hurt the other so deeply, the only thing they could do was to heal each other’s wounds. There was no animosity left, and nothing else to do but address the almost magnetic pull between them. Of course, that also meant addressing the plethora of mixed emotions that came with it, but Oswald was almost willing to go wade through the sticky mess of feelings if there was some glimmer of hope on the other side.

Oswald heard the clattering of dishes somewhere distant in the house and pulled the covers down from over his head, listening intently. He could make out the faint sounds of someone softly singing to themselves, deep and melodic. Oswald sat up. It certainly didn’t sound like the maid. He slid out of bed and donned his robe and slippers, hobbling out of his bedroom and into the hall, following the increasing volume of the intruder’s singing.

He found Ed pattering around the kitchen making tea as he had always done before the whole Isabella debacle as Oswald had taken to mentally calling it. Oswald had missed seeing him there in the days leading up to the incident on the pier; he had to admit it was a slightly welcome sight for the moment it took him to remember all that had happened between them. He frowned, confused – Ed had not said anything about being here today; Oswald wasn’t quite sure what to make of his presence.

Ed looked up from the kettle at him and smiled. ‘Good morning, Oswald. I was just finishing the tea before bringing you your breakfast, but I see you’ve decided to come to the food instead of letting it come to you.’ He gestured towards the tray of oatmeal and toast on the counter next to the empty teacup.

Oswald stared at him, taking in just how much Ed truly had changed in so little time. Ed now carried himself with an oozing confidence Oswald had only seen beginning to surface before. His movements were fluid and sure, all enacted by the series of dangerous muscles and tendons that made up Ed’s body. Ed had always had a dangerously quick mind, Oswald had always seen that, but now he had the body and movement to match – a complete package of vicious potential, as Oswald knew all too well.

‘I know I probably shouldn’t have come,’ Ed grimaced, pouring the boiled water into two teacups. ‘I’ve hurt you and I’m not sure I can ever heal all of the damage I’ve done to you… but I couldn’t bear to leave you alone today. The idea of you here alone, just missing your mother, well, it really didn’t sit nicely with me. So… I thought I might try to soothe some of your pain, even if I can’t heal the wounds I’ve caused.’

Oswald blinked, taking a moment to process Ed’s words. Mere weeks ago, Oswald would have killed hundreds of people to have Ed caring for him like this again. He never would have thought twice about accepting the tokens of love and affection being offered, not for a second hesitating in fear of getting hurt. Ed was here in his kitchen making tea as though nothing had changed, and yet everything had. Oswald had once trusted Ed implicitly, and now he wasn’t so sure he could ever trust anyone again. And yet, even as he tried to build walls around whatever pieces of purity and love remained within him, he found them crumbling away as he looked at Ed. What good was a wall to keep someone out of your heart when they already lived so deeply inside it?

Finally, Oswald sucked in a deep breath and perched atop on of the kitchen stools at the counter, accepting his tea from Ed. ‘Thank you,’ he mumbled quietly, looking down at the patterns in the dark granite, wondering just what was going on in Ed’s mind to have brought him here.

‘Please… eat something,’ Ed pushed the tray towards him stiffly, clearly reading the rigid stance Oswald kept, perched upon the stool, looking determinedly anywhere but at him. ‘You need strength today. Emotional wounds may not be visible but still need healing.’

‘And what do you care about my emotional wounds?’ Oswald snapped before he could stop himself. Perhaps the ones Ed had left him were nowhere near as healed as he’d thought.

Ed looked pained and Oswald took temporary glee in knowing Ed was hurting at least a fraction of the amount he’d hurt him. Oswald reeled himself back in quickly, reminding himself that he may not be so innocent himself; he had certainly done his part to hurt Ed as well.

Oswald sighed. ‘Sorry Ed, I –‘

‘No,’ Ed shook his head. ‘I hurt you. You still need time.’

‘We hurt each other,’ Oswald corrected. ‘I… may not have handed the whole, er, Isabella thing in the best way either, so…’

Ed looked pained again, but less so. This time, Oswald took no satisfaction in it. He knew his jealousy had led him down a dark path, one that may have led him too far away form Ed to ever see them through to some sort of peaceful conclusion. It killed him to know that his fit of jealous rage may have completely unravelled the thick tapestry of their friendship. ‘Ed, where do we go from here?’

‘Well, there’s… a magnetism between us, isn’t there?’ Ed noted, looking down at his hands. ‘It’s dark, dangerous, and hasn’t led us anywhere healthy just yet, but it’s too strong to ignore. There really are only two possible outcomes: we find a way to move past it, or we destroy each other completely. And really, we’ve already tried that second option to very little success.’

‘And now we’ve both had time to settle, I don’t feel like another showdown to the death,’ Oswald was tired. Tired of anger. Tired of fighting. Tired of trying to hate the man he loved almost as much as he loved his parents.

‘So we find a way forward,’ Ed said resolutely. ‘Which is why I’m here. We’ve hurt each other. We’ve broken each other’s trust, hearts even,’ he pushed the oatmeal closer to Oswald, silently willing him to eat. ‘Now it’s time to rebuild.’

‘You say that like it’s going to be easy,’ Oswald huffed, finally caving and digging into the oatmeal. It was delicious – Oswald could never deny Ed had quite the talent in the kitchen. It was a bittersweet feeling, however, as he noted that the oatmeal, like the tea, tasted just as his mother had always made.

‘It won’t be,’ Ed sipped his tea, looking contemplative. ‘But… now I’ve seen what life without you in it is like, well, it’s by far the more attractive course to take. I… I only hope I haven’t hurt you irreparably. I don’t want to lose you.’

The small, petty part of Oswald thought maybe Ed should have thought about that before shooting him and leaving him to drown, heartbroken, cold, and alone. The more reasonable part of him, albeit a part of him that seemed to be shrinking the longer he stayed in this city, knew that he had badly hurt Ed too. Oswald had taken time to learn how to love someone properly, perhaps too much time – he prayed he hadn’t learned too late. But then, he supposed, Ed wouldn’t be he trying if he had.

‘Thank you, Ed,’ Oswald said finally, after having finished his oatmeal in silence. ‘For trying… for coming here so I’m not alone today. You’re right. It’s not easy today… I just don’t know what to do with myself.’

‘I had an idea about that,’ Ed murmured, clearing away the dishes and fetching a package from the counter. As he came back to Oswald’s side, he could see it was an enormous bouquet of white and pink lilies. ‘I thought you might like to pay your mother a visit. I saved you the trip for a present.’

Oswald was completely lost for words, and even found himself choking back the flood of emotion threatening to flood out. Ed still cared. Even after all they had done for each other, after all of Oswald’s doubts, he still cared. Oswald could hardly believe it, and yet here they were. Things wouldn’t be easy. They wouldn’t be perfect. They would probably never be the same as the once had been. But, Oswald knew there was hope for a future. After all, Ed had said it himself – they were drawn to each other whether they liked it or not – they either had to succumb or destroy each other.

Ed handed Oswald the flowers, who smiled. His mother would have liked Ed, he thought. Well, she would have until he broke her little baby’s heart. Of course, Gertrud Cobblepot was a very forgiving woman, unlike her son. Oswald thought he might try to make her proud of him on Mother’s Day and try to forgive Ed as it seemed he had forgiven him. He had many wounds to heal, and no support from his mother to do so, but Oswald felt as though he could get through it. And as he looked down at the flowers Ed had so carefully selected for him to leave at his mother’s grave, he knew things would begin to get better.

#nygmobblepot #fanfics

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bulletproof-heaven · 7 years

Text

Wings Cafe - Chapter 4

Chapters: prologue 1 2 3 4 5

Sleepless nights weren’t unfamiliar to Namjoon. Being the leader, he has spent many hours stuck in his office, pen in hand, designing flawless plans. Tonight was no different; even as the sun was starting to rise, Namjoon could not fall into a dreamless rest. However, instead of planning for a mission, he was laying next to his husband, eyes wide open, trying to figure out which member of their family would betray them.

He knew for a fact it wasn’t Yoongi. He has known him since he was a child; constantly seeing the elder sitting in the living room when their parents were in a meeting. Yoongi was also the one who showed up on his doorstep after his high school graduation, and that visit changed his entire life.

Namjoon had just changed out of the graduation gown and decided to watch a movie to celebrate. He was in the process of sitting down on the couch, opening credits rolling, when he heard a knock on his door. Never in a million years, Namjoon would have expected Yoongi, a person who he had only met a few times in the passing, to be the one standing on the other side of that door.

“Namjoon,” The emotionless man stated, a hint of sadness within his eyes, “I’m sorry to tell you this but your parents were caught in an accident while on their business trip”.

“What?”

Namjoon’s heart stopped for a moment; remembering the day his parents left, suitcases in hand, promising him that they’ll be back for dinner after his graduation.

“Which hospital?” He turned to grab his phone, ready to book a plane ticket, but a hand on his arm stopped him.

“They…” Yoongi let out a small breath before swallowing hard, “They didn’t make it”.

And then Namjoon’s entire world crashed onto his shoulders. It was a miracle that his legs hadn’t give out from under him. “W-what?”.

Yoongi just averted his eyes, “I’m so sorry for your loss”.

Namjoon did break down, sobbing as his heart clenched; mind clouded with the fact that he’ll never see his parents’ face again nor hear their loving voices. He sat underneath his door way for over half an hour, just crying his eyes out as Yoongi stood next to him with a hand on his shoulder. After finally regaining his composure, the two teens moved into the living room, movie still quietly playing in the background, when Yoongi finally broke the silence.

“Do you know what your parents did for a living?”

“Yeah,” Namjoon wiped his tears and placed a two glasses of water on the coffee table in front of them, “They owned a business together”.

“Do you know what kind of business?”.

He froze as he reached for his water. Hand hovering mid-air. What kind of business did they own? His parents always told him that they’ll tell him when he’s older so he just stopped asking.

“N-no” Namjoon retreated his hand, “I don’t”.

Yoongi sat forward a bit and cleared his throat, “Your parents were co-leaders of a group, who help clients with their problems.”

“Okay…” Namjoon nodded, “So like an accounting firm or something.”

“Er, not exactly”. Yoongi paused, not knowing the right way to explain it. He could see that the younger was still in a fragile state.

“We help people by stealing documents, exposing people’s pasts; anything that the client needs really”.

“Did they kill people too? Is that why my parents died?”.

He sighed. He wanted to tell him later but Namjoon was smarter than he thought.

“Sometimes killing is involved, and yes, the accident was pre-planned”.

“So, what happens now?” Namjoon sat up straighter, “Do you know who killed them?”

“Your parents wanted you to inherit the business when they deemed the time to be appropriate. I do know who killed them-”

“I want in”.

And that night, Namjoon and Yoongi hopped on a private jet and flew to Japan to retrieve his parents’ bodies.

Yoongi taught Namjoon everything; how to protect himself, how to run the business. He stood by his side during the funeral, during the first meeting with a client, and even refused the leader position when Namjoon offered it to him. Namjoon knows for a fact, the rat isn’t Yoongi.

Jin sighed in his sleep and turned onto his side, facing Namjoon. Namjoon watched his husband; it couldn’t be him. They already knew each other for two years, dating for one of them, before he left with Yoongi that night. Jin loved him so much to even accept him when he came crawling back after leaving with no notice; breaking up over text.

Namjoon sighed, rubbing his face with his hands, tiredly. When he felt Jin stir next to him, he glanced at the clock; 5:50 in the morning. It was going to be a long day.

“When are you coming back?” Jimin trailed after Yoongi like a lost puppy, with a hand clutched onto the back of the elder’s shirt. “Do you have to go?”

“You know I have to,” Yoongi gently moved the hand and shrugged on his leather jacket, “I’ll be home soon. Three hours tops”.

“But what if-”

“Everyone’s home, nothing will happen” He ruffles the brunette’s hair, “I promise”.

“Okay” The younger watched as the other walked out and the door shut behind him. He let out a sigh and decided to hide out in the elder’s room until he got back.

It was the morning after the ‘test’ and everyone was high alert. Jin was stress baking, Jihyuk decided to stay at home after coming back to see his brother clinging onto Yoongi, and Hoseok holed himself up in his workshop. Jungkook and Taehyung were cuddled up in bed while Namjoon sat at his desk, trying to solve the situation. He cursed at himself for not realising that it was all a test sooner and stepped straight into the government’s trap. There were so many hints: Jimin’s earring, no guards, the door being unlocked. Also, Jin had told him this morning how the room’s temperature was only decreased to show signs of mild hypothermia before increasing again, Jimin was never in any real danger.

Namjoon sighed, scribbling down random thoughts, any potential leads he could get his hands on. His first suspect was Taehyung but he had crossed his name out as he thought about the conversation he had earlier with Taehyung.

He had lead Taehyung into the interrogation room. “What-what are you doing?” Taehyung asked once he noticed that the leader had locked the door.

“Relax, kid. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to ask some questions. Sit” Namjoon gestured to the seat on the opposite side of the table before sitting down himself.

Taehyung copied his actions and gulped nervously, “Is this about what happened last night?”

Namjoon nodded before asking a question he already knew the answer to. “I just want to know who has access to our files”.

“Me.” Taehyung furrowed his brows.

“And no one else?”

He shook his head, confused, “Yeah, it’s only accessible by direct link and its also password protected. I would have been alerted if anyone tried to hack into it.” He finished before realising, “You think I leaked the information?”

“I’m-”.

“What are you doing to him?! Let him go!” The two of them could hear Jungkook outside the room, banging the locked door, while Jin tried to calm him down.

“He’ll be fine. Namjoon’s just asking some quest-” The door came flying open and Jungkook rushed in, only stopping when he saw how casual the situation was.

“It’s okay” Taehyung stated, smiling calmly, “Hyung’s just asking some questions. It’s okay”.

“But-”

“Wait outside. I’ll be alright”.

Jungkook stared at the both of them for a while, as his brain tried to figure out whether or not he should leave. He sighed, trusting that Taehyung could take care of himself, before walking out the room, door closing shut behind him. And after his boyfriend left the room, Taehyung turned to the Namjoon, staring him straight in the eye, “I said it the first time I met you, and I’ll say it again; if they did get the files from me, you have permission to kill me”.

Right on cue, Namjoon stood up and pointed his gun at the boy’s head, finger on the trigger. He took a deep breath, adjusting his grip as he analysed Taehyung’s reaction. The boy just stared at him, expressionless, like he had nothing to lose. Namjoon’s gut was telling him to just shoot the kid in front of him. He is the only one out of their group that has access to the information. But it was way too obvious and Taehyung is, by no means, an idiot.

He sighed, placing the gun on the table with a clank before walking around it to pull the boy into a tight hug, “I’m sorry. I knew it wasn’t you but I had to make sure.”

“It’s okay. I would have done the same”. Taehyung gave a small smile. “I know your about to ask so I’ll save you the trouble. I tried looking up the lady but all that came up are phony information feed by the government”.

The leader sighed before thanking him and watched the boy leave the room to his worried boyfriend who was standing outside. “See, I told you I’ll be alright”.

Namjoon scribbled over his page, over all of his thoughts, and threw his pen down.

“Still got nothing?” A plate of cookies and a glass of milk was placed next to his page as familiar hands rubbed over his shoulders, relieving a bit of stress.

“I’ve got one” Namjoon stated with a bit of annoyance, “Jihyuk”.

“Seriously?” Jin stated, “Why can’t you and Jungkook just forgive him?”

“He put one of us in danger because of his carelessness” The leader turned to face his husband.

“Okay, he might not have his brain screwed on right but he did triple the profits of the club and he takes care of all of our shipments. Why would he put so much effort just to destroy it?”

“Yeah, but-”

“It was an accident. He already- you’re not even listening to me anymore” Jin sighed before leaving the room, “Just go question him”.

And that’s what he did. Namjoon knocked on Yoongi’s door before pushing it open. The boy was sitting on the edge of Yoongi’s bed, stroking his brother’s hair that peeked out from the lump under the covers.

“He’ll be back soon,” Jihyuk said softly, “three hours top, he never lies to you”.

“I know” a muffled whine came from the lump.

“You have to get out of his bed, it’s not healthy” he tried to convince the other boy before noticing the leader, who gestured for him to step outside. He nodded before standing up, “Namjoon wants to talk to me, so I’ll be just outside, okay?” A slight movement which he took as a nod, “After I come back, we’re going to watch a movie, okay?” A small whine. “You can stay here but you’re watching a movie with me, it’s your favourite”. Jihyuk only started walking out of the room when the lump made another movement. He closed the door behind him, “What’s up?”

Namjoon looked at him sternly before asking, “Where have you been spending your nights?”.

Jihyuk looked a bit confused, “at the club…”

“Do you go anywhere else? Maybe with someone you’re sleeping with”

“No? Why? What’s this about?”

Namjoon didn’t reply, he just raised an eyebrow, not really believing the boy standing in front of him.

“Look, you can check the camera footage or my tracker history. Is this about last night?”

“No, I was just informed that there had been a lot of trouble near the club”. Namjoon lied smoothly.

Jihyuk was a bit offended. “And you thought I was involved?”

“I just wanted to make sure that you weren’t involved in case someone get in contact me” Namjoon answered and Jihyuk nodded as if it made perfect sense.

“Okay, well I didn’t have anything to do with whatever’s going on”.

“I believe you”.

“Good”.

With that, Jihyuk left down the hall to grab his laptop leaving Namjoon back at square one. He sighed, deciding to wait until Yoongi came back to discuss about the situation instead of blindly questioning everyone. He stayed in the kitchen for the next three hours, sat at the island counter, to watch his husband bake his worries away.

“Hyung’s back!” Jimin’s voice rang through the living room as the boy ran down the stairs, immediately latching on before the elder could even take off his jacket.

“I promised three hours, didn’t I?”

“Hyung,” Namjoon walked out of the kitchen to meet him, “A word, please”.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a sec” Yoongi replied before Namjoon walked away to his office. He stared down at the boy who smiled at him like he wasn’t wrapped around him like a second skin.

“Jimin-”

“No.”

“Please-”

“No.”

“Sunshine.” Yoongi said as a last resort, knowing the kind of affect the nickname had on the other.

“Not fair” Jimin pouted but he showed no signs of letting go, “You just got back”.

“But Namjoon-”

“He can wait”.

Yoongi let out a chuckle as he tried peeled the younger off, “You know he doesn’t like waiting”.

“Fine” Jimin finally agreed, taking a step back reluctantly.

“I’ll find you when I’m finished” Yoongi promised before making his way to the leader’s office. He walked in and closed the door behind him. After taking one look at the desk, he knew that Namjoon has hit a dead end; the bin was filled with scrunched up paper and was starting to overflow, pens laid broken on the desk, snapped in half, and the curtains were closed with the desk lamp being the only source of light.

“What have you got?” Yoongi asked as he watched the younger pace the room, ruffling his hair in frustration.

“It’s not Taehyung, way too obvious,” Namjoon explained, “and I don’t think it’s Jihyuk either. He’s always been trouble but I don’t think he would betray us” he sighed before correcting himself, “I mean, he wouldn’t betray his brother, foster or not”.

Yoongi moved to sit down on the couch against the wall, sighing, “Well, it’s not Jin. He loves you too much.” Namjoon nodded in agreement. “And it’s not Jungkook. He doesn’t even know how to get on the dark web, let alone hack a file secured by Taehyung. It’s definitely not Jimin-”.

“You don’t know that-” The leader stated.

“Come on, Namjoon. Who are you kidding? The kid can’t watch a movie without crying his eyes out. You really think he would betray us?” He didn’t say anything more knowing that the elder was right, “Then that just leaves Hoseok…he wouldn’t, would he?”

Namjoon shrugged before stating matter of factly, “He was in a mental institute before he joined us”

“Yeah, but he was re-evaluated; that’s how he got out”.

He shook his head, sitting down on his desk chair, “Jin was the one who asked the psychologist to do the evaluation”.

“So? I don’t see a problem”.

“He was in love with Jin. Asked him out a couple of times too”.

Yoongi leaned forward, eyebrows furrowed. This was the first time he heard about this, “So, what you’re saying is that Hoseok’s results weren’t accurate”.

Namjoon stared at him intently, “What I’m saying is, we don’t have evidence to prove that Hoseok’s results were accurate”.

“Okay,” He stood up, taking a step closer “Let’s just say that it’s true and Hoseok is insane. Why would he do it though? He doesn’t have a motive”.

“You said yourself, he’s insane; so he doesn’t need a motive”.

#bts fanfic #bts #bangtan #bangtan fanfic #yoonmin #namjin #taekook #vkook #bts gang au

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