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fernandoswarcrimes · 1 year

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𝓘 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓮𝓼..

Summary: the one where they run but they don’t run far enough to not be found. - this is part three in the 𝓟𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓶 series. Word count: 4.8k Warnings: Dimitri and Alexei trying to play masterminds & Gracie’s parents being awful per usual and doing the unthinkable. Upset Charles in this one I’m sorry guys💔 Note: part 4 will be just as eventful can you guess what will happen next?

Tag list: @pitchandgrid @yourmom-lmao @dessxoxsworld @yellowscuderia @buendiabebeta@stillbreathin @flyingmushroomss @moneymasnn@christianpulisic10 @pierre-gasssllyy @heavengirls111 @evans-dejong @hungryhungarian @glitterquadricorn @mariar31 @pitconfirmbutton @squirreljoe

It was quiet in the library as reality crashed down onto both men after reading what they just read from the article.

Leave it to the media to never leave anyone alone.

They didn’t know what to do, on one hand they had a duty to serve under the crown but on the other, they had taken an oath to look after Gracelinde like she was their own and that meant letting her explore things like any young girl should be able to do, Royal or not.

“We’ve got to do something about this.” Dimitri said grimly. This could blow up in all of their faces and the only one who’d be hurt the most would be Gracie.

Alexei just nodded, he knew they had to tread lightly before things got out of hand. “I know, I just hope we can get a hold on it before it hits the fan.”

Dimitri was certain they could but they’d never get the chance to.

Because the two were summoned to Albert’s office.

“What is the meaning of this?” Albert asked as he threw the newspaper down on the desk.

Dimitri and Alexei stood with their hands clasped behind their backs as they stared at the cover of the front page, it was the same thing they saw on the article, a picture of Gracie and Charles holding hands as they walked down the streets of the city, the fact the dark haired man never saw any paparazzi is what unnerved him the most.

“Well?” The prince of Monaco asked expectedly.

Alexei looked at Dimitri shaking his head slightly, he knew what he was about to do and it wasn’t going to end well. But Dimitri had promised himself he would always stick up for his little girl.

So he took a step forward.

“Sir, with all due respect, it was just a simple outing. The Stroll boy introduced the two at the race and figured they would be good friends since they both live and grew up here in Monaco. So I took her to meet him for lunch at La Pampa. I wasn’t going to let them go off on their own, you know that. I stayed close by no more than ten feet away and let them enjoy a simple lunch. He was nothing but respectful the entire time, even walking her back to the square after they wanted to take a walk to talk more-”

“Do I look like I care about how respectful the boy was, Tvardovsky? Just make sure she doesn’t see the boy again, the Stroll boy and Schumacher are one thing because of the families they come from. This boy on the other hand has no business around Gracelinde.” Albert said, just about tired of the conversation.

“Sir, you've invited him to the palace in the past, in 2019 he was here you’ve met him-” Alexei tried speaking up but was silenced by the Prince raising his hand which caused him to shrink back and stay quiet.

“It won't happen again. Am I clear?” He asked with a glare.

“Crystal.” Dimitri gritted out as Alexei just nodded before they both were dismissed from his office.

As the door clicked shut behind the both of them Dimitri took off down the hall causing Alexei to stumble as he tried catching up to him.

“She’s seeing him again.” The brunette man said with an unreadable look, almost of determination.

“What! No! Are you crazy!?” Alexei whispered loudly to his boyfriend and colleague, he had to have lost his damn mind to think they were going to just disobey royal orders like that. “Albert gave us specific instructions for her to not see him again Dimitri. We could get fired!” He tried to reason with the taller man.

Dimitri came to a sudden stop turning to look at the glasses wearing man as he pointed a finger at him. “If we get fired, so be it. But I’m not going to sit back and watch the both of them try to control her now that they see she’s found someone worth living for. So either you’re with me on this, or I’m doing it alone.”

Alexei just looked at him silently, before nodding. “Okay. Okay, let’s do this.” He reassured him that he was all in as well. He just knew it would end up biting them in the ass later if they weren’t careful about this. They couldn’t tell Gracie about this, about her father forbidding her from seeing the boy, not when they were fixing to come up with a plan to make sure things stayed under wraps.

It didn’t take them long to come up with a plan.

Dimitri had set out; it didn't take him long to figure out where Charles lived, especially working under the royal family; all he had to do was make a phone call and he had the boy's address.

Once he made it to the Ferrari drivers apartment he stepped into the lobby easily making his way upstairs to the boys floor and front door. He took a breath before knocking, if he wasn’t home he was going to slip a note under the door. But thankfully he didn’t have to because the bright eyed boy opened the door with a look of confusion before he registered who it was standing in front of him.

“Dimitri, nice to see you.” Charles nodded with a small nervous smile wondering what the older man was doing on his doorstep at 8am.

“Charles, nice to see you again as well. I realized that when you brought Gracie back to the palace that you had no way of contacting her again and she you. So I took it upon myself to come see you as a messenger of sorts.” The older man said with a nod, “May I come in?”

“Yes, yes of course please come in.” Charles said quickly as he stepped out of the way letting the brunette man into his apartment before gently shutting the door behind him.

“I’ve come by to let you know that Gracie does want to see you again, before you have to head out for your race in Azerbaijan. But I’m afraid we’ve run into a few issues.” Dimitri said as he stood in the boys living room. “It seems as though the media has caught wind of you two’s outing, and it’s gotten back to Albert who is less than pleased on the matter seeing as he and Nikolai’s parents have been trying to get the two to marry for the last few years now.”

Charles just stood there as he listened to Dimitri talk. Was he going to say that he couldn’t see the blonde girl anymore? He knew about the arranged marriage the two had, Gracie had told him how she was against it as was the dark haired boy who had a girlfriend himself.

“Now now, don’t fret. Alexei and I take pride in making sure Gracie is happy, and you have brought her more happiness in the one day you’ve spent together than in the whole seventeen years I’ve known her. So I'm not saying you have to stop seeing her. I'm saying if you’re going to then it needs to be well thought out and planned to a T to where we can throw the media off your guys trail they cannot know you two are seeing each other. Understand?”

“Yes, yes I understand, perfectly.” Charles nodded quickly, relaxing a little bit at hearing that he didn’t have to stop seeing Gracie but that they’d just have to do it in secret. He didn’t really know how well that was going to work but he was willing to give it a try nonetheless because he really liked Gracie.

So the two got to planning, he needed to leave by late Wednesday night to make it to Azerbaijan for media and things on Thursday. So they would go out together Wednesday morning and be back by Ten while Dimitri and Alexei would make a diversion with the media.

And so the plan began.

Charles had taken Dimitri's advice and taken Gracie on a day trip to Milan, both of them figuring it would be harder to spot the two of them in the Italian city unlike Monaco, which was very small and everyone practically knew everyone it was almost a foolproof plan.

The two had met up with Pierre who offered to take them around to different spots, he knew Charles had seen them already but that the blonde princess hadn’t, seeing as his best friend explained she didn’t get to get out much. He thought that was a bit sad.

Unlike Charles and Gracelinde, Pierre could walk freely about Milan without swarms of people following him or crowding him which made it easier for the three to just have a calm day blending in with everyone else touring the city. Even though the couple was dressed in minimal disguises just to be safe.

They did normal tourist things, grabbed lunch, shopped and enjoyed just being normal people for a while, something the three of them didn’t get to do very often due to their careers and being a royal. By sunset everything was winding down and Charles knew he had to get Gracie back before ten because Dimitri could only stall for so long.

“We should probably head back soon, it’s getting late.” Charles sighed, he didn’t want to have to bring the bubbly blonde back to the confined walls of the palace that overlooked the city they both grew up in but he knew he didn’t have a choice.

“Thank you again Pierre, for taking the time to hangout with us today. It was really fun.” Gracie smiled as she and Charles walked out of the restaurant with the Frenchman, they had a bit of a walk back to Charles' car so they chatted idly.

“It’s no problem really, Charles never shuts up about you. So it was great to officially meet you, us boys thought he was trying to pull a fast one over on us.” Pierre grinned when he saw how red Charles' face got at him, admitting that he had been talking about the blue eyed girl to the rest of the guys on the grid.

Gracie could feel Charles hand on her waistline, they were out in plain sight of the streets in Milan and had let it slip their mind that they were in fact very public figures as people whispered as they walked past by.

It was a bad sign.

As they got closer to Charles' car, Pierre stopped them so they could take a group photo. Charles hadn’t let them take any the whole day, more so just wanting him and Gracie to live in the moment but he figured one couldn’t hurt, to at least remember the fun they had today.

But Pierre being Pierre, absentmindedly posted the picture of the three of them on his Instagram story thinking nothing of it.

What the Frenchman didn’t realize was the domino effect that singular post would cause.

After Charles had helped Gracie get into the car he gave Pierre a bro hug before feeling his phone vibrate as he walked around to the drivers side, he pulled the device out to check it and paled at the notification.

“Pierre you’ve got to delete that” the Ferrari driver stressed after realizing his best friend had posted the picture of the three of them and tagged him, Dimitri had warned him that nobody could know that he and Gracie were still hanging out outside of him, Alexei, and her lady in waiting Annaslise.

Especially her parents.

A rule he had already harmlessly broken by meeting up with Pierre, but he figured his best friend could keep this to himself if Mick and Lance had known Gracie for years and never told a soul, but evidently not.

“Okay okay, my bad I didn’t know.” Pierre said as he quickly deleted the picture from his story two minutes after he posted it.

But unfortunately the damage had already been done.

Loose lips sink ships all the damn time, and love’s a fragile little flame that was going to get burnt out before it could even be fully lit.

Albert had people watching social media after realizing that Alexei and Dimitri were acting off, he had an inkling that Gracelinde was still seeing the Ferrari driver after he had told the two bodyguards that he didn’t want it happening again.

He should’ve known those two would eventually become a problem.

So when one of his men had informed him that a picture had been circulating on twitter of Gracie with Charles and his childhood friend it only solidified that they had defied his orders.

Charlene had been sent to the girls room, angry that she had gone against her fathers orders and seen the boy again when they had been planning the marriage between her and Nikolai for the last five years.

“We forbid you from seeing the boy and what do you do! You continue to see him Gracelinde! You’ve completely ignored not only Royal orders, but our orders!” Charlene shouted as she placed the suitcases on the younger girl's bed. “We had a plan for you, that would unite not only Monaco but Denmark and you’ve all but nearly ruined it now!”

Gracie had no idea what her mother had been talking about, nobody had told her that she couldn’t see Charles anymore. “I- I don’t understand nobody told me I couldn’t see him anymore??” She said softly, afraid of being shouted at again.

“Dimitri and Alexei knew you weren’t supposed to see him. It was an order they disobeyed.” Charlene bit out, as she finished packing the girls clothes and zipped up the suitcases. “You’ll be on the first train we can find later tonight. No more Alexei or Dimitri, they’ve crossed a line and will be dealt with accordingly. You are not to leave this room until then, understood?”

Gracie just looked at the woman who had brought her into the world who she used to look up to but the more she looked at the older woman standing in front of her she saw no signs of anything motherly in her at all. If anything Annalise was more of a mother to her than Charlene ever was, she wondered if the blonde woman ever even wanted her to begin with.

Sure she knew of her fathers affairs and the other children he had but they would never be allowed to take over the throne as heirs like she would be required to. The family had been in power for eight hundred years and they sure as hell wouldn’t let her ruin that whether she meant to or not.

All she could do was nod as tears streamed down her face. Charlene just looked at the girl for a second before shaking her head in disappointment with a loud sigh and walked out of the room slamming the door shut behind her making Gracie flinch as she let out the sobs she had been holding in not wanting to cry in front of the older woman in fear of pissing her off more.

She had been taught at a young age to never be out of line and crying was definitely out of line.

The only thing the blue eyed girl wanted was someone to love and care about her. Instead of trying to be forced into a marriage she didn’t want.

It wasn’t fair.

The blonde princess had been sitting on her window seat with her knees pulled up to her chest as she stared out the window, tears running down her cheeks as reality set in for her, they were going to send her away.

Annalise walked into the girls room and frowned seeing how sad she looked. “Oh Gracie girl” she said softly as she walked over to the young girl pulling her into a hug. The older woman hated seeing her upset. “It’s going to be alright cheri.” She said gently, running a hand over her blonde locks.

“They’re sending me away Annie” Gracie sniffled as she tried to hold back her tears. “They’re what?!” The auburn haired woman asked as she pulled back to cup the blonde girl's cheeks as she looked at her. “What do you mean they’re sending you away?” She frowned at the comment.

They couldn’t do that, they wouldn’t, she thought.

But oh they would.

“They found out that I was still seeing Charles, so they’re sending me away. They’re not even letting Mitri and Lexi come with me, Charlene said they’d be dealt with for disobeying orders.” Gracie sniffled as she tried to stop crying. It was just making her more upset the more she thought about it. She didn’t even know where she was going and she wasn’t allowed to know in fear of her escaping or telling someone where she was going.

Annalise thought this all had to be a joke, but seeing the suitcases sitting on the girls bed it all suddenly became a harsh reality. “I will see if they’ll allow me to come with you, it’s the least they could do. They can’t send you away by yourself, it wouldn't be safe.” Despite Gracie being twenty three she had been sheltered all her life so emotionally she was still a teenager, never allowed to experience normal things that all the other girls did outside of royalty. “Okay sweet girl? Now, dry those tears.” She said gently rubbing her thumbs over the girl's flushed cheeks kissing the top of her head. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Once the older woman left the room to go talk to her parents Gracie got up and walked over to her desk, she’d only have a few minutes to do what she needed to do. Pulling out a piece of paper and a pen she began writing as her tears fell on the letter quickly writing out what she could. She needed to let Charles know what was happening, that she wouldn’t ever forget the happiness that he brought her for the short time they’d known each other.

The blonde girl slipped the letter into the book Dimitri had let her borrow to read knowing he would find it and somehow make sure it got to the fellow Monegasque boy or at least she hoped he would.

Annalise tentatively walked into the Princes office after being told to come in.

“What is it Annalise don’t tell me there’s more problems that have come about I’ve about had it with that today.” Albert bit out as he looked up from his desk.

“No sir, I wanted to ask something of the two of you, if I may.” The French woman asked softly.

Albert glanced at Charlene and then motioned for her to go ahead.

“Gracelinde has told me of what is to come, and I would like to point out that wherever you plan on sending her to by herself isn’t safe. She’s hardly ever been outside the palace walls without people she has grown up around, she’d stick out like a sore thumb. But if you allow me to accompany her I’d watch her, and follow whatever instructions you give me to follow. I’ve never once stepped out of line and have proven my trust and loyalty to the both of you during all the years that I’ve looked after her and would like to continue to do so if you’ll allow that of me.” Annalise spoke calmly, but firmly.

She would not allow them to just send the girl away on her own, that would be like releasing something you’ve raised on your own into the wild expecting them to know how to fend for themselves. “She’s more likely to run off or escape if she’s not watched, but if she has someone she trusts around her she’s more likely to comply with the orders you give.”

Albert and Charlene thought it over for a few minutes; they knew the older woman wasn’t a threat like Dimitri and Alexei were. So they figured she wouldn’t tell a soul unlike the other two. Her willingness to follow orders had never been in question and she always followed whatever orders they had given her in regards to the girl.

So they allowed her to go along with Gracelinde.

The two boarded the train in Nice to London later that night. Albert and Charlene had given the auburn haired woman strict instructions.

Nobody was to know Gracie’s real name, the ballet school was already expecting enrollment under a false name, after a rather generous anonymous donation was made. The second they got to London she was to take Gracie to get her hair dyed auburn so nobody would suspect she was the Monegasque princess. If anyone asked she was the auburn haired woman's daughter.

Gracie felt like she was being made to live a double life like the Hannah Montana show Annalise let her watch as a kid, but only she couldn’t take a wig off, her parents had really ruined her life and stripped away any sense of normalcy she had grown to know over the past few years.

Charles on the other hand had a full two weeks, bouncing from Azerbaijan to Canada he didn’t hear from Gracie in that time, which wasn’t unlike her, he knew she had duties of her own to do so he thought nothing of it.

But when he got back to Monaco on the twentieth of June things felt

off.

The lively rich city for once felt barren and cold as the rain poured from the sky like angels crying. He remembered how Gracie had wanted to see him when he got back, at Le Petit Bar. It has quickly become their little spot. They both agreed to meet each other there at 6pm the day he got back.

But as he got there and the waiter led him to a table, he waited, and waited. He started looking around confused, Gracie was late, sure, he knew time could get away from her but she was never this late. It was nearing 7:30 now. He pulled out his phone to call Dimitri since the girl wasn’t permitted to have a phone but paused when two figures sat down across from him.

It was Alexei and Dimitri.

He didn’t see Gracie with them which was odd, she never went anywhere without at least one of them.

“She’s not coming, Kid.” Alexei said softly as he watched the younger boy look around confused, he hated that they had to break the news to him like this. It was breaking the glasses wearing man’s heart knowing how much Charles really cared about Gracie.

“What do you mean? Is she busy?” Charles asked, because he didn’t quite understand what was going on. Usually Dimitri would give him a heads up if something had come up and the blonde girl couldn’t make it. But something didn’t feel right with this. It made him feel sick to his stomach.

Dimitri sighed, rubbing his face, how was he supposed to tell the bright eyed boy that in the span of the two weeks he was busy bouncing across the world racing his heart out that her parents had up and sent her away like she was nothing but a burden to them all because they didn’t want her seeing him, didn’t want to let their daughter be happy for once, to actually be able to live her life with someone who would’ve cherished her more than they had.

“No son, she’s not here. They’ve sent her away, they somehow found out about you two’s trip to Milan. I don’t know how because we made sure it stayed airtight and nobody knew about it, somehow it got out and got back to Albert. He and Charlene had a meltdown and sent her away, we don’t know where they refused to tell us and wouldn’t let us go with her.” The brunette man said gravely still upset by the events that had happened over the past two weeks.

Charles felt his heart stop. He swore you could hear a hair pin drop in the restaurant, as they sat there.

No.

Pierre’s Instagram story.

The French boy never took the time to think before he posted anything and he just knew that's how people had found out and it got back to her parents despite him quickly deleting it.

People were always watching and someone snitched.

But hearing they had sent her away? They had just up and sent her away instead of letting her be happy?

What parents would ever do that.

He looked at the two with wide eyes, fearing that if he looked anywhere else he’d cry. His heart was breaking.

“We tried, we really did, kid. Trust me, we didn’t want her going as much as you didn’t. They only allowed Annalise to go with her, they didn’t see her as a threat unlike us, we disobeyed orders by letting her continue to see you.” Dimitri sighed. “We’re doing all we can to find her, we know they sent her out of the country but we can’t narrow it down to where, we know she’s in ballet so we’re trying to look at all the ballet schools across the globe to see if they had sent her to one of those or an all girls boarding school.”

Charles felt like everyone he loved was being ripped away from him, Jules, His dad, Anthione, and now his Gracie.

“You have a race coming up, Silverstone right?” Alexei asked tentatively, looking over at Charles who nodded gently, still trying to wrap his head around everything they had just told him. “The stroll boy, his father Lawrence? He could help. We’re under a gag order, if we talk or go looking for her they’d consider it treason against the country. But you and Lance can talk to him. He is the only hope of finding out where they sent Gracie. Nobody would ask questions if he went snooping around wanting to invest in a school under the guise of seeing if they have Gracie there.”

Dimitri nodded as he listened to Alexei speak, they had thought this through about a hundred times over. It was the only viable solution that they could come up with seeing as they couldn’t go looking for her themselves since Albert had people watching them. The two of them coming to talk to Charles was risky enough but they knew they at least had to let the poor boy know what had gone on in the span of the two weeks he had been gone.

“I’ll talk to him, Lance, he’ll want to help. He cares about Gracie a lot. I wouldn’t have met her had it not been for him.” Charles nodded, determined. He knew Lance would want to help, and would convince his father to help too. Lawrence didn’t like many people outside his family but he knew he had a soft spot for Gracie and would do anything for the bubbly blonde.

“Here kid, she left this, wanted me to get it to you.” Dimitri said, pulling the letter he had found in the book he let Gracie borrow a few weeks ago, out of his jacket pocket sliding it across the table to the boy as he and Alexei stood up. It would be the last time they’d see Charles for a while, hopefully the next time they’d see him their Gracie girl would be back home and safe but only time would tell.

Charles took the letter carefully, the beige envelope had “'il Predestinato” written across it in cursive and he knew he’d probably cry reading whatever was in the letter so he’d wait to read it when he got home. He nodded to the two older men. “Thank you. For coming and letting me know, I never would’ve known if you hadn’t. But I promise, I’ll do anything I can to help get her back.”

This was the one and only shot they had at finding their princess;

The only problem?

It would start a Great War if they succeeded.

#this one made me cry a bit writing it #part 4 is just as wild guys you’re not ready #imagine #charles leclerc #charles leclerc imagine #princess protection program #i know places #charles leclerc mini series #masterlist #charles leclerc x oc #charles leclerc one shot #charles leclerc x reader #formula 1 #formula 1 imagine #f1 fanfic #f1 imagine #royal au #f1 series #Royal au series

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magpie-trinkets · 29 days

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continuing that "maya tries to contact claire" post, i present you the post-Spirit of Justice follow-up

#post that caters to ME specifically #let me first tag #ghost trick spoilers #lost future spoilers #now that that's out of the way. you know who's on that suitcase ;)#also claire is fucked up by time travel shenanigans so it's possible let's just say #also ghost powers grow and change with time sooooo. let's play with canon #layton “i have a dead girlfriend” and yomiel “i had a dead girlfriend” bisexuals #also yes the whole gang traveled to london they're just strolling around #maya had unfinished business and now that she's more powerful she's BACK #this would take place 7-or-so years after lost future/plvspw so layton is in his mid-forties here. i had to look it so correct me if im not #also yes this is a crossover AU i have rotating in my mind i love the source material and layton's and claire whole thing no shade to that #powerful narrative that made me cry #but with aa and gt magic fuckery we have the technology #also about the jail bit. that's a fic i am writing (one sentence every month)#ghost trick #professor layton #ace attorney #my art #ms paint #GOD. that wall of text is surely something

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yellowocaballero · 1 month

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Been a fan of your fics for YEARS. I was just telling my friend how despite how much I read fics I never actually love them, with some of your fics (especially TMA) as the exception. Felt the need to reread some of them and saw you reblogged some ISAT fanart. So. Any thoughts on ISAT you'd like to share?

Hope you have a wonderful day!! So happy I found your fics again!!

I avoided answering this for a while because I was trying to think of a way to cohesively and coherently vocalize my thoughts on In Stars and Time. I have given up because I don't want to hold everybody here all day and I have accepted that my thoughts are just pterodactyl screeching.

I love it so much. I have so much to say on it. It drove me bonkers for like a week straight. I have AUs. It's absolute Megbait. They're just a little Snufkin and they're having the worst experience of anybody's life. Ludonarratives my fucking beloved.

I am going to talk about the prologue.

The prologue is such a fascinating experience. You crack open the game and immediately begin checking off all of the little genre boxes: mage, warrior, researcher, you're the rogue...some little kid who's there for some reason...alright, you know the score. You're in yet another indie Earthbound RPG, these are your generic characters, let's get the ball rolling.

Except then you realize that these characters are people. You feel instantly how you've entered the game at its last dungeon, at the end of the adventure. They have their own in-jokes, histories, backgrounds, adventures. They get along well and they're obviously close, but not in a twee or unrealistic way. They have so much chemistry and spirit and life. I fell in love with them so quickly.

But Sif doesn't. Sif kind of hates them, because they will not stop saying the same damn thing. They walk the same paths, do the same things, make the same jokes, expect Sif to say the same lines. They keep referencing a Sif we do not see, with jokes we never see him make and heroic personality he never shows - they reference a Sif who is dead - and Sif can't handle that, so he kills them too.

They become only an exercise in tedious frustration. Sif button mashes through their dialogue, Sif mindlessly clicks the same dialogue options, Sif skips through the tutorial, Sif blows through the puzzles. Sif turns their world into a video game. Sif is playing a generic RPG. Sif forgets their names. They are no longer people with in-jokes, histories, backgrounds, adventures. They're the mage, the warrior, the researcher, and...some random kid.

I did not understand the Kid's presence at first. I had no idea what they contributed to the game. They didn't do anything. As a party member in a video game, they're a bit useless. Why is the Kid there?

Because Sif's life isn't a video game. Because the kid isn't 'the kid'. They're Bonnie. Bonnie, who the party loves. Why is Bonnie there? Because they love them. There is no room for Bonnie in the boring RPG that Sif is playing. And then you realize that Sif is wrong, and that they've lost something extremely important, and that they'll never escape without it.

Watching the prologue before watching ISAT gave ISAT the most unique air of dread and horror, because you crack open ISAT and you see the person Sif used to be. You realize that Sif used to be a person. Sif used to be the person who made jokes, who gave real smiles, who interacted with the world as if they are a part of it. And you know you are sitting down to watch Sif lose everything that made them a person, to lose everything that made them a member of this world, and turn them into a character in a video game who doesn't understand the point of Bonnie at all.

At the climax of the game, when the others realize that something is deeply wrong and that Sif physically cannot tell them, they realize that there is nothing they can do. So Bonnie declares snacktime. And for the first time they have snacktime.

What is snacktime? Classic JRPGs don't have snacktime. There's literally no point to a snacktime - not in a video game, and not in Sif's terrible life. It's not fixing this, because nothing can fix this. But Bonnie gives Sif a cookie and Sif eats it.

It's meaningless. It's a cutscene. It didn't save Sif and it didn't change a thing. It will make no difference in the end.

But it did make the difference. It made all of the difference in the world. Bonnie is a character who you really don't understand the point of before you realize that Bonnie was the entire point.

ISAT is about comfort media. Why do we play the same video games over and over again? Why do we avoid watching the finale of our favorite shows? What is truly comforting: a story with no conflict, or a story where you always know what is about to happen? Do you want to live in a scary, uncontrollable world, or do you want to play Stardew Valley? Do you want a person or a character?

When I beat Earthbound for the first time (and if you don't know, the prologue/ISAT battle system is just Mother) and watched the ending cutscene where the characters part ways and say goodbye...I felt a little bit sad. I wanted them to be together forever. But that's something only characters could ever be.

#these aren't deep or unique thoughts they're just the specific aspect of ISAT that made it one of the most interesting gaming experiences #i actually like the prologue much more than ISAT for just this reason #its honestly a video game art piece that's created to give the player a very specific experience #that makes them an aspect of the narrative that is told #it's. incredible.#in stars and time #start again start again start again #start again: a prologue #isat #god and there is so so so so much more to say here #what a rich and complex and fascinating game that made me cry like a baby #i dont even kin sif. we arent similar at all.#i cant imagine how devastating this game would have been if i did #but I do have a deep relationship with escapsim #and i write about it a lot #and video games about being video games are wonderful #as are stories about being stories #and why we consume stories. how we use them. how they save us and hurt us.#never played a video game that used its medium so well #i bet undertales also pretty good at that but this is more so i think #stories about stories have to be about why we love stories #and im not an artsy person and i roll my eyes a bit when people talk about the spiritual neccesity of art #i think people need stories because the world is sad and hard and boring and we want to think about something else for a while.#some people need to be anywhere but here #and sometimes if you're Lil Depressed-Ass Snufkin that looks like being here forever #baby cringe-ass snufkin big hat idiot

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hcdragonwrites · 10 months

Text

Just one night (a @journey-to-the-au Drabble)

Ok this is the part two! This is the comfort/ fluff of what happens after Six Eared Macaques previous rampage from Nightmares. I am glad I split these into two so people can pick and choose.

Mild trigger warning: Brief mentions of attempted SA (again nothing goes into detail at all but still sometimes this can still be a trigger.)

It’s over.

The nightmare is over.

Then why does it feel like i'm breathing but I can’t catch my breath?

Willow felt her heart beating too fast, her mind repeating the nightmare.

The cave still smelled of blood.

The imposter was dead. He lay there, finally revealed, a monkey of gray blue fur with a face of shadows. Nothing to be distinguishable of who, or what, his personality had been before it assumed the skin of their leader. Of her friend.

Of Wukong.

Her Wukong had come through the water of Water Curtain Cave in a flash of gold, eyes blazing red. Almost like a Heaven send. A blessing.

In that moment Willow had stepped forward, to the embrace of this nightmare she had dutifully taken as her yoke, a blur or fiery orange had smashed its way through the curtain of water.

“IMPOSTER!” He had called in challenge, his staff coming free of his ear. With a flick of the Kings wrist, the weapon grew in tremendous size.

The imposter had turned, hackles rising, bloody mouth circling back into a snarl. Wukong had roared. The imposter had screamed. Then they were upon each other. It had been a battle, long and difficult. Fur had flown, stone had shaken. At times the combatants had traversed the skies, shooting like two wayward stars from a bow through the Heavens. More blood fell.

In the midst of it, the imposter had cleaned the remnants of its meal from his mouth, making it impossible to tell the twisting and twining fighters apart. Which was which?

Willow had waited as finally, after gods and other immortals had been unable to tell who was who, Mama Courage and Wisdom stepped forward. Willow couldn’t hear the words being spoken between the celestials and Wisdom. She could only hear a ringing in her ears, a drumming of her heart.

She couldn’t catch her breath.

Willow's palms were wet with sweat and white. Whiter than porcelain. Courage took one of those hands, holding it tight. Breaking her numbness, her shock. Willow grasped the hand, holding on. The fear still coiled in her gut, a snake tightening its hold on her. But Courages hand was the anchor she clung to as her body battles within itself.

Wisdom had found him out, had picked out the real Wukong. A mother knew her child. That’s when the imposter had lost. He had felt it, probably, sensing the shift in the wind. In that moment he tried to run. The mirage of his disguise had fallen off in the fright. Wild white eyes, teeth bared of flesh. And now.

He was nothing more than a stain on the floor.

“Don’t you want to kiss me?” The words echo, still alive within Willows head.

Willow was trying to drown those words out.

She’s failing.

The storm inside her body is a rage of water, threatening to drag her down. Those blue eyes flash sharply in her head and Willow feels herself shake.

“Willow?”

She startles. She flinches, shaken from the very real echo of what had almost happened. “Reaffirm our union… Maybe more later.”

Willow looks up, kneeling on the stone floor of the cave. She doesn’t remember when she sat back down. Wukong stands before her. He blocks her view from the rest of the cave, from what the other troop members are beginning to clean up. He blocks her view from the bodies. But Willow still sees the imposter, has to see it. She has to kill the fear in her head that at any moment, any second, those ice eyes can come back and stare into her. To ask things of her that make her soul pull away and her body go cold.

“Willow?”

Wukong stands before her, eyes o so vulnerable. His voice is bleeding uncertainty, his hands fidgeting. He looks to her then looks away, confused on what to do.

Willow also doesn’t know what to do.

How do you tell your friend that someone wore their skin and killed and began to stalk her every step? Willow feels Mama Courage beside her, the hand squeezing. She looks up.

‘It’s him Willow. It’s our Stone Monkey.’ She signs and taps in her unique monkey way. It had taken a long time for Willow to learn this sign language, struggling but wanting to understand. Now, after decades of living together she had mastered this speech. ‘Go. You both need each other.’

‘What of you? He needs his mothers too.’ Willow signs back, not trusting her voice. That storm inside her throat is threatening to release, the track of her tears still wet. Mama Courage notices this and frowns in concern.

‘He needs a friend more. He needs you.’ She signs back. ‘And you need him most of all. To banish that demon, that nightmare. You are still shaking.’

It was true. Willows body still shook as if she had caught a deep bone chill. The blue eyes flash in her memory. Ice cold and drowning her from within Wukongs face. She had been chilled in a sense.

Before she could respond, Mama Courage had stepped away. She disappeared behind Wukong, going to help Wisdom with the mess and to spread the word of what had occurred. To reveal the truth.

Now it is just the two of them.

“It’s ok Willow.” Wukong spoke, gaze still averted. “I asked my Master if I could spend a night to … to fix the problems at home.” Willow watched as those hands wrung against each other. “But if - if what has happened- if my face brings you concern- makes you uncomfortable— I understand.”

Willow saw him step a bit off, unsure of what to do.

The eye of the hurricane was moving over Willow, that numb silence beginning to break.

Another half shuffle. He was moving closer to the carnage behind him, further from her reach. Further from her.

He’s just as afraid as I am that something has broken between us. The realization hits her like a slap.

The great wave within her, the one she had tampered down to keep her calm, to keep her cool as she had faced that monster covered in blood—

It broke through her.

Before Wukong could step further back, to disappear, to help, Willow had his face in her hands.

Willow braced her courage and stared into those eyes, determined to banish the fear that somehow, the monster had escaped. The Monkey King's eyes widened, gold within a sea of red. Willow pressed a kiss to his temple, a test.

If you are my sweet boy, my handsome monkey, she thought vehemently, this will prove it.

If you are that monster … I’ll see it in your eyes.

Willow waited.

Wukongs face was full of surprise. He blinked rapidly, uncomfortable about the intense eye contact. He looked away, looked to the side. Then he looked back up.

“Willow… what … what happened ?” For he could sense something beginning to churn within his friend. A tipping point of sorts and he, the cliff she balanced on.

The monster is dead.

Relief.

Willow breathed out. The air in her lungs shook.

Relief broke the iron in her spine. What little courage she had clung to swept away and she let it. In the dozens of decades she had been with Wukong, had cultivated and grown their trust and friendship, she had found and grown a safe place to be herself. Not Earth Reaching Willow of Polestar Palace, Eldest Daughter. To be her true self. To be one with the emotions she had suppressed. The feelings she had to repress as a princess unless she gave the wrong impression, put on the wrong face, among her fathers courtiers.

I want my friend. The longing was fierce and wild. It scorched her veins and pricked her eyes with fresh tears. A strangled sob passed between her teeth as she tried to stifle it with her fist.

“Willow?”

I need my friend - I need him.

She could be just Willow here, in his arms. She didn’t need to be a shield. She didn’t need to be a princess. She pressed her face into the crook of his neck, holding.

“The last thing I want is for you to go.” She whispered. And that’s when it fell. The tears came fast and hard, her body shaking with it. The hurricane was passing over here, the eye of the storm now past. The wind within her was full of the past years spent with the imitation of her friend. His watching eyes, his burning brushes against her hands. Those days when he had hinted, suggested, and plainly stated he wanted more—

Wukongs hands held her arms, cooed in her ear. “It’s ok Willow. Let it out. Breathe.”

“Don’t go…” she whispered, making a mess of tears on his shoulder.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m here. I’m right here.”

Nightmares. She felt them all coming across her mind then, each time she lifted her face to catch a breath. The nightmares flashed into her head. But they weren’t nightmares.

“He can’t hurt you Willow. He can’t hurt anyone ever again.” Wukongs voice was fierce in that promise as he turned to press a kiss to her temple. Sealing the promise as he rubbed her arms like a mother to a babe.

They were memories. Of all the times the imposter, the Six Eared Macaque, had pressed her for touches. Had asked for kisses. Had attempted many times to get her away from the eyes of others. Earth Reaching Willow had walked the halls feeling eyes always upon her.

He had cornered her one terrible night and had reached for her. Willow had felt like a rabbit caught in a snare as his hand had caressed her face, had trailed to her lips. He had been interrupted by Rin Rin coming in to ask for bouquet suggestions, wanting to know what blossoms to pair best with what greens in preparation for a feast. Her friend had saved her that night and she didn’t even know.

None of them had known.

Each time the memory popped up, Willow flinched away, trying to curl deeper into the orange fur. Trying to burrow into her friend because he was real. And she needed that reality from the wake that was her mind. It grounded her, allowed her to be scared. Willow breathed him in. The imposter had never smelled quite right, had never felt quite right, hadn’t talked quite right. At least to her.

Wukong, this Wukong- her Wukong, smelled of the world, of growing things and sunlight, of ozone and wind. Of rain upon dry stone. The Six Eared Macaque had been floral and fruity, sweet like a honeyed nectar trap, like a carnivorous flower. And she the unwitting fly.

All the things he had tried to do to lure her in had failed. Willow had survived.

Barely.

My Wukong is here. My friend, my confidant, my partner in this eternity. I do not have to be brave anymore. I don’t have to be strong. Here, I can cry.

Nothing could ever replicate the muscle memory, the familial way that Willow and Wukong both folded into each other's embrace. They had hundreds of years to build this body-deep familiarity with one another. This instinctual trust.

Not even a six eared all knowing demonic monkey could copy that.

Willows sobs were not slowing. They were gaining traction instead. All the fear of years of living with a masked monster in their midst, all the close calls that Willow was remembering now, battered her. Wukong shifted a bit and she felt more than saw Wukong grow in size. Her arms moved apart, having to move from holding his face to grab his middle.

“I’m going to move us Willow. Is that alright ?” His voice is soft, questioning.

My sweet friend, so tender in his asking.

She can’t trust her own voice but nods. Then they were up, an arm beneath her leg and another holding her back. As the sounds of the waterfall retreated, Willow felt the tightness in her chest start to loosen. Breaths she couldn’t take before, that seemed to catch in her throat, came easier.

Each step took them away from the roar of the water. With each crash of tears, Willow curled into her friend. Mama Courage had been right. She had needed him.

Wukong finally stopped moving, settling the both of them down onto the stone floor. They were in an alcove, a bit of a stone hollow off of the main passageway. Willow looked up at Wukong then as he crossed his legs. He nestled her into his lap. His tail wrapped her own lags, a warm blanket against the cold.

“Comfortable?”

“Mhm..” Willow sniffed. Her nose would be stuffed later but she didn’t care. Couldn’t care. She wiped her eyes and tried to see through them.

Wukong looked terribly sad, his face on the brink of breaking itself.

“Oh darling…” she hiccuped. Willow touched his forehead. The golden circlet was cold across her fingers. “It’s not your fault.”

She could see it hurting, eating away at her friend. A worm within an apple core, destroying all the good fruit about it.

They only had one night. One night.

Willow wished for more than just a night.

“Wu-Wukong.” Her voice came out thick. Her monkey leaned into her touch, those golden eyes warm and full of love.

“You don’t need to relive those things.” He said. “Not tonight. Not ever again if you wish. You don’t even have to trust me again. My face … it has been used for terrible things…monstrous things. I see it in all of your eyes.”

Unspilled tears pooled in his face. “I can see it in your eyes. In my mothers. In my friends. In Ba and Ma and Liu and Rin Rins eyes.”

“You all have ghosts in your eyes and I can’t banish them. Because I caused them. ”

Those sad words were spoken with such sorrow, with such rejection that Willows was moving before she could think. Willow pulled his face down to hers.

“This isn’t your fault Wukong.” Willow said.

“It is completely my fault…”

“Oh my sweet Monkey…” She said into his fur. I wish you didn’t have to go- I wish you could stay here, stay with us with me, to help chase those memories into the dark. “How I missed you.”

Wukong swiped some of her tears off her cheek, rumbling not words but noises.

“But you have a pilgrimage to be a part of. You are needed there.” Willow says.

“I’m needed here.” The guilt is eating him, swallowing him up bit by bit. The words he couldn’t say were evident in his eyes. If I had been here none of this would have happened, they said.

“You will always be needed here.”

“Maybe not as welcome.” Wukong pulled back, looking away. “ A stranger took my face and committed atrocities. That face, my face, hurt you. My mothers. My friends. My home.” His voice is shaking. From anger, from sorrow, she did not know. Wukong was powerful. He had challenged Heaven, had defeated dragons, outwitted gods. He had shapeshifted into a thousand different things, had gained a weapon that matched his own abilities. He was a warrior, a King who cared for his people.

Wukong hadn’t been able to protect them. It ate at him. Swallowed him in an endless loop of pain.

“I wasn’t here to protect you.” He whispered. Wukong had burst through the cave, seeking his doppleganger with anger. When he had seen the bloody remains of Cloud, the smiling face of his imitation covered in blood and approaching his mothers and Willow—

He had lost it.

“Wukong look at me.”

He didn’t move his head, despondent. Willow dug her fingers in deeper to the fur, twisting the large monkey about just enough to see him clearly.

She carded those fingers through Wukongs fur, half comfort for her and half comfort for him. Those fingers plucked and pulled, tugged and tended in the ways the monkey king had shown her, all those years ago when she first came to Flower Fruit Mountain.

“It’s better than brushing,” He had said. “It’s a way we say we love one another and strengthen that love. A language spoken through our hands.”

Willow spoke that silent language now. She moved the fingers through and around his face, over his ears. Willow silently kissed the tears from his cheeks as she cried her own. His pain was hers. And hers was his.

In that silent and dark place the two took shelter against the world. Willow from her own memories. Wukong from his own perceived failings.

The story of what happened fell slowly from Willows lips. She held nothing back. Wukong would either stiffen or growl, huff or pull her closer at each new unearthed memory. Willow lived them again here and now, feeling the night slip between her fingers like grains of sand. She had only one night.

One night to banish that blue-eyed monster from its association with Wukong. I won’t let that demon take him from me.

It was a fierceness that surprised Willow. It gave back some of her strength, allowing her to speak nakedly about the truth of what had happened since Wukong began his pilgrimage.

I won’t let him be poisoned to me. I won’t let my experience of a few years erase more than a lifetime of memories.

Willow would not leave that between them. She loved Wukong too much to lose him to some faceless cannibal that had been a drop in the ocean of time they had spent together.

It would take more than a night Willow knew, to repair what things had been shaken. But she would get the worst of it done. She would find a way to see him again before his journey was done. She needed him. And he needed her.

If I have to blackmail all of Heaven I will. I’ll air my fathers own dirty laundry to steal a few moments with Wukong on the road. Then once he’s home I won’t let him go till he knows he’s wanted and loved by all of us. He’s family.

Willow cried and in turn counseled her friend. Wukong simply sat at times to listen, at others times he spoke of promises and things he would do, ways he would make it up to her. Willow would shake her head.

“Just be you. Just always and forever be my lovely Monkey.”

“I promise.”

And together, in the very heart of the mountain, the two wept. Once the sun rose, Wukong brought Willow back to his mothers. He said his goodbyes. The pain and indecision on his face was at war with itself. Willow, when her turn came to say goodbye, took Wukongs hand. She wrapped her pinky around his.

“When I see you again I’ll tell you of all the things we’ve done.” Willow whispered, pressing her forehead to his. “I will tell you of the seasons change and I will tell you of the coconut toddy and sweet plumb wine we drink for you on your birthday. Of Ba and Ma’s latest stunts, of how Liu and Rin Rin act cuter than ever as they continue to court. I will tell you of all the babies born and all of the younglings who try to prove themselves to their amors.”

Willow felt Wukong shake a bit. She tightened her hold on his other hand, squeezing. “I will tell you of the new trees we plant, of the new games we invent, of the new relationships we cultivate.”

“The most important thing I will tell you though is how much we love and miss you, Wukong. How we are all eagerly awaiting you back at home. How, even now, I can’t wait for your return.”

“You … mean that?” He stared, golden sunset eyes misting over with new tears.

“Oh love. You don’t have to ask. I always miss you.” She smiled. “You are my handsome monkey. My lovely monkey. My best friend. I want you to be happy. And if ever those fellows you travel with make you guess or judge yourself harshly— then I will remind them why I chose you. Of all the beings and people of the world and Heaven, I picked you. And you picked me.”

“I don’t want to go.”

“The sooner you go.” Willow said softly. “The sooner you will come back to Flower Fruit Mountain. And the sooner I can enjoy those peaceful days with my husband.”

Wukong gave one last desperate look back, and it took all of his family’s willpower not to call him, to beg him to stay. Instead, Willow waved smiling at him. Mama Courage and Mama Wisdom both held each other, smiling at their boy.

Marshal Liu stepped closer to the smaller group, along with Ma and Ba and Beng. A silent gesture of we will take care of them, in that action.

Wukong smiled, half heartedly, and leapt through the water. Gone as quickly as he had arrived.

Willow turned then, hands clasped within their robed sleeves. She had a task to do now.

“Marshal Liu?”

“You have an idea, don’t you Mrs Willow?”

“Are my thoughts that evident?” Willow smiled as Marshal Liu nodded. He kept pace with her. walking as Willow turned deeper into the cave.

“I need a few scrolls of parchment.” The idea had already taken shape in her mind. Wukong may be stuck within his duties to his pilgrims. But she was not. She would have to be wise, be careful. She didn’t want to turn this into a heavenly spectacle. She did have a few contacts, however, that could be trusted with the whole truth of her urgency. “I need to write a few letters to Heaven.”

“Heaven?”

“Yes. I know Liu. I don't write home often.” As the sounds of the waterfall faded again, Willow felt her heart thrum with determination. “One night is hardly enough time to heal what has been wrecked here. And I intend on calling on a few favors.” She would send her letters, seeking out sympathetic ears discreetly. She would help Sun Wukong heal just as much as he had helped her. They would do so together. Even if the distance may be great I will find a way.

#hcwrites #writing stuff #passes out #I AINT gonna lie I cried at parts in this one #because Earth Reaching Willow and Sun Wukongs relationship is so strong and tender #yes kisses can be platonic fight me I’ve seen enough of culture to know this #forehead kisses though? those are the best so of course I had to throw those in #please when she says ‘I need him’ made me instantly sob because we have all been there when we just need to fall into someone’s arms and cry #I’m sorry if this makes you cry too #I got tissues for you #for journey to the au #sun wukong #earth reaching willow #the betrothal au #jttw wukong #jttw monkey king #jttw tag #jttw au #dude writing Rin Rin Coming into that scene -#like asking about flowers and pausing because the tension in the air must be so thick. that sent chills up my spine just a bit #I love all these monkeys #no music this time either I had to feel this one out without musical help #I Hope i did. them justice #because I love this AU very much #hcfanfics

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