dorian ♕’s Comments (group member since Nov 28, 2020)

dorian ♕’s comments from the Grimoire’s Return. group.

Marcus looked back at Mal, and simply nodded.

An acknowledgment that he existed. That’s all it was. Nothing more, nothing less.

Dante smiled bright as he looked at his daughter, who looked so much more… of herself. She as actually ACE. No more of his little girl.

Then he frowned at the scar that marred the side of her face. “Acelopina. What is that scar from?”

Marcus titled his head. Did Mal not tell her parents that Ace was in the war?

Marcus followed her inside, in order to also stop in his tracks. He furrowed his brows.

A demon yipped at his legs.

His knees went weak and he dropped to them, watching as Ace practically screamed in joy and horror and sadness all at once.

They were alive.

But how?? When?? WHO???

He looked at Mal with raised brows, tears pricked in his eyes, not to see them alive, but for Ace. His witch.

Marcus, taken aback, looked at where she ran to. A man with a cane…

Malory of Aenia.

He was the King’s right hand man, the one who helped out with everything, Marcus assumed.

The one who placed Ace in this damn war in the first place.

And Ace was HAPPY to see him.

Marcus drugged himself up, and relentlessly followed after her, not wanting to see the man again.

Marcus shook his head. “Ace, no. No.” He stopped for a moment before squatting down, Ace still in his arms, and planting his butt on the ground. “Ace, listen to me. You are perfectly okay, and it’s OKAY to cry.” He paused, biting his lip.

“Truth be told, I kinda miss the Cathedral too. I grew up there. It’s hard NOT to miss it.”

But this was about Ace.

“I promise you, it’ll get better. It always does. But don’t just throw aside how you feel. It isn’t healthy at all.”

Marcus paused. “Ace?” He asked softly, questionably.

Maybe he should put her down? Maybe he shouldn’t. It sounded like she was crying, so maybe it was because of him? Or there was a complete possibility that—

“Ace, witch. What’s wrong?” He nudged her a hit with his shoulder, showing her tear streaked face. “What? Is it me?”

Marcus glanced down at her. “I think you’re referring to yourself, sweetheart.” He said, almost recovered, as he bent down, and swooped Ace in his arms. “I will carry you home, like the night and wonderful prince in those fairy tales you read.”

He smiled at her, the scar around his eyes from Ace crinkling. “So.” He said. “We made it to the adult’s table, I guess. We are heading to a recon mission to Illusium.”

https://pin.it/39kNEUx

𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒂𝒓 - 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒅, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒂𝒓, 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒉𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆 - 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒏𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆. 𝑯𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔. 𝑺𝒐 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 - 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆.

𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒍𝒚, 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒓 𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔, 𝒇𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓.

𝑯𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔.

“𝑰 𝒅𝒐.”

𝑨𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒔, 𝒓𝒖𝒃𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒈𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚. 𝑯𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒂𝒛𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒌𝒚, 𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒄 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 - 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.

𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒂 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒖𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 - 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒂𝒓. 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒖𝒎 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆, 𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕.

https://pin.it/7ncFRSt

𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚. 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏-𝒕𝒐-𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒔𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒂 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒎 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒆𝒏 - 𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕, 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅. 𝑰𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑺𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈.

𝑯𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚 - 𝒖𝒏𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏, 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒐𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒐𝒍𝒅, 𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒏𝒗𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒏 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 - 𝒂𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒖𝒎 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒂𝒓, 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒑𝒔. 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆.

https://pin.it/7xBXaVF

https://pin.it/5JpHINF


https://pin.it/7uBNHJ2
 
https://pin.it/3eukOvJ

𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑭𝑳𝑨𝑴𝑬 𝑶𝑭 𝑺𝑻𝑰𝑹𝑰𝑨 ( 𝒘𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆 )

“𝑴𝒚 𝑸𝒖𝒆𝒆𝒏.”

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒙𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝑯𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝒓𝒖𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒂𝒓. 𝑨𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍, 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒔𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒘 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎. 

“𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝑸𝒖𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒆𝒕.” 𝑯𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂 𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒖𝒃𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 - 𝒂𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒖𝒎 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆. 𝑯𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂 𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒆𝒅, 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅.

“𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏.”

Marcus stared wide eyed between the two girls before Hestia pointed at him.

“Wonderful to hear, Infernalis. You might want to pack some armor and weapons for this trip. Meet me at my palace room tonight. Bring him.”

Marcus looked shocked when Hestia pointed to him, making him someone of attention.

Hestia leaned in and kissed Ace in the cheek, before moving on. “See you tonight. Be ready.”

Marcus was a bit taken aback. “Who was THAT?” He asked after a moment of silence.

Hestia raised a brow at Infernalis’s directed glance. Everywhere but her eyes.

“Do you not want to come, Infernalis?” Hesti asked, trying to catch her eye. Her sheer gown blew in the slight wind that came, giving her the appearance of a goddess, and less of a simple witch with the magic of manipulating man made objects.

Not that powerful, yet powerful enough.

Marcus looked between the woman and Ace, brows furrowed.

“Stiria,” Ace had called her. Meaning, Ace knows her. Meaning, he could relaxe.

But he couldn’t.

He wasn’t sure why, but he felt a need to defend Ace, to protect her. He clenched his teeth, and forced himself to take a step back, as Stiria stepped up to Ace, and began to speak.

He voice was sultry, and sensual, something she could use to seduce men and stab them in their throats while they sleep.

“Infernalis. I want you to come with me to Illusium.”

“You aren’t a mess.” Marcus assured her, resting his head atop hers. “Personally I recommend going back into the tent and giving them a piece of your kind. Stop acting all out I’m and quiet. That isn’t the Acelopina I know. The one I know is strong and powerful and doesn’t care what some 40 year old man thinks.”

His eyes flickered up as a brown skinned girl came walking out of the tent, he ebony hair flowing behind her. “Nevermind. Seems like it’s over. “

The girl looked Marcus one over, before noticing Ace and nodding at her. “Infernalis.”

Marcus scrambled upward, hugging her. “You’re fine. I understand it, don’t worry.” He squeezed her.

“Trust me, if I was in there, I would’ve said the same thing.”

She smelled like fire and smoke and blood and death, but it didn’t matter. It was Ace.


And that is what mattered.

Hestia clasped a hand over her mouth, smiling wildly. General Gaelanon sputtered, wide eyed as Infernalis stormed out the tent.

Hestia stood up, just then, placing her hands gently on the table before her. “I think,” she said, “it would be best if we did a recon to actually assess Illusium and their defenses, since we apparently can’t decide on anything. Also, it would probably help us in figuring out WHY they haven’t attacked us yet.”

Hadrian, who had sat, nodded. “Agreed. Even if it is a witch that said it.”

Hestia glared at him.

Burroughs stood up, and nodded. “Later, we will assign a team to Illusium. For now, council adjourned.”

Marcus jumped back as Ace came storming out. He sheepishly looked up at her. “Hey.”

Hestia stared at her, then raised her brow. “Okay, then, Infernalis.”

Hestia folded her light brown arms, facing Ace. “What do you think?”

Hestia’s eyes were dark and purple, narrowed at Ace, waiting for her calm response. Waiting to see her response calmly to the sexist bullshit of these men, waiting to not see her stand up for herself.

Marcus crept closer to the tent entrance, both eyes in, sandwich forgotten.

Marcus’s eye twitched as a deeper, more gruff voice spoke. “Shut up, girl. What would you know about war? I’ve fought for Badeux since I was a young boy living. You only joined the war two years ago.”

THAT was General Gaelanon, a representative of Badeux. He was quite known for his prejudice against women.

“I know for a fact that it is explosives. What else would a rival, lowly land like Aenia use?”

“Is it, though?” Asked Hadrian Saar. He was the new leader of the Venandi, being that Burroughs was promoted to Chief.

“I mean, I doubt explosives can take out the Cathedral of the Eternal, and the Town Square, and HALF OF THE LAND. That’s almost impossible.”

“Have you even seen an explosive, Saar?” Gaelanon asked, raising a brow.

“No, but I fought against enough witches to know when something is their fault.”

“Of course you would. You blame us for everything.” Said Hestia Stiria, a representative of Badeux’s supernatural kind.

“At least Aenia banned magic.” Hadrian commented, glaring at Hestia.

“Yeah, because that’s such a HUGE accomplishment. The repression of witches, and the entire reason why we are here in the first place.”

Hadrian snapped up, slamming his hands on the table in front of him.

Marcus winced at the sound, taking a peek inside the tent.

“That is quite a bold claim to make, witch.” Hadrian said. He was grabbing at his dagger.

Hestia whirled up, too, her dark hair billowing around her shoulders. Most times, Marcus had noted, she sat still and looked pretty during the meetings, rarely adding anything to the conversation. That was probably why she didn’t face the same resentment that Ace had.

But now…

“I’m sorry,” Hestia said, tilting her head. Her purple eyes were alit. “Did I OFFEND you?”

“That’s ENOUGH.”

Softly, Marcus snuck to the entrance of the tent and plopped himself there. He had liked to listen to the War Council, to hear what they speculated. It would help him think and fight better about the practices of Illusium and their armies.

He had never gotten caught, and he didn’t think he ever would, so he opened a sandwich and hit into it, as Burroughs spoke first.

“Commander Infernalis. Thank you for joining us.”

Marcus assumed he was facing the entire Council now, as Burroughs said, “We managed to capture the capital pf Illusium, Zhyla. We’ve also managed to have our army take over half of the land, and we’ve placed soldiers at every end of the boarder to give us plenty of warning before Illusium could attic. The problem at hand though, is those weapons that they have. Illusium managed to destroy Aenia with one weapon only, and none of us have found out what that weapon is. Do you have any ideas?”

“That is quite unfair to hold against me.” Marcus quipped. “I personally didn’t do anything wrong, except for trying to murder you, that one time. And that other time.”

His lips twitched up in a smile, before he heard the siren blow. His head snapped up, quick and alert.

War council.

He looked at Ace. “Well, I’m not sure if you go to these, but you know what that alarm is. We will continue this soon.”