#fable fanfic

[rima-niki]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

So that bribe from the non-cannon ship poll... it's here. Centross has thoughts and feelings bout a certain missing person and maybe they end up kissing about it.

[whosthere54]

I can’t find my original post about it but I did do a poll a while ago on what fic I should finish. Yes it’s been a WHILE but I finally did it so here’s the “If Icarus got that hug in family reunion” fic cause I can

Until Ao3 Works you get it here :]

The TWs for Family Reunion are Panic, Yelling, and Manipulation. Let me know if you believe anything else should be added and I’ll edit the list.

You know how it is, these themes will carry over to my fic so pls make sure to take care of yourselves first <3

“I never asked to be here at all. So why do I still have to face the fear of loosing it?” - Song: The fear of loosing this by Florist

Or - What if Icarus got that hug?

—=+=—

There’s a moment of silence between the two brothers, Rae glancing at Aax before speaking again.

“Do you… do you want a hug?”

They look up, surprise and confusion washing over them before they’re able to adjust their expression to something neutral.

“I… yeah. Please.” Their wings adjust on their back, draping themselves over their shoulders as they move their arms to cross over their chest.

Rae nods, glancing at Aax again who gives him a nod back. He takes a few test steps forward, when they don’t move he walks over to them. Aax follows, keeping a decent distance between her and Rae- letting him have space but making sure he’s safe. They can’t exactly blame him, like they said- the two don’t have the best track record when it comes to “talking” right now.

Rae gets close, and they instinctively take a small step back, feathers flaring for just a moment before settling again.

Rae stops, holding his hands out placatingly. He gives a gentle reassurance, a simple repeat of what they’d said before- another “we’re not here to hurt you” “I-I’m not mad.” and some other quiet reassurance they didn’t quite hear.

After a moment of hesitation, they take the next step forward- Rae immediately pulling them into a hug.

It was nice. They couldn’t remember the last time they had a hug from Rae.

Trying *so hard* not to let tears escape, they look at Aax over his shoulder. Though immediately regretting it when she just looks so… sad. Pity held in her gaze that makes them feel sick.

They hid their face against Rae’s neck, quiet shaky breaths the only indicator that they were trying not to cry. Rae sighs softly, and when he speaks again it sounds like he’s close to crying as well. “It’s gonna be okay Icarus… I’m still going to try- I promise I’m not going to give up on you.”

Maybe that causes some of their tears to fall, and maybe Rae holds them just slightly tighter.

When their knees shake and threaten to give out Rae adjusts them so they’re both sitting in the wet grass, not letting go of them. (Not letting them fall, even if it’s something as stupid as this.)

They hear Aax settle to sit nearby, facing away from the brother to scan for threats. It was comforting, they couldn’t do it themself and if Fable came back and did something to him they don’t think they’d be able to forgive themself.

They sit like that for a while, Rae occasionally murmuring soft reassurance not once loosening his hold. It was nice, a comforting pressure- a distraction away from the cave they were still sitting outside of. Rae seems to think of something then- adjusting slightly and causing Icarus to pull away. Not completely- just enough so the two brothers were looking at each other. Icarus tilts their head just slightly as Rae looks at them with renewed sadness- pity in his eyes causing them to look away, fidgeting with the hem of their sleeves.

“I… Icarus it’s four months today isn’t it…” He says it so softly and they can’t-

“Shut up-“ They mumble.

“Icarus-“

“No-no. He isn’t… he isn’t gone I can fix it I’m going to fix it! He’s gonna come back-“ They wrap their arms tight around their chest careful of the ever-changing wound still concealed.

“Icarus…” Rae tries again, but they cut him off just the same.

“No- if you’re gonna say what all of them have been saying I’m not- I don’t have to *mourn* him he’s gonna come back, I don’t have to think about it because when I fix it it’ll be fine… you can go back to normal and it’ll be fixed…”

Rae’s face contorted into something confused, and then shocked and it crumbles into something sad, he blinks tears away so he can see them clearly.

“Is that… is that why you’re working with him?”

They give him a weak laugh, head angled down so their hair covers their face- goggles having fallen to their neck earlier that day and they didn’t bother to put them back up.

“Icarus…” they can’t handle this. They can’t handle the way he’s talking to them, holding them so gently like they’re something that’s going to *break.* they can’t handle him looking at them like that- they can’t-

“You have to go.” They say their voice firm and monotone.

“Icarus no-“ Rae’s brows furrow slightly and his hands linger on their shoulders.

“Please”

And that makes Rae pause.

“I don’t… Icarus I don’t want to leave you alone here. I- even if I don’t… *like* him Fable isn’t here right now. I’d rather you at least have him here.” When Icarus frowns at that Rae asks another question that leaves them thinking- more than they should be. When they think it doesn’t usually lead to anything good.

“Icarus how long has fable left you alone?”

They shrug. They really haven’t been keeping track of the time he was gone.

“He’s… he’s busy. The faster he gets whatever he’s doing done, the faster we can get this over with.” They mumble. It feels like they’ve said the same things over and over and *over* again and it still seems like nobody understands what they’re doing even after they explain it. Geez how many times have they done this circle of conversations with the things in the past four months?

“So you’ve been… you’ve been alone out here most of the time?”

They shrug, and nod. (They don’t want to lie anymore. It leaves them feeling sick and *wrong*)

“Icarus…”

Aax gets up quickly, face contorting into muffled anger, motioning at them to get up as well.

Rae turns to them- “Icarus-“ but they shake their head, getting up and helping Rae up as well.

“You have to go-“ They repeat the words, this time fueled by anxiety.

“Icarus!”

“Rae!”

“Icarus!” Fable’s booming voice echoes through the small clearing and they back away muttering a quiet apology under their breath that only Rae was meant to hear.

“Are you alright? Are they… are they here for anything?” He pulls out the reaver and it takes all of their power to look away from the blade glinting in the rain dimmed light.

“I’m okay… I ’m-I’m okay.”

“We’re not here to fight.” Rae’s gaze lingers on them for just a moment to long that it makes their skin crawl, arms wrapping around their torso and wings pulling slightly tighter to their back as Fable sighs.

“Of course. I see that it is only the two of you.”

Aax moves to stand only slightly in front of Rae, trident out and ready to attack if necessary. His voice carries confidently actress the clearing, low and sharp. An easy enough warning to understand. “We wouldn’t be stupid enough to come just the two of us if we were here for a fight.”

“No. You wouldn’t be that… stupid. No one would be.” He looks at Icarus then, solid gold meeting heterochromatic gold and purple. His eyes are too sharp, and they look away, casting their head down again.

He turns back to Rae, head held high. “But why are you here?”

“I’m here for Icarus.” They look at Rae through unkempt bangs, eyes darting between Rae and Aax as if analyzing them for a threat.

“Because they don’t need to be alone out here with just you, isolated from everyone else.” His tone holds more anger with Fable than it had with them.

“I’m not alone.” They say, loud and probably too sharp. They wince at the sound of their own voice casting their eyes to Fable when he looks at them again.

“Yes.” He looks away, and they do too. “They have me, they have Ven, they have Arisanna…”

“Which don’t know where you are?”

They cast their eyes down once more shuffling their feet.

“This place is supposed to be a secret for a *reason*, Rae. To keep others safe.”

“From… what, exactly? We’re not the ones running around hurting people.”

“Perhaps not now.”

“You haven’t changed! You’ve always hurt people! I’m starting to remember more of that now! You’ve always been like this… and now…” Rae turns to them, his voice softening just slightly again. “Look, Icarus he’s not a good person!”

“Neither am I!” They hold their head up as they say that, regretting it immediately in the way Rae shuffles and glances between them, Fable, and Aax.

“None of us are good people right now, Rae.”

He starts talking, he starts talking and they try so hard to tune him out. They don’t want it- they don’t want him to say more stupid words that get them to comply because they’ll comply regardless of what he says. They don’t think he knows that, but they will. They don’t… like him. They don’t trust him. But they’re good at putting on a show, and they can pretend they do. (Maybe deep down they do. They try not to, they know he’s wrong and they know what he’s doing to them -they don’t want to acknowledge the fact that it *is* working- but they love him. He’s their dad after all, and when they have no memory of their childhood he’s something that they can cling to)

“You hit me!” Rae says, anger disappearing to leave a suffocating tone of sadness fear, and *betrayal* that lingered in his voice.

“I did.”

They just look between him and Rae feet shuffling against the grass, begging their head to go blank like it tends to do. They’re feeling too much and it’s too wrong and they’re thinking- thinking leads to questioning and questioning leads to things they don’t want to know-

“Where is she.” Rae’s voice wobbles with anger and unshed tears. They glance up to Fable as he turns to them- “Where…”

“Icarus, do you wish to see your mother?”

They blink, looking back up at him with a muted look of confusion. “Yeah…” they said it too quietly, too much emotion filling their voice that wasn’t supposed to be there. They can tell in the way they feel Rae’s gaze on them again. They try to cover it up- “Yeah, yes, yes.” But then Fable starts to walk towards the stupid fucking cave and-

“W-wait- wait” they stare with wide eyes as Fable creates a small opening, just enough for them to get through. “Uhm..” Rae glances at them again, Aax moves to stand in front of Rae, trident in hand face contorted into disgust and then anger. “Wait-wait where…” He pulls his shield out.

“It was the one place I did not think anyone would go.” He breaks a small hole through the stone, just enough that they would be able to walk through. Rae walks closer to him, while Aax lingers behind.

“Uhm…. Um…” They walk towards him, stopping about the same distance Rae is away from the entrance for a moment before moving up to stand beside Fable.

They don’t want to be here anymore- they don’t want to be that close. They don’t want to *see* it again- they can’t…

Their breathing shakes.

“Where are you… where is…” Aax moves quickly back in front of Rae. “Where is that? What are you…”

“She is in a pocket dimension. Just as Enderian had held her before.” He says his sister's name with a sneer. “I will bring you Rae, and I will bring Icarus to see her.”

They can’t breathe- they look through the space Fable had cleared into the cave. The first thing they noticed was that there was still blood on the floor… theirs or Centross’s they couldn’t quite tell. Their eyes fell on the slab, seeing their blood still dried on the smooth stone and splattered on the ground in front of it. Fuck they can’t breathe… their chest *hurts* they can’t-

They manage to pull their gaze away from the cave back onto Fable as he speaks again.

“I’m sorry, Aax, but I will not let you see her. I cannot take the risk.”

“Why… why does it smell like death in there?” They turn to look at Aax, his tone settling on a heavy undertone of sadness as they speak.

They try to bring themself to explain.

“It… it’s-“ Fable cuts them off sharply. “Because it is a place that I thought was of life. I was *foolish* enough to believe it was of life. But it is a place of death. This is where the first mortals were made by me. This is the place where I first mourned them when they *died.*”

“This is where… Centross… died.”

“And you’re taking him in there alone, just the two of you?”

“Yes. I know you do not trust me…”

Their chest aches. They have to take a moment to breathe through a wave of pain that courses through their chest, through their ribs. They tune back into the conversation a moment later when Fable says their name again, though they don’t pay much attention. Their mind won’t stop wandering, and the things won’t stop talking.

“If *anything* happens to him. Know that I will be hunting you to the ends of the earth.”

“As you should. Rae is important to you, as he is to me.” He turns and walks into the cave, but before they can even *think* about following him Aax stops them.

“Icarus. I need you to promise…”

They nod, trying to get their thoughts to work to the current conversation. “Yeah… I’m- he won’t-“

“Promise me he’ll be okay.” Aax asks, and they nod firmly this time.

“He’ll-he’ll be okay.” They can’t tell if they’re trying to reassure her or themself.

“Okay.”

Icarus turns to the entrance, hesitating a moment before heading inside.

“Are you ready?”

“We’re going… in?”

“Yes. I did not think Enderian had this power. I thought she could simply create the bubbles, but she could move if she wished it. If she had other abilities I now hold. She might have been able to escape at any time if she had known. If she could’ve held the same powers I now have .”

They have to take another minute to even out their breathing.

“She couldn’t escape. She- she gave them to me. She was trapped there.”

“Just as Isla was. But now we can move freely to see her.”

They nod lightly. “Okay.”

Fable inhales, “Here we go.” They teleport into the small pocket dimension.

It was a bright, glow stone blinding encircling the small space. As soon as they looked up at their mother- blonde hair blocking a face they couldn’t even remember- they felt an overwhelming sense of dread. It was almost like anxiety, the way it thrummed through their veins. Just a sense of something was wrong.

They couldn’t tell if Rae felt it, but when they got in there they knew he was more distressed, probably at the sight of their mother in a stasis chamber than anything else.

“Icarus I can… I can help. You don’t need him- I can- I can help her! I can help us…” They don’t know what to say, but they get cut off by Fable before they could respond.

“How, Rae?”

“I… I’m not going to tell you. I’m not going to let you do something else to her. Or screw up trying.” He spits the last part with lingering anger, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

“Rae…” He turns to look at them a moment before turning back to Fable as he speaks again.

“You will not give me the chance to help your mother? *My wife?* To bring her back to us.”

Rae doesn’t speak, he simply shakes his head.

Fable frowns. “No?”

“No.” Rae says softly.

“You’d have her stay here?” Rae’s expression crumbles.

The next time they look back at Isla, they can’t look away. This is the first time they’ve seen their mother in person. They don’t have any image of her in their memory other than the portrait that’s sat locked away in Fable’s house. She looks different, they can’t quite see her face but she seems so… tired. A lingering sense of sadness seems to be all she has in that small tube, and it almost physically pains them to see her like that. (To have her feel so similar to what they feel locked up in their house.)

“I have Enderian’s powers now. I could wield them.”

They look back at Fable then. “What?” They glance between him and Rae.

“You could do this! You could hurt her all over again!”

They frown. “He wouldn’t.”

“He did it the first time!” Stray tears are beginning to fall down Rae’s face now that make them stop.

“As a *mistake*, Rae.” He tries, but Rae isn’t having it.

“So what’s preventing you from making the same one?!”

Fable sighs. “Remembering what happened the first time. Seeing my wife’s face, and having it haunt-“

“She doesn’t want to be yours!” Rae yells, his voice echoing in the small chamber. There are more tears spilling down his face, and Icarus can’t help but take a step back as they take another shaky breath. They watch Fable's face, but he doesn’t seem to react. Simply responding calmly, anger quiet and reserved (as if that doesn’t scare them more.)

“She gets to make that choice. Not-“ Rae cuts him off again. “Does she?!”

Fable frowns, and his tone comes out just slightly more angry than he probably wanted it to. “Yes. When she is well, Rae.”

“You don’t get to make that choice, you tried to take that choice away from her. I won’t tell you shit!” Rae talks over what he tries to say next, words hitting their mark effectively when Fable sighs again.

“Rae!” They start, trying to maybe help in some way, try to get that information. But they go quiet as Fable talks again.

“I understand. If that is what you wish.” He inhales sharply again, and they are teleported back outside the bubble. Back into the cave.

They can hear Rae’s breathing shake, as he is ushered out of the cave by Fable. They take a lingering glance back, eyes falling on the slab, and then spot Centross died before Fable pushes them out.

They linger near the cave entrance as they hear Fable walk out behind them with a sigh. Rae goes to huddle next to Aax with his head down as he wipes the lingering stray tears from his face.

“Rae. When you are ready to help your mother and to fix our family, now you know where we are. You said it yourself, you can do that Rae. Bring her back to us. I have made mistakes in the past, but I have done my best to watch over *you* and your brother in her absence. I have protected you and your brother as best as I *could.*”

His tone changes then, more earnest, more desperate. It was all tinted with an undertone of anger a force perfectly covered as he says the words that hit their mark as Rae seems to cower as he says them.

“It was not perfect, I admit this, none of this has been perfect. None of this had been perfect. I have not been perfect, Rae. But *you* gave me a chance. All the same. As you have given so many others. *You* freed me from purgatory Rae. I owe you my life. You can do the same for your mother. You can give her a *chance.* When you are ready to give her that chance, we will be here.”

There’s a deafening silence as Rae takes a few steps back, eyes moving between Fable and Aax.

“We should go- we should go.” His voice sounds like he’s trying so desperately not to cry and something in them feels concerned, it does, but as Rae and Aax fly away all they can think of is that he didn’t say goodbye.

All they can think of is that he didn’t even look at him after they left the bubble. All they can think about is how he left them alone again without saying goodbye. He’d just said he wasn’t going to give up on them. That he wasn’t going to leave them alone here again, but that’s all they feel like is happening.

Fable ends up coaxing them inside. They take the confirmations and reassurance he gives them, ignoring the fact that they know that sometimes he’s lying to them. They ignore the things all yelling, ignoring the way they erupt again when Fable apologizes to them. Apologizing that he couldn’t remove Quixis from them. They ignore them as they say he just apologized for not killing them that day.

They just don’t want to think about it anymore. (They don’t want to remember… and that’s a concerningly familiar wish for them.)

Fable finally gets them to take their mind off it, changing their focus to the birds lingering at their bedside.

They eventually lie down, Fable leaving them to their own thoughts again. The things leave soon after that, sleeping or going somewhere else they still don’t exactly know.

The silence is so so much worse. They curl in on themself under the covers, their birds having fallen asleep a bit ago on the birch next to their bed, so they weren’t making any noise either.

There’s a lingering feeling they can’t quite explain. It’s something under their skin that just makes them want to cry. It’s the lingering feeling of their brother’s hug, his hands running through their hair and his arm wrapped securely around their back. Their wings try to compensate, wrapping around their curled-up figure tightly as their arms wrap around their chest and their tail falls over their legs.

They want their dad. As stupid as that sounds. They want their dad, they want Rae they want… they want Centross.

Four months.

Their hand moves to stifle a quiet sob.

They miss him- gods they miss him so much.

They miss him randomly interrupting what they were doing to get them out of their house. They miss talking with him, joking with him. They miss being *near* him, as pathetic as that sounds. His presence was always comforting. Something that made them feel *safe* and fuck they missed that feeling.

They miss his voice, they miss and they miss and they miss.

They *swear* they’re going crazy when they get the phantom feeling of fingers running through their hair, just closing their eyes and willing themself to just sleep as their breathing shakes through more muffled sobs.

It takes too long in their opinion. By the time they fall asleep, they’ve run out of tears. Sitting in heavy silence for too long until they finally fall asleep.

Maybe sleep isn’t much of a release, the only thing they see is the memories of their best friend, the happiness stained by a lingering sadness and guilt that follows them when they wake up in the morning because of the memory of the cathedral that the dream always ends with.

Soon.

That’s all they have to remember.

It will be over soon.

[annoyed-galaxy]

I got this comment on this old Fable drabble that I made for Logan and Aelyn

And it made me reread it because this was such an old piece but it made me fall in love with Aelyn all over again. Made me fall in love with what I did with her character and her relationship with Logan and then with Sparrow and Reaver. It also made me realize that I am a pretty damn good writer.

Point is, I love my Fable family and everything I have done with them story wise has been incredible and I love writing about them. I may do more stuff for them in the future.

[bellonathedragonborn]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Here’s a link to some of my Fable fanfics if y’all wish to read them. It’s not on the list but I also have a story about my Hero of Bowerstone.

[heroine-of-albion]

Request:

Hammer and Theresa having a conversation that leads to mutual respect

(I left your username out, because you didn’t say whether or not you wanted to remain anonymous, but you know who out are who requested this - and thank you for requesting it. I’m sorry about the formatting; I’m on mobile)

Hammer didn’t appreciate being taken back the remains of the Guild by Theresa.

Sparrow was the one Hammer trusted; as strange as the adventurer was, Hammer knew Sparrow would have her back if Hammer needed it. Hammer didn’t know how she knew it, but she did, whereas with Theresa…Hammer didn’t know what to make of the other woman.

It was clear she though Hammer foolish; the patronising tone and the way Theresa used the vocabulary of someone speaking to a very young child made that clear. But Hammer was no fool, and she didn’t appreciate being made to feel like one. Maybe she didn’t understand the intricacies of being a Hero, but she could hardly help that the Guild had fallen years and years before her birth, and the history of the Heroes erased. And she was going to tell Theresa as much.

“Why do you insist on treating me like a stupid child?” Hammer asked Theresa after their latest lesson - this one on the Spire and how it could focus Will to catastrophic ends. Hammer appreciated the gravity of the situation…but Theresa’s tone hadn’t gone unnoticed: “You can speak at a normal speed; I promise I’ll understand.”

Theresa looked faintly surprised - a look Hammer would guess the Seeress hadn’t worn in some time: “You are less than two decades old, to me you are so incredibly young.”

“Young, maybe, but that doesn’t mean I can’t understand things.” Hammer pushed. She supposed she must seem very young to Theresa…but that didn’t mean she was wrong to want to be treated as the adult she was.

Theresa might be ancient, might be more experienced than Hammer would ever be, but Hammer had her own past. Her own experiences.

She had been marked by life too.

“How could you possibly understand what the Spire can do? You know nothing. You haven’t lived under the thumb of a tyrant. You’ve never experienced the effect of Will - ”

Hammer crossed her arms: “I haven’t lived under the thumb of a tyrant? Lucian sent a man to kill my father, and no-one will punish him for that. I’ve never experienced Will? I watched Sparrow set fire to an army of the living dead and not blink.”

“That - ”

“Is not even a fraction of what you have lived through, I know. But I’m not wrong, am I?”

“…You are not.”

“Thank you.”

It wasn’t a promise for change…but Hammer didn’t need one. She might not know Theresa as well as she felt she knew Sparrow, but she knew the Seeress enough.

She knew Theresa would no longer treat her like a child. Would respect her.

And that was all she’d wanted.

[vermilionskiinmorning]

Man Crush May

Prompt: @geekandbooknerd ‘s Man Crush May #17  “You can’t keep pretending it didn’t happen. Because guess what? It did.”

Fandom: Fable

Pairing: Hero of Brightwall/Reaver 

Words:

A/N: So I don’t know if I have any followers in the Fable fandom considering it’s kind of dead, but this line just seemed perfect for this little idea I’ve had for awhile. Whenever I feel like doing a run-through of Fable 3 I always save Elliot and have my Hero marry him after the ‘Kidnapped’ quest in Bowerstone Industrial. Her relationship with Elliot has been on the rocks ever since she took the throne. However, after the trials leading up to the Crawler battle she at least feels confident in herself as Queen. This takes place after the Crawler is defeated. 

The corset of her official court dress always felt tight, but something about it today made it feel even more so than before. Perhaps it was something to do with the fact that after defeating the Crawler she’d taken a vacation from court if only for a short time. Or, whispered a voice in the back of her head, it’s because Reaver was at court today -not that it should’ve surprised her at all to see him there. He’d disappeared just before the fighting started, but she’d heard he was back. Elliot had informed her nearly the moment she’d returned to the castle.

“Reaver’s back,” he’d said, no hello or even how was your trip. Just that. And of course. “I think you should have him removed from court.”

Oh, Elliot. She was frankly more concerned with what to do with him than Reaver at the moment. Reaver, she could avoid outside of official business, but Elliot was her husband. Things had not been well between them in sometime which was illustrated in the fact they both slept exclusively in their own quarters. At first it had been her nightmares about Aurora and the looming threat of the Crawler that had began the rift, but it had grown after Logan’s death. Elliot thought she did the right thing, but how could it be right with the execution still haunting her? She knew why. In her heart once she’d seen the Crawler she hadn’t been able to fully blame him for his actions. Even she had done things differently after that, she was different now.

Annika sighed. Fixing her blouse, she came out from behind the changing curtain staring at her empty room. Adventuring clothes were so much more comfortable; though, the quality of the cloth and leathers was higher now she was living in the castle again. Courtiers could handle her casual dress, but apparently not ‘peasant’ fabrics according to Hobson. She rolled her eyes. So long as she wasn’t expected to wear dresses all the time she’d manage. Smoothing a few wrinkles subconsciously, Annika headed for the door and subsequently the gardens.

The gardens were still her favorite place within the castle grounds. It was her little patch of green within the stony confines of Bowerstone and after all her adventures she needed it now more than before. Wanderlust, she knew, was in her blood. If she closed her eyes and just breathed she could almost imagine herself on the road again. However, it seemed the peace was never to last long, someone always shattered it an this time was no different.

    “ Hello~ your Majesty.”

It was Reaver’s prerogative that he was nearly always heard him before he was actually seen. Annika gave herself just a moment’s pause -holding onto the peace which was rapidly slipping through her grasp- before turning to face him. Despite the annoyance of being disturbed bubbling below the surface, she faced him with a small cordial smile upon her lips.

“Reaver. Court has been through for some hours now. If you’ve hung around in hopes of pressing your proposal, I’m afraid you’ve wasted your time.”

Simple and to the point. She’d found it to be the optimum fashion of communication when it came to the Industry tycoon -...in most cases that is. The twinkle of mischief in his eye told her it was most certainly not going to work this time and Annika had to swallow the beginning of a sigh.

    “ Oh dear me has it? My deepest apologies your Grace-”

“You knew that court was over Reaver. You arrived late to court, but you were there. You knew it was over. And I’ve no taste for the titles outside of court -which you also know.” Annika turned slightly toward him as they fell into step next to each other and arched a brow delicately.

Reaver, to his credit, hardly missed a beat and the smarmy smirk on his lips never faltered at her admonishments. “Yes,” he drawled. “Well, I was only wishing to speak to you privately.”

She scoffed internally at that, but supposed she was grateful. Their private chats usually took place in her chambers as the man had no sense of propriety or privacy in him. So she was, grateful, if only slightly that he’d deigned to at least wait for her to leave her chambers before ambushing her. 

They rounded a corner to the more secluded section of the gardens, where the hedges grew tall enough that even Reaver’s rather lofty hat would be hidden were there someone on the other side. When Reaver did not speak right away Annika considered ignoring him and just continuing on her walk alone, but inevitably he launched into a spiel regarding business projects and propositions. For a while Annika was content to listen and nod her acknowledgement though not her agreement to many of his musings, but she knew this was not what he wished to speak of. After sometime of walking they found a stone bench, Annika took a seat and Reaver beside her angling himself towards her and frankly a bit too close. 

“Reaver.”

“Yes~”

“Why did you even come back?”

“Why, to serve my Queen of course.”

Annika’s lips pursed at that. His tone quite blatantly stated what she’d feared. He expected for them to pick up where they’d left off before his disappearing act -before she’d learned for certain who and what he was, and before he’d in no uncertain terms rejected to aid her.

   “I am not the hero you think I am darling. The incident described in your Father’s stories pet. I’m sure your father didn’t speak often of me, or well the hero of skill rather, because he knew it just as well as I. If I hadn’t been coerced, forced really, by the Blind Seer I’d not have been there.” 

Annika sighed. She rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. A part of her hoped what little she’d read or heard of the Hero of Skill had been exaggerated. Because as the battle drew nearer the more her confidence wavered. Sure she’d raised the money she needed for the army, kept most of her promises, but she’d made a few unsavory choices along the way -like allowing Reaver’s conversion of the shelter to a brothel.

That particular decision had been when all of this started -her and Reaver. She’d stormed out of her and Elliot’s shared chamber and run right into him just down the hall. Her blood had been running hot from the argument. Reaver had presented himself as a welcome distraction and that was how she came to be lying there in Reaver’s bed. 

Her tone was flat when she spoke, leaving little room for argument, but Annika knew that wouldn’t stop Reaver. “We can’t do this again.”

       “You can’t keep pretending it didn’t happen,” Reaver murmured, scooting closer to her on the bench leaning in. His lips barely brushed her neck. An involuntary shiver went down her spine and a gasp caught in her throat. “Because guess what my darling, it did. And I think-” His lips made their way slowly up the side of her neck leaving burning flesh and feathery kisses in their wake. “It will again.” He slid his hand up her thigh resting the tips of his fingers just shy of the leather ties for her trousers. “And again.” Nimble fingers tugged gently at the strings, but she grabbed his hand. Annika’s breath was caught in her throat. She held his hand firmly in her grip, but didn’t push him away. “And again.”

Reaver was smirking against the side of her neck. She didn’t know if she wanted to hit him or have him right there in the gardens. The only way they’d be seen from their current location was if someone went out onto the proper balcony and looked straight down. It wasn’t a good idea. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to resist him though if he pressed the issue. After their first little liaison she’d resisted him nearly banished him from court, but he’d kept coming back despite her threat -teasing her and wanting her in a way Elliot no longer seemed to until. Well there they were again. 

Despite herself, Annika turned to face him then staring deep into his blue eyes. They’d been brown before. She was certain of it. Oh, the sacrifice. His eyes were his own, but the side effect of his annual sacrifice were minute changes. Changed affected depending on the sacrifice. It suited him she decided. Reaver smirked as if he knew what was going through her head. A small shake of her head and she leaned forward sealing his damned lips in a kiss if only to stop him from speaking further. 

He’d been right of course. It would happen again. And it would keep happening. 

[the-epitome-of-sin]

I'm not going to give away any details but I'm currently writing a fic that has characters from several different shows/movies/games lol I anticipate it to be an interesting final product

Now I just can't wait to get wifi so I can post the first chapter 😭

[rima-niki]

Another Fable thought that could become fic, but nahhh

Just a silly what if Rae went into Icarus's mind to help them Characters: Icarus, Rae, Sherbert, Ashrill

Now imagine Rae going in their mind to try and save Ic, and it's either gold or a rainbow. There is no fully just Icarus, only the person that others made them.

There are different versions of ic in there, like how Rae had a different him, but at the same time, they're not Icarus. The first one Rae meets is a fully corrupted Sherb; it's how they, themselves, see them. They are corrupted, they are making the same mistakes no matter what, thats what they are. This corrupted version leads them to a patch of a rainbow, more specifically purple, where once Rae enters finds a version of ic that's an elf? They're kind, offering to help Rae with his journey, but Rae can tell the elf is lonely. There is no other building around outside if the sherb tm build style. The elf gives Rae a bead, then rae is back in the normal plain of gold and rainbow. The corrupted version of Icarus is there again, laughing at Rae, trying to actually help them; they're just like this, there's nothing you can help with. But Rae moves along, finding a new colour, one he hasn't seen before, a dark red; he goes in. The Icarus that Rae finds is another bird but very different, a roadrunner. She was admiralty put in alarm at the sudden appearance of Rae, someone who he thought they would never see again. Rae reassures her that he means no harm and is looking to help someone. The roadrunner says they'll help, and they look around the floating island that they've made a house on. Rae noticed something while they were talking this Icarus seemed to always be on edge, like they were ready to run or fly at any second. Was every version of their brother in some form of pain? They don't know. But after a moment of looking, the roadrunner found another bead and handed it to Rae with a goodbye. "Wowie, you're really trying this," The corrupted version spoke as Rae entered the field again. "Yes, I'm not giving up on you, Icarus." "You should, not like you'll find the last 2 that you need." "So there's two more."

"w-what no!" the corrupted one stuttered out as Rae continued to move forward, finding an almost fully broken part the gold on it was faded, but Rae entered. It's their childhood home, but it was a bit dirty it seemed like someone had just been baking. Rae walks around looking for Icarus. When they hear a thud coming from upstairs. He quickly makes his way over and finds a much younger Icarus on the floor, it seems they had fallen off. They quickly spot the much older Rae.

" Who are you! I'm real good with a sword" they say as they jump up to their feet. "I'm Rae. I don't mean you any harm. I just heard you fall and got worried." "Oh… you share the same name as my brother! That's cool. My brother is really small right now. Mom says I was that small once, too, but I don't believe her. Don't tell her I said that, tho." Icarus puts a finger to their mouth in a hushing motion. "I won't tell your mom, but are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine. I fall ALL the time, this new home, Mom allows me to go outside, and I can climb the trees, and Dad's not here to- To, I don't really know, but Dad wouldn't let me." "You fall a lot, you always do" Rae says a bit bittersweetly. "You're my brother, aren't you?" Rae just nods. " You're all big. You get such a cool horn? Do I get one? Is Mom still with us? Do we find Dad? Do I become real good at the alcemy?" Rae giggles softly." You don't get a horn, but you do get wings." "I GET WINGS!!!!!" "Yes, you do… um, Mom isn't with us right now, but I'm looking for her. You do become really good at making potions, and um, Fable is back, but he's done a lot of bad things, and he forced you to think some not-good things and a lot more." "Oh… Are we still brothers?" Icarus is saddened. "We are, and we always will be." "O-okay," Icarus nods. Icarus looks through their pocket and brings out another bead. " Then save me." "I will." Once Rae grabs it, they get brought to a different room, but one they are very familiar with, the cell that housed Icarus back in the endstone reset. "So, for some reason you still think I should be helped? Despite everything I had done to you, you really think that Icarus is worth saving?" "Despite everything you've done, you, Icarus, are still my brother. Even if you fall to Fable time and time again, I will still be there. I will still be your brother because I love you, Icarus and nothing you do will change that. You ARE my brother, that can sometimes be a bit rude and a bit harsh but you never failed to care for me. You could have left me there when you through that potion, but you didn't. You stayed and made sure I was okay. When I was turning into a beast, YOU were there. You were there when we had nothing but each other. I know Fable is promising you to bring them back, but Icarus, you'll lose so much more; please, I don't want to lose you too." When Rae looks up to Icarus, they aren't corrupted. Their ears and wings hugged close to them. "I-I don't want to lose you either, But Rae, I've gone too deep." "Then let me help you up." Icarus signs and walks over to Rae, and places the final bead in his head. "You win, Rae." -The end-