𝐌𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐈 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄

   “ thank you. ” he needs to see her. even if it won’t be physically. to show he’s alive. to see her alive. it has been his only goal since being taken. to find his way back to her. holly would understand his need to see elsie first. no one could fault him for needing her. “ is there anything else that has happened in the past few years? another child? i know you and flynn wanted more than one. ”

❝ you’re welcome, jared. ❞    aurora can’t even imagine what he must be going through -- how desperate he must be to see elsie, hear her voice -- or maybe she can, because she knows she would be the same about flynn in this position. fleeting smile touches her lips.    ❝ we do want more children, and we are trying, but for now it is still only sorcha. she gets taller every day, i think; and she’s inheriting sir pat’s quick wit and sharp tongue. ❞    

   “ that’s not good. ” if elsie is too much different she might not love him. or, she’s given up on him. gods, they really fucked with his head. he has to remind himself that elsie would love him forever. no matter how fucked he was. those actions were his. he just wasn’t in the drivers’ seat. no instead he just lost all ability to control himself and did as ordered. over and over and OVER again. “ i can try. i’ve never been good at letting people heal me after traumatic events. elsie can attest to that. but i’ll help her. ”

  “ you…you used me…” he can’t believe it. how could he be so FUCKING stupid? it’s not fair. holly had known and he hadn’t been able to see it. now he has to work out how the fuck he’s getting out of this. he won’t die. but once she leaves he’ll call holly. no matter what she’d find him somewhere safe to lay low until she physically got there. “ did you even love me? or was this all for those damn jewels? ”

   “ i wish things were different. but i cannot abandon my people again. can’t let this continue how it has before. as you fought for your people i am fighting for mine. even if that fight is submission. they live if i bend the knee. ” but in the end he knows he’s fighting a losing battle. he’s lost everything. she deserves to be free. to live a life free from his curse. “ if i can get you out of here i will. i know that if i can get patrck’s cell open he will get you out. i fear i must ask you for one thing that i know you will never do. but i have to ask anyway. if there is a way for you to end his. be it through causing my own destruction then i beg you to do it. do it and then protect elsie since she will become the magic’s human vessel. ”

  no matter what universe they find themselves in they will always be together. they are bound by destiny and love so eternal it won’t ever be extinguished. even if they do not remember all the lives the love remains. the baby has her own music that’s beginning to play. a gentle music that is quiet for now but he knows it’ll get even louder than both of them combined. “ she will never feel the pain we felt getting here nor we feel it again. ”

   “ i will try not to. ” the musketeer is sure she’ll be okay. they’re good at what the do. protecting people. if anyone can keep her and her husband alive it’s them. team one. the best of the best. his gun is trained on the window as they descend to the apartment below them. one step down. now to get to the basement. “ we’ll be okay. i swear to you. ”

  “ then you just need to weather the storm. and try not to let it wreck you. ” patrck would come around. but he had noticed that the knight didn’t like to be pushed. so they had to let him cool off so he could come back with a grumpy but understanding mindset. arthur had at first had similar issues when he had to find merlin when things went wrong. but they worked better now. with communication they’d found a common ground and trust had helped. “ what he went through will take time to heal but he will heal. you’ve already helped him a lot in that regard. ”

  the knight seems to care a lot about him which is nice. though he has made sure that others feel the same. it’s still too close to nei’s latest attack on him for him to believe truly what people feel about him. there is no real music from him which soothes the fear a little. “ i hope you’re right. i do not wish to fall so far down this path but i can’t see much else at present. elsie will help drag me back to the correct path. ”

   “ i suppose i have. ” is he naive? or is his trust a sign of his character? it’s so hard to tell where his feelings end and the deception began. nei has turned everything he knows on his head and left him drowning in the confusion of it all. everyone else is broken and strewn across because the siren couldn’t accept that she had lost. lost the magic her family had once had because it had turned away from her. 

   if he pretends he can see for a moment their love from before. when they were once together as an engaged couple. now, he is a fly and she the spider. and his time is running out. “ may i ask you something? i have a feeling that you did not care for me. but…did i care for you? or was that brought on by the song as well? ”

  he mentally notes her reaction to touch. it isn’t surprising considering her line of work. d’artagnan in the beginning didn’t like touch either. now he’s as tactile as the sharpshooter is. they’re all very much a family that uses touch to ground and reassure. she doesn’t have that connection. “ well i would hope you try another approach next time. not every person likes having someone invade their personal space. ”

  he’s so tired in a single moment as the fires both war inside him. fuck, this is going to hurt if one snaps. but then again the white haired woman seems ready to strike at the bond so either way he’s ready. to die, to hurt. there’s been so much pain already. so much bloodshed. why couldn’t he just…be? whatever happens next will be a welcome pain. one he deserves. she calls on the blood oath and it screams at him. claws at his psyche. and yet, it can’t force past the protective energy of a soul bond.

  the moment she cuts through the degraded magic it’s like he’s finally able to BREATHE. he can see through the haze. fuck, he’s free. his sword moves then. but not towards the white haired woman. instead it moves towards the bitch who used him for the past few years. it doesn’t shake. it barely moves. but now he stands in front of the girl and facing off against the evil that soiled his soul. “ we’re leaving. now. and if you attempt to stop me i shall make one more execution. i’m very tempted to just kill you straight away. ”

    it’s not as physical of an effect on mara when the bond is severed. there’s something of a weight lifted, but she hardly reacts -- she’s already angrier than she’s ever been. her hands have curled into fists as she stands, watching him place himself between her  &  the current object of her hatred. that woman... she’s the one to blame for the unraveling of everything mara’s built. and she is going to tear her to pieces one day. but not today. today, the dragon knight has just been freed from bondage, and feels more threatened than ever; he truly could kill her. that won’t stop her from offering a promise:        “ i won’t stop you. but i will find you. wherever you go, i will find you, and when i do -- i will bleed her dry, and i will use all of that blood to rebind you to me. ”

  she chuckles with a fond smile. “ i love you. ” there is no doubt in her mind that the alarms will really go off. but she also knows that jared will have some random traps in place to catch her. if he’s even got the gift in the house. she leans into the embrace and just feels the love that radiates off holly. it’s so nice. so beautiful. she managed to catch the eye of a ball of fire and now that fire warms her at night. “ does that mean you’ve found my gifts? i tried real hard to hide them. ”

   she releases him from his kneel and he keeps his eyes on the floor as he does. could she tell? did she know what magic had taken hold inside of him like a parasite? dag would probably know. she knew all, after all, but fuck if he had to show aurora the burned sigils and the recent cut through them all. “ i think we are both not going to be what we were before this. ” calloused fingers rub against his arm and he sighs. “ i have been made to do some horrible things, aurora. things that…fuck, things that are monstrous. i know i didn’t choose to do it but there are repercussions in my soul. ” 

  as soon as this is over she can disappear. but if she’s so insistent of helping she’ll have to deal with their watchful eyes. she’s possibly an enemy using them. or, someone who wants to hurt the musketeers. but he also knows she could disappear if she wanted. he takes a scarf from his glovebox and wraps it around her head as a blindfold. it’s all he has since it wasn’t expected for him to be taking someone to the garrison. especially since he just came off duty after a long long day. “ i do have to ask why you broke into MY home instead of going to the garrison or our team leader’s home? ”

  “ i don’t think you can just break into his house to check if he got you a good gift, hol. what if his security system goes off? i don’t know if i could deal with you being in jail for your birthday. why don’t you just wait and enjoy the surprise?” the blonde knows holly likes testing jared but this is just going to end badly.

@arcanasmuses​ has the love of maerie’s life