_fablesblossomingtree

Did they even know? Was it dormant in them? When did Reaver know? What age? How did he find out? How scared was he, and his family, when they realized exactly why he is the way he is?

If he had siblings, like I headcanon he did, did they have any hero abilities? Or were they like Rose and Logan?

I personally always just figured that he deduced it on his own from his constantly growing abilities, and maybe everyone just turned a blind eye out of respect and maybe even love, but like...I'm sure there was a lot of fear involved, especially with Albion being...the way Albion was about Heros around the time Reaver was growing up. I'm sure accelerated healing and God-like eyesight and aim aren't very easy things to hide in such a small village like Oakvale.

Their older sibling was a boy on their father's side and they had two younger siblings: a girl on their mother's side and another boy on their father's side. So Reaver was a middle child, his mother's only son and second child, his father's second son and third child.

His older sister can also be his twin but she is older.

As they shouted out with glee,

"Unholy Drink Cloaca

Fable 3 - King Logan references

RIP Sparrow you would have loved seeing your daughter take the throne

I like the idea that it's actually a legitimate mobility aid for him because Sparrow managed to get him in the knee when they had their shootout, and because knees are bastards, he's permanently stuck with this injury that he can't just sacrifice his way out of.

(a complete overview of my Fable 2 / Fable 3 timeline, focused around Sparrow and Reaver's hypothetical relationship. This is all rambles. It's gonna be a lot.)

(@terrymelody #1 delusion instigator)

-

Been thinking about Fable 2/Fable 3 a lot.So like, in my interpretation of the story, Sparrow was a very troubled person who had to sacrifice *a lot* on their journey. Gave up Rose, their dog, and their family to save the people of Albion. Always trudged through the unimaginable for the greater good.

Never got to have a moment of peace, even after their quest for vengeance was over. Had to lead as ruler, had to raise the next hero of Albion to save the world in the future, and never got the time to just... Sit with their losses. That's kind of tragic, to me.

Never got to think about a world they wanted. The one time they did, in the dream with Rose, it got ripped away. And then they went back to living like they always did; enduring.

I do think being able to raise Logan and the "Hero of Brightwall" healed some part of them. They were able to give their children a better life than they did, and set them up for success... Even if they knew they wouldn't be around to see it (as Theresa's premonition told them). They just hoped that their journey wouldn't be marked by as much pain and sacrifice.

I'm sure they miss their carefree nature, their unburdened heart, and the freedom they used to have... before the spire. Before the crown. Back when life was still full of possibility and want. It's why they had a family in the first place (before they changed, and had to give up the chance to being them back to save innocents. To do their duty as a hero).But that longing for that feeling never went away. They still miss their adventuring- whilst in the midst of bureaucratic affairs.

Here's the thing... any friends they made along the way- people who understood the weight of being a hero- Hammer, Garth, and Reaver, they left at the end. They were alone again, and the only one who was left with that weight.

Until Reaver came back.Sparrow loathes him. He's a mirror of all that selfishness and a lack of duty does to a person. A lack of purpose. Guilt. They understand why he is the way he is all too well (mostly from reading his diaries after buying his Mansion in Bloodstone). And they detest him. They never want to be like him.

-

But, in my story, he decides to confront them about their rude gesture of gentrifying *his* pirate town... Essentially undoing all his work. He took offense, he tried to kill them, and they fought back.

And they're both equals in every way. Both heroes, both driven by ambition, and both as restless and stubborn as ever.

He didn't succeed in killing them that night. Their blood ran hot, and their anger ran hotter, and since it would be too exhausting and inconvenient to just kill eachother (even though they could've), they figured out another way to let off that steam... To let it out on eachother, hurt eachother, and prove that the other didn't have any control over them.

So yeah. They had angry sex right then and there. For no good reason, really.

The affair continued for *decades*.

Sparrow would get restless, and bored, and missed fighting and feeling like they didn't have to give up everything for other people's sake again. They liked being able to take things out on Reaver, someone they felt no pity for, and knew who could take the full force of their urges. And, unlike everyone else, he didn't give a damn about them being a savior. Or a monarch. They felt like themself again... Even if it was their worse side. It gave them an outlet.Reaver liked feeling engaged and equally matched for once, as he gave up his life of piracy and moved onto shmoozing with nobility... Common people that he would always see as beneath him. But not Sparrow. He admired them, even if he thought their morality was pointless. He liked testing them.

They never did *love* eachother. Or even like each other. Quite the opposite.But they saw each other.

And they understood.

They saw every scar, sacrifice, pitiful feeling of guilt, and overcompensation. And they didn't care. They disregarded it all.

For just a few hours, every so often, they were able to just... Forget about all the bullshit. Forget about their purposelessness and damage. Loose themselves in adrenaline and heat. Indulge.

For Sparrow, it was giving themself a taste of what they couldn't have anywhere else. The chance to be selfish and choose what they wanted.

I do think that as time went on, and Sparrow got older, and they both grew used to their routine, things changed. A little.

Sparrow stopped leaving before daylight. Reaver wouldn't be *as* cruel and biting, but also wouldn't put up his farce of charm around them.

By some point, they knew eachother too well to care about putting on a face, when it was just them.

They talked, sometimes. After the energy had burned out, and they had no reason to care. When the world's edges dulled, and their senses could just... Rest. They've been on-edge for as long as they could remember. It's nice not having to be, for a minute.

They know the other gets too much out of them to kill them in their sleep.

But I do think their partial-friendship helped them understand eachother better, besides the ugly parts. Besides the loathing.

He never talks about it, but Sparrow knows why he sacrificed Oakvale. It's easy to just say it was vanity, or narcissism, but it's more than that. He loves living. He does. He's just... Bored. His heart's grown cold, and he's lived long enough without purpose that everything is just dull. He keeps doing what he does because he *needs* to feel like he sacrificed his entire life for something hat was worth it. Glory, ecstacy, riches... Something.

Reaver knows Sparrow isn't just some angry, repressed, duty-sworn hero because they think it's right... It's because there's nothing else. They lost *everything*. Their family, yes, but also their freedom. The Spire took a lot from them, and you never forget what it's like to have no freedom after a decade of that.

You'll never feel like you've done enough with the freedom you have once you get it back. You'll always try to overcompensate for what could've been, what you could've done, and what you can do. They have no excuse, and no other responsibility, holding them back from doing everything they can.

They both overcompensate, don't they?They don't talk about it. Not when one of them wakes up gasping for air- even all these years later.

They just pass the wine in silence. Try and dull those feelings again.

Neither of them like pretending they still aren't there... But with everyone else, it's easier to keep the face up.

Sparrow will never, ever admit this... But Reaver only left one good impact on the world.

You see, Sparrow couldn't love again. Couldn't open up their heart like they did with their family all those years ago... Lost too many people, focused on all the wrong things to even think about a family.

But then... Theresa did say that their future child would someday save Albion. Sparrow didn't know what to make of that, or where that child would even come from.

Never expected it to be because of Reaver. Because of a selfish, impulsive, and rather stupid decision made decades ago.

They never said anything when they got pregnant with Logan. Didn't even visit him during it (which wasn't uncommon for them, as Sparrow and Reaver could go YEARS without contact and not bat an eye). Reaver had his own life, and Sparrow had theirs. What they were (or lack thereof), it only existed in private. Away from the world.Sparrow was happy to have a family again, in all honesty. For it to be *theirs*, and only theirs. It would be different this time, and they swore that.

But Reaver found out, after returning from his travels. Word of newborn Prince Logan reached him fast, and he put two-and-two together.

But Sparrow said nothing about it.And he was grateful.He was grateful that line between them still existed. He was *relieved* they knew him well enough to know he wanted nothing to do with it, and couldn't be bothered to care.

For the longest time, Sparrow thought Logan was the one destined for saving Albion. Raised him up as such. Proud, noble, strong... The kind of person with the self-assurance Sparrow wished they possessed in their life. He was their pride and joy. He made them beleive that maybe... Just maybe... All they'd done had led to something that was worth it.

They could give him a good life.

Reaver can't say he cared about the way Sparrow walked with a new sense of purpose, or how their anger and restlessness seemed to settle as he grew up. But he noticed. He didn't know what to make of it.

He never asked about him, but Sparrow talked at times. Absent-mindedly, of course. Not like they were talking to the father of their kid, but like filling in an old "friend" about what's new in your life.

Reaver thought it was all rather dull... But funny, in a way. That boy would be Albion's future. Reaver had no idea about the prophecy only spoken between Sparrow and Theresa, but he knew that boy would be King.

He'd one day rule over the land, and Reaver- now a noble lord of his own making- would have to follow his rule. An amusing thought.

A big shift happened when Logan was 15 years old.

It had been many, many years since they had started... Whatever it was that they had. Little had changed, but maybe some more peaceful interactions and a few less bruises left after a night together.

But Sparrow fell pregnant again. Still didn't tell him, he still didn't care.But things... Shifted.

Sparrow had twins. A boy and girl... But the boy didn't make it.

That shook them a lot. They had known loss intimately for their entire life, but having those scars reopened... It made them think things over. They realized they had the space and peace to process all the shit in their life.

And it made them realize that Logan wasn't the one in the prophecy. They had made their effort with him, but it was their sole surviving twin that was the hero. They just knew...Heros always loose what means most to them. Cassandra, their daughter, was only a baby, and had already lost her other half.

It terrified them. To know that she would be going down the road of a hero. The duty of a quest to save the world...She would know loss, too.

And Sparrow hated that thought... Hated the though that they still clung onto thrills of a past long gone, and moments of restlessness they once knew. If they wanted to give Cassandra the best chance she could have, they couldn't keep coming back. Couldn't keep reliving the past, or escaping the present. They had to think about her and the future.

-

The last time Reaver ever saw Sparrow, it was 5 months after the baby boy died. They were different... And Reaver couldn't really come to terms with why. Duty, sacrifice, purpose... Why was it so important now? What significance could that have possibly had over Sparrow to make them so reserved? They knew loss, hadn't they? Why this one?

Reaver never grows. Never changes. Never looks back on anything. That's the difference between them.

For just a brief moment in time, they both were people in denial...But Sparrow grew up. Sparrow had a purpose to follow.

Sparrow died only 4 years after that last night.I think they knew, near the end. They got sick, they got weak, and not even magically-influenced immortality can save someone who drank away their liver in an attempt to numb the past.

They did try to get better, for Cassandra... They wanted to be there for her, when she dealt with everything... In some way... Some how. They wanted things to be different.

But that's just not how things worked out. Theresa said they never would be apart of that journey, in the prophecy stated all those years ago.

But they left her all the could. A strong older brother, a castle, loyal friends (Walter + Jasper) to care for her, and an armory filled with all she'd ever need. It was all they could offer.

-

Reaver showed up to the burial, when they placed Sparrow into the tomb. He almost didn't... But he thought that it'd be rude to not say goodbye to an old ally. He did respect them for boosting his public reputation, after all.

It was the first time he saw the children, too.He'd heard of them, of course... But never seen them for himself.

They looked so much like Sparrow... But they had this sickeningly familiar look to them as well. One he wouldn't name.

One that resembled a man he'd lost since buried.

One who was weak. And foolish. And stupid.

He hated that man. He was decidedly not that man who had weeped on the ashes of Oakvale. Not anymore.

And yet... That man's eyes existed on two others. And he hated that. He hated the way that got to him.

Some semblance of his long-dead humanity and heart lived on, in those two. And he'd have to live with that for the rest of their lives.

That day, he vowed to never let those memories have power over him. Not the nightmares. Not the fear. Not any kind of *feeling*.

He blamed Sparrow, because that was the easy thing to do. They had torn though his mask of indifference and overcompensation, and now he had to live with a constant reminder of what was.

He'd never let that have any importance over what he is now.

He swore to be grander than Sparrow ever was. Erase the brief slip of the mask they brought out of him.

Reaver got worse, after Sparrow died, and Logan took the throne.

He had been operating a black market all this time, yes, but now... Now he had the drive to make it all that mattered in this world. His world, at least.

But it was almost exhausting how much the boy- the young man, now, reminded him of Sparrow. God, how that annoyed him. He'd never let it show... Never let those flickers of feelings manifest into something.

God no...But, at the same time, he kept seeing that man from Oakvale in him. The same drive. The same daring desire for more out of life.

But he changed. Something happened when he was 25 years old, and it changed his entire being. A darkness seemed to wash over him... And Reaver felt relieved.

Logan no longer was a reminder of what *was*, but he was entirely something new. Something that he didn't get any feelings about. He took advantage of that, and weaseled his way into court when the King was at his most vulnerable. He needed industry, he needed security, and Reaver swooped in to claim an industrious empire that was now conveniently vacant (after Logan imprisoned the previous owner for not agreeing to his plans).

Reaver saw an opportunity for power, status, and a way to exert his will over the people. It was perfect, for him.

But in this new position within the castle, he now had proximity to the life Sparrow had left behind.

He told himself that it was just to see what he could claim for himself, and one day surpass... But lets be honest, Reaver lies to everyone- including himself.

As the King grew older and more of an individual, he became easier to stomach... But not the young Princess.

He still avoided her.

She was too much like Sparrow and the man from Oakvale for his taste.

He tried not to think about her at all.

Even when political meetings between the aristocracy and Logan were interrupted by frazzled maids- stating that the girl had gotten into some mischief or another. It was amusing, from a distance.Reaver started to think that Logan inherited the worst of his parents genes, while she got the other half. All the energy and extroversion.

Makes sense... Logan was conceived in more volatile times, while Cassandra wasn't.

He quickly drowns out those thoughts with whatever debauchery he fancies. He has to up his own antics to get the same effect of numbness, nowadays... A cushy life of a businessman has made him even more restless and bored. Simply sex and murder doesn't do anything anymore.

God, maybe he understands Sparrow more, now.

In the events of fable 3, Reaver is the most version of himself he's ever been.

Murderous, sociopathic, power-hungry, and engaging in the worst crimes of his career. His overcompensation and indulgence are all he has.

But, because nothing in the world is simple, he's forced to change with the times yet again.

Cassandra grew up in the blink of an eye, without him ever even seeing her. Not like he cared to, and not like she had any use to him- unlike her brother.

So, he doesn't think anything of it when she's declared "missing" from the castle. Nor Logan's annoyance over her disappearance, or the supposed antics she's been getting up to.

He couldn't care less about politics or the duress of the people of Albion. Why would he?

But, just as he captures some pathetic revolutionary nobodies for his weekly form of entertainment (a death show for his and his equally as bloodthirsty guests personal enjoyment), *she* shows up.

He didn't even recognize her. She and her ally had been in disguise, but quite frankly, he wouldn't have recognized her from a distance anyhow.

But there she was. A bonafide hero of her own making... This is what Sparrow's efforts amounted to? Amusing.

He almost felt bad to accidentally putting the moves on her. He honestly hadn't known, and it's simply in his nature to demean others any way he can. It seemed to work on her companion (Page), irritating her enough to shoot him.

But Cassandra's ability to defeat all of his challenges made him realize something. For all his denial, he isn't an idiot. He can tell she's like her mother- skilled and charismatic enough to build a following... Maybe a little naive and idiotic, but she could take down Logan if she was hellbent on it.

And knowing her genes, she probably won't stop to get what she wants.

So, he runs. Like he always does. Decides to make the business-savvy move and take no sides in politics, save his own ass, avoid the inevitable messy battle on the horizon. Then swoop in to whatever side won and save the day with his power over industrial reasources. He couldn't care who won, to be honest. Couldn't bring himself to.

Reaver is convinced that he is still untouchable and unaffected by the time the coup is over. Cassandra won, as he suspected she would've... But now he has to deal with the fact that the new ruler is nothing like Logan.

Not a tool. Not something he can look at without being reminded of Sparrow all over again. Painfully righteous, stubborn as all hell, and doesn't listen to any of the bullshit he spews...

And, yet, he can't bring himself to hate her.

He's more skilled than she is, more potent in his abilities (for Avo's sake, she needs gauntlets to preform her magic), and still a better shot than her...But he does nothing.

She turns down his business ideas, doesn't give him the time of day, actively listens to those who call him a "distasteful creature", and the worst offence- spends *his* empire's money on charity work.

How revolting.

But he can't being himself to hate her.She's ambitious. She's cunning. She's just as sly as he is, and like that man in Oakvale used to be...

Back when Sparrow gave him a taste of humanity, it was different. Much different. It was fleeting desire and excitement.

But Cassandra, even from a distance, was grounding. Humbling, even.

He hated it, but not her. Couldn't care enough to despise a stranger.

He could've overthrown her at any time... Her and Logan... But why didn't he?

The thought rested bitter in his mouth. He spit it out whenever it reappeared.

His life is spent stagnant for 10 years after Cassandra takes the throne.

He can't even remember what he did during those years.But he remembers the day Cassandra died.

Those who knew her personally say "missing", or "disappeared", but he has neither the sentimentality nor empathy to avoid the grim truth.

She got too ambitious, too headstrong, and too swept up in her abilities as a hero. She fell into the doom of her own destiny... Went to fight in a war she had no business ticking her nose into, stuck around when her soldiers fled, and payed the price.

And now?

Now any and all reminders of Sparrow's heroics were gone.

Logan had left Albion after the coup. Cassandra had been merciful, and set him free from Albion (officially, he's banished, but he knows Logan grew tired of the thrown anyhow. How pitiful).

But, if Sparrow was gone, why does everything still feel empty?

Not the kind of empty he'd grown used to before them, but the kind of "living in a blur" that came from outrunning reminders, humanity, and the urge to let the mask slip.

Cassandra was gone. Logan was gone. Sparrow was gone.

Why was his humanity still drawing breathe? Deep inside his long-dead heart?

He wouldn't live with that kind of ache.

Why do everything he did, just to for the feelings he left behind with his morality to still rear their ugly heads?

Everything he had with that part of himself is gone. Reduced to ash. Sand falling through his fingers.

He won't let it rule him now. Never again.

He uses his resources to fulfill the nation's ensuing power struggle. Takes all the other political figureheads hostage in the castle during a debate, threatens them all until he is in sole control over Bowerstone, and doubles down into his cruelty.

He burns Sparrow, Logan, and Cassandra's portraits right after moving into the castle.

Nothing will ever be more significant than himself.

-

God I have a problem.