- Yet it wasn’t for nothing when you returned home to the monastery, clutching your jacket as you said how windy it had gotten.

- He didn’t even think when he got on his knees, already loosening his tie.

- Because if this became a mess then he was going to own it. And his love for you was much stronger than some extravagant proposal.

- “You’re the fire that keeps my heart bursting with life, and I could never imagine my life without you, it wouldn’t be worth living if I didn’t have my flame of life…Will you be my Yang..?”

- You said yes immediately, running into his arms in a fit of smiles and happiness.

- The only part of his plan that remained was that you and him shared your first kiss as Ying and Yang under the sunset.

- Kai, however insisted that this was his entire plan, that this was totally how it was meant to happen.

- The ninjas allowed him to say that for five minutes.

- Then they began reciting the tale of how he behaved during preparation.

- At least this’ll ensure you won’t have a groomzilla at your future wedding.

Lloyd:

- He’s been wanting to ask you to be his Yang for over a year.

- The medallion has lived in numerous places across the monastery, in draws, in his pocket, secretly behind the bathroom mirror. It has been everywhere.

- But he keeps chickening out of asking.

- Because he has no idea how to propose.

- Lloyd had gotten advice from everyone, most of them being different renditions of ‘Just do what you think feels right’, while others were ‘Stop being a coward and do it’

- And everyone was getting impatient over his inability to ask you to be his Yang, which fair, he too was getting frustrated with himself.

- However he knew he really had to stop being a coward when the topic of Ying, Yang somehow worked its way into a conversation between the two of you.

- “Would you ever want us to get promised?” “promised for what?” “The Ying, Yang promise”

- Lloyd’s face had gone red at your question and he could barely look at you.

- “Would you ever want us to?” “I would”

- That gave him all the answers he could ever want, and gave him a much needed wake up call.

- After that day he threw himself head first into planning, carrying the medallion with him every single day, just in case the perfect moment arrived.

- He expected the perfect moment to be after a battle or in a fancy restaurant like how he saw in movies.

- It wasn’t, it was in the monastery living room whilst you were curled up on the sofa after affectionately kissing him.

- It had been such a domestic setting and it only made him realise that he could not go another day without asking you to be his Yang.

- He knelt on the floor in the middle of the room, he didn’t even get down on one knee, it was a full on beg-like kneel, directly in front of you and proposed.

- “I know I’m meant to wait for a more romantic opportunity, but to me this is everything I could’ve imagine and more. I want to always be by your side whether that be beside you in our bed, dancing with you in the kitchen or kissing you for the rest of my life. Will you be my Yang?”

- You uncontrollably nodded from your seat on the sofa, beaming at him as he hands you the medallion, and still kneeling on the ground brought you in for a kiss.

- Or more accurately multiple kisses.

Cole:

- He thought for once he’d be good at keeping surprises.

- When he had decided to ask you to be his Yang, and bought the medallion, he decided to hide it in the place you’re least likely to look.

- In the back of his wardrobe in a box with the words ‘extra wires’ in sharpie.

- He had thought his plan was flawless and didn’t even hint at you that he was planning to ask you to be his Yang.

- Until you needed extra wires and wandered into Cole’s bedroom when he wasn’t home to look through his wardrobe for that box.

- “You’re more than welcome into my room, come whenever you want” he had told you, so truthfully it was his fault you found the medallion.

- When you opened the box, you certainly weren’t expecting to find it and almost screamed in excitement at the sight.

- Though you did instantly close the box, smiling down at you as you realised he was planning on asking you to be his Yang.

- While Cole wasn’t dropping hints, you certainly were.

- And it wasn’t hurting anyone, you were just giving him ideas on when to propose.

- “There’s a carnival in town, wanna go?”

- “It’s meant to be hot today, wanna go to the beach?”

- “There’s a small gig downtown, wanna go?”

- You thought all of your hints were effortless and that at one of these he’d pop the question.

- He didn’t and you were starting to become restless over the fact that it had yet to happen.

- It all came to a head when two weeks after your discovery and still no proposal.

- When you were lounging in his room, you decided to be honest in what you had found.

- “Can I tell you something?” “you can tell me anything” “I found the medallion”

- Cole’s face became disheartened instantly and he sat up in his seat, he thought you hadn’t liked it.

- You had, and you told him that, you just hoped he hadn’t decided against asking you.

- He hadn’t, and he truthfully said how he couldn’t figure out when to ask.

- “I wouldn’t mind right now..”

- Cole’s face became brighter as he moved towards the wardrobe, opening it and retrieving the box with the medallion.

- Then he got down on one knee.

- “[Name], you are my entire heart, you make me want to get up in the morning all so I can spend the entire day loving you and reminding myself that I am the luckiest man in the world because I get to be your boyfriend, and I want to spend the rest of my life waking up proud to be by your side..so..Will you be my Yang..?”

- You answer his question by kissing him, Cole adjusting himself so you’re comfortable on him.

- You said yes the moment you finally got your lips off him.

Jay:

- This man, for some reason has a fascination in accidentally doing any big moments during the midsts of a battle.

- So of course it was only fitting for him to plan everything with his head held high.

- Only for the possibility of the city being destroyed to hang in the balance.

- No one expected for him to get down on one knee, he hadn’t even told the ninjas that he was planning on asking you to be his Yang.

- He has learnt that the ninjas are the worst secret keepers and the worst at giving advice.

- You were covered in grit, the hood of your GI over your head as you were in battle position.

- Jay was dirty but most likely had cartoon hearts flying over his eyes.

- When he got down on one knee your eyes widened at the sight.

- “What are you doing..?” “Something I need to get off my chest before it’s too late”

- “I know this is the worst timing, and I wish I could take you elsewhere and be every bit of the man I know you deserve..but I cannot continue this battle not letting you know that you’re who I fight for..I can’t keep fighting without you knowing just how I feel for you and how my heart beats for you. Will you be my Yang..?”

- Even with the impending doom, you lifted your mask off and pulled him in for a kiss.

- Everyone in the vicinity aw’d at the romantic gesture.

- And with the new title of Ying and Yang, you fought harder for victory.

Zane:

- His proposal isn’t over the top, or out of the blue.

- He’s meticulously thought out everything, keeping the medallion safe and sound and knowing exactly what to do.

- He knows to keep it private and he knows to keep the speech short and sweet.

- Zane settles on taking you to the snow covered forest under the guise of a walk.

- It confused you momentarily but then again this is Zane, it wasn’t unusual for him to want to go for a walk and confuse you.

- As you reach the end of the trail, he cupped your hands in his, bringing them up to his lips for a kiss.

- “I have a question to ask you” “Yeah?”

- Zane slowly takes a step back, but keeps his hand in yours.

- “I love you so much, you have shown me there is more to life than binary codes and following rules, you’ve taught me that it is fine to let my life change paths and if you hadn’t told me that I don’t think I would have found you”

- You were touched at his words, but instantly became speechless when he got down on one knee.

- “Will you be my Yang..?”

- You were teary eyed as his words settled into the air and slowly you nodded, a smile growing on your lips.

- To Zane this was what he was made to do, be yours.

Nya:

- She knew what she was doing.

- Sure no one else thought she was, but she knew it was better not to have a complete plan than try and overanalyse every little thing to perfection.

- Sure sometimes she can be a perfectionate to a fault, but you’ve tried to teach her not to be.

- and she needs to be reckless.

- The only part of her plan she planned out was the medallion and her speech, the rest was up to anticipation.

- Or better yet, when she no longer felt she could wait to pop the question.

- That happened when the two of you were at the beach.

- And she knew instantly how cliche it was to ask you on the beach, especially when she asked you to head to the car quickly for something.

- and she began writing in the sand, asking you to be her Yang.

- When you returned, carrying a spare towel on your arms, you instantly dropped it in shock at the sight in front of you.

- The question and Nya on one knee in front of you.

- “Nya..”

- “You make me tongue tied, I never know just what to say to you, without making me sound like a total idiot all because I get distracted by your beautiful face..but for once..I’m gonna be brave and I need you to know that I adore you..I adore you so much and nothing would mean more to me than having you for the rest of my life..Will you be my Yang..?”

- You couldn’t even respond, stepping over the towel as you joined her on the ground, wrapping her into a tight hug.

- “Is that a yes..?” “That is a definite yes..”

“You should not want to destroy it” You countered, sternly turning to look at him with crossed arms “If anyone knew a god wanted to destroy an entire kingdom, it would start a war”

“So?” He tilted his head at you, stepping closer to you.

It took all your might not to glance down and make eye-contact with his abs and biceps.

“So, wars aren’t a good thing, you could lose”

You swore the church shaked when Lloyd loudly laughed, tipping his head back in humour.

When he lifted his head back up, wide grin on his lips “Losing? Do you really doubt my abilities”

“People have weapons” You returned your gaze back to the destroyed kingdom drawing, even more had been added to it. Including what you could assume was Lloyd standing victorious.

“And I can flick them out of existence” He singsonged, lifting his finger to do a flick as an example, an echoing collapse sounded from outside.

You turned to him in shock, mouth open from the sound. He had not just done what you thought he had, has he?

Lloyd seemingly noticing your expression, smiled at you “Don’t worry, it was merely an old building that I knocked down, or it was a tree falling onto those guards. But who really knows”

“Lloyd!” You shouted, before clamping your hand in front of your mouth. You had just yelled at a god.

You kept forgetting he wasn’t just an average human, one you could scold with hopefully no repercussions. A god can give you multiple consequences for your actions.

The blond beamed at you “Yes, my Angel?”

You pressed your lips together at the affectionate term, it seems he was never going to budge from that name.

“I really hope you have not caused a tree to fall” and kill two men corrupted by the unrightful laws, you silently added.

“Only time will tell” He shrugged, lightly tapping the table and you watched as it evaporated out of this world “Though we’ll be hearing screams regardless”

You couldn’t believe you had agreed to let this almost sadistic god accompany you on your quest, a quest with no ending in sight.

All you knew was that you needed to get away from this church, and this retched village. But you didn’t know where to go.

“Are you ready to go? We’ve got a rather long journey ahead of us” Lloyd smiled at you, checking his mural one last time and then made the stick disappear.

And now he was seeking urgency, it wasn’t your fault you had to stay behind and watch [and accompany] him in creating his quote on quote ‘masterpiece’.

You were about to respond in a sarcastic manner, when you remembered that he is going to stand out like a sore thumb.

It wasn’t exactly everyday people see a half naked man who looked like he was created by the gods, except this man was actually created by the gods.

“Uh what about all..” You vaguely gesture to him, trailing off your sentence as you did so.

Lloyd hummed and glanced down to his body, confusion in his face “What’s wrong with this?”

“It’s not exactly..” You hesitated to find the correct word “..normal..”

“Of course it is, everyone is nude”

“Underneath their clothes, not for everyone to see” You hoped he’d listen to your words, turning from him in relief, perhaps this would cause for him not to join you “I’m afraid if you want to come then you’ll have to wear clothes, and I can’t exactly see any around-“

“All done” Lloyd interrupted, and your back straightened.

What had he finished?

“Um what?” Taking a deep breath you turn to look back at him and he was no longer partially nude.

If you only looked from the neck down, he looked like a normal person, a grey tunic with trousers accompanied by a belt and boots. He looked so uncharacteristically ordinary.

That ordinary disappeared when you looked at his face, his blond hair still looked effortlessly perfect and his eyes still drew you in.

“Is this better?” He asked, leaning himself against the pew with a bright smile.

You are so thankful you’ve never agreed to celibacy.

All you could muster was a hum and then you glanced down to his hands, one of them was enclosed.

Lloyd noticed your gaze and loudly oh’d “I thought, since you said people want you dead, that a cloak would be beneficial”

At the word cloak, he lifted his hand up to let you see what he had crafted out of thin air. You hadn’t even thought about concealing your identity.

“I- yes..yes that is a very good idea” You nodded in agreement, stepping forward to him, you hoped your footsteps didn’t show how fast your heart was racing.

And how many unholy thoughts had entered your mind, wait is he able to read your mind?

If he could, he never showed it when he passed you the cloak.

“Do I get a kiss for my good idea?” He asked, he sounded so casual when his words were the exact opposite of that.

You did not take his words as casual, you took them as shocking.

“No” You quickly dismissed, lifting the cloak up and began to tie it around you, preparing to conceal your identity.

To no longer be a witch.

You expected for a disappointed aw to escape Lloyds mouth, for him to try and encourage you to give him a little kiss. He is a man after all.

But, he doesn’t.

He doesn’t ask you again and he turns his attention elsewhere, not even commenting on your dismissal.

“Um I said no to kissing you?” You repeated your answer, watching as with a flick of his wrist he magicked up a dagger.

“Is it normal for people to hold these? I think it is” it was as if he hadn’t heard your words, instead he lifted the weapon up “And I’d rather carry one of these, whose to say what dangers we might encounter”

You glanced down to the weapon and gave a small shake of your head, most normal people hid their weapons, not have them on full display.

That got Lloyd to aw in disappointment, keeping the dagger in his hands before shrugging and decided that he’s taking it anyways.

“If anyone has a problem then I can easily diffuse it with my dagger” He neatly settled it into a small weapon belt “Or I can stab them, either way, not my problem”

A literal god did not care that you said no to an advance, an ulmightly being who would be accustomed to getting everything he wants didn’t care that you said no.

He was so much better than any man you’ve ever met.

“Just use it wisely then, okay?” You cleared your throat after you spoke, trying not to show how impacted you were by his respect.

“I shall use it wisely, unless it is absolutely necessary and bloodshed is required” Even though his words had an underlying darkness to them, he smiled throughout.

“It is not required” You began to head for the church exit, praying to whoever will listen (in this situation it might be Lloyd) that you’ll be able to leave.

Sure accompanied by a god, but you hoped that eventually he’ll have some duties to return to. Emphasis on the eventually.

“Yet”

You flinched when he walked beside you, having caught up in seconds and lifted the hood of your cloak up and over your head.

This time, with Lloyd at your side, you were finally allowed to leave the church.

You still couldn’t believe you had an undercover god with you.

It was difficult for Lloyd to blend in.

So far, you and him have only been away from the church, and life as you used to know for maybe a hour.

Through the trail of the forest you were quiet, silently hopeful it would bore him and make the god vanish.

It didn’t, and he somehow caught sight of a market.

“Ooo, let’s go there” He pointed in the direction of stalls and people walking around, it looked like something from your village.

You’ve been to a million markets, nothing ever changes. But you were now a homeless woman with no food or water.

And no money.

“I don’t have any money” You moved your own hand up to point back at him, for a moment it was empty, the next, Lloyd had placed a bag of coins into it.

Your gaze flickered from the bag to him.

“You do now” He nodded towards the brown leather “Or would trading be more beneficial? I could probably create some diamonds if that would be better”

“No!” You shouted, resting your free hand onto his arm. You were positive you got some looks of confusion at your yell “I mean this will definitely be beneficial, thank you”

“Nonsense, you don’t have to thank me” Lloyd adjusted himself so your arm was tucked inside of his, then began his way to the market.

You could only assume he was being a gentleman, or he was trying to claim you to the other male specimen and raise his domenance as supreme.

Though when he glanced down at you with a smile, you had a pretty good idea which was correct.

“I sort of do, I mean you made these out of thin air” You whispered, not wanting to draw attention to your statement. It wasn’t exactly everyday someone possesses coins from a literal god.

“I can make a lot of things out of thin air” You allowed Lloyd to lead you to the first stall that caught his eyes, of course it was an art one with parchments of paper and quills.

You hummed in response, watching as his eyes gazed upon the selection “Remember, only grab what we can carry”

You regretted emphasising the word ‘we’ when Lloyd looked at you with such devotion.

“Of course my Angel” He coed, leaning his head briefly to rest it atop yours.

You were pretty sure that was his rendition of a forehead kiss, but he made it more respectful and without embarrassing you by asking.

He knew you’d say no.

You hoped you would’ve said no.

Whilst he searched for everything that were not necessities, you looked for the actual needs. Food.

Sure you had a god and maybe he could create food into this world without a strain, but you didn’t exactly want to eat something that was essentially nonexistent.

And you didn’t want to eat his magic, you didn’t know where it came from.

Occasionally from the market, you glanced back to Lloyd watching as slowly the group around him grew. Most if not all were women.

Discreetly you sighed, looking back at the bread you had just picked up.

An elderly woman looked back at you with a small smile “Boy troubles?”

You fixed your gaze and shake your head “oh no, definitely no boy troubles”

“So you didn’t come with him” She gestured to Lloyd who was currently and very enthusiastically pointing to the dagger in his belt.

You could only imagine what he had said ‘I made this myself, isn’t it so cool?’ It is cool, but it was also quite literally made by him, no metal involved.

“We’re just travelling together” You faintly shrugged, grabbing an apple to join the bread “And I just met him”

“You certainly made him fall for you quickly” The elderly woman chuckled, watching as you placed the coins onto the table “I mean, he keeps looking at you with the biggest smile on his face. I assumed you were married”

“I wish” you rolled your eyes then realised what you just said “I mean, I would never wish for that, marriage is not for me”

“celibate?” She asked, picking the coins up and turned her back from you.

You don’t know what she is doing, but you choose not to question it “Uh sure, let’s say that”

You were not celibate, though maybe you should be.

The elderly woman hummed “Well don’t close your options just yet, not when you have an opportunity right in front of you”

Opportunity aka Lloyd.

You forced a smile to your lips in agreement and grabbed the bread and an apple, it certainly wasn’t a lot but there wasn’t many options left at the stall.

And the elderly woman had yet to restock.

Adjusting the hood on your cloak, you returned to Lloyd, squeezing through the group to be beside him.

Just like the elderly woman had said, when he saw you, he got the biggest smile on his face.

“Look my angel, so many people like my dagger” He beamed, showing the weapon properly and you felt the crowd instantly disperse.

No one cared for his dagger, they cared about being near an attractive man. Until they leant he was supposedly taken or more accurately infatuated with someone else.

That someone else being for some reason yourself.

Lloyd frowned when everyone left “Aw, where’d everyone go?”

“I think your dagger scared them off” You pursed your lips, handing the coin bag back to him so he can place it into his pocket (curse dresses and their inability to be accommodating).

“It’s not that scary, is it?” He questioned, pocketing both his weapon and the bag, then you noticed how he now had a backpack on him.

To make him feel better, you shake your head at his words “Where’d that come from?”

“Oh a lady gave it to me” Lloyd took the bag from his back and opened it for you “I tried to give it back, but she would not let me and it is a rather nice bag, said I could pay her back later”

Had someone really tried to convince him to sleep with them using a bag? Apparently so.

“Your..your not paying her back” Slowly you lowered your items, disbelief on your face as you did so.

“But I have the coins to do so?” He tilted his head, resealing the bag and placing it back onto his back.

You were left speechless, not sure if you really wanted to explain to a god that someone had just tried to bribe him to fuck them or not. Though based on his reaction to your curses, you decided against it.

“We don’t” You re-locked his arm into yours, deciding it was time to finally leave this market.

And to get Lloyd far, far, away from anyone else trying to coherse him into something. Perhaps when he handed you a cloak, you should’ve asked for him to make himself one.

Maybe that would’ve hidden his attractness, you doubted it but the thought was there.

As you guided Lloyd away, you heard chaos ensue behind you, at first you ignored it, head raised high as you kept walking.

Then you heard someone yell “Witch! She’s a witch!”

You froze in your steps, terrified that someone had figured out your identity? Had someone realised that a supposed witch had escaped?

Discreetly, you glanced behind you, terrified on the sight that might meet you.

You were positive it would be a crossbow aimed directly at you.

It wasn’t.

It was so much worse.

It was multiple people surrounding a stall, multiple parts of it baragaded as they all shouted that whoever was inside was a witch.

When someone approached with a lit lantern, ready to throw it towards the stall, you finally recognised whose it was.

It was the elderly lady.

Your breath hitched when through the gap of the wood there she was, calmly standing inside, like her life wasn’t flashing before her eyes and like she wasn’t about to be burned to death.

When the elderly lady caught sight of you, she lifted her hand up in a small farewell. Seconds later the lantern was thrown.

As you walked away all you could smell was the rising smoke and the rising cheers of victory.

Your chest heaved as you forced yourself to keep moving.

It was nightfall when you and Lloyd decided to rest.

You settling yourself against a tree whilst he got started on a fire, and by getting started you meant he did a finger gun to the ground and a fully made and lit campfire was born.

Impressed with himself, he looked down at you, as if to say ‘look, I did that’.

You didn’t respond to his happiness, all you could do was stare at the bag, the bag that contained the bread and apple.

The last thing that woman most likely served before the end of her life.

You wrapped your arms around yourself, practically hugging your body as you kept staring.

You didn’t even notice Lloyd had settled beside you until he was right there, eyebrows furrowed in concern “Are you okay?”

All you could muster was a shake of your head.

“Want to talk about it?” He shuffled closer to you, his arms resting against your side.

Did you really want to talk about this to some god? Did you really want to explain the simple concept that someone had died and you could do nothing to stop it?

Honestly, you had no choice.

“They thought she was a witch..” You whispered, allowing your head to lull to the side.

Lloyd nodded at your side “You said being a witch is a bad thing, right?”

“It is”

“I can’t understand why, shouldn’t a witch be celebrated? If someone can be magical then it must be special” He truthfully spoke and his approach was so optimistic, a type of optimism you never expected to hear from a god.

You never expected to be talking to a god either.

“You’re the first to think that” You muttered harshly.

“But weren’t the people at the market celebrating? They were chanting and cheering it” He really did have such an optimistic outlook on things.

You wished you had his naivety.

“They were celebrating the death of a..” You couldn’t bring yourself to finish the end of your sentence, you wanted to say witch, but you couldn’t “..a..a woman died today..all because of being a..a stupid witch..”

You felt Lloyd sombre beside you, his head lowering with yours, he hadn’t realised a death had occurred.

“How is someone even deemed a witch..?” Lloyd quietly questioned and you don’t think in the full fourteen hours that you’ve known him, you’ve heard his voice get so quiet.

“Being different” You bitterly scoffed, leaning your head back in anger “Being blamed for someone else’s wrong doing, speaking out against what is right and wrong, being independent. Being a witch doesn’t even mean someone has magical abilities, we’re just different”

The god was quiet beside you, for at least a full minute he didn’t utter a word, until finally he whispered “Is that why people saw you as a witch?”

“Yeah, and what did I get for being different? Nothing except being exiled from my home and being an attempted sacrifice to a god” You harshly squeezed yourself tighter.

All you wanted to do was scream, scream at everything wrong in this world and make the concept of witches disappear. All it did was kill innocent people and make them go on trial for nothing.

“If it’ll help, no one would’ve taken you as a sacrifice” Lloyd leaned his head to the side, allowing for it to rest against the bark of the tree.

You hummed in fake agreement, you didn’t believe him for a second, you just got lucky that the god that came down for you just wanted a bride.

“Not really..” You decided screw it and rested your head onto his shoulder “But I appreciate you trying to make me feel better”

“If you really want me to help you feel better, then I can definitely set someone’s house on fire” He smiled and you felt his arm wrap around you, it seems you’ve somehow worked your way into cuddling with a god.

Maybe you should stop calling him a god, sure he had the abilities of one, but he didn’t exactly act like one.

He was just Lloyd.

“You cannot burn down a house” You retorted with a roll of your eyes.

“Of course I can, I’ll even make sure the fire is as dark as their heart” The blond gently bumped your shoulder, the feeling so soft that if you weren’t paying attention to his movement, then you would’ve missed it.

“Lloyd” You exasperated, noticeably shaking your head at him.

Laughing, he dipped his head down to properly look at you “Or maybe screaming can help, I’ve heard that helps people feel better”

“You’re insane” You looked up at him, not trying to stop your lips curling up into a smile. He deserved your smile, even if it contrasted your words.

“I’m a god, I’m meant to be insane” Lloyd glanced back to the campfire and then back to you, seemingly debating the next words to tumble out of his lips “And witches are meant to be beautiful”

“They are meant to be oppressed” You said, resentment infiltratrating your tone. It wasn’t aimed at him, it was aimed at every single person you knew.

“Then rewrite the meaning” He gave a small tap to your shoulder and moved to sit in-front of you.

You gave him a confused look at his statement and his new position “I can’t do that”

“Why not?” Lloyd instantly replied, lowering his gaze to the ground, his hands pressed against the soil “They gave you that nonsensical meaning, why can’t you warp it? Why can’t you make being a witch a good thing? And make anyone who oppose it be faced with scrutiny”

“I’d be killed Lloyd” You firmly responded, there was no alternative for you, if you acted out and tried to get things changed, you’d still get the same fate as when you were first identified as a ‘witch’

Death.

You wouldn’t be able to see another sunset or sunrise ever again.

“I’m not the first one who dislikes this messed up perception, and you want to know what happened to them? They died” You lowered your arms from around you, letting them sink into the grass, bits of dirt staining the sleeve of your dress.

“But they didn’t have me on their side” He determinedly smiled at you, still keeping his hand on the ground.

It almost looked like he was concentrating on something, but why you couldn’t quite figure out.

“You can’t fight fire with fire” You sighed, sitting yourself properly against the tree, wincing slightly at the bark pressing against your skin.

Seconds later the bark turned soft, you didn’t even notice Lloyd flicking his wrist or doing any sort of magic.

“We can certainly try” He encouraged “If you let them think they’ve won, then no one gets their freedom. It’s gonna be another fire, another accused witch and the cycle will continue forever. Changes have to happen”

“And I’m meant to lead this change?”

“You can join it” Lloyd tipped his head to the side with a charming smile, then he finally lifted his hand up from the ground.

Underneath it was the most beautiful peony you had ever seen.

“You can’t just wait around for the world to change, sometimes you have to help with that change” He gently plucked the flower from the ground, lifting it up to examine it.

“I can’t help anyone” You truthfully whispered, how could you even help anyone not be tortured all because they were difficult.

How could you make being a witch more socially acceptable.

Both in the metaphorical and possibly literal sense.

“You helped me, you got me to join”

“I didn’t invite you to join, you just came” You retorted, sure you eventually let him tag along, but he was the one who immediately decided he wanted to join you.

“I don’t just leave my church for anyone” He chuckled, finishing his examination of the flower with a pleased nod.

You did not expect for him to lean forward, gently coaxing the hood of your cloak off your head, then he rested to peony behind your ear.

Your breath hitched at the action, you’ve never had anyone place a flower on you.

Content, Lloyd leaned back, softly smiling at you as he placed his hand against your cheek “You’re beautiful..”

Bashfully you glanced away from him.

“You really don’t have to be so nice..” You muttered, trying desperately to keep this facade that this didn’t bother you.

That his compliments and attentiveness weren’t making you feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

“I’m just speaking the truth” He seemed distracted by just admiring you, softly stroking the skin of your skin “Pretty..so very pretty..”

You made the dumb decision of accidentally glancing down to his lips, an action Lloyd noticed and lovingly smiled at.

You felt your lips dry up when you saw him reciprocate the action, though his gaze lingered longer on your mouth.

“Lloyd…” You whispered, you hadn’t expected to sound so breathless when saying his name.

His eyes returned to your eyes and you swore his green eyes had become brighter “Yes my love..”

You thought he had said in the church he would only call you ‘My Angel’, you also thought that the endearment ‘my love’ wouldn’t have any effect on you when whispered.

You were horribly wrong.

“We..we have to eat” You manage to stumble back, you wanted to divert your eyes from him, but they wouldn’t let you.

It was as if they were drawn into him, as if he had siren songed you into staring at him.

“Yeah..” He once again returned his gaze to your lips, the look in his eyes intensified.

Perhaps saying to eat wasn’t the greatest word choices from you.

“Actual food” You tried to sound stoic, even you could tell you failed, drastically.

Fortunately that got Lloyd out of his daze and he nodded in response to your words.

“Food..right..yup, I can do that” He slowly shuffled himself away, dismissing himself to the bag to pull out the bread.

Lloyd was very tempted to just magic up some proper food.

Once he was distracted, you leant your head back, the feeling of the peony on your ear was the only sensation you could feel.

You were positive there had to be some sort of love spell casted upon you. That was truly the only explanation to why you were feeling this way. That Lloyd or someone else had cast a spell to make you swoon over for him. Or maybe you were developing a soft spot for the attractive blond god.

“What did you say about screaming?” You faintly questioned, keeping your head against the pillow-like bark, it was oddly soothing.

Lloyd tilted his head up from the bag with a hum “Apparently it’s meant to be a good stress reliever, sorta just screaming your problems out”

“My problems consist of a lot of curses” You chuckled, resting your hands against your stomach. You could finally think over your thoughts now that he wasn’t seductively staring down at your lips.

“Then curse” He shrugged, closing the bag and deciding he didn’t want to slice the bread on the floor, he conjured up a table.

Lloyd truly did use his powers for every little inconvenience.

“I thought you didn’t like it”

“I think you’ve definitely earned a few passes on saying bad words”

You didn’t even let his words settle into the air, before you inhaled a breath and shouted “Fucking assholes!”

You never thought you’d see the day a god jump at a few curses and a scream, but here you were. Watching Lloyd jump out of his skin, almost dropping the bread.

“That definitely came from the heart” He snickered in your direction, lifting his dagger up to slice the bread.

“Oh I’m not done” You moved to stand up from the ground, making sure the peony didn’t fall as you flipped off the sky “You hear me you royal tyrant, your a fucking asshole and you deserve nothing but misery!”

This time Lloyd didn’t flinch and leant against the table (far too attractively in your opinion) and grinned “Did that feel good?”

“So good” You rapidly nod, slowly lowering yourself back against the tree “Do you have any angers that you need to scream out?”

He seemed to think about it, tipping his head back in consideration “Probably, but I’d rather not cause an earthquake or curse”

“Cursing is a natural process though” You spoke.

“Not to me” He moved to slowly slice the apple “Besides, I have a better way to relieve my frustration”

“And what’s that, destroying buildings?” You guessed, resting your chin against your knuckles.

“I was going to say through drawing, but sure destroying things works too” Lloyd humorously chuckled, picking up an apple slice to take a bite from it.

That took you by surprise and you knew your expression perfectly encapsulated that.

“Drawing? Like your mural?” You stood up from the tree and walked over to the table, before you could lean against it, he conjured up a chair for you to sit on.

“Exactly like my mural” He nodded and you noticed when he went back to slicing the apple, his grip on the dagger had tightened “I wasn’t lying when I said you helped me”

“Your mural was out of frustration?” You blinked at him in confusion, how had it been out of anger?

He had drawn you looking murderous in a veil, he had drawn himself looking love sick towards you, he had drawn your names inside a heart, and he had drawn a destroyed kingdom.

“Not in the literal sense, why do you think I started drawing when we met?” You thought he had began drawing because he couldn’t stand still and got distracted easily.

“I never really thought about it” You lied, pretending to effortlessly shrug your shoulders

“Sure you didn’t” He sent a wink your way then chuckled, finishing his slicing job “Let’s just say before I met you, I had some annoyances in my life”

Correction: Before today, there was something that made him so frustrated that he was willing to flee from (if he had any) godly duties and draw.

“Do you want to talk about it?” You asked, reciting the same question he had asked you minutes ago.

While you had expressed your sadness to him, Lloyd did not reciprocate, shaking his head.

“Maybe one day, just not today” He honestly spoke, placing slices of bread and apples in front of you with a small smile.

You nodded in a way you hoped was encouraging “When your ready, I’ll be here”

And because you must have a love spell on you, you lifted yourself up to press a kiss to his cheek.

Instantly, you began to eat the bread, hoping that with your mouth full you won’t be able to do anything even more stupid.

But when you saw the brightness in his cheeks and the smile that accompanies it, you knew you were screwed.

Like the assassin that was tasked to kill Eva (I’m too lazy to write her full name), who sent him? I know in the book they said it was anonymous, but it was never answered. And now I’m just left wondering why was he sent? Did Tiberius send him for revenge? Did that Lord Bellflower dude send him as revenge for Eva killing Petra? Why?

Literally who is Jacks family, I know he’s the archer (YIPPPEEE) but it was never answered what happened to his family, was he an orphan? Was his family his friends?

Jacks heart? What happened to it after the jar broke? Did it return inside him? I was full on expecting Apollo to throw it into the fire, but nooooo.

Now since I’ve been sitting with these thoughts here are what I wished would’ve occurred in the book :)

More sweet Apollo and Eva moments, now I know Apollo is the villain, but it felt like we were being told he was the villain rather than being shown. I really enjoyed the scene where Eva and him kissed and he promised he wouldn’t lock her away, and what does he do? He keeps her from leaving the castle. That is good, it shows he’s contradicting himself and that his values are warped.

Wish at first Apollo did want Eva to love him again, but slowly he begins to resent her and view her as a tool for his success. Why? In the book it says how much he values his legacy, he wants to be remembered throughout history and yet he isn’t, and when he realises that all of his moments in history have Eva within them, and how much traction she got for her turned to stone legacy. He starts to turn himself into a hero for the press and Eva into a damsel in distress, that is when he starts putting her in danger.

Apollo doesn’t say Jacks erased Eva’s memories, he is still wanted and Apollo wants him dead, but it’s for treason against the king, not for taking her memories. He tells Eva and everyone else that it was Lucien (Luc) doing, because he wanted a wife and to spite Apollo whilst he was ‘dead’ choose that Eva would be the perfect one. Then Apollo saves her. Again it warps the story, making Apollo appear to be the hero when in actuality he is the villain.

Get rid of that stupid yandere thing going on with Aurora, don’t have her fall in love with Jacks. Make her want to be his ally, make her like to see chaos and mischief so much that she wants to be his sidekick. Make her be sadistic, make her only help Apollo because she thought it would be funny. The cuffs of protection for Jacks heart storyline can remain if needed (I don’t want it to) but Aurora doesn’t want to change his heart so he loves her, she just wants to be a little shit.

Make the Archer (the name Jacks gives himself to Eva) storyline go on for longer, make their meeting a lot more accidental where Eva gets lost in a forest and calls out for help. At first Jacks doesn’t hear, but then he recognises her voice and goes to help, when he gets her out, he gives her a fake name. Then Jacks starts to see her on purpose, a fact dissuaded by Lala (I needed to see more of her and Jacks dynamic). But he doesn’t want to care, he wants to keep an eye on her he says. Then she gets attacked by an assassin, one that Jacks saves her from and he decides that he cannot stick around, but he needs to make sure she can fight for herself.

Eva goes to The Hunt alone, no guards escort her, she merely finds out where Apollo went then when she asks to go, the guards deny her (because Apollo doesn’t want her there) and she proceeds to sneak out and find her own way to The Hunt. The same plot-line goes, but she doesn’t realise Jacks is Archer when he saves her.

Remember when I said Apollo puts Eva in danger? He sent the assassin to ‘kill’ her, the plan was meant to be that he stops it, but then his plan gets derails by the murders of the Fortuna’s and he realises something is happening when there is a cut on Eva’s throat. I just want Apollo to keep putting Eva in danger, but every-time he needs to save her, something derails his plan and Jacks saves her instead.

Any drawing of Jacks is cursed to always adjust aspects of his appearance so he can never be recognised. I hate with a passion that it was the drawing that made Eva realise Jacks and Archer was the same person. I’m fine with the blame being pinned on Jacks for the massacre, since it’ll warrant more of a reason for Apollo to hunt him. But it is cursed.

Apollo does not capture Eva at the Phoenix trees, yes I know it adds suspense but I would’ve preferred if we got a parallel to when he was under the archers curse and hunting Eva. Now he’s willingly hunting her. He captures her when she is alone and he shoots an arrow into her leg, and Jacks knows she is in danger because she screams for him telepathically.

She gets the realisation that Jacks is Archer in that inn when her memory is recovered through the letter. But prior to that, she doesn’t get paragraphs of memories return to her, she gets little bits. She recognises the feeling of Archer touching her hand, she recognises the name ‘Little Fox’, she recognises the feel of his dagger in her hands. Her body language recognises him.

Also their first kiss happens in that fucking inn, they were on a bed, Eva had all the abilities to lean up and kiss him, and Jacks could’ve been frozen with fear and leaned away. Then when she gets the letter once he’s asleep, and gets her memories back and falls asleep herself, when Jacks awake she realises she’s alive and runs away. Because the last time someone survived his kiss, it was because they could never love him.

Eva knows it is because she is his one true love, his Fox, but Jacks doesn’t. He thinks this is Tella all over again.

also wish the author didn’t hand the identity of Jack as Archer to the reader on a silver platter. Why couldn’t it be for longer? Why weren’t there more scenes on him training Evangeline to fight? Why couldn’t there have been longer tensions. Also Chaos literally murdered an entire family! And it was brushed under a rug for the rest of the book after maybe one or two scenes, could there not have been a build up for that? actually could there have not been a lot more build up for chapters from Jacks POV??