the unsinkable theory

“Look a lot of people have allergies; it is a problem if a season is attacking us. Yeah, I don’t do any of that. I’m more of a homebody type of person anyways. I like towers but my hobbies include uh… bird watching. I have my own special binoculars from the 18th century. Well yeah, I like the dark. Night is the best time of day honestly. The stars are out and the street lamps illuminate the pathways so taking walks at nighttime are pretty cool.”

“Okay, you have a point. Being a homebody person is fine, but you really should get out and do stuff. Bird watching doesn’t count. Have you gone down to the ocean while you’ve been here? I guess night time isn’t such a bad time of the day, especially if you’re going to look at the stars. But isn’t summer better for that since the skies are always clear at night?”

“Yeah you have a point there. But may I add that blooming flowers lead to pollen? Which is, like I said, gross. It may look nice, but allergies are the worst. Those all sound like great activities but I don’t do any of that so it wouldn’t even matter to me. The darkness is the best part though! Especially when it starts to get darker earlier in the day. I agree about the snow though but at least I can put on multiple layers in the cold.”

“That’s only if the pollen bothers you, which it doesn’t bother me much. And you don’t go horseback riding or swimming? Were you locked up in some tower all of your life? Riding and swimming are the best things to do in Summer. I would say archery as well, but you could do that almost all year round. So you really like the dark, huh? I guess that’s not too weird.”

“What do you like about those seasons? Spring, there’s pollen everywhere which is disgusting. The only positive thing is the rain. Then in the summer it’s so hot outside I get sunburned constantly, I get exhausted from the heat, and all this sweat is stinky. It’s not like I could peel off my skin to cool off.”

“Of course if you say all of the negatives things about those seasons they’re going to sound bad. But there are flowers blooming and you can go out horseback riding and have picnics and go swimming. Autumn and Winter can be so dark and dreary. The snow in Winter is probably the only good part next to Christmas.”

“Actually, I think it should be cold year long. I don’t want to sweat anymore.”

“Really? I’ve always been more partial to Spring and Summer. I guess I just don’t mind the sweating.”

“That’s very true,” Annalise chuckled. August hadn’t even known Stella that well the first time he saved her, which was even more surprising to them. At least, that’s how Annalise saw it. She was surprised he had stuck around for so long, but then again, after getting to know him more and more, she could sort of see why. “You should be happy my door doesn’t work, now you can come sneak up on me to make sure I’m not doing anything you think I shouldn’t be,” she teased, smirking slightly. “At least, not here,” the blonde added. “Thank you… and thank you for coming to my rescue. I would have tried to escape, but she had been blocking my exit. I owe you one.”

“It was Nora’s decision to do it, you can’t blame yourself too much for it, Gabriel. I’m just glad that everyone is okay…” Annalise smiled softly, gently squeezing her brother’s arm reassuringly. “I will say, one good thing that has come out of this is that Stella and August seem to have gotten a lot closer.” She was happy for her sister, that she had found someone else who cared about her, and was genuinely a good person. “Likely, yes, but that’s not my priority right now. I think that’s a good idea,” she smiled softly, nodding. “I’m going to see if I can find Stella, and tell her, too.”

Annalise felt so weirdly about the situation now, knowing that her own brother could have had a lot to do with why Nora was so upset with their family. She didn’t blame him, but she also wasn’t sure she blamed Nora, either, for being angry with Gabriel. Her opinions she kept to herself, though, and chose to move forward. “I’m glad you didn’t, either.” She knew that if either of them had killed Nora it would only look bad to the rest of the Ravens, no matter what, and it was not something they wanted on their consciences. “I think you should probably clean up… Well, myself too, I suppose.” She hadn’t realized that hugging him would get Nora’s blood on her too, though she noticed when she mentioned it.

This was all news to Annalise, but now it made sense why Nora was so angry, and why she had gone after Stella in the first place, and not Gabriel directly. She was trying to hurt the people that Gabriel cared about. While it was clear she harbored resentment to all of them, hers toward Gabriel seemed to be the most deep, yet also complicated. “I see… well, I cannot say that I blame her for lying if she truly thought you wouldn’t accept her, but it does not excuse it, by any means. Her intentions could have been horrible. I’m glad that you didn’t continue it,” she nodded, knowing it might have been a lot worse otherwise. “I wasn’t afraid of Nora, but I was afraid that she would do something horrible to either you, or Stella, or Darcy, again. I wanted to kill her, that day… I really did… that was the scariest part.”

“That’s a good idea. Then we don’t have to take any chances. She should be fine in the dungeons here for a few days.” Hopefully their parents would write them back soon so they could get Nora out of here, whether Gabriel needed to go with her or not. Wrapping her arms around her brother, Annalise buried her head in his chest. “When? When did this happen?” Had Colin known about it? If so, why were they both so upset when Stella and Gilen were together? Then again, if Gabriel had broken things off with Nora when he figured out who she was, that did make sense. “I can tell that she’s angry… she must have really cared about you…”

Hearing that information gave Annalise a little more reassurance that perhaps Gabriel didn’t have to go. She would prefer it that way, honestly, but she would not stop her brother from doing whatever he thought was right. Raising a brow at how defensive he was getting, Annalise softened her voice. “Gabriel…” she knew that he was lying, but a part of her knew that pushing him on it wasn’t wise. She just wanted him to know that he could talk to her about it, and that she was just concerned for him. Sighing, she motioned for him to give her a hug. “I just want you to be safe, and to not make any rash decisions.”

Annalise felt much more comfortable with the guards assuring them they would take care of Nora. She glared at the girl, wanting her to know that she wouldn’t forget about this. “Right. We don’t know for sure if he is, do we? He might be in Arendelle…” She hoped not, though then again, she feared for the safety of both of her brothers. “I understand. I think that you should, but… Gabriel…” Annalise paused, sighing softly. “I don’t want you to get hurt. You can’t be soft on her, or let your emotions get in the way. I don’t know exactly what went on between the two of you, but I can tell, something had.”

Annalise allowed the guards to enter first, so that they could deal with Nora and she could talk to Gabriel. When he asked if he should go back to Italy with Nora, Annalise frowned. “I don’t know, Gabriel… You don’t mean permanently, do you? What about Isabella?” There were so many factors that would have been thrown out of balance with him gone, though she couldn’t argue the fact that if he stayed here, Nora might do worse damage back home somehow. 

@gxbrielrose​

pericxlo‌:

Nora gritted her teeth at the fact that both of the Roses there with her were too noble to kill her. She didn’t want to die, but she hated a challenge going unmet. She should have known neither of them would do it. Without warning, Gabriel dragged the end of the sword over her arm and she held back a scream. She hadn’t been expecting it, and it was deeper than what Annalise had done last time. She felt her eyes water at the pain, but all she could do was shakily breathe through it. The only good thing was that she knew she was bleeding on him.

@embracingthxthornes​

Annalise could tell by the look on Nora’s face that she was angry. Why, she could only imagine, though she didn’t want to stick around to find out. She took her brother’s advice and went to find the guards, running as quickly as she could. While she believed that Gabriel wouldn’t kill her, she feared leaving her brother alone with her for too long, which motivated her to be even quicker. “Guards, guards, come quickly… this way…”

@gxbrielrose​

Gabriel held tight onto Nora, wanting her to know that he wasn’t letting his guard down just because he had hurt her. When Annalise ran off to find the guards, he leaned down slightly to speak to Nora. “Living in a cell is better than being dead,” he told her, his voice soft. “And you’ll be back in Italy, where you belong.” She didn’t respond to him, but from the way she was breathing he could tell she was angry about all of this. It wasn’t long before the guards came into the room and took the girl from his arms. “I should probably go with her back to Italy, right? To make sure nothing happens?” He asked his sister, not sure what the right thing to do was.

pericxlo‌:

Nora had two swords pointed at her now, and she finally stopped struggling. She felt the tip of Gabriel’s sword prick her skin, but she didn’t show that she was in pain. “Your siblings are loyal to their interests.” She knew that Gabriel could not see past the things he wanted or what he had been raised to believe. So she figured she would give him what he wanted. “The only way to get rid of me is to kill me, so I suggest you do it now and get it over with.”

@embracingthxthornes​

Annalise dusted herself off, nodding to Gabriel’s question. “I’m fine, yes.” She saw the blood start to trickle from Nora’s neck, and knew that Gabriel was completely serious about not letting her get away. “Don’t tempt us, that seems like a viable option, right about now,” Annalise said sternly. While she by no means trusted Nora to be freed, she had never been one to want harm caused to any living creature, especially death. She had never seen a reason to use such a harsh punishment until facing Nora. “As much as I don’t trust you, and as much pain you have caused my family… you won’t die by my hand, unless it is ultimate act of self defense.” She wouldn’t kill Nora Raven. Not unless it was to spare another life, but she couldn’t promise the same for her siblings.

@gxbrielrose​

Gabriel had to admit that he did want to kill her, but he also agreed with his sister. He couldn’t kill her, not like this. Not even with the fact that she had stabbed him. “I think killing you would be too much of a mercy at this point,” he said to Nora, moving the sword from her neck but slicing into her arm. “I think maybe going back to Italy in handcuffs will suffice.” He looked over to his sister. “You better go get the guards. I’ll stay here with her.” He wouldn’t let Nora get away, and with her bleeding and whimpering in his arms made it seem like she wouldn’t even bother.

pericxlo‌:

Nora smiled when she saw Annalise in pain, glad that she had cause some discomfort for her. It was even more rewarding than hurting her little boyfriend. “Don’t worry. I’ll get an explanation out of you one way or another.” She had raised her hand to summon more vines, wanting to trap the princess in them, when she felt arms around her and a sword at her throat. “You’ve been so touchy feely with me lately, Gabriel. You’re giving me mixed signals,” she said, struggling against his grasp.

@embracingthxthornes​

Annalise was honestly just trying to stall Nora until she could grab the attention of one or both of her siblings. Luckily, it had been Gabriel who had heard her. She kept a straight face as her brother came into the room. “Doubtful,” she spat back at Nora. Annalise dropped her hand from her shoulder, rolling them back carefully. She had gotten a bit hurt from getting knocked back by Nora’s magic, but not nearly as much as she had pretended to be. “Don’t move,” the blonde warned her, raising her sword up to the girl, in case she tried anything. “It seems like you were wrong, Nora. My siblings are trust worthy after all… I trusted that Gabriel would hear what was going on, and he came.” Turning to her brother, she kept an eye on Nora, not wanting to give her any chance to escape. “Be careful, Gabriel…”

@gxbrielrose​

Gabriel could feel Nora struggling in his arms and he tightened his grip, knowing that it would hurt her but not wanting her to have the chance to get away. He had made too many mistakes last time, and he wouldn’t repeat those. “Are you okay, Annalise?” He asked, wanting to make sure that nothing was wrong with his sister. She looked mostly okay to him, which was a relief. He seemed to have come in the nick of time. “I’m not letting her get away,” he said, pressing the tip of his sword into her neck, just enough to draw a trickle of blood.

Annalise fell backward as she was pushed, quickly regaining her balance. In the midst of her fall, she made sure to make a loud noise, one that may have sounded like she got hurt, but really, she was trying to signal her siblings. In order to keep the facade that she may have been injured, she convincingly grasped at her shoulder, wincing slightly. Maybe she was more confident this time. Or maybe it was cockiness. She had fought Nora before and left with hardly a scratch, though she knew better than to assume the same would happen this time. “I don’t owe you any explanation.” Her strength as a gift. She wasn’t about to reveal its secrets to an outsider, let alone Nora. She took a few steps closer to Nora, almost daring her to try anything.

Gabriel had been in his room when he heard commotion and a sound like someone was in pain. The voice sounded too much like his little sister for his liking, so he grabbed his sword and ran out of his room, finding Nora there with her back to him. Quickly, he came up behind her and grabbed her, the point of his sword at her neck. “Drop your magic or my sword goes into your neck.”