#darklingxreader

Oh, how they underestimate her.

Katherine gasps at the sudden cold wetness on her chest. She looks down at the soaked white blouse, her rage doubling in size and her jaw clenching to not scream at the idiot who's done this.

"Ms. Anya!" Of course it had to be the lightscum, she thought.

"I'm so, so sorry!" Alina put her own kefta on the woman's blouse in an attempt to dry it. "I was— Well, Genya was—" She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I took the jar from her and tripped on the corner of the table. You know how this fancy mobiles are—"

"Enough." The Sun Summoner shuts her mouth immediately, an unsaid warning in the coldness of Katherine's voice.

"I didn't mean it."

The handmaiden takes a deep breath to not say something she might regret. "I know. Just give me a towel and I'll fix this."

Before she could blink, Alina was by her side with a towel. The woman takes it without thanking her and begins to dry her blouse a little. The room stayed in an unpleasant silence for some minutes until Genya decided to break it: "You have to meet Baghra now, Alina."

"But—"

"The Heartrenders will escort you." She nods to the men on the doorway.

Alina faces Katherine again, whose eyes were at the soaked blouse. She's been trying to gain her respect — or at least earn a smile from her — since they were introduced, but she's been failing miserably. The Sun Summoner felt on day one that she annoys the woman; it's clear due to the indifferent expressions towards her. Unlike many servants, Ms. Anya doesn't talk to Alina unless she asks something, and is never entertained by her clumsiness, jokes or lack of knowledge.

Genya noticed that too. She'd even tried to have a conversation with Ms. Anya, but a blonde handmaiden entered on her way and had the chance to talk to the brunette first.

"She doesn't deserve this." The Tailor suddenly says.

Katherine still tries to dry her blouse. "What?"

"Your harshness. You're too cold to her."

She finally looks up, a frown on her face. "I answer all of her questions. If I were cold or impolite, as you're implying, I'd always ignore her."

"But you don't talk to her."

"Of course. I was not hired for that."

It takes everything in Genya to not roll her eyes. "Alina's suffered enough on her life. She's a wonderful person, and I'm sure she'll be happy to see you as a friend."

Katherine scoffs. "You just want me as her friend to ease the disappointment she'll soon feel."

The Tailor frowns, though her stomach twists in nervousness. Unfortunately, it is true. One of the reasons she wants Ms. Anya to befriend Alina is for the latter forget Genya when she enters the Second Army as a real soldier. It'll be painful to lose the Sun Summoner friendship, but it's a sacrifice she's ready to make if it means to be seen as a true Grisha.

"What do you mean?"

"The letters to Mal, of course. You didn't send them."

The redhead's heart sinks in fear. Fear of her to tell Alina and ruining her chances on the Second Army. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're a good liar... for those who doesn't see. Unfortunately for you, I see and know everything."

"I'll then repeat what I've said." She approaches the servant, close enough to seem threatening. "I. Don't. Know. What. You're. Talking. About."

Katherine raises an eyebrow, but nods. However, the Grisha doesn't see the slight quivering on her lips. But how could she? Just close friends or older people are able to notice Katherine's lies. Moreover, you can count on the fingers how many had discovered her plans before their execution.

It's difficult to catch a handler, especially, The Handler.

"Don't worry, Genya. Your secret is safe with me." She calmly walks to the door, but stops to face the Tailor again. "You'll be a terrific soldier."

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"Celtic Rituals", a female voice makes Agatha look up from the book she's reading. "You're as curious as you seem."

Her dark brown eyes widen when she sees Veronika with a warm smile. However, they widen even more at the realization that the redhead read the book cover, which means she knows Norse runes. Of course Agatha suspected since the beginning that Veronika wasn't truly what she says. If you take a quick glance, she's just an ordinary girl, but if you take a close look, you see that she's full of secrets, secrets that Agatha wants to discover. After all, the ginger woman seems familiar to her. Maybe she was part of her past.

"You know Norse runes, werewolves and Halloween. What more?"

She shrugs. "Uncountable things, though I'm not my family's brain."

Agatha chuckles. "There's someone smarter than you in your family?" She nods. "They must be a genius then."

"She is. Now—", the redhead approaches the dark skinned woman "why are you reading that?"

She pouts. "Knowledge. Curiosity. Attempt to unlock a memory. Take a pick."

Hope's heart clenches. Her cousin's trying to discover her past again and she can't help. If she does, the spell they'll do can affect Agatha's memory and that's not a risk any Mikaelson's willing take. Agatha has to remember naturally as much as possible.

Katherine's reading some books of the Little Palace's library, Levi and Nick are searching around Os Alta after some wizards, Michelle's paying attention on every corner of the palaces in hope of getting something useful. Unfortunately for Hope, she's just the bridge that links Agatha to her cousins. She can't do any research far from the Grishas. However, she can manipulate Agatha to remind things by mentioning tips of her past.

That lights a candle on Hope's brain, an idea popping in it. The ginger looks at Agatha again, seeing the similarities with her brother. It's impossible to look at the two and not notice they're siblings. So why not arranging a meet between them? Agatha could remember something if she sees Nick. The only thing she can't tell Agatha is his real name.

"You know, I feel kind today, so I'll tell you something."

She faces Hope with a frown. "What?"

The redhead analyzes the library to see if anyone's looking at them, then she leans forward and whispers on Agatha's ear: "There's a man that knows some things about the Supernatural community. Maybe he can help you."

"Who is it?"

"His name's Konstantin." She looks at her cousin deep in her eyes. "I can arrange a meeting, but you have to promise you won't tell anyone."

Agatha nods. "I promise. I need to know some things about myself, Veronika."

Hope gives her a sad smile. "I know, and that's why I'm helping you. I'll tell you the arranged place and time if I got the meeting. After all, he's a busy man."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Power busy people, darling."

The hybrid chuckles. "Thank you, Veronika. Really."

"Trust me, you don't have to thank me."

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Agatha's nervous. She's never been in Os Alta before, her only memories of Ravka are the palaces. A few friends invited her one day to go to the city, but she refused, wanting to read instead. However, the woman doubts those Grishas went to where she is now, the poorest part of Os Alta — though it doesn't seem that poor.

She looks at the bar Veronika told her. The placard is in Latin, which is an unusual language to be, but the writing bellow the bar's name is in Ravkan.

PRAECANTRIX

drinks, food and a lot of fun

"You own me one, Veronika", Agatha mutters before pulling the door open.

The environment is turbulent. A woman and a man play together an hectic song on the violin and there's a bet table on the darkest corner. There're waiters trying to not drop the drinks on the tray, some people relaxing after a long day while others are drunk or high, talking and singing with themselves. There're also couples on the dance floor shamelessly making out, kissing each others necks too, which will certainly leave hickeys. In every way possible, this is the opposite of the two palaces.

"He's there", a waiter stops in front of Agatha to point at the man on an empty table, away from the noise, but near enough to see everything.

The hybrid walks towards him, but stops when he faces her. All of her body freezes, including the heartbeats a the air on the lungs, a shivering runs through her spine, sending goosebumps all over her skin. For a minute, Agatha thought of poking herself to stop whatever dream she's having, but soon enough she realized that this is reality.

This is happening. But how?

The man is a male version of her. The same dark skin and brown eyes, tall with muscles and a defined jaw. Although his black hair is shaved, she's sure it'll appear curls like hers if he let it grow. Agatha's gaze finally pauses on the man's throat, where a huge scar lands. It seems made by a clawed animal — a wolf —, which must've almost ripped his throat apart.

Agatha has one like that on her chest. She'd saw it one day on the mirror and had tried to remember where did she get that. Her shot's that it was a wolf.

Maybe this man knows what scarred her like this.

"Ho— Veronika told me you were wanting answers." He says, trying not to be dragged by his emotions. After all, it's not easy to see your twin, pretend you don't know them and don't talk about the past.

Agatha sits in front of him. "What's with the scar?" Her eyes widen and heat flows on her cheeks after realizing she's said that out loud. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

The man chuckles, his eyes still on hers. "Wolf."

I knew it! "For your comfort, I have one too." She pulls the shirt's collar to show her scarred chest. "But I don't know what caused it."

He smirks. "It may be from a wolf too."

"Yeah." She clears her throat. "Where are you from, Konstantin?"

"United States", he takes a sip of his kvas. "Louisiana."

"I think I'm from there too! I mean, America."

"Really?"

"Yeah. My thoughts are all in American english, so it'd make sense to be from there."

Konstantin smiles, and for some reason Agatha mirrors him. The man tells her everything about his city, New Orleans: its beauty, history and legacy, cultural habits, how alliances between people are important... The woman listens to every part with a smile, her heart warming at the man's passion for the place. It must be a dream to live there.

"And the French Quarter... Ah!" He sighs with love.

Agatha curiously nods, eager to know as much as possible. "Tell me!"

"There's music everywhere. It's the most awesome part of New Orleans. You know why?" She shakes her head. "Because the Supernaturals' own it."

The woman almost spills her kvas. "What?!"

He chuckles at her shock. "It's exactly what you've heard."

"No way! This is... This is insane!"

Konstantin smiles. "Each part of the French Quarter belongs to a species. Only the main streets are everyone's, where there're goods from all kinds."

"There are no humans there?"

"Of course there are, but they don't know they're minority. There was a time when New Orleans attracted hunters, who tried to capture and torture Supernaturals for information." He sighs and faces her. "A lot of people died, Agatha, but they didn't want to give up the city. It was everything they've ever knew."

"And what happened?"

"The Supernaturals spread the word to the nearest covens, saying New Orleans would welcome everyone. If they couldn't stop the hunters to come, then they would outnumber them."

"Did it work?"

His smirk is devious. "Every hunter that stepped on there was mysteriously vanished. After a while, they stopped appearing." Agatha's jaw dropped. "A few humans went there to find a vampire or something, but when they left the city unharmed, people started to believe the Supernaturals are myths."

"So you use this on your favor to live in peace." Konstantin nods. "That's unbelievable! Amazing!"

His smile reach his eyes, not because Agatha found that fantastic, but due to the time he's spending with his sister. Nick can't describe the feeling of seeing and speaking to his twin again. It is as if he was finally in peace, the thoughts of her being in danger gone... for a while.

"You know, we celebrate Halloween there, if you want to go."

Agatha's dark brown eyes shine. "I'd love to. It must be the most mesmerizing celebration."

"I assure you it is." His heart clenches at the memories of them eating sweets and trying to scare their mothers. "We light candles all over the streets, make arts on pumpkins, pray for the living and dead world, eat candies... But the most fantastic thing of  Halloween is that we can be ourselves without fear, is the only night we can use our powers wherever we want."

"Veronika told me that."

He gives her a sad smile, fighting the tears threatening to leave his eyes. "I know."

Agatha finally stand up. "I gotta go. Thank you, Konstantin. It was really nice to meet you."

He follows her movements and stay face to face with her. "I loved meeting you too, Agatha."

"Can we see each other again? I wanna know more about the Supernatural."

"Sure."

The woman is surprised when the man suddenly hugs her, yet she retributes it. Something on her tells to never let him go, no matter what. Maybe Konstantin will be an important person on her life. It's a weird thought though, since she's just met the man, but she embraces the feeling. The man made her feel good after a long time, she was relaxed while talking and listening to him, her focus was just on him, it was as if there was no one else in the world but them.

Agatha must be mad, however, she's sure a strong connection was built the moment he hugged her.

"The moon is the key to everything", Konstantin says after separating them. "Don't hold your instincts while talking to it."

She nods. "I won't."

When the woman leaves the bar, heading to the Little Palace, Nick throws himself at a chair. He looks at the dance floor, where a few vampires drink blood from some humans' necks, then at the couple playing a fae song on the violin. Finally, he gazes the table on the darkest corner of the bar. People usually confuse it with a bet table, but he and all of Ravka's Supernaturals know that it's a tarot table, where witches read the tarot cards to predict the future.

Ravka is not only full of Grishas, with their small science. There are Supernaturals, full of magic, too. They don't practice their merzost in public, of course, but the little actions are the proof that they don't follow any "main" traditions. For example, everything in this poor area is in Latin, the universal language of magic.

A werewolf waiter comes to recoil the cups of kvas on Nick's table, and without facing her, he says: "Give me a bottle of vodka, please. I need something strong."

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Lena wasn‘t sure how she ended up here, but she knew better than to ask questions. Aleksander, as she knew him, was a kind man. To her. Or maybe she was just one more foolish girl to him, whichever it was, he had accepted her for who she was.

A blood witch, many called her. All across Ravka and even beyond. They both had extraordinary talents, but for whatever reason, Aleksander was more accepted than her. Or, as accepted as grisha could be in these times. However, Lena remembered making the King himself kneel before her, then downing his entire army to do the same.

The power she felt, the name she earned. She used to wear lifeless colours, blending in, but she wore deepest of reds now, which seemed to be more fitting. It matched Aleksanders black attire quite nicely.

She counted herself lucky to even know him by that name, as he would never use it nowadays. He was known as something else, a shadow just passing through.

Aleksander was looking at the girl now, remembering his own mother, who once pretended to go by that name too – just like Lena did now. To him, she was Telyna, but for many reasons she didn’t like sharing, she despised that name.

Telyna was who she was before she became worthy of being a blood witch, it was a time of drowning and fear and pain. She broke through, but it cost her greatly, sometimes she wondered if it cost her humanity herself.

Aleksander liked that about her, as she stood there, glowing and graceful, radiating the power she had within. He saw the army kneel against their will. The world could be theirs, as they knew it.

But he needed to get stronger, to be worthy to stand next to her.

Lena looked at the man as shadows danced around them and he caught her gaze, smirking. The shadow extended, and she couldn’t see the light anymore.

“Impressive.” She said lazily, rubbing her hands on her cloak.

“Not enough to take down an entire army.” He said, letting the shadows drop – sunlight returned making Lena cover her eyes.

“No, I’m afraid not.” She agreed as he came to her, placing his hand on her shoulder. She felt the surge of power rush through her, as a reminder that he is an amplifier. Her mind for a second thought about what she could be is she bore his bones permanently, but she chased the thought away.

“Together we could-“

“Have the Ravka, Shu Han, Fjerda. Our reach might take Ketterdam and the whole world.” She finished as Aleksander just grinned.

She glanced at him and he involuntarily stepped back. His face grew tense but there was playfulness behind his eyes.

“I thought we agreed you wouldn’t do that.” She let him go, dropping herself to the grass and staring at the surrounding area. They were in an opening in a forest north of Ravka, close to the border.

“I thought we agreed not to discuss your plans to take over the world, Aleksander.” He pressed his lips tightly. This was a discussion neither of them really enjoyed.

“You almost took down the king.” Lena shot him a glance, sending him to his knees. He grunted but remained silent.

“It was for his treatment of grisha. Now he may never forget that if we wished to, we could destroy him and all he stands for.” Her voice trembled in anger. “That was his final warning.”

“Until he hurts another grisha.” Lena looked at Aleksander, who was still on his knees, staring at her. Shadows seeped out of him, seemingly not out of his will. She looked away.

“Then I will have him bring me his own head.” She said through her teeth. The woman couldn’t see Aleksander grin, as if he was twisting up a plan.

She only heard grass move and they were surrounded by darkness again. Even in it, she could see Aleksanders face change, as his shoulder relaxed, his skin began to glow. He looked better the further the darkness reached, and Lena wondered, what was happening to his soul in these moments.

Was he letting the darkness out, hence the glow, or was he letting it in, nest inside of him tainting all there is, eating him from inside out.

Lena has met Baghra once, even if she has been acquainted with Aleksander for some years now. The woman looked at her son with so much love, the girl felt herself grow jealous, even if just a little. But there was something behind her eyes there too, and only weeks later Lena had realized it was fear.

At first, she thought that it was for him, but perhaps it was for the world. Aleksander seemed to grow more and more power hungry every day he spent traveling across Ravka with her. They had no goals. After their visit to the royal court, they were both, hunted and feared.

But neither of those things really gave them power. And Aleksander wanted power.

Lena was scared to let him too close. To drink up his darkness, out of fear for becoming more like him, for wanting the world. She hated herself for what she did at court, yet she felt ecstatic about it too – using her power to it’s full potential. The fear in their faces.

She couldn’t see her cloak anymore, but the dark red was getting in her skin like permanent ink. She was owning the blood witch status. She loved being a scary story kids, to otkazat’sya. She was legend, she was seen and feared.

She hated how it made her feel. But she loved it too. She understood Aleksander better than anyone.

The sun reached her again as the man looked at her, gracing her with a full-toothed smile.

“That was better.” For a moment, he looked like a child. They never discussed their true age, but in the many lifetimes they are yet to have, perhaps they were just kids now. Two small children playing with fire they might not be able to contain.

“It was.” She said, against her better judgement.

There was a steam nearby. She felt the water as she was a Tidemaker, a name that seemed to stick to those of Small Magic who learnt how to manipulate water. She couldn’t see it behind the trees, but her lips twitched as the tried to hold back a grin.

She lifted her arm, twisting it a little, and then flicking it. Water rushed from its source, soaking Aleksander who seemed to be struck by it unexpectedly. He was staring at her in disbelief as she allowed the water to fully drop, her laugh echoing across the forest.

“You should see your face.” She was bent over with laughter, but she still could see Aleksander biting back a smile too, until he burst out laughing. Lena knew he must be freezing though, so she did her best to get water off of him and his clothes once they had finished laughing.

They set camp then, sitting close by the fire. There was a comfortable silence between then as it seemed they have had all of the conversations through the years. Lena still felt herself yearn to hear him speak, tell a story of his earlier life, but he didn’t have many happy ones.

Nor did she.

“Do you think there is more people like us?” She asked, curiously, watching the embers in the fire.

“There aren’t anybody else like us.” Aleksander was looking at the girl, so she met his dark eyes. “And there never will be.”

“What makes you say that?” Lena asked as Aleksander smirked, closing his eyes and leaning in. Her heart skipped a beat as the girl shut her own eyes, but the man simply landed his forehead on hers.

“You and me, we are going to change the world.”

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A/N: Hey, hey, so, I am kinda back? Idk if I will be writing Y/N fics (tho I do plan to do it) Ive had this idea of Darkling [kinda] fic for awhile, and i have it started on AO3 HOWEVER, the story there takes place in Grishaverse as we know it, aka, around Shadow and Bone trilogy era, whereas what I am sharing here is the backstory of Lena and Darkling, so I hope y’all enjoyed?? Let me know what u think, anonymous feedback can be left on my ask page. This part is short and they all might be, so i can get them out faster, that is if you actually like it?

either way, shooting my shot.