#mentioned abuse

  The guard nodded almost reluctantly, then waved behind him. Two more guards walked in, carrying an unconscious dark haired woman. You led them into the basement–which you had done your best to convert into a living space.

  An old bed was tucked by the stone wall, and there was a small fireplace to provide heating if necessary. You’d put a desk and chair by the other wall as well as a rug and a bookshelf you were in the process of filling up.

  The guards were clearly expecting less and glanced at each other. Though they did as you ordered and laid the woman on the bed.

  You checked a few things off for them, then saw them out and closed the door with a sigh.

  Hela had been defeated, for a second time. There was a moment when you all thought Asgard was going to be lost. She had gone on a murderous rampage and was more than willing to slaughter her own people if they did not give her what she wanted. 

  And you were all lucky you didn’t, or else she would be raging war across all the realms.

  But, thankfully, she was defeated and captured. 

  You had worked alongside Hela in her brief takeover. Not that you were evil. You actually thought yourself to have a rather pure heart.

  But she had laid eyes on you when she first returned and it was either work with her or die. You didn’t do much besides follow her around, listen to her ramble, threaten one or two people and give her the silent support she would not admit she needed. And even though it wasn’t for a long time, and she was practically the most evil person you had ever met, you found yourself almost… liking Hela.

  Of course she was an incredibly attractive woman, you would give her that. But she was also incredibly charismatic and funny and strangely charming for a villain. And when she divulged her history to you, how her father raised her to be a killing machine and then tossed her out when he didn’t want to kill anymore, you almost pitied her. It wasn’t really her fault. She was made into a war machine, she didn’t choose to be.

  The original plan after Hela’s defeat was to banish her back to Hel, but you spoke up in favor of an alternative: Keep Hela in Asgard, but as a prisoner instead.

  The only (understandable) problem, though, was that nobody wanted a murderous Goddess of Death to look after. So you volunteered and they practically threw her at you. 

  You were the only person after all that knew Hela’s true story. And even though it was foolish, you couldn’t help but hope there was some way that you could reform her, or at least help her.

  It was another few hours before she woke up.

  The first thing you heard was a gasp, followed by an angry yell, and then the sound of something falling. Maybe you should’ve bolted that bookcase into the wall after all.

  You rushed downstairs to find Hela in the middle of the room. Even without her powers she was still a terrifying force to behold. She was about to throw the chair when she saw you.

  Her hands flexed by her sides in an attempt to summon daggers–you had betrayed her after all. But nothing happened. Her hands then flew to her head and felt the lack of crown. 

  This only infuriated her more. She reached to lash out at you, and you hit the button on the remote.

  Almost immediately she crashed to the ground as her body convulsed. You regretted being so brash with the device. It was not a pleasant sight. Maybe there was some way to turn the shock down, just a little.

  As the electricity stopped, Hela caught her breath and looked up at you. She was still incredibly pissed off… but also frightened. Never before had she been the mouse to the cat. Not like this.

  “It would save you a lot of effort to remove my collar,” Hela grumbled. She shakily stood up and sat down on her bed. “Or perhaps you should just kill me. I would prefer that.”

  “I’m not going to do that.”

  “So you want to torture me then? Why, Y/n, I must have taught you well during our… brief companionship.”

  You frowned. Slowly, you tried to come closer and she bristled like a cat so you stopped. “You did teach me some things.” You sighed. “Like the idea that you deserve a second chance.” 

  That caught her off guard. Her angry green eyes clouded with confusion. “What do you mean?”

  “They were going to send you back to Hel, I talked them out of it. They’re going to let me… watch over you, I guess.”

  Hela was flabbergasted. Her jaw hung open and she stared at you. And then she burst out into the cruelest laughter you ever heard. “Are you serious? I don’t understand you, Y/n. Why take this burden upon yourself? You know I would not hesitate to kill you if I was able. I am dreaming of it now.”

  You flashed her the remote and her smug grin fell, ever so slightly. “I don’t think you’re all evil.”

  “I think you are a moron.”

  “Maybe.” You shrugged. “But this is the only option you’ve got. So… it’s either reform, or live in my basement as a prisoner until I get sick of you and return you to the castle.”

  Hela didn’t like either of those options. She stood up and you hovered your thumb over the button.

  That same fear flashed in her eyes. It was empowering but… also painful. She glared at you before slowly walking over to the desk and running her finger over the wood. “A power play.” She muttered. “The ruler becomes the prisoner to her own executioner.”

  “You don’t have to be my prisoner.”

  “You are foolish if you think I will ever be willing to reform.” Hela snarled. “Especially for you. You traitor. You left me when I needed you most, and I will not forget that.”

You smirked softly. So she did care that you switched sides, which meant she at least had some affinity for you. Hela was an incredibly lonely woman, not that she would ever admit it. You would find a way to win her back.

  “Fine.” You simply shrugged, tucking the remote into your pocket. “Be that way, then. I will bring you dinner later. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, or it won’t bother.”

  Hela grumbled unintelligibly to herself and you went back upstairs, locking the door behind you.

  She didn’t eat that night, out of protest. But the next morning when you brought her some breakfast she devoured it.

  The next few days were similar. She ate what you brought her and sulked the rest of the time. You hadn’t had to shock her yet but you carried the remote at all times. Eventually Hela took some interest in the bookshelf but always stopped whenever you came in. She growled and lashed out like a cat if you got too close. 

  It was around the fourth day that the slow progress began. You brought her a meal you remembered her mentioning that she liked. She was sitting at the desk, reading.

  When she heard your footsteps, she turned to glare at you. But when she saw what you were holding her expression softened faintly. “Is that for me?” Hela asked warily.

  “Mhm. I made it just how you like it.”

  “Oh, my last meal, and so soon.” Hela dramatically whined. “I didn’t think you would fold and poison me so easily, just another disappointment.”

  “It isn’t poisoned.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “It’s not.” You lifted the fork to your mouth and took a bite. Hela seemed unimpressed, so you took a few more and made sure to try everything on the plate. 

  Finally, she relented, though it was more reasoned by her growling stomach rather than your display. “Fine. Give it to me.”

  “Come get it.”

  Hela glared at you. “Why should I do that?”

  “Because I’m not your servant. Either take it, or I take it.” You’d done a similar trick with a feral cat once; earn trust with food. Hela knew you would feed her. Now she had to come and take it from your hand. You could only hope she wouldn’t bite the hand that fed her.

  She studied you through dark, glowing eyes. And then slowly, very slowly she came closer. Once she was within reach she snatched the plate and then retreated to her bed to eat.

  “I’m not going to hurt you.” You sighed with resign. “I’m not—I’ve never. Do you think I’m just going to whip out a knife or something?”

  “Or a fist.” Hela muttered. “Your soldiers were not kind to me in prison.”

  “They hurt you?”

  “…I forgot how badly it can hurt.” Her voice grew softer. She didn’t feel pain when she had her powers, and now just brushing too hard against the desk took her out. She was incredibly weak, even by mortal standards but she would grow stronger with time. The only problem was that Hela was not a patient person. “You can hurt me now.”

  “But I won’t.” You replied defiantly. “I’m not like them.”

  Hela eyed the remote in your pocket. “Tell me, then, what is that?”

  “Let me rephrase; I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to use this. But… I don’t trust you either.” 

  “You’d be wise not to.” Hela curled up and faced the other direction, her usual sign that told you to fuck off.

  With a sigh, you went back upstairs.

  Things changed following that day.

  Hela began willingly taking food from you, and other things too. You managed to get some genres out of her and found her some matching books. You also got her a journal that she wrote furiously in but would never show.

  Music, or more specifically CD players, was also something she took interest in. You knew someone who had smuggled some in from Midgard and got one for her. You also bought as many CD’s as you could and gave them all to her, regardless of genre or artist. 

  Hela was baffled by the invention though once she got it to work (“Y/n, the machine ate the disc. It’s broken.” “It’s not broken, just wait for the music. Do you hear it?” “…By the Gods, what is that racket?” “Let’s try another one.”) she became rather fond and rarely turned it off.

  By the second week, hanging out with Hela became a common way to pass the time.

  She started willingly talking to you, and you did the same. You showed her that you wouldn’t hurt her and she finally accepted it. Your basement was a lot better fate than what everyone else had planned. She would never admit it out loud but she was thankful for your intervention.

  There was only one time you had to use the collar.

  Hela occasionally had a bit of a sleepwalking problem. It started long before she became your prisoner, you had dealt with it as her servant, and it wasn’t good. Although Hel was her realm she still had nightmares from it, and the recent mistreatment from the guards didn’t help.

  You were woken up in the night from the loud sound of breaking wood and raced downstairs. Hela had fallen and broken her chair, though she was still unconscious, or at least not all there.

  When she heard you, she mistook you for an enemy and lunged at your throat. You buzzed the remote just as her hand touched your delicate skin. Her body convulsed and she slumped to the ground like liquid.

  “Hela,” you dropped the remote and knelt beside her. The shock had certainly woken her up at least. She blinked a few times before staring up at you, both hurt and afraid. 

  “You… shocked me.”

  “You were trying to kill me.”

  “I was?” Hela sat up with a soft groan, shoulders hitching as the last of the electricity left her body. She rubbed her forehead and gazed blearily around the room. When her eyes fell on her broken chair she shook her head. “Nightmare… I’m sorry.”

  “So am I.” You offered your hand. “Come on, let’s get you in bed, I’ll get some more water.”

  You calmed her down after that, and you could finally see your efforts were paying off. She was strangely apologetic (“I’m sorry about the chair.” “Don’t worry about it, it was just an old chair. I’ll buy another one.” “You will? Why?” “Why wouldn’t I?” “…never mind.”) and wasn’t even upset about the shock. She didn’t want to hurt you either.

  By the start of the third week you decided to try something. And you left the door unlocked.

  Hela didn’t notice.

  And she didn’t notice for the next few nights.

  Until one particular night it was storming out. 

  You were upstairs in the kitchen, putting everything away before going to bed. You had already said goodnight to Hela and weren’t paying any attention to the storm.

  As you loaded food into some containers, you heard a sound behind you. Thunder rumbled, you assigned the blame to the storm. It was windy too. The sound could’ve been anything, so you paid it no mind.

  Until a cold hand grabbed your shoulder.

  Whirling around, you shoved off whoever was behind you. Hela fell back into the cabinet with a grunt. You quickly reached for the remote and were about to shock when she cried out.

  “Don’t!” She sounded genuinely terrified. The two of you stared at each other, a silent standoff. She was the first to break it, quickly composing herself and standing up. “Please, don’t…”

  You glanced between her and the remote. She was panting. You were too.

  “I just… I realized the door was open. I thought… never mind.” Hela said cautiously. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m not… a fan of thunder.”

  You frowned. “You’re scared of thunder?”

  “I didn’t say I was scared of it, I said I didn’t like it.” Hela mumbled and crossed her arms. Her shoulders tensed and she sighed. “…Thunder was a bad omen in Hel. Bad things happened when you heard it and… I guess I’m having a hard time accepting that it’s okay here.” Hela ran her fingers along the collar on her neck. “And I do not like the God of Thunder either.”

  Slowly, you set the remote down. Then you sighed and rubbed your forehead. Of course she wasn’t going to hurt you, you felt bad for assuming so. Hela had changed, she was trying to prove it to you. It was your turn to believe her.

  “Do you want to stay with me for a bit?” You offered and gestured to the living room. “I was planning to read for a while anyway.”

  Hela hesitated. “You’re sure?”

  “Mhm..” you smiled faintly. “I don’t like storms either.” You didn’t mind thunder but you thought it would help her feel better. “You can bring your CD player and we can block out the thunder.”

  Hela thought that over and then slowly nodded. “Okay.” She agreed. Anything was better than being alone during this.

  The two of you sat in your living room on the couch and read quietly for a while. Hela’s music of choice, a soft rock album, blocked out the worst of the storm. Though she progressively scooted closer to you at every rumble.

  It was all so strangely peaceful. 

  You’d grown to enjoy Hela’s company, even if you’d never admit it. She was the same.

  When she finally fell asleep, you draped a blanket over her and left her to rest. You didn’t trust her completely yet but you trusted her enough to let her stay upstairs for the night. 

Bret and Terry were chatting to one another about a new firewall the government had installed after their last one had been torn to shreds by independent hackers, and were trying to decide if they would get in trouble for having a go at it themselves. It seemed like she wasn't the only one distracted from their task.

"Penny? You alright?" Kolt asked, twitching his leg against her back.

"Yeah," she said, tilting her head back to smile at him.

He smiled and nodded, but she knew that he was telling her to talk to him when she was ready.

She looked ahead again, slowly sinking into her feeds and pulling up her research threads again.

The Ruby Coalition was simply dust in the wind, now. Phoenix had made sure of that. The guards had been scattered and rehired where they wanted to apply, the higher level technicians were snapped up by villains and whoever else wanted skilled hands hiding their work. The manor had been leveled and the underground tunnels filled in.

Her mother's body had been cremated and disposed of without a memorial or burial.

No, not her mother. Maybe her mother? Penelope was glad the woman was gone and that she couldn't hold Penelope's leash anymore. But then there were those nagging memories of the days where Gigi would carefully ask Penelope's opinions on the bodies she was commissioning from Harry and Co Labs. Getting things exactly right where they could and apologizing when the labs replied that they couldn't make certain changes.

Penelope remembered that first night when she woke up. Gigi was there and she was smiling, tears running down her cheeks as she stroked Penelope's forehead, smoothing back her artificial hair.

"Welcome back, my dear," she had whispered. "However much of you there is left. I love you."

Penelope clenched her hand in her sweatpants. She hated remembering the good moments. The times where she could almost convince herself that Gigi did love her. It was.... hard.

Penelope turned her attention to a topic that wasn't so difficult. Pier. He had not gotten out of this unscathed. He had been found unconscious in the aftermath and was currently in a holding cell as people worked out what he had and hadn't done. They wanted to try him for as many of Gigi's crimes as they could manage.

Penelope huffed. He didn't really deserve as much as they were trying to heap on his head, but she would be glad to see the annoying young man tucked away where money couldn't get him out. She really disliked him. The way he looked at her, like she couldn't really understand him. Like she was just a computer program who, for some reason, wouldn't follow his every instruction, always really got to her despite how often Gigi assured her that Penelope was just reading the situation wrong or that he should just be ignored where possible.

She took some comfort in the fact that since the Ruby Coalition had fallen, he wouldn't have access to any of the funds to bail him out. He would be sitting in prison for a long time.

She put that thought away. Maybe not forever. She would love the chance to get to say some things to him that Gigi never would have allowed her to, but Penelope doubted she would ever actually go through with that. Maybe sending an anonymous message would be enough. She wasn't sure.

Penelope turned her thoughts back to Gigi, hoping that this time she could untangle the emotions there and put it to rest. Though if she still felt so strongly about Pier, she doubted she would be able to change anything about the way she felt about Gigi.

Gigi had been her mother in a sense. She had helped Penelope relearn how to walk, had given her a name when she realized she didn't have one or just couldn't remember it. She built a room for Penelope and gave her everything she could have asked for.

Except, perhaps, freedom.

Penelope had asked once.

"Am I supposed to be here forever?"

Gigi had looked up from the notes she had been making on her computer and gave her a tight smile. "Maybe not forever. But you're not ready yet, sweetheart."

"When will I be ready? When will you tell me where my body is?"

Gigi sighed. "That is hard to know, dear. Please be patient with an old woman. When the time comes it will be a difficult conversation for us both."

They would never have that conversation. Penelope would never know what Gigi wanted to tell her. What would have been hard for the old woman to explain. Penelope didn't even know who her body used to be before she existed in this form. Was that person a good person? Someone tormented by Gigi before being used in an experiment? Someone Gigi loved?

It had to have been someone she loved in some way or another.

Penelope might never know because she may never find that body. She may never find any messages Gigi left behind if she did leave anything behind, because Penelope had practically cosigned the woman's death. There was no more information to be had. Just ashes on the breeze somewhere. Or in the ocean. Or more likely in the trash. Penelope didn't know what the government did with the ashes of villains. She doubted that they were sent to family members. Not that Pier would probably want them. He'd felt just as suffocated under Gigi as Penelope did despite how little he had hanging over his head to keep him there.

It was all just so unfair.

Penelope missed her.

She put her arms around herself, wishing she could swallow with a throat she could not remember. She missed that horrible woman who kept her around under a heavily veiled threat about what might happen to what remained of her body if she didn't do as she was told. And she missed that woman!?

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned her head to look at Kolt as Gale watched her curiously. Perhaps a little nervously.

She was grinding her fake teeth. It was horrible sound. And it was probably ruining the paint job.

"Sorry," she murmured out of a fake throat. She felt so unreal at the moment.

Kolt leaned toward her, putting an arm around her shoulders in an awkward hug. "You're alright. What do you need?"

"I need.... I need everything to make sense. I need my body back. I need these feelings to go away," she said, shaking her head.

Kolt thought for a moment. "We'll get your body back. I'll start calling some old allies and see what I can't hear about what Gigi was up to when they were putting you together. After the trainee facility is dealt with we will go find it."

Penelope sighed a soft breath. "What if it's not enough?"

"You have us," Bret said. He'd come to sit next to her on the floor and put a hand on hers. "It's okay."

Penelope slowly nodded, taking another deep breath. She was glad she asked for that function to be added, even if it was unnecessary. It helped alleviate her emotions better than she could have even imagined.

"I think I just need a distraction," she said. She had been silly to think that sending herself into another spiral about all of this was going to fix the emotional mess Gigi had created to stand in her place now that she was dead.

"Alright, uh," Kolt said, thinking, and Bret got his mouth open to ask something, but Gale beat them to it.

"Dr. LeAnne," she said in a voice that shook with something like grief. He sounded exactly the way that Penelope felt. "What happened to her?"

Penelope actually knew that off the top of her head.

"They moved her before we got there," she said. "She was being sent out to be killed. I don't think they were ever going to tell you and hope that you just kept obeying them despite her being gone."

Gale shuddered and there was something deeply conflicted in his eyes. "Is she dead?"

"No. She was shot in the head, but they hadn't finished her off properly. She's in the hospital in a coma. I don't think she's ever supposed to wake up, though. There was a lot of damage."

Gale licked his lips, his eyes wet. He was clearly trying very hard not to cry. "Right," he whispered.

"Do... you wants us to send someone to, I don't know, deal with her?" Terry asked as she scooted his rolling chair closer to the group.

"No!"

The answer burst out of Gale and he looked just as surprised by it as they felt. "No," he murmured. "She can just... stay there."

"Gale, if she wakes up-" Kolt started, but Gale shook his head.

"I'm not in a place where I can... where I can think about her. Not safely. Not yet."

Kolt nodded and patted his friend's shoulder. "Alright, man. We will wait for you, then."

Gale nodded, relieved as he leaned back.

Penelope found herself speaking before she knew what was happening. "I know how you feel."

He looked at her, confusion and skepticism in his eyes,

"I know what it's like to love and hate someone so much... like that," she murmured.

Understanding dawned on Gale's face, in those beautiful micro expressions Penelope would never have again.

He gave her a weak smile before looking away.

She looked between her friends. Bret, Kolt, Terry, and Gale, and she let herself believe that it would be alright. That these guys would have her back.

"I had better go help get things ready," she said. "I've been procrastinating."

"Ugh, us too," Bret said, rolling his eyes.

"Not us," Kolt said smugly, because of course. His part in all of this was to monitor as much as he could through Beater and try not to be a distraction to the hallucination. His job was mainly helping Gale, at the moment, the two were clearly very satisfied with that.

"Enjoy the free time for me," Penelope said, getting to her feet. She headed for the door and paused there, looking back. "Thanks, guys."

"Of course," Bret said as the others nodded, not a lick of embarrassment in any of their expressions.

Penelope turned and went to find Phoenix and Lynx. There was work to do.

The End

A.N. - AHHHHH HERE WE ARE!!! Guys, this is actually insane to me. We made it to the end. Well, for now. I hope you liked it and I think you guys for reading. Eldest Daughter and Sunrise Lemon Bar especially. I cannot express how much I love you two!!

My next story is going to a short story about dealing with that trainee facility focusing on Beater and Cedar with a side focus on Phoenix and Lynx. I'm very excited! I will take you guys in that first chapter and you will be able to let me know if you would like to be in that tag list or not. I'm hoping to make more art for these stories as I go forward, so there will be that to look forward to.

But, I might take a week or two off. My notes need to be worked out and I need to build a plan for this next story so I don't just fling myself wildly into the void like I did with this story. That can be fun, but it can also be very annoying at times. I doubt I will make y'all wait too long before I get the next one started though. I'm extremely excited for all of it!

Again, thank you so much for reading. It means the world to me! Leave me a comment if you are so inclined and let me know what you thought/what you are excited to see next. I am highly suggestible, I will admit. :3

Crestlen taglist: @looptheloup @kira-the-whump-enthusiast @snakebites-and-ink @starsick1979 @antlerfish 

Another AU is a Naruto Mada/Tobi one that I'm just calling the Wolf AU. Basically, some Hatake can shift into wolves in this verse as a kekki genkai, but those that can have a lot more trouble controlling their instincts than those that don't. And sensors are even worse off on that front than average. So of course Tobirama gets the kekki genkai.

Hatake that can shift have two forms. One that's roughly the size of a real wolf, so bigger than a dog but not enormous. And the other is huge, roughly the size of a moose. AKA 10-12~ feet tall at the shoulder with canines and claws longer than your forearm.

*WARNING: This one gets DARK!*

Now in this verse, if a Hatake that's shifted gets injured, they can't shift back until they're mostly healed. So when Tobirama gets wounded in his smaller form on a mission, he's stuck that way. He ends up in the same area as Madara, who is on a 'vacation mission' because Izuna and Hikaku thought he was too stressed out. Madara finds shifted Tobirama and takes care of his wounds, Tobirama sees who Madara is off the battlefield, all those cliches.

The vacation mission later goes to hell because of course it does. Tobirama, still in his smaller form and slightly hurt, takes several hits for Madara and gets him the opening he needs to get away.

Madara takes it, feels guilty, blah blah blah, hard cut to the next time they're both involved in a skirmish.

Madara is still recovering from his wounds, Hashirama's upset he was gone for so long and pushing him even harder because of it.

Madara missteps right into the way of one of Hashirama's attacks. If it hits he's probably gonna die.

Tobirama, on the other side of the battlefield fighting Izuna, vanishes and reappears between Madara and the attack.

He takes the hit, shifts to his bigger form without thinking, loses himself to his instincts because of the sudden and unexpected shift, and attacks Hashirama for almost killing Madara.

From there I'm not sure how it'll go yet.

I might have Tobi and Touka run for attacking Hashirama, might have it go a few other ways, but it's endgame MadaTobi either way. Might go with a Centering AU, might not, haven't decided yet.

Another AU is yet another Epic/PJO AU I've been considering called Hades' Lament. It's starts out very similar to the Chthonic Athena AU, except Hestia, Poseidon, and Hades are all at the meeting as well.

It goes roughly the same until just before Athena dies, but instead of Athena getting struck, Apollo manages to get between her and the bolt.

But Zeus is much worse here than he is in Chthonic Athena (I'll explain more on that front in a second) meaning that both Apollo and Athena fall into comas from it because of how badly off they both already were.

There's a fight, Zeus is dethroned for it, all that good stuff. Then the others realize that oh shit, Athena and Apollo aren't waking up, something is actually really wrong here.

Now to elaborate on how Zeus is worse here. Not only does God Games happen here, but afterwards, Zeus becomes physically and emotionally abusive to both Athena and Apollo. He treats them well in public, particularly in front of their siblings as a way to further isolate them and turn the others against them, but when alone he's much worse than anyone else on the council expects.

One particular change in this AU is that the plot is very different from any of my other ones so far. What basically happens is that when the others realize that Athena and Apollo aren't waking up, they go to Hypnos. Hypnos in turn sends them to his son Morpheus and reveals that a major part of the reason Morpheus fought against Olympus when Kronos returned was because of how badly Zeus treated Apollo and Athena.

When the Council go to him, Morpheus ends up revealing that, as the God of Dreams, after his brother Phobetor faded shortly after the fall of Ancient Greece, he had also been given domain over nightmares as well. Which was how he found out about Zeus's treatment of Athena and Apollo.

He'd essentially been stuck watching the two of them suffer through their nightmares ever since, because of how often they had them. Gods only sleep deep enough to dream when they're particularly exhausted or recovering from injuries, so the two of them were dreaming more than anyone else on Olympus. He could give them relief sometimes, give them pleasant dreams when he could, but that was all. He couldn't do anything about their suffering when they were awake.

Morpheus then tells them that, while he can't tell them the reason the two aren't waking up, he can show them what Apollo and Athena had suffered over the years.

The Council agrees to this, and they're then shown that not only was Zeus physically and mentally abusive to the two of them, but he also leveraged their relationships with their siblings and children against them as well.

Zeus would threaten to kill their children, or to hurt the others the way he was hurting them to keep them in line. Threatening Ares and Artemis in-particular was very common for him, because of how much Athena and Apollo cared for them as their other halves.

He would even leverage that relationship to make them hurt each other, making them fight until one of them was beaten unconscious.

The Council, and particularly Ares and Artemis, are absolutely horrified to learn all of this, but they still don't know why Athena and Apollo aren't waking up.

Morpheus gives them a cryptic clue about one of them having the ability to wake them, and then leaves them on their own.

Nox unfortunately didn’t have a super happy childhood before joining Gunntech.

Their father was abusive and their mom was a drug addict and a smoker. Nox’s mom did love Nox but she was never healthy enough to do it well. She was too focused on escaping her life in her own way to find a better life for Nox. Nox’s mom ended up selling them to Gunntech not too long after Nox’s father had been arrested.

Gunntech didn’t let Nox visit their mother partially because Nox wasn’t the most well behaved recruit and time outside of the compound is a reward but also mainly because they deemed her unfit for visitation periods.

Nox starts sneaking out when they get into middle school. At first it’s just for some alone time, and fresh air. Usually they like to hang up in high up spaces. They think of visiting their mom sometimes, but they decided against it since “if their mom cared she would have kept them or worked harder to get see them”

After a couple that just sneaking out stops being enough of an escape from Gunntech, and their own mental weight. Nox started experimenting with other forms of escape. They tried smoking since their mom always did it when she was stressed or sad.

Senjuro Rengoku is Fourteen Years Old at the start of Season 3 (Or, if you're a heathen, Season 2/Entertainment District). He's met Tanjiro, and Tanjiro is very worried about Senjuro's safety at his father's house.

In this AU, Senjuro can use breathing styles, however his usage of Flame breathing is so weak that it's actually more of just a hindrance than useful. It's like with Murata; he uses water breathing, but you can't even see the water it's so weak. So, Senjuro is kind of just an emergency Really Weak Demons Are Nearby slayer

Thus, the idea is concocted; Mission Get Someone To Take Senjuro As Their Tsuguko. Tanjiro goes through a few ideas; he can't get Shinobu to take on him, because she's got Kanao; he can't get Giyuu to do it, because... Giyuu.

At this point, Tanjiro doesn't really know any of the other slayers, and he assumes that Tengen wouldn't work well with Senjuro with their personalities.

However, he does know one other slayer, who he only considers because of one reason; he can blackmail Shinazugawa.

We do not know what his blackmail is. All we know is it involves a tea kettle, Giyuu's sword, and Gyomei's prayer beads. We also know that Tanjiro did not want to talk about it LONG before the blackmail comes into play.

The deal is, if Sanemi doesn't even kinda tolerate Senjuro by the second month, he can send Senjuro back home

Why does Sanemi agree to take Senjuro on? Because he genuinely does not think he will come to like Senjuro. He's small, he's scared all of the time, he's weak-- what is there to even tolerate about him.

Of course, those two months are up, Tanjiro is in a coma, and Sanemi has grown really fond of Senjuro.

"Fond in the way a host grows fond of it's parasite," Sanemi grumbles as he picks at his food.

"Which of you is the parasite?" Obanai mutters back, watching as his adoptive brother swing through his Katas.

Anyways, here's some more facts about Senjuro and this AU.

His breathing style is kind of a mix between Wind and Flame; Ember Breathing. It's technically a branch of flame, but the Wind Breathing Style inspires a lot of it's mobility and it's form.

Senjuro uses an oversized scythe, because I think it's funny to give small characters oversized scythes.

A couple weeks after living with Sanemi, Senjuro's personality really bloomed. He's less skittish, a bit more loud, and-- most importantly-- he's comfortable with pushing Sanemi's buttons. Of course, that's not to say he's had a complete change. Senjuro is still a kind young teen, who still has trauma from living with an abusive alcoholic for about 10 years.

Obanai considers Senjuro and Kyojuro as his brothers, as you've seen. He would have taken Senjuro on as a Tsuguko if asked, but Tanjiro doesn't know him, nor does he believe that Senjuro would have been a good fit for him.

Shinjuro is trying to quit, but addiction is one of the worst sicknesses you can go through. No recovery is smooth, and Shinjuro is a perfect example. After meeting Tanjiro, he's able to stay sober for about two weeks before he relapses. When Senjuro leaves, he gets a bit worse before ultimately trying once again. Senjuro and Shinjuro meet up every other week to talk in person, but Shinjuro has unofficially given Sanemi custody of Senjuro.

Sanemi and Senjuro's relationship are what I would consider a true sibling relationship. Where as Senjuro's relationship with Kyojuro was caregiver and child, and Sanemi's relationship with Genya is hostile, Senjuro has come to think of Sanemi as an older brother of sorts.

Genya's feelings about Senjuro is very mixed. On one hand, he wants to hate Senjuro for the relationship he has with Sanemi. On the other, he wants to get to know Senjuro, to see what he's like, and how they could have a relationship of his own.

(Going forward is more visual/simple information)

Senjuro Rengoku is 5'2, and he's light enough that Aoi can lift him up.

His eyes, instead of being Gold with Red centers, are just red, like his mother's.

He has a very standard uniform, though he took the old Flame Hashira haori and turned it something he can wear around his neck, and pull it over his head. This is because the clothing was too stained with blood to get out, and Senjuro knew that the flame lineage was done.

--