#zero nerevar

per @greenapplesprite Alasdair Daviteson x Aderith Stromborne things you said when you were crying

“Al, I can’t do this,” Aderith sobs, defeated, lifting her forehead from the balls of her palms. The night had been nothing but trouble. Their members were out of control, and Addy appeared to’ve been the only one capable of dealing with them. Then, after completely removing one - something she had not intended to do or wanted to do - and demoting another, a dispute breaks out in the street as the Children lounge about.

Jason’s past lady-friend. A royal bitch who ripped and tore at his feelings, attempted to degrade him in the public eye, targetted the Blonde specifically. Are you going to fuck her, too?

What the fuck.

Elaianna and Valicene get in to it. For the third time that day, the boat is brought up. So far, Aderith’s largest fuck up. Great, fantastic. It would never go away. So, she leaves - flies back to the Highlands. That’s where she hides, now, when she thinks about things. Trolls just die, they don’t ask questions. They don’t need people to fix things for them. Fye, Anna and her court-mage show. Addy feels better, having taken a troll down and at work extracting its tusks. She’s excited to have company - delighted to relax, something she hadn’t done in quite some time. Moments later, Elaianna drops another problem in to her lap - calls Aderith a poor leader for ‘running’ from her issues. 

The blonde settles into a chair at Headquarters, Alasdair Daviteson pacing one side of the room. Soon, her problems spin. Hone in on Zero.

“She’s just so different. She’s distant. She’s cold. There’s something missing, some big thing gone. Oh, Light, what if it was Gilfer? What if that’s what’s missing?” Addy gasps, trying to catch her breath. She kneads her forehead worriedly. “I miss Arias. I miss him so much. Life is so much harder. You’re so busy and he’s just, well. She’s just.” 

Aderith buries her head in her arms, breath ragged. Tears drip on to the dark wood beneath her wrists.

Alasdair hovers nearby, curls his massive arms fully around her body. He cradles her to his chest, frowning worriedly, petting her head. “Hey, it’s okay. I know. I miss him too, Addy. It’s okay.”

children of lothar’s leadership in faceclaims jason bloodmane - gilneas delegate (jason momoa) darius pierce - gilneas representative (pierce brosnan) zero nerevar - alterac representative (daisy ridley) aderith stromborne - stromgarde representative (caity lotz) elaianna sydor - kul’tiras delegate (sarah bolger) tara casanova - kul’tiras representative (bridget satterlee) alasdair daviteson - speaker of the kingdoms (henry cavill)

“no, you were the reason I kept my light on late into the night turning all those pages, searching for you everywhere.“  — Billy Collins 08 above / deep  — CoL Discord Weekly Drabble Challenge  — WC: 361

Blood pounds deep behind Aderith’s eyes. She takes in Alyss’s elfin features, her violet eyes, silver hair. The tears forming just over the edges of her lashline. I’m going to Argus. When they go, I’m going to Argus. A plated finger jabs upward, at the looming demon-infested planet above.The words had tumbled free from Aderith’s mouth  — behind them, the sizzling hiss of anger threatens to turn the announcement venomous. The Spirit Healer had just explained why she planned on stepping away from her position with the Children of Lothar, so it would come as no surprise to Aderith on Sunday.  All this person did was judge her for drinking. The half elf whisks in and out of her life when she pleases. Arias - Zero -- whoever she was, on an eternal quest for self-identification, never seems to wonder how Addy’s doing. How she feels. How she thinks. Arias understood their goals, what peace they always attempted to give the North. This person? No. This person understands nothing. Arias would’ve never abandoned her for weeks to search for himself - Arias was focused on the fight for the homeland. Arias loved her. When Aderith turns her gaze back, sharp and pointed, the woman’s lips part. The same eyes widen. Alyss begins a broken speech, tears streaming down her face, about how Aderith will die like everyone else. Her words become far away, drowned as if the pair were underwater.

But all Aderith can see is Arias’s cool violet eyes, the way his lips press together disapprovingly when he silently disagrees with a decision, standing behind the female echo of himself. His gaze burns deep in to her eyes. Aderith, stunned, fumbles for any words at all. There are none, even as Alyss rushes away and the spectre of the Alteraci Nobleman fades.

The Stromic woman’s knees shake. They threaten to give out beneath her, so much so that she rests a plated forearm on the brick building’s foundation beside her. Terrified tears fill her eyes, drop free on to the cobblestone alleyway. There is an internal sickness that churns her stomach, lurks deep beneath her skin.

RETURN

admiring you through the blinds - das mortal

Aloris’s beating wings caused her green eyes to lift. The sound was something she had replayed, countless times, as she lay alone in the darkness of her too-empty bunkroom. Despite the second bed hauled up against the wall, Aderith still had no roommate. Her things were coiled near the oaken frame of her relatively comfortable dwelling. A weight always sat on her chest. It was the same feeling as when Arias had been captured, when she didn’t know where he was. 

Instead, Zero sits atop the arcane familiar nearby, pleasant as a peach. Her silver hair is long, flowing, gorgeous. Elfin features make Aderith’s heart sink, reminds her of the way Arias’s cheekbones sat high and his brows curved low over violet eyes. Perhaps it was the Kingsblood coursing through her veins - two cigars smoked, nearly alone, in one evening - but the blonde was angry. She draws in another drag of the blend. Petals and leaves ground together with the dried powder of its roots, wrapped in a thick paper casing.

It’s said that Kingsblood enhances strength and stamina. That it is prone to causing aggression, used as an aphrodisiac. Addy likes the flavor and buzz. Zero brings Aloris around to their front, speaks from her place on the drake’s back.

There Addy was. She’d been looking for her.

Fyeloren and Jason bicker over her.  Literally. She sits between them, having initially been very close to the Gilnean berserker only a half hour before Zero’s arrival. He had his arm around her, Addy now recalls. Frustration bubbles up in her throat. She was an idiot, and shouldn’t have allowed that to happen.

Light, her whole conversation with Zero blends together. The drunken Strom remembers asking the Alteraci where she’d been. 

Soul searching. Training. Gone.

Rage boiled. Soul searching? Training? As if Aderith couldn’t use some time alone. In fact, the rare pockets of time to herself were often spent concerned about Zero’s whereabouts and well being. Dealing with other people’s shit. Thinking about other people’s shit. Worrying about Zero. Worrying about Zero. Missing Arias. 

Several comments about Addy’s drinking and drunkenness. Fuck. She was just trying to have a good time. Drink what she likes to drink, smoke what she likes to smoke.

Even as Darius catches her up on recent events, Zero continues to shift her eyes back to Addy. Gauging her expression. Wanting her opinion. Light, she was gorgeous. Intelligent violet eyes. Silky smooth hair. Gently upturned nose and elfishly perfect pale skin. Her attitude is more confident, sure of herself. 

Different.

This reminds Addy of Arias. Her chest feels as if it’lll cave in at any moment. To avoid imminent implosion, Aderith turns her gaze back on Jason and Fye’s altercation. The power behind Jason’s movements.

KILLERS ARE CALLING ON ME

gospel - the national “my angel face is falling, feathers are fallin’ on my feet.”

Aderith’s body is soft. The muscle that once wrapped her core, her thighs, her arms had faded. Red roofs meet her scanning gaze. Stromgarde, rebuilt. Nearby, her brothers speak to customers within their father’s storefront. A breath pulls in through her nose, exhaled through slightly parted lips. 

Something up the road catches her eye, causes her jaw to slack. Arias Nerevar approaches her from afar, deeper in the city, by way of the newly paved street. He lifts his brows as he nears. Flanking him are two blonde children with angular features. They dance after each other, weaving in and out of the crowd.

His features are angular and rough, as she remembers them. Long hair curves and threatens to spoil his violet gaze. Everything about him is soft, though - the relaxed way he strides, the lift of his hand as he waves to nearby shopkeeps. From where she stood, no arcanic aura curves dangerously around his slender masculine shape.

Their children look like them.

When he nears, Aderith loses track of her breath. Arias dips to kiss her, pressing lips without urgency. The children tear past them, rush to greet their uncles inside. He pulls her close, hand on the small of her back - her gaze tilted up to study his expression.

“I have to go to Alterac today,” he reminds. “My mother plans on having me over for dinner after I meet with the new kids.”

Words tumble from her mouth, full of knowledge she cannot immediately conjure: “You shouldn’t take on any more apprentices, Arias. The small group you have now is enough. You cannot teach every child from here to Lordaeron how to break spells.”

The constant thirsty thrum of the arcanic tattoos between her shoulders is missing. Aderith doesn’t even consider her ability to conjure fire - it’s as if she’s never been able to, in the first place.

“You and I know well enough that it’s become a popularity, since the Legion’s fall,” he laughs and grins at her. “I’ll be fine. Thom can basically teach others, now, anyway.” He offers a dismissive wave toward the shop. Somehow, he’s talking about their son.

Her arms lift and curve around his neck, pulling Aderith up to plant kisses from his cheek to his temple. 

“Fine, but as soon as you overextend yourself, you’ll wish you’d listened to me,” she murmurs.

He begins walking down the street. Everyone around them has disappeared. A great whiteness sits at the archway separating the Trades District of the city from the heart of Stromgarde, obscuring everything beyond. Before he reaches the blankness, Arias stops. Turns. His eyes meet hers. He no longer smiles - no, he knows. This is fleeting. This is temporary. 

This is a dream.