Do you mean to say, you're back to being Morrigan's bitch, Oz?
[Music in headphones is turned up to maximum volume]
Claire Keane
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year

sheepfilms
DEAR READER
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her

ā

romaā
almost home
KIROKAZE
Jules of Nature
Keni

PR's Tumblrdome
Stranger Things
TVSTRANGERTHINGS

ā

Love Begins
cherry valley forever
Game of Thrones Daily

seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States

seen from Ireland

seen from Canada

seen from Argentina
seen from United States

seen from Singapore
seen from France

seen from Brazil

seen from Malaysia
seen from Canada

seen from Germany

seen from Türkiye

seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from South Korea
seen from Netherlands

seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
@the-hobgoblins
Do you mean to say, you're back to being Morrigan's bitch, Oz?
[Music in headphones is turned up to maximum volume]

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
Come on, Oz. You can give us a little more detail than that.
"Well now you're a persistent sort, aren't ya? Alrighty, well..."
"What's there ta say, really? Mor hasn't much changed...but then, maybe neither have I. That what ya wanted ta hear?"
Oz, what was it like seeing Morrigan again? Just like old times?
"Yeah, sure...somethin' like that."
Still breaking hearts and bending fate, Mae?
After her home was invaded by Mathisā goons, Maeko climbed up to the roof of a nearby building and waited until sunrise, to see if the slumlord would actually make good on the threat his lackeys had promised.Ā
He did. Maeko watched as Borgin and Burkes allowed Mathis through its front doors, and then she felt the old buildingās allegiance changeāa grinding ache, deep in her bone marrow, that physically immobilized her for just under a quarter hour. She shivered with sweat and clutched at her ribs on that grimy rooftop until at last the wards severed completely, releasing her.
She scrambled down to the alley, weaving in and out of dawnās shadows until she reached Justinās flat near the Diagon Alley Menagerie. Knowing Justin was in Brazil visiting family for the holidays, Maeko let herself in.
A post owl tapped on the window, nearly spooking Mae out of her skin. She hastily let the creature in, and was surprised to find it held a note with her name on it.
The piece of parchment, which contained one single, cryptic line, was left unsigned.Ā
But it didnāt need to be. Maeko recognized the handwriting.
āHow in seven fucking hells did you even find me?ā Maeko spat accusingly (and rather unfairly) at the owl. It tilted its head a full 45 degrees, as if to say, is this witch really yelling at ME right now?Ā
Scowling, Maeko grabbed a blank piece of parchment from Justinās cluttered desk and scrawled:
Did you know all that was going to happen, you prick? Have you just been sitting around in Scotland for three fucking years, waiting until you could say ā I told you so ā ??
Her hand shook, and she dropped the quill.Ā
After a moment, Maeko added:
Why didnāt you warn me, Tucker? Are you really that pissed at me for leaving? Why wouldnāt you tell me what would happen if I came back to this awful fucking place?
She held up the quivering piece of parchment, eyes darting over what sheād written. Then, with a single thought toward the conduit that now adorned her finger, the letter exploded in an unnatural burst of black smoke and flame.
She dropped it, still smoldering, into the wastebasket. She shooed the owl back out the window, and snuck out of the flat. And then Maeko ran, and she didnāt look back.
[An unsent letter, meant to be slipped into Oz's pocket the night he was dumped at the doors of Morrigan's safehouse] OzāI want you to know that I fought for you. I advocated for this not to happen. I begged for outside intervention. I'm sorry it wasn't enough. From one orphan to anotherāI'm sorry that you're on your own now. But the great news is, you're on your own now. You can make your life whatever you want it to be. I know I have. Family can be found everywhere. āM
[This note was found and destroyed by Morrigan before Oz got a chance to read it]

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
Favorite holiday tradition?
"Smashin' up the place proper, with Mae...whadda ya reckon she's gettin' up to, just now?"
Part Two: "I am the blood of the dragon. If they are monsters, so am I."
13B Knockturn Alley; December
Maeko was lying on Ozās favorite god-awful salmon-colored fainting couch in an old tee shirt, her legs bare. Her dark cascades of unwashed waves clashed horribly with the upholstery as it spilled off the edge closest to her head, and she picked idly at a place where the seam had split and the stuffing was coming loose.Ā
It was dark and somber inside Borgin and Burkes. It had been dark, Maeko thought, since Oz had been gone. Or maybe since that fucking thing that still roamed loose on the streets had attacked him. Or maybe longer, stillāmaybe the dark had been creeping in for an eternity, and theyād only managed to hold it off so long with a few pathetically short-lived spots of light.
The house was empty, too, save for its unfortunate heir and owner. And Piperābut sheād kept to her room so much that Maeko would never have known she was there, if it wasnāt for the occasional creak of a floorboard above her head. A few times, the sound of muffled sobs coming from behind Piperās closed door. Maeko thought about checking in on her, seeing if she was alright, but then againāit wasn't her business. If Piper wanted Maekoās attention, sheād ask for it.
Something had happened, with Pax and Loxley Blairāthat was all Maeko knew. Paxton had warned Maeko about the aura leak at the house, and when Piper had gone to fix it, sheād come back a shell-shocked wreck. Pax wasnāt answering Maekoās calls or texts, so she figured he just needed time. And Loxleyāwell. It wasnāt Maekoās place to pry, and that wasnāt her style.
Still, it feltā¦strange. Maeko had always been the sort of person who took comfort in quiet and solitude, but this was different. For over a month now, the only thing Maeko Burke felt in this house was that something was missing.
Someone was missing.
Maeko might have continued wallowing like that until sunrise, if it wasnāt for the sudden low, groaning creeeeeeeak of the front doorās hinges as it opened. Maeko stiffened, her fingers tightening around her wand as she held perfectly still.
āWould ya lookit thatāsājust like Mathis said, innit?ā came a gruff male voice that Maeko did not recognize. āWalked right through the front door with no fussā¦ā
āKid musta really done it, thenā¦ā came a second voice, this one lower and more gravelly. āā¦took down the wards. Never thought Iād see the day.ā
Silently, Maeko shifted her body off the chaise until she was crouched on the ground, concealed by shadows. She tried not to be distracted by the panicked pulsing of her heartbeat in her ears; how had Mathis, that fucking oaf, broken through the propertyās ancient blood wards?Ā
There wasnāt time to be scared; there wasn't time to think. The two thugs were making their way toward the staircase, and Maeko wasnāt about to let them get to Piper.
āBoss said sheād be alone, so letās find the brat and get outta here,ā one was saying as Maeko rose to her feet and shot off a nonverbal hex with the precision of a sniper. Her target yelped in surprise and pain, while the other whirled toward where Maeko stood in the dark and snarled, āYou little fucking bitchāā
A beam of magic whizzed through the air in Maekoās direction and she deflected it, unable to conceal the sounds of her movement as three more spells were fired her way in rapid succession. She dodged one, counter-spelled another, and then dove behind an armchair to avoid the last, and watched as the entire piece of furniture sizzled and melted before her eyes, like itād been doused in acid. She could see the shadowy silhouettes of the intruders approaching slowly, like they were trying to corner a feral dog, and as quietly as she could, Maeko crawled on her hands and knees to the nearest corner of the room, her wand between her teeth.
āLetās all just calm down a bit now, yeah? There aināt no need for things to get nastyāyou just come along with us to Mathis, and we wonāt have no need to hurt yaā¦ā The man who wasnāt talking cast an illumination charm and held his wand out in front of him, moving it to and fro as he attempted to illuminate various areas in the room. Maeko dropped flat onto her stomach and held still, putting a hand over her nose and mouth to quiet the sound of her breath, the fingers that were curled around her wand handle trembling.Ā
āHere, kitty, kittyāweāll play nice if you willā¦ā the other thug cooed, clicking his tongue at her in a way that made Maekoās skin crawl, made her blood heat up in her veins. She ground her molars together inside her mouth, and from the ground, she fired.
The first spell sliced deep into the achilles heel of the man holding the lit wand; he roared and fell to the ground, blood spraying all over the wood floors and the furniture and the trousers of his companion. The orb of illumination bobbed wildly as he flailed and toppled, before ending up by chance pointed directly at where Maeko was hiding, lighting up the angles of her furious face.Ā
āSheās right thereāfuckinā grab her!ā The injured man shrieked, and Maeko scrambled to her feet as the second man made a mad dash toward her. He reared back his wand, but Maeko was faster, hitting him directly in one of the eyes; the man cursed as his eye began to blister and ooze with greenish pus.
But it didnāt slow the momentum of his approach, and as Maeko prepared a defensive spell, he caught her off guard by instead punching her hard in the stomach. She cried out, seeing white as the air was knocked from her and she doubled over in pain.Ā
And then he had a rough hand around her throat and he slammed her back into a wall, shifting some things that were mounted and dislodging some dust with the force of it. Maeko swung her arm up on instinct, making to drive the pointed end of her wand into the side of her assailantās headābut he saw the move coming, and grabbed Maeko's wrist in his other fist, squeezing until the bones nearly cracked, and Maeko emitted a wail of pain and rage as her wand clattered to the ground.
āMathis was rightāyou are a feisty little cunt, arenāt ya?ā snarled the man who had her pinned, looming closer still. This close up, Maeko could smell the pus leaking from the near-swollen-shut crease of his red-and-purple eye, the stink of his rancid breath as he exhaled a hair-raising laugh into her face. She squirmed back as much as she could, grunting and straining as she reached up to claw at the hand that was held like a vice around her throat, feeling his torn skin wedge beneath her nails. But her efforts only made the man smile a gruesome, sadistic grimace that turned Maekoās stomach to lead, most of his teeth cracked or blackened; he hoisted her further up the wall until her feet were scrambling, her toes barely grazing the ground.
It was getting harder to draw in full breaths. Her eyes scanned the ground frantically for her wand, only to find it being vindictively stomped beneath the non-injured booted foot of the thug sheād dropped earlier, a trail of blood along the floorboards from where heād dragged himself over. Maeko felt it in her body, the second her wand broke into pieces; not as strongly as the dawn at Hogwarts in her fifth year, when Maeko had pointed her heirloom wand right at Tuckerās face a second before sheād snapped it in half, with her own two hands.Ā
This pain was duller, but it still hurt. She whimpered with the breath she had, her teeth grinding together as she fought and strained again, to no avail. The man who had her pinned was leering at her, Maeko realized belatedly; his eyes traveled from the savage explosion of curls that were frizzed out around her head, to her open panting mouth, to the worn tee shirt that was riding dangerously up her midriff the more she struggled, nearly exposing her ribs now. She became suddenly, acutely aware that she was just wearing a pair of boyās knickers, her scuffed and scratched legs perilously bare. Maeko stilled, her blood chilling, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she drew in strained, panicked breaths.Ā
His hand stayed wrapped around her throat, but the rest of his body shifted intentionally from simply restraining Maeko to holding her in place; her hips and thighs were pushed back until they were flush against the wall, and a meaty forearm pressed down like a fleshy bar across the center of her chest, a bony elbow digging into her diaphragm. The hand that was holding her wrist pinned it up above her head. He whistled through his sparse teeth, appraising Maeko like he would a slab of meat on display in a butcher shop window. āMathis said he wanted to finish the job, butā¦he never said we couldnāt have us a little fun with āer beforehand, did he, dāya reckon?ā
His companion spat on the ground. āDonāt recall him sayinā nothinā about that. Reckon she has it comināāreckon itās the least weāre owed, after what sheās put us throughā¦ā
āAye, I concurā¦ā drawled the first again, fixing his gaze back on the prize he intended to claim.
Maekoās glare was like blue fire smoldering with hatred and contempt as she stared her would-be assaulter dead in his one good eye, refusing to be cowed or show even a trace of fear. If they expected her to cry, to beg, to scream, wellā¦
Then they really had no fucking idea who they were dealing with.
āFuck you,ā Maeko spat out in the most defiant wheeze she could muster, and both men laughed; the one who had his hands on her squeezed his fingers tighter around her neck, until her dangling heels were scraping and scrambling against the wall for purchase.Ā
The thugs shifted toward her, readying to pounce, when suddenly there was a telltale groaning of the eternally loose stair that was toward the top of the staircase, and all three sets of eyes shot up to find Piper Oliver creeping down the stairs, her pale blue hair and gauzy nightgown shining in the moonlight.
The surprise interruption drew the focus of the man who was pinning Maeko enough that he moved back, just a fractionāand that was all Maeko needed. She braced her upper body and thrust her knee and thigh up hard in between his legs, to which he groaned in sudden, blinding discomfort and released her involuntarily. Maeko crumbled to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut and then lunged past the man with the injured foot who was reaching out to grab her. He caught her by the hair and threw her back and across the ground, her bare skin squeaking against the floorboards as Maeko slid through the trail of blood that wasnāt hers, while Piper screamed.Ā
āPiperāRUN!ā Maeko yelled. But then the strangest thing happened. An earth-shattering tidal wave of pure terror washed over and through her, overtaking all of her senses, drowning out every other feeling and thought. It felt foreign and invasive, but it was so powerful and overwhelming that Maeko couldnāt process anything else.
Except that the two men were cowering and whimpering pathetically, like they felt it, too.Ā
It lasted for maybe thirty seconds, a minute at most. But when it was finished, the intruders exchanged one frantic, wide-eyed look before scrambling toward the front door, nearly trampling each other in their haste. The one whoād had Maeko pinned ran into the night without looking back, while the injured man only paused his hobbling, limping retreat long enough to point a finger at Maeko and hiss, āYouāve got hours, Burke. Mathis will come at dawn to claim 13B, and if he finds you here, heāll kill ya.ā
***
When it was clear the intruders would not be coming back, Piper rushed down to crouch at Maekoās side, careful not to exacerbate her injuries as she helped her to sit up.Ā
And it was then that Maeko saw it clearlyāsaw her. It wasnāt the moonlight that was making Piper glowāit was her. Her whole body, from her fingertips to her bare feet, the length of every strand of her blue hair, were lit up with ethereal silvery light from within.
Maeko couldnāt help but gawk. No wonder Piper had been holed up in her room. āWhat didāhow are you doing that? How did you do that?ā
āIā¦I donāt knowā¦ā Piper said in a hushed, frightened tone, her wide eyes filling up with tears. āā¦those men, I could feel theirāwhat they were going to do to you and I justāI-Iām not sure, I just know that I was scared and that feeling just sort ofāsort of shot out of me, I guess, Iā¦ā
Piper sobbed abruptly, but Maeko drew up her hands between her own and said earnestly, āWell, whatever you didāthank youā¦ā Piper nodded, sniffling, but did not look very convinced. And unfortunately, they didnāt have time for comfort or reassurances. āā¦Iām sorry, Peach, but we need to move. They obviously found a way through the wards, and I reckon itās not safe for us here, anymoreā¦āĀ
A wounded expression flittered across the Veelaās face at the use of Ozās pet name for her, but it seemed to get through. She helped Maeko to her feet, and hastily they made a plan; one hour. Piper, who still had a working wand, would gather up what she could of her own belongings, and any that remained of Loxleyās, and Dylanās, and Ozās. Sheād pack them into the extendable trunk, and transport it to the Sunbeam studio through the vanishing cabinet, which she would afterwards irreparably destroy.Ā
And Maeko would gather the last remaining fragments of the illustrious Burkes, from the ancestral home whose allegiance had turned.Ā
She dressed in dark jeans, a leather jacket, and tall black combat boots. She pulled on a black hooded cloak from the back of her closet that was once Islaās; it was long and draped like robes, but fitted, with dark metal buttons running down the length of one side. She pulled the hood up, and when Maeko caught a passing glimpse of herself in the mirror, she stopped short. For her entire life, Maeko had fought against the presumption that you could know a personās nature just by the look of them.
But right now? Maeko got itāwhat Max and the others must have seen, when they looked at Maeko Burke. Sheād never looked more like a Death Eater.Ā
There were very few things inside the ruins of Borgin and Burkes that had escaped Max and the DMLEās confiscation. But what little there was left, Maeko gathered into a small rucksack.Ā
And she saved the most dreadful for last.
Maeko crawled beneath the bed and pried up one unmarked floorboard with her bloodstained fingers. She withdrew a small box, that had upon it layers and layers of intricate charming that kept it from being detectable via magic. It would only open, Maeko knew, for a Burke. She opened the box.
Resting inside on a plush velvet pillow was a giant ruby ring, inlaid in a rectangular setting of delicately webbed steel-grey metal. Maeko felt the power pulsing from the conduit immediatelyāwhispering seductively, caressing Maekoās sensory attention like a lover.
Some power was better left buried, Maeko knew. And this dark secret was one that Maeko Burke had fully intended to take to her own grave.
Butādesperate times, as they say. She plucked the ring from its pillow and could swear she felt it purr with sinful pleasure. She took a breath, and slid it onto her finger.Ā
Maeko felt its effect immediately, the cool energy crawling through her bloodstream like shadows in the night. She hummed, stretching her muscles as the power explored her body and settled. It feltā¦discomfortingly natural. And when it passed through her chest, something else unfurled from within Maeko to meet it, blooming outward in ecstasy like a night-blooming flower. There was something ancient and primordial about it, like a force that had existed long before Maeko was born, simply lying in wait. And yetāit was entirely her, too, somehow.
A weapon awaiting its true wielder, a gilded sword lodged in ancient stone that would not budge until the rightful King tried to pull it free.
Or, in this caseāa Queen.
Part One: The King of the Rats
Knockturn Alley; October
For years now, Mathis had been dreaming of ways to murder Maeko Burke.
āWouldnāt do, for recruitinā to your cause,ā Nezza had warned him. Repeatedly. Itād send a statement to all the underlings and urchins who haunted Knockturn Alley, to be sure. The rats who ran crime in this town would all know who their leader was.Ā
But offing a Sacred Twenty-Eight legacy brat would lose Mathis the respect andāmore importantlyāthe business of the wizards with real means, those in power and with pedigree that meant they had deep pockets and a need for others to do their dirty work. Those at the top would always lean on the seedy underbelly that held up the precious world upon which they stoodābut theyād never risk scuffing their shoes, sullying their good names, with just any unknown criminal to rise up in the ranks. The people who mattered would only ever trust a name they knew, to get their hands dirty. The King stayed the King.
And Mathis had no intention of being King of the Rats.
Still, as Maeko Burke spent year after year holed up in the known seat of criminal power for the city, turning up her precious little nose at the vermin all around her who were clawing and scraping for a fraction of what sheād been handed on a silver fuckin platter, willfully ignoring the heaps of privilege that could have seen her rise to the position her father had laid out for her with a snap of her fingers and refusing to cede the seat to someone worthy, someone who actually fucking wanted itāMathis watched, and resented, and stewed.Ā
Every time she stumbled home from the pub with her little friends, late at night, Mathis thought about how easy it would be to walk right up and slit her pretty white throat, to stain the grimy cobblestones with liters and liters of Maeko Burkeās pretty pure blood. He thought about squeezing her neck with his bare hands until it snapped, until heād wiped that sanctimonious smirk off her face, until her bonny blue eyes bulged out of her daft empty skull. He thought about stringing her up by her fine raven hair, like a noose, and letting her rot away as she dangled at the entrance to the alleyāa warning to any other pious pureblooded brats who thought they were better than him.
But Mathis knew Nezza was right; he'd gain nothing but satisfaction from slaughtering Maeko Burke in the street, no matter how simple it would be, how much he longed to do it.Ā
Still, Mathis hadnāt come to Knockturn Alley just to give up and turn tail, nor to blindly accept the status quo and be content as a low-ranking slumlord, quietly taking his scraps. No, Mathis hadnāt done all heād done to get here, to force the loyalty of those that followed him, to strong-arm his way into lucrative alliances, to slowly edge out Aldon, just to give up now, when he was so close to that slow drip of power that he could nearly taste itāthick and black like tar.Ā
Mathis was willing to play the long game, to wait for that elusive something that would give him the edge he needed.Ā
And then, that something finally came. It was a boy.
***
What wizard-folk didnāt understand about the have-nots whoād been born outside their cushy magical world, was that those without would do just about anything to get that which they didnāt have. Everything had its priceāeven magic; that was something that wix knew well enough, when theyād empty their pockets for the rats in Knockturn Alley to acquire the fix they desired, or shake hands with agreeable co-conspirators making off-the-books deals in the dark. For wix, there was always a quick fix to be found, if you were able to pay the right price.
But Mathis had truly come from nothing. The hedge witches in Coventry where Mathis had learned all he knew didnāt have an excess of anythingānot magic, and certainly not money. When it was time to pay up, the coven dealt in flesh. Some used their bodies as a more carnal sort of collateral. But Mathis, who had never been pretty or desirable in that way, had given up his ear the good old fashioned wayāthe way that had later earned his old coven the moniker The Cannibals.Ā
Eventually, heād outgrown the meager criminal earnings he could exploit from hedge witches; they were all thieves and addicts from the jump, the types of have-nots who would never have anything, and thus would never have the means to pay a debt that was worth collecting. So Mathis set his sights on the havesāthe big leagues, the high-and-mighty wizards who sought out their illegal dealings in London's infamous Knockturn Alley. Mathis knew he would have to shed his old skin as a hedge witch like a snake; if he wanted to turn a real profit in the magical underworld, he would need to deal only with magical folks who had a good wizardās family name, who brought with them a wizardās full coin purse.
But he still had contacts in Coventry. The Cannibals still traded in flesh and in skināsometimes theyād send body parts, for distribution and sale in a more lucrative market. Sometimes a wizard politician would get word to Mathisāwhoād built his reputation in the criminal underworld on being able to procure whatever you want, as strong as you wantāthat he desired some pretty young thing off the books to boost his morale, and the Cannibals would be efficient in trafficking one of their chattel. Sometimes, if an enterprising discipline emerged amongst their ranks, the hedges from Coventry would send Mathis a hedge witch to work under him, in exchange for regular cuts off of whatever they earned.
It was the latter that happened, when a scrappy little waif of a boy showed up at Mathisā hideout in Knockturn Alley. Heād been sent from Coventry, he said. And he had a discipline in unweaving wards.Ā
***
After having the kid prove himself in a few small-time B&E jobs, Mathis set him to the much more important and complex task of meticulously unweaving the ancient blood wards that had, for centuries, protected the reigning seat of power for the magical underworldā13B Knockturn Alleyāfrom being seized through mutiny.Ā
It would never have been possible, no matter how powerful the discipline, were it not for one peculiar day in Knockturn Alley, in September, when all her residents had noted an unknown disturbance in magic coming from 13B, the former Borgin and Burkes. The aura around the ancient place had been noticeably glitchy, more and more so ever since that day.
And it was only that minuscule weakness, in a fortress that had stood for hundreds of years, that allowed the kid to begin his painstaking task, like chipping away at a solid stone wall with a dull chisel. Pebble by pebble, bit by bit, thread by threadāfor months, the boy would be at it.Ā
And all Mathis had to do was sit patiently and wait, as he had done for years. Until the wards on 13B Knockturn Alley finally fell, and Mathis could walk right through the front door, and drag Maeko Burke by her hair kicking and screaming from her own wee bed.
To be continued...
season four, huh? wonder what this guyās future holdsā¦
@paxton-aeterna

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
Everyone thought it would be the Boy. Or the tronpe, if the Spirits demanded a daughter. But when the shaken bones were scattered on the floor, revealing Inezās name, she wasnāt surprised.Ā
Inez knew she was destined for greatness. She knew she was powerful, more-so than the others. She was more clever, more attractive, more skilled.Ā
Sheād chosen Rozalie to prepare her, aiding in the deceiverās debasement. While she bathed in milk, the other witch poured salts and petals into the tub, scrubbed her arms, and hand-fed her fruits so ripe, the juice spilled down her chin. Roz had a natural cotton robe for her to don when she left the bath, and it was that robe she was wearing as her Sisters, the Lost Daughter and the Boy left for home, leaving Inez behind in the space they had deliberately created for this event.
Mambo had left her a chair, which was delightful, as after many hours of meditating, Inez's knees began to ache. The magic-thieves truly were taking their sweet time to find her, despite the obvious trails they had left behind. She entertained herself by singing, an old tune that she'd learned as a child. Something about the Spirits guiding their hands. How poignant that years since learning the song, she would become one of its subjects.
Mid-lyric, Inez paused, feeling the familiar warmth in her chest that indicated her guiding Spirits were telling her something. A warning. I'll be home soon, Sisters. The door to the warehouse swung open, and Inez smiled, sitting up in her chair.
Despite all of the predictions, they looked different than Inez had anticipated. The short one was ghostly pale, a tiny wisp of a thing. The taller one had tanned skin, a thing of beauty, a waste in this forsaken country. Inez opened her mouth to greet them, toying with her prey, but the shorter one raised her conduit, and there was barely a flash before she felt a pulling lurch in her stomach, and all three were whisked away.
Their preparations took three days.
Three days for Katie to smuggle out materials from her lab at the Ministry of Magic, for her to fill up pages upon blank pages with magical equations and alchemical calculations, for her to nearly burn her flat down molding a rune-etched round vessel out of glass while Rue blasted it with a scorching beam of dazzling blue-white flame, Chickadee tittering at her ankles in delight.
Three days for Rue to track down an old contact from her street heist days, a hedge witch broker who peddled in objects meant for hasty getawaysādiscarded and used portkeys that were refurbished and sold for unsanctioned travel across short, one-way distances.Ā
And three days for Oz to work up the nerve to dial a number he never thought he would call again.
They spent the final night passing a bottle of liquor between them, going over every detail of their intricate plan over and over and over again until they could all recite it in their sleepānot that any of them got a wink of it.
Then the day arrived before any of them could stop and really think about the insanity of all of it. How unlikely their chances at success were.Ā
They bid each other a brief goodbye before going their separate waysāRue and Katie to the warehouse to which theyād tracked Inez using a pair of the voodoo witchās earrings, and Oz to make sure everything was set up for their arrival in an hourās time.
An Tiaract, a tiny island steep with rocks among the uninhabited Blasket Islands off the Western coast of Ireland, was a harsh place that Oz unfortunately knew quite well. Nestled atop the rocky precipice of a seaside cliff was a decrepit, abandoned lighthouse that Morrigan had long ago fashioned into a holding cell, of sorts. The room at the top was built into the cliffside itself, with a metal chair bolted to the ground and heavy chains attached to the floor, the stone walls, the ceilingāan interrogation chamber, Oz had witnessed it used as before. Or a place for those who disobeyed Morrigan to be taught a lesson.
Ozās travel token was literally thatāa rusty token from an arcade that had closed years ago, and he grasped it with trembling fingers before he was dumped unceremoniously at the coordinates the magic had been assigned to deliver him. The brand mark that still adorned his wrist flared up with heat in a way Oz hadnāt felt in many years as he pressed a hand against the front door of the lighthouse and pushed it open with a low, groaning creak. It was dark inside, and quiet, and bitterly coldāa layer of dust coated the interior, as if the building had stood empty for some time, and that fact alone calmed Ozās wildly racing pulse just a smidge as he climbed the stairs up, and up, and up.
But his reprieve from terror was short-lived; Oz opened the door to the holding cell at the top of the lighthouse and found there was indeed someone there, smiling like a cat would to a cornered canary. Waiting for him.
āHiya, Morrigan.ā
āOzzieā¦ā she purred, studying him, trailing closer to him like a vulture to a carcass. āā¦thought you'da known better ān ta come crawlinā back hereā¦Still gettinā into trouble?ā
Oz swallowed, and aimed for a flippant shrug that more closely resembled a wince. āOh, ya know me, Morātrouble always seems ta follow me aroundā¦ā
Morrigan grinned knowingly at that, and raised a hand that slammed the door behind Oz shut. She didnāt stop moving until sheād stopped right inside Ozās space, her pixie face flickering gruesomely in the roomās dim lighting. Oz drew in a breath, and Morrigan chuckled, reaching out to drag her nails lightly along the edge of his curly hair, down his neck, dipping toward the center of his chest to halt precisely at the tip of the tattoo that adorned his abdomen, hidden beneath his clothes. Morriganās ministrations caused an involuntary shiver to travel up his whole body, all the way from his toes. āYou haven't changed a bit, have ya? Still the same needy boyā¦ā Oz was too familiar, intimately familiar with this tone; Morrigan wasnāt asking for an answer and he didnāt give her one.Ā
Her hand closed around his left wrist and flipped it over, drawing it toward her to examine. She ran her fingertips lightly, almost lovingly, over the faded brand mark that was still etched onto Ozās skin. He shivered again.
Then Morriganās expression darkened in an instant, and she dug her thumbnail into the center of the mark. Her magic pulsed through him, lighting up all his nerves with a relentless current, a rapid oscillation between pain and pleasure that shifted too frequently between the two to allow him to feel either. This, too, was magic Oz knew wellāmagic he still dreamt about sometimes, and woke up gasping in a pool of cold sweat.
His teeth ground together and he squirmed at the onslaught of overstimulation until his uncontrolled trembling knocked him to his knees. āPleaseāā he panted over the deafening roar of his own blood in his ears.
Morrigan released him and Oz crumbled downward, catching himself with his palms pressed down in the dirt so that he cowered before Morrigan on his hands and knees, like a dog that had been kicked. She gripped one hand in the back of his hair and sneered, in that voice that was affection and ownership and wrath all wrapped up in one, āCĆ© leis a mbaineann tĆŗ?ā
āYouā!ā Oz choked out desperately, a strangled sort of sob, āāi gcónaĆ, please, I swearāā
āAgus nach mbeidh tĆŗ thrĆ©igean arĆs mĆ©?ā Morrigan demanded, but before Oz was forced to give her any sort of answer, there was a suctioning sound of air in the middle of the room, followed by the sound of feet landing hard onto stone. Oz heard Rue give a nauseated groan, and Katie muttered something about a spell not holding her for long before there were grunts of effort, a body being dragged, chains rattling as they were fastened into place.Ā
Morrigan dropped her hold on Ozās hair with a slight hiss of annoyance and Oz slumped in relief, but didnāt look up. āAnd these must be the friends Ozzie spoke so highly ofā¦?ā Morrigan mocked, her attention momentarily drifting from the heap that was Oz on the floor as she walked leisurely toward her interrogation chair, to better examine their prisoner.
Oz managed to push himself up to a shaky crouch and look up in time to see Rue and Katie backing away from a chained-up, unconscious Inez while Morrigan got closerāRue with her hands raised in a defensive tut-ready position, and Katie with her wand held out in front of herāthough thankfully theyād both heeded Ozās precautionary earlier warnings about Morriganās many and powerful magical enhancements that protected her from most minor offensive spells made against her, and neither tried to cast anything at her just yet.
Katie met his eyes, questioning and impatient, and Oz shook his head at her franticallyāif he could just draw Morriganās attention back on him, convince her it was him alone she wanted to unleash her fury on, maybe it would give the women a chance toā
Ozās mouth fell open in shock as Morriganās body tumbled unconscious to the ground with a heavy thud, a fucking baseball bat pulled from gods-knew where raised aloft and triumphant in Rueās hands. Katie cackled at the brutal yetāOz had to admit, effectiveāsimplicity of it, while Rue just shrugged and said, āYa said no magic, innit.ā
They made quick work of dragging Morrigan to a corner of the room, and though Rue encircled her with a ring of flames as a temporary precaution, they all agreed the ruthless coven leader would be pissed as all the seven hells when she woke up, so they needed to work fast.Ā
And so, from the magically enchanted backpack from which Rue had, presumably, stashed the baseball bat, Katie reached inside and retrieved the glass bottle wrapped in cloth and carefully handed it over to Oz. It would need to be charged up with a fucktonne of ambient magic, and they didnāt have much timeāand so Ozās job now was to find and siphon the entire stash of ambient-imbued magical batteries that Morrigan had squirreled away in this place for a rainy day, while the girls kept Inezā¦occupied, for as long as they were able to give him.
@katiethxrne
SHEEHALLOWEEN 2022 š® Day Five: Free Space
.
Katie had almost forgotten how refreshing it was to be around folk who didn't attend Hogwarts. There were a handful within the Department who attended other legacy institutions such as Durmstrang or Beauxbatons. Thus, they didn't exactly follow House Politics and also knew nothing of Katie during her years at Hogwarts.
It was nice to not be immediately spotted as the Gryffindor with more detentions than sense and could avoid the scrutiny of her previous reputation. It made it easier for Rue to simply trust that Katie knew what she was doing (she did), without being questioned of her intelligence or ability for having not been a Ravenclaw or Slytherin (the Hat offered Slytherin - she didn't look good in green). So as Katie clocked Rue's questions and comments, she wasn't expected to look up from the notebook in hand to answer, as if Katie had to try and multitask - her brain was hardwired to move fast, and she got bored if she had to do things one at a time, it's why class at Hogwarts was numbing.
"Gryffindor - brave, bold, and exceedingly reckless."
Ashworth could see through the veneer Katie had positioned around her and challenged her in those early days of mentorship to keep her mind sharp and moving, her hands working, her mouth on a constant stream. Three tasks at once, fighting and painting runes, brewing and plotting an attack on the blackboard, and paperwork while also writing alchemy papers and keeping a conversation going. All things that mattered in the field, in the laboratories, all the things that had moved Katie from lowly lab rat to dangerous Captain.
So, as she flicked through Yvonne's work, her fingers still making signs, and occasionally stopping to paint a rune in the air between herself and Rue, Katie could listen to how the Hedges worked and figure out their magic.
"...molecular manipulation, a regular scanning at work; it's too bad I never saw it in action. I'll bet it was something - energy and magic manipulation on this kind of level with a brain rivaling my own," Katie closed the journal with a smile, "I would have been terrified of her abilities."
Spirits - goddamn, it always came back to the dead with Katie, didn't it? Always came back around to those who fuck around with the River Styx, and Katie had dipped her toes in and was yanked out fasted than a tick on a July Tuesday. Blood Magic. Spirit Magic. Necromancy. Blood bonds. Katie knew this magic; she'd dabbled, studied, and knifed it in the cradle of a few dark magicians in her career. But Voodoo was a different breed.
"Anyone can be killed - no one is immortal, and Spirit Work is delicate but also incredibly strange. There are tales of souls being bottled into jars, genies in lamps using their magic to grant wishes to muggles, of trapping spirits in gems and locking them into caverns until their final resting place is forgotten and they are kept on the mortal plane." Katie could think of no worse fate than an eternity trapped in anonymity, used like a battery cell, fated to never truly die until the heat death of the universe or until the main character of a manga needs your power to reach their goals for Love and Friendship.
"Voodoo Smoodoo," Katie crowned, kicking up her feet, "I can trap a soul better than these swamp fucks - cut them off from the sacrificial lambs they used as a battery, and they'll cook."
Dimensional pockets, Genie Lamps, soul renting, and Spirit Trappingāit wasn't easy magical working, but then again, Katie hated being bored.
"We just need a place where we can't get... interrupted."
āImagine that? Reckless is my middle name, innit,ā Oz overheard Rue say, from where he was lurking out of sight and eavesdropping.
Of course, heād heard all about Gryffindor Houseāwhere Maeko had faced scrutiny from her peers who did not believe she belonged with them, until Katie came along.
Oz peered into the room from his hiding place, watching the hedge witch and auror captain continue to converse, circling round each other with magnetic push and pullāa little song and dance that Oz knew well. It was rather beautiful, really. Oz thought Paxton might have said something about their auras tangling.
Rue paced the length of the small space like a caged animal, restless, tossing a small sphere of flame between her hands like a ball. Even from here, Oz could see the way her eyes seemed to gleam like emeralds in a cave illuminated by the torchfire of a wandering explorer as Katie sent her mind spinning with terrifying possibilities. She hummed, pondering their predicament, then said, āThe Free Trader haunts are out, I reckon. Thereās heat on usāour safehouse got shaken down a beat ago, word is some a your Comrades in Arms are trackinā ambient spikes and unsanctioned magic signatures all over England.ā
Katie made a thoughtful noise as she processed this information, one hand scratching through the scruffy, loose curls at the crown of her head. After a moment, she asked, āI donāt suppose your coven has friends elsewhere on this island? Scotlandā¦Ireland?ā
Rue gave a snort and her cheeky reply was lost to the sudden rush of dread that washed through Oz. He knew exactly what fate would befall anyone who dared to trespass in that territory unannounced, who tried conducting magical business without attaining the right permission from the right peopleāthe right person. His palms itched.
Ah, shiteā¦
By the time Oz had settled enough to peek into the room again, Rue and Katie had been blessedly, momentarily sidetracked by Katieās pet salamander Chickadee seemingly launching itself from its napping place in the ash of the fireplace at the ball of flame between Rueās hands, and she was cooing and laughing in adoration over the tittering fire sprite as it crawled along her arms and nestled down the front of her shirt, with Katie jumping up to snap photos with her phone.
It was enough of a distraction that Oz hoped theyād forget about the trap they were walking into with this foolhardy revenge mission. But soon enough, the two women settled on the couch, angled toward each other, with Rue stroking Chickadee as he snoozed atop her chest. Picking up the thread of thought, Katie mused, āThe Departmentās got boots on the ground in Scotland, and I canāt risk this getting traced back to meā¦ā
āIreland it is, then,ā Rue replied decisively, almost gleefully, and Oz swallowed.Ā
Katie again opened the journal Rue had brought and studied a few pages, muttering to herself. Then she reached out to pop the cap off the whiskey bottle and took a long swig before passing it off to Rue, scurrying over to the chalkboard to scribble out complex symbols and equations, deep in her own thoughts.Ā
The board was half-full by the time Katie turned, dusting her forehead and hairline with chalk from her fingers as she said, āYour girl was thinking in terms of huge power reservesāspirit magic, combined with the unstable source you all useāthe ambient. Weād need a boost like that to contain the bitchās spirit in a vessel, andā¦ā She drew a small diagram on the chalkboard with exes and dashed lines and arrows, like a football coach mapping a play. āā¦we would also need a way to stabilize all the ambient magic in a small, contained area, so that when we actually get her in the damn thing, matter doesnāt collapse in on itself and combust andā"
Rue mimicked the sound of an explosion with her mouth, and even summoned a little miniature mushroom cloud in the air for further illustration.
Katie grinned, gesturing with the chalk. āāexactly. Not the kind of mess that would look good on you, darlināā¦ā
Rue snickered in response, and then added, āMight be thereās a local coven could negotiate some extra ambient withā¦?ā
Double, triple shiteā¦
And thatās when Oz finally stepped into the room, resigned in what he knew he had to doābut really not wanting to do it. āI know who ya need ta talk to, if itās Ireland ya need ta goā¦ā
Katie raised a curious brow at him, too deep into her scheming to be annoyed that heād deliberately disobeyed her request to stay out of their way, today. And Rue, who was used to the way things were run in a safehouse, was not startled whatsoever by Oz showing up unannounced.Ā
Their eyes met, impish blue against smoldering green, and all Oz could think was, I chose you, that day, over my own blood. And Mae wonāt ever forget it. His heart throbbed in his chest; that was the last time Oz had seen or spoken to Maeko, that day after Halloween at the FTB safehouse. When heād put himself in front of her wand to protect some hedges that he barely knew.Ā
Oz hadnāt been able to get that wail of betrayal that Maeko had shrieked at him out of his head these long weeks. Heād disappointed her, and sheād abandoned him in the company of hedgesājust like his father had done.Ā
So theyād chosen their sides, both shown their true colors when their backs were up against a wall. And though he ached without Maekoās company every single day, looking back, Oz didnāt think he would have made a different choice. Self-sacrifice was the way he was wired.Ā
But now, as heād resigned himself to willingly jump into harmās way yet again, but on a whole different scale, Oz did feel regret that he wouldnāt get to see Maeko one last time. Because he knew, deep down, that when Morrigan got her hands on him again, he likely wouldnāt be coming back.
He looked over at Katie and gave her a sad, wincing smile, holding up his palms to flash HELLO and GOODBYE. āā¦anā I know how ta get ya that power boost, too.ā
@katiethxrne @outterridge
The Gentlemen | costume appreciation: 3/ā
Kaya Scodelario as Susie Glass in S1.E3 ā Where's My Weed At?
Whatās your ideal meal?
"All I know is everything tastes pretty fuckin' fab when you burn as much spliff as I do."

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
Who in your family do you view as a role model?
"Now, what is that big fancy word your lot like to use in the Department for tosh like this...? Entrapment? Come onāyou can do better than that."
Oz: have you considered that your disgustingly putrid allure might be because you're part Veela?
"Awh! Are ya sayin' I'm as pretty as my sweet Peach? That's sweet."