THE FOLLOWING IS A FAN-BASED PARODY.
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Celestine of Ken, Daughter of Celebrian Undómiel, and High Queen of the southern elves sat upon her throne of silver and polished marble. The afternoon sun filtered through the stained glass windows of her throne room, its glow casting against every surface it touched, giving an almost ethereal look to the room.
This was by design Celestine knew. Her foremothers had explicitly designed the elaborate layout of the Great Hall to install a sense of awe and fear to all who entered its hallowed gates. Celestine remembered the words her own mother used when she was but a child. That the first impression was the most important for any queen. It foretold just what kind of relationship one would have with a new ally.
Many a time had an arrogant lord or lady been cowed into submission as they starred up into the raised steps of the pure white throne without a single word from the Queen. Just as many a time had a frightened and intimidated peasant gained both confidence and strength walking through those vaulted doors and towering ceilings.
But what of her visitor today, Celestine wondered.
She sat stoically on top of the raised platform, looking down to the floor below her, trying desperately to keep whatever excitement and anxiety in check as she waited.
Kaguya didn't seem to have that same problem. The priestess standing to her right was almost statue-like as she waited. The Mikos' Stoic nature was as in control as it always was in times like this. Not a hint of the curiosity or interest Celestine had seen in private was outwardly visible, even to her experienced eye. A stark contrast to Luu-Luu, who bounced from one foot to another in almost childlike excitement.
"Would you calm yourself, Luu-Luu?" Kaguya said, placing a hand on the halfling's shoulder to stop her from vibrating in place."You're about to fall onto the floor if you keep this up."
"Oh, I can't help it!" the tiny woman almost whined as she seemingly increased her fidgeting." I need to see his shield right now, or I'm gonna burst!"
"Leave the girl be."Claudia said with a smile, looking at the two younger women out of the corner of her eye."If we knew how to control Luu-Luu, we would have tried it years ago."
"Speaking of those who do what they wish." Claudia said, her voice much more severe than it was before." Where is our illustrious dark elf guest?"
"Perhaps Olga deems this meeting beneath her." Kaguya added, a mischievous glint breaking through her stoicism for a brief moment." It might be for the best considering the last time she joined us in receiving a guest."
"To be fair to Olga. She reacted as anyone would when forced to greet Lord Pantielle's sons." Celestine said, remembering the look of horror on the man's face as Olga tore into him in front of those in attend
ance. The man only got what he deserved for saying such things to one of Olgas' favorite handmaidens.
But now that she thought about it, Celestine found it incredibly strange that Olga had decided to refrain from joining them.
The dark elf had made it abundantly clear that she would introduce herself to this Steve Rogers on her own time and when she felt the time was right. Celestine had believed this was just another moment of Olga putting her own pride above prudence, but her mind was changed by the dark elves' own words.
"You are the queen of this castle." The dark elf spoke, her tone barely above neutral. "In your own home, you have no equals."
It was Olga's way of showing her respect, she thought. Not just as one Queen to another, but as one friend to another. The fact that Olga put her own ego aside to allow Celestine to take center stage gave Celestine pause. She wanted to believe that whatever animosity had been the driving force in their rivalry had finally been buried.
But it could also mean that Olga just simply didn't want to share the attention whenever she formally introduced herself. Perhaps "Requesting" a private audience away from the "round ears" of Celestine's own court. That also sounded a lot like Olga.
Or perhaps, Celestine thought to herself, as the feeling of magic washed over her body, Olga seemingly had other plans.
Celestine looked to her left, where she felt the telltale sign of spell use. The air shimmered in Celestine's vision as she saw through the blanket of mana, showing Olga standing off to the side. Her hands grasped at the pole of her scepter in frustration as she watched and waited for something to happen.
A shadow spell?
Such an advanced and powerful bit of magic to use just to avoid being seen? It wasn't something Celestine could see someone like Olga doing in her wildest dreams.
But what was she planning?
"My lady." Claudia spoke, the neutral voice she wore as the "knight commander" utterly different from the warm and friendly tone she spoke with less than an hour ago. "It's time."
Celestine nodded, motioning for her men to proceed further. This was always the most distasteful part of meeting new people for her. Once upon a time, when she was but a simple girl, she had loved meeting new people from new and exciting lands. It was all so exhilarating to see and experience. But now? As Queen, it was her duty to make a deliberate and memorable impression on visitors and make it abundantly clear where her position was in any potential relationship.
At the top.
The pageantry of it all made her think she would lose her mind one day.
Her royal guards moved to either side of the massive doors to give entrance to the awaiting party. The men paused in shock as the doors whined and groaned before swinging open without their help. The deafening sound of untold hundreds of pounds of oak and bronze echoing in the massive hall, her own guards taking a step back at the sight of the single figure who had done what ten of them could not.
"Well," Celestine whispered, her voice soft with both confusion and excitement. "That was certainly unexpected."
Claudia could do nothing but nod her head as she watched the figures move closer.
For a moment in time, the only sounds that filled Celestines head were her own heartbeat and the rhythmic footsteps of the encroaching party. Until the excited squeal left Luu-Luu's mouth.
Steve Rogers walked closer. Each step he took made him feel all the more powerful. Yet, he didn't quite meet the image she imagined when she first read his letters. She believed the words used in the note belonged more to a scholar than a warrior. He was tall, towering over the women who accompanied him, and as broad as any man Celestine could ever remember seeing. Yet, the man in front of her looked like the paragon of what a soldier was.
But it was his eyes that received most of her attention. She had rarely ever seen a blue of that shade before in her life.
Celestine could feel her heartbeat just a little faster at the thought.
The group stopped a few feet away from the steps that led to her throne. The soldiers from both Maias' mercenary companies knelt low to the ground. The dark elves of Olga's personal guards followed soon after as they flanked the figures in front of her.
Captain Vera of the Feoh royal guard and personal friend of Alicia bowed as deep as she could without causing pain to her broken arm. Chloe bent deeper in what Olga had described to her as a traditional dark elven bow that had originated nearly a thousand years ago.
But despite herself, Celestine couldn't help but think the poor girl looked like a baby dear learning to walk, not that Celestine would voice this opinion out loud.
With the same mischievous smile she wore when she found something incredibly amusing, Maia gave the half-bow that had become a bit of a trademark for her. Prim, like the perfect princess she was, curtsied. Her thin fingers pulled her silk dress off the floor and bent her knees in a practiced and precise manner. One that made the young woman look like the figure of a music box.
And then there was the man.
Celestine almost laughed when she saw the look of horror cross Chloe's face as Steve Rogers simply nodded his head in Celestine's direction. Something that Maia didn't bother trying to hide if the snort that left her mouth was anything to go by.
This was already a meeting Celestine believed she would always look back on fondly.
"Sir Steven Rogers." Celestine said as she stood up from her seat," It's finally good to be able to put a face to the name that has been on all of our lips."
The man stood tall as he held her gaze, his eyes never wavering from hers as he seemingly measured her silently. Celestine found she quite liked the sight of the man looking at her like that.
Not with admiration or deference, not looking towards her like an impossible ideal so far above everyone else that it would be impossible to be seen as equals. She could count the number of people on both of her hands who had looked at her like that.
She supposed she had to add one more to that list.
"It's good to finally meet you as well, your grace." Rogers spoke, his voice carrying all over the room, "I've heard many things about you from Prim here."
The pinkette flushed at his words, embarrassed as the room's attention shifted towards her for a brief moment.
"Oh?" Celestine said, her voice dipping low as she made her way down the steps, flanked by Claudia and Kaguya. Celestine noted that Luu-Luu had somehow already made her way down and was inspecting something sheathed on Sir Steven's back. A parcel? Or perhaps that is the shield she had heard so much about?
Sir Steven noticed if the look on his face was any indication as he shifted his foot to keep both her and Luu-Luu in his sight.
He was handsome, that much Celestine could admit to herself now that she was just a few feet away from him and as equally broad as he was tall. She could see just why Alicia had been so adamant about him joining her in Feoh for so long.
" Now that introductions are officially over." Celestine nodded her head, the silent order to her guards to leave them be for the moment." We have much to discuss.
Olga Discordia crept through the shadows of the throne room. The Afternoon sun made shadow stepping more complicated than it should have been, but she wasn't the mistress of the dark arts for nothing.
Moving through shadows was a skill that had become a requirement for dark elves to learn, especially if they ever wished to be someone in the elven hierarchy of the North. It was something Olga herself had studied for decades to truly master in preparation for taking her mother's throne one day. It was this skill that had allowed her and many of her household to escape the clutches of Vault's armies.
A skill that Olga herself held dear to her heart.
It was also this same skill she was now using to spy on who might soon become her newest ally. But perhaps ally was too strong of a word to use. Maybe pawn would fit more accurately in what she was planning.
A master of the art of shadow stepping became a phantom, a living shadow who could travel unseen by all. Well, mostly all, if the twinkle in Celestine's eye as she looked in her direction meant anything. It took a mentally strong individual attuned to the natural forces of magic to see past this spell. Skills that come naturally to an elf of Celestine's stature, but skills she doubted belonged to anyone else in the throne room.
Her mana swelled through her body as she moved, the echoes of her movement masked through the rhythmic marching of the approaching guards. The shroud of darkness she wore billowed as they marched past her. So that was the Steve Rogers that was spoken so highly of?
She didn't know what she had expected when she saw the destruction left in his wake. Of the look of awe and horror etched on the faces of the men who he let survive their encounters with him. But she doubted whatever image of a scarred and slack-jawed giant wielding a cleaver the size of a tree as he hacked through men and orc alike as of he was cleaving through wheat...
Would ever look like the man in front of her in her wildest of dreams.
He certainly looked mortal, far from the grotesque demon shouted about by the black dogs during their interrogations. He seemed almost human, actually, but that would be giving the species far too much credit.
A pretty face, to be sure. No wonder the smell of arousal clung to the mercenary these past few weeks.
She rarely took a man as a lover, even during the many years of her rule. She found them to be too needy for her tastes. Not that women were any better in her experience. The two sexes were equally as disappointing as the other in many regards; she just found the female sex nicer to look at.
But if more men looked like the man before her, she could see herself changing her opinions on the matter.
If only he could follow proper protocol.
Olga gripped her staff so hard she thought she would snap the ancient artifact in two as she watched the man refuse to properly bow to Celestine. Despite the woman's faults, she was still a Queen and perhaps the most powerful woman in the room besides herself, but indeed a woman who demanded the respect owed to her.
Celestine didn't even pause at the lack of respect given to her, ignoring the insult offered to her like the naive fool she was. More than once, Olga noticed how her counterpart allowed herself to be treated by those beneath her. Did Celestine not know how it made her look to her subjects? Didn't she know that the lack of respect and fear her subjects should rightfully hold for her had already caused upheaval in not just her kingdom but Olgas as well?
It was yet another thing she needed to teach her counterpart while this war waged on.
"Lady Celestine?" Chloe spoke up, her usual confidence somewhat deluded by her confusion."I don't understand. Where is my Queen?"
"I regret to inform you that Queen Olga is indisposed at the moment."Celestine said, looking towards the human man with an unreadable expression." However, she will wish to meet with you privately when the time comes."
"I understand." The man said, his voice...not unpleasant to Olga's ear, but lacking the soft musical quality that came naturally to the elven races." It must be difficult organizing a war effort with two unique heads of state in command."
"Oh, you have no idea." the mercenary spoke, her tone light and friendly as she unsubtly pawed at the man like a blind man at a whore house." Everything is just a wee bit more complicated than it should with two Queens in one castle if you catch my drift."
And what's that supposed to mean...
Olga paused. Whatever barb she would have internally thrown at the redhead's comment was lost as she watched the man shift his stance once more, looking directly at where she stood. For a moment, she thought against her better judgment that he had noticed her.
But that was impossible. In the thousands of years of written history, no human had ever seen through a shadow spell. A human didn't have the fortitude of mind and spirit to see past the literal shroud of magic she wore on her skin.
But...
Olga stared wide-eyed, her face tilted off to the side as she watched the intensity of the human male's eyes. Those...those were eyes she had rarely ever seen in her life, human or otherwise.
The eyes were said to be the window to a person's soul. It was something even humans could understand, at least as best as those of their limited experiences and intelligence could understand something.
To a human, a person's eyes were as unique as any other part of the body, something easily distinguished by color or size, but nothing more than superficial surface qualities. But to a dark elf, a person's eyes were more quintessentially linked to one's identity than any other physical feature.
If one was skilled enough, much like herself, one could even see through the eyes of a being, past whatever mental shields one could develop. Their hopes and dreams, their thoughts and secrets. Even their pasts as well as their futures.
It was one of the reasons dark elven noblewomen wore their hair covering at least one of their eyes. The need for secrets was that much more significant the higher in society one climbed.
She stared at the man, enthralled by the deep blue staring back at her. The light twitch indicating the strain he was placing himself under to see her. The man could see her, he may not know precisely what he was looking at, but he knew something, or someone was staring back at him.
Olga felt a shiver run up her spine as she watched him follow her movements, his form becoming more sure of her presence the longer he watched. She smiled as she watched the man's vision become harder, almost daring her to show herself. The cold steel of his blue eyes turned harder and sterner than any suit of armor her smiths could hope to forge.
Those were not the eyes of an ordinary man. Those were the eyes of a king.
She smiled before she released the spell, taking immense satisfaction from seeing the women's startled and confused faces in the room. But not as much pleasure as she took in perceiving the steel-like gaze of the man, not even flinching as her image came into view.
"Most worth the wait." Olga thought to herself as she stepped out of the shadows.
"What the fuck!?" The red-headed mercenary shouted, her voice undignified as she pulled out her dagger. Several others followed suit as they drew their weapons but paused when they realize whose presence they were now in.
"Allow me to introduce myself, Sir Steven." Olga Discordia spoke, her normal neutral tone tinged with both intrigue and amusement as she gestured for her bowing servants to rise once more." I am Queen Olga Discordia. I must apologize for being so late. But I suspect Queen Celestine had been more than enough to keep you occupied."
Olga looked towards Celestine, the slight smile she wore when she was told one of those silly human jokes Olga didn't understand framing her face. As if she needed her fellow queens' permission to take her rightful place at the head of whatever discussion was about to take place.
Olga stepped to Celestine's side. The two queens stood shoulder to shoulder as the man stood in front of them. Olga had to admit...he looked better up close.
"Now that we are all here," Celestine said, motioning for the rest of the room's occupants to follow her back to her private Courters. "We can finally begin this meeting in honest."
Steve could actually feel the eyes on him.
Maybe they didn't expect him to take the reigns of the conversation so quickly. Or perhaps they didn't think he'd be so proactive as he was. But Sarah Rogers didn't raise her son to waste time when things needed to be done.
"That...is most impressive." The brown-haired woman, Claudia if he remembered correctly, said as she looked over his shoulder." I never would have imagined it possible..."
He hadn't said a word while being led into the private chamber. He saw the enormous, ornate table in the middle of the room., and taking a chance, made his way towards it. Ignoring the questioning and confused looks he received from several of the women as he did so.
He had seen maps and read through enough atlases for the geography he saw to look familiar. He wasn't about to make a fool out of himself by planning war strategies on a map he didn't fully understand.
That would have been embarrassing.
He stared hard at the map for a few solid seconds, so lost in thought, he had almost missed one of the queens' servants asking him if he would like a drink. He actually felt bad about making the young woman think he was ignoring her.
But with a smile and a polite thank you, he had managed to salvage her opinion of him. A sip of the offered lemon water, and he was off to the races.
"What are..."Maia started before she realized what Steve was doing. A strange look overcame her face as a look of realization crossed her features. If what Alicia had told him about Maia's past as one of Vault's lieutenants was true, then he was on the right train of thought in his little exercise."...how did you?"
It wasn't easy to distill the entire career of an experienced battle commander like Vault. Especially to a point where Steve could feel confident enough to say he knew what Vaults next move would be. But he had a lot of free time on his hands after Feoh, and he liked to think he put it to good use.
He placed a figurine marked to represent a platoon of soldiers down, readjusting its formation to fit what he had learned about how this Vault character operated.
Before the war, the general of the Kuroinu was possibly the most celebrated and trusted military figure the kingdom had ever seen. Someone who had a hand in training and organizing the armies of the unified continent he was now fighting.
If this rebellion was something he had been planning for years, then the seeds of Vault's victory had been planted long before the war started.
"Oh my..." The Queen said as she looked over Steves work. Her confusion turned into awe as her mind pieced together what Steve was doing.
The map was littered with the figurines now. While to the uneducated, the positions may have looked random. The picture was clear to the more military-minded women in the room.
Steve had to admit, that he took some pride in that declarations. Every day during the caravan from Feoh, he studied up on everything he could get his hands on regarding contemporary military strategy. Gathered every book and every scroll he could get his hands on from Alicia's library.
Surface to say he found the reading to be a bit lacking, but that might just be because he had become spoiled with his access to the internet the past few years. It was more difficult than he would admit to reading through handwritten books written in old-fashioned English. Especially after having a stark-issued smartphone in his pocket for so long.
But hey, he did his best with what he had.
"It's not perfect." Steve said as he readjusted the piece of wood that represented a platoon of archers, replacing it further east on the map. "Thankfully, Vault was considered a bit of a celebrity before the war. So there were loads of books about his battle strategies."
"And you read them all?" Maias said, her mouth finally able to speak after watching him, in complete detail, describe the most likely troop movement Vault was preparing to make. "It what a couple of days?!"
"Would have been done sooner if Prim hadn't been so insisted on teaching me how to properly ride a horse," Steve said with a good-natured smile directed at the youngest woman in the room. He hoped his words didn't come off as bragging. Still, if the looks he received meant anything, the women seemed more shocked by the plan he had evidently laid out than put off by how he said it.
Prim giggled, which Steve hoped to take whatever sting out of his accidental boast, but the look of shock didn't seem to leave the redhead's face. Nor did the woman Olga take her eyes off him the entire time he spoke.
"Vault prefers to hit hard and fast." Steve said as he readjusted another piece on the map." But, if he can help it, he also prefers to hit first. Thus, he favors a cavalry charge to begin most engagements. Still, he has been known to use his foot soldiers to draw his enemies in close, while his cavalry attacks from either side."
"That's what he was planning on using on us in Feoh," Steve pointed to the marker that identified the ancient city he had helped defend just days past." First, he planned on forcing Alicia's hand with a show of force outside the city gate. Then, he was prepared for Alicia to meet him out in the field while the rest of his men worked their way through Feoh with the help of their allies."
"Thankfully, we managed to figure out his plan before it was too late. But the man is an experienced leader who won't make the same mistake twice." As he looked towards the assembled women in front of him, Steve said, noticing the severe looks on each face. " He'll be looking to make a statement relatively soon."
"You mean he'll try to attack Feoh again? Try to avenge the embarrassment he suffered?" Maia said, the calculated look on her face running a mile a minute." Makes sense. He was always a hothead."
"Not exactly. "Steve countered, walking around the table to gain a different viewpoint." The thought crossed his mind at least once, but if he was going to try something like that, he would have struck while Feoh was still defenseless."
It had been weeks since Vault had launched his first attack on Feoh. Just enough time for him to muster his troops and march down to the city in force if that was what he wanted.
But Vault had taken too long, and while not 100 percent secure, Feoh was a long way from the viper pit Alicia had described just before the battle.
"No, If he was going to attack Feoh again, he would have done it by now. Instead, he's planning something new."
The priestess, or what he assumed was a priestess, Kaguya scanned the table with a critical eye. Steve didn't think a woman of faith would know enough about a martial strategy to be able to read his battle plan, but this world was full of surprises.
Like the literal child staring at him like a chocolate chip cookie. Which was something that he was afraid to admit made him feel more uncomfortable than he ever remembered feeling in his life.
The priestess's eyes darted back and forth between each corner of the map, stopping her gaze on the location that Steve had depicted as the location of Vault's next point of invasion.
"Why Ansur?" the raven-haired woman said, confusion just barely escaping her tone. Steve almost got the feeling she was trying to read him like he was a book as she watched him," Surely the city of Rad would be a more likely place to attack."
It certainly seemed like the most likely plan of attack on paper. Steve would admit that. Rad was a vast trading hub that saw itself as the home of some of the most influential groups and organizations throughout the continent.
"I thought of that myself," Steve said as he picked the figurine that depicted the city of Rad. The port city was the headquarters of several less than savory organizations, at least according to Alicia. "If his forces had taken Feoh, he'd have a solid foothold in the region. If this happened, he would have definitely felt more comfortable sieging the city. Its walls are too thick to easily breakthrough, and without a good supply line, it would be a long and drawn-out siege he may not win."
"That's a good point." Maia said with a smile, "Any sign of trouble and Rad will seal itself up tighter than a turtle's cunt. Vault won't be able to take a city like that without a supply line."
"Which he doesn't have without Feoh." Kaguya nodded herself, seeing the logic in what Steve was saying.
"That's the plan. Ansur is open, and while a longer ride south than Rad. It can act as a logistical foothold for Vault to move east." Steve said, pointing towards the pathway he expected Vault to travel through.
"But you think he'd be willing to over-extend himself going to Ansur?" Claudia said, giving the man a pensive look," It's an equal risk going to either city, but Rad is a far greater reward between the two."
"Ansur is the heart and soul of the engineers guild!" the small girl Luu-Luu said with an indignant pout plastered on her lips and a slightly offended growl to her voice." Some of my best specialists and alchemists are behind those walls as we speak!"
"It's not just the engineers guild we have to worry about." Vera said as she checked the maps once more," The steelworks and iron mines, let alone the gem trade that goes in and out of Ansur at any given day."
"It makes sense." Celestine admitted, her voice carrying a hint of apprehension as she spoke. "It makes a frightening amount of sense."
"It's certainly a gamble." Claudia remarked, taking a figure that was meant to represent Vault's forces in her hand." Vault isn't the type
of man to ignore a prize like Rad while he's on the march.."
"It's not so much about the reward at the moment. "Steve answered, "Vault plans of winning it all or die trying, but after his failure at Feoh, he needs a victory, and he needs it to be decisive. Not a long drawn out siege but a complete takeover to rejuvenate his troops."
The women stood stunned as the words hung in the air. It made sense after such a massive failure the battle of Feoh had been that the morale of Vault's forces would have been destroyed. What better way to get the confidence of his men up than to utterly destroy a city
right under the seven shield alliances nose?
"Ansur allows him both the opportunity to do that and provides him a suitable foothold in the south."
The women seemed to mull over his words. Steve was thankful to see the looks of realization cross the women's features. They at least seemed to take the logic of his words at face value and seemingly trusted his judgment. That would make things a lot easier going forward.
"Well then. I would have hoped we would have time to get to know one another before sending you halfway across the continent once more. "Celestine said sadly, her eyes resting on Steve for a moment before flashing to the other women. "But it seems fate has other things in mind for us this day."
"You're really throwing yourself into the grinding wheel of another battle?!"Maia said, placing a hand on Steve's shoulder." You know you don't have to fight every battle yourself, right?"
"It does seem a bit of a waste to possibly send you to your death. Especially without properly understanding just who or what you are," Olga said, her tone hoving over an emotion Steve thought might have been a concern.
"Can't expect someone else to fight a battle I wasn't willing to myself," Steve answered back simply.
"It's gonna take some time to organize the troops."Claudia said, her tone as professional as one would assume belonged to a professional soldier." Mayhaps a day at the least."
"Hmm, perhaps. "Celestine said, her tone hopeful as she looked towards Steve with a calculating look on her face." Perhaps we..."
A knock interrupted her, and for a moment, time seemed to stand still. Then, another quiet knock became audible as the door creaked open, revealing the figure of one of the many maids Steve assumed filled the palace walls.
"I'm sorry, your majesty, for the interruption..." The voice broke, the speaker clearly intimidated by the eyes watching her speak. "But I have received a courier from Lord Pantielle."
"What have you been told bout interrupting these meetings?" Olga said, her disapproval and annoyance dripping off her voice like venom does a snake before she looked to Celestine." Is keeping those away from their queens' private chambers a job too difficult for your knights to handle."
"That's enough." Claudia said, stepping towards the purple-haired woman in an almost challenging manner." I'll have you know that those men were trained personally by my father-in-law and have proven to be as trustworthy as any knight could be."
"If they are as incompetent as to allow a servant girl to enter their queen's chambers without a word of warning, then they are as incompetent as any other knight in this city!"
Steve stood there feeling awkward. He could tell this was a common occurrence if the look on everyone's face meant anything to go by. But even so, he knew he had to put a stop to this. For the sake of the still frightened maid, if nothing else.
"Why don't we find out what was so important that she saw fit to interrupt before we start getting at each other's throats?" Steve said, his voice breaking whatever tension had taken over the room. Celestine gave him a grateful nod at his intervention. A look that reminded him of Bruce whenever Steve had been forced to get between Tony and whoever Tony had rubbed the wrong way that particular day.
Bruce...
Tony...
It was a long time since he had let his mind wander to his friends. His teammates.
It was dumb, he knew that, but he couldn't shake the feeling no matter how much he tried. He shouldn't worry about them. Each of them was as equally capable as he was, even more so regarding most of them. They were an elite squad, hired to tackle the biggest and worst the universe had to offer. It was their job to fight.
Bruce was different, though.
Bruce wasn't built for this.
He found it a little odd, trying to shelter Bruce Banner from violence. The man had been older than Steve was when Steve first enlisted into the army. Steve knew enough about the terrible and abusive childhood Bruce had grown up in to know that the scientist knew violence even before becoming the Hulk.
The unassuming man had already been exposed to a thousand different types of war. He had come out alive even before the "other guy" was created. But couldn't help it. Each member of the Avengers had either been born into or decided to be what they were.
Bruce was thrown into this life. Now he was somewhere Steve couldn't be there to have his back. All his friends were.
But that was something he couldn't think about now. It was a waste of time to get upset over something he had no control over.
"I was assured it was important!" the young woman almost shouted, her eyes wide like a frightened rabbit as the occupants of the room looked at her once again." At least I think it was important! The courier said that this must reach her majesty's hands as soon as possible! So I hope it is important! Not that I hope it's important because of the war, and something important like this would mean..."
"It's quite alright, Maria," Celestine said gently. Her voice soothed the young woman's anxiety as Celestine gently took the sealed envelope in her hand before sending the grateful servant on her way.
"Oh, what's it say? What's it say? What's it say? What's it say?" Luu- Luu said, bouncing in place with an energy that reminded steve of that Spider kid Tony was always going on about." What does the letter say?"
Celestine opened the parchment in a practiced motion, one that didn't even rip the wax seal. Her face, which was once pristine if strained with concern, morphed subtly into a look that Steve thought belong exclusively to the Dark Queen.
Celestine threw the parchment onto the table, her annoyance shocking the room's attendance. It must have been quite a rare occurrence to see Celestine like this if the looks of concern and confusion on the other women's faces were anything to go by.
"I am unfortunate to inform you all that Lord Micheal of House Pantielle has taken it upon himself to throw a feast this evening." Celestine sighed as she sat down on her seat, almost pouting as she did, looking less like the image of the perfect Queen she did a moment ago. "It would do him great honor if I were to grace his guests with my presence this evening."
"...that didn't sound too bad. "Steve thought to himself. But he had a feeling he was missing out on something crucial if the look on Celestines face meant anything to go by.
"Her Grace hates feasts." Prim, like the godsend she was, whispered into his ear. "It's just an excuse for Lords and Ladies to speak to her on political matters when she is far too busy for formal audiences."
"Do they not know we are at war!" Celestine said, already knowing just what the upcoming discussion this Lord Pantielle wanted to have with her. "There are far too many things on my mind these days, and a marriage proposal from the lord Pantielle's oldest son is not one of them."
Oh, now Steve could see the problem.
"Yeah..." Steve said, rubbing the back of his head to try and find the best words for such a personal and awkward conversation." So that sounds like it would be..."
"A pain in the arse," Maia added.
"A complete and utter waste of time," Claudia spoke next.
"Highly inappropriate," Kaguya said.
"Human males are a waste of air," Chloe said under her breath.
"I'd rather jump from the tallest tower in the palace than go to yet another feast," Celestine said, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"You do realize you can simply refuse to go," Olga spoke her sardonic voice like a bucket of cold water to the conversation.
"Unfortunately, Lord Pantielle is a powerful and influential man at court," Celestine said with a sigh as if she had silently come to terms with something she found distasteful. "He is not the type of man I can anger during these trying times."
Steve stood there watching the scene unfold, feeling more out of place and out of his element the more time passed.
Throw him in a fistfight and point to the person who needed to be fought? He was more than capable.
Put him in a planning session and ask him to develop a plan of attack or a strategic defense? He could do that too.
Dealing with the political machinations of a medieval court? That was, unfortunately, not a skill he was an expert in.
"Then I suppose we're just going to have to accompany the queen!" Prim said, her tiny voice almost singing through the high-walled room." We cannot allow our Queen to suffer alone, now can we?"
"I guess I'm gonna have to put a dress on." Maia said with feigned aggravation as she smiles at Celestine." At least I won't have to pay for ale tonight."
"I will inform my husband we will make an appearance as well." Claudia said as she patted the shoulder of her Queen." It will do the man some good getting out of that stuffy university for one night."
Steve smiled at the scene. The women before him seemed closer than he would have thought to see in simple subordinates to their leader. They looked like old friends more than they did a queen and her subjects.
"What about Sir Steven?" someone said, but for the life of him, Steve couldn't tell who it was.
"What?"
"Of course, the hero of Feoh must accompany the high Queen of Ken!" Prim said as she grabbed at his hands, pulling him towards who knew where. "A place of honor for your service to the crown before you are forced to leave for the battlefield!"
Steve looked toward the other women in the room. But, of course, a stranger like him wouldn't be obligated to attend what sounded like a high society function that only the wealthiest and most powerful of the city's elite could attend.
But to his dismay, the only reactions he received were looks of interest and half-hearted smiles directed at him.
This would be a long night.
Omake #2 "A Hulking Metamorphosis part 1."
It was cold.
The feeling of numbness overtook her body. But despite not feeling anything, Saki Yoshida felt cold.
She laid back on the tile floor of the dirty bathroom, content in the knowledge that her life was about to end. She couldn't bring herself to feel sad about it. Too much had happened in her short life to make her feel sad about its ending.
Her hands moved to her stomach, her fingers shaking more and more as she thought about the baby that she no longer carried inside of her. She blinked back tears as she remembered each blow her old friends had delivered to her just a few minutes ago.
For a moment, she wondered what her baby would have looked like. If her child would have had her hair or eyes or looked like her in any way.
She wondered if things had turned out differently than they did, would her child have grown up to be happier than she was. She liked to think her baby would have. It at least would have had a mother who would have loved it more than Sakis own mother loved her. It was a nice thought to have, at least.
She moved her bloodied hands to the side, her broken fingers gingerly touching the rim of her broken glasses. If she could go back in time, she would. If she could fix her mistakes, she would have done it thousands of times over without a second of hesitation.
But she couldn't. The haze of drugs and pain didn't cloud her thoughts enough for her to think redemption was still possible for her. She had done far too much for that.
She placed the broken glasses on her face, careful to not cut her skin with the broken glass as she did so. Maybe things would be better off this way. She could feel the drugs entering her body, the warmth making her blood feel like a soothing bubble bath.
She felt happy, so happy. She couldn't help the wide smile covering her face as she laid back down to the dirty tile floor.
The last thing she could have sworn she heard was the sound of a man shouting at her before her world turned dark, and she stops feeling the cold.
The sun burned her eyes as she opened them. Confusion racked her brain, but more importantly, she could feel unbelievable pain all over her body. She reflexively moved her arm to her stomach, pausing to marvel at the bandages that covered the appendage.
Then she noticed where she was, or more importantly, where she wasn't. She wasn't in the broken-down public bathroom that smelled like urine. She wasn't in the pool of her own blood that her former friends had left her in, and she wasn't somewhere looking down on her dead body.
She was in a bedroom. A simple, barely furnished bedroom, but a neat and clean bedroom that reminded Saki of the numerous hotel rooms she had seen during her downfall. She moved her body again to try and stand up, but when she did, she saw what looked to be a tube sticking out of her arm with a clear liquid pumping straight into her bloodstream.
Wait...
The world around Saki was moving quickly. More quickly than it had been for so long. She could recognize the sounds of the outside world, sounds she could barely remember knowing. Birds were chirping. Saki couldn't remember the last time she awoke early enough in the morning to hear the sounds of birds singing.
The numbness and hollowness that filled her thoughts were gone. So why wasn't her mind as cloudy as it should have been?
She had lived these past few years in an almost complete haze. Sakis' mind not fully realizing what her body was doing most of the time or what was being done to her body. But now? she seemed almost normal. No cloudy vision. No slurred thought, no numbness.
She had gotten used to feeling like she was a walking corpse for so long. She was almost frightened about how she was feeling right now.
"I see you're awake!" a strangely familiar voice broke her out of her thoughts." Good, I got us some breakfast."
Saki looked at the man speaking to her and saw an unfamiliar face staring back at her. He was older than her by at least a few decades. He was average-looking. With an average height, an average complexation, and average brown curly hair. The only thing that stood him apart from the crowd was his eyes. Giant brown Orbs, like the color of warm honey with flecks of the most intense green she had ever seen in her life.
So overwhelmed by those eyes, Saki didn't realize the man wasn't Japanese until he walked towards the small table on the opposite side of the small bedroom.
Saki watched the man empty out the convenience store bag. A few prepackaged meals caught her eye, a couple of cups of ramen and what looked to be a couple bottles of oolong tea. But it was the sight of the fruit sandwich that almost made Saki jump out of bed.
"Woah there." The man said, rushing to her side, quite a bit faster than she would assume him capable of moving." Easy, you don't want to rip out that IV just yet."
"What is this stuff?" Saki asked, her voice quivering in slight fear of the unknown substance. She had been used to taking whatever drug was offered her for so long, it was almost second nature to her. "What are you pumping into me?"
"Buprenorphine." the man said simply as if he was talking about the weather." It's a partial opioid agonist. It's a bit complicated, but it helps with detoxing drugs out of a person's system."
Saki froze for a moment. Her body became rigid as she heard the man speak. Detoxing? She had never heard of something like before. Saki's mother always said that someone would always have drugs in their bodies after trying it for the first time.
She shouldn't be surprised her mother lied about this too. It wasn't the first lie her mother ever told her.
I'll love you no matter what.
"Here, you should eat something," he said as he handed her the fruit sandwich. Saki noticing the scares and burns that covered his hands as he did so." You look like you are about to pass out again."
Saki didn't realize how hungry she was until she saw the food in front of her face. Then, before she could stop herself, she had already eaten the first half of the sandwich in a single bite before polishing off a bottle of the oolong tea. She watched the man sit down and watch her as she consumed food, looking almost hesitant in what he would say next.
"So..." his voice was soft, but there was a hint of confusion to it like he wasn't fully aware of how his words were going to be taken. "How are you feeling?"
How was she feeling? Is that what he wanted to know? How did he think she was feeling? She was a homeless whore with no family and no friends. A worthless waste of space who had tried to commit suicide to escape the misery of her life, and he wanted to know how she was feeling?
She wanted to scream and shout.
She wanted to hit someone.
Even the man in front of her. The man who had presumably saved her life despite being a complete stranger to her. She just wanted to make someone hurt as much as she did.
"...I'm fine," she answered, her voice quiet and muffled as she ate the other half of her sandwich. For a moment, the only sounds in the room were Saki chewing and the sounds of the outside world coming through the open window.
The man sighed and rubbed his fingers through his curly hair, looking older than he did a moment ago.
"You don't look fine," he said finally, his voice more resolute as he simply stared at her. The green of his eyes becoming even more intense than they were a moment ago." Do you want to talk about it?"
Did he think she wanted to talk about it? About the rapes and the drugs? About the horrible things that had happened to her in such a short time? How her life had been destroyed for simply wanting friends in high school? How an entire lifetime of misery and pain had been squeezed into only a handful of years? So why would he care about her? No one cared about her.
Not her mother.
Not her father.
Not her friends.
Not Hayato...
That was when the first tear left her eyes. As if the memories of her past life all came crashing back down at her at once. She heaved and gagged, throwing up the tiny amount she managed to fill her stomach with.
Horror crossed her features, and her eyes went white as the images flashed through her mind.
The first time Hayato had sold her body for money.
The first time her father had forced himself on her.
The moment her mother started hitting her while taking her father's side and throwing her out of the house.
The moment the bullying started.
The assaults. Every one of them.
The moment she lost her babies.
She felt a red hot anger bubble under the surface, like some raging giant coming to life.
But a pair of arms wrapped around her kept her rooted to her spot on the bed. Even when she screamed and yelled, and even when she shook and wept, Saki could still feel those arms around her.
His grip was awkward and unsure. Saki could the hesitation emanating from him, but he chose to continue it anyway. She really shouldn't feel this comfortable around strange men like him after everything that had happened to her, but for once, she felt safe. With a flood of emotion, she told him everything.
By the end of everything, her throat was raw and hoarse. She just wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep until the pain went away, but all she could do was stare at the man who was holding her like how she assumed a father would have a newborn baby. She hoped he didn't think less of her now. She couldn't stand the thought of someone else leaving her too.
"You should get some sleep."The man said as he placed her back onto the bed." We'll get some food into when you wake up again."
Saki leaned back down onto the bed, her eyes heavy and burning from the effort. She was still hungry, but she felt so much more tired right now, too tired to think about anything else.
"My name is Saki Yoshida." she said with the last grasp of her energy, her mind slowly being overwhelmed by what was happening."I don't even know your name."
"It's Bruce.." he answered after a moment of thought." You can call me Bruce."
"Bruce-san..." Saki said before she drifted off to a dreamless sleep.
When the girl was finally asleep, the man let out the breath he didn't know he was holding, relief filling his face as he looked down at the now peaceful face of the teenager.
She had lost a lot of blood, too much blood in his experience to be able to survive the night if he didn't act as soon as he did. Usually, it would have been too big of a risk; too many things could have gone wrong, and things could have quickly gone south if just one thing, let alone any countless number of things, had happened.
Either she was lucky, or Bruce was a better medical doctor than he gave himself credit for. Maybe it was both.
He rubbed his arm. The numb feeling that lingered from where the needle left made the regret multiply one hundredfold. He tried telling himself that the girl would have indeed died if he did nothing to save her, but that didn't quiet the voices in the back of his head telling him he made a mistake.
Bruce Banner, however, chose to ignore the negative possibilities of his choice for once. Instead, he was just glad he and the girl were the same blood type, and he was able to give the girl a second chance at life.
Let's hope nothing too exciting happens tomorrow.
The past few months or so have been a whirlwind for my personal life. I climbed a mountain, became a home owner, and started a sexual relationship with a practicing Witch. 2021 has been one of the weirdest years on record for me. Follow me on twitter I guess?! at /dinthemorning
I'm on there more often then I am on here so if you want to PM me a request or question I'm more inclined to answer. I know Twitter is a cesspool where the lowest members of our society go to rip one another apart over micro-transgressions and differing opinions on movies, but damn it I don't know how discord works and I'm too lazy to find out.
I've been trying to post something at least once a month and the next chapter of this is about halfway finished so expect a new chapter of this story in the next week or so. Maybe even a new chapter of my MHA Story. Stay tuned. Also to the dude who posted that political shit in their review for this story, could you not? No one has time for that.