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rakashavia https://ift.tt/2ZPNFSW
charlottedabookworm:
hamelin-born:
charlottedabookworm:
“Áine?” Her father asked desperately, staring up at her from where he lay on the floor like she might disappear if he looked away from a second.
The blade pressed to her throat twitched away in shock, Ulric frowning at the name that he obviously remembered from the message she had given him a year previously.
Áine scanned her dad’s face, unable to stop the hope that surged like a wildfire inside of her as she found no trace of the shadow of Glauca that had been present for almost longer than she could remember. She laughed, the sound bright and full of relief, and slumped back against the wall – completely ignoring the weapons around her – as adrenaline rapidly drained away, leaving her legs weak.
It had worked.
“Dad,” she breathed in response and she would have laughed at the shock on the faces of several of those around them – at the way that several glaives mouthed the title disbelievingly – but she couldn’t take her eyes off of her father. Her father who was here; here and himself and covered in the black blood that was the remains of Glauca. “Hey,” she said softly before stopping, mind completely blank. She didn’t know what to say.
All of the ways that she had imagined this happening, all of the times that she had played her reunion with her dad over in her head over the years, all of the things that she had wanted to say to him when she finally saw him again. All of that, and now it was happening she had no idea what to say. Words escaped her.
Her dad pushed himself slowly to his feet, taking care with the placement of all of his limbs in a way that had Áine watching him closely for injury or side-effects, while still staring at her like she was a miracle given flesh. “You’ve gotten so big,” he said softly.
She laughed again, giddy, and ducked under the blade in front of her in a smooth movement before stumbling a step closer to the man that stared at her with gentle eyes.
“It’s been a while,” she said, shrugging slightly. The last time she’d seen her father, the man had still had at least a foot on her. Áine reached his chin now. She didn’t know why that hurt. “I’ve missed you.” She swallowed back the lump in her throat and ignored the burning of her eyes. Her dad was here, and he was safe, and she’d missed him so much.
And then his arms were around her, warm and solid and comforting and it had been so long; over a decade since she had last hugged her father. She melted into that warmth, clinging to him tightly.
“I am so proud of you,” he whispered into her hair and the pack bond between them sung; solid and strong and uninhibited in a way that she could hardly remember.
Áine couldn’t stop the whine that built in her chest as she clutched at her dad, whole body shaking, and then her dad starts rumbling comfortingly in response and she can’t stop the tears again.
charlottedabookworm
*sobbing endlessly.* Yes. Yes, this. Everything about this was perfect - from the very beginning, when Titus was just so happy to see his daughter, to the last sentence, when they were together again. It’s just. So fluffy and hopeful, and hopes long-treasured and almost abandoned realized in a lovely crescendo of feels.
*Laughs softly.* Although - I really, really do have to wonder just what everyone else’s reactions to the events consist of. From the bystander’s view, one of the new recruits - not even a baby glaive, not yet, just a cadet, a might-be, a hopeful - assaulted the Captain - successfully attacked him with no warning and actually brought him down. It’s just - I know you talked about it on discord, but the reaction would have been immediate and violent - the kid displayed a serious skillset, far beyond what even an ordinary hunter would normally possess, and - Titus would have staggered backwards, already beginning to leak black ooze, and Áine would have been tackled immediately. Forced to the ground, stripped of any weapons, the syringe immediately avoided as a possible bio-weapon - assassin, they would have been thinking, a Nif infiltrator who brought down Titus Drautos. (And of course she didn’t resist, why would she, she’d brought the Captain down and she’d probably had no expectation of getting out alive - )
Only for Captain Titus Drautos to know her. To address her by name. And they’re - smiling at each other? And - Dad. Dad?!
…what is going on?
(And now that they’re looking they can see the resemblance between the two of them, see the unmistakable similarities writ large in bone structure and facial features and sheer height and - and. Oh. That is a hug going on between them. And that is - that is a parent-here, child-safe rumbling purr (from the Captain!?) and they’re relatively sure that if they try and come between an incredibly dangerous parent and his child that the Captain will happily rip them limb from limb so they’re just. Not. Going to interfere.)
Áine and Titus just. Don’t care about the onlookers. They don’t care about the video footage that’s probably flying to the King and the Shield and the Lord Marshal right now. They just - don’t. Finally. It’s been fucking years, finally, finally - there are tears and Titus glorying both in his freedom from Glauca and the pleasure of having his daughter, here, in his arms - his daughter. His clever, strong, brilliant daughter, who rescued herself and who saved him, and now. And now, he can protect her.
…and whatever else comes. Be it imprisonment or execution or interrogation, he can die happy, now. He can die as himself, and he can die knowing that his daughter is safe.
Although - I’d like to imagine that, after Titus comes clean, spills everything to Regis and Clarus in an extremely secure interrogation chamber (Áine is there, of course, she isn’t being separated from her dad for anything) - well. I’d like to imagine that he keeps his position, because - he did commit treason, but it was under extreme duress - due to Glauca, he literally couldn’t refuse what they ordered; the slightest disobediance would have seen the AI take control of him to carry out the orders regardless. It was inside his head, listening to his thoughts, playing with his memories - and as long as he was the one carrying out the orders, he had - leeway. He could try - try to shift schedules, to interpret his orders in ways that might frustrate the Empire, even if only minutely, he could try.
And more then that - during the worst of his crimes (during Tenebrae) the Empire had his daughter. Titus doesn’t look away as he stares the King and the Shield in the eye, meeting their gazes head-on as he slowly strokes his daughter’s hair.
“They had my daughter.” Titus rumbles at them. “And I knew - and they told me - that failure would lead to ‘corrective measures being taken’ - retribution would fall not on me, but on her. And they told me that if I fell, then she’d be the one to take my place as General Glauca, as the head of their armies. So you see,” Titus says softly, eyes staring into the distance. “Failure was not an option. I had to win. No matter what.” There’s a twisted smile on his face as he tilts his head, staring at his King, at the Shield. “What would you be willing to do for your children?”
Also, because I’m a sap, I’m choosing to believe that Áine escaped prior to the Fall of Galahd - meaning that Titus honestly didn’t participate in the attack on Nyx et al’s homelands, that was Glauca taking full control because Titus wouldn’t do it. And that after that event - that’s when they sent him in as an infiltrator, and he decided on his policy of malicious compliance.
Titus keeps his position. (And the Glaives don’t blame him, not once the whole story is told. They’re actually - somewhat in awe of Áine, who killed General Glauca right in front of them - they got to see the Scourge of Galahd die, and, now that they know the whole story, it was exquisitely satisfying.)
*laughs again*. I have - a few random mental images that were spurred by this post - honestly, I just couldn’t help but picture a laughing-crying Áine telling her dad that she was dropping out of Glaive training, because it was good, and she’s pretty sure she could make it, but conflicts of interest and how she only signed up to get access to him. And Titus gravely telling her that it’s a shame, the Glaive could use more people like her, and she’d be good at it, but his eyes are laughing all the while and there’s a thrum of happy-safe-warmth rumbling down the bond between them.
*snicker* And also Áine being like “Oh! Dad? Paw-Paw adopted me as a granddaughter a couple years ago, and when I told him about you - and Dad, I told him everything - he said that you sounded like a sensible fellow and he was adopting you as well? By proxy? So - we’ve sort of been adopted?”
Titus: “He sounds nice. Who is he?”
Áine: “His name’s Cid Sophiar, and he lives out by Hammerhead.” (Cue Regis and Clarus choking in the background.)
hamelin_born
:D You liked it! Yay! (and also this took forever, I am so sorry, I’m just really bad at this)
To an outside pov, yeah, Aine is essentially an assassin – and, believe me, security measures are going to be upped so much after this because if Aine wanted to kill any of them she could have. not done it and survived, but since when has Niflheim cared about the survival of their assets? – and then it veers from rage-inducing to very confusing
Because dad?
Dad?
w t a f?
but, y’know, when they actually look they are very obviously related and the Captain is being a protective parent rumbling at his child and nope. Not interfering thanks. This was obviously not an assassination attempt and they are out
(the worst is probably Nyx who would have been near a feral episode while pinning Aine to the wall/floor with his blades – because this girl, who was almost one of them, had tried to kill the Captain, had tried to kill the omega that he and his mate were courting
And then there’s the dad thing and Nyx is left completely flat-footed)
Galahd did happen after Aine escaped, because I am also a sap and it works with the timeline, and so there is. less guilt over it all, when so many of his glaives are Galahdian, but Titus is still feeling guilty because it might not have been him but it was his body and he blames himself
(you know what, even if it wasn’t after Aine escaped I think- I think Galahd would have been a step too far, for Titus. Because he can do a lot, he has done a lot, in Niflheim’s name to protect his daughter. But the indiscriminate slaughter of Galahd? The number of children who died?
No.
Titus. Titus wouldn’t have been able to force himself to do it. The adults, yes, but the children…
Glauca would have had to take control anyway.
And Titus would have just hoped that his daughter would forgive him. (Aine would forgive her dad anything))
But yeah, the glaives don’t blame him and Titus keeps his job – as long as he wants to anyway – because this isn’t a political fic, only the very high ups (+ the Glaive cos Six know you can’t hide anything from them) know he used to be Glauca, and, frankly, they all understand why he did what he did. Doesn’t mean they like it, but they understand it
And Titus is one of their best.
Besides, the glaives might just revolt
–
“They had my daughter,” Titus rumbles at them with said daughter curled up against his side, her arms wrapped around his chest and her eyes closed.
His old friend- or not, they don’t know yet – is still purring quietly even as he doesn’t look away from them, the parental I’m here, you’re safe, I won’t leave sound that Regis himself hasn’t used since Noctis had turned ten and deemed himself too old for it. Titus’ daughter just relaxes into it, looking far younger than her years.
She couldn’t be any older than twenty, he realises abruptly. Regis feels sick to his stomach.
Titus had been Captain of the ‘Glaive since its founding, had been Crownsguard for a handful of years before that. How much of his daughter’s life had he missed because of this?
“They had my daughter and I knew - and they told me - that failure would lead to ‘corrective measures being taken’ – that retribution would fall not on me, but on her.” He swallows as Titus continues, struggling to maintain his blank mask. “And they told me that if I fell, then she’d be the one to take my place as General Glauca, as the head of their armies.” Regis’ eyes flick back to the one who had infiltrated Insomnia and placed herself close enough that she’d managed to basically assassinate one of their highest ranked military officials. He shares a look with Clarus. “So you see, failure was not an option. I had to win. No matter what.”
He smiles at them then, twisted and bitter and dark, tilting his head as he looks them both in the eyes. “What would you be willing to do for your children?” A beat passes in silence. Titus’ smile widens grotesquely. “What would you do to protect them? Who would you kill, so that the blades at their neck may be stayed? How many would you lie to so that they are safe, if not happy?”
Regis flinches, the movement minuscule.
“What sort of monster would you become, just so that they do not have to?”
charlottedabookworm
Yes to all of this.
Sooner or later, it’s going to occur to Regis et al just how close they came to disaster, and they’ll just - be Shook. (Regis might need to go and have a quiet breakdown on Clarus’s shoulder as all the what-ifs slam into them - what if Aine hadn’t been able to rescue her father, what if they’d never known, what if Titus had been forced to watch, trapped within his own skin, as his body moved and struck and slew…)
Not that they’re not Shook now. I mean - assassination attempt? Titus has a daughter? He was General Glauca?
The entire glaive is flat-footed at the revelation that Titus had a daughter, and that said daughter is right in front of them. And no, they’re not idiots, there is no way that they’re going to get between a parent and his child - let alone the captain and his daughter. Especially not when he’s purring, that low, rumbling sound that bypasses the higher functions and lodges directly in the hindbrain - parent-here-child-safe - and they know, to the core of their souls, that he’d be willing to back up that promise of reassurance with blood.
(And oh, it is such a relief to Titus, being able, to be capable of protecting his daughter. He doesn’t have to pray to uncaring gods for her safety. He doesn’t have to fight and struggle against the invader inside his skin to see her safe. He can take care of her.)
And the whole interview/interrogation with Regis strikes deep. Just - Titus unashamedly claiming his actions. Not trying to make excuses, not trying to predicate - he freely admits what he’s done, and his reasons for doing so - and he hits both Regis and Clarus right where it hurts. In their care, their concern, for their own children - and neither of them can meet his eyes when Titus outright challenges them. What would you do…?
(Your picture was not posted)
charlottedabookworm:
hamelin-born:
charlottedabookworm:
“Áine?” Her father asked desperately, staring up at her from where he lay on the floor like she might disappear if he looked away from a second.
The blade pressed to her throat twitched away in shock, Ulric frowning at the name that he obviously remembered from the message she had given him a year previously.
Áine scanned her dad’s face, unable to stop the hope that surged like a wildfire inside of her as she found no trace of the shadow of Glauca that had been present for almost longer than she could remember. She laughed, the sound bright and full of relief, and slumped back against the wall – completely ignoring the weapons around her – as adrenaline rapidly drained away, leaving her legs weak.
It had worked.
“Dad,” she breathed in response and she would have laughed at the shock on the faces of several of those around them – at the way that several glaives mouthed the title disbelievingly – but she couldn’t take her eyes off of her father. Her father who was here; here and himself and covered in the black blood that was the remains of Glauca. “Hey,” she said softly before stopping, mind completely blank. She didn’t know what to say.
All of the ways that she had imagined this happening, all of the times that she had played her reunion with her dad over in her head over the years, all of the things that she had wanted to say to him when she finally saw him again. All of that, and now it was happening she had no idea what to say. Words escaped her.
Her dad pushed himself slowly to his feet, taking care with the placement of all of his limbs in a way that had Áine watching him closely for injury or side-effects, while still staring at her like she was a miracle given flesh. “You’ve gotten so big,” he said softly.
She laughed again, giddy, and ducked under the blade in front of her in a smooth movement before stumbling a step closer to the man that stared at her with gentle eyes.
“It’s been a while,” she said, shrugging slightly. The last time she’d seen her father, the man had still had at least a foot on her. Áine reached his chin now. She didn’t know why that hurt. “I’ve missed you.” She swallowed back the lump in her throat and ignored the burning of her eyes. Her dad was here, and he was safe, and she’d missed him so much.
And then his arms were around her, warm and solid and comforting and it had been so long; over a decade since she had last hugged her father. She melted into that warmth, clinging to him tightly.
“I am so proud of you,” he whispered into her hair and the pack bond between them sung; solid and strong and uninhibited in a way that she could hardly remember.
Áine couldn’t stop the whine that built in her chest as she clutched at her dad, whole body shaking, and then her dad starts rumbling comfortingly in response and she can’t stop the tears again.
charlottedabookworm*sobbing endlessly.* Yes. Yes, this. Everything about this was perfect - from the very beginning, when Titus was just so happy to see his daughter, to the last sentence, when they were together again. It’s just. So fluffy and hopeful, and hopes long-treasured and almost abandoned realized in a lovely crescendo of feels.
*Laughs softly.* Although - I really, really do have to wonder just what everyone else’s reactions to the events consist of. From the bystander’s view, one of the new recruits - not even a baby glaive, not yet, just a cadet, a might-be, a hopeful - assaulted the Captain - successfully attacked him with no warning and actually brought him down. It’s just - I know you talked about it on discord, but the reaction would have been immediate and violent - the kid displayed a serious skillset, far beyond what even an ordinary hunter would normally possess, and - Titus would have staggered backwards, already beginning to leak black ooze, and Áine would have been tackled immediately. Forced to the ground, stripped of any weapons, the syringe immediately avoided as a possible bio-weapon - assassin, they would have been thinking, a Nif infiltrator who brought down Titus Drautos. (And of course she didn’t resist, why would she, she’d brought the Captain down and she’d probably had no expectation of getting out alive - )
Only for Captain Titus Drautos to know her. To address her by name. And they’re - smiling at each other? And - Dad. Dad?!
…what is going on?
(And now that they’re looking they can see the resemblance between the two of them, see the unmistakable similarities writ large in bone structure and facial features and sheer height and - and. Oh. That is a hug going on between them. And that is - that is a parent-here, child-safe rumbling purr (from the Captain!?) and they’re relatively sure that if they try and come between an incredibly dangerous parent and his child that the Captain will happily rip them limb from limb so they’re just. Not. Going to interfere.)
Áine and Titus just. Don’t care about the onlookers. They don’t care about the video footage that’s probably flying to the King and the Shield and the Lord Marshal right now. They just - don’t. Finally. It’s been fucking years, finally, finally - there are tears and Titus glorying both in his freedom from Glauca and the pleasure of having his daughter, here, in his arms - his daughter. His clever, strong, brilliant daughter, who rescued herself and who saved him, and now. And now, he can protect her.
…and whatever else comes. Be it imprisonment or execution or interrogation, he can die happy, now. He can die as himself, and he can die knowing that his daughter is safe.
Although - I’d like to imagine that, after Titus comes clean, spills everything to Regis and Clarus in an extremely secure interrogation chamber (Áine is there, of course, she isn’t being separated from her dad for anything) - well. I’d like to imagine that he keeps his position, because - he did commit treason, but it was under extreme duress - due to Glauca, he literally couldn’t refuse what they ordered; the slightest disobediance would have seen the AI take control of him to carry out the orders regardless. It was inside his head, listening to his thoughts, playing with his memories - and as long as he was the one carrying out the orders, he had - leeway. He could try - try to shift schedules, to interpret his orders in ways that might frustrate the Empire, even if only minutely, he could try.
And more then that - during the worst of his crimes (during Tenebrae) the Empire had his daughter. Titus doesn’t look away as he stares the King and the Shield in the eye, meeting their gazes head-on as he slowly strokes his daughter’s hair.
“They had my daughter.” Titus rumbles at them. “And I knew - and they told me - that failure would lead to ‘corrective measures being taken’ - retribution would fall not on me, but on her. And they told me that if I fell, then she’d be the one to take my place as General Glauca, as the head of their armies. So you see,” Titus says softly, eyes staring into the distance. “Failure was not an option. I had to win. No matter what.” There’s a twisted smile on his face as he tilts his head, staring at his King, at the Shield. “What would you be willing to do for your children?”
Also, because I’m a sap, I’m choosing to believe that Áine escaped prior to the Fall of Galahd - meaning that Titus honestly didn’t participate in the attack on Nyx et al’s homelands, that was Glauca taking full control because Titus wouldn’t do it. And that after that event - that’s when they sent him in as an infiltrator, and he decided on his policy of malicious compliance.
Titus keeps his position. (And the Glaives don’t blame him, not once the whole story is told. They’re actually - somewhat in awe of Áine, who killed General Glauca right in front of them - they got to see the Scourge of Galahd die, and, now that they know the whole story, it was exquisitely satisfying.)
*laughs again*. I have - a few random mental images that were spurred by this post - honestly, I just couldn’t help but picture a laughing-crying Áine telling her dad that she was dropping out of Glaive training, because it was good, and she’s pretty sure she could make it, but conflicts of interest and how she only signed up to get access to him. And Titus gravely telling her that it’s a shame, the Glaive could use more people like her, and she’d be good at it, but his eyes are laughing all the while and there’s a thrum of happy-safe-warmth rumbling down the bond between them.
*snicker* And also Áine being like “Oh! Dad? Paw-Paw adopted me as a granddaughter a couple years ago, and when I told him about you - and Dad, I told him everything - he said that you sounded like a sensible fellow and he was adopting you as well? By proxy? So - we’ve sort of been adopted?”
Titus: “He sounds nice. Who is he?”
Áine: “His name’s Cid Sophiar, and he lives out by Hammerhead.” (Cue Regis and Clarus choking in the background.)
hamelin_born:D You liked it! Yay! (and also this took forever, I am so sorry, I’m just really bad at this)
To an outside pov, yeah, Aine is essentially an assassin – and, believe me, security measures are going to be upped so much after this because if Aine wanted to kill any of them she could have. not done it and survived, but since when has Niflheim cared about the survival of their assets? – and then it veers from rage-inducing to very confusing
Because dad?
Dad?
w t a f?
but, y’know, when they actually look they are very obviously related and the Captain is being a protective parent rumbling at his child and nope. Not interfering thanks. This was obviously not an assassination attempt and they are out
(the worst is probably Nyx who would have been near a feral episode while pinning Aine to the wall/floor with his blades – because this girl, who was almost one of them, had tried to kill the Captain, had tried to kill the omega that he and his mate were courting
And then there’s the dad thing and Nyx is left completely flat-footed)
Galahd did happen after Aine escaped, because I am also a sap and it works with the timeline, and so there is. less guilt over it all, when so many of his glaives are Galahdian, but Titus is still feeling guilty because it might not have been him but it was his body and he blames himself
(you know what, even if it wasn’t after Aine escaped I think- I think Galahd would have been a step too far, for Titus. Because he can do a lot, he has done a lot, in Niflheim’s name to protect his daughter. But the indiscriminate slaughter of Galahd? The number of children who died?
No.
Titus. Titus wouldn’t have been able to force himself to do it. The adults, yes, but the children…
Glauca would have had to take control anyway.
And Titus would have just hoped that his daughter would forgive him. (Aine would forgive her dad anything))
But yeah, the glaives don’t blame him and Titus keeps his job – as long as he wants to anyway – because this isn’t a political fic, only the very high ups (+ the Glaive cos Six know you can’t hide anything from them) know he used to be Glauca, and, frankly, they all understand why he did what he did. Doesn’t mean they like it, but they understand it
And Titus is one of their best.
Besides, the glaives might just revolt
–
“They had my daughter,” Titus rumbles at them with said daughter curled up against his side, her arms wrapped around his chest and her eyes closed.
His old friend- or not, they don’t know yet – is still purring quietly even as he doesn’t look away from them, the parental I’m here, you’re safe, I won’t leave sound that Regis himself hasn’t used since Noctis had turned ten and deemed himself too old for it. Titus’ daughter just relaxes into it, looking far younger than her years.
She couldn’t be any older than twenty, he realises abruptly. Regis feels sick to his stomach.
Titus had been Captain of the ‘Glaive since its founding, had been Crownsguard for a handful of years before that. How much of his daughter’s life had he missed because of this?
“They had my daughter and I knew - and they told me - that failure would lead to ‘corrective measures being taken’ – that retribution would fall not on me, but on her.” He swallows as Titus continues, struggling to maintain his blank mask. “And they told me that if I fell, then she’d be the one to take my place as General Glauca, as the head of their armies.” Regis’ eyes flick back to the one who had infiltrated Insomnia and placed herself close enough that she’d managed to basically assassinate one of their highest ranked military officials. He shares a look with Clarus. “So you see, failure was not an option. I had to win. No matter what.”
He smiles at them then, twisted and bitter and dark, tilting his head as he looks them both in the eyes. “What would you be willing to do for your children?” A beat passes in silence. Titus’ smile widens grotesquely. “What would you do to protect them? Who would you kill, so that the blades at their neck may be stayed? How many would you lie to so that they are safe, if not happy?”
Regis flinches, the movement minuscule.
“What sort of monster would you become, just so that they do not have to?”
charlottedabookwormYes to all of this.
Sooner or later, it’s going to occur to Regis et al just how close they came to disaster, and they’ll just - be Shook. (Regis might need to go and have a quiet breakdown on Clarus’s shoulder as all the what-ifs slam into them - what if Aine hadn’t been able to rescue her father, what if they’d never known, what if Titus had been forced to watch, trapped within his own skin, as his body moved and struck and slew…)
Not that they’re not Shook now. I mean - assassination attempt? Titus has a daughter? He was General Glauca?
The entire glaive is flat-footed at the revelation that Titus had a daughter, and that said daughter is right in front of them. And no, they’re not idiots, there is no way that they’re going to get between a parent and his child - let alone the captain and his daughter. Especially not when he’s purring, that low, rumbling sound that bypasses the higher functions and lodges directly in the hindbrain - parent-here-child-safe - and they know, to the core of their souls, that he’d be willing to back up that promise of reassurance with blood.
(And oh, it is such a relief to Titus, being able, to be capable of protecting his daughter. He doesn’t have to pray to uncaring gods for her safety. He doesn’t have to fight and struggle against the invader inside his skin to see her safe. He can take care of her.)
And the whole interview/interrogation with Regis strikes deep. Just - Titus unashamedly claiming his actions. Not trying to make excuses, not trying to predicate - he freely admits what he’s done, and his reasons for doing so - and he hits both Regis and Clarus right where it hurts. In their care, their concern, for their own children - and neither of them can meet his eyes when Titus outright challenges them. What would you do…?
(Your picture was not posted)
