The Royal Family | Chapter Six

Crosshair: I want to hold General Skywalker’s hand.

Tech, not looking up from his datapad: Slut.

Baby Munson | Eddie Munson

Summary: When the reader discovers that she is pregnant with Eddie Munson’s baby, she is thrown out of her own house. She finds refuge with Eddie and his uncle. Though, she must battle the struggles of pregnancy and being slightly ostracized by the town.

Warning: teenage pregnancy, neglectful parents, portrayals of pregnancy, did not include labor scene because it felt too long and detailed

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Pregnant!Reader

Type: maybe mini series idk

Word Count: 4,458 words

It had been raining heavily when it happened. The harsh sound of a wood door slamming shut in front of a seventeen year old girl. She had just been thrown out of her house by her parents since she had committed a unforgivable sin in their eyes. She was being shunned, punished.

So there, she knelt in a puddle of rainwater outside her parents’ house. She replayed the events of the night in her head, remembering the looks of disappointment and utter disgust on her parents faces when she confessed. She begged her father as he dragged her towards the front door before throwing her out into the rain and slamming the door in her face. They had no daughter, not anymore at least.

In slight shock and disbelief, Y/n simply sat there for a couple minutes. She cried to herself because she honestly didn’t know what she was going to do or where she was going to go tonight. After some time, she rose to her feet and began walking wherever her feet took her. 

She walked against the harsh winds and the cold rain, trudging through beside everything that just happened. She hugged her arms close to her for warmth and she kept her head hung low so water didn’t get into her eyes. She didn’t carry any of her belongings because she didn’t have any with her. She only had the clothes on her back which were now soaked to the skin. 

It was dark outside, probably around ten o’clock at night. At the given moment, Eddie was making himself a little late night snack. He opened the bag of popcorn and proceeded to dumb its contents into a large bowl. His uncle was situated on the couch, flipping through channels on the television. He grumbled something about nothing good being on.

All of the sudden, there was a knock on the front door of their trailer. Both of their heads turned towards the door. They hadn’t been expecting anyone, not at this hour and not in this storm. Nevertheless, Eddie went across the room and pulled the door open. There, standing in front of him, was his girlfriend.

“Y/N?” Eddie asked. 

He quickly took note of her state. Her clothes were absolutely drenched, sticking to her skin. Her hair stuck to her face, but it had been brushed away a few times so she could see where she was going. The skin under her eyes was red and puffy because she had been crying for so long. And the tip of her nose was pink from crying too. She said nothing.

“What are you doing here? It’s late and it’s pouring--” Eddie wondered. He was quickly cut off when she took a step forward and wrapped her arms around him in a desperate hug.

Just then, the tears came back. She squeezed her eyes shut tight in attempts to keep them from falling, but it was no use. Her body racked with sobs. She cried ever so softly and quietly.

“Hey. Hey,” Eddie tried to reassure her. “It’s okay. I’m right here.”

Without hesitation, Eddie ushered her inside his warm and cozy trailer. He closed the door behind him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder in hopes of bringing her some sense of comfort. 

In a second, Uncle Wayne had returned from the hallway with a brand new towel in his hands. He handed it to her. His face laced with a strong look of concern for her.

In response, Y/n quietly thanked him for the towel. She wrapped the towel around her shoulders, shivering softly. This helped dry her off a bit and gave her some warmth.

“C-Could I stay here for a while? My parents--,” Y/n almost couldn’t bring herself to say. “They kicked me out.”

“Yeah. Of course. You can stay in my room,” Eddie nodded his head. He figured it would be best not to ask questions about what happened right now. She was clearly distraught and she probably just needed some time.

Now, there was only one bedroom in the trailer. Out of the kindness of Wayne’s heart, he let his nephew have the room to himself. He slept on a folding cot in the living room. The system worked. Neither of them complained about it. 

Eddie was changing the sheets on his bed since he hadn’t done that it the longest time and since he had a guest staying. While Eddie gathered the gross mess of dirty sheets in his hands, Y/n had shuffled to stand by his bedside table. She timidly grabbed the small opened box of condoms laying there.

Naturally, Eddie lifted his head to look at her. He saw that she was holding his box of condoms. His facial expression dropped in sudden realization. Hesitantly, Y/n lowered the box of condoms back onto the side table. She turned her head to look at him with tears streaming in her eyes. Everything was communicated so clearly with that one look in her eyes.

“Are you--” Eddie questioned. He took a step forward. He pointed to her. “Did I--” Eddie couldn’t speak.

Without saying anything to confirm or deny the accusation, Y/n went to wrap her arms around her stomach as if she were trying to hide the fact. She could feel the tears streaming down the sides of her face. She was so overcome with emotions.

After some time, Y/n had dried off. She changed into some spare clothes that Eddie had given her to borrow. She crawled into bed with the hopes of falling asleep and waking up from this terrible nightmare. Thankfully, Eddie was there to help her fall asleep. He simply brushed her hair down with his fingers and that seemed to lull her to sleep.

Once Y/n was sleeping, Eddie quietly exited his bedroom and closed the door behind him. He shuffled back into the living room. He found his uncle rearranging the living room, settling up another bed on the ground for his nephew. Upon hearing his approach, Uncle Wayne turned around to face his nephew. He looked at him expectingly.

“I—I got her pregnant,” Eddie choked. He had a build up of tears in the corners of his eyes, threatening to fall at any given moment.

“Oh Eddie,” Uncle Wayne said softly. He looked at his nephew with such sympathy in his eyes. He wasn’t going to yell at him or scold him like his father would have. 

Instead, Uncle Wayne brought his nephew over to the couch in the living room. He helped him sit down with a single hand on his back for support. He didn’t want to ask any questions. He didn’t want to overwhelm him, because he probably was feeling an overwhelming sense of various emotions. So he sat quietly and waited for his nephew to talk to him.

Out of instinct, Eddie rubbed his hand over his face. He kept his hand over his mouth, reveling in the news that was just broken to him. He swallowed the heavy lump lingering at the back of his throat. He began to panic a little.

“I-I just don't understand,” Eddie began. He raised his hand in defense. “I mean, we were so careful every time. W-We used protection,” Eddie claimed.

His uncle only nodded his head understandingly. He had always been the more quiet type, more of a listener than a talker. He turned his head and looked into the distance. His nephew breathed a long sigh.

“You’ll get through this,” Uncle Wayne encouraged. He went to look at his nephew sitting beside him. He sent him a weak smile. “Both of you will,” Uncle Wayne added.

“I’m not ready to be a father,” Eddie shook his head.

“Most people aren't,” Uncle Wayne shrugged his shoulders. “But you will be when the time comes,” Uncle Wayne concluded.

That night, Eddie couldn’t seem to fall asleep. It wasn’t because he wasn’t sleeping in his own bed. It was more because he couldn’t stop thinking. The questions of “how did this happen” or “what are we going to do” kept coming up. And he couldn’t answer them.

Now, Y/n told him that she found out just earlier that day after having stolen a handful of pregnancy tests from the nearby gas station. She brought one of the pregnancy tests to show him for even more proof. And sure enough, there were two little pink lines on it. 

For some reason, Eddie kept hearing the sounds of a newborn crying. He didn’t know how to take care of a baby. He'd never even held one before! Whether he liked it or not, he was going to have a newborn baby to take care of and provide for a couple months.

In that moment, Eddie decided that he was going to do everything in his power to make sure his girlfriend was cared for during the pregnancy. He was choosing to be there for her. He was going to provide her with all of her needs, whether that be food cravings or much needed back massages. 

Even after the baby was born, Eddie was determined to pull his own weight. He thought about how he could take the night shifts and feed the baby a bottle. He'd figure out how to change a diaper. He wondered if there was a parenting book in the library that he could check out. No matter what, Eddie was going to take care of her and the baby.

During the early stages of the first trimester, Y/n had the worst case of morning sickness. Almost every morning, she was woken up by the sudden urge to throw up. She’d have to race to the bathroom just to yank open the toilet seat. Her stomach would contract violently as heaps of throw up came out of her mouth.

Despite the fact that it was around five or six in the morning, Eddie would always come in to hold her hair behind her head. He’d stand over her hunched figure sitting on the ground. Her hair was collected in a tight grip at the back of her head so she never had to worry about loose strands falling into her face. Sometimes, Eddie found himself rubbing her back in a reassuring manner and whisper encouraging words to her. He was in there every morning with her.

Over the next couple weeks, the word had finally spread around town. A large majority of the towns people were disgusted by the news, secretly calling her ‘a whore’ behind her back. And saying things like ‘that’s what she gets for sleeping around’ despite the fact that she had only slept with her boyfriend. And they didn’t blame her parents for throwing her out on the streets, thinking that she deserved it and maybe she’d learn her lesson.

Then there was a small minority of people who just felt pity for her. This group main consisted of the community who lived in the trailer park. They had heard that she had been thrown out by her parents. They felt bad for her. She was just a kid anyways.

The worst part was the high school. She had stopped coming to school since her parents refused to pay the monthly school bill. Now this only sparked rumors in the hallways. The vast majority of students figured that she had gotten pregnant, though they didn’t know by whom. This became such a talked about scandal that the principal had to address it at one of the school assemblies.

Whenever Eddie and Y/n would go out, it was inevitable that they were going to receive stares from people passing. Especially from women who were always trying to see if she was starting to show yet. Eddie always handed her one of his jackets and she used this to conceal her growing stomach from the world.

One day, there was a knock on the front door. At the given moment, Eddie was working on his campaign in his bedroom and Uncle Wayne was working. So Y/n went to open the door. She figured it was just one of the neighbors coming to stop by. 

But when she opened the door, she was surprised to see Mrs Wheeler and Mrs Mayfield standing in front of her. They both wore the biggest and brightest smiles on their faces. And they each carried a large box full of miscellaneous things. 

Behind Mrs Mayfield was her own daughter named Max. She had just started her first year of high school and it was their first year living in the trailer park themselves. In contrast, Mrs Wheeler came from the middle class suburbs. She had her own large white cookie cutter house, lined with perfectly trimmed hedges. It felt like such an odd thing, seeing those two women together considered their very different backgrounds.

“Mrs Wheeler,” Y/n acknowledged because she knew her daughter Nancy from school. “Mrs Mayfield,” Y/n added.

For a second, Y/n really didn’t know what to do. She looked between the two women, wondering what they could possibly want from her. She shifted her weight onto one side and just stood there awkwardly. Then she cleared her throat.

“Is there something I can do for you?” Y/n wondered. She quickly wrapped her sweater around her evident baby bump because she felt so self-conscious about it. 

“We have some things for you,” Mrs Mayfield said. She gestured to the large cardboard box in her hands. “And for your baby,” Mrs Mayfield included with a gentle smile.

“M-My baby?” Y/n questioned.

“Yeah. Just a couple things that we collected from when we had little ones of our own,” Mrs Wheeler replied. She glanced at the other woman standing beside her. 

“Mainly just clothing and toys,” Mrs Mayfield nodded her head. 

"Of course,” Y/n was brought back. She placed her hand on her forehead. “Come on it,” she said while moving out of the way and opening the door a little further.

Together, Mrs Wheeler and Mrs Mayfield placed the two large boxes on the coffee table in the center of the living room. Then the two of them proceeded to sit down on the couch. They opened the boxes and started taking some of the contents out. 

So Mrs Mayfield pulled out a couple newborn onesies. She claimed that Max was born much too big for the clothes she had so they weren’t even used yet. The only unfortunate thing was that she only had one daughter so there weren't any boy themed clothes. But Y/n claimed that it was fine and she was most grateful for them anyways.

Now Mrs Wheeler had much more baby clothes on her. Since she had two daughters and one son of her own, she brought a whole variety of options since they wouldn’t know the gender until the baby was born. She was even so kind as to give her a newborn and toddler car seat, stating that Holly had just grown out of her’s. 

Then came the baby toys. With the help of all three Wheeler kids, they had assembled a small pile of old toys that they didn’t necessarily play with anymore. Nancy had decided to give away some of her stuffed animals, thinking she was a little too old to have those now. Mike gave away some of his little action figures, toy trains, and automobiles. And Holly wanted to give the new baby her old rattle, some building blocks, and pop up books.

All the while, Y/n was marveling at the adorable little toys and trinkets. She let her fingers graze over a few of them, realizing how blessed she was to receive these. Then she held up a little onesie to view, which only made the smile grow on her face. She thanked them for their generosity.

On the sidelines, Max was sitting on the floor next to the coffee table. She kept stealing glances towards the older teenage girl. She saw the baby bump peeking out from behind her sweater. 

“Do you think you’ll have a boy or a girl?” Max wondered curiously. She kept a blank face, but she was beaming with genuine curiosity.

“I-I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it,” Y/n confessed with a shrug of the shoulders. She folded some baby clothes in her lap, setting them off to the side. “Eddie and I-- we are both an only child,” Y/n explained.

“Have you thought of names yet?” Max mentioned. She felt the smile growing at the corners of her lips.

“No,” Y/n smiled back. “No, we haven't.”

That night, Eddie came into his bedroom carrying two bowls of ice cream. He sat down on the bed and went to lean against the headboard next to his girlfriend. He placed her the bowl of ice cream on top of her round stomach and it stayed there perfectly. He began eating his own bowl of ice cream.

“We really should come up with names, Eddie.” Y/n said. She discarded an empty notebook that she had been holding for the longest time. She had been trying to think of good names to write down.

“Here,” Eddie said as he placed his bowl on the bedside table. He proceeded to pick up the notebook and pencil. “I got a couple names in mind,” Eddie confessed.

He quickly scribbled down a short list of names on the piece of paper. Afterwards, Eddie handed her the notebook for her to read. He grabbed his bowl of ice cream so he could keep eating it. He stuffed a spoonful in his mouth.

“Really?” Y/n looked at him. “Ozzy is your first pick?” Y/n said with a slight scoff.

“It’s a good name! It’s different. It’s unique,” Eddie was honestly trying to make a case for this option. He really just liked Black Sabbath.

“I don’t think so,” Y/n chuckled softly. She looked back down at the list. “John is a good one. But did you only pick that name because of John Lennon?” Y/n wondered.

“Uh, just look at the next one,” Eddie tried to avoid answering the question. He pointed to the notebook in her hands.

“Kirk,” Y/n read. “What? Like Kirk Hammett from Metallica?”

“I was hoping to get away with these,” Eddie let out a loud sigh of defeat and had a smile growing on his face.

“I know you too well,” Y/n shrugged her shoulders. She noticed something on the list. “You don’t have any girl names listed here,” Y/n acknowledged.

“I couldn’t think of any,” Eddie confessed.

“Watch us have a girl,” Y/n snorted.

“Would that be so bad?” Eddie asked with a hint of seriousness in his tone of voice. He looked at her with such sincerity in his eyes. “Is any of this so bad? Us having a baby?” Eddie added.

“At first, I think I was scared.” Y/n confessed. She thought about her next words carefully, knowing that Eddie was depending on them. “But things have gotten better. I feel...happy and I am excited to meet our little one soon,” Y/n said with a small smile on her face.

With that, Y/n placed her hand on top of her bulging stomach. She rubbed her hand over it a couple times in a reassuring and comforting manner. All of the sudden, Eddie placed his hand over hers. His thumb brushed against the back of her hand. 

A broad smile grew at the corners of his lips. He leaned forward to press a single kiss to the center of her forehead. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, holding her close to his side. He used his other hand to rub her stomach. He smiled at the thought of his baby being right there and eventually getting to meet him/her in short due time.

“Me too,” Eddie spoke softly.

Now, several months had passed along in the pregnancy. Everything seemed to be in order for the baby’s arrival. The doctors claimed that the baby was healthy, suggesting that he or she could arrive any day now. Despite everything, Eddie was more anxious and nervous for when the time would come. He spent most of his days fretting over his girlfriend, checking on her every couple of minutes to make sure she was okay.

One night, Y/n was tossing and turning in her sleep for many hours. She wasn’t able to get into a comfortable position and she was having minor contractions. She began to realize that they were growing a lot stronger and a lot closer together.

Carefully, she hoisted herself into a sitting position on the bed. She went to tap on Eddie’s arm in hopes of coaxing him awake. All of the sudden, Y/n felt another contraction coming. She hissed at the tight feeling, squeezing her eyes shut and clutching onto her stomach. She couldn’t take the pain any more.

“Eddie,” Y/n said breathlessly as the contraction began to subside. “Eddie, I need you to wake up.”

“What’s wrong?” Eddie asked sluggishly. He rolled over to face her, trying to burrow his face back into the pillow so he could get some sleep.

“I-I don’t know what’s happening,” Y/n confessed. She began to breathe heavily to herself. “I think the baby is coming,” Y/n replied.

Upon hearing this, Eddie’s eyes snapped open suddenly. He went straight into panic mode. He jumped out of their shared bed, hurrying around the room to find some spare clothes. He quickly grabbed his car keys off the side table.

In the background, Y/n had shifted to sit over the side of the bed. Her hands clutched at the bed sheets as another contraction struck her like a ton of bricks. She had never experienced pain like this before.

All of the sudden, Eddie knelt down in front of her. He was holding her favorite pair of shoes in his hands. He carefully slipped each shoe onto her foot before helping her stand to her feet. He walked her towards the front of the trailer with one hand secured behind her back. He closed the door behind him before heading straight towards his van. Then the two of them drove to the hospital.

After nearly eighteen hours of labor, the two young teenagers became parents to a beautiful baby girl. She was quite small, later weighing at only five pounds and some odd ounces. It also wasn’t surprising that she came out with a head full of hair, curtesy of her father.

The newborn baby had released a loud cry of protest. She was quickly cleaned by the doctor because she was covered in this white substance and a little blood. They wrapped her in a soft blanket before handing the baby to the new mother. 

With some hesitation, Y/n took the bundled baby into her arms. She held her close to her chest, not really sure what else to do. She brought one of her hands up to hold the back of the baby’s head because she remembered that newborns can’t support their own head. She tried to soothe the baby by whispering soft hushes.

Naturally, with a mother’s touch, the baby seemed to quiet down in her arms. She quickly found that she had forgotten all the pains and aches she had to endure in order to birth her daughter. She was so caught up in the moment that nothing else seemed to matter anymore.

On the sidelines, Eddie was looking down at the little pink baby with a blank expression on his face. He honestly didn't know what to think or feel in that moment. He stood there frozen for a couple seconds until he felt a few small droplets of tears running down his face. He didn’t know how long he had been holding them in for.

Those were some of the most genuine tears he had ever cried before. He felt an overwhelming surge of utter joy and happiness. His heart began to swell in his chest and was threatening to burst at any second. His lips tugged into the biggest smile ever.

In a shy and timid manner, Eddie shuffled forward in his place until he was standing right beside the bed. He leaned down a little so he could get a closer look at the newborn. 

The newborn baby’s head was burrowing into the crook of her mother’s neck. The warmth of her body must have felt so comforting to the baby. She had fallen asleep, breathing the occasional snuffles of sound.

Hesitantly, Eddie reached forward to stroke the top of the baby’s head and brushed some of her hair. Then his finger moved to touch the swell of her cheek. He watched the way the baby leaned into his touch. And he smiled down at her.

“She’s so soft,” Eddie commented. He proceeded to touch her little feet, which were poking out of the blanket now. He really couldn’t contain his smile. “So tiny,” Eddie added.

“She’s perfect,” Y/n said breathlessly since she was still trying to recover from just giving birth. She released a long sigh. She felt the sudden weight of sleep threatening to take hold of her at any moment. 

“You should rest,” Eddie suggested. “I’ll take care of her.”

As if on cue, Eddie brought his hands forward to take his daughter into his grasp. He held one hand underneath her head and the other behind her back to support her. He handled her very cautiously and carefully at first because he was afraid she might break. She was just so little and light.

When Eddie lifted his head to look at his girlfriend, he found that she was already fast asleep. He quickly directed his attention back towards the sleeping infant in his arms. He bounced her gently in order to soothe her. 

He slipped his finger into her grasp, watching the way her fingers curled around his single one. He didn’t realize how small she was. Most of his hand covered her backside and her head was still too small to fit in the palm of his other hand. He spent so much time admiring all her little details from the mess of hair on her head to her tiny fingernails. His favorite part was her little pink nose though.

As Eddie sat in one of the chairs in the hospital room, he cradled his newborn daughter close to his chest. He was staring down at her, simply watching how peacefully she slept. For a brief second, Eddie could have sworn that he had seen the baby smile up at him which only had him smile back. He had never seen anything more pure and precious than that. And he absolutely couldn’t wait until she did it again.

WHAT’S HER NAME GONNA BE???

PART TWO HERE

TAGLIST:

@m-rae23 @boomhauer @falling2ashes @ietss @colbybrocksantidote @okxysage @joesphquinnswife @moonyinthestars @ajokeformur-ray @moremunson @stephanie-lkj @stxvercgersslut @embeautifulstarship @luveves-world @that-lame-ghoul9000 @queenxxkiller @alisslahey @diaa-20 @bloodsworth-creates @my-tearsricochet @dunbar-9 @katiekamt @daniscool1 @grapejuicelh @arminsskittle @scenesofobx @https-maitais @slutforrafecameron @animeangel21 @emotionaldreamer @homemadedyno​ @linkpk88 @persephone13 @steamystrangerfics​ @themoon-goddess @eddie-swhore @nulixity @lillypad910 @marvelouslyme96 @kaqua​ @munson-burner​ @ollqos @cristi-with-scissors​ @noakrootje 

Sergeant Hunter 🧡

You can definitely expect the read “The Lost Soldier” again. Those original stories are making a comeback ;)

yall hear @webslinger-holland is back?

its 2018 all over again and im in high school reading your soldier!tom fic at 3 am

okay great now i want a baby

Same here

Hi there 👋🏽, I hope you are doing well. I’m just passing by to tell you how much I enjoy reading the new chapter of The Royal Family. I always admire how you write each scene with so much vividness; it’s as if I’m right there witnessing the events myself. I also love how Y/N and Tom finally kissed! Aaah! That part got me all mushy inside and even got me wanting to have one of those kisses 🥺. Much love to you and your writing! Have a lovely day 😊💖

I’m definitely not shedding some tears right now. I wanted to say thank you so very much! That is literally the sweetest thing ever! I just loved writing that kiss scene too. And believe me, that is pretty much all they are going to be doing in the next chapter😉

I loved part 2 of the fake dating! Not to rush you or anything but I'd love a 3 I'd like to see the other shenanigans they get into and maybe see Jason get brutally put in his place. You're a wonderful writer and I really love how you write Eddie's character!

Oh wow! Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it. I never even thought to make it a series. I’d need some help coming with ideas for what else they could do, but it’s definitely a possibility

Peter Parker + Iconic Lines

The Emperor of Magic | Part 4

Summary: The emperor manages to get inside one of the crow’s minds, but he isn't able to hold off against her for very long. It begins to compromise the rest of them.

Warning: +18 Warning, swearing, crows forced to succumb to past traumatic memories/nightmares, eyes of crows turning black as well as fingertips

Pairing: Kaz Brekker x Fem!Reader

Type: Series

Word Count: 2.3k (sorry it’s short)

Series Masterlist

Author’s Note: The reader’s dialogue is italicized because she actually doesn’t verbally speak to the crows, only through their thoughts. Also, past memories are written in italicized for better distinction between what is past and what is present.

Upon hearing that name, Kaz Brekker felt a familiar cord being struck in the deep and dark crevice of his heart. As that name was a painful reminder of who he once was and what he was forced to leave behind. He often reminds himself that that person is dead and he is all that remains. 

With his head hanging low, Kay’s gaze shifted upwards to glare at the prisoner with hooded eyes. His jaw was locked and his hands clenched together into tight fists at his sides. He was seething with anger.

“How...” Kaz stopped himself in order to regain his composure. “How do you know that name?”

He said this out loud, which only caused slight confusion amongst the crows. They didn’t seem to understand what he was asking, but they recognized that he was staring directly at the fugitive. They didn’t quite understand what was happening.

His question went completely unanswered. The emperor of magic simply stood there facing his general direction. He seemed to narrow his eyes at her, mentally wondering if there was a smirk plastered on her face underneath the bag over her head. He wouldn’t brush it off.

And so he repeated himself. “I said...how do you know that name?”

More silence.

Without thinking, Kaz went to grab the gun at his side. He raised it up and instantly fired a shot, which caused a short bout of mayhem between his crows at his recklessness. They called out his name in utter shock, having been taken away by his action. 

The gun did exactly what you’d expect a gun to do rightly; it fired a bullet that should have lodged itself between her eyes. However, the bullet stopped directly in front of her face and dropped to the ground. He carelessly threw the gun away.

“Fuck,” Kaz cursed under his breathe. He walked away momentarily as if trying to find a way to vent his anger.

“What the hell is happening?” Jesper demanded an explanation.

“She’s messing with my head,” Kaz said slowly. He tried to shake the feeling he felt of her looming presence, but she wouldn’t leave him alone. She had infiltrated his memories having just discovered his name. “I can feel it,” Kaz explained further.

“But how?” Inej questioned.

“I don't know!” Kaz almost lost his temper with how loud those words came out. “I don’t know how she got into my head, but she knows my name.”

All of the sudden, Kaz saw brief flashes of his memories from the past. He was hunched over his desk, looking over the plans nearly three years ago. He watched his former self take hold of the plans and crumple them up. He discarded them.

Out of instinct, Kaz squeezed his eyes shut tightly in hopes of blocking her out of his mind. He quickly shook the memory out of his line of vision. It didn’t take long for him to realize that she had been the one to activate that memory. 

He began pacing back and forth. He could feel the strong sense of fear taking over his demeanor, feeling at a total loss of control over his thoughts and memories. He was shown another memory of himself in his office. He heard the familiar voice of Jesper and Inej talking to him, but his former self didn’t look up.

Upon being shown that particular memory, Kaz was able to put the pieces together. When he turned his body to face the prisoner, he saw that she was no longer looking towards him, but rather, with her head slightly lowered. He narrowed his eyes at her odd demeanor.

“Boss,” Jesper watched Kaz carefully. “What you doing?”

“She’s looking for something,” Kaz spoke mostly to himself.

“What?” Wylan perked up. “I-In your head?”

“Yes,” Kaz nodded.

“How do you know for that she’s looking for something?” Nina added.

“Because she’s silent,” Kaz examined. He only knew this because he too also grew silent when he was thinking hard about something. “She’s focusing,” Kaz noted.

For a brief moment, Kaz wondered if it was a coincidence that he saw himself in her mannerism. He studied her carefully as if she was a newfound species he had just discovered. He wondered what she could possibly be after.

“What is she looking for?” Matthias asked him.

A beat of silence was all that followed. One particular memory came flooding back to Kaz’s mind; the one where he finally chose to present his grand scheme to the rest of the crows. In the memory, the voices of the crows were quick muffled as if they were struggling to become clear. His former self hadn’t looked up at them just yet as they filed into the room.

Finally, a wave of realization overcame his features. His shoulders dropped in defeat and his face went blank. He could practically hear the gears turning in her head as she tried to make out who belonged to those voices. Now Kaz realized what she was searching for.

“It’s you,” Kaz breathed in realization. “She’s looking for all of you in my memories.”

And that instantly became his biggest mistake. For this job, he recruited his most trusted companions; the ones he had worked with in the past and the ones he knew he could rely on to get any job done that was thrown their way. Now he had put them in harms way.

He tried so hard to block that memory out of his mind for the pure sake of his crew. It felt like he was pushing his shoulder against a solid door in attempts to keep an intruder out. He was using all his mental strength to keep her out, but it wasn't going to be enough. The door cracked open.

The blurry images of the memory came into his line of vision. He saw the heist’s plans laid out in front of him. Those distant voices that had once sounded rather foggy had now grown into something clearer. Much to his surprise, Kaz’s memory of himself was the first to speak in a normal voice that could be understood.

“The person we are breaking out of the court isn’t just an ordinary scientist this time,” Kaz’s former self placed his hands on the table to lean forward in his place. “They aren't Grisha, but they are more powerful than them.”

“More powerful than Grisha?” Wylan wondered out loud. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Is that even possible?” Wylan almost scoffed in the memory.

In that exact moment, Kaz was ripped out of that particular memory. His eyes snapped open. He quickly redirected his attention towards the youngest member of the crew who stood not too far away from. He was compromised at this point.

“Wylan Van Eck,” the emperor of magic’s demonic voice sounded. “The demolitions expert.”

Both Wylan and Kaz heard that demonic voice speaking in the back of their minds. And it frightened them both terribly.

“G-Guys,” Wylan stuttered. He had just glanced down at his hands to see that his fingertips had begun to grow black “W-What’s happening to me?” Wylan’s voice quivered in fear.

“Wylan,” Jesper called out desperately. 

But there wasn’t enough time to save him. His eyes were overcome with a wave of darkness that turned them pitch black. His body succumbed to the darkness taking over which resulted in him collapsing to the ground. His mind began to wander through the abyss of his worst nightmares. And there was no telling when he’d come out.

From there, it all came shattering down around them. It was a chain reaction. For the crows had grown to be somewhat like a spiderweb; each of them were connected to one another in some way or another. Returning to the memory only showed Wylan turning to face Jesper who stood directly beside him. 

“So remind me why we are breaking them out?” Jesper from the past asked almost sarcastically because it didn’t seem like a very appealing heist to him.

“Because she is worth nearly 100 million kruge,” Kaz shut him down in the memory.

By this point, Jesper had abandoned his post to hurry towards Wylan’s body. He dropped down to his knees, gathering the boy into his arms for comfort. He tried to wake him up by desperate tapping his cheek and calling out his name. But nothing changed.

“Wake up, please.” Jesper begged. He felt tears pricking the corners of his eyes. “Please Wylan. Wake up.”

“Jesper Fahey,” the demonic voice resounded once again. He perked up upon hearing his own name in the depths of his mind. He was slow to turn towards the prisoner. “The sharpshooter,” the voice added.

“What the hell do you want with us?!” Jesper was seething with anger. He quickly rose to his feet and proceeded to reach for the guns at his sides. He pointed one of his guns directly at her face. 

Though, in reality, Jesper knew that his precious guns would be no match against the emperor of magic. He had seen firsthand his boss fire a single round at her and she completely deflected it without flinching. So his eyes shifted towards the only person they all believed could take her down. 

Without much warning, Jesper’s eyes grew black just like Wylan’s had done not two minutes earlier. His mind became clouded with memories from his past. He flinched at the pain it brought him. His arm eventually fell at his side and his body dropped to the ground.

The familiar voices from the memory came flooding back into Kaz’s head. He had to watch Jesper turn his attention to Nina who stood beside him. She spoke up next.

“Where is she contained?” Nina asked, glancing back down at the map. 

In the background, Nina’s eyes had only widened in horror upon seeing two crows collapse to the ground. She raised her hands to stop whatever madness was ensuring since she was always reminded that she was the only one who might come close to stopping her. All she needed to do was stop her heart.

“Nina Zenik,” the deep voice spoke to her. Nina’s own heart dropped. “The heartrender.”

Out of instinct, Nina looked towards the one person who always kept her grounded. She knew what was going to happen next. She reached out for him only to see the tips of her fingers growing black in color. Her once beautiful green eyes changed to this pitch black shade of horror. 

The strong heartrender stumbled forward for she was unable to keep herself standing up anymore. Before Nina was able to fall to the ground, Matthias was able to catch her in his strong arms. He lowered her to the ground slowly just as she slipped past the darkness.

The memory returned once again. 

“She’d be kept here,” Matthias pointed to the center of the map where the White Island stood. “In the dungeons to be specific,” Matthias added.

In the memory, Nina’s former self had shifted her attention to the great fjerdan who stood beside her. He knew the court better than anyone in the room. The change shifted to compromise the next victim.

“Matthias Helvar,” the demon breathed. “The druskelle.”

Upon hearing his name, Matthias lifted his head to look directly at the emperor standing before him. He felt his own jaw lock into place. His blood began to boil in anger. His hands clenched into tight fists as he held the body of the woman he loved dearly.

“Demon,” Matthias hissed. “Go back to hell.”

Out of pure anger and resentment, Matthias stood to his feet with every intention of putting one final stop to the emperor. But he too fell under fatigue. He began to loose his footing, dropping one knee to the ground. He glanced towards one of the last two crows remaining. He tried to hold himself up and be strong for as long as possible. His eyes became black and his body tumbled to the ground.

In utter shock and horror, Kaz was forced to watch his four closest friends succumb to the darkness. He glanced at each of their unconscious bodies, feeling the panic and fear growing stronger with each passing second. He didn’t know what to do; he wasn’t in control anymore.

His heart stopped for a second as he heard a sweet familiar voice from that same memory resound in the back of his mind.

“But that means...” Inej’s voice trailed off in the memory. She was one of the few who knew exactly who he was talking about. “The Emperor is real?” Inej asked horrified. 

“Yes, Inej Ghafa.” She turned to face the voice who spoke to her in her mind. “I am very much real.”

Instinctively, Inej had to shifted her body to face towards Kaz. She held onto the last sliver of hope that he’d be able to save her and save them all. She had this panicked look on her face that he will never forget as he had never seen her look more terrified in her life. 

This was the final straw for him.

“Wait!” Kaz begged for the first time in his life.

Without hesitation, Kaz broke into a full run towards the emperor. He had every intention of putting a stop to her schemes because she had passed a line by messing with his crows. Unbeknownst to him, Inej had just fallen to the ground behind him. She slipped past the veil. He raised his cane above his head, fully intending to bash her head in.

But right as Kaz brought his cane towering down, his body fell through black clouds. The darkness had taken hold of his senses, which rendered his body completely useless in reality. When Kaz lifted his head to get a feel of his unknown surroundings, he was met with his worst nightmare staring directly at him.

OOOH!!!! Only one more chapter to go! What are everyone’s thoughts? What do you think is gonna happen in the last chapter???

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