Unexpected Reunions [Private - Marceline/Achim]

Marceline quietly glanced up to the ceiling of the old crypt Savage Skull resided in, listening to the little sounds the ancient place made. Beyond the doors of her office, the young woman could hear the footsteps of her guild members shuffling around as they hid inside. They weren’t hiding from anything particular, rather they were keeping dry from the onslaught of rain that poured down outside. Lowering her head, the woman returned to the paperwork at hand, filling out information after information about shit she didn’t care for. However, it was needed for every guild, even the guilds that weren’t necessarily registered beneath the Magic Council like the legal ones were. It was boring paperwork, but it was expected of a Guild Master, and being a Guild Master, that wasn’t something she had expected. These people had called to her though, and she had answered their call, giving them what they had wanted most in their pathetic lives.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, the woman pushed the paperwork away from her, deciding that was enough for the time being. Instead, she slid the chair she was sitting in backward and stood to her feet, stretching her sore muscles from having sat down too long. Once she was completely refreshed, the woman left everything as it was and exited the room to head down to the guild hall. As she made her way through the winding corridor, the closer she came to the mess hall, the louder the chatter and movement became. The members here had always been boisterous and loud, but she didn’t mind it in the least bit; it meant they had spirit in their step. Dipping through a small, beaded doorway, the Guild Master of Savage Skull entered the premises of the guild hall and looked around. People were seated or standing in various places, roughhousing with others or just chatting, eating, simply trying to get by.

Yet, none of them had caught her attention like the lone man that sat at the bar in the far corners of the guild hall, some strange animal with him. Curiosity filled her mind, feeling like she had seen this man before in her lifetime, but not quite recalling who he was to her. Weaving her way through the mesh of people, Marceline joined Achim at the bar, settling down into one of the stools beside him. “You seem awfully lonely sitting over here on your own, anything I can do to help you?” she inquired in the succulent voice of hers. She leaned on the arm closest to the bar’s top, resting her head on the hand and waiting for the magus to answer her question. He seemed so familiar to her, but no matter how much she dug around in her mind for the answer, she just couldn’t find out who he was. The only thing left to do was wait and see if she could recognize his face when he looked at her or perhaps wait for him to introduce himself.

“I suppose I’m being awfully rude, myself, in not introducing who I am,” she stated, sitting up straight again to look at him more clearly. “I’m Marceline Anicetus, the Guild Master of Savage Skull, and who might be the one I’m talking to? You seem quite familiar to me, I just can’t put a name to you.”

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

Achim’s dramatic introduction caught Marceline’s attention instantaneously, but it also threw her back in a way, as it was an unexpected reaction from him. Her eyes glossed him over as he rose to his feet and played out the greeting as if he was some weary, travel-worn mage just arriving. He acted like he was trying to impress her, as though it was the most difficult thing to get into the ranks of Savage Skull, or rumored to be at least. His introduction brought an entertained smile on her face, like she was expecting some sort of show to be put on by him. However, the dramatic greeting would come to an abrupt end and Achim would place himself back in his seat where she had found him. The smile, though, was still retained on her face, a gentle giggle escaping her lips before she composed herself as he had done. She dropped her eyes away from his and down to the clasped hands in her lap, mulling over what he had said to her moments ago.

Before her stood one of her many children, a child who she didn’t spend much time with and tried to avoid at her best. It wasn’t because she wanted to, but it was because she knew it was for the best that she didn’t stick around in his presence for too long. Having a child grow attached to her was the last thing that she needed or wanted right now, especially considering the predicament she was in. She was certain that if the Magic Council ever found out of her having a child, they would have snatched the child away from her. That wasn’t because they wanted to be rude to her, but as a wanted mage and someone who was prone to killing, they didn’t trust her. At most, they would have feared for the child’s life and would have done anything they could to take it away from her. Devastated if that happened? Certainly so. It was one of the many reasons why she simply gave up her children to adopted homes.

“If you’re here for me to become a part of your life, you better take your leave now,” the woman stated, a sigh forming over her words. “I will only be a burden in your life if you choose to have me in it, and being a burden to someone else is something I don’t want.” Her gaze moved from her hands back to the face of her son, the red irises glittering with a sense of sorrow hidden deep within them. “I had a reason for choosing to not be in your life and it was a very good reason, Achim; please, understand this about me. As mage who’s wanted by the most revered people in Fiore, I couldn’t live without the fear of you being taken from me. They wouldn’t have seen you as my own child, a child that I birthed, but as a child I had taken from an innocent family to raise as my own brood of evil. So, I choose to be in your life as little as possible, leaving you to my servants to raise as a respectable and and honorable man.”

A brief smile crossed over her lips, wrinkling the sides of her eyes and poking dimples into the center of her slightly chunky cheeks. “I only wanted the best for you, you being my firstborn son,” she explained to him in an eerily calm manner, “I was a new mother after all. We fear even the littlest of horrid things befalling our children, and with no one there to teach me how to raise a child, I didn’t know what to do. Naturally, I would have given you to your father to raise, but I didn’t know who your father was or where he could have been. You deserved nothing better than a good life, a life that I wouldn’t have been able to provide you without some sort of obstacle in my way. Of course, I still love you and hold you nearest and dearest to my heart, but I believe that I don’t belong in your life; you’re better off without me.” That smile faded from her lips and she drew in a sorrowful-sounding breath of air before letting it out slowly, like she was trying to calm nerves.

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

CLAWED MY WAY TO VICTORY

“Achim,” she began, only to be cut off by her son beginning his long rant over the terrible life he had ever since he was little. Marceline quieted down and kept her mouth shut, letting him pan out his life in a theatrical sense for her to imagine his pain. She could already feel the pain he felt though, the fear that he would lose her again if she tried to avoid being in his life any longer. It caused a small pout to cross her lips, holding back tears that threatened to spill from her eyes listening to the agonizing words he spoke. “I-” she started, once again cut off by his words as he told her how not even the servants she tasked in raising him liked him. A soft, delicate sigh escaped her lips and she stood to her feet, staring up at Achim, who loomed over her by just a few inches. “Please, stop my chilt,” she finally broke into his act, watching the expression on his face turn from awe of her to complete sorrow.

However, he took her by the hands and pulled her into a dance with him, swinging her around the tavern floor like it was a dance space. “It vas for ze best, I promise,” the woman stated, trying to keep step with the taller man as he swung her through the walkways and around the tables. “Mutter knew best. . . she only vanted ze best for her son. . . He vas her firstborn, she couldn’t simply lose him zu ze bigger vorld. Understant dis, Achim. . . I did vhat I did for you und only für du. I didn’t vant zu see you get hurt because of your Mutter’s decisions.” She was forced to quiet down as Achim continued retelling the tale of his childhood and how much he wished she had been there. “Please, ton’t cry, Schnucki,” Marceline murmured to him, “I vas dere for all of dose dings, just not vhere you could see me. You grew up before my eyes und I am a fery proud mother, just as any mother vould be of her son, no matter ze situation.”

Marceline would stop the dancing Achim was pulling her through, holding her weight to the floor so that he, too, would be forced to stop. “Ich liebe dich auch, Mäuschen, auf tiefstem Herzen,” she whispered, bringing a smile to her face and cupping both of her hands to his cheeks. “Niemand hinein dieser Welt werden dieser wechseln, Ich verspreche du die da denn eine Mutter liebt ihr kind nein Angelegenheit was.” She would lower his head to hers and plant a loving kiss on his forehead, then take a step back and look him in the eye again. “Stop your crying, hm?” Marcy murmured, reaching out to wipe the tears from his eyes and get him to stop crying for her. “If you vish for me zu stay in your life, dann I vill; it ist ze best dat I can do for my son, who deserves noding more dann ze vorld from me.” The woman aimed to pull him into a hug, holding him there and petting his hair as a means of a loving attention she could give.

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