FIC: Bred for War, Born to Love You (this part M, eventual R)nessataleweaverAugust 31 2012, 20:36:22 UTC
SUMMARY: (fusion with Mythos Academy) Clint and Natasha are both outsiders at Mythos Academy, even without them both being Champions. But the bond they forge will defy their differences in age and experience, carrying them both through blood and fire.
Natalia was born knowing that she belonged to Death.
But she didn’t hear him until the night her parents died, as the house burned. It was His voice in her head, woven from shadow and wind, that woke her up, and told her to escape.
He talked to her often over the years that followed, though only at night. His voice was always made of darkness, and smelt of ashes and snow. She saw him in dreams, a pale man with midnight hair and eyes, and it was as she slumbered that he taught her.
“I am sorry to have to come to you like this,” he apologized to her once, “you deserve a childhood, and to grow and learn in your own time. But I have great need of you, my dear one, and if you do not start learning now, you will not be ready, and you probably will not survive what is to come.”
“I want to live,” Natalia told him, with all the pragmatism of a native Russian. “So I need to learn.”
He smiled at her, a wintry thing, but not without kindness or affection. “Such a clear-sighted child. You may very well turn out even better than I hoped! Your work will be unpleasant at times; it will often be painful and demanding. You will have a long and hard road to travel. But you will not go unrewarded, I promise. What I do not have time to teach you, others will, and you will know the satisfaction of accomplishment, the protection of knowledge, and the security of knowing that you are not only strong but skilled, and your confidence is well-earned. You will not be without love, either, dear one; your fierce little heart will not be empty forever. You will have a mate worthy of all your trust and capable of returning your love measure for measure, even as I found mine.”
As she slept in the tiny room next to Uncle Ivan’s - more a closet, really - she dreamed of her Lord of Darkness and Frost. At his urging, she found and read books about ancient mythology and history, before the birth of Christ, and he told her in her dreams what really happened. How Loki, Norse God of Mischief, had sparked a war that consumed every Pantheon of the Earth. European, Asian, African and even those of the jungles of America - they had all named Champions, who fought in their name against Loki and his allies. How Loki had finally been defeated in single combat by Nike, Goddess of Victory, and had been imprisoned and sealed away.
It wasn’t long until she realised who her beloved teacher must be.
Not Death, but the King of the Dead.
“Why do you come so often in the winter?” she asked him one night, after their knife-fighting lesson. “Doesn’t your wife miss you?”
She already knew enough of things done in night-darkened bedrooms that it had occurred to her that it could not be a safe or healthy thing to provoke the jealousy of a goddess - especially one who could only share her husband’s bed half the year as it was. After all, she knew the truth of that story, too; Kore had been abducted, true enough, but it had been with her happy co-operation. She had chosen to become Persephone, Queen of the Underworld.
He smiled at her. “My Queen knows the importance of your training. She had her own Champion to train some time ago. Besides, she likes being able to exercise her skills at ruling; she’s not given the chance to do much in the way of useful work in the time she spends with her mother.”
Hades taught her how to become part of the shadows, to conceal herself from his enemies. He taught her how to listen to them, and gain knowledge of all the things done in the dark. How to fight - and how to kill. Most importantly, she learned how to recognise those it was right to use those skills on.
Re: FIC: Bred for War, Born to Love You (this part M, eventual R)workerbee73September 4 2012, 01:54:10 UTC
I don't know anything about the Mythos Academy series, but I really, really love this premise (as well as your writing style and characterization). I hope you'll consider continuing it. Either way, thank you so much for writing and sharing!
Natalia was born knowing that she belonged to Death.
But she didn’t hear him until the night her parents died, as the house burned. It was His voice in her head, woven from shadow and wind, that woke her up, and told her to escape.
He talked to her often over the years that followed, though only at night. His voice was always made of darkness, and smelt of ashes and snow. She saw him in dreams, a pale man with midnight hair and eyes, and it was as she slumbered that he taught her.
“I am sorry to have to come to you like this,” he apologized to her once, “you deserve a childhood, and to grow and learn in your own time. But I have great need of you, my dear one, and if you do not start learning now, you will not be ready, and you probably will not survive what is to come.”
“I want to live,” Natalia told him, with all the pragmatism of a native Russian. “So I need to learn.”
He smiled at her, a wintry thing, but not without kindness or affection. “Such a clear-sighted child. You may very well turn out even better than I hoped! Your work will be unpleasant at times; it will often be painful and demanding. You will have a long and hard road to travel. But you will not go unrewarded, I promise. What I do not have time to teach you, others will, and you will know the satisfaction of accomplishment, the protection of knowledge, and the security of knowing that you are not only strong but skilled, and your confidence is well-earned. You will not be without love, either, dear one; your fierce little heart will not be empty forever. You will have a mate worthy of all your trust and capable of returning your love measure for measure, even as I found mine.”
As she slept in the tiny room next to Uncle Ivan’s - more a closet, really - she dreamed of her Lord of Darkness and Frost. At his urging, she found and read books about ancient mythology and history, before the birth of Christ, and he told her in her dreams what really happened. How Loki, Norse God of Mischief, had sparked a war that consumed every Pantheon of the Earth. European, Asian, African and even those of the jungles of America - they had all named Champions, who fought in their name against Loki and his allies. How Loki had finally been defeated in single combat by Nike, Goddess of Victory, and had been imprisoned and sealed away.
It wasn’t long until she realised who her beloved teacher must be.
Not Death, but the King of the Dead.
“Why do you come so often in the winter?” she asked him one night, after their knife-fighting lesson. “Doesn’t your wife miss you?”
She already knew enough of things done in night-darkened bedrooms that it had occurred to her that it could not be a safe or healthy thing to provoke the jealousy of a goddess - especially one who could only share her husband’s bed half the year as it was. After all, she knew the truth of that story, too; Kore had been abducted, true enough, but it had been with her happy co-operation. She had chosen to become Persephone, Queen of the Underworld.
He smiled at her. “My Queen knows the importance of your training. She had her own Champion to train some time ago. Besides, she likes being able to exercise her skills at ruling; she’s not given the chance to do much in the way of useful work in the time she spends with her mother.”
Hades taught her how to become part of the shadows, to conceal herself from his enemies. He taught her how to listen to them, and gain knowledge of all the things done in the dark. How to fight - and how to kill. Most importantly, she learned how to recognise those it was right to use those skills on.
TO BE CONTINUED AT AO3
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