Dreams of Absolution
by PyraBlue Heart
First published
The son of Chrysalis joins Canterlot High, looking for his long lost friend. What he'll find is much more than friendship, but that doesn't mean he'll find it easily.
Some people dream of fame, fortune and popularity. Some dream of the one they love, what their future entails and what they want to do.
But others, they dream of far smaller things, things that most people take for granted. Friends, a family that cares or maybe just someone to hold close to your heart.
With Canterlot High's newest student...no one knows what he dreams about.
Roden, son of Chrysalis and long lost childhood friend of Octavia Melody, will bring his own meaning of dreams to Canterlot High.
Who knows? Some of them might even come true.
This story belongs to the PoME group, a group of authors that have created characters to ship with main or side characters of the Equestria Girls movies. Thank you to all of the PoME authors that continue to show their support.
Cover art by BlueSun52
1) What do you dream?
10 years before the events of Equestria Girls
It was night, the sky was clear allowing those that seeked to gaze at the stars a clear view. Below this magnificent sky there lay multiple cities and towns, but far in the distance, a cliff overlooked the brightly lit metropolises and small towns, the enitire landscape seeming to be something of fantasy to those that stood atop this lonely cliff.
Two children were on this cliff, one was a young girl with grey skin and tidy black hair and purple eyes, wearing a small pinkie bow tie on the collar of her white shirt which was covered by a small purple vest. The other was a young boy with short green hair and emerald eyes. He wore a small green hoodie with jeans and black shoes.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" The girl spoke, she was sitting on the edge of the cliff while to boy stood to her right just a bit behind her.
"What is it Octavia?" The boy asked.
Octavia looked back at him, the Stars reflected in her eyes. "What's your dream Roden?"
Roden looked at her confused. "My...dream?" He asked.
"Yeah, your dream. Like, what do you want to do with your life, or something you want more than anything, that kinda thing. What do you want to happen, above all else?" Octavia asked with a curious smile while she looked down in the brightly lit cities below.
Roden blinked before turning his head slightly and looking up at the sky. "I...I don't know...I don't have a dream."
"Oh come on Roden, everyone has a dream, so you have one to." Octavia got to her feet and turned to her friend. "So, what is it?"
Roden just looked back to her with confusion. "I'm being honest Octavia, I don't have a dream. I don't even know what I want in life." He replied sadly. "Guess I'm still trying to figure out what I want." He said as he lowered his head.
Octavia walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to lift his head and look her in the eyes. "Hey, there's still time for you to figure that out." She placed her other hand on his and looked into his eyes. "You just have to find what you want. When you do, you'll chase it, you'll do your best to have it. You'll finally dream."
Roden sighed and pulled away from Octavia, causing her to look at him with worry. He turned away from her and lowered his head. A few tense moments passed, the two standing there in complete silence, until Roden spoke. "What's your dream?" He asked.
Octavia gave a soft smile at the question. "Well, my dream is to perform with a large orchestra in front of an audience of thousands, having my music be appreciated by many."
Roden smiled slightly at her answer. "You were always good with that chelo." His smile fell into a frown as he turned around again. "Too bad I won't be able to hear you play anymore..."
Octavia too lost her smile. "Roden, if I could stop the move I would...but I can't." She walked up,and placed a hand oh his cheek. "Please don't get too upset over this, you still have others that are here for you. Your big brother Zanny, your little sister Zerlinda, your mom and dad to name a few." She made him look her in the eyes. "Please Roden, don't get upset, promise me that."
Roden looked into her eyes with sorrow, fearing that it would be the last time he saw those eyes sparkle. "I promise."
Octavia smiled. "Thank you Roden." As she turned away from him and began walking towards her backpack which was resting against a tree Roden turned away and a tear fell to the ground as he struggled to keep his emotions in check. Taking in a calming breath he turned back around, finding Octavia walking up to him with something in her hands, she was holding something covered in wrapping paper with a small bow on top. "Here." She said as she handed the gift to the surprised boy. "I made this for you, I hope you like it."
Roden looked at her before placing a hand on the gift, carefully unwrapping it. The paper dropped onto the ground as Roden held the contents of the gift in his hands. He held a green scarf with grey stipes.
"I kinda made it too big, I didn't realise until after I had finished it." The young cellist explained.
Roden just looked to the scarf and held it tightly before wrapping it around his neck. To fix the size issue he wrapped it around a few more times, resulting in it covering the bottom half of his face, a small amount of the scarfs other end swung over his left shoulder where it draped down his back. "I like it." He spoke through the scarf covering his mouth. "The bigger size just means it will last longer." He then looked back into Octavia's eyes. "Maybe long enough that I'll be able to find you again."
"If I knew where we were moving to I'd tell you, but for some reason dad won't say." Octavia sighed and hugged Roden tightly. "I'm gonna miss you Roden."
Roden stood still for a second before returning the hug. "I'm going to miss you too Tavi, your just like a sister to me."
That last part hit Octavia hard enough to destroy the wall she had built that held her emotions in, and the tears began to fall as she hugged her friend tightly, tears running down his own face and onto the scarf. The two hugged each other under the moonlight, savouring the embrace and holding on like there was no tomorrow.
The next day, Octavia's friends had gathered to see her off. She climbed into the back seat of her parents car and looked out the window as they began to slowly drive away. Her eyes fell on Roden who was standing at the front of the group, still wearing the scarf. He didn't wave goodbye, he just held an emotionless expression as he watched his best friend leave his company and begin moving to an unknown destination.
'One day, I'll find you again Octavia. One day...' As he things this he turned away and began walking away from the group that looked down at him with concern and understanding. He stopped and put a hand to the scarf, feeling its softness, the piece of apparel now holding significant meaning to him. From that moment he decided to wear the scarf every day, at all times. Even if it was destroyed he would hold onto it. He continued walking, unsure of what to do at that moment. Unsure of what the future held for him, or what he wanted the future to entail.
There is only so much time someone can go without a dream to follow, with no reason to try, no reason to get up in the morning and face the day ahead.
He would find his dream soon enough, but it wouldn't be a dream of fame, a dream of an object or even a dream of meeting someone special.
What his dream was destined to be, was one that could only be achieved or even thought of, if something were to happen. Something that would change him, something that would damage him to the point of no repair.
He would dream one day. One day he would dream. He just had to wait.
Author's Notes:
Inspired by this song
Comedy starts in the next chapters, the drama tag is there for a reason.
There will be no romance between Roden and Octavia, the romance tag is for Roden and someone else.
2) Years gone by
10 years later
Octavia shook her head after reliving the memory in her head, sighing as she closed her textbook as the bell signalling the end of the period rang through Canterlot High. Packing up her stuff she made her way out of her English class, walkimg towards the school cafeteria with the rest of her classmates.
"You ok Tavi?" A young man asked as he walked up to her. He had grey hair styled similarly to the hair of Danny Phantom, his clothing being a black chefs outfit with golden buttons, minus the chef hat...although it would look pretty funny if he did walk around with a chef hat.
"I'm fine Mise." Octavia replied. "Just remembering some stuff from my childhood is all."
"What kinda stuff?" Mise asked with concern.
Octavia looked away slightly. "Sorry Mise, I don't want t-" She was stopped as Mise placed a finger to her lips to silence her.
"Look at me Octavia." He instructed. "Whatever is on your mind is obviously troubling you, if I'm going to help make you feel better I need to know what it is that is troubling you."
Octavia looked Mise in the eyes before sighing. "I'm just remembering someone I had to leave behind when I moved here to Canterlot ten years ago."
"Who was it you had to leave behind?"
"My brother." She said quietly. "We weren't related by blood, but with how close we were we might as well have been siblings."
Mise nodded in understanding before bringing the cellist into a loving hug which she readily returned. "Thanks for checking up on me."
"What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't make sure you were happy?" He asked with a chuckle begore pulling away. "And hey, look on the bright side. Unlike a lot of us here who've lost someone, the one you lost is still out there somewhere."
Octavia looked at him with a curious expression before a look of realisation took its place. "Hey, you're right."
"Who knows, with how many guys have shown up to join the school over the past year your brother may be the next to walk through those doors." Mise said with a cheery voice, doing his best to make his girlfriend smile.
"Oh sure, like that isn't foreshadowing at all." A boy spoke sarcastically as he passed them, he had messy black hair and wore a blue jacket while he walked beside Vinly Scratch, a girl with electric blue and white hair and white skin who wore purple sunglasses. "Didn't take you for doing such a cliché PyraFlare." This is Treble Mix, the schools second fourth wall breaker alongside Pinkie Pie.
"Hey, I'm just trying to cheer her up Treble, now go be weird somewhere else." Mise spoke back with a frown.
"Oh of course your majesty, right away~" Treble mocked as he walked away.
"Joke's on you idiot, I come from a royal bloodline!" Mise shouted back causing Treble to groan in annoyance. "Still, you never know Tavi. Maybe he's close by and you don't know it."
Octavia looked to her boyfriend and smiled. "Maybe you're right."
Meanwhile, a group of students were setting up for an open night where teens interested in joining the school could have a look around.
"Alright Ditzy, you got the flyers stacked?" Lyra asked as she set up a table in the front hall of the school.
Ditzy Doo smiled adorably as she held a neatly stacked pile of flyers for the school in her arms. "Yep, got em all here." Just then a soft breeze washed in through the open front doors of the school which swept the top flyer off the pile causing it to be carried outside. "Aw man, one got away."
"It's alright Ditzy, it's just one flyer. Now close that door before any more blow out." As Ditzy set the pile down and ran to close the door she saw the one flyer floating high up into the sky.
"Wow, the wind is really taking that thing far away." She said before closing the door.
The flyer made a few spins and loops as the wind carried it over Canterlot City. The soft orange sky brought a sense of relaxation to the people of the metropolis. The sun wasn't close enough to the horizon for it to set anytime soon, making many wonder how the sky was so orange in the first place, but ignored it as there were more important things to worry about.
The flyer passed the last building of Canterlot and began flying over a large hill that separated the next city over. It passed a large sign that read "Welcome to Maretropolis" as it began flying further upward. You know it really should have got caught on something or landed by now.
It flew threw the busy streets of the metropolis, many of the buildings being black skyscrapers. The flyer then pulled up as it glided up the edge of a large black building until reaching the top, it made a few more flips before getting stuck on someone's leg, the wind still trying to carry it.
The person reached down and took the flyer in his hand, begining to inspect what had just interrupted whatever he was doing. The figures scarf blew in the breeze as he read the note, taking in the details of the school it was advertising.
His emerald green eyes scanned the page carefully, interested in what it had to say, not like he was doing much other than admiring the landscape anyway. "Canterlot High...hmmm." His voice spoke, seeming to be a balance between high and low.
"You seem awfully interested in that advertisement." A deep voice spoke in the back of his head.
"I've been looking for a good school for awhile now Zanny, it wouldn't hurt to check it out, I hardly do anything with my day anyway, might as well try something productive for once."
"But school is so boring." The voice of a young girl complained in his mind.
"Only if you don't have an interest in what you are learning Zerlinda, there are things you can learn that are pretty exciting."
"I doubt that."
"Come on sis this could be good for us, we can meet new people and actually have something to do for once." Zanny encouraged.
"But we can learn here at home! And we would meet plenty of people if we just attended the parti-" Zerlinda stopped herself from finishing that last part. "Oh man, sorry big bro, kinda forgot why we don't go to those things for a second."
"It's fine sis." The young man assured the voice in his head. "Just think before you speak, ok?"
"Ok Roden, I'll try."
Roden nodded and looked out in the direction of Canterlot City.
"Wait a minute why are we even standing on a rooftop anyway?" Zanny questioned.
"I don't know, maybe the writer wanted a cool atmosphere." With that Roden began walking towards the stairwell that allowed him to reach the top of the skyscraper, ready to do some research on Canterlot High before making any decisions on whether or not to go.
Author's Notes:
Mise en Place is the OC of Celtic_Fire
Treble Mix is the OC of Grand Muff Ragga_Muffin or whatever he's changed his username to now
The voices in Rodens head will be explained later in the story, for now just think of them as the two funny voices.
3) Time for change
"While I usually do not question your decisions, I do feel the need to ask if you think this is a good idea?" A woman asked Roden as he sat on his PC, learning everything he could about Canterlot High. She had dark grey skin and long emerald green hair. She wore an extravagant green dress that hugged her generous figure perfectly. She was a full head taller than Roden, who was rather tall himself. Her lips and eyelids were shiny and dark green.
"That's why I'm learning all I can before making any decisions, to make sure that I won't make a mistake." Roden replied to his mother, Chrysalis.
Chrysalis nodded. "I know that, but with your age you'd be graduating within the next few months, what's the point?"
"I took that into account as well. It seems by attending this school I will be able to select my next position at many of the successful universities and colleges in the Canterlot City area, and there are a few there I've been scoping out for awhile." Roden answered as he continued to study the schools information page.
"At least you aren't going into this blind."
Chrysalis walked over to Roden and placed a hand on the side of his face. "Well, any college would have to be extremely lucky to have my darling spawn select them."
Roden placed his hand on hers, still somewhat confused as to why Chrysalis had started calling him "her darling spawn." It was something that confused him, but he found no problems with her saying it. A part of him wondered if she had some kind of secret obsession with mythical creatures and demons or something similar, while another part of him knew that it was just her own special way of calling him her child.
"Thank you mother, but I'm fine with going to any of the basic colleges as long as they have a well organised and well structured art program." Roden replied as he turned back to the computer screen.
Around his room there were paintings, sketches and other forms of art lying around or displayed on shelves. "Well, you always know what you're doing, so I trust that you will make the right choice." Chrysalis said in a motherly tone. "Now, I have to attend the next party to try and win over those executives that are attending..." She paused. "Do you, perhaps, wish to attend this party?" She asked with concern.
Roden stopped typing, his hands hovering just centimetres from the keyboard. "No." He said simply. "I'm still not ready...not after what happened seven six years ago."
Chrysalis nodded in understanding. "Fine, promise me that you won't stray too far outside Maretropolis if you're going out again."
"Only if you promise to not flirt with every guy at that party." Roden replied jokingly.
"Oh alright, I think I can restrain myself for one night." Chrysalis added onto the joke before planting a kiss on her sons forehead. "Stay safe, carry a gun if you need to." With that last joke she was gone.
"...she does realise we have a gun hidden in here in case of an emergency, right?" Zanny asked in Rodens mind.
"Appearenly not." Closing down the tab on his PC after learning everything he needed to know he grabbed a backpack and filled it with some art supplies, ready to go out and see if inspiration struck.
"Hey! Maybe a cute girl will notice your sketches and ask you to draw her." Zerlinda said with a cheery voice as usual in the back of Rodens mind.
"Heh, you and your imagination. I doubt the writer would go down such a clichéd path." Yeah I'm not going down that path, not yet anyway.
With his backpack swung over his left shoulder he walked out of his bedroom and began heading towards the large, almost mansion like, apartments entrance.
Meanwhile
Octavia and Mise sat together in the local park, watching the world go by as they enjoyed each other's company. Mise pulled out a flask and took a quick sip of the drink before returning it to his breast pocket. Octavia shrugged and leaned against her significant other, looking up at the clouds and occasionally pointing out shapes that stood out.
The two were brought out of their peaceful cloud watching as they heard two familiar voices coming from the nearby lake. "Ok Ditzy, remember, don't let the hook stay in one place hoping a fish will bite, reel it in for awhile then stop and begin reeling in again." A young mans voice instructed.
"Ok Shard, you mean like this?" Came Ditzy's voice in a questioning tone.
"Yeah, just like that, you're doing great so far. Now just keep slowly reeling it in, not too quick."
"Aww, I still didn't catch anything." Ditzy sighed.
"Well then we won't leave until you catch one. Now, swing it back out, but remember to not swing it backwards or else I'm gonna need more bandages for my face."
"Heheh, sorry." Ditzy apologised.
"You're too adorable to get mad at, so I'll forgive you. Now, swing it out and let's see if you catch anything this time."
Octavia and Mise watched the young couple fishing in the lake. Shard had bright orange hair and eyes, his skin being peach. He wore a black jacket with puffs of orange fur around the wrists and collar. Shard Storm had moved to the school a few months after Mise where he met Ditzy, after awhile they had gotten together. Their love of anime and a mutual understanding helping to keep the relationship at a healthy state for as long as they had been together.
"Hey! I've got a bite!" Ditzy exclaimed excitedly.
"Alright! I'll help you real it in, we won't let this one escape." Shard dashed over to his adorable girlfriend and gripped her fishing pole to add his strength, preventing the fish tugging on the hook from pulling the rod out of Ditzy's hands. After a few moments of stuggle the fish finally broke through the surface of the water and landed on top of Shard, being bigger than his torso. Ditzy just laughed as she watched her boyfriend wrestling a huge fish. "Why, does, a, fish, this, big, live, in, such, a, small, lake?!" Shard yelled as he punched the fish in between words.
Mise and Octavia watched as Shard held up the dead fish in victory, Ditzy laughing at him as he breathed heavily, catching his breath after the fight with his prize. Shard didn't mind the laughter, in fact he enjoyed listening to it. "Those two are just too cute together." Octavia said to her own partner.
"Yeah, they're so close I'm surprised Shard hasn't already popped the question this early on." Mise said as he watched his friends
"You think they'll get married in the future?"
"Oh most definitely, it's clear that they are gonna be together either forever or for a very long time." The two resumed their quiet time together as Ditzy and Shard walked away with their huge prize, going back to Shards place to cook up the fish. Although they had passed Fluttershy on the way out and seeing the large dead fish swung over Shards shoulder caused her to run away in tears, something Shard and Ditzy both just stood and watched, not sure how to react to the situation.
Author's Notes:
Shard is from my other PoME story called Your Beautiful Wonky Eyes (the story is kinda crazy, with all kinds of random things thrown in, it's kind of a tale that I get a little experimental with, having mixed results but it should be a fun read. Hooray for self promotion!)
Taking things slow with this story, learning from past mistakes. I hope you're enjoying so far.
4) Work of art
Roden lay under the shade of a tree with his eyes closed, sleeping peacefully with his backpack hidden up in the thick leaves so it couldn't be stolen while he slept. He lay with his arms behind his head against the tree trunk, his breathing slow and controlled, the two voices talking quietly to one another as to not wake their vessel. Although the topic was...unusual.
"No Zerlinda, they don't actually cause that."
"Then why do people still complain about it if they don't?"
"Some people are just a bit dense, vaccines don't cause autism, there's no evidence of this. Sure there have been studies made, but even then those scientists don't know what they're doing."
"So people that think that vaccines cause autism are just being silly?"
"Exactly, although a good number of them are just worried parents, the other side of the group though..."
"Why are we talking about this again?"
"I don't know actually...huh, how did this conversation start?"
"I see you two are still trying to keep yourselves entertained." Roden said tiredly as he sat up after finishing his power nap. "What's the subject this time?"
"Vaccines."
"Oh, forget I asked then." After stretching for a bit Roden reached up and grabbed his backpack filled with his art supplies. "Alright. Let's go find a good place to set up."
As he started walking out of the park he noticed two teens, one carrying a large fish over his shoulder. "There's something you don't see everyday." Zerlinda said surprised.
"Now I remember why I never usually leave the streets of Maretropolis." Shaking his head he continued moving onward.
Sitting down on a park bench near Canterlot High, Roden began to sketch the wooded area in front of him, making sure to catch every little detail with his pencil and page. His eyes only moved from his page momentarily to scan the wooded area again to check the finer details.
Once he was done he looked down to it, finding a perfectly drawn picture of nature. "That's another one for the nature folder." He said to himself as he tucked the drawing away safely in his backpack. With some art done he decided it would probably be a good idea to give Canterlot High a quick check seeing as he was so close to it.
As he reached the front of the school he looked up and began examining the building.
"So this is the dump we'll be going to huh? Seems cosy." Zerlinda commented.
"The structure itself looks as if it's seen better days, but it seems to still be in relatively good shape on the exterior." Added Zanny.
Roden nodded at the voices comments in agreement, seeing a few cracks in the structures walls, but no major damage and would be pretty easy to patch up or paint over. The school seemed to have a sense of normality, most other schools he had looked into went out of their way to be the absolute best but just came across as either annoying or seemed to be trying too hard and lost sense of anything fun. This place seemed to have a certain feel to it, like something interesting could happen at any given moment.
Luckily Roden liked that kind of thing, finding nothing wrong with anything random or unexpected, as it just added more excitement to his boring life.
There was another thing that made him more comfortable about joining this school, that thing being his aunts were the principal and vice principal. Smiling at the thought of seeing his family members again, Roden began to walk towards the entrance of the school.
Meanwhile
Octavia and Vinyl walked with Mise and Treble, having decided to take a stroll around the school. As they passed the school Octavia thought she saw the end of a familiar scarf before the front door of Canterlot High was closed by someone walking in.
Shaking her head she turned to Mise who was taking a swing of his flask again. "So, what do you guys wanna do now?"
"Why don't we see what everyone else is up to? I'm sure there's something crazy going in right now that we're missing." Treble suggested as he took a sip,of the Pepsi in his hand. "Ahhhh, that's the good stuff."
Vinly rolled her eyes at her boyfriend and looked to Mise. "I'm down with checking up on the guys, what about you Mise?"
"Eh, I'm fine with whatever honestly, as long as it doesn't involve Star Wars." The group shivered as they remembered when one of their friends, Soul Writer, had forced them to have a Star Wars marathon just because they hadn't seen the movies before. He essentially kept them prisoner in his house with his dog gaurding the door, not allowing them to leave until they had seen all six movies plus The Clone Wars movie, only then were they free to go. Any time someone had mentioned to Soul that they hadn't seen Star Wars he would do the same thing to them.
They all remembered when Soul had tried to force Shard into a marathon and chuckled at the memory, Soul ended up with a broken arm and a hole cut in the wall of his house that Shard had created with his sword skills. There were a few students that had some kind of combat training or a weapo of some sort. No one knew exactly how Shard had become so skilled with a blade, anytime they asked him he told them the same answer. "That's not something you need to know...ever."
"We are never going to have normal friends are we?" Mise asked, resulting in the rest of them shaking their heads.
"To be honest you and I aren't exactly normal either." Treble stated.
"Don't remind me..." Rolling her eyes Octavia continued walking, thoughts circling in her head as she looked about, Mise close behind her.
'There hasn't been anything exciting lately, I wonder what will happen next.' She thought to herself as she began to hold hands with her Irish partner. Mise smiled and kissed her on the cheek, resulting in Treble to gag slightly and for Vinyl to shoot him a glare before kissing him on the cheek, something he had no problem with.
Author's Notes:
Updates will now be getting slower after chapter five. Hope you guys are enjoying this so far.
By the way, Chrysalis, Cekestia and Luna aren't sisters in this, they're cousins. Blueblood is Rodens cousin in this as well. Yep, old Blueballs will be coming up soon, but I have a plan to make him likeable.
5) Familiar faces
Principal Celestia sat in her office as she did every single day, making sure the school still had enough funds, checking on student profiles and recording any magical mishaps that occurred. It would have been like any other day for her if it weren't for one thing that brought a genuine smile to her face as she sipper her coffee, one of her beloved nephews were coming to apply for a place in the school. She had quite a few cousins in her family as her mother had many brothers and sisters that gave birth to her cousins and later they birthed her nieces and nephews.
While she did already have a nephew attending Canterlot High, he was a bit of a trouble maker. She still loved him and made sure he wasn't put in detention to avoid a tantrum. However, an even bigger smile made its way to her face as she remembered who it was that was coming to the school, it was one who would be able to sort out Blueblood once and for all, in a nonviolent way of course.
As she set her coffee down she heard a knock on her office door, her smile staying with her as she got up to answer it personally instead of just calling the person in. She opened the door to reveal the familiar green haired teen behind it, his scarf still covering the bottom half of his face. "Roden Godswell, you have no idea how good it is to see your face again after so long." She greeted warmly as she brought Roden into a hug, unintentionally placing his head on her chest.
"It's good to see you too auntie." Roden replied in a muffled voice.
"This is awkward."
"I forgot how affectionate she was, perhaps too affectionate. Oh well, at least you aren't enjoying it in a weird way."
Roden just rolled his eyes at the voices and pulled away from the hug, freeing his face from his aunts chest. "I can tell I was missed." He said calmly, unfazed by what had just happened as it happened far too often when he visited any of his aunts, he's just kinda used to it by now.
"Very much so. I've been meaning to visit you and Chrysalis more often, but I've been really busy for the past few years with all of these new students coming in and a few...incidents involving the supernatural." Celestia explained.
"The supernatural eh? Sounds like this place will hold no end as far as excitement goes." Roden said with a soft smile. "I assume that with everything happening you will need some assistance with sorting out the students? I heard that quite a few of the new pupils have had very hard lives."
"I could use all the help I can get, but Luna and I are able to keep things running...although there was that time where Superintendent Discord attempted to take over the school and sent everything into chaos." Celestia replied with a tired laugh.
"Seems like something he would do." Roden said in a bored tone, having dealt with the troublemaker at a few meetings. "I may not be able to help with Discord, but I could however help with the students."
Celestia looked at him with interest. "And how would you do that?"
Roden put a hand to his chest and smiled. "I now happen to be a licensed therapist, and have been looking for people to attend my sessions. I still get a few patients, mostly people that are either in prison or are just looking for a good, cheap therapy session." He stated with a sense of accomplishment.
Celestia smiled at him warmly while patting him on the shoulder. "Well I think that if a few of the students here attended your sessions it would help us all out quite a bit, if it's you that is giving them advice or just listening to their problems then I'm sure that they'll be better than ever."
"I'll try my best to make sure that they will walk out of my office as better people." Roden stated with a nod.
"Well, since I already know you and most things about you, I don't think we'll need to have an interview. I'll fill out the forms and you just worry about getting here on Monday morning, I'll tell the school of your therapy in an assembly." Celestia stated with a happy tone.
"You'll need these." Roden reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled out a small pile of business cards for his practice. "it's got the contact info and the address on it, just give them to anyone who is interested."
"Since when did you turn into a business man?"
Roden ignored Zerlindas question and handed the cards to his aunt. "I'll be sure to give them out to those that seem interested, thank you Roden."
"I should be thanking you for this, if this works out my practice will be able to bring in more money, I was worried that I'd have to start charging my current patients extra just to keep things going." Roden thanked with a relieved smile. "Well if that's everything, I think I'll be off now."
Celestia nodded and hugged him again, putting him into the familiar situation he always found himself in for some reason.
"I'm starting to wonder if our aunts are doing this on purpose or not."
As Roden pulled away he nodded to his aunt and walked out the door.
"So what now?"
"Now? I think I'll try and find a nice tree to nap under for awhile, then I'll head home." As he turned a corner he lost his smile. "But it looks like I'll have to deal with this first."
Ditzy, Shard, Mise and Treble had walked into the school to retrieve something that Ditzy had left behind nad needed help looking for. As the group walked down the main hallway they came face to face with the schools own personal douchebag, Maurice Blueblood (figured he could use a full name instead of just Blueblood)
"Well well well, look who we have here." He said in a voice that stated he was all high and mighty. "The weirdo, the drunk, the ninja wannabe..." He turned to Ditzy with an evil smirk. "...and finally the cross eyed freak."
Shard glared at Blueblood with a literal burning rage. "Take...that...back!" He demanded while holding Ditzy who was close to tears.
"Or what? You're gonna kill me? Tell on me? What're you gonna do?"
"I like option one!" Shard reached behind him to grab his sword when he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder.
"I'll take it from here." A voice said in a tired tone. Shard moved out of the way and the group watched as Roden walked past them and stood in front of them, facing Blueblood. "Hello Maurice, it's been awhile."
Blueblood just started shaking, staring into Rodens eyes which were filled with pure and utter detest for the overprivileged bully. "W-Why cousin Roden! I-I wasn't told you would be visiting!" Blueblood took a step back as he tried to fake a smile, but one look at Rodens eyes just made him gulp.
"Causing trouble again Maurice? Looks like I'll need to have another little chat with you."
Author's Notes:
Don't worry it's not a fight scene, those don't happen in this story (apart from two or three that will happen later)
Also, I'd like to hear what you think of the voices in Rodens head. Am I making them work? Are they entertaing? I'd like to know.
Also, if any of your OCs would like to attend Rodens therapy sessions just say so.
6) Making new friends
Roden continued to stare down Blueblood, the overprivileged teen shaking in fear. "Do you want to explain yourself and apologise to these nice people or are you going to be difficult and make some smug remark?" Roden questioned his cousin sternly. "Because I'm pretty sure a good amount of people reading really want to see you get punched in your pretty little face."
Treble just looked at Roden wide eyed. "Oh my God...another fourth wall breaker!" He exclaimed while Roden turned to him.
"Oh, so you are aware of the readers too?"
"Yep! Both me and my little sister."
Roden gave a small smile. "Well, I'll have to have a talk with you sometime...now, for the matter at hand." He said before turning back to Blueblood. "Now, what's your answer Maurice? If you choose wrong, well, I'm not one to condone violence..." He looked to Shard who was giving Blueblood a death glare. "...but I feel like this gentleman behind is."
Blueblood looked around, frantically looking for a way out of the current situation but came up short. He made eye contact with Roden one last time before sighing in defeat and lowering his head slightly. "I'm...sorry...for what I said." He spoke quietly.
"That's probably the best we're going to get out of him."
"Good, now run along and stop bothering these people with your nonsense." Roden intructed. Blueblood walked past the group while muttering to himself before exiting the school. "I am terribly sorry about Maurice's behaviour." Roden apologised as he turned to the group who were looking at him in complete shock. "What?"
"You...you got Blueballs to stop..." Shard began.
"...without attacking him." Treble finished.
"BLUEBALLS?!?! AHAHAHAHAHAHA, THAT'S THE BEST THING I'VE HEARD IN YEARS!!!"
Roden groaned begore facepalming. "I take it he's caused you a fair amount of trouble?"
"That's putting it lightly..." Ditzy answered.
Roden shock his head in disapproval. "That won't do, looks like I'll have to start keeping a close eye on him while I'm here."
Shard just raised a brow. "Wait, how do you know Blueblood anyway?"
"Oh, he and I are cousins." Roden stated simply. The group just looked at him slack jawed.
"WHAT?!?!" They all exclaimed in disbelief.
"What? Is it so hard to believe that Maurice has other family members other than Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna?" Roden asked with his head tilted slightly.
Mise cleared his throat before continuing. "No no. It's just, we didn't expect Blueballs to be related to anyone that wasn't a complete douchebag...no offence to you or your family."
"No offence taken, I completely understand. His mother is...well, let's just say she's always been the type to spoil children of her family. His father is a wealthy businessman who keeps telling him that he's above everyone else, that the 'commoners' are nothing but dirt."
"That explains, so much." Treble said quietly.
"Anyway, enough dwelling on my poor excuse for a cousin, why don't we get introduced. My name is Roden Godswell, pleasure to make your acquaintance." He greeted while shaking their hands.
"I'm Shard Storm." Shard began. "This is Ditzy Doo, Treble Mix and Mise en Place. So, you a new guy or something?"
"Well it's very nice to meet you all. I will be joining the school yes, just for the final months of the year before going off to college. So if Maurice gives you any more trouble, just come find me ok?" Roden offered with a smile.
"Making friends already, this should allow us to integrate into a social group here." Zanny stated.
"We will, hopefully with you around he won't cause as much trouble." Shard said with a smile while holding Ditzy's hand. "Now come on, we've still got something to do here people. See you later Roden." With that the group walked past Roden, save for Treble who stayed behind for a second.
"So, how'd you become aware?" Treble asked with a frown.
"I'd rather not answer that, you know what has to happen for someone to become aware of the readers, so I don't think you want to share your story either." Roden replied in a low voice.
"Heh, yeah, I haven't even told my closest friends about it."
"I think it's best of you don't." Roden stated, causing Treble to simply nod. "Just continue being whatever whacky character your author wants you to be."
"Yeah, that's probably for the best." Treble looked around for a second before smiling. "Uh...you wanna go drink some Pepsi's on the roof? Hang out for a bit while they all look for god knows what?"
Roden just smiled back. "I don't see why not, it's not everyday I meet another person like myself."
A few minutes later
Treble and Roden sat with their legs dangling off the edges of the roof with Pepsi cans in their hands. Having an...interesting, conversation.
"Ok, so who would you rather do? Jennifer Lawrence but she's the controlling one, or Megan Fox but you have to share with Shia LaBeouf?" Treble asked Roden who weighed his options.
"Don't want to have to deal with Shia screaming at me, telling me to do it while I do it, so I'll give with option one." Roden replied in a calm voice, unfazed by the vulgar question. "My turn. Would you rather play Sonic 06 all the way through and can't stop until you finish it, or have to play Sonic Boom to one hundred percent while and you have to be blasting Justin Beiber music the entire way through but are allowed breaks?"
"Damn, that's a tough one." Treble took a sip of his drink before answering. "Sonic 06, at least it's somewhat playable." After crushing his now empty can and tossing it forward where it landed in a trash can a good few dozen feet away, he turned to Roden and looked at him with curiosity. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something."
"What's on your mind?"
"Well, from the guys I've seen show up here at CHS that have dark pasts, nearly all of 'em are either really aggressive or just reclusive. But with you, you seem really open and friendly. What's with that?" Treble asked with curiosity and interest, finding Rodens temperament and behaviour so far confusing.
Roden blinked before looking to his can, twirling it slowly. "I guess I just learned to accept that the past is the past, there's no point in allowing a few bad experiences to define who I am, so I didn't let those incidents change me. I really don't know how to give you a straight answer about this though, what I just told you is just a theory."
"Huh. Interesting." Treble just looked up at the sky, thinking about what Roden had told him.
Author's Notes:
Looks like Roden made some new friends.
And of it wasn't already obvious, yes Roden is a fourth wall breaker, one that isn't crazy or hyperactive, he is just aware of the readers is all and will occasionally point some things out, nothing major or anything I assure you.
7) Luna and Cadence
Saturday, Maretropolis
Roden lay on his bed, his legs crossed and his arms behind his head while he listened to his black headphones, his eyes closed as he gently bobbed his head to the beat. With no plans made for the weekend and an entire appartment to himself, which he owned as his mother lived in a mansion outside the city, he decided that he'd just relax for awhile. His clients that were supposed to attend sessions during the weekend had cancelled to spend the Easter weekend with their families, even the ones from correctional facilities and prisons were spending so,e time with their loved ones, under strict watch of course by those that would see their families the next day.
While he was listening to his music he was ignoring Zanny and Zerlindas latest controversial topic. "So why do these women act like complete idiots?" Of course, it was feminism.
"Probably some way of feeling superior or something, it's just stupid if you think about it. Just know the difference between gender equality and feminism sis if you ever decide to get involved."
"How can I get involved? We're both ghosts inside our brothers mind and we can't do anything but talk to him and each other."
"Fair point."
"Why do we even talk about this stuff?"
"I don't know, the writer is probably trying to make a joke or something and is failing." Hey, can't blame a guy for trying. There is literally no reason for their conversations, it's just there for the sake of sheer randomness.
As Roden took off his headphones he heard his doorbell ring out through the black and green apartment. "Strange, I wasn't expecting any visitors today?"
"Oh! Maybe it's pizza!"
"We didn't order any pizza, and you and I can't eat it anyway."
"Hey, a girl can dream."
"Anyway, you should go see who it is Roden."
Roden threw his legs over the side of the huge bed and began walking into the hallway, hearing the bell ring again. "Just a second!" He called out before reaching the large double doors at the entrance to the appartment. Opening one of the doors slightly he smiled as he saw who was standing there. "Aunt Luna, cousin Cadenza what a pleasant surpr-"
He was cut off as Luna grabbed him and brought him into a hug, putting him in the same situation he was in when Celestia had hugged him. Cadence just giggled at her aunts actions with her younger cousin. "Oh Roden, it's so good to see you again, it has been far too long since our last meeting together!" The blue skinned woman exclaimed as she held her nephew close in a loving embrace.
"I missed you too auntie." Roden responded in a muffled voice before Luma released her grip on him and his face was pulled away from her chest with a loud pop.
"Hello again Roden, it's so good to see you." Cadence brought him into a loving embrace, without him being in an awkward situation this time, although a part of her wanted to see his reaction of one of his cousins were to do it.
"It's lovely to see you too Cadenza, how are you and Shinning Armour faring these days?" Roden asked in a welcoming voice. Out of all of his cousins, he was closest to Cadence, as she was one of the main reasons he was able to recover from...a certain incident that will become relevant later.
"Well..." Cadence looked away slightly before holding up her hand with an engagement ring on one of her fingers. "We're getting married!"
Roden just smiled brightly and brought her into another hug. "That's fantastic news, I am so happy for you two. You certainly seem happy about it."
"Of course I'm excited about it, I'm getting married!" Cadence suddenly let go of Roden and her smile faltered. "I'm...getting married." Soon she began to shake as realisation hit her. "I'm getting married..."
"Oh no, she's getting nervous." Luna stated. She would have went over to comfort her niece, but she wasn't about to get in the way of Foden who was able to handle these kinds of situations far better than she could.
Roden held out his hands and held Cadences in a comforting hold as she began to hyperventilate. "Candy, Candy calm down. Shhhhhhh, look at me." The shaking Cadence looked at him with worried eyes. "Contain, the calamity, that is your mammaries."
"Did you just tell our nerve wrecked cousin to 'calm her tits'?"
"It's moments like these that make me happy to be a voice in your head bro."
"You're ok, don't be nervous about it. You should be happy, you're going to be very happy with Shining Armour, I promise you that. Yes, it is a scary thought, making such a big commitment, but I know that you two are made for each other, you're the modern day example of a fairytale couple, something that people spend their whole lives searching for. There is nothing to worry about Cadenza. You're going to be alright." Roden said in a calm, soothing tone while rubbing his cousins shoulders slowly. "Breathe, take a step back, and breathe."
Cadence did as she was told and began to breathe in and out slowly, Roden messaging her shoulders while looking into her eyes with a great deal of care, having dealt with his fair share of panic attacks. "S-Sorry...I-"
"It's ok Mi Amore, it just took you awhile to register the complete idea of marriage, it's completely understandable, all those thoughts coming to you at once, it's scary. It's ok, it's completely natural."
"This went from zero to a hundred really fast..."
"Come on, I'll make us some tea and then we can catch up." Roden held Cadences hand and led her into the apartment with Luna in tow who was shaking her head and chuckling.
"Whoever the girl is that ends up with Roden will be a very lucky woman indeed."
Author's Notes:
Well, that happened. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and that it was somewhat funny.
Little bit of info, Roden is actually 19 years old and is actually of German and English blood, in fact his family is a large mix of different bloods, but Rodens main bloods are German and English, with a little bit of Russian and Irish thrown in there too, just something I thought would be interesting.
8) Things go very wrong
"So you just live here alone?" Luna asked with concern while setting her cup of tea down on a coaster on the fine black coffee table.
"I do, but I'm never lonely. Mother visits regularly to make sure I'm doing alright, and I find my own ways of staying entertained while I'm alone." Riden answered with a smile, which was hidden under his scarf.
"But you're never alone, you've got us!"
"I don't think they need to hear that there is voices in his head Zerlinda, they worry enough about him as it is."
"Still though, I don't think it's healthy to be alone for the lengths of time that you are." Luna responded with a sigh. "Not after that...event."
As she said that, Roden felt a pain in his left cheek. "Don't remind me of that..." He said quietly.
"Sorry Roden." She apologised, remembering how he was about that certain event that we will get to later in the story.
"But you should probably look for someone to live with, I'm sure that there's someone at Canterlot High or Crystal Prep that would be looking to move out of their parents house." Cadence suggested with a gentle smile.
"You know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea, it does get very quiet around here with just the three of us, a roommate could probably be a good thing for us." Zanny stated in Rodens head.
"Awwwwww, but I like it when it's just us! We can actually talk out loud to each other." Zerlinda complained like a little girl that was being denied a new Barbie doll.
"We're trying to be more sociable nowadays Zeri, we can't be alone all the time."
Roden just decided to ignore the conversation that was slowly turning into an argument in his head and paid more attention to his family members. "Well...it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to have a roommate, there's that spare bedroom that's never used anyway." He slumped back slightly in his black leather sofa, pondering the idea. "I'll think more on it, maybe put up an add in the schools or something."
"Wait, really? You're actually considering this?" Cadence asked in disbelief, niethernof them had expected Roden to respond in such a way, they had expected more resistance to the idea, the event that they keep mentioning had caused him to become a recluse for years, but it seemed as if he was finally coming out if his shell.
"I see no harm in giving it a shot. What's the worst that can happen? I keep all my valuables locked away so they can't rob me the first chance they get, I'm smart enough to know who would be a good roommate and to not allow some immature teen to just wander in and assert him slash herself." He responded calmly and with a small smile, his two family members sighing in relief. "You know, after you mentioned Crystal Prep, I started to wonder how auntie Cinch is doing."
Luna and Cadence just looked at each other nervously.
Roden looked between them and sighed in annoyance. "What did she do?"
"It's better if we show you..." Cadence said dryly.
Later, at Crystal Prep
Roden just stood with his eye twitching as he looked over the forms and reviews of the school. He had also read up on the students personality profiles and histories. He has then found details on Cinch's plot at the Friendship Games. "WHAT THE FUCK, HAPPENED, HERE?!?!"
The Shadow five just stood outside the principals office with Cadence, Luna Shining Armour and everyone else in the school, even superintendent Discord, while they listened to Roden give off to Cinch.
"Seriously Cinch?! I leave you alone for a few years and this is what you do?! What was going through your mind when you thought about this?! We're you high?! For Gods sake how many people were hurt because of this?! How much did the repairs cost?! HUH?!"
"Y-You must understand, we had our reputation to-"
"You mean your reputation! This is exactly the reason why half of our family call you Bitch instead of Cinch! You are, without question, one of the most narrow minded, power hungry perfectionists that I have ever had the displeasure of meeting, and I know Diamond Tiara! You have made this school a hostile environment to all of the students with your strict guidelines, they hate each other! It's a miracle that a few friend groups exist here at all!"
"Well I hardly think this calls for-"
"Did I say you could speak?! Sit your wrinkly ass back in that chair and you will take this scolding, otherwise it's m reporting everything you've done to these students to the authorities! How all of this has gone unnoticed by me for so long I don't know, but this stops now! You are going to remove the need for uniforms, hire kinder teachers and treat your students with some da,b respect instead of turning them into tools for your own gain! Good day to you madam!"
"W-What?! Roden s-"
"I said good day!" Everyone immediately ran from the area in fear of being caught by Roden for eavesdropping, save for Luna, Cadence, Shining Armour and Discord who were all hust staring at the door in shock. When Roden walked out of the room he was breathing heavily and his eyes were slightly bloodshot from the lack of blinking due to his rage keeping his eyes open. "Does anyone have any eye drops?!"
"Well, that was certainly a thing that happened."
Roden just sighed as he began walking back to his apartment, his rage vented and his eyes back to normal. "This is why I need to get out more, if I leave them alone for too long they do stupid stuff like this."
"Well look on the bright side, you helped make Crystal Meth a happier place!"
"Prep Zerlinda, not meth." Roden corrected in annoyance while slowly walking down the sidewalk towards his building in Maretropolis. He lifted his head slightly and looked to someone who was standing outside his apartment building. It appeared to be a girl with long blue hair with peach skin, wearing a white jacket over small blue dress. "Never seen her in the building before, who is she?"
Author's Notes:
Hopefully this was somewhat funny.
Looks like Cinch was put in her place eh? This was yo show that even a mellow guy like Roden can experience rage and outbursts.
Also, I had recently announced that my stories Cut Above The Rest and Your Beautiful Wonky Eyes will be having a crossover, if you would like Roden to be a part of it then let me know.
9) Plot convenience
Roden approached the girl that was standing outside his building. "Excuse me miss, are you needing access to the building?" He asked politely.
The girl had long sapphire blue hair which matched her eyes and her skin was peach. She wore an open white jacket over a short blue dress, with white stockings covering her legs. She turned to him and nodded. "Yeah, I was told by someone that a guy was looking for a roommate in this building, but he's not buzzing me in."
"Well, that was fast."
"At least this saves us from a boring setup where we have to go through idiot after idiot until the cliché path of fate presents us with the perfect roommate at the very end..."
"Oh, well that person would be me actually." Roden explained with a smile under his scarf. "But, how did you hear of the position so quickly?"
"My schools vice principal told me, I've been looking fir a place for awhile now, figured I'd stop by to see if this works out." As she answered she looked Roden up and down, he was a head taller than her but still appeared to be very young. "But seriously? A teen like you offering the spot of a roommate?" Roden just chuckled at her mistake. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing, just taht you think I'm a teen, although I'll choose to take it as a compliment." The girl tilted her head in confusion. "I'm actually twenty years old."
The girl just looked at him confused. "Wait then why are you still in high school if you're twenty? You should have been out two years ago."
"Well, due to certain...circumstances...I was taken out of school for two years and have been catching up. I only turned twenty recently though." Roden explained before holding out his hand. "Now, why don't we get introduced? I am Roden Godswell, pleasure to meet you."
The girl nodded and took his hand in hers. "Sapphire Phoenix."
"Well, why don't I unlock the door and we can sit down for an interview?" Roden walked over to the small keypad on the door frame and typed in a few numbers before the door unlocked itself.
"How did you do that? I thought you'd use a key or something." Sapphire asked as she walked over to the door.
"The building manager gave me the codes to the locks in case a key were ever to break...of course, he only gave me the codes once he had changed them after I found out the last ones." Riden chuckled at the memory and held the door open for Sapphire. "Now, let's get inside so we can talk."
Meanwhile across the street, Cadence and Luna sat behind some bushes while Luna watched the two with benochulers. "You sure about this Cadence? I still think we should have given him more time to prepare before we told anyone of his offer."
"Trust me Auntie, this will work."
"So, Miss Phoenix, tell me why you are looking for a place of your own." Roden said as he placed a cup of tea in front of Sapphire.
"Um, if it's alright with you, just call me Sapphire."
"Alright then suit yourself." Sitting down on the opposite couch Roden picked up,his tea and took a sip through a very small gap in his scarf, how he managed to drink it without the scarf getting wet was a question that he had yet yo find an answer to. "So, begin whenever you're ready."
"Well, I've been living with my parents for years now, and I just feel that it's time I try to find my own place in the world, to learn not to depend on others." Sapphire began before sighing. "Just, figured I'd try to be more independent you know?"
"Understandable reasons. Was your life at home pleasant or were there problems?" Roden asked while jotting a few things down.
"Nah, it was alright. Love my parents to bits but there's only so much I can put up with nowadays with them getting back into a phase where they're all lovey dovey." Sapphire gagged while Roden merely chuckled.
"Well I can see how something like that might affect your reasons for leaving, but at least they're marriage is strong?"
"How do you assume they're married?" Sapphire asked with interest.
"Easy." Riden began. "I get the distinct impression that Phoenix was not your original last name."
"How so?" Sapphire leaned forward in interest.
"Well, I've worked with a good few people that have had their names chanted due to a marriage, and there is just a slightly different tone that they use to say it than someone who still holds their name. Plus, I did some research on a few people at CHS including Shard Storm and found out that all of his female relatives are named after gemstones and other materials." Roden explained with a smile while taking a sip of his tea. He chuckled as he saw Sapphires shocked expression. "You ok there Sapphire?"
Blinking Sapphire shook herself and cleared her throat. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just didn't expect you to be so...so..."
"Overanalysing?" Roden suggested with a raised brow.
"Yeah that's it."
"Well, I like paying attention to detail, there are things one can miss even if it's the smallest of things, it can be important. And I deal with a lot of situations where I need to guess a persons mood by their body language, tone or anything else that can be considered subtle. It pays to pay attention."
"Boo! Bad pun!"
"I don't think it was intentional sis.'
"Still! The only one allowed to make bad puns is Sans!"
"We're based off of Sans!"
Roden ignored the argument in his head again and picked up the list he had been writing. "Now Sapphire, why don't we get onto some more interesting parts of your personality?"
Author's Notes:
Don't worry there's still going to be development for Sapphire, and Octavia and Rodens reunion is close at hand.
10) The photograph
"Alright then, I think it's safe to say that I won't be needing to advertise for a roommate." Roden said with a smile as he got out of his seat and took the empty teacups into the kitchen area of his apartment.
"Wait, I thought you wanted to learn more about my personality." Sapphire stated with a hint of confusion.
"I had a second to think and figured that I'd prefer to get to know you through experience rather than you just telling me about your personality." Roden explained as he began to scrub the cups down in the kitchen sink.
"Wouldn't it be easier for me to just tell you?"
Roden stopped for a moment to glance at her before returning to his cleaning. "Probably, but I prefer to experience things without knowledge of what to expect, unless it's something that I absolutely need to know in advance."
Sapphire just stared at him in thought, surprised to hear something like that from someone related to Blueblood. Shaking her head she got up and made her way to the door. "Well, I'll just be going, I got your number from Vice Principal Luna, so I'll call you to see if you're ready for me to move in."
"Now where do you think you're going? I'm fine with you moving in as soon as you want, you haven't even seen your room yet." Roden called in from the kitchen, catching Sapphire off guard.
"Oh...ok then. Which room is it?"
"Second room on the left down the hall, here I'll show you." Roden set the now clean and dry teacups in the counter before drying his hands and walking out to the blue haired girl. "Follow me."
Following Roden further into the large black and green appartment, Sapphire began to take in more of her surroundings. As they passed a cabinet that was just before the hall Sapphire stopped to look at a photograph on the top of the black wood furniture. It was of a younger looking Roden, probably around thirteen years old, with four other people. One was Chrysalis, another was a man of slightly above average build with peach skin and short dark green hair wearing a green suit with one arm around Chrysalis. Another was a teenage boy, looking around seventeen, who had light grey skin and spiky mossy green hair wearing a black t-shirt and green jeans. The last one was a little girl, looking around eight years old, with long dark purple hair and dark grey skin like Chrysalis. She wore a small dark purple dress and had a small black headband in her hair. The three young people in the photo were close to each other while Chrysalis and the man had their arms around the children. 'This must be his family.' She thought.
As she looked at more photographs she noticed that they were only of Chrysalis and Roden, a few with Celestia, Luna or Cadence in them. Apart from that the other three people from the first picture were nowhere to be seen. "Sapphire, you coming?" Roden asked as he reached the door to her room.
"O-Oh, yeah, coming now."
Roden just looked at her for a second before opening the door for her, letting her into her new bedroom. While not as spacious as the master bedroom, it was still relatively large. The huge bed was covered in white coverings and the furniture was bare, waiting to be decorated. "You can pick your own sheets and if you want we can style and repaint the room to suit your preference of you decide to live here for a long time."
"How can you afford all of this? The apartment alone must have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, then there's the furniture and decorations to think about." Sapphire asked as she walked in and took everything in, from the size of the bed to the height of the room.
"Well, my mother is the owner of a very large company and has shares in various other successful businesses, she also attends various parties to gain more support for her own industry and whatnot. Surprisingly this apartment didn't cost as much as you'd think, only about three hundred grand or so including the some of the furniture, most of it is from rooms from my mothers mansion that she doesn't need." Roden explained as he leaned against the doorframe.
Sapphire sat down on the end of the bed, looking around trying to figure out where to put her various items from her room in her parents home. "Yeah, I think this'll do me alright. What's the rent?"
"Well I don't really need to charge you anything, the place is paid off, I guess we can split the electricity bills or whatever of you really want to." Roden suggested while taking a few steps forward into the room with his hands in his pockets.
"I guess that could work. But let me ask you something first."
Roden titled his head slightly. "Alright, what's your question?"
"Why are you being so welcoming to me? You hardly know me but you're just allowing me into your home with little information on my actual personality or past. So why? Is this some attempt to get with me or something?"
Roden smiled before turning to walk out of the room. "Trust me, if I had that kind of motivation I would have wooed you by now. If Auntie Luna was the one that sent you here then she obviously trusts you, so then I trust you."
"Wait, how would you have gain my affections so easily?"
Roden stopped in the doorway and turned his head. "My mother is Chrysalis remember? She taught me a thing or two while I was growing up in case I needed the skills she has." With that Roden closed the door behind him and walked down the hallway with his hands in his hoodie pockets.
As he came to the end of the hall he stopped and turned towards the cabinet, picking up the photo of his family.
"Roden, don't start blaming yourself again." Zanny scolded.
"I try not to, but there's so much I could have dome to prevent it, I had the opportunity but I didn't take it..." Roden responded weakly, his left cheek beginning to burn under his scarf.
"Put it down Roden, stop punishing yourself." Zerlinda said softly.
Snapping out of his trance Roden shook his head and set the picture down before moving towards a bottle of whiskey. He poured himself a glass and downed the drink before sighing. "Confound these voices in my head, they drive me to drink..."
Author's Notes:
Yeah, decided not to,put the crossover on this story, but Rodeh will still be featured in it.
So we've gotten a bit more on Sapphire and it seems as if Riden is facing his own issues with family. Things will be getting interesting, but I'll still try to keep a comedic tone to it all.
11) Incoming calls
Roden took another shot of his drink before placing the glass in the sink and throwing himself down on one of the couches while holding his left cheek which still burned, although the pain was fading out as he began to pull his focus away from the photograph and towards his phone which began buzzing. When the pain subsided, Roden sat up straight while shaking his head. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his smartphone, seeing that he had a few unread messages from some unknown numbers.
'Must be people asking about the therapy sessions.' He thought to himself as he unlocked the phone by creating the most complicated lock pattern anyone had ever seen, although doing it had become second nature to him over the time he had the phone.
As he thought, it was a few of the CHS students looking for session bookings.
"Oh dear, this is a lot. I'll have to get a new schedule ready. Good thing I hired that nice girl as my secretary." Swiping past the messages Roden pulled up his contacts and speed dialed his new assistant. After a few tines someone picked up.
"Hello Dr. Godswell, what can I do for you?" The sweet voice asked on the other end.
"Hello Coco, I was just calling to inform you that we will be getting a new influx of patients from now on."
"Oh, that's great news Doctor, I guess that means I'll be able to work more hours instead of part-time?" Coco Pommel asked hopefully.
"It appears that way Coco, I'll sort through the new applications and forward the names and info to you later this week. Also, I was thinking of expanding our building with the extra funds we'll be receiving as well as bringing in some new employees to help speed things along."
"W-Well I think that's a great idea Doctor." Coco sad with slight worry causing Roden to roll his eyes and chuckle.
"Don't you worry Coco, you're still my right hand woman in all this, I couldn't get half of what I have to do done if it weren't for you. Consider a raise coming in soon." He reassured with a smile on his face.
"O-Oh, thank you Dr. Godswell. Thank you so much."
"No need to thank me Coco, I'm just giving you what you deserve. Alright, I'll see you later Coco, have a good weekend." With that he hung up and leaned back in his seat.
"She's a sweet girl isn't she?"
"She is, sometimes too sweet. Although it's good to have someone like that in the workplace, helps keep my spirits up and the patients seem to love her so far."
"Oh! Why not ask her out?! She's cute and friendly! C'mon bro get out there!"
"No Zerlinda, Coco is my friend and coworker, I'm keeping things professional. She's sweet and beautiful, but she's not really what I'm looking for in a woman." Roden dismissed the voice in his head with a wave of his hand.
"Well what kind of woman do you like then?"
"I can woo any of the girls or women we find in CHS or in the streets of Maretropolis with the skills my mother passed down to me, I want someone who could be a challenge. Someone that can't be won over by simple flattery and encouragement."
"So you're looking for a tsundere?"
"That's one way of summarising it I suppose."
"Ummm...who are you talking to?" Roden turned his head to see Sapphire looking at him strangely.
"Oh, no one. I'm just so used to living alone that I have grown to have conversations with my own thoughts to think about things more deeply." Roden explained as he turned his body around.
"Nice save.'
Sapphire looked at him with a raised eyebrow before shrugging. "Meh, I've got weirder people on my family."
Roden rolled his eyes and got to his feet before placing hai phone in his pocket. "So, you want a lift to your parents place?" He asked while walking over to one of the fine black counters to get the keys to his car.
"I can walk, I was just-"
"I know you live in Canterlot City Sapphire, I'm driving you over there whether you like it or not." Roden stated simply before pulling the keys out of one of the cabinets which had a small changeling keychain on it. Don't ask how he even got it I don't know either.
Before Sapphire could protest Roden placed a finger to her lips and stared her in the eye.
"I insist." He stated simply in a soft voice.
After a few silent moments Sapphire pushed his hand away and groaned. "Fine, since you seem so dead set on doing it."
Roden smiled softly and nodded before walking towards the two large front doors, holding the open for the blue haired girl.
Meanwhile Zanny and Zerlinda his their voices from Roden deep in his mind. "You see it too right?"
"I do, but we should not interfere nor should we inform Roden about any advances or hints. It could damage their chances, he'll notice it in time."
"Awww, but my shipping!"
"Oh please, you ship everybody together. EVERYBODY. I think you can wait a while longer for this one to actually take affect."
"But muh ships!"
"Go to sleep Zeri, you're drunk...he shouldn't have drank that whiskey. Is he even OK to drive?"
He'll be fine I'm sure, he didn't have too much and he's got a better sense of reality than most, plus he can really hold his alcohol. He'll be alright. At least, I think he will be.
Outside the building in the main parking lot, Roden unlocked his green hummer and hopped into the drivers seat while tucking his scarf behind him to avoid it being caught on the wheel. Sapphire jumped in the passenger seat of the huge vehicle and they drove off onto the main route out of Maretropolis towards Canterlot City.
12) The man responsible
Roden pulled up to the sidewalk near the building that Sapphire called her home. Looking out if the car window he examined the house top to bottom. It looked to be bigger than an average house with its brick walls painted slight blue and the roof tiles being dark blue.
"Someone likes blue..."
"I don't think we have the right to criticise, everything we own is black or green."
"Not true! The art stuff, the games, the microwave and the bathroom aren't black and green."
"Ok most of the stuff we own is black and green."
"Thanks for the ride home Roden. I'll see you on Monday after I've gotten everything packed up." Sapphire thanked as she got out of the green hummer.
Roden just nodded and pulled up his scarf a little more out of fear of it slipping down. Once Sapphire walked into her house Roden pulled out and drove down the street while letting his mind wander. Having nothing to do for the remainder of the day he began to think of something he could do to pass the time other than drawing, playing videogames or napping. It's safe to say he was having trouble coming up with anything that didn't involve any of those categories.
"What do you two think I should do?" He asked the voices in his head as he focused on driving instead of day dreaming.
"Oh! How about going to see a movie? Remember the Ratchet and Clank movie is out?"
"Maybe we could just go to Starbucks and get a latte, sit and relax for awhile before going out to the park or something?"
Roden tossed both of the ideas around in his head before nodding. "Alright, we'll go to Starbucks now to get a coffee or something. Then we go see Ratchet and Clank, afterwards we get some fresh air in the park before heading home to get a bit of exercise done?"
"That seems like a pretty solid plan."
"Yeah, and God knows you need that exercise, you're practically paper thin!"
Roden just deadpanned and groaned. "For the last time Zerlinda, I'm not that thin, I've still got a decent amount of muscle mass."
"Nope, you've got stick arms bro."
Roden just groaned and blocked the voices out.
Meanwhile
Octavia smiled as she set her cello after finishing her daily practice, Mise and Vinyl sitting in the corner having listened the entire way through. "That was great Tavi, you're getting better and better each time you pick up that thing." Mise praised before taking a swing of his flask.
"When are you gonna let Treble and me remix your songs? It's been years and I'm still waiting on an answer." Vinyl said with a happy tone although there was a hint of annoyance in her voice as she readjusted her glasses.
Octavia turned to her friend with a smirk. "When you start playing an actual piano instead of your laptops keyboard then I will let you remix my songs."
Vinyl just groaned and placed her headphones on to distract herself from the disappointment.
Mise just chuckled and placed his flask back in his chest pocket. "Well, I'm in the mood for some coffee. What's say we all head down to Starbucks and get something?"
Octavia nodded and smiled at the idea. "It would be nice to get out of the house for awhile. Come along Vinyl, we'll invite Treble and get you both cookies."
"Cookies?" And like that Vinyl was straight to Octavias side.
"Alright, let's go, we'll take my tank!" Mise exclaimed as he rushed out of the house. Oh yes and for the readers that don't know, Mise has a tank, so...that's a thing.
Meanwhile at the Canterlot Security Prison. Yep, getting into plot territory now
Before rushing off to get an overpriced coffee, Roden had one place he wanted to visit beforehand. He walked through the halls of the huge prison with two security guards at his side. He could hear the yelling of the inmates from afar, but blocked it out as he focused on the door at the end of the hall that would lead him to a room where he would talk with a very specific inmate.
As he took his seat on one side of the table divided by a wall of glass he waited for the prison staff to bring in the one he wished to see. Soon enough, a tall man of medium build with peach skin and short black hair wearing normal orange prision clothing walked in on the opposite side of the glass and sat down, staring Roden right in the eyes. "Well well well, look who it is. The one I couldn't finish off." The man spoke in a surprisingly sane voice. "Still wearing that scarf to cover that little reminder I gave you?"
Rodens left cheek began to burn, but not wanting to falter under this criminals gaze he remained still. "Falcon Sight, how horrible to see you again. I'm surprised you haven't tried to get out of this place after all these years."
"Hah! Like I'd be able to get out of this place with all these guns pointed at me. Nah, I'd much rather stay here and deny you the sweet satisfaction of my death." Falcon teased as he rubbed his thumb and index finger together. "So, what do you want? Closure? An explanation perhaps?"
"No, none of those things, I've come here for something else." Roden answered as he clenched his hands into fists. "This is about your son. Rider Sight, I know that you've been tricking him, manipulating him, trying to get him to continue your work."
"Oh yes, my little Rider, the boy really takes after his father. I hope that one day he'll be able to finish what I started with your family!"
*CRACK!!!*
Falcon jumped as Roden punched the glass with all of his strength, causing it to crack. "I'm only going to say this once. If you so much as talk to your son to try to turn him against me it will be the last thing you ever do. Your plan won't work, you're wrong, Rider is nothing like you, he's just been manipulated to believe that he is you. I'm going to fix that, I can promise you on that. So sit comfy, so that I can deny YOU closure. I have the drive to kill you right here and now for what you did...but that wouldn't solve anything. Goodbye."
As Roden got up to leave he stopped as he heard Falcon speak. "Keep trying to find something to dream about. It will make things much more enjoyable to destroy a person with precious dreams."
Roden took in a deep breath before walking out of the room, two guards dragging Falcon back to solitary confinement.
Author's Notes:
Yeah, the main storyline is starting to take effect. There's no life threatening fights or whatever, just an upcoming villain that will make things difficult for Roden on a personal level.
13) Let it be known
Roden remained silent as he drove through the city streets, even his thoughts were unnaturally silent, save for the voices on his head.
"Big bro?" Zerlinda asked carefully.
He remained silent, only turning his head slightly to the right.
"Don't let him get to you Roden, he'll never get out of that prison alive, and his son will be easier to deal with." Zanny stated in a calming voice to try and calm his brothers nerves, but failed as Roden stayed quiet.
"You're being unnaturally silent, and not in your usual badass way."
"She's right, at least say something."
Roden looked down for a moment before speaking darkly. "They should have given him the death penalty..."
"Well...at least you said something..."
"After what he did to me...after what he did to you! He should...he..." Roden gripped the steering wheel as he struggled to keep his anger in check. "He..."
"Shhhhhhhhhh, it's ok Roden, it's ok. Just breath slowly and relax."
He did as was instructed, slowed his breathing and relaxing his grip on the wheel before sighing. "Sorry...I just..."
"We know, we know. It's alright, no need to apologise."
Roden shook his hand and rubbed his face tiredly. "Ugh...I really need a coffee right now. Good thing we're almost to the coffee place."
Meanwhile
"Alright, one black coffee, one pumpkin spice latte and one tea please." Mise said as the lady at the register of the Starbucks took their order.
"Don't forget my cookie!" Vinyl shouted from her seat.
"Oh yes, one of the giant cookies as well please." After paying the fee and waiting for the drinks to be prepared, Mise carried the trios order to their table by the window, Octavia with her back to the door. "Alright, here you are."
"Gimme cookie!" Vinyl whinned like a little girl as she reached for the treat that was just out of her reach.
"Ok ok, give me a second to put down the drinks first! Honestly you're like a little kid at times, especially when it comes to treats." Mise just tossed the cookie into Vinyls hands who began to immediately devour the huge treat while savouring the taste of the chocolate chips.
"Thank God it's not too busy in here, usually around this time the place is filled to the brim with people." Octavia said relieved as she took the black coffee while Mise took the tea, Vinyl snatching the pumpkin spice latte before anyone else could take it from her, having had other women try to steal the latte on several occasions, causing her to go into a sort of defence mode, rapidly darting her head from side to side as she took sips of the drink.
"Yeah, I wonder why it isn't as full as it normally is. There isn't anything going on in town today is there?" Mise asked as he sat down beside his girlfriend.
"Not that I know of, maybe it's just a slow day. While it is unusual for a coffee shop in a major city, it's not an unwelcome change of pace." Octavia sighed happily as she took a sip of her drink. As soon as the peace and quiet settled with her, she began to relax, and she began to think about something she hadn't thought about for awhile. She thought about how Roden was doing.
She figured he was probably living it up in his parents mansion with his brother and sister, maybe practicing something with his father and mother as the trained him to know the world for what it truly was. Her smile faded into a frown as she began to feel regret and a sense of longing, wishing she had done more to try and stay in contact with her adoptive brother.
"Tavi? Are you alright? You're frowning and your coffee is about to spill." Mise asked as he reached forward and took the cup to her slipping hands.
"Huh? Oh...yeah...I'm fine. Just reminicing something from my past is all." As she said this, Roden walked in the door, not seeing the trio as he was too focused on getting something to drink, and Octavia not being able to see him, although Vinyl and Mise spotted him before he came in.
"It's obviously something, any time something is going on with you girls you always just say 'it's nothing' now come on, you can tell us what's the matter." Mise countered while bringing up a point that was all too true.
"Yeah, come on Tavi, what's on your mind? We're not going anywhere and you can trust us." Vinyl added as she kicked a woman that attempted to sneak up on her away and taking a sip of her latte.
Looking unsure at first, she knew that if she was going to share anything about her old friend with anyone it was them. "Alright."
Both sat up straight and waited patiently for her to begin.
"When I was little, I had this friend, whom I considered a brother. We spent all of our time together, bonding and playing like kids would. But we'd also talk about things, things children wouldn't normally talk about in a serious manner. Eventually I had to leave him behind as my family moved out of the city he lived in and came to Canterlot City. We didn't have any phones or anything to keep in touch with, so it was then and there where we parted ways. I gave him a scarf I had knitted and said goodbye. I know I should probably be over it by now, but there's one thing that's always bothered me about it."
"And what is it?" Mise asked while looking at her withe concern.
"The night before I left, we started talking about dreams. Hopes for the future and all, but when I asked him if he had a dream...he said he didn't. He didn't have any hopes, no goals, no desires. He just...didn't have a dream. And I just keep wondering if he's found one or ever will find one. I can't imagine not having something to live for later in life." She hugged herself slightly as she could only imagine what Roden would have to do in order to find something to live for and to strive towards.
"What was his name?" Vinyl asked as she readied a tissue in case Octavia needed one.
"His name was Roden Godswell." She said simply, almost tearing up, realising just how much she missed her old friend. Vinyl and Mise looked to each other in shock before smiling knowingly. "W-What are you two smiling about?" Octavia asked in annoyance and a little hurt.
"Tavi, turn around." Mise said simply while relaxing I'm his chair.
Octavia looked to him confused before turning around in her seat, her eyes going wide as she saw who was just about to walk out of the building. "Roden?" She gasped softly.
Roden stopped as he was about to reach for the handle, having picked up the soft mention of his name in a familiar voice. "Octavia?" All three asked suprised.
Roden turned and his eyes met those of his old friend. The two just stood there, frozen in shock and happiness with a hint of disbelief.
Author's Notes:
Cliffhanger, nothing new from me
14) Reunion
Both Octavia and Roden just remained frozen as they stared at each other, Mise and Vinyl beginning to become concerned before Octavia began to get out of her chair while Roden slowly placed his coffee on a nearby table. Once they were both standing empty handed they rushed forward and brought each other into a caring embrace, holding each other tightly, the sight causing Mise and Vinyl to smile warmly as they watched the pair become reunited.
The hug lasted a good five minutes before they pulled apart. They still held each other but were far enough apart that they could look into each others eyes. "I can't believe it...you're...you're actually here." Octavia spoke with disbelief until she began touching his arms and chest to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating. "It...it really is you, Roden..."
Roden looked her over, taking in her new appearance. "Look at you...grown into a beautiful young woman...has it really been so long since we last met?" He asked while brushing the side of her cheek before hugging her again, which she gladly accepted.
After another minute they pulled away again. Octavia looked to the bottom half of his face and gasped, reaching her hand to slowly touch the bottom of the scraf. "You're still wearing the scarf I gave you?"
"It's special to me, I could never throw it out or leave it lying around, I had to keep wearing it."
"Well, that and one other reason..." Zerlinda said to herself, causing Zanny to sigh.
Octavia gripped the fabric of the scarf slightly before tears began to form in her eyes. "You kept it...even after all these years." After a few seconds of fighting the tears she let go and buried her face into Rodens chest, gripping his hoodie tightly as she cried into him. Roden slowly wrapped his arms around her and began speaking soft whispers into her ear as he slightly rocked her back and forth.
Mise and Octavia glared at everyone in the coffee shop that was staring, causing them to flinch and quickly turn back to whatever it was they were doing before the reunion began.
Once Roden had calmed her down she let go off him and pulled completely out of the embrace to allow them to look each other in the eye in a more professional way, as to prevent another emotional breakdown. "What are you doing here? I thought you were still living up in the high class estates?" Octavia asked confused.
"I moved out of the mansion four years ago, used some of my inheritance to buy out an apartment in Maretropolis." Roden explained.
"And you came all the way out to Canterlot City for...a coffee?"
"I was in town...visiting someone, when I thought I'd stop by to try and clear my head begore going to the movies to relax for awhile." Rodens smile faltered at the memory of his encounter with Falcon Sight. "So, this is where you've been all this time, in Canterlot City?"
"Yeah..." Octavia rubbed her arm nervously before sighing. "It has been ten years, and I still don't know I what to say..."
Thinking quickly, Roden tight back to one of his conversations with Octavia as a child. "Your eyes." He merely said, catching her attention.
"What?"
"Your eyes. They still shine and sparkle like amethysts in the light." He continued softly as he took a few steps forward, a small blush coming to Octavias face as she began to remember the times he would say that her eyes were like gems.
"Dude, are you not a even slightly mad right now? He looks like he's putting the moves on Tavi." Vinyl whispered over to Mise, unaware that Zanny had picked it up and told Roden what he heard.
"Nah, they're just catching up with each other in their own way, I'm not worried about losing Tavi to a guy that is essentially her brother." Mise answered confidently as he took out his flask and took a sip before returning it to his pocket.
"Sit down so you don't make more of a scene." Zanny suggested, causing Roden to motion towards the table the group was sitting at, Octavia nodded in response before sitting down and watched as Roden pulled up another chair and sat with the three. Proper introductions were made between Mise, Vinyl and Roden. Octavia then began to go on and on about things she and Roden would have done when they were younger. Roden just listened her talk, filling in any blanks if she couldn't remember certain points in the stories she was telling.
They began to catch up, with Octavia telling Roden about all that had been going on on her life since the point they were separated. Things like how she met Vinyl, how she fell in love with Mise, her music career progression and all the odd goings on at Canterlot High. In turn Roden told her about his job as a therapist, causing Vinyl to jokingly call him Dr. Roden. He told her about his apartment, his art pieces and various other aspects of his life. However, he was avoiding one subject in particular, always changing it if it was asked. His family.
He spoke of his mother Chrysalis, but silently refused to speak of the others. Octavia made a note of this, adding it to the note of things she had yet to find out about her brother, including why he was still wearing the scarf over his face. When she asked to take the scarf off to see its full condition Roden seemed dead set on keeping it on. He was hiding something, and Octavia was going to find out what.
"Gotta make up that drama tag somehow right?"
I think we already had it dealt with when we introduced Falcon.
"Just end the chapter before she can say anything else."
Author's Notes:
There was a tiny bit of writers block for this one, but only for these few scenes. I would have tried to make it more emotional but it was a little hard given the setting.
15) Breakdown
"Ok, can you explain to me how you manage to drive around in a tank and not get arrested?" Roden asked with a raised brow as he saw Mise's mode of transportation parked further down the street and the group exited the coffee shop.
"It's cannon isn't functional and there are a few laws that make it perfectly legal to own as if it were a car. Although there are a few guidelines in place." Mise explained as he placed his hand on the side of his tank.
"I should hope so, this could bring about a lot of destruction if operational and left in the wrong hands." Roden shook his head and looked over the vehicle. "A standard model tank I would get but how the hell did you manage to find a Panzer tank?"
"My uncle found it and restored it to its former glory and gave it to me as a gift."
"Former glory my nonexsitent ass, let's not forget what party used these things in World War Two."
"Shut up Zanny, we don't need that kinda stuff in our story."
"Heil Pyra."
"I hate you."
"I know you do sis, I know you do."
"And you're supposed to be the sensible one..."
'Quiet you two.' Roden silenced the voices as he turned to Octavia. "You really know how to attract the strangest of people don't you Tavi?"
"Eh, I've gotten used to it over the years. But I think that more applies to Vinyl than me."
"Hey! Why does it apply to me?!" Vinyl demanded.
"You attracted Treble didn't you?" Octavia pointed out with half lidded eyes.
"Hey! My Wub is not strange! He's amazing!"
Octavia just chuckled and pet Vinyl on the head while Mise and Roden shook their heads. "Point proven..." Roden mumbled.
Octavia turned back to Roden and saw that his scarf was slipping down slightly and watched as Roden pulled it back up to cover the lower half of his face. "Roden it's not that cold out, why not just wrap the scarf around your neck?" She asked.
"I want to wear it like this, it's comfortable." He responded while turning away. "Now, I'm heading over to watch the Ratchet and Clank movie, any of you want to come?"
"She won't stop trying Roden..."
'I know...' Roden mentally signed as he waited for the groups answer. Vinyl agreed, being a fan of the franchise while Mise and Octavia declined but followed Roden to the movie theatre to watch a different movie together. At first they had questioned the need for Roden to have such a large vehicle for himself, but when they asked he merely said. "So that there's room for those with me..." They all sensed more meaning behind it than stating a simple fact, but left it alone, they'd get him to talk eventually.
Vinyl sat with a large bucket of popcorn while Roden sat with a Coke in his hand as he lay back in his seat and crossed his legs, enjoying the memories of his childhood as he watched the movie, getting some laughs out of the jokes and a clever use of the Wilhelm scream, making it probably the only movie to use it in a smart way for a joke.
"I'm glad we didn't invite Soul here, he'd be going on and on about Star Wars or something related to that scream." Vinyl said while stuffing her face with popcorn.
"Who?"
"Oh, a guy that goes to CHS that is obsessed with Star Wars and all that nerd stuff, dates Sunset Shimmer." Vinyl answered as she watched the scene of Ratchet failing to use the various weapons in the games correctly.
'So that's who Sunset ended up with in this world, perhaps this Soul and Treble Clef should meet sometime.'
"Yeah, like that would ever happen."
"I don't think many of the PoME writers would be willing to make that sort of move in their stories, they don't have focuses on fantasy like Pyras do."
"What about Ragga? He does a lot of crazy stuff in his story so a crossover wouldn't really be that strange there."
'Nah he'd probably try to have both Trebles enter a fight to the death.'
After the movie was over the group met outside and began walking back to their vehicles. Roden and Vinyl rode together in his hummer while Mise and Octavia followed close behind in the tank, making any onlookers feel slightly worried as the two military style vehicles drove together.
They pulled up to Vinyl and Octavia's house and all of them jumped out before walking up to the door. "So this is where you live, interesting." Roden says quietly as he looked over the front of the house.
"Yeah, had to get the place renovated a few times but we've made it into a home with our mixed tastes and styles." Octavia stated happily as she looked to Vinyl who smiled back.
"I can tell, must have cost you a lot to get all of this done." Rodens scarf slipped again and he made sure to pull it up and secure it as to not fall down again.
Octavia looked to Mise who was looking to her with concern. "What are you thinking of doing?" He asked quietly.
Octavia turned back to Roden and took a deep breath. "Roden, could I please see the scarf, I want to see how it's doing after these years, there has to be some damage." She pleaded.
"The scarf is fine Tavi, I made sure no damage would come to it and is still clean, you don't need to do anything."
"Just give me the scarf Roden." She ordered in a slightly stricter tone.
"Octavia, stop it." Roden replied with a hint of anger.
"Tavi, leave it alone..." Mise and Vinly says at the same time in concern.
"Why won't you let me look at the scarf?" Octavia asked, trying to keep herself calm.
"That's for me to know Octavia, I'm not budging with this so drop it." Roden snapped, causing Octavia to flinch. She lunged forward and tried to grab the scarf, only for Roden to grab her arm and hold her in place. "Octavia...please just stop." He pleaded.
"No!" She quickly smacked Rodens other hand away with her free hand before grabbing the scarf and pulling it off of Roden.
Time seemed to move slowly as Octavia saw what he had been hiding under the fabric, the scarf falling to the floor in slow motion as they stared at Rodens left cheek.
A large scar ran from the side of his lips through most of his cheek. It wasn't curved, it was straight with uneven and jagged sides. Roden quickly covered his face with his free hand and pushed Octavia away, losing the slow motion effect that would have made the scene much more emotional and effective if this was a TV show or movie.
"Roden...what happened to you?" Octavia asked shakily as she began to slowly move towards him again.
He didn't answer, he just stood their covering the left side of his face while breathing heavily. "Slow your breathing, control yourself."
Octavia reached him and placed her hand on the hand covering his face, slowly pulling it away to show the scar. She gently brushed it with her hand, but Roden didn't flinch. "Who did this to you?"
Roden just looked her in the eyes, his breathing uneven. After a few moments of staring into her eyes and remaining silent, Octavia saw that tears were beginning to form in his eyes.
"Roden?"
Suddenly Roden collapsed onto his knees, covers his face with his hands and broke down, crying silently as his body shook slightly. Octavia got onto her knees and looked at him with a mixture of confusion and concern. She placed her hands on his shoulders and waited until he was able to stop himself.
Author's Notes:
Scarf is off and the feel train is coming in
16) Feelings that fade
Roden grabbed the scarf off the floor and quickly wrapped it around his mouth again, having somewhat calmed down from his breakdown, tears still trickling down his face, his eyes slightly red and his body slightly trembling. He still sat on his knees, Octavia looking at him concerned while holding his shoulders. He hung his head low and closed his eyes, doing his best to regain his composure.
"I think it would be best if we left..."
"Yeah, you need to get a handle on yourself bro...and this clearly isn't the place to do it, she'll just keep asking what's wrong. You need to get out of there, you've already been reminded of that night enough today."
Roden just slowly nodded in response to the voices and slowy rose to his feet. Octavia stood up and backed up to Mise and Vinyl to give him some space. Shadows covered the top half of his face as his hair blocked the light from reaching it. They all just stood there as Roden took a step forward before turning towards the front door.
As he walked away Octavia went to grab his arm. "Don't..." Roden quickly stopped her. "Just...leave me alone..."
Mise placed his hand on Octavia's shoulder and gently pulled her back towards him. "Let him go Octi, he needs to get out." He spoke in an almost hostile tone.
"How could you say that?!"
"Those eyes" He answered quietly as Roden turned to him. "I've seen that look before, I've had that look myself quite a few times in the past. The eyes of a man who has experienced great loss and pain. No amount of talking, comfort of reasoning will get rid of it, it needs to fade away over time."
Roden just stared at Mise dead in the eye for a moment, looking into him and trying to analyse him. He saw the look in Mise's eyes, it was faint, but he could see it. He merely nodded before finally opening the front door and walking out to his hummer.
"Why did you tell me to let him go with such hostility?" Octavia asked as she turned to her partner.
"It wasn't the kind of hostility directed towards anyone, not you and not Roden. It was more towards that look. That look can change lives, more often than not for the worst."
Vinyl shook her head and placed her headphones on. "Heavy stuff..."
Later
Roden set the empty glass in his hand down on the bar surface while sighing. Treble sat beside him sipping a large glass of Pepsi that Roden had bought him as an alternative to drinking. Roden however reached for a bottle of whiskey and poured himself another glass before downing the contents.
"Boy, you must've put him through some rough shit Pyra." Treble commented.
Yes, but only for the sake of storytelling. Of I could, I'd have everything go his way, the fact is that it wouldn't make for an interesting story whatsoever.
"Oh great...remind me again that all my suffering is for the sick entertainment of others..." Roden mumbled as he had another drink.
"Aww come on man, life can't be all sunshine and rainbows you know, otherwise our lives and our stories would be boring as all hell."
"Suprisingly Treble has a point."
"Hey!"
"W-What? Wait a minute, you can hear us?"
"Nah I just read the text." The bartender looked to Treble strangely before returning to his work. "Anyway, I know I can't do anything to cheer you up or whatever, so just you drink away your sorrows and I'll drive your green ass home." Trebls looked to the now almost empty bottle of whiskey. "Seriously, you're drinking a lot and you're always wearing green, suprised there hadn't been an Irish joke yet."
Roden shook his head as he finished off the bottle. "Well, at least one of us is being positive."
"Excuse me?"
"Alright alright, two of us..." Roden sighed and slid the glass and bottle down to the bartender who then placed a bill in front of him with a few breath mints. He placed the payment on the bar surface and took one of the mints. "Probably just gonna lie down when I get back to my apartment, try to let this fade begore Sapphire moves in."
"Probably a good idea, you don't want her first day living with you to be filled with angst, sadness and general drama." Treble said while shaking his head and dosing the last few sips of his Pepsi. "Come on, I'll leave you at your appartment."
"Thanks Treble. Don't really see why a lot of people think you're an asshole."
"People think I'm an asshole?!"
Roden threw himself down onto his bed, his green hoodie thrown across the room to let his body cool down, revealing the black t-shirt underneath. Come on, he had to have at least one piece of black on him, he is the son of Chrysalis after all. His scarf was layed put beside him, close to his person. He gently brushed his hand against his scar and sighed as he felt the sting of the wound. "I'm never gonna get over that am I?"
"You will eventually, you just need to find what will help you get over it."
"What like repentance or something? You know what I don't really care right now, that whiskey is starting to affect my thinking..."
"Just go to sleep Roden, you deserve some rest."
Roden closed his eyes slowly as he began to drift of, Zerlinda humming a soft tune to help her brother relax enough to rest comfortably. Once he was fast asleep, both voices silenced themselves and began to think over the events of the day. What should have been a happy reunion between old friends turned into an emotional mess. Both of them had no idea what to do, then again, they couldn't really do anything outside of talking to Roden...and Treble it would seem.
Roden lay there still, sleeping soundly in a dreamless sleep as to avoid any potential nightmares or flashbacks that could trigger him. You know, a part of me really wanted to make a Tumblr feminist joke here, but I figured it wouldn't really be suitable. Hooray for my failed attempts at humour.
Author's Notes:
I will make it clear right now, Roden isn't going to act all depressed all the time with the attitude of a one-dimensional anime character that always frowns and crosses his arms, and always complains about sadness, darkness, loss or stats get the hell else is considered cliché on this site. Which is basically impossible given that nearly everything is a cliché here.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter and that Knighty will MOVE THE PUBLISH AND EDIT BUTTON APPART!!!
17) First day
Monday
Rodens hummer pulled up into Canterlot High's parking lot, where a variety of different coloured and different types of vehicles were parked, including Mise's tank. "Well, at least there's variety I guess."
"This school just allows everything at this point." Sapphire said as she climbed out of the huge car.
"I can see that, seems as though auntie Celestia is just seeing what will happen at this point." Roden added as he killed the engine and locked the car.
Sapphire rolled her eyes and looked up at the building. "Considering she let my cousin Shard in with his swords and his robot butler, I wouldn't be suprised if that's what she was really doing."
"Not to mention all those magical students from before most of us got here."
"Yeah, those were weird times for everyone." Sapphire shivered after remembering being under the control of Sunset Shimmer and then the dazzlings. "Very...weird times."
"Well, I've got to head to the principals office to get my class schedule. Meet me back here at the end of the day so we can get the rest of your stuff moved into the appartment."
"Alright, see you later then, I think we'll end up in some of the same classes anyway." With that Sapphire walked off towards the schools entrance.
As Roden watched her walk away he pulled his scarf up slightly and scanned the area for Octavia, not wanting her to pop up out of nowhere to talk about what had happened and the origin of his scar.
"If it ain't us that tells her it's gonna be someone else." Zerlinda spoke in a tone that seemed devoid of emotion.
"I know Zeri...I'll tell her when I'm ready. If someone tells her beforehand, there isn't much I can do about that."
"How about we leave this stuff for a drama chapter and move on with the day?"
"Sounds good."
Art class
The first class happened to be art class, a class that Roden was looking forward to. While the rest of the class was busy finishing up some projects from the week prior, Roden was allowed to just draw or paint whatever he wanted. He chose a seat at the back of the class where Rarity was standing beside him working on her own painting, styling it and decorating it in her usual fashion. She looked to her side and noticed how concentrated Roden seemed to be on his own painting, staring at it almost unblinking with half lidded eyes, his eyes only shifting around to spot any mistakes as his hands seemed to move on their own.
Once he pulled away to strech a bit Rarity moved to get a better look at the painting, tilting her head and analysing it. It was a heart shape in the middle of the canvas with black splatter paterns around it. It was split in half with one side being purple and the other green, with two silhouettes standing on each side, the green side shaped like a tall male while the purple shaped like a short female. "My goodness, you certainly know your way around a paint brush darling."
"Thank you."
"If you don't mind me asking, what is this supposed to be?" She asked while looking slightly closer to look at the smaller details.
"It's...personal."
"Alright darling, I won't look into it." She said with a wave of her hand. "This is a very odd style, but I think that's what makes it good. It's like three people were painting this at the same time."
"Heheheh."
"Shut up Zeri."
"Thank you Rarity." Roden accepted the compliment as Rarity went back to her own painting.
Gym
Both Roden and Vinyl sat on the benches in the sports hall while they watched their classmates suffer through Coach Iron Wills exercises. "Hey coach...why don't...they have to do this?" Bonbon asked with a slight bit of rage in her voice while pointing to the two and breathing heavily.
"They both have their reasons for not partaking in this class, while Iron Will would love nothin' more than ta whip those two inta shape, I gotta listen to the principal."
"And what are those reasons?!" She snapped while getting her breathing under control.
"Personal reasons." Roden stated simply.
"They couldn't make me if they tried." Vinyl answered with a bored expression.
Bonbon groaned and continued within the exercises while Vinyl and Roden both took out cans of Coca-Cola, clinked them together before taking a swing.
"Traitors!" They heard Treble shout from outside the gym.
"What is it with him and Pepsi?" Roden asked out of curiosity.
"Something to do with some joke about sponsorships or something, I dunno."
Lunch
Roden lifted his tray which contained two slices of pepperoni pizza, an apple fritter and a carton on apple juice, and began looking for a place to sit. While looking around he saw no available seats, and Sapphire was nowhere in sight. "Guess adding all these characters finally filled this place up."
"Roden!" He heard Luna call him from his right. He looked over to see a free seat at the teachers table, which for some odd reason was only really being used that day. "Come join us."
'Please don't hug me when I get there, I don't need the students getting any ideas if you did.' He pleaded mentally before sitting next to his aunt.
"So Roden, how's your first day going?" She asked.
"Rather well so far, I'm finding it pretty enjoyable." He answered while taking a bite out of his pizza.
"Well that's good to hear, have you ran into one of your cousins yet?"
"I ran into Maurice last week and checked up on him this morning. Other than him, no, I haven't."
Luna nodded and returned to her meal whileRoden began to talk with other teachers about certain students and which ones would be needing to attend his therapy sessions. Meanwhile a certain student glared at him from across the room while gripping a knife tightly. "Yo, Rider, you ok there buddy?" A random background character that has no purpose in the story other than saying that line asked.
"Godswell...." He murmured before returning to his meal.
Author's Notes:
If you see anything wrong please point it out, I hope you enjoyed it anyway.
18) The office
Roden let out a heavy sigh as he walked out of the school after the day had come to an end. He moved quickly through the crowd, making sure to keep a lookout for Octavia, not wanting to have an awkward encounter with her right before he needed to drive himself and Sapphire back to the appartment before he could head off to work. After managing to break free of the crowd of students he saw Sapphire waiting for him by his car, tapping her foot impatiently. "Sorry for keeping you waiting, had a little trouble getting through the crowd."
"We could have gotten here sooner if you didn't keep dodging in and out of people to avoid Octavia..."
"Quiet Zeri."
"Let's just get home, I have a ton of homework I want to get out of the way so I can relax." Sapphire said on a more neutral tone was she opened the passenger seat on the hummer.
Roden raised a brow before climbing into his car. "Are you alright? You seem a little...out of it." He asked with concern as he started the bummers engine.
Sapphire folded her arms and avoided eye contact. "I'm fine, this is just how I act after a long day." She dismissed.
Roden analysed her, looking over her body for signs of stress or uncomfortableness. "It seems to be a little more than just a long day."
"Look, can we just get to the apartment?" She asked slightly annoyed.
"Alright, I won't pry any further." Roden said while turning towards the wheel and pulling out of the schools parking lot.
"She doesn't exactly seem like someone who likes to talk about things that bother her."
'I noticed, but in time I'm sure she'll open up...if only a bit.'
"Trust me, it's going to take a lot more than time to get her to open up, you'll need to start getting closer to her."
Roden simply frowned under his scarf and kept driving down the suprisingly empty highway towards Maretropolis.
Later, at Dr. Rodens Therapy Practice
"So Mister Bloodcrawl, I would be right to assume that you now realise that your anger towards your victims did not come from your delusions, but the way you yourself where treated in your youth. You need to learn to challenge these thoughts through none violent means, try taking up some kind of creative hobby and channel that energy into something you enjoy." Roden said with a hidden smile as he wrote down a few notes on a notepad while he looked up to the large, muscular criminal that had been sent to him over the past few weeks.
The large man looked to his hands and looked confused. "I...guess you could be right..."
Roden nodded his head and handed him a sheet of paper. "Here's a list of things you could try while in prison, if none of these work tell your supervisor I had assigned for you and I'll get a new list for you."
The inmate took the paper and nodded. "I guess I can give these a try, not much else to do in there anyway. Thanks Doc."
Roden smiled and patted his shoulder. "No problem my friend. Now I'm afraid that's all the time we have for this session. If you feel that you still want a session next week make sure to tell the supervisor, if not then I wish you luck."
The man nodded and shook Rodens hand before squeezing himself through the door where two guards cuffed him and led him out of the building. "Bye Miss Pommel." He said to the secretary as he was taken out.
"Goodbye Mister Bloodcrawl, safe journey." The young Coco Pommel waved as she watched him leave. Roden stepped out of the office and took a sip of a cup of tea his assistant had made him. "You've made amazing progress with that one Doctor Roden."
"Indeed, I hope this sets him on a path that will allow him to rejoin society." He smiled as he looked to a clipboard on the desk. "Alright, let's see who's next." He marked off the previous patient and began to look down the list. "Miss...Gaige?" He raised a brow and looked to a teenage girl sitting in the waiting room with her arms folded and an annoyed expression on her face. "Huh...didn't think the PoME group allowed characters from other franchises."
The girl had messy brown hair with two ponytails sticking out of the sides of her head. She wore a pair of yellow goggles on her head and a sleeveless denim top with a red shirt underneath that had a cartoon skull on the chest. Seeing a character from a franchise other than MLP was a bit confusing for him, but he knew better than to question what went on in other universes and this one.
"Guess her writer got bored of the whole high school romance shtick that the groups library is full of. Oh well, a patient is a patient. What is she here for Coco?" He asked as he set his empty cup down and looked to his assistant.
"She was sent here by her brother for anger management, apparently she...unleashed a killer robot on someone that angered her?" Coco stated confused.
"So that's why there was a hole in the back of the school..." Roden muttered. "So who is her brother?"
"A person named Treble Mix."
"Oh, she's Trebles sister? This should be interesting." He coughed into his hand and prepared himself for whatever it was he would be dealing with. He grabbed his notebook and walked over to the girl. "Hello there."
"Hey..." She muttered under her breath, but Roden heard her anyway.
"You're up next Miss Gaige, so could you please follow me into my office so we can get started." He said with a kind voice, trying to help her feel welcome.
"Wow, you're writer really had to make you be the nice guy didn't he?" She groaned in an annoyed tone.
"Another fourth wall breaker?"
"How many are there in this story?"
"Let's just get this over with. I want to get back home to my games..." Gaige groaned as she walked into the office without Roden.
He took in a deep breath and sighed. "This is gonna be a loooong session..."
Author's Notes:
Gaige belongs to Broken_Muffin
19) The meeting
"Well...that was certainly an interesting session." Roden spoke quietly as he watched Gaige leave through the waiting area.
"How did it go Doctor?" Coco asked as she began packing up her things as they had attended to their last patient of the day.
"It went well, it was interesting...a little strange at some parts, but I'm already starting to see the source of her anger, another session or two should be enough." He explained as he looked to his wrist watch to check the time.
"And what would the source be?"
"From what I understand, it's a lack of trust for those around her and a lack of understanding." Roden quickly looked over his clipboard, memorising his next lineup of patients the next time his practice would be open. "Anyway, I need to be heading back now, I promised Sapphire I'd help her move more of her stuff into the apartment."
Coco looked at him with a curious expression. "Sapphire? Is that the name of your new roommate?"
"Yes, Sapphire Phoenix. She's just getting settled in and will take awhile for her to open up. I've got to be there soon or else it'll put her in a bad mood. Have a nice night Coco." He waved as he left the building, leaving Coco to herself.
She shook her head and pulled out a photo of her and Roden. They were stood outside the practice building, arms around each other's shoulders and smiles on their faces. It was the day they had first opened the practice, a happy memory for her, as that was the day she started a job that was both challenging and enjoyable, and was her first real job after her corrupt employer from Crystal Prep. Now she had a boss that treated her not just with respect and kindness, but treated her as a friend.
She smiled and placed the photo back in her purse before taking out her key to the building and walking out, locking the door behind her.
Later
"That the last of it?" Roden asked as he set a box down in the living room of the apartment.
Sapphire counted the boxes present and nodded. "Yeah, that's the last one, thank you."
"You want me to help unpack?"
Sapphire shook her head as she lifted a couple of CDs out of a box. "No, it's alright, I can do it myself."
"You sure, it's no trouble."
Sapphire nodded. "I'm sure, you've helped me enough already."
"Well, alright, if you need me I'll be in my bedroom." Roden shrugged as he walked away towards his room. Once he was in, he closed the door and sighed.
"Octavia still on your mind?"
"Of course she is. This isn't exactly something you can stop thinking about."
"Just relax for a little while before going to sleep, I'm sure the rest will do you good. Plus, we're having dinner with mother tomorrow, and she'll know if something is on your mind or if you haven't slept enough." Zanny made a good point, Chrysalis was a master at reading emotions, more so than him. It was extremely difficult to get things past her, it was like she could feel the same emotions at the same time and describe them perfectly.
"Yeah, you're right, might as well just kick back for awhile." He walked over to his desk where his PC was set up. After logging in and waiting a few moments for everything to start up, he entered Steam and browsed through the games that were currently on sale before closing it down and opening Team Fortress 2. He played in a few public matches, mainly as the Spy, before playing on competitive servers.
"Why do you even play competitive in this game? There's no rewards, all there is are some ranks that mean nothing and your team always expects you to play like a God or something." The ever curious Zerlinda asked as he brother back stabbed an enemy medic before killing the heavy it was healing.
"I don't know, I just like playing on different modes with different kinds of people."
"Even the squeakers?"
"Why do you think I disabled player voices?"
"Smart move..."
The next day
Roden took a sip of his tea as he sat across from Celestia and Luna in the principals office. "So, how many have signed up so far?" He added as he set the cup,down and looked to his aunts.
"Well...quite a few actually, we weren't able to get them all in due to your schedule being filled up and we were in no position to change things without your consent." Celestia replied as she slid a small pile of files on the students that we're currently signed up for his therapy sessions.
He gave them all a quick once over before nodding and placing the files in his bag. "Thank you, I'll get Coco to arrange the meetings as soon as I can." He spoke with a small smile under his scarf. "Now, is there some other reason why you've brought me here or should I be on my way?"
Both Luna and Celestia looked to each other nervously. "Well...there is something else."
"And she waits for us to respond instead of telling us something that could be important."
"Alright then, what's the reason?" Roden asked as he set his empty cup down and looked at them expectantly.
Luna was the one to continue. "Well, you see, one of the students that we have here is related to the one involved in the...incident"
"Ok..."
"He wanted to attend one of the sessions...but I think we all know he had no intention of sitting down and talking it out." Celestia continued.
"So, we declined him. We know how it's hard for you to accept the past, and we didn't want him doing anything rash." Luna finished.
"I see..." Roden thought for a moment. "But...I would eventually like to meet him one on one. I know he's been misinformed about everything and blames us for his fathers imprisonment." He admitted. "He deserves to know what really happened that night." He felt the sharp pain in his scar while Zanny and Zerlinda remained silent.
He'd confront this person eventually, but he had other things to do and people to confront beforehand. "It's Rider Sight, isn't it?" He asked, resulting in a nod. "Alright, then I can leave that for now. If there's anything else it'll have to wait, I need to get going, got a bit to catch up on in maths, goodbye for now aunties." He waved as he walked through the doors.
Author's Notes:
If you find any mistakes, please point the, out so I may fix them.
I hope you enjoyed.
20) Rodens bad day
You ever just wake up and somehow know a day is gonna be horrible? Just that feeling that tells you that you're gonna have a shit day? Well, that's what Roden's feeling right now. He lay motionless in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, a blank expression on his face.
"Come on, get up already! We have things to do!"
"I don't wanna..." Roden responded simply.
"Come on Roden, just get up and get today over with."
"But I can lie here and wait the day out so I don't have to be in a crappy mood all day." Roden complained as he turned over and closed his eyes.
"Zeri, do the thing."
"If you don't get out of bed two things will happen. One, I will constantly keep screaming random stuff at you, and two, you'll miss our dinner with mom, and you know she'll just come right over here and find out what's wrong."
Roden groaned as he rolled off the bed and got to his feet. "I hate it when you point out the stuff I'm too tired or annoyed to remember..."
"Hey, it's our job as voices in your head to randomly bring up stuff you don't want to think about."
"True."
Sighing, Roden stripped himself of his dirty clothes that he had not taken off in days and walked into the bathroom to reluctantly begin getting ready for the day ahead.
"Yep...this day is turning out to be shit." Roden muttered to himself as he walked out of the schools entrance as the final bell rung out, signalling that the school day was over.
"Was it really that bad?" Mise, who was walking beside him, asked as he took a swing of his flask.
"Yes."
Putting the flask away Mise gave his friend a small smile. "Couldn't have been that ba-"
"In the morning there was no hot water, my breakfast burnt and I was out of coffee beans, I couldn't find my keys for half an hour, got stuck in a near never ending traffic jam, had to deal with Maurice yet again, the lunch canteen was out of my favourite food, I'm pretty sure my car needs servicing now, my phone is dead because I forgot to flip the switch on the socket last night and I'm going to have to deal with my own kind of drama pretty soon, shall I continue until this can be considered a rant?"
Mise blinked and shook his head. "Nah, you've made your point." The two reached their vehicles which were parked beside each other. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be driving with that blue haired girl?"
"There are a lot of blue haired girls in CHS Mise, you'll have to be more specific."
"I mean-"
"Hey, I'm just joking, I know who you mean. And no, not today, she has some stuff to do in school until later, her parents will be taking her back to our place instead." Roden explained as he unlocked his car and started the engine, although it failed to start the first few times before he got out and kicked the vehicle, causing it to start. "Hooray for an unconventional method that somehow works for every piece of technology in films."
"Well, if you don't need to worry about that, and seeming as you've had a bad day, how about we head down to a bar and get a drink later?" Mise suggested as he climbed into his tank.
"You know, after the day I've had, I could use a drink. I'll meet up with you after I've had dinner with my mother."
Mise smiled and nodded. "Alright. Be warned though, even if we tell ourselves to only have a few, we will most likely get shitfaced, especially if Treble is there."
"I honestly don't care. I'll see you later then." With that, Roden closed the door on his hummer and drove off towards Maretropolis.
Two hours later
Chrysalis sat in a black t-shirt and green jeans, waiting for her son to arrive at the restaurant. As she expected, she got a few stares from the men and even some women as she entered, only to roll her eyes. While she would use her looks to her advantage sometimes, it didn't mean she liked being seen as nothing more than a sexual object most of the time. She wasn't flirtatious for the fun of it, that's just how she was. She hadn't even had any one night stands in years, and that was thanks to one man that stayed with her and treated her as more than just something sexy or beautiful.
That man was Rodens father, Soledad Godswell.
Remembering the man always caused Chrysalis to smile. "He was such a good influence on Roden and the others, it's a shame Roden doesn't take more after him. While I'm glad he takes after me, part of me wishes he had moved towards a different lifestyle."
During Rodens more depressed days, he himself tried to fill a void in his heart by making a few one night stands, but quickly snapped himself out of it before he could become addicted to it, working more towards using his charm and gentlemanly personality to his advantage in more serious conditions and to better himself as a person. Chrysalis was proud that he had the strength that to pull himself through that and stop himself from becoming like her before Soledad came into the picture, but unfortunately was taken from them.
The sound of a gunshot rang through her mind as she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Shaking herself of her thoughts she took out her device and looked at the message she had received. "Damn...I guess this dinner will have to wait."
She picked up her bag and walked out of the restaurant while calling her son.
"Roden sweetie? I'm sorry, but something came up that I unfortunately have to attend to, so our dinner will have to be postponed for now."
"That's fine mother, you just take care of whatever it is you need to, I can wait." Roden responded as he placed his phone on speaker and continued to comb his hair.
'Alright dear, I'll talk to you later, love you son.'
"Love you too mother." As Chrysalis hung up, Roden sighed and wrapped his scarf around his mouth again.
"So, now that our evening is free, I take it you're going to that bar now?"
"Damn right I am."
20 minutes later
The hummer pulled up beside the tank parked outside a small bar. Taking a closer look at the building Roden noticed it was an Irish pub. "Of course it is..."
Getting out of his car he looked over to see Mise coming out of the building with a bottle of beer in his hand. "Hey Roden, glad you could make it."
"You already drunk?"
"Roden, I'm always drunk, the only level above my usual state it completely hammered, I'm fine." Roden just remained silent as he walked up to the door with his friend. "Oh yeah, something you should know, Treble is here and after his second drink tried to convince himself he was Irish, but for some reason he's stuck in between being Irish, English and Scottish..."
"He's already random as it is, adding alcohol to his system is only going to make things worse."
"Yeah, probably right." The two entered to see Treble downing a large bottle of liquor with multiple men cheering as he finished, yelled in victory and smashed the bottle over his own head. "Oh...Kay...that's new..."
"Let's just get over there." The two sat up on stools next to Treble who began to twitch slightly. "Now, about that drink."
Suddenly, Treble smacked a small pile of twenties down on the bar in front of the barkeep and turned to everyone while raising a bottle. "Yes lads! Drinks on me! Let's get sma-a-a-a-a-a-a-ashed!" The crowd cheered in response and began downing their own drinks.
"You know what? Fuck it." Roden grabbed two bottles and began to down both of them at the same time.
Everyone has moments of weakness, and sometimes they need to release stress and let go for awhile. Unfortunately, Rodens time to release had to come when he was in a bar. How unfortunate, but entertaining.
Author's Notes:
Felt as if a random chapter was needed, given that more serious plot points will be coming up soon.
If you spot any mistakes please point them out as it is a huge help to me.
Also, to those who read YBWE, you know what you saw.
21) The morning after
The next morning, Octavia and Vinyls car pulled up in front of the bar. Octavia, Vinyl and Sapphire stepped out of the car and walked over to an alleyway next to the bar, which now had some windows smashed. In the alley, Mise lay on top of a pile of garbage bags, Treble hung upside down from a ladder and Rodens feet were pointing out of the top of a trash can, multiple beer bottles surrounding the unconscious men.
Mise was the first to open his eyes slowly. "Damn...close those fucking curtains Treble..." He moaned as he blocked the sunlight with his arm.
"Ok..." Treble replied as he moved himself, instantly falling flat on his face on the concrete. "Ow..."
"Ha ha...idiot..."
The girls stared with great disappointment, except for Octavia who was kinda used to the sight of Mise being hungover, she was more disappointed with Roden. Sapphire just rolled her eyes at the sight, but was slightly amused by Trebles pain, as was Vinyl.
Mise finally had enough energy to sit up and rub his head, he streched and yawned before his sights landed on the women who had their hands on their hips. "Ah shit...well, better get this over with so I can go slap myself multiple times with an ice pack."
He groggily climbed out of the pile of garbage bags and kicked Treble in the side of his torso, his face still on the floor. "Ow..."
"Get up dumbass, time to face the scorn of a woman."
"That is something no man should have to face while hungover, so I am just going to lie here and become acquainted with each little piece of glass and pebble that is currently stabbing my face like tiny razor blades..." Treble retorted while his voice was muffled by the ground.
"Your funeral." Mise then shakily walked over to the trash can and looked down it. "Roden, time to wake up buddy."
Rodens voice echoed out of the top of the can. "Just ten more hours please..."
"We ain't got that time dude, I don't think Tavi or Sapphire are willing to wait that long."
Rodens headache seemed to double in both pain and annoyance at the mention of those names. "Please place the lid on the can."
"Come on man..."
"I can't see them they can't see me that's how it works..."
"They know you're in the fucking trash can dude."
"Then close the lid and roll me home...don't make eye contact with them just rooooooooolllll..." Roden spoke as if he was high before falling back to sleep. Mise groaned and kicked the trash can over, causing Roden to slide out and hit his head off the ground. "Ow...rude..."
"It feels like I'm trying to throw up but nothing's coming out...oh...right...non-physical. How're you feeling Zanny?"
"I'm fine mister magic doplhin shark..."
"Alcohol is a hell of a drug."
"Let's just get these bozos somewhere they can get rid of their hangovers." Sapphire said as she walked over and helped Roden get to his feet with the help of Mise, while Vinly and Octavia got Treble. Treble was tossed in the trunk of the car while Octavia, Mise and Vinyl climbed in in drove off, coming back later to retrieve the tank and Trebles car. Meanwhile, Sapphire set Roden in the passenger seat of the hummer and hopped into the drivers seat before taking off down the road. "You've made a fool of yourself, aren't you supposed to be the mature one or something?"
"Hey, when you carry as much emotional crap as I do with no real method of beating said emotional crap, then you can talk shit..." Sapphire frowned at his tone. After shaking his head he sighed and slumped back in his seat. "I'm sorry...that's the headache and leftover alcohol talking."
"It's fine." Sapphire dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Just promise that you won't do something like this again."
"I can't promise that..."
"Then can you at least promise that you'll have a plan to actually get somewhere safe to rest afterwards and not have your only protection be a trash can?"
Roden nodded and placed a hand to his head. "Thank you for not putting me in the same car as Octavia, I am in no mood to deal with that, even when sober."
"What's the deal with you to anyway?" Sapphire asked curiously as she turned a corner.
Roden smiled softly under his scarf, which somehow was still neatly wrapped around his mouth. "Well, just over ten years ago..."
Meanwhile, Shard and Ditzy walked hand in hand towards their favourite store, which sold things such as manga, games, DVDs and other forms of collectables or different forms of media that they both bonded over. As they were walking, they noticed a young man walking towards them from the other side of the street. "Can I help you?" Shard asked politely, earning a happy nod from Ditzy.
The young man reached into his pocket and pulled out a photograph of Roden sitting at one of the schools benches with Treble. "Do you know where I can find this guy, the one in the green?" He asked.
Shard looked at the guy suspiciously before shaking his head. "I'm not sure where he is right now and I don't have his number, sorry."
"It's alright, thanks anyway." With that the man walked off.
Ditzy watched him walk away, feeling slightly uneasy. "What do you think he wants with Roden?"
"I'm not sure muffin, but whatever the case we should tell Roden that this guy is looking for him. From the tone of his voice, I don't think they're on good terms." Shard replied as he turned to his girlfriend. "But, before that, I believe that this place just got a fresh shipment of RWBY merch."
"I might finally be able to get a Yang figurine!" Ditzy exclaimed with glee as she dragged her boyfriend into the store.
Author's Notes:
I sense plot coming in...
No not that kind of plot perverts, don't expect any of that from my stories
Anyway, if you see any mistakes, please point them out to me, it's a huge help
22) This ain't good...
Sapphire sat watching the latest episode of her favourite show in the living room of the apartment while Roden sat in a nearby recliner holding his head and leaning back with the footrest up, trying to soothe his hangover endured headache. He would have moved back to his bedroom but he was too tired to try and get up, plus Sapphire didn't have the volume turned up that high, he liked the company anyway.
"What are we? Chopped liver?"
"That phrase still makes absolutely no sense to me, it's like potato patato, who the hell says patato?"
'Guys...quiet please.' Roden spoke quietly in his head, rubbing his forehead and sighing deeply.
"Sorry."
As quiet settled in both his mind and his apartment, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off, considering he didn't have anything to do that day he might as well sleep off the hangover. Sapphire glanced over to him and shrugged. She was about to turn back when she saw his scarf fall slightly, revealing a small part of his scar. Becoming interested and letting curiosity get the better of her, she paused the TV and got to her feet, silently walking over to the young man.
She stood by him and hesitated, before reaching her hand forward and carefully pulling the scarf down, revealing the rest of his face to her. She stared at the scar on his left cheek for what felt like a few minutes before she pulled the scarf back up and put a blanket over him and returning to her show, the image of the scar now stuck in her head, and theories of its origin began to form in the back of her mind.
Meanwhile
Cinch groaned as she looked over the latest statistics for the schools in the Canterlot City area. "CHS keeps improving, at this rate our school shall become obsolete." She clenched her hand into fist and growled. "Why is it that they keep improving? Is it the magic? No, no, it's the new students they've gotten over the past couple of years." She concluded. "The next friendship games is coming up, at this rate we'll be made a laughing stock, I'll be the least successful in the area, MY reputation will be ruined."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Hey can I come in or should I come back later when you aren't trying to be a rip-off of every high school movie villain ever?" She heard the janitor asked.
"Come back later, I am very busy right now!" She barked back while slamming her fist into her desk.
"Someone's on her time of the month." The janitor muttered as he walked away.
Cinch rolled her eyes and sat back down in her chair. "I need something or someone to help turn the tide in my favour, but what or who?" As she rubbed her eyes her sights fell on a name that had been brought to her attention quite a few times in the past. For a moment she sat still before her lips curled into a smirk. "Well, I believe I found my trump card."
"TRUMP NOT OUR PRESIDENT!!!"
"Not that trump you ingrate! And stop eavesdropping or I'll give you an F in all your studies!" Cinch yelled back at the random student from outside her office. Taking in a breath, Cinch picked up her phone and dished a certain number. "Yes, hello, this is Cinch. I need to call in a favour..."
Meanwhile again
Treble suddenly awoke from his drunken stupor and quickly sat up. "I sense a disturbance in the force."
"Should I get Soul?" He heard Vinyl ask from another room.
"Nah leave the Star Wars nerd alone, he doesn't need to be in this story. Just me being me." He groggily climbed out of his bed and again landed on his face as he fell off the side. "I'm starting to think the ground is trying to have an affair with me." Lifting himself up, he crawled out into the hallway and dragged himself towards the bathroom where he pulled himself up and planted his face in the sink, reaching his hand up and turning the cold water on.
After a series of shrieks and a loud clanging noise from Treble hitting his head off the water tap, he was now full of energy and rushed down the stairs to find Vinyl casually listening to her headphones while Octavia treated Mise's headache. Before heading out to investigate whatever crap they would be dealing with next, Treble walked into the kitchen and poured himself a large glass of OJ.
"Gotta stay hydrated if I want my head to be as demented as usual, or at least as demented as the author wants me to be." Walking back into the living room, he sat down and switched on the television, flicking his through the channels but cringing every time he passed a channel paying reruns of crappy shows. "How often is Cartoon Network gonna replay Teen Titans Go episodes instead of Gumball and Steven Universe?! I NEED MAH SHIPPIN MOMENTS DAMNIT!!!"
"I'm still pissed they cancelled Regular Show, although the ending was pretty go-" Viny said before she was interrupted.
"ADADADADADADAAAAHHHHH no, shush, spoilers! I'm still a season behind!"
Treble ducked as a cup was thrown at his head but smashed against the wall instead. "Shut the fuck up please..." Mise groaned as he covered his ears.
"Sorry dude, figured you out of all of us would be able to deal with a hangover."
"I made the mistake of mixing whiskey, vodka and pure unfiltered moonshine into one bottle...instant regret...so much regret..."
"Well I need to go out today, can you watch him before you go out on whatever it is you're planning to do? I need to get ready." Octavia asked as she stood up and walked past Treble, lifting something from in front of him.
"Eh, he'd of the chapter anyway, might as well." Treble shrugged and sat back down as Octavia disappeared up the stairs and into her room. As he reached forward to grab his glass, he found nothing in his grasp or on the table. "Wait a minute..." Treble looked from the stairs to the table over and over before glaring. "Bitch just stole mah juice."
Author's Notes:
If you see any mistakes please let me know and I'll fix it asap. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Planning an overall plot with Cinch, gonna get Rodens past done soon and get the Sight family thing put tonrest to make way for it.
23) Convenience
Crystal Prep
"What do you mean that you can't go through with it?!" Cinch demanded, yelling into the phone in her head while pounding her fist onto her desk.
"Exactly what I said, do you even know what you're asking me to do? You're asking me to hold someone's younger siblings corpses hostage so you can blackmail said person to compete in some stupid school sports event! You've done some underhanded stuff in your lifetime Cinch, but this takes the cake, don't call this number again." The man on the other side countered before hanging up.
Cinch left eye twitched as she slammed the phone down and hung her head in frustration. "Damnit! No, it's ok, it's alright, there are other ways of making people do what you want. My reputation needs to be protected at all costs, this school must remain at the top." She told herself as she straightened her clothes and pushed her glasses back into place.
Outside of her office, Blueblood stood with his ear to the door, a look of concern on his face. He dropped the papers that he was supposed to deliver to the schools principal and made a run for the exit. "I need to tell Auntie Celestia about this."
Later, Maretropolis
Slowly Roden opened his eyes, staring at the black chandelier that hung from his apartment ceiling. With his head now headache free, he went to get up to continue with his day, suprised to find a blanket wrapped around him. "When did this get here? I mean...it's cosy, I'm not complaining, but..."
"It was Sapphire, she put this around you while you were sleeping off your hangover." Zanny explained, a small but noticeable hint of hesitance in his voice.
"That was nice of her, but what's with the tone?" Roden asked curiously as he pulled the blanket off of his person and lay it over the arm of the chair.
"Well..."
"She saw your scar." Zerlinda stated bluntly. "Doubt she'll ask about it though, she doesn't seem like the kinda chick that would pry into someone else's business."
"But all women do!"
"Pfft, sexist."
"That's not entirely false though..." Roden muttered as he put his hand up to his scar, sighing. "Well, she'd see it eventually, if it comes up it comes up, if it doesn't it doesn't, we have other things to focus on right now." Standing up, he walked over to the kitchen and pulled a Pepsi out of the fridge before looking at the time. "Seven thirty, slept longer than I thought, won't be long before the sun goes down."
"Did you want to do something today?"
"No. Not really, was either too drunk or hungover to think of anything to do." Roden took a long, slow sip of the drink as he pressed his back against the refrigerator, his mind blank as he stared at nothing. It was the first time his mind had been empty in quite awhile, so he was unsure if what to do. Any ideas of what he could do with his time faded just as soon as they popped into his head. "Well, I'm at a loss, if either of you two have any suggestions I'm open." He admitted with a shrug.
"Maybe a shower? You still reek of booze, sweat and whatever was in that trash can." Zerlinda commented with a hint of disgust.
Roden paused and sniffed his arm, cringing at the smell and nodding. "Ok, shower it is..."
"Then what?"
Roden paused again and faceplamed. "Seriously?"
"Well, you could look over some of your clients notes, draw, play something or make an actual plan on how to deal with the situation regarding Octavia."
Roden sighed and shook his head. "You're not going to let me choose are you?"
"Just talk to her, she's just concerned as she has the right to be, so just talk to her about it."
"Listen to the other voice in your head bro, but first, get your ass into the shower."
Meanwhile
"Nothing really seems wrong." Treble spoke out loud, talking to no one. "I feel like there's something wrong, but I can't tell what it is, everything seems just as repetitive and boring as it always has been." He strolled down the sidewalk towards Canterlot High, seeing as if there was ever a problem it either stemmed from the portal there or from one of students problems that would eventually spiral out of control.
While he was walking, a convenient pamphlet that was riding the breeze landed on his face, not that it stopped him from walking.
"Alright, what's this weeks plot convenience gonna be like?" He asked nobody as he pulled the leaflet off of his face, straightening it out before reading. "The Friendship Games huh, we're doing that? Seriously? Ok then, let's see what crazy crap the writer can come up with this time that will slowly make him lose readers each time a chapter comes out." Hey I'm just trying to have fun alright, besides, if any crazy stuff happens it's gonna be for comedic effect at your expense. "Touché."
Back at the musicians household, Octavia sighed as she looked at her still hungover boyfriend with her arms folded. "Why do I put up with you?"
"Because you love me?" Mise weakly guessed with a shrug and nervous smile.
"That's gonna stop being a valid excuse someday..."
"Hey, you've put up with Vinyl for years, I think you can handle me for the rest of your life." Mise countered with a smirk before wincing at his ever present headache.
Octavia just rolled her eyes and turned to look out of the window.
"Still worried about Roden?" Mise asked softly, getting a slow nod in response. "Look, he'll speak to you about whatever happened eventually, just give him time."
"I know..." Octavia admitted, hanging her head slightly while sighing. "Doesn't mean I can't worry about him..."
Author's Notes:
If you see any mistakes please point them out in the comments. Thank you for reading.
24) Confrontation
"She wants to do what?!" Celestia and Luna exclaimed with shock.
Blueblood cowered slightly at their outburst but composed himself enough to continue his explanation. "T-That's what I heard, Auntie Cinch is going to try and sabotage the Friendship Games by using one of our own students."
"Who is it? Is she trying to blackmail them?" Luna asked with narrowed eyes.
"She's not blackmailing anyone, at least, I don't think so. The person is someone that has...caused trouble for our family in the past..." Blueblood finished nervously, beads of sweat sliding down the side of his face.
Celestia placed a hand over her mouth in shock as she realised what was happening. "You mean...she's using..."
"Rider Sight." All three spoke at once.
Prison
Rider Sight, a young man of medium build, walked down the halls if the prison towards solitary confinement, the time for his weekly visit to a certain inmate just a few minutes away. He wore a white leather jacket with black stripes running down the arms, a pair of black jeans and white running shoes. His skin tone was a smoky grey, his hair a slightly darker shade of grey, his eyes deep and almost glowing, their yellow colouring reflecting any light that shined into them.
He reached the same room Roden had visited when he had came to see this same person. Rider could faintly see small chips in the glass in the same area that Roden had punched in rage.
After a few minutes of waiting, he saw the door on the other side of the glass open and out stepped Riders father, Falcon Sight. Falcon smiled as his own sharp yellow eyes locked with his son's. "Rider my boy, so great to see you again." He greeted with a genuine caring tone. The man held little positive emotions for people around him, but if there was one thing in this world he loved, it was his son.
His brilliant, strong...easy to manipulate son.
Falcon sat down in the chair opposite to Riders and clapped his hands together. "So, you keeping you grades up? Got any gossip? Fuck any girls, or guys, whatever you're into?"
Rider disregarded his fathers pointless and vulgar questions and cleared his throat. "I want to talk to you about something, something...interesting."
Falcon frowned and raised a brow. "Go on..."
Rider pulled out a piece of paper and held it up for Falcon to see. "I got this offer from the principal of Crystal Prep."
Falcon leaned forward and carefully read through the notes contents, his eyes widening and a large smile coming to his face. "Are you serious? She wants you to do THAT?! This is too good to be true!"
"I can finally make him suffer for what he did to you...him and the rest of his pathetic family..." Rider growled, hate ever present in his voice.
Falcon grinned at the angry sound of his son's tone. "Yes. Remember how he took me away from you and your mother, how he and his mother falsely accused me of a crime against them...how they ruined me."
Rider put the paper away and put a hand on the glass. "Don't worry dad. I'll make him pay..."
Some time later in a random park in Maretropolis
"So run this plan by me again, I still have no idea why you came out here to tell me this." Roden spoke dryly, idly sipping at his flask while Treble rambled on under the shade of a large tree.
"Look the plan is simple, we get to Crystal Prep, break into the principals office and see what diabolical scheme she has constructed for this years Friendship Games!" Treble announced with the slightest hint of annoyance. "Now don't ask me to repeat myself again! The readers get enough exposition as it is."
"I don't even see why we would have to break in anyway, I'm related to Cinch, unfortunately, I could just step in to say hi and make sure she isn't doing any illegal or downright evil stuff to protect her oh so precious reputation!" Roden responded, almost shouting the end of his sentence in anger. "Christ...I need to start putting stronger stuff in this flask."
"Please don't..."
"Anyone else feel like selling used cats?" Zerlinda muttered in a drunken slur.
"See? She's already drunk..."
"Ass titties!"
"Why am I trapped in here with you?"
Roden rolled his eyes at the voices antics while Treble just snickered. "Your little girl voice is kind of a lightweight isn't she?"
"Well she is a kid." Roden answered back before taking another swing of his drink. "Anyway, like I said, I can just go in and see if everything is ok, why would I waste my time breaking in?"
"Because my idea is better!"
"No, your idea is a felony, my idea won't run the risk of getting you arrested."
"Why won't you get arrested?"
"Do you really think anyone in this story would believe i would do something so stupid while sober?"
"Eh, fair point. I still wanna break in though! I have a plan and everything!" Treble yelled in protest as he pulled a table out of nowhere and lay the blueprints of the Crystal Prep building out on it. "You and I would break in here, Vinyl would be the sexy distraction here and-"
"Wait where did you even get those blueprints? Those were hidden in a titanium safe deep underground due to how often kids stole it to preform stupid stunts like this, also since when could you pull objects into existence?"
"Since your writer took up heavy drinking while contemplating his sad love life, now shit up and let me finish, you see-"
Roden waited for a moment where Treble would eventually trail off into some really complicated part of the plan, where he would act as if it were montage of the break in actually happening, and slipped away and jogged out of the park. Slowing his pace to walking speed, he sighed and headed for his hummer to travel back to Canterlot City to make sure his horrible aunt didn't do anything stupid.
As he was about to open his car door, he was stopped when he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder. 'Who is it?' He asked the voices in his head.
"exactly who you think." They answered with worry.
Taking in a breath, Roden turned around to see Octavia standing there with a worried look on her face. "Why have you been avoiding me?" She asked with a tone that almost broke his heart.
"You already know why." He stated emotionlessly.
Octavia sighed and nodded, looking into his eyes with a look that risked destroying his emotionless mask. "Please...just tell me what's wrong..."
Roden turned away and closed his eyes. "I don't want to retell it...please just let it go..."
"I'm sorry...but I need to know...I can't help you if you don't tell me what's bothering you and what gave you that scar." Octavia spike quietly as she pulled his scarf down a bit to show the top of the large scar on his left cheek. "Please...I'm begging you..."
Roden pulled his scarf up again and reached for the car door, only for his body to freeze.
"Roden...it's time to stop running." Zanny spoke softly.
"Tell her bro, you need to let this out...you'll just keep bottling it up otherwise."
Rodens arm slowly lowered back down to his side as he hung his head, his eyes still closed. After a few tense moments of silence, he spoke.
"Fine...you win...I'll tell you how I got this scar..."
Author's Notes:
Haven't really done a cliffhanger like this in awhile, feels good to get back into it.
Some heavy stuff. Manipulation, crime against loved ones and inner demons, really working for that drama tag.
If you see a mistake let me know so I can fix it. Thanks for reading.
25) Story behind the scar
Author's Notes:
I'm not gonna lie, this one was really, really difficult to write. But, it had to be done eventually. This chapter contains dark themes, you've been warned.
If you spot any mistakes please point them out in the comments, and thank you for reading.
Maretropolis, Rodens apartment
Octavia and Roden sat opposite each other at the black wooden dining table near the kitchen area, a cup of tea in front of Octavia and aan empty glass and bottle of hard liquor in front of Roden.
There was a tense moment of silence as neither of them spoke, Roden sat with his eyes closed while Octavia occasionally took tiny sips of her drink, waiting patiently for her friend to prepare himself for what he was about to say. After a few more moments, Octavia went to speak, only for Roden to grab the liquor bottle and pour some of its contents into his glass. With his eyes still closed, he slowly reached up and pulled his scarf down to his neck, revealing his whole face. Octavia frowned as she finally got a good look at his scar, trying hard not to imagine how painful it was to receive such a wound, especially in that specific place.
Another moment of silence passed as Roden grabbed his glass and took a large drink from it, almost downing its contents. He opened his tired emerald eyes, pain clearly present in them.
“Just take your time Roden, we're in no rush. Just start whenever you're ready.” Octavia spoke with a soft, caring tone, giving him a small, sad smile.
Roden glanced at her before sighing, trying to think of a way to start his explanation. Zerlinda was currently humming a soft, calming tune in his head to help ease his nerves while Zanny remained silent.
Finishing off his drink, Roden poured himself another glass and sighed. “Ok...” He began with a whisper, earning Octavia’s full attention. “"It...it happened five years ago, at a party my mother and father had organised for all their investors and business partners. Zerlinda, Zanny and I were brought along to join in with the celebration but...something went wrong...”
It was pretty standard as far as the parties we would attend go, a large number of wealthy, powerful people, a few brown nosing idiots trying to sucker up to investors that knew better, a great assortment of food and drink, some genuinely good company and of course the few of us that felt out of place in a setting such as that. Those being me, my older brother Zanny, and my younger sister Zerlinda. We were there with our parents, Chrysalis and Soledad, they handled talking to the other business owners there while we mainly kept to ourselves. Zanny and I were spoken too by a few people but everyone left little Zeri alone due to my mothers very...strict order.
My mother had to step out for awhile, something about an emergency over at our family business headquarters. Everything was fine after she left though, not much happened for awhile...until...
Roden downed the contents of his glass before sighing deeply, trying to keep himself focused and numb at the same time, with varying degrees of success.
"Until what?" Octavia asked gently.
Roden looked back at her and groaned. "Until it happened..."
After my mother stepped out things seemed to be going smoothly, my father was chatting with some potential business partners and some old friends from his college years, Zanny was away dancing with his lover, Zerlinda had stayed by my father the whole time, talking occasionally with a few of the younger attendants. I had been mostly staying by myself, or was keeping Zeri company if father needed to speak privately with someone.
When your family was as powerful and wealthy as mine, you can attract attention in many ways. Sometimes admiration, sometimes praise, but... you can also attract the wrong kind of attention. Jealousy, anger, hatred.
Those three types were what led to the tragedy that befell my family that day...
While everyone began sitting down for the main event of the evening, a group of men stood up, men that none of us recognised. The men pulled out guns and fired into the air, grasping everyone's attention. Whatever security was there was either payed off or had been taken out when they tried to apprehend the men. The men blocked off all exits and began giving a speech about power and how climbing the ladder through force.
Someone managed to call the police before they were grabbed by the men and knocked out cold by the butt of a gun.
When the cops arrived, they couldn't get into the building, both due to the fact the exits were blocked off, and because the men had over a hundred hostages at gun point. We couldn't even rush them and overpower them with sheer numbers, there were too many of them...and had at least ten bullets for each of us if we decided to be disobedient.
They demanded a ridiculous ransom, they demanded billions, and demanded all of the bigger companies be handed over to them and their employer...they were hired guns, hired by some asshole who wanted to steal everyone else's power and money.
Their leader had a a few of my parents close friends lined up, ready to shoot if necessary. Their leader was a man named Falcon Sight, ruthless, cold and craved chaos.
While his back was turned, my father and Zanny hatched a plan, to steal his gun and hold him at gunpoint to make the others back off...this plan would be their last...
They successfully snuck up to Falcon and tackled him, stealing his gun and holding him down. The others all pointed their guns in their direction, but didn't shoot in danger of hitting their boss...that was until two men came up behind them and... and...
Roden downed his drink and wiped the tears forming in his eyes. "...and shot them..."
Octavia couldn't say anything as she put both hands over her mouth in shock, tears welling up in her eyes.
I managed to cover Zerlindas eyes and ears before it happened...but she screamed...what little girl wouldn't? Our brother and father...taken right in front of us...saying it was hell on Earth would be a severe understatement.
Zerlinda continued to cry, I tried to get her to be silent but...I couldn't....I was barely holding in my own cries.
Falcon went on about something to do with making an example, saying that if any more of us were disobedient or tried anything else, we'd end up like Zanny and father...
He could have left it at that...he could have just used their deaths as examples and be done with it...but no...no...that wasn't enough to satisfy him. He was a psychopath...he wanted his message to be made clear...in the cruelest way...
He ordered one of his men to bring Zerlinda to him...her crying had begun to bother him...they pulled her from me...I tried to fight them off but they ripped her from my grasp...
I tried to charge them with a knife...but Falcon stopped me...tossed me to one of his men and held Zeri down...he made us watch as he...
Roden grabbed his glass and smashed it against a wall before grabbing the bottle and downing the rest of the alcohol, tears streaming down his face while his scar began to burn.
Octavia was in tears, he hands visibly shaking as she struggled to contain her sobs.
"The bastard made us all watch as he killed my little sister...." Roden spoke out darkly as he finished the drink.
After witnessing that...I tried to attack Falcon, blinded by my own anger and sadness. My attack was obviously in vain...he grabbed me by the throat and put the knife I had charged him with to the left side of my lip...all I felt afterwards was an unbearable pain in my left cheek.
I can't remember much of what happened next...I was on the floor, paralysed with pain and grief...I think the attendants had had enough and finally worked up the courage to overpower the mercenaries...the next thing I knew, I was in a hospital bed with my grieving mother at my side, crying into my arm, with most of my other family members standing around us. I tried to speak, but there were bandages wrapped around my mouth...all I could do was cry alongside my family....
Rodens scarf lay in front of him as he revealed his full face, tears streaming down his cheeks. "So there you have it...that's the whole story...why I wear the scarf...and how I got the scar..."
Octavia immediately got out of her chair and rushed over to him, almost tackling him with a grief fuelled embrace, which he quickly returned as they silently cried into each other shoulder.
Unknown to them, Sapphire had listened through the front door of the apartment, her eyes closed and her face bearing an unreadable expression.
She pulled her ear away from the door and began slowly walking away, to process what she had just learned, and to figure out what to do next.
26) Meeting the Mother
"Are you sure you're going to be ok?" Octavia asked as she and Roden walked out of the apartment, having finally calmed down and having their emotions under control.
"Yeah, yeah. It's not the first time I've felt like this, probably won't be the last, but I can't stay cooped up in my apartment crying all day, might as well get some fresh air." Roden assured as he pulled his scarf up slightly.
"Well why don't we go take a walk by the school to clear our minds?" Octavia suggested with a soft smile.
"Yeah, that would be nice, you have to drive though, I'm a bit tipsy from the booze I needed to get through that." Roden chuckled as they walked towards Octavia's car. As he was about to open the passenger side door, he felt his phone buzz and pulled it out. After a few moments of silence he groaned.
"What's wrong?" Octavia asked as she got into the car and started the engine.
"I need to get to CHS, fast." He explained as he got in and pulled out his flask. "And I'm not nearly as drunk as I need to be for this."
Octavia shook her head and snatched his flask out of his hand, earning her a thumbs down and a raspberry being blown in disappointment. "If it's something important, I don't want you like how my boyfriend is most of the time." She stated in a strict motherly tone. "You'll get this back later, if you're good."
Roden rolled his eyes and slumped back in his seat. "Remind me again who's the adult here?"
"Currently the one who isn't tipsy." Octavia quipped with a slight smirk as she drove off towards Canterlot City.
Meanwhile, at the entrance to Chrysalis' mansion
After pressing the doorbell, Sapphire stood back and waited patiently for someone to answer. The large building in front of her blocked the sun so she was covered by the shadow of the enormous almost castle like structure. After a few minutes of waiting one of the butlers, a large muscular man with long grey hair and a magnificent full beard, opened the door and looked down to her. "May I help you?" He asked in a thick Russian accent, catching Sapphire slightly off guard with his booming tone and accent.
"Yes, I am here to see Chrysalis Godswell, it's about her son." She answered quickly as to not waste any time.
The butler groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Look if he got you pregnant in one of his weekly visits to the downtown bar district he should have given you the emergency package himself."
Sapphire just raised a brow and shook her head. "No, I'm not one of his one night stands, I'm his roommate, I just want to talk to his mother about something important." She stated with a slightly amused tone at first, having pictured how many times this butler has had to deal with one of Rodens mistakes.
The man sighed in relief. "Oh thank God, I was not in the mood to be dealing with another potential child custody battle..."
"How...many of those have you had to deal with?" Sapphire asked with both curiosity and caution.
"Just two, but it's just not something I nor Mistress Chrysalis would want to deal with again."
"Cupbell, who is it?!" Both of them heard Chrysalis call out.
"It's a girl with blue hair Mistress, she says she wants to talk to you about Master Roden!" The man now known as Cupbell yelled back.
"Did Roden not give her the emergency package himself!?"
"It's not that this time! She's says she's his roommate!"
Sapphire just rolled her eyes at this back and forth.
"Then let her in! The girl is probably rolling her eyes in annoyance right now!" Chrysalis called out.
'How did she...' Sapphire thought with a confused look.
"Sorry about that, do come in, Mistress Chrysalis is down the left hall, third room on the right, if you need anything just call." Cupbell said with a small bow as he opened up the door for Sapphire to enter.
Nodding as a thanks, Sapphire walked passed Cupbell who shut the door behind her and walked off to continue whatever it was he was doing before. Sapphire didn't pay any attention to the details of the front room of the mansion as she headed straight for where Chrysalis was. Turning into the room that she had been pointed to, she opened up the door and blinked at what she saw.
Chrysalis was currently sitting on a large black leather couch with her feet up on the coffee table in front of it, currently wearing a light green t-shirt and grey sweatpants, a game controller in her hands as she looked up at the large television with a concentrated look on her face.
"Um..." Sapphire wasn't sure how to approach this, she had thought that Chrysalis would be in a more....professional state, when she entered. "H-Hello, Mrs Godswell..."
"Sup. Just let me beat this guy then we'll talk about whatever Roden has done." Chrysalis responded casually as Sapphire took a seat on a bean bag next to the couch. "Aha! Got you now ya bastard!" She yelled as she defeated whatever it was she was fighting in the game before pausing it. Setting the controller down, she stretched out a bit before sitting up straight and turning towards Sapphire. "Ok, first of all, hello, I'm Chrysalis, who are you?" She asked with a kind and even slightly motherly tone.
Sapphire blinked in confusion at the sudden tone shift and cleared her throat. "Oh, yes. My name is Sapphire Phoenix, it's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too. Now, Cupbell said you were my son's roommate?" Chrysalis asked with curiosity.
"Yes, I'm Rodens roommate, have been for a few weeks."
"I see, and this is a weird question but, has he flirted with you yet?" Chrysalis asked with slightly narrowed eyes.
"Um...no...he hasn't."
Chrysalis shook her head and sighed. "I'm disappointed that he hasn't at least tried to get your attention, although I guess if he did it would be a bit awkward with you two living together...eh, I can let this one slide." She shook her head and smiled. "So then, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about regarding my son?"
Sapphire composed herself and took a deep breath. "Awhile ago, I overheard him talking to one of his closer friends about an incident that involved your family around five years ago."
Chrysalis' smile faded. "Go on..." She said uneasily.
"Well, after learning about what had happened, and having seen his scar at an earlier time, I just want to ask you something about him." Sapphire continued.
"And what would that be?" Chrysalis asked while leaning forward slightly with a curious but cautious expression.
"How has he been able to handle all of that?" Sapphire asked as he features softened slightly.
"What do you mean?"
"With seeing both his siblings and his father being killed right in front of him, and having a permanent reminder on his face, how has he been able to deal with it all this time?"
Chrysalis stood up and sighed. "At least a dozen different therapists, alcohol, masking his feelings under that scarf of his, and many different one night stands."
"That can't be all of it though." Sapphire stated, unintentionally raising her voice.
"Why exactly are you asking me this anyway?" Chrysalis asked as she eyed Sapphire curiously. "I understand being curious, but this is something else."
Sapphire looked away for a moment and shifted her legs slightly.
Chrysalis' features softened. "So that's it..." Sighing, she sat back down and pulled a wine bottle out of god knows where. "There is another reason, but it's a long story so you better be comfortable."
Author's Notes:
And it's a long story I'm not putting you through.
If you see any mistakes (other than the lengthy interval between chapters) please point them out, thank you