Art by はいき on pixiv
You weren't too keen on going home, but you had no other place to go so you eventually returned with a still fuming Alabaster.
It was dark by now, meaning the courtyard was completely empty, with the only light being the moon reflecting off Alabaster's feather, making it look like she was glowing, and the few warm glows coming from the windows.
As you walked through one of the main doors, you were surprised to see both your mother and father standing there, somehow looking even more pissed off than Alabaster, who had refused to let you off her back.
He didn't say anything, just standing there and glaring at you as if all words had failed him. Beside him, your mother was glancing between you two nervously, like she couldn't decide whose side she was on. Meanwhile, Alabaster just stared him down, trying to use her wings to somewhat shield you.
"I am furious at you" Were the only words he was able to say. You stood up sightly and rested your arms on Alabaster's head, propping your head up on them. You merely cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Really? I couldn't tell" You wouldn't usually provoke him, but you'd had enough of his bullshit. Your father's rage only grew and your mother's nervous look became fearful for both or either of your safeties.
"Do you realise how big of a mistake you've made?" His voice started rising out of anger. You, like Alabaster, started glaring at him.
"I meeaan..." You drawled, twirling one of your fingers through Alabaster's feathers. "If you think about it, you kinda started this whole thing, y'know, with the whole arranged marriage thing" You simply shrugged.
Your father looked like he was ready to snap your neck, which shocked you since he was never aggressive towards you, not even when he was angry at you.
Before he could act on his impulses, your mother gently touched him on the arm and started whispering to him. As soon as his attention was away from your and Alabaster, the albino griffin took the opportunity to book it back to your room. You were only vaguely aware of your father's yelling as Alabaster rushed both you and her through the maze like halls back to safety.
As soon as you made it into your room, Alabaster started piling up furniture against the door, effectively locking it in a sense. It made you feel a little safer knowing that not even Eeni, Lucci and Enix couldn't get through, let alone your furious dad.
You ended up tossing and turning for hours, feeling envious of that fact that Alabaster was curled up comfortably with her head tucked under her wing. The thoughts in your head kept your mind racing with questions of what the future would hold.
Were Viktor's parents being serious about the war?
If so, would you play apart of it?
If not, what would you do?
The thought alone of fighting made your gut twist in fear.
But either way, you knew you would be running away with Calli. There was no way you would be living with your parents anymore, not after there 'arranged marriage' stunt they pulled. Plus, you were certain Calli would be more than happy for you to move in with her, and after all these weeks, Alabaster had been growing more and more fond of the reaper.
It was after thinking some rather warm thoughts about said reaper, you had calmed down enough to let yourself be lulled into a comfortable sleep.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Time Skip *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
"So, how'd everything go?"
You almost jumped out of your skin as you heard Calli's voice come out of nowhere. Alabaster, from where she was almost asleep, suddenly leapt to her feet in shock, but quickly calmed down seeing it was Calli.
"You scared me half to death" Calli laughed as she sat next to you on the log. Not wanting to spend the day in the castle, you and Alabaster decided to sneak away into the forest a little way away to get some peace.
"OH, so you would rather hang out with my sensei than me. I get it" Calli turned up her nose in a fake offended way, causing you to chuckle at her antics. When you first met her, you assumed she would be more closed off and cold, not the funny and awkward reaper she actually was.
"Well, it turns out the guy was an entitled prick who acted like a toddler and expected everyone to cater to his needs, he also tried to kiss me on several occasions" You saw Calli visibly stiffen up when you added on the last part. You leaned against her.
"You don't need to worry, Alabaster roughed him up pretty good, pretty sure a few bones broke. She also gave his snotty familiar a few scars to remember her by" You saw Calli's thin frown turn to more of a smirk, but she didn't look entirely satisfied. Your swore you heard Alabaster laughing and muttering something to herself before she settled down again.
"I would've preferred him dead, that way I could send his soul, or whatever he had, to hell. But anyway, I'm assuming something bad ended up happening?" The reaper leaned against you in return, spreading a feeling of warmth through your body. Alabaster scratched at the ground nervously while you remained silent.
Calli looked both concerned and nervous, and she titled her head to get a better look at your face, letting several strands of her hair fall in front of your face. You let out a shuddery sigh.
"Well, I'm not quite sure if they're being serious, but they proclaimed war... I don't how to feel about this. I don't even know if they were being serious" Calli's lips formed into a thin line, her forehead creased in thought.
"What was his name?" You felt a little better when Calliope wrapped an arm around your shoulder, somewhat covering your in her cloak while doing so. You were a little confused as why she would need his name, but told her anyway.
"Uhm, his name is Viktor, but I don't know his last name. Calli frowned and held you a little tighter, as if she didn't want you to breath the same air as him.
"If it's who I'm thinking of, then you should be preparing for battle. This has happened before, two times. Each time the side going against his family was destroyed" You felt this little sinking feeling in your gut. You may hate your parents after what they've done, but the castle and the city surrounding it still had innocent families living there.
"I think I already know the answer, but what would you say to running away with me?" You paused for a moment. Would you really abandon your family and all the innocent people when you could be fighting? Although the thought of doing that scared you, you still wanted to do the right thing.
"I'm not sure- I mean, I definitely want to live with you at some point, I'm just not sure if I could just run away from what will happen" Both you and Calli fell silent, while Alabaster awkwardly nibbled at the grass surrounding her, flicking her tail back and forth.
"Well, if you insist on fighting, then at least tell me you know how to handle weapons" Calli said after a a moment of silence. You felt a little bit of pride well up in you.
"I'll have you know I've quite the good aim with a crossbow, especially when I'm on Alabaster" Calli raised an eyebrow at you, but her small smile showed she wasn't annoyed with your matter-of-fact tone.
"How well can you shoot moving objects" She asked as if it was a challenge. Little did she know, you'd been practicing for years, both on ground, on Alabaster and with moving objects.
"I'm a crack shot. I can hit anything, moving or otherwise" Which was the truth and you'd be more than happy to be to prove it. Calli seemed to believe you and moved on.
"How about close range combat. A crossbow is good, but it will become increasingly difficult to use it well" You looked away and twiddled your thumbs. You'd always found using stuff like swords difficult as the long blade always made it hard to control for you. Calli took your response as this.
"I'm assuming you've only had access to swords and stuff, weapons with long blades" You nodded. Calli pursed her lips in thought, then jumped to her feet with a large smile. You almost fell off the log at the sudden tug of her cloak being ripped away from you.
"Then I have the perfect thing for you" Calli said, holding out her hand before summoning a smaller version of her own scythe. She chucked it to you and after almost dropping it, the surprisingly lightweight weapon was now firmly gripped in your hands. The handle was easy to grip and firm, making it easy to move, and the blade wasn't too long, meaning it wasn't awkward to slash and swipe with.
Behind your, Calli was happily watching get used to your new weapon, almost like a kid on Christmas morning. A little way off, Alabaster was watching both of you intensely.
"So, (Y/N). You fancy yourself a quick learner?" The smirk on Calli's face only became wider when you nodded at her with stars in your eyes.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Time Skip *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
You could feel your heart audibly thumping in your chest, even the wind whipping past your head couldn't stifle the pounding in your head. You could feel the sweat between your skin and the thick armour that was supposed to protect you from any attacks. The subtle bobbing of Alabaster's wings flapping made you feel sick, or maybe that was the fact you could see Viktor and White out hovering maybe 500 metres away from you, with Viktor clutching a rather long spear.
Out of nervousness, you flexed your now enchanted hand that could summon your scythe. It made you feel a little better know you would always have a weapon with you, and in a sense you would always have a piece of Calli with you.
Speaking of said reaper, you could faintly see the moon reflecting off of her hair and she stalked through the thin treeline. If anyone else looked to where you were staring, they would've just thought you'd be zoning out since she had made herself invisible to everyone except you. You could feel your heart skip a beat just thinking about your life after the battle. Obviously you'd leave with Calli and Alabaster and find somewhere else to live, preferably far away where no one from your or Viktor's family could find you. You sighed for two reasons.
1. You were thinking about Calli
And
2. You knew you'd have to get over the humongous hurdle in your life.
Below you, you could see the first of the fighters start to clash with each other, and you nodded at Alabaster. It was time.
With a furious screech, Alabaster lunged forward, her large wings scraping away at the air, hurdling the both of you towards Viktor and Whiteout at a frightening speed. Viktor and Whiteout did the same. You quickly reached over your shoulder and grabbed your crossbow, aiming swiftly. Without a second thought, you let the arrow loose. You smirked in victory when it hit Viktor square in the shoulder, you weren't kidding when you said you were a good shot.
Out of pure anger, Viktor threw the spear with his good hand. It would've hit you square in the head if Alabaster twisted and broke it clean in half with her powerful beak. You could see Viktor's face twist in anger, and he reached to the arrow in his shoulder and yanked it out. Whiteout let out a furious screech and with his hind legs, got a rather powerful kick to Alabaster's chest.
It was in this moment you felt an intense rush of fear as you saw Viktor gleaming and Whiteout going for a second kick which would cause Alabaster to go spinning and you would most certainly fall to your death. Speaking of death, she must've seen what was going on as a long and thick chain wrapped around one of Whiteout's legs, and with a firm tug, sent them spiralling. You knew it had to be the reaper as you'd seen her do something similar to a loose branch after a storm.
The distraction didn't last long, but it gave you enough time to settle yourself and for Alabaster to recompose. It also gave Alabaster enough time to get a good slash on Whiteout, making them shriek in pain, their wingbeats faltering and falling lopsided, which caused Viktor to be thrown off of his familiar.
You smirked as Whiteout awkwardly tucked in his wings to try and catch Viktor, giving you and Alabaster some time to catch your breathes. It gave you time to think, and it gave enough time for your adrenaline rush to wear off. It suddenly dawned on you that you were in the middle of a war between to cities. Looking down, you could see people fighting, running, defending and mourning over lost friends and family. You saw your father cutting his way through the sea of people on the back of his chimera. The sight alone caused people to rush out of his line of sight. You couldn't really blame them, since Eeni, Lucci and Enix were huge with large teeth, claws, impossible strength and to top it all off, a quick acting venom.
Your mind began racing and Alabaster started making a low cooing noise, trying to comfort you. When she realised she wasn't getting through, she started looking around and suddenly darted towards an outcropping where you saw Calli waving you down. Your breathing started calming down slightly and you wanted nothing more than to bury yourself into your girlfriend's embrace and have her whisk you away. You didn't care that you were in the middle of a war anymore, you just wanted to leave.
But of course, the stubborn prince refused to give up, and he and his familiar slammed into Alabaster, causing you to go flying. Time seemingly slowed down and both she and Calli exchanged a look and suddenly the reaper disappeared in a puff of cold smoke. Alabaster let out a sound of fury, you weren't even sure what you would call it.
You looked over your shoulder, seeing the ground coming closer and closer, and it was in this moment, you accepted your death. You hadn't done everything you wanted to, but it was better than nothing and better than what most people would live in their entire life.
You wondered how Calli would react, how your parents would react and how Alabaster would react. Gosh, you would miss that griffin, at least you would get to see your girlfriend one last time before fully passing on to the afterlife.
You were confused as the sudden impact didn't shatter every single one of your bones on impact, and you opened your arms to see a rather large swathe of smoke, though what you felt beneath you definitely wasn't a gas.
"You didn't think I'd let you die, did you?" You felt like crying. You smiled and leaned back into Calli's embrace. Somehow, you'd ended up in a clearing away from the fight, but the sounds of the battle could still clearly be heard. You could also see Alabaster kicking both Viktor and Whiteout's asses. You were certain Viktor would die from both his wounds and the fact Alabaster had flung him harshly from the same height you'd been thrown from. In a final downward motion, Alabaster cleanly slashed Whiteout open, sending the hippogriff to the ground.
Alabaster looked for you for a few moments, before spotting you and Calli in the clearing, Calli still clutching you protectively. With a few graceful swoops of her slightly tattered wings, Alabaster landed beside you on shaky legs.
You held out your hand to her, and she placed her beak against your flat palm. Behind you, Calli was confused, wondering what you were doing.
"You have done extremely well, Alabaster. You may rest for now, and I will bring you back when you're all better, and when we're ready to leave" Alabaster blinked at you, pressing into your palm with a little more force.
"We can start anew. I like that" She did the griffin equivalent of a smile as her form turned into a misty substance and she retreated into a small earring that could easily be missed. Everyone with a familiar had somewhere the familiar could retreat to in a spiritual form when they became injured, and from the advice from Juggernaut and Eeni, Lucci and Enix, you'd made it something small and easily hidden.
Calli watched with pure interest as the mist that is Alabaster's spirit disappeared into the earring, making it glow a subtle pale blue colour.
"Woah, I never knew you could do that" You smiled at her awed expression, thought there was a flash of concern within her crimson pink gaze.
"She'll be fine, if you're wondering. It's like a private room that I can take with me for her, so if she ever gets injured, she has somewhere safe to heal. It also speeds up the healing process up, so she should be up in a day or two" Calli simply nodded along with your explanation.
After a few moments of silence between you, ignoring the sounds of violence, Calli swiftly stood up, holding you in a bridal style causing you to yelp in both pain and surprise. Out of reflex, you wrapped our arms around her neck.
"Relax, sleep if you can. I know a safe place where we can stay for now" You nodded and buried your face into her chest, blocking out everything and closing your eyes, letting the gentle sway of Calli's movements sway you into a peaceful slumber.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Time Skip *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
Alabaster happily scurried after small game such as rabbits and mice while you and Calli simply watched. Watching what? You may ask. Well, I'll tell you.
After the battle had finished, with your side eventually winning after the other side had lost both it's king and prince, you were nowhere to be found, and neither was Alabaster. After days of searching, you had been deemed dead, and that leads us to now, where you and Calli were currently watching your own funeral.
It was... weird to say the least.
The coffin had been filled with things from your room, things you didn't really care about.
They had also made a bigger coffin for Alabaster, who also couldn't be found, though in reality she was happily munching down on 'forest snacks' as she liked to call them.
"This is weird" You said, unable to hear what was being said due to how far away you were seated. Calli didn't say anything at first and leaned against you a little more.
"Did you want to leave? I have a good idea on where to go, I have a few friends there I think you might like" You simply nodded, then used two fingers to make a whistle sound, catching the attention of Alabaster who quickly came to your side.
"We're leaving? Please say yes, I'm itching to spread my wings" Alabaster eyed you expectantly. You gave her a few scritches in between her eyes and nodded. Alabaster happily flicked her wing tips and her tail before she bowed down, allowing you and Calli to climb on her back.
"Well, here goes the beginning of our new life" You smiled at Alabaster, then back at your once girlfriend. For a few moments, you glanced at your hand where a beautiful silver ring twinkled in the sun. You grasped Calli's hand, who had a matching ring on that hand.
She may not be your girlfriend anymore, but you could happily say that you were looking forward to getting married to the reaper Calliope Mori.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Time Skip *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
You swore your cheeks would be sore for days after smiling this much. Beside you, Calli was flushed a similar colour to her hair as she walked back down the aisle with you, your hands firmly interwoven. Behind you, Alabaster was happily stamping her eagle talons on the ground and happily cheering for you, along with both your parents familiars doing the same.
Up on the makeshift alter, Takanashi Kiara and Ninomae Ina'nis, two of Calli's close friends, were clapping for both of you. Kiara ended up tackling Ina into a hug and they waved you off (for all you wondering, no, Kiara is not thirsty for Calli and she 100% ships you and Calli).
You felt like you were on Cloud 9. You had, in the span of three years, freed yourself from your parents, murdered your god awful would be fiancé (props on Alabaster for that), ran away with your reaper lover, made an entirely new life and made new friends and got married to her.
Your life could not get any better.
You've unlocked:
2nd ending, Happily Ever After
Enjoy your happily ever after with your reaper waifu
So, I figured out that there are 2 more chapters left, since they way I wanted to end it had to be split into a new chapter otherwise the next chapter would be way too long.
Also, this is the 2nd ending because it's not the original ending I was going for, so, yeah.
Not the last chapter, so hang in there, or you can stop here and have the story remain happy.