Legendborn Oneshots

Bree x Sel-Blame

A/N: Staying home from school with an absolutely awful migrane and dictating this to my phone because I'm in the mood for some suffering. This is going to be rough. I'll fix grammatical issues tomorrow. This'll probably be 90% angst/fighting and 10% emotional damage in a good way. If you've never heard the inspiration for this one-Blame by Air Traffic Controller-then please, for your own sake, give it a listen. It's a great song and it fits a lot of characters really well, even outside of Legendborn. But specifically:

Get on your feet
Enough "poor me"
If you've got time
To bitch and whine
Well, there's still time to try again
This time you're free
I know it's hard to believe

Potential TW for very vague mention of suicide (Also for the sake of story Nick was a good friend but not romantic interest because again, I just don't like him that much)

Felicity.

Nick.

Tor.

Sarah.

Greer.

The others can say what they want.

But their deaths are all on my hands.

I saw the emptiness in Felicity's eyes. Everyone knew she couldn't take on that demon alone. She knew she wasn't coming back alive. I should have sent someone else with her, should have pulled rank for once and made sure she didn't do something stupid.

I was cornered. Nick died saving me, distracting the hellfoxes for a few moments so I could find a way out. What Scion, let alone king, is pathetic enough to let herself get backed into a corner like that?

Tor, Sarah, Greer-I was careless. I knew the Shadowborn were getting closer, I knew they were getting more powerful. I said it would be safer to defend our home than to attack on unknown ground. Everyone else knew I was wrong. We might have pushed them back, they might still be afraid to attack again, but we lost three Legendborn that shouldn't have died, and I lost two friends that day.

I can't do this.

I might have the blood of a king, but I don't have the skill of one. I don't have the experience or the instinct or the foresight to know what is right and what is wrong. I've fucked up so many times already, and I'm still making mistakes. And when you're in the middle of a war against demonkind, even tiny mistakes can lead to the death of your friends.

A knock on my door. Someone's worried, they've realized I haven't left my room all day. Or maybe they've put the pieces together and figured out I'm to blame for all this.

"Who is it?"

"You ask that as if you don't know." Sel's voice. Of course.

"...Come in."

His eyes shine, gentle sparks rather than the embers they've been recently. He's trying not to scare me off, make me think he's not angry. Sitting at the edge of my bed, I don't look at him. Part of me is afraid to.

"Let me guess. Come to berate me about being careful, taking a thousand precautions, and not toying with lives?" My voice is sharp and bitter. I'm almost eager for the fight I'm sure is coming-it'll take me out of this horrid reality for a few moments.

A beat of silence.

"You already do take every precaution, Briana." I know, somewhere in the back of my mind, he means it as an endearment, the way it has been, but right now it stings, him using my full name. Sends me back to the days he was hunting me down. "You don't let anyone hunt alone, even if the enemy is weak. You fend off even non-corp Shadowborn before they can reach anywhere near campus. You keep William out of the fights, make sure everyone has a partner in case someone's too weak to get themselves to him. Losses in battle do not mean you are reckless or unfit."