❝If I told you my name, would you bow?
Or would you flee? ❞
━━━━ We Hunt the Flame, Hafsah Faizal.

🌊 WAR OF TIDES.

a story presented by adonysiac

I prefer storms over sunshine and maybe...

... that's why I'd chose you over anyone else.

01. THE PRELUDE

❝I hope one day, maybe in a million years
to finally be worthy of your loyalty.❞

Why are we loyal?

Look me in the eyes, and tell me... why are we that inclined to remain loyal?

Your whole being burns for rebellion, for temptation, for freedom. And yet, here we are, standing in front of each other, the weight of loyalty pressuring us, choking us into clashing arms, bodies, minds; against our will.

Against our will...

Why must we remain loyal?

Through the violent and loud meetings of our blades, our eyes met again. Like this first time, I felt the unsavoury taste of defeat on my tongue. Everything was lost before it even began.

We were enemies before we could even be lovers.

On this battlefield, my eyes are made of fire, moulding the iron of your harsh words into the brightest of weapons. The only weapon that would carve out that heart of yours like you did with mine.

Loyalty.

My loyalty was my weapon against you, for you craved it more than the one of your closest soldiers.

But loyalty was also my downfall. The worst that I have never experienced.

For it made me the weakest of your enemies.

The target of your mischievous smiles.

The beginning of our end.

02. THE SUMMARY

❝We were both created in chaos,
you were both born to destroy.❞

Some people are forged to be relegated to the sidelines.

Some people are born to stay in the shadows.

Some people will see the light of day as a poisoned gift. For the sun, in the mercilessness of its rays, strips them naked. They realise that without their shadow, they hardly exist.

Beyond her shadow, her flesh, her blood, Sade had nothing but her loyalty.

Cursed loyalty. Praised loyalty. Dreaded loyalty. Loyalty was a double-edged sword.

Everyone around her seemed to be comfortable with their place, their status, their shadow, and their light. But she wanted more.

Sade, second in the line of succession. Sade, third to be noticed. Sade, the last. Because Sade had never been first.

Between the first and the third, the second often faded into the background. For the second was only destined to remain in the shadows. But still, in the shadow of her abilities, she had wanted to make Sade the first in her eyes.

She was only the middle child. The child who fought to be seen ― who did everything to be seen. And she was the first to see her.

Bast.

For the first time, someone saw her as more than the light at the end of the tunnel ― she was the light at the entrance to the tunnel.

To this day, Sade still doesn't know why Bast, protector of Wakanda, benefactor of the Black Panther, chose her. But if there was one thing she did know, it was that she had truly begun to exist through the name of princess from the moment the goddess had brought her out of the shadow that engulfed her.

But then, thirsting for light, Sade understood that she herself had to direct the sun's rays on her. That she had to illuminate the entire tunnel.

If technology and the Heart-Shaped Herb kept her sister and brother out of the tunnel, espionage was her own ambrosia.

The success of her missions allowed her to finally draw attention to herself, to feel the pride come to lick her like a dog would a leper's wounds. Because in a way, that's what she was, a leper whose wounds would only heal in the light of the notice she so desperately sought.

And then she met his path. No one had troubled Sade as much as he had.

Everyone called her Imani, because Sade... her name alone could heal her wounds.

Honour bestows the crown.

She had loyalty and honour, but the crown she didn't have. Yet, she didn't want it.

The way he pronounced her name constantly echoed in her mind, like a call for rebellion. A rebellion she refused to carry out, because her loyalty... she owed it to her people.

"Sade, my fair panther."

The young woman was neither first nor last in his eyes. She was the only one. He did not need brightness to see her, for he could see her even in her darkness.

But both were ambitious.

Ambition brings only ruin to the soul.

Ruin of the soul.

Ruin of the soul.

Ruin of the soul.

Sade contemplated the idea of walking through the rubble of her former loyalty.

Star-crossed lovers that they were.

She could give him everything, but everything didn't seem enough ― would never be enough.

He wanted her to offer him what had made her exist so far. He wanted her to bring her treachery to an end.

Treachery imprisoned was never enough. Treachery moderated was never enough.

Yes, he wanted her. But above all, he wanted her loyalty.

Namor wanted the loyalty of his fair panther.

03. THE CAST

❝Only the most broken people
can be great leaders.❞

Sade Imani Udaku
Bast's Avatar, Velvet Paw

Namor
K'uk'ulkan, Feather Serpent God

04. THE PLAYLISTS

❝Quenching a love that will bring my people
to their doom is not in my projects.❞

please find the playlists' links in the comments

THE SCORE

THE SOUNDTRACK

05. THE NOTE

❝You were like death,
and I was like war.❞

IZIA'S WORDS | the girl with no self-control is back with another story that she vows to finish (don't come at me mari). but like, tenoch is so hot i just-  (amidst the allegations regarding the actor, ignore this comment, i'll simply use him as a faceclaim since i didn't find a substitute to this day). and keke deserves so much recognition i'm so excited to use her as a faceclaim. sade is pronunced shah-day. as of the score and the soundtrack, i tried to (a first time, because i was kinda feeling the pressure of not putting a taylor swift like song in my stories' playlists) get songs that represent accurately the universe of the story, the characters' backgrounds and their origins :) sooo, no imagine dragons, no cigarettes after sex or such. I'M SO EXCITEEEDDDD

WARNINGS | graphic violence, drinking, self-harm, blood, depression, sexual content, mentions of suicide

COPYRIGHTS | i do not own the marvel cinematic universe and comics, all rights go to stan lee and jack kirby. however, i do own the plot, my original characters, their backgrounds and their dialogues. do not steal!

layout credits to Mavipofudukbulut, thank you for letting me use it!

DEDICATIONS|

blocdraven, lxstbxyz, mxerte, andorss, stvrange, hoodsoutlaws, nostalgiclogan && special dedication to mari. i didn't have the time to make you a real birthday gift, so i'm dedicating you this fic, especially as a thank you for your constant support. and special mentions to all the latinos/as who are going to read this story. i am genuinely happy for you to have someone you can somehow look up to and who portrays you in a more beautiful way than the current series/movies. and also, to the black community, especially the black african one. before black panther (we do not forget falcon and blade), people only saw Africa as a poor place where all the misery in the world happens. for my part, i genuinely cried when i first saw black panther, because i never had the opportunity to see on screen african cultures (i insist on the plural) represented in a non-harmful way, and african people represented as singular human beings rather than the firsts to die in horror movies, the "mom", the "friend", the "angry one", "the ghetto one" and the slave. so, this is also for all the people whose cultures haven't been represented yet in the mcu. in the hope that in a near future, you'll get the joy to see people like you on screen.

with love, izia <33

2024

© ADONYSIAC ― IZIA™