I Want A God!Malleus X Disillusioned Follower!Silver AU In Which Diasomnia Is A Cult With Malleus As

I want a god!Malleus x disillusioned follower!Silver AU in which Diasomnia is a cult with Malleus as its leader. Having been raised right in the thick of it—with his father as the right-hand man—Silver has never been given reason to doubt this confined, exclusionary world he's been living in... until he finds Lilia trying to escape, that is. And as more and more details of the cult's rituals for its most devout members come to light—including various acts of human sacrifice, cannibalism, and larceny, to name a few—Silver, too, is drawn to the prospect of freedom beyond its walls.

Points to hit:

This discovery comes right before Silver’s eighteenth birthday, when he’ll be invited to partake in such festivities—whether as a full-fledged believer or an example, they’re not picky

Lilia’s motivation for what he gently phrases as “retirement” being that he’s caught on to Malleus’ special interest in his son and doesn’t want to get involved further (he had only been ordered to raise the boy as livestock, not develop feelings for him)

Having eyes and ears everywhere, however, Malleus puts a stop to any rebellion immediately

He summons Silver to his grand, gilded chambers the night before he comes of age to have a little… chat, of sorts

…And then Silver is never seen by the general public again

Now, his days are spent paying worship to his god, who has been so benevolent as to forgive his sins and spare his father’s life in exchange for eternal loyalty

He’s sedated regularly during meals, before which he must always pray and offer his thanks

On occasion, if he’s been a particularly good boy, Malleus will take him out to play, which entails being strung up on an altar and demonstrating to others—including his father—how to properly receive blessings

Overall, just Malleus being the awful puppeteer he’s been revealed to be in canon and fully embracing the pedestal he’s been gifted, forcing those precious to him to play their assigned roles in the family he’s gifted them <3

Silver's "useless" UM makes me SO SAD—this only confirms the thought that he's the most expendable member of his family... I can see him working on it for hours on end when it first manifests, trying so desperately hard to get something, anything else; surely, he can't protect his family with this...!

Favorite Dreamscapes

(Hypothetically... If everyone could see the dreams of everyone else...)

Despite how traumatic Lilia's dreams may be, they are still Malleus, Silver, and Sebek's favorite ones to watch.

In Malleus' case, it's his only possible point of connection with his parents. For Silver, he's finally getting to experience the dark, painful past his father has always refused to divulge. And it's Sebek's one and only chance to observe his grandfather in his heyday.

On the other hand, Lilia loves seeing his beloved children's unconscious concoctions. They're his hope for the future—as well as further assurance that he wasn't fighting for nothing.

Lilia forgot him at school again…

Perhaps the fae soldiers in Lilia's dreams have referred to Silver and company as the "iron ones" (or something similar, according to Twitter translations, lol) not only as a nod to the lore that fae are weak to such metal, but also because human lands are known to be lands of progress, rife with technology that's quickly putting them at quite an advantage. And perhaps that's why Briar Valley has dispatched a part of its army to the deep confines of the forest, hidden behind hooded garbs of green and gray, along with masks to incite fear: It has come time to resort to more underhanded tactics.

New thought: Silver developed his sleep condition because Lilia (or Malleus, on the rare occasion that he babysat) would often put him under an enchanted slumber whenever he “acted up” a little too much for their liking…