Legend of the Crusniks
Yes another story by chapters. *grins* What can I say? I'm addicted to 'em 'cause they're fun to write. This one jumped me unexpectedly and is strangely patient, only asking I poke it once in a while.
Crossover between Trinity Blood and Labyrinth. Eventual NC_17, m/m/f, m/m, m/f relationships.
Chapter 1: Come Eat with Me
The sun was barely up when father Abel Nightroad wearily entered his room. He placed his bag on the floor near his bed before opening his window to air the stuffy room out, and started preparing for a hot shower and his bed, both things he had earned after that last mission. There was a rustling of leaves outside the open window, and Abel glanced up to find the rosebush growing outside peeking into the room, the crimson roses closed tightly for the night. One of the leaves seemed to tap the wooden bowl that rested on the windowsill as if reminding Abel of something left undone. Frowning faintly, Abel started at the bowl before he realized what he had forgotten and turned to hurry to the kitchen.
About fifteen minutes later, he returned with two loaves of bread still hot from the oven, a pair of stone crocks and a jug of milk. He placed the items on the windowsill along with a couple of wooden knives retrieved from the drawer in his small writing table, and he reached out to brush bare fingers over the tightly closed petals. “Would you care to break your fast with me this morn?”
The words were as traditional as the food and Abel smiled as more rustling started in the rosebush. Slowly, the large buds opened to reveal a tiny person curled in the center of each flower with shimmering dragonfly like wings folded against their backs. There were some sleepy mutterings and yawns that were quickly halted when Abel opened one of the crocks to allow the sweet scent of honeyed butter to mix with hot bread.
Surprised squeals herald the dozen peris who swarmed over him, their wings buzzing furiously as they flew around him. Two tugged the ribbon out of his hair while the rest chatted at him, determined to catch him up on *all* the gossip in the Vatican. The small fairies tugged him over to the chair placed by the window before they descended on one of the loaves and a crock. Laughing, Abel poured some milk into the wooden bowl before claiming the second loaf and crock of honeyed butter. Then, relaxing in the chair and nibbling at the sweetened bread, he started talking, telling the peris about the last mission that had taken him so far away.
To anyone walking past, it simply looked like Abel was talking to the rosebush outside his window, but then, not everyone could see fairies sleeping in flowers.
Chapter 2: Once Upon a Time Part 1
Many people wondered where the Methuselah came from, but none truly could pin the information down unless they were Methuselah themselves and knew what questions to ask. Of course, it also helped to know who to ask.
It was a little known fact that there were other races besides humans living on the planet. Some humans believed that there were other beings, but they were laughed at since it couldn’t possibly be true. Unfortunately, it was that superior mentality that sparked of a war that devastated parts of the world and turned others into battlegrounds.
One early morning after a particularly bloody battle, some Baobhan Sith were wandering through the field, becoming bloated off of the dying that had been missed. It was almost dawn when it happened, the event that changed the course of the war and human destiny. The victims of the Baobhan Sith weren’t quite as far gone as the others and fought back the only way they could. By biting back. Blood drunk, the Baobhan Sith weren’t as deadly as they normally were, and their victims were equally determined to live. Neither realized the full consequences of their actions. As the sun crested the horizon, the Baobhan Sith exploded in a shower of dust and magic, infecting the weakened humans by latching on to the Fae blood they had unwillingly ingested, changing them during the course of the day.
That night, the changed humans emerged as a new being, one superior to the humans in every way. Gleefully, they embraced their new powers and set off to show everyone that they now had to worry about monsters in the night because vampires stalked the world again.
Now, the tides of war had turned. No longer was it man fighting man for some petty difference of opinion. Now it was humanity fighting for survival against a superior and intelligent predator. The military worked hard, trying to find a reason behind the vampires and a weapon that would defeat them. Finally, scientists with their emotionless numbers and unwavering equations believed they had found the answer. They called it a virus, not knowing the twisted and warped Fae magic for what it truly was. Then, as they watched, it warped again, but back towards its more pure Fae origin even as it turned against the corrupted taint, devouring it and adding its power to the pure source’s.
Sensing a victory, the scientists carefully cultivated large batches of the new magic, called the Crusnik virus, and started shoving it willy nilly into volunteers, never once thinking about the consequences. But the consequences became quite obvious when the strange beings turned on their creators, slaughtering them indiscriminately as wild Fae magic drove them mad. The scientists turned back to their numbers to find a way to control the wild magic, and they found it in tiny dots of metal and life. Nanotechnology provided the cage to control the Fae magic. Once more, scientists put the magic in the bodies of humans with disastrous results.
Humans were not meant to know the secrets of the Fae no matter how slight.
Then, with the carefully cultivated magic virus almost gone, a woman child of the Fae received it and welcomed it into her body. Mortal descendant o f a half-Fae child, she changed and survived, because like calls to like. From her, the humans created three children, two boys and one girl, with their science and the last of the magic virus. The boys, one silver and one gold, began as a single person before they split into two, much to the surprise of the scientists.
The children grew rapidly in their tanks of science, the humans speeding their ages along because they didn’t have the time for them to grow normally. When the boys appeared to be fifteen and the girl eight, they were born from the tubes and taught about reality where their purpose was that of living weapons. The scientists’ goal was to drive imagination out of the children and replace any dreams they had with the dreams that the humans desired.
The Woman Child protested this, arguing that children needed imagination and dreams, but her words fell on deaf ears. So, she drew the children to her and told them the tales that human children heard from parents as well as the ones so old as to be labeled myth and legend. By the time the unfeeling military and scientists discovered her actions, the Girl was dreaming of a lovely crown and handsome princes while the Silver Boy dreamed of a time long past when there were heroes instead of living weapons and gods roamed the world with Fae. The Golden Boy, however, dreamed of darker things, where he ruled the world and both human and vampire bowed at his feet.
The Woman Child with her good intentions had started the downfall of the children and a rift that would never heal.
Chapter 3 The Consequences of Venice
He lay in his bed, sweat coating his skin and causing his hair to stick to him. The window was open, allowing cool breezes to enter and soothe his fevered body. Tiny hands brushed sweat soaked bangs off his face as dozens of wings flapped to cool him down. Opening fever bright eyes, Abel blinked at the sight of the peris fluttering around him.
“Forgive me, my friends, but I’m unable to break my fast with you this morn,” he murmured, closing his eyes again. He didn’t have the strength to keep them open, and the light, no matter how dim, hut his head. He didn’t know what was wrong with his body for it to rebel this way. His blood felt on fire, and there was nothing he could think of to cool down.
“Change, Silver Friend,” urged a soft voice, and soon the rest of the peris were urging him to change.
“Crusnik 02, nanomachines activate 40% authorization,” he murmured. Sighing in a bit of relief, he rolled over to pillow his head on his folded arms. With his hair floating above him from the natural static electricity he generated, he was feeling cooler already, and he snuggled into his pillow as tiny wings continued beating furiously, trying to cool him further.
And unknown to all, a tiny intruder continued releasing poison into Abel’s body, slowly killing him.
Chapter 4 Once Upon a Time Part 2
The Crusnik children continued to grow and fight, but as they learned more about the world around them and the history of humanity, they began to struggle against the limitations placed on them. They only asked to be treated as people instead of objects to be discarded when the job was done, but they were ignored and their intelligence belittled. The Golden Boy, seeing a chance to turn his siblings against the humans, began whispering in their ears, leading them away from petty human limitations.
“It would be easy to leave and go our own way,” he purred, words of honey dripping into hungry ears. “The humans fear our power. Let’s give them a reason to fear us.”
At first, the Silver Boy and the Girl didn’t want to listen to their Golden brother’s words, believing them to be cold and cruel, but the words echoed in their ears, feeding their doubts. As the killing and protecting those that sneered and belittled them increased, so did their desire to make the humans feel the same misery they inspired in the children. Finally, after being yelled at for not killing enough vampires, the Silver Boy and the Girl turned to the Golden Boy and followed him away from the humans, closing their ears to the Woman Child’s pleading.
It wasn’t easy to get the vampires to listen to them, but the Golden Boy’s words flowed, soothing painful memories and coaxing others to listen to them. Soon, the children had a force backing them of terrifying numbers, and the destruction of the humans’ lives truly began.
Chapter 5 Surprises by Moonlight
Of all the things he had expected to be doing today, following a desperate peris to some place in the human world to help its ‘Silver Friend’ was not even close to being on the list. But then, a peris would not normally approach the King of the Goblins in tears if it wasn’t desperately important.
Soaring after the small fairy, Jareth was quite glad his owl form had better eyesight than his other form or he would have lost his guide despite the full moon that hung overhead. The shimmering wings furiously beating the air was the only indication that the six inch tall fairy had wings at all and wasn’t simply levitating through the air.
When they reached the large wall that surrounded the Vatican, Jareth balked at the thought of entering that place. It was no secret that the humans clung to their religion as a shield against the Fae, and the soldiers bearing the Cross of the Sacrificed Lord had attempted even his own death many times. Was this all a trap to try to kill him again?
“Please,” begged the peris, hovering before him. “Silver Friend need Fae Lord. Peris help but can’t heal him.”
“How do I know this isn’t a trap, pest?” he demanded in a cold voice, landing on the wall and ruffling his feathers into place. “Many of those here have tried to kill me and other Fae.”
The peris shook its head. “Silver Friend not like that! Silver Friend share sweet cream and bread. Silver Friend talk to peris.”
Jareth was many things and highly curious was one trait that had gotten him in trouble before. He wanted to meet this Silver Friend that was more than willing to share food with the Fae, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was a trap. Suddenly, he yelped in pained surprise as one of his feathers was pulled out, and he snarled, instantly flying after the peris who clutched the stolen feather. How dare that meal attack him in such a manner!
His anger grew as the little pest continued to avoid his beak and talons before ducking through an open window. He folded his wings and dived after it, transforming to his natural form, ready to pluck wings off when he stopped at the sight that greeted him.
Moonlight given form and life. That was the only way to describe the glorious man stretched out on the bed, his head cradled on his folded his arms. Silver hair spread out like a cape, covering the man to his knees, and his pale skin appeared even paler next to the sweat soaked sheets. Jareth stepped closer to the bed, his eyes drinking in every detail of sharp features and dark lashes fanned across pale cheeks flushed with fever. Red lips shimmered in the moonlight before the man licked the red away. As soon as he had, the peris fluttered down to run their hands over the man’s lips, replacing the red coloring. This time, when the man licked the red blood away, Jareth noticed the fangs hidden behind his lips.
“Why are you giving your blood to a vampire?” he demanded, a crystal ball appearing in his hand as he prepared to destroy them and the vampire for this stunt. It had been discovered during the human war that when a vampire drank the blood of a Fair Folk, they lost some of their vulnerabilities and gained much power.
Before he could launch the crystal at them, the vampire stirred, and Jareth watched as ruby eyes hazy with fever opened. The vampire looked around as he tried to push himself upright on shaky arms only to collapse back on the bed with a faint whimper.
“Forgive... can’t break... fast with you,” he gasped, fierce shivers wracking his body as he curled on his side, and the peris gently pulled the sheet over him.
One fluttered before Jareth, holding out the stolen feather. “Help Silver Friend?”
Jareth nodded, gently taking the feather. “I will help your silver friend,” he agreed, his mind whirling as the unspoken words feel into place, completing the vampire’s sentence and leaving the Goblin King stunned.
Forgive me, I can’t break my fast with you.
The Traditional apology for someone unable to eat the morning meal with Fae, and only used by those who normally broke their night fasting with Fae. Slowly, Jareth walked over to the bed and knelt next to it, reaching out a gloved hand to brush sweat soaked hair out of the pale face. Even with the small distance between them, Jareth could feel the heat pouring off of the vampire, and he realized that he was going to need a lot more help to save this vampire than he could provide himself.
Shaking his head, Jareth created a message and sent it on its way before turning to tend the young vampire as best he could until his plea for assistance was answered.