Wayward Souls
Title: Wayward Souls
Author: fashcndy
Pairing: none yet | slight zico/bbomb, if you tilt your head | u-bomb, if you don't blink
Rating/Warnings: underage drinking. historical inaccuracies.
Word count: ~1,600
Summary: There's a storm brewing in Tempest Falls and somehow Kyung is involved with it.
“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”
-Exodus 22:18
Aix-en-Provence, France. Early 17th Century
The smell of burnt flesh wafts through the air and clings to the dark fabric of his overcoat.
The Inquisitor has ordered another execution in accordance with the King’s suspicion. The spectators total to about three thousand.
Hundreds of men, women, and children from neighboring villages are all surrounding the grounds of the cathedral -spitting their distaste at the women currently tied to burning stakes in the middle of the streets.
Minhyuk watches the woman he loves scorch under the afternoon sun.
They weren’t always hated for being what they are, Minhyuk remembers. They were held in high regard. But then the royal families adopted Christianity to replace the once thriving pagan societies and witchcraft became detested. It became malicious and unnatural.
They tainted the craft with their immoral punishments and called forth from the masses a terrible hysteria.
Geneviève was an innocent soul -forced to surrender to a powerful tyrant whose mouth is twisted with lies and mind corrupted with false beliefs. The King, the biggest sinner of all, condemns the pure hearted to suffer in purgatory in his stead.
Minhyuk couldn’t protect Geneviève.
At the time of the witch hunts, his magic was still in its beginning stages.
He could not risk exposing his coven -or what was left of it -after the Inquisitor roamed the streets with his crucifix in his left hand, bible in his right.
He had no other options but to watch the woman he loved burn to ashes.
**********
Tempest Falls, Maryland
From the roof of the old cathedral, next to the aged statues of Virgin Mary and St. Peter, the entire town can be seen.
In the many years he has lived, he has always found comfort in the traditional architecture of cathedrals. Although most are unaccepting of his kind -Minhyuk can always be seen on the edge of the roof, cold stone relaxing his body into a peaceful numbness.
“Master.” The sound of his familiar’s voice tears him from his reverie. “Did you find him? The hunter?”
Minhyuk reaches out to stroke the dark strands of his familiar’s hair. “Of course I did, Yukwon. When have I not found someone I was looking for?”
The feline bares his teeth in a kittenish smirk. “I believe the instance you are looking for is me, master.”
Minhyuk clears his throat, flushing up to his ears. Even as he’s nearing four hundred years old, he doesn’t like being reminded of his obvious inexperience when meeting his familiar for the first time.
“I was left to fend for myself after Anaïs disappeared,” Minhyuk defends. “I’d have probably already been acquainted with you if I’d only known how to summon you.”
Yukwon licked his rose colored lips. “I could feel your power so strongly. I never knew that the bond would feel like that. And the entire time you had no idea what you were capable of.”
Minhyuk remembers being a ticking time bomb -caught in between self-destruction and inadvertently unleashing a Pandora’s Box of raw uncontained magic into the world.
Finding his familiar locked away the feral power inside him and gave him the ultimate control over his abilities.
Not to mention the close bond that formed between the witch and his familiar, fully eradicating the all-consuming loneliness that comes with living in a world where the supernatural are persecuted and belittled -only accepted on a day of child’s play that, historically, was once essential in medieval paganism.
“So what does finding this hunter mean?” Yukwon asks. “What do we do now?”
“We wait,” Minhyuk replies simply. “After all, the boy hasn’t gotten his mark yet.”
Yukwon tries to contain his contented purr -but Minhyuk’s hands scratch his scalp in all the right ways. Sensing his effect on his familiar, Minhyuk looks down at his lap smugly. Damn his feline affinity.
“Are you sure he is the hunter?” He asks, bringing the conversation back to the task at hand.
“He is -I am sure,” Minhyuk asserts. “But it appears his parents were killed before they could explain his destiny.”
“And without knowing what he is, he can’t fulfill his destiny and get his mark.” Yukwon says, understanding the problem.
“But I’ve gotten to him before the vampire,” Minhyuk notes.
A wind coming from the east raises the hairs on Yukwon’s neck and raises goose bumps on Minhyuk’s forearms.
The sudden smell of burnt amber and fresh blood mars the air.
“I wouldn’t speak so soon there Minhyuk,” the low sinister tone of a familiar face cuts through the silence. “I hope you weren’t underestimating me.”
Speak of the devil, Minhyuk thinks.
The vampire stands tall and forebodingly. His hair hangs down in his face like strips of coal. His fangs retract from their extended state -blood stained lips become wind chapped in the cold weather.
“Of course not,” Minhyuk answers honestly. “I was just stating a fact. I’ve been secretly scoping the place out and without I doubt -I found the boy. I happened to be here before you could arrive.”
“And the boy?”
“Why don’t you have a look for yourself?” Minhyuk suggests. “He’s certainly interesting, I’ll say.”
The vampire straightens the lapels of his suit jacket. “I guess it’s time I do what I do best.”
“Please refrain from draining all the women you see on the way,” Yukwon says as his body starts to distort itself. “It’s sloppy and it’s drawing too much attention.”
Zico’s lip twitches in annoyance. He hates the witch’s familiar. “Well, what’s new pussycat? I’ve never been one to abide by the rules.”
Now completely transformed into the appearance of a black cat, Yukwon scurries away -leaving Minhyuk and the vampire alone to talk.
“What are you planning to do with him once you’ve captured him?” Minhyuk asks curiously. He was informed of the plan but never inquired much on why Zico was interested in the boy.
“There are two options,” Zico says, holding up two ring laden fingers. “I either kill him and burn his body, or eat him then kill him then burn his body.”
“You have no intentions of using him to your advantage?”
“In theory, he’s a direct descendant of the first hunter, therefore very valuable and lethal to a guy like me. But I have come to learn he is without a mark -meaning he’s essentially useless to me. If I kill him, I get rid of any possibility of him getting his mark and becoming my enemy.”
“I see,” Minhyuk says. “But if you gain his trust and alliance -then he’s your weapon at your disposal. Why would you waste such an opportunity?”
Zico stares up at the sky contemplatively. “Hmm, you have a point. And here I thought I was the evil one.”
Minhyuk snorts. “I’m far from evil. I just know how to strategize.”
“Well then Minhyuk the Strategy Man,” Zico jokes. “How do you suppose I gain the trust of the human born to kill me?”
“Give him what he wants.”
“And what is that?”
“Revenge,” Minhyuk says matter-of-factly. “Someone murdered his parents. Obviously someone supernatural by the look of things.”
“Continue,” Zico says, leaning down to pull a dagger out of the side of his boot.
Minhyuk eyes the sharp blade warily. “So if you say, give him motivation to follow you on your suicide mission to the Authority -then I suspect you’ll kill two birds with one stone.”
“So, I’ll gain an ally against the factions while also preventing my death?” Zico clarifies. “I think I’ll go with your plan instead.”
“Of course you will. You’d perish without my aid.”
Zico laughs heartily or as heartily as a century old vampire can. “You wouldn’t have even been able to survive without a coven if not for me. I did help you find your familiar.”
“That wasn’t your intention. You intended to kill me, but thought better of it when you realized I was more powerful than you. But yes, by discovering you I found Yukwon.”
Zico smirks in triumph. “See, you need me too.”
Minhyuk rolls his eyes. “Where are your shadows?
“Jihoon is out on business,” Zico gives easily. “Setting up a nest for us. Jaehyo is doing some cleaning for me over at the hospital. This town has too many religious people in it. I almost burnt my face off while hunting last night. Some broad had holy water on her and tried to mace me.”
It’s unlike Zico to share his plans so freely.
“You really need my help, don’t you?”
“We go way back Minhyuk,” he leans into the witch’s personal space. “I think we’re like brothers almost.”
“I will never be like a brother to you Zico.” Minhyuk says, making sure Zico sees the honesty in his eyes. “I’ll never be your older brother.”
“And I thank you for that Minhyuk,” Zico bows insincerely. “You know how I feel about brothers.”
“I’ll help you out -but just know that you owe me favors too.”
“I’ll put it on my list.” Zico starts to retreat. “But the boy comes first for now.”
Before Zico can retreat fully, Minhyuk asks one last question.
“What will you do when this is all over?”
Zico pulls out his trademark smirk. “I don’t know. Haven’t thought that far. Maybe get me a dog or something.”
“I’m being serious. You should find something to live for that doesn’t involve your brother or the Authority.”
“You and your romantic notions,” Zico sighs. “My only goal in life is to be King. I’ll let you live in the palace as my concubine. Sound nice?”
Minhyuk grimaces. “I don’t know why I expect you to have matured after all these years. You’re still the same as you were three hundred years ago.”
Zico gives a final salute to Minhyuk before jumping off the side of the building with a flash.
A piece of concrete cracks on the sidewalk as he lands and Minhyuk does what he does best-
Works his magic.
-----
This is a multipart/chaptered fic that will probably be updated on my livejournal fic comm or on asianfanfics.
Sorry it sucks. College makes me malfunction.
Comments are appreciated.
Sorry for mistakes.
Author out!
Author: fashcndy
Pairing: none yet | slight zico/bbomb, if you tilt your head | u-bomb, if you don't blink
Rating/Warnings: underage drinking. historical inaccuracies.
Word count: ~1,600
Summary: There's a storm brewing in Tempest Falls and somehow Kyung is involved with it.
“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”
-Exodus 22:18
Aix-en-Provence, France. Early 17th Century
The smell of burnt flesh wafts through the air and clings to the dark fabric of his overcoat.
The Inquisitor has ordered another execution in accordance with the King’s suspicion. The spectators total to about three thousand.
Hundreds of men, women, and children from neighboring villages are all surrounding the grounds of the cathedral -spitting their distaste at the women currently tied to burning stakes in the middle of the streets.
Minhyuk watches the woman he loves scorch under the afternoon sun.
They weren’t always hated for being what they are, Minhyuk remembers. They were held in high regard. But then the royal families adopted Christianity to replace the once thriving pagan societies and witchcraft became detested. It became malicious and unnatural.
They tainted the craft with their immoral punishments and called forth from the masses a terrible hysteria.
Geneviève was an innocent soul -forced to surrender to a powerful tyrant whose mouth is twisted with lies and mind corrupted with false beliefs. The King, the biggest sinner of all, condemns the pure hearted to suffer in purgatory in his stead.
Minhyuk couldn’t protect Geneviève.
At the time of the witch hunts, his magic was still in its beginning stages.
He could not risk exposing his coven -or what was left of it -after the Inquisitor roamed the streets with his crucifix in his left hand, bible in his right.
He had no other options but to watch the woman he loved burn to ashes.
**********
Tempest Falls, Maryland
From the roof of the old cathedral, next to the aged statues of Virgin Mary and St. Peter, the entire town can be seen.
In the many years he has lived, he has always found comfort in the traditional architecture of cathedrals. Although most are unaccepting of his kind -Minhyuk can always be seen on the edge of the roof, cold stone relaxing his body into a peaceful numbness.
“Master.” The sound of his familiar’s voice tears him from his reverie. “Did you find him? The hunter?”
Minhyuk reaches out to stroke the dark strands of his familiar’s hair. “Of course I did, Yukwon. When have I not found someone I was looking for?”
The feline bares his teeth in a kittenish smirk. “I believe the instance you are looking for is me, master.”
Minhyuk clears his throat, flushing up to his ears. Even as he’s nearing four hundred years old, he doesn’t like being reminded of his obvious inexperience when meeting his familiar for the first time.
“I was left to fend for myself after Anaïs disappeared,” Minhyuk defends. “I’d have probably already been acquainted with you if I’d only known how to summon you.”
Yukwon licked his rose colored lips. “I could feel your power so strongly. I never knew that the bond would feel like that. And the entire time you had no idea what you were capable of.”
Minhyuk remembers being a ticking time bomb -caught in between self-destruction and inadvertently unleashing a Pandora’s Box of raw uncontained magic into the world.
Finding his familiar locked away the feral power inside him and gave him the ultimate control over his abilities.
Not to mention the close bond that formed between the witch and his familiar, fully eradicating the all-consuming loneliness that comes with living in a world where the supernatural are persecuted and belittled -only accepted on a day of child’s play that, historically, was once essential in medieval paganism.
“So what does finding this hunter mean?” Yukwon asks. “What do we do now?”
“We wait,” Minhyuk replies simply. “After all, the boy hasn’t gotten his mark yet.”
Yukwon tries to contain his contented purr -but Minhyuk’s hands scratch his scalp in all the right ways. Sensing his effect on his familiar, Minhyuk looks down at his lap smugly. Damn his feline affinity.
“Are you sure he is the hunter?” He asks, bringing the conversation back to the task at hand.
“He is -I am sure,” Minhyuk asserts. “But it appears his parents were killed before they could explain his destiny.”
“And without knowing what he is, he can’t fulfill his destiny and get his mark.” Yukwon says, understanding the problem.
“But I’ve gotten to him before the vampire,” Minhyuk notes.
A wind coming from the east raises the hairs on Yukwon’s neck and raises goose bumps on Minhyuk’s forearms.
The sudden smell of burnt amber and fresh blood mars the air.
“I wouldn’t speak so soon there Minhyuk,” the low sinister tone of a familiar face cuts through the silence. “I hope you weren’t underestimating me.”
Speak of the devil, Minhyuk thinks.
The vampire stands tall and forebodingly. His hair hangs down in his face like strips of coal. His fangs retract from their extended state -blood stained lips become wind chapped in the cold weather.
“Of course not,” Minhyuk answers honestly. “I was just stating a fact. I’ve been secretly scoping the place out and without I doubt -I found the boy. I happened to be here before you could arrive.”
“And the boy?”
“Why don’t you have a look for yourself?” Minhyuk suggests. “He’s certainly interesting, I’ll say.”
The vampire straightens the lapels of his suit jacket. “I guess it’s time I do what I do best.”
“Please refrain from draining all the women you see on the way,” Yukwon says as his body starts to distort itself. “It’s sloppy and it’s drawing too much attention.”
Zico’s lip twitches in annoyance. He hates the witch’s familiar. “Well, what’s new pussycat? I’ve never been one to abide by the rules.”
Now completely transformed into the appearance of a black cat, Yukwon scurries away -leaving Minhyuk and the vampire alone to talk.
“What are you planning to do with him once you’ve captured him?” Minhyuk asks curiously. He was informed of the plan but never inquired much on why Zico was interested in the boy.
“There are two options,” Zico says, holding up two ring laden fingers. “I either kill him and burn his body, or eat him then kill him then burn his body.”
“You have no intentions of using him to your advantage?”
“In theory, he’s a direct descendant of the first hunter, therefore very valuable and lethal to a guy like me. But I have come to learn he is without a mark -meaning he’s essentially useless to me. If I kill him, I get rid of any possibility of him getting his mark and becoming my enemy.”
“I see,” Minhyuk says. “But if you gain his trust and alliance -then he’s your weapon at your disposal. Why would you waste such an opportunity?”
Zico stares up at the sky contemplatively. “Hmm, you have a point. And here I thought I was the evil one.”
Minhyuk snorts. “I’m far from evil. I just know how to strategize.”
“Well then Minhyuk the Strategy Man,” Zico jokes. “How do you suppose I gain the trust of the human born to kill me?”
“Give him what he wants.”
“And what is that?”
“Revenge,” Minhyuk says matter-of-factly. “Someone murdered his parents. Obviously someone supernatural by the look of things.”
“Continue,” Zico says, leaning down to pull a dagger out of the side of his boot.
Minhyuk eyes the sharp blade warily. “So if you say, give him motivation to follow you on your suicide mission to the Authority -then I suspect you’ll kill two birds with one stone.”
“So, I’ll gain an ally against the factions while also preventing my death?” Zico clarifies. “I think I’ll go with your plan instead.”
“Of course you will. You’d perish without my aid.”
Zico laughs heartily or as heartily as a century old vampire can. “You wouldn’t have even been able to survive without a coven if not for me. I did help you find your familiar.”
“That wasn’t your intention. You intended to kill me, but thought better of it when you realized I was more powerful than you. But yes, by discovering you I found Yukwon.”
Zico smirks in triumph. “See, you need me too.”
Minhyuk rolls his eyes. “Where are your shadows?
“Jihoon is out on business,” Zico gives easily. “Setting up a nest for us. Jaehyo is doing some cleaning for me over at the hospital. This town has too many religious people in it. I almost burnt my face off while hunting last night. Some broad had holy water on her and tried to mace me.”
It’s unlike Zico to share his plans so freely.
“You really need my help, don’t you?”
“We go way back Minhyuk,” he leans into the witch’s personal space. “I think we’re like brothers almost.”
“I will never be like a brother to you Zico.” Minhyuk says, making sure Zico sees the honesty in his eyes. “I’ll never be your older brother.”
“And I thank you for that Minhyuk,” Zico bows insincerely. “You know how I feel about brothers.”
“I’ll help you out -but just know that you owe me favors too.”
“I’ll put it on my list.” Zico starts to retreat. “But the boy comes first for now.”
Before Zico can retreat fully, Minhyuk asks one last question.
“What will you do when this is all over?”
Zico pulls out his trademark smirk. “I don’t know. Haven’t thought that far. Maybe get me a dog or something.”
“I’m being serious. You should find something to live for that doesn’t involve your brother or the Authority.”
“You and your romantic notions,” Zico sighs. “My only goal in life is to be King. I’ll let you live in the palace as my concubine. Sound nice?”
Minhyuk grimaces. “I don’t know why I expect you to have matured after all these years. You’re still the same as you were three hundred years ago.”
Zico gives a final salute to Minhyuk before jumping off the side of the building with a flash.
A piece of concrete cracks on the sidewalk as he lands and Minhyuk does what he does best-
Works his magic.
-----
This is a multipart/chaptered fic that will probably be updated on my livejournal fic comm or on asianfanfics.
Sorry it sucks. College makes me malfunction.
Comments are appreciated.
Sorry for mistakes.
Author out!