The Oxygen ~ Prologue
Summary: 23th Century, where oxygen become rare thing in the world.
Characters: Fictional european football players.
Disclaimer: Everything here is come out from deepest imagination. Nothing ever or will actually happen, I'm not a paranormal. All total made up. AU,Alternate Universe.
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Chapter: Zero.
Characters: Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Fernando's brother (still a secret character).
Pairing: (slightly) Steven Gerrard/Xabi Alonso
Rating: NC-17
Chapter Summary: Fernando and his brother are an orphan who force to live on the cruelty of the crumbling world
Word Count: 2500~
Warning: Violent, underage kissing(?), murders, love between sibling(?). I'm sorry, I am still not aware of my own writing.
Feedback: Greatly appreciate. Any criticism, correcting mistakes always welcomed.
Author's Note: Inspired by many science-fiction movies I watched. Based on
this prompt at
footballkink2.
Not a native speaker, and it's consequences, you may find many weird and odd things that you couldn't understand. You've been warn. And if you find my words kinda racist, I am truly apologize, I do not mean it that way and never intend to offend anybody. And I know I have already posting so many fics on
footballslash this past few days, bus I just can't stop writing. I hope this is okay. Enjoy reading anyway!
P.S: I know I already have many fics waiting to be finished, but this story just keep haunting me, I promise I will finish all of my fics.
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The world have been turning into such a dark place where oxygen become a rare thing, not the air you can freely breathe anymore, the only free air you can breathe was the thick air that full of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen, hydrocarbon, and many other chemical that won't keep you alive, killed you after less than 5 minutes you filled your lungs with them. You have to cover your nose to prevent you from inhaling it.
You gain life, you keep living by buying the oxygen, you should pay it to get the air you can breathe with all you have; your money, your body, even your own soul.
The oxygen will be transferred to you through your blood, it's injected to your veins, and your body will keep the oxygen flowing, usually last for 7 hours, depending on your lungs capacity, your body activity, the averages of your heart rate, and of course the amount you pay. But somehow you can transferred the oxygen you have in your body through your mouth to the one you who want to share with.
You can't speak with each other outside except using a thing they call a mask, where you can speak to your opponent freely without any chance the air will get in through your opening mouth. The same goes for the way you eat, there's no delicately, no deliciousness you can enjoy on your food. No sweet, no sour, no bitter you can taste on your tongue. You eating just to get rid of your hunger.
And inside the buildings, you have to pay fee to inhale the oxygen the building provide, and to fill your house with oxygen you have to pay a lot of money that make it become an expensive commodity for a lot of people. There's just a few comfort and safeness you can feel.
The world has changed into a very cruel and unforgiving place where people can die right in front of you but you just can't do anything about it, and you see it will be abandoned, rotting on the street, you will find many corpses scattered everywhere you go.
There's maybe no beautiful word exist in this planet anymore, and just a very amount people know about the existence of the sun. There's maybe no spring breeze you can inhale, no summer warmth you can feel, no autumn colors you can saw, it is just endless winter cold through all the years. Maybe there's no plant alive anymore, that's the main reason why this planet have lack of oxygen.
Except for the smallest corner of the world, where an enormous magnificent white building stands in contrast with the dark place that surrounds it, where selected people allow to live inside, sealed on their own greed, live beyond sufficiency on top of the others' misery life, they are called The Whites.
They live there where The Dark outsiders wouldn't get in, wouldn't even just a slightly bit, taste the place of what they may call heaven itself, where you can freely breathe the oxygen without paying it, without struggling to keep you alive, where you can speak and eat, do anything you want to without afraid to inhale the toxic air.
The world has turned into a dark place which you can compare with the deepest hell, where White Satans are the ones who have the ability to control it all.
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9 years old Fernando and his beloved older brother, who was born 8 years before him, wanted to take a walk to meet their relative, Steven who lived just a few blocks away from their house. They were orphans, their parents died when Fernando was 3 years old, they died when they wanted to keep their children alive, they gave their last oxygen to their kids.
Their mother last kiss was given to Fernando's mouth to give her last proof of existing love to her dearest son, and their father last breathe was delivered into Fernando's lungs to exchange their lives, because that time Fernando was near death, that was the only thing, the biggest but actually the smallest thing they could give to keep their proof of existence alive.
Fernando was left with his brother and his very kind friends, who kept protecting him since the tragic event, gladly, he was slowly growing up with so little warmth he could feel from the cruel world he was living in.
His older brother was a very responsible and dependable teenager, no, not a teenager, he was never allowed to be a teenager. The actual story was that when on his teen age, he had to be a grown up man. It wasn't his time to be one, but he had to protect his innocent little brother with all his life, heart and soul, no matter what happened in this unforgiving world they lived.
And Steven, he was like an older brother too for Fernando, he came often to Steven's house because his house was very different from the place that Fernando and his brother called house, it was much more warmer, and they didn't have to afraid if their room lacked oxygen, because Steven house provided enough of it.
Plus, there was Xabi, Fernando liked to see them both together, Steven and Xabi, it was just like they were made for each other, like there was an unseen magnet that made them inseparable, like they were born soulmates.
So Fernando was walking with light steps, jumping a little on the pavement lines, showing his so innocent happiness, when suddenly there was a loud sound of breaking glass just a few meters from Fernando.
“FUCK! That's my oxygen, you bastard!”
There was a flash of someone jolting to catch another running man before Fernando felt strong hands turning him over, preventing him from peeking at the next scene in front of them even slightly, his brother always did that, closed his eyes, not to let him witness the violence of greed, the humans that were changed into wild beasts, just because of a small tube that was like a diamond on this filthy world.
Fernando could hear the sound of a sharp steel against soft flesh, followed with broken scream that tore the thickened air of the whole block. Then the small boy felt the air that currently filled his lungs suddenly forced to come out of him, and the older boy sensed it. He lifted the fragile body, tried to calm him down, and locked their mouths, giving his little brother his oxygen through their open mouths. It already had become their habit since they lost their parent; the older man was the one who always delivered Fernando's oxygen into his lungs, because Fernando wasn't brave enough to get an injection, because he was just a kid who was afraid of big needles.
When the older blonde felt the little one on his arms slowly calmed, he pulled out, patting and rubbing the younger boy's small back and placed a tender kiss on top of blonde hair which color was almost the same as his own. He kept Fernando's eyes straight on him without looking anywhere else.
“Close your eyes and don't ever let go of my hand.” Fernando saw his brother's lips form these words as his hand was held by a very warm hand. He could know it clearly as if the words were being whispered straight into his ears, because they had practiced it thousands time, so they could communicate without having to open their mouth, without having to put their masks on, without having to inhale the toxic polluted air.
And so they took a detour to Steven's house, Fernando small body hidden behind the bigger boy, one of his hand held his brother's warm hand, he could feel he was safe just by the presence of this person.
“Why are you taking so long?” Steven asked after he closed the door behind him so they could breathing and talk more easily.
“Yeah, we had to take the detour.” The older boy answered him, then he kneeled in front of his little brother. “Fernando, you sit down with Xabi, okay? I have something to talk with Steven first.”
Fernando nodded obediently and was rewarded by a peck on his forehead. Fernando had always liked Xabi anyway, he told and taught a lot of things to Fernando alongside with Steven when his brother left him in Steven's house to get some money. Because Steven's house always welcomed him whenever he wanted, whenever he and his brother needed shelter. They told him to be a good kid, to never be a burden to the other people who surrounding him, not that they minded to take care of Fernando, but meant to tell him to be a good sibling for his older brother. Because they knew the oldest man wouldn't show any sign of tiredness or even just a little pout in front of the boy he had always loved so much, he loved above anything else on the whole universe.
“WHAT?! Are you crazy?!” Steven's scream distracted Xabi, when he was reading for Fernando a very old book titled 'The Lord of The Rings' that was Fernando's favorite book. But they couldn't hear their further conversation from the other room because they lowered their voices again.
But on the other side, Xabi knew that was the sign for him to move Fernando from the living room. “Hey, Nando, I forgot to tell you that yesterday I've found another book that I'm 100% sure you will like. You want me to read it for you too?”
Fernando just nodded.
“Come on, it's on my room.” Xabi got up from his seat and helped Fernando to stand.
“It's too dangerous! You want to risk-” Fernando could slightly heard Steven's hissing voice leaked through the closed door on his way to the stairs, but Xabi immediately pulled his hand to prevent his young ears heard anything he shouldn't hear.
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Fernando didn't ask his brother about what he was talking about with Steven earlier, but he asked the older boy to carry his weight as they were walking to their house 3 blocks away. Fernando clung at him, wrapping his arms on his firm neck and his legs around the strong waist.
“Have you meet an angel, brother?” Fernando asked, looking up through the thin glass to the pitch dark sky that separated them from the outside world in the safety of their dirty small night place. It was not the sky that full of stars like in the story Xabi had read for him that evening, and he remembered how Xabi told him that there was an angel living happily ever after in heaven, that it was a place that full of beautiful things, that Fernando believed he would never ever see any of those things in his whole life, even the tiniest part of them.
“I have, I meet him everyday actually.” His brother gave the answer without any hesitation; he took him closer and pulled the itchy blanket to warm their bodies, more to Fernando than himself.
“Where have you met them? Can I see them too?” Fernando's voice was full of innocent curiosity.
The older man laughed and kissed the tip of Fernando's reddening nose because of the cold night air, to warm him even more. “You can clearly see him, in the mirror.”
“Really?” Fernando sounded excited, but then he realized something. “But we don't have a mirror, even a tiny mirror.”
The older blonde kissed away Fernando's pout. “Fernando, baby, I mean the angel is you.”
Fernando blushed for the comparison.“But i-”
“You are special, Fernando.” He placed his lips on Fernando's soft one.
“You are not ordinary, never ordinary, Fernando.” He pecked Fernando's reddening cheeks.
“You are not suppose to live on this world, on this life time, not suppose to be the one who have to witnessing this world crumbling down.” He kissed Fernando's temple, his forehead.
“You have the right to live on safeness and wealthiness and happiness.” He mumbled right into Fernando's ear. He cradles his head and trails his hands over Fernando's back.
Fernando hugged his brother more tightly. “But I'm happy, and I'm safe and you are more than enough for me, brother.”
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It all came so sudden and fast like a thunder lighting striking in the storm; Fernando was being forced, something was forcing him, pulling him out from his brother's warmth embrace. He was still dizzy because of his sleeping state, through his blur eyes he could see shadows, no, not shadows, people, many people in all whites, white, the forbidden color on this Dark side. It crept out the hell of Fernando.
Now he could saw that his brother was struggling to get rid of two men that pinned him between. He was nothing compared with the other big men in the room. He was still a boy, still a teenager, he was not a big man that Fernando always saw, no matter how much Fernando looked up to him, his brother was still nothing on this huge cruel world, compared to the power that lived above them, the power that could easily control them, The Whites.
“No, no, no.” He whispers with voice full of fear.
“Fernando, calm down. Please calm down, it's okay, you have to keep your oxygen as much as possible.” He could heard his brother's steady voice from across the room.
Fernando choked on his held in sobs.
“Don't cry, baby. Please.. Be strong. You are a strong boy. And you will be a strong man when you grow up, right?”
Tears escaped down Fernando's cheek.
“Come on, we don't have much time. We have to go now.” One of the white suited man spoke up.
And it felt like Fernando's death sentence. He felt all the air in the room, in his lungs was suddenly disappearing and the world was spinning so fast.
“FERNANDO!!! Please, please, please. Just a minute, after this I'll go with you.”
“No, Mr-”
“I DIDN'T FUCKIN' SIGN FOR THIS! THIS IS BREAKING THE CONTRACT I'VE SIGNED! I WANT HIM TO STAY ALIVE! PLEASE! Please.. Please! I'm begging you!”
There was a deafening gap before the reply came out. “Alright, let go the young man. 1 minute.”
The older blonde jolted across the room, took the pale young boy in his arms and immediately gave all the oxygen he could give to the fragile human being he loved beyond anything through their locked mouth.
Fernando clung to his brother like his life was depending on it. His tears was overflowing, streaming down his cheeks, he couldn't hold the cruelty, the pain, the hurt and the violent he felt inside his left chest. He could felt his lungs slowly filling with the oxygen, but it didn't enough to give the strength for his whole body, it was never enough, it would never be enough.
“I always loved you Fernando, I will always love you, you'll always be loved, you will always surrounded by love no matter what happens. I love you, I love you, I love you..”
Those were the last words, the last things, the last scenes Fernando remembered from his precious brother.
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...So, who is Fernando's brother? *wink*
Thank you for reading! ♥
I'm still a sucker for dark fics, feedback needed! Feel free to comment :)