Stories of Old
Chapter 1: Blades and Witches
In my opinion, Rob Zombie's Pussy Liquor and Foxy, Foxy would fit to this chapter. But you know, soundtrack depends on the reader, so…
Note: action takes place a few years before the Quincy extermination, that would be about 1790.
"Brother, we have to leave now!" – a very annoyed silver-haired young man said to his intoxicated sibling. Screamed would be more accurate, for the pub was extremely full today. On an improvised stage in the back three actors were making a swordfight farce out of an Eastern fairy-tale. One of the actors was a young girl, pretty beautiful even with the ridiculously large tin Arabian sword she was wielding. Arabian swords, rhymes in German, with distinct French accent by the girl, Japanese clothing and Chinese martial arts, all mixed up in one small stage in Vienna. That was way too much for the refined tastes of Chester Schneider, who spent half his childhood in London, by the way.
"Get away, Chez, let me behold for a little longer." – the black-haired man snarled.
"Behold what? That absurd multicultural medley? Or the little slut with the big sword? We have important news, Luke, no time to get drunk and stare at the females. Get up!" – If this pathetic excuse of a twin brother wasn't one of the most talented Quincy I swear I would leave him to rot in peace here – Chez said to himself enraged.
"She is magical, you know" – Luke turned his eyes to his brother with a soft smile. Both men had grey eyes, but Luke's were dark and at the same time radiant, like storm clouds rimmed with the rays of the sun. The other pair of light blue-grey orbs glared at him coldly.
"French girls are the pest."
"She is a temPEST…"
"…in a teacup. You are an idiot."
"No, seriously. Look at that spirit pressure. It always gets interesting around that sort of people." – Luke riveted his eyes back on the stage.
"Now I see. So you're here because you're bored. Then I have good news for you! We have to cross the whole world, enter a closed for outsiders country and take part in an impending huge conflict with creatures from the spirit world, impudent enough so to call themselves "gods." How cool is that, brother?" – he emphasized each word of the last sentence.
"Well you could have started with that, Chez, instead of teasing me around." – Luke stood up with a jump and sat on the table, drinking up his bottle of wine. – "Although, 'impending' means it's not sure, doesn't it."
"I thought you had a taste for uncertain things, Luke." – his brother said wrlyly.
"You know me too well. We shall go now." – with these words, the not-so-similar twins left the pub, walking past a group of rather enraged men and an angry looking woman dressed in pink.
"Seems we got out just in time" – Chez noticed, after the pub exploded in loud screams.
"Yeah, I'll miss all the fun again." – the black-haired man smiled jokingly and turned around, just to see how two of the mentioned above men dragged the kicking and screaming young actress out. The angry woman trailed dragged her pink skirts behind them with the grace of a goose. She squealed like one too: "Witch! Witch!" Luke sighed and gave his brother a dazzling smile: "I guess this is the call of destiny, bro." – and he ran back.
"Sheesh. Fine, I'll wait for you back in the pub." –Chez said, smoothing the non-existent wrinkles on his flawless white suit.
--
An hour later, Chez was sitting in the now quite quiet bar, legs stretched, ankles crossed, sipping a third mug of Glühwein, and bored to death by the incessant jabbering of the two actors, who were really good company while they were still knocked out.
"Honestly, her scripts are brilliant, but she brings nothing but trouble! Doing weird things to people, no wonder we're chased by superstitious fools everywhere." – Mr. Moron (as Chez called him) prattled.
"Witch-hunting is in history, but scared people don't really give a damn about reason, they just come furious and scream "why, you tricked my baby, what did you do to my baby." She usually just makes sick people feel better, you know. Or bad people feel sick. Now that I think about it… it's weird indeed…" – Reinhardt Retard (another nickname by Chez) fell silent, obviously trying to make use of his brains, but, woe, the other one continued the chattering.
"And remember that time, when a strong wind came from out of nowhere and Lumina got so pale and told us to run? Man, I got really scared, the ground was shaking and everything…"
"Don't tell me you fell for that?! I mean, it was an earthquake, did you actually believe that there was some monster there? She never said that either."
"Yeah, but…"
"Gentlemen! Calm down. Here comes your witch." – Is Luke holding her hand?! No, no, no… "So what took you so long, brother?" – Chez asked ironically. – "I doubt those blokes demanded more than three minutes of our precious time. Or was it the woman the dangerous one?"
"Yes, I guess you can say that. I'm sure you imply the wrong woman, though." – The grey eyes flashed with mischief and the girl next to him blushed a little. She took her hand out of his grasp and ran to her colleagues.
"You okay? How's the head, Reinhardt?"
"His head is hard and you know it." – Mr. Moron said quite harshly. "Just as well as you know that the problem is you."
"Excuse me?"
"You… are no longer wanted in our art troupe, mademoiselle." – the man said pompously.
"WHAT?!"
"You can pick up your baggage in the morning, if you want to. Farewell, Lumina!"
"WHAAAT!?!? You guys are NOTHING without me, inept, stupid, wretched, feckless trash! Come back here!"
The taller man made a waving gesture without even looking back. The girl was now bright red and tense as a string. She rushed after her ex-colleagues with clenched fists, but Luke caught her dress and stopped her. His face was illuminated by a smile Chez knew way too well. It was the "Luke-gets-an-idea" type of smile. Therefore, a very dangerous one.
"Lumina, heh. What a name." – Chez stated dryly.
"It's a stage name, blockhead."
"How did you call me?! You…"
"Hey, no fighting, lady and gentleman. Finish your drink, Chez, I thought you said we were in a hurry."
"Indeed."
"Huh…Let me treat you a drink, Luke Schneider, for saving me." – Lumina said. - "It won't take much of your time." – "Hey, Franz. Since those two clowns left my troupe, you can give the cash from tonight's performance to me."
"Sure, mademoiselle Lumina, but you know, with the trouble and broken chairs I'll have to cut that in half…" –Stupid slut, buying drinks when she should be at home knitting.
"What… damn… Fine. But it is still enough to treat my saviors with something fancy?"
"Well, depends on what you call "fancy". We have…"
"…It's not necessary." – Luke stepped out. – "Besides, you're coming with us, so you can pay back later."
"I'm what?!"
"She's what?!!?"
"She's coming with us, Chez. You can do that now you're out of the troupe, can't you, Lumina?"
"Well, yes theoretically, but…"
"No "buts". I'm not asking you out of pity or lust. Just make sure you take all the Japanese costumes when you pack. And the make-up."
Not to believe in, brother actually has a point there.
"The costumes are authentic, you know. They cost a fortune…" – Lumina said. Then an evil smirk shone on her face. "Those idiots will be furious! Ha! That's what they deserve. Fine. I'll get the clothes while they're asleep and I'll meet you thereafter." – I hope you are not some psycho-killers, but even so, you'll learn I have my tricks. – "I'm not quite sure I want to know why you need those, though."
--
At 3 AM, Chez and Luke were standing on the bridge where the meeting was supposed to take place, resting their elbows on the railing and staring in the black water.
"So you need to get laid or what?" – Chez asked with utter annoyance.
"Nope. I really think she is interesting. And pretty strong too, although she doesn't seem to realize it. If this girl stays with us, she might help with both entering Japan and opposing the shinigami. Because, I don't want to discourage uncle Ishida, but I don't think us humans stand a chance if it comes to brute power. I don't really see the point either. Speaking of which… are you sure something is really happening there? Or just uncle Ishida is getting paranoid?"
"I'm not sure. But I think it's serious. Death gods here are more liberal and still sometimes trouble us Quincy a lot… My point is – we must go. We owe his to uncle after all."
A short, tense pause followed. Than Luke turned his back to the railing and the river, cleaned his throat and smiled playfully to his serious brother. "You know, I wouldn't refuse to get laid either."
Chez looked at his brother with his left eyebrow lifted. Than he looked up to the starry sky and smiled.
"Of course you wouldn't."
The bright laughter of the siblings rang through the night chill.
Please review!:) That would make me so very happy. I promise there will be some of Tite Kubo's characters in next chapters, just wait patiently till we go to Soul Society…
If you wonder how do these OC-s look like, Chez is pretty much like Ishida Ryuken (and his ancestor, after all) with longer hair, while Luke is… well Luke must look more like Sakuya Kira from Angel Sanctuary, but with grey eyes and black hair. Chez and Luke are twins and their faces are identical, but as for colours and personalities… well, you saw how it is.
So I hope you enjoyed this. I know I did :D