Black Label
Prologue: Aktion T4
I was drowning in the blackness, gasping for breath amongst the horde of bodies pressed up against mine. Crying and screaming filled the dense air, and languages I did not understand fueled my frustration. Fifty maybe sixty of us? But it felt like so much more; the noise, the heat, the pressure, there was no way to really tell. A bright white glare suddenly pierced my eyes. Arms freed from the crowd, I was able to shield them; who knows how long they've gone without seeing the light of day.
My knees gave way and I fell to the the ground. Clearly I was no longer within the confines of the darkroom. Confusion ensued, the sounds of others' footsteps, then falling. Stupid. How far did they think they could get blinded like I was. Slowly I peeked through my fingers, and just as I thought, so many were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. My eyes drew focus, and I took in my new surroundings. Towering spotlights aimed dead at us. A stadium? No. What is this?
"You putrid, pathetic excuses for existence," a deep voice cut through the atmosphere; though full of fear, all fell quiet at the truth of his statement, "Your families have forsaken you. Society has rejected you. You are unworthy of life!"
The barking of dogs followed in the voice's lead, moving closer, and closer. They grew louder, more sinister, and worst of all, hungry.
"Unless of course, you choose to prove me otherwise," the voice chuckled, then sighed, "Yuri, let's begin!"
I was barely on my feet before getting tackled. Shock raced through my chest, slobber dripped onto my face, and teeth gnashed mere inches from my jugular. I fought it as best I could, with the shrill cries of the others ringing in my ears and adding to my panic. Mustering all my strength I punched it square in the snout; it staggered, letting out a slight whimper, giving me just enough space to roll out from under. And I ran, fuck, I ran, dodging every flying-bloodied limb and collapsed body in my path.
Fences. Scale them! It couldn't have been that easy. As I got closer, the smell of burnt flesh was a real damper on my genius plan. Several charred bodies lay smoking at the foot of its expanse. Electric. Great.
"Hey! Move!"
I turned in response, only to face a struggling hound as it was flung in my general direction. On instinct I dropped to the dirt, and a split second later a sharp howl and scorching crackle sounded off its end against the metal lattice.
"You're fast!" the pudgy boy who'd thrown the dog laughed, he was out of breath, but abnormally strong. I nodded in acknowledgement, but this was no place for small talk, an even larger one was closing in on us.
"I'm sorry," I mouthed as I ran into him, twisted around and shoved him directly into the jaws of the oncoming canine. I heard his spine snap as the dog crunched down, in no time he was out cold. It was him or me. Wasn't it?
As quickly as it had begun, it came to an end. The dogs disappeared through an opening in the fence, leaving behind a masterpiece of pure carnage. The newfound silence was punctuated by the heavy breathing of those still alive, myself included.
"Well done, hah! Yuri, how many is this?A new record I should say!" the voice, now soaked in warped excitement, resonated through the space, "Welcome to Rosenkreuz."
**Disclaimer: I do not own the Weiss Kreuz franchise. Please don't sue me, you won't get much money out of it.**
Author's Notes: Clearly this is going to be about Schwarz! (so Weiss fans, begone! jkjk xD) I love Schwarz and the whole idea of their superpowers and mystery. Too little is revealed about their past in the anime, manga, drama cds, etc. (a travesty i say!), but what we can definitely be sure of is that RK was a fucked up place. I love a great origin stories, but this is my own take on their beginnings. I've patched this together from a plethora of other inspirations, so don't be surprised to find something a bit familiar here and there, and of course I will try to reason it through here in the notes! Also, I don't speak German, so all spelling beefs like "shuldig" vs. "schuldich" and "rozenkruz" vs. "rosenkruz" or whatever, are totally not my problem. As of right now I'm not sure how far I want to take this story, but I hope you like it however long it turns out to be!
"Aktion T4" does not refer directly to what's going on in this prologue, but is rather meant as a parallel to. I can't explain it in great detail, since I'm no historian, but basically it refers to an order by Hitler to kill those "unworthy of life", i.e. the terminally ill, physically deformed, the insane etc. during the Nazi regime.