Hey guys! This is gonna be a series of oneshots featuring the children from the Cross Kids AU over on Tumblr (which was started by Shiro Hunter- they also have an account here under the same name). As such, this will be mostly OCs. I'll post who the characters belong to and the warnings for each chapter as we go- I have three written as of now, and this story is rated M for one in particular; "The Curse." The other two are pretty mild.

The premise is that a few years after the events of the game, the Lifehold Core was repaired to the point that new life could be created- the humans of NLA couldn't get their bodies back (due to the memories being destroyed), but their biological data was still intact, so they were able to create children. (Lao also came home somewhere along the line.) These will take place somewhere between 20 and 30 years after the game, and are not necessarily in chronological order.

Mars Cross is Cross (Red/Dawn Cross- from Drowning!) and Lao's child, belonging to me.

Nyna is Cross (Genesis) and Elma's child, belonging to Noot-Scoot

Erza and Weiss are Cross (Shwarzer) and Elma's children, belonging to Shiro Hunter

Sage is Cross (Xena) and Elma's child, belonging to The-Jade-Phenoix

Ewan is Cross (Lu) and Elma's child, belonging to Chaxs

No warnings for this particular chapter!

"Alright kids, this is your first mission without adult supervision, so you'd best come back in one piece. Especially you," Doug added pointedly. The subject of conversation rolled his eyes.

"Y'all are heading out to Turtle Nest to gather samples of the bioluminescent moss that grows there. The geeks say it dies in direct sunlight, so do your best to bring it back alive. None of y'all have skells yet, so don't fight anything within ten levels of the team member taking point- That's Erza, for the record. I don't want to hear about a power struggle when y'all get back. Everyone set?"

The four nodded- Erza firmly, Nyna slowly after checking his gear, Sage softly from beneath her hood, and Mars sarcastically, complete with an even more impressive eyeroll.

"Alright- move out!"

Erza turned to his teammates. "You all have your weapons? Ammo? Your armor is secure? And Sage, are our provisions-"

"We're set Boss, let's go already!" Mars whined.

"We're good, Erza." Nyna assured.

"Alright. We're off."

The four left out of NLA's east gate, and were barely out of the city before Mars broke into a run.

"Yahoo! Finally on my own again! Good-bye training camp, hello Mira!"

"Hey! Don't run ahead!" Erza shouted.

"What? You've got those big, long legs, you can catch up!" Mars replied, walking backwards.

"I'm talking point here- You stand behind Me."

"Whatever. You missed a collectible."

"I got it," Nyna chirped.

"Somebody's on his game today, eh?"

"Somebody's got to keep your dumb ass in one piece."

Mars smirked, then proceeded to fall back by Sage.

"How'd that stupid kid even pass?" Erza mumbled.

"He's not so bad, Erza. He'll calm down when we get farther out of the city…. And he's older than both of us."

"He sure doesn't act like it."

"Can't argue there," Nyna smirked.

Erza looked back at his lagging teammates. "What kind of gun does he wield, anyway?"

"Raygun."

Erza stopped in his tracks. "Mars."

"Yeah?"

"Where's your gun?"

"…Huh?"

"Where. Is. Your. Raygun? They're big. Bulky. Not at all easy to hide. And I don't see you carrying one."

"I got it, don't worry."

Erza clenched his teeth. "Don't lie to me. You forgot it, and we're turning back."

"I said it's fine, Boss! Let's keep goin'!"

"Where is it, BLADE?"

"It's a surprise. And I don't like ruining surprises."

Erza clenched his fists. "It's not a good surprise to get into a battle with and indigen and find out one of your teammates is crippled! We're-"

"Just shuddap, will ya? I'm fine." Mars grumbled, all humor gone from his voice. He pushed past Erza roughly.

Erza made to rebuke him, but Nyna laid a hand on his shoulder. "He says he's fine. Trust your teammates."

Erza took a deep breath. "Fine. I trust you."

At the entrance of the cave, the team stopped in awe.

"Woah…" Nyna gasped.

Erza smiled. "I should tell Weiss to come here on her next date."

"That's your full sister, right?" Mars asked.

"Yeah, she's my sister."

"I knew her when we were kids- who's she dating?"

"Ewan."

Mars gaped.

"What?"

"But… Ewan's Elma's kid too, right?"

"Yeah."

"Your sister is dating your brother!?""

"It's not like that, Mars," Nyna corrected. "Mom's race- the plastrainians- don't have DNA like Earth animals. All living things on Earth are carbon-based life forms. All life on Mira is ether-based. And the Plastraineans are silicon-based. They don't reproduce in remotely the same way as humans- if it weren't for the lifehold, our species would be completely incompatible. If you tested our DNA, we're identical copies of our human parent with some plastrainian mutations. Some of us have more than others."

Mars frowned. "But even if you're not related like that… you're still family."

Erza shrugged. "Not really. It's not like we grew up together or anything. Weiss and Ewan hadn't even met until recently."

Sage tugged on Mars' shirt. He leaned down to her level and smiled kindly. "What is it?"

"It's getting late."

"She wants us to get a move on." They echoed.

Mars raised an eyebrow, but entered the cave silently.

Sage was in charge of retrieving and securing the samples while the others stood guard. Sage stood, turned and nodded.

Erza smiled. "Alright, let's-"

He was interrupted by a blast of gunfire.

"Level 50 petremand! Run!" Nyna shouted.

The four made a mad dash to the exit, but the indigen was gaining on them. Erza saw a bright flash of raygun fire, and the cave began to shake.

The next ten seconds were pure panic- the cave collapsed, and there was dust, and then moaning.

"Nyna? Sage? Mars?"

"I'm here." Groaned Nyna.

Sage tapped on Erza's leg.

Silence.

"Mars!"

"Shit."

"Are you alright?" Yelled Nyna.

"…Not exactly."

Erza followed his voice, and saw the problem seconds later. Mars' right arm was completely buried in rubble.

"I'll get you out!" Erza exclaimed.

"Wait! Not gonna happen. You start moving me, this whole cliffside's gonna come down."

Erza looked up- it was true. They were in a death trap of a valley.

"I- I mean we- we can't just leave you!"

Mars rolled his eyes even though the pain. "Duh. But looks like the arm has to go."

Erza swallowed. "There must be some other way…"

"We don't have time to dig me out. Do it fast and I'll be fine," Mars reassured.

"You've got the steadier hand," Nyna added.

Erza readied himself, and with one quick swing, took off Mars' arm. There wasn't nearly as much blood as he expected, which he was grateful for.

As soon as he was loose, Mars ran out of the valley. He did quite well for someone is as much pain as he was, Erza thought.

Out of immediate danger, Mars rubbed his stump. "Maaan, Helna's gonna kill me! So is Lin… and Dad…!"

Sweating, Erza added "Maybe we should worry about getting you medical attention first."

"Nah, I'm fine…." Mars looked up. "What?"

"You… You just lost your fucking arm!"

"Ain't the first time."

"E-Erza… You didn't know about his arm?" Nyna laughed.

Sage looked like she was gigging as well, and it registered seconds later.

"It… wasn't your real arm?"

Mars wasn't laughing. "You thought you could just cut somebody's arm off out here in the middle of nowhere, no tourniquet or anything, and they'd be fine? Dude. Dude, why are you in charge!?"

"I… I didn't… I wasn't… I'm… sorry?" Erza spluttered. He recalled what he'd said earlier. How could he have been so… rude?

Mars' grim facade broke seconds later, and he guffawed. "Man you made that exact same face when we were in the park and Mom's dog stole your ice cream. Just as sparkly!"

"I-I was like, five! How do you remember that? And I do not sparkle!"

"Yeah, you do!"

"It's true. Your cheeks light up when you blush, like my hair." Nyna added.

"Maaaan, you three are way prettier than that old cave when you really get going," Mars chuckled.

Erza made a choking sound, and Nyna had to point out "Sage is leaving."

The sun was nearly set when NLA came into view.

"Y'know, Erza, for Shortzer's son, you really don't live up to the name," Mars pouted.

"My dad wasn't that short." He smirked. "But you are."

"Can we not get into this?" Nyna moaned from and even lower viewpoint than Mars. He sighed. "I can't wait to take a shower."

"I'll bet Weiss is waiting at the gate."

"I'll bet Ewan's there too and she won't even notice you," Nyna teased.

Erza shoved him lightly. He looked back, Mars was lagging. "You okay?"

"Yeah, it's just… wrong, y'know?" he muttered.

Erza felt his chest tighten. "Look if you've got a problem with my sister-"

"N-no, that's not it. You guys aren't really related, I get that. But… Well… Have you ever tried talking to a prone about an orphan?"

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"It don't work, is what I'm saying. They ain't got a word for it. Helna- her parents died when we were young. By human standards, she'd be an orphan, but she's got the whole clan as her family.

"You guy ain't siblings, but you're like a whole clan, right? But you barely know each other. It's wrong…"

Erza swallowed- he had a point. He'd never felt that any of his mother's other children besides Weiss were "Family," but… a clan? Maybe that was the word he'd never been able to find.

Sage tugged on Mars' shirt. "What is it, huh?" He cooed.

"She thinks maybe we should have a family reunion sometime. I like that idea!" Nyna answered.

"She also doesn't like it when you talk down to her," Erza added.

Mars frowned. "Are you two messing with me?"

"What?"

"How can you tell what she's thinking?"

Erza and Mars exchanged glances.

"You can't?"

"She's an open book."

Mars smiled. "I think you guys might be closer that I realized."

Erza started to say something, but was interrupted by;

"Big brother! Welcome home!"