A/N: Why on earth did I publish a new story when I already have more than enough un-completed stories still in line? The answer is, because of too much reading (in wiki) and watching gore, horror, psychopath movies a few days ago… my mood suddenly shifted and still hasn't gotten off from the dark and deep feeling. So… yeah. Don't be surprised to see this story a bit dark-ish. Anyway, hope you enjoy this story! XD

Disclaimer: I don't own KHR

Summary: A classic, but determined fate was locked in the center of the prophecy—a girl destined to meet a dreadful vampire before withers, a town destined to be visited by an unknown man clad in black, before facing their doom. With their fates foretold, would a struggle really change the future? Or was it destined from the start? Fem27x18, Fem27xR, Fem27x72. AU, dark. Mythical creatures involved.

Warning: genderbend (fem27), double-Tsuna (fem27 and 72), AU, dark-ish, a few OCs

Perception

"Classic fairy tales do not deny the existence of heartache and sorrow, but they do deny universal defeat."
- Greenhaven

There's a lot of fairy tales belonged to the many kids around the world. There's about fairy-godmothers, pixies, fairies, magic, witches, princesses, and many others.

Each consisted of the beautiful story of love, courage, hope, and friendship. Along the path we'll found some rivalry and hatred.

However, there was one small fairytale that belonged to almost nobody in the globe.

And it was a bit different from other tales.

It was dark, complicated, and even one could say tragedy.

It was about something that no science could've explained—

And it happened between an old race and a small village girl,

a long, long time ago…

Some lone village…

"Tsuna, can you help me bring these to the kitchen?"

"Sure," the brunette answered the old man and quickly slipped her hands under the big basket of fruits. She gingerly walked toward the kitchen, being extremely careful not to slip or fall. When she reached the counter, she put the heavy basket down and sighed in relief. "Finally."

"Oi, Tsunahime, aren't you supposed to clean out the dishes instead of relaxing on the counter?" she looked up and saw a similarly old woman, with sharp eyes and high heels, along with her tall-built hair, glared down at her. Tsuna gulped and straightened, giving the basket a small thump when she did.

"Antonio-san told me to get these to the kitchen," Tsuna explained. The woman in front of her, Alda, was Antonio's step-sister, who hated her with passion. She clicked her tongue before walked away. Tsuna sighed again, in great relief this time, that she did not get a thwack or something. Usually the woman will hit or slap her or lock her away when she did something wrong. Fortunately for her, Antonio was kind and she wouldn't be treated like that whenever he's around.

She has been in the two's care since her parents died—which was as soon as she's born. In fact, people have been saying that she's bringing bad luck with her. Yes, people strongly believed in those kinds of mythical and unexplainable things. The rumors have turned from bad into nasty when 'that' happened. The old lady, who was usually acted normal with her, has also turned nasty as well.

"Come on, come on! Let's go see the magic crystal! It's going to tell a prophecy!" she heard a childish cry from the window. From the space, she saw lots of kids running toward one direction, followed by a few adults, who chatted excitedly with each other as they walked behind the kids. She peeked and her lips formed a thin line, before closing the window.

Tsuna sighed and leaned on the wall, creating a sullen atmosphere on the room. She knew where they were headed and she knew why they were heading there. It was a sad thing that she didn't join them as well. Some seconds later, she heard the familiar sound of her evil-somewhat-aunt before she saw Antonio's head emerged from behind the door.

"You okay Tsuna?" he asked gently, well aware of what she's thinking. A small smile barely formed on her face but she nodded. Antonio stepped in slowly. She watched the fat man approached her, "Aren't you going to go as well?"

"Nah, I think I'll skip it," she said.

"Oh no you don't girl," Alda returned as well. She marched toward them and pulled Tsuna's arms roughly which caused her to winch a little. "You're going to come—I don't want my brother to stay behind just to keep you company."

Tsuna was pulled to her feet against her will, but she obeyed and followed wherever she's dragged to. There's a displeased look on Antonio's face, clearly didn't like the attitude of his sister, which said sister ignored. Tsuna walked behind them restlessly, watching the crowd swarmed around her. She felt some eyes on her and some whispers of her names, but she tried her best to ignore it—which failed and she hung her head low.

The village, more like a small old town, was as usual dusty and vintage-looking. Usually the roads are lonely, with only a few children running around playing with each other until dark. The adults and most teens worked on the stores, although there's hardly any customer. The village was pretty stranded and small, not to mention kinda poor, so they have almost nothing to do.

With that situation as well, most men, usually ones in their forties, make weapons in their spare time while the younger ones trained themselves to protect their families from beast or anything that can threaten their family. In that place, where it's far from any other living towns, it's not so rare that wild foxes or beasts came across the village. Once, there's even a dragon passed by their roof. One other time a rumor said that a werewolf kidnapped a boy to eat him. One of the most infamous rumors was the vampire—which they said lived not far from the village but yet, no one ever came alive to tell the story.

In the small range of place, within ten minutes, a giant crystal ball already could be seen from afar. The trio stayed at the edges of the crowd as they stopped on their track and watch. There was a chorus of "ooh" and "aah" as they watched the shimmer of something mysterious inside the crystal ball. Tsuna herself, looked up in awe and wonder, like everyone else. This big crystal thing that everyone was watching was the jewel of the village. Unlike the one that fortunetellers and the sort usually used, however, this crystal ball was huge—more than two meters tall and wide.

No one knew where it came from, or who created it, but it was already there as long as Tsuna has known. She didn't know if other towns have one as well or not, but they have one and that's that. Usually it'll stay clear, like a normal crystal ball, but sometimes, on some occasions, it changed. There were some glints of light on the surface, from the sun and from the magic of the mythical thing itself, as the color started to swirl and change on the center of the huge ball. When this happen, people would come to watch the foresight of the future.

Last time it happened, they were told that "the Watchers" will come to town. "The Watchers" was an organization of people, who crossed the globe, appearing on different places and times to make sure everything was secured and is in line. Tsuna has heard scary rumors about them; like how they exterminate an entire town just because it planned a war with another town. She found it scary because they would go that far and the second is because the reason was quite minor—the towns were rivals and it's only natural for a conflict to be born.

This prophecy became a serious issue and warning and everyone was preparing for their coming anytime—no robberies, no cheating, no killing. That was about three months ago. And so, for the entire three months there was a tensed peace. The things that the crystal ball told didn't usually happen right after the next day; sometimes it takes a year, sometimes a month, once it was only a few good hours before the real thing occurred. So everyone could only brace themselves for any time of the happening.

Still, the Watchers have never come to the town she resides so Tsuna didn't know what they look like. She got most of her information from rare books that the people sold cheap, so she never found out what's accurate. In fact, she never even seen a werewolf, or any mythical beings like that but the people were so worked up at the topic.

Returning to the ball, the people watched as some blurred images started to form, and it began to shift into a clear image. There were some excited exclamation and impatient murmur, as the image continued to swirl and swirl. Tsuna's eyes widened and her lips parted as the image suddenly transformed into its final phase. Everyone hold their breath as the image cleared on the middle of the clear ball.

"It's a man," she heard a boy whispered to his friend. Looking to her left, she saw one kid whispered to his friend, but kept his eyes on the crystal ball. Tsuna herself agreed with the boy. Inside the crystal ball, there's a clear image of a man—he's in attire of black and his coat looked foreign, with gold emblem and embroidery making it looked royalty. Almost like the Watchers, she wondered curiously. His face was masked so they couldn't see who it was but Tsuna somehow shivered at the sight of the man.

There was a pause and everyone was anxious to know what's going to be told next. Then there's a blur image of a male teen, catching everyone's attention. Tsuna was just wondering who the mysterious teen was when something pierced her ears. No one expected the high-pitched scream which forced them to cover their ears with their hands and shut their eyes. Tsuna's heart raced and raced—this is why she hated to see this fortune-telling. Most of the time, it'll announce good things to this unchanging village, but sometimes it showed bad things.

Then there's a noisy sound of broken glass and smashes from the crystal ball as the people started to let out apprehensive and scared whimpers. The noise of the people changed again into a surprised exclamation. At that, she was curious and dared herself to look again. Much to her shock, however, she didn't see what she hoped to see. Her brown eyes widened with fear at the sight but were transfixed by it.

The picture of blood filled the fortunetelling crystal.

Death…

"Do you see that?"

"It must've been a sign of war!"

"A war with whom?"

"That man must be a murderer!"

Tsuna heard the buzz of crowd talking amongst each other. They were equally anxious with the others and won't stop predicting what the meaning of the foresight they just saw is. Tsuna swallowed as Antonio walked in front of her to their house. Alda left behind and talk to her friends, being one of the gossip-lady in town, she just couldn't stop herself when something big happen.

"Maybe it has something to do with the vampire!" one whispered loudly and Tsuna's head perked up at the word. At the side of the road, she saw three men narrowed their eyes on her with hostile, as they whispered to each other. Tsuna bit her lips and her fists formed a tight ball. A sudden recollection of her own prophecy bugged her and she mentally face-palmed; the crystal ball has surprisingly pointed her future. It wasn't like it's the first time, but it happened quite rare for someone to have his or her future told blatantly.

She remembered the crystal ball once showed the picture of one particular boy, then the picture of a small knife, and then the picture of a sword—which they usually used when in war. A week later, the boy's father was found lying dead on the living room, with a pool of blood and a small knife by his cold hand. No one ever saw the boy or heard of him again. Some said that he's dead; others said that he committed suicide. But we still didn't know what the image of the war sword meant up to this day.

Vampire. She sighed. The word wasn't a strange vocabulary to her but she hated it ever since the image of a certain vampire race appeared on her oracle. It was barely twelve years ago when she's five. She was playing with some of the neighbor kids (including the boy that was foretold about the knife and sword) when the crystal ball started to glow. They were playing nearby and quickly raced to the ball and by then it's already crowded.

Much to her surprise, the perfect photo of her showed on the center of the ball. She knew that every eye were looking at her briefly when her image appeared, and she swore that she almost beamed with excitement—after all, she never saw a bad prophecy before. But she never expected the next image that appeared—a vampire. His face wasn't shown clear enough for anyone to recognize, but the sharp attire and the fangs were more than enough to tell. There were sharp gasps around her, and an unbelieving gasp from herself.

Then the next picture showed of a single rose appeared as it slowly fell to the ground before it withered. The color was black.

When the show's over, there was a deadly silence and what's left was a wary and hostile looks from everyone. The kids standing near her started to step back before they disappeared in the crowd. Tsuna remembered she hid in the nearby alley at the night and stayed crying all night long, wondering what on earth could a vampire do with her life. And up to this day, people has avoided her as much as they can, including Alda, but not Antonio—which is the reason why Alda's so irritated at her brother. They just didn't want to be nearby when the so-said vampire appeared.

To say that Tsuna was already getting used to the treatment would be a lie. She could never ignore the stares from every people she met, nor the cold and harsh treatment of Alda. But what she feared most is that her life will end when she met the infamous vampire. Something inside her has warned herself to be ready to get killed by the vampire, while a part of her rebelled and refused to give up. In fact, she almost tried to run away to someplace far away. But she was still young and has no money, so that plan failed simply. Now that she's older, she's almost ready to die if the vampire did come.

She sighed, watching the old man that has been taking care of her for years walked toward their house—a small restaurant that's also their place to stay and sleep. She tried to smile when Antonio stayed on the door to open it for her. She skipped inside and immediately the smell of seasonings and fresh ingredients infiltrated her senses. Still, she couldn't forget the terrible cry that just howled the town just now.

Something bad was lurking toward their town.

At the borders…

A man, with full attire of black, walked in careful sequence. His steps resonate in the lonely place as the distinct howl of danger echoed in the air. The wind blew, bringing some dusts flying as the hot sun blared to the ground. There was a swishing sound of something moving behind the darkness of the bushes. In the deserted place, with only sand as the steps and bushes and trees as its roof, life was only a flash in sight.

Suddenly a shadow leaped from behind the bushes, lunging itself toward the man. A terrible howl only sounded once and not twice, for only a brief two seconds. The rustle of leaves seemed to stop at the moment as the man pulled out a gun—and the next thing was blood; splattering on the air.

The eyes slowly closed themselves, becoming one with the shadows.

Everything was in silence once again before the crows sounding an announcement of death as it clapped its wings and fly away.

"The blood-spill will soon happen… and so must we."

A/N: At first, I saw the picture of Hibari in "Monster Tamer Tsuna" and decided to make a comical-romance one-shot of it, but with my unchanging-dark-mood (as I've explained in the beginning) that supposedly-comical story becomes a heavy-theme long-shot. So… yeah. Because of this also, I was still pondering if I should delete this or continue. Which is, well, based on the responds of you, readers. I hope you can give me your opinion about it, thanks! And also, thanks for reading until the end! XD

P.s. it would be a tremendous help if you give me some suggestions of the mythical creatures that will appear on the story! XD

The appearing mythical figures (up until now)

The Watchers: people who kept the law and enforcing the rules (cannon chara)
Vampire: mythological or folkloric revenants, who subsist by feeding on the blood of the living (cannon chara)
Werewolf: mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shape-shift into a wolf or a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction (cannon chara)
Dragon: legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that features in the myths of many cultures

Questions readers frequently asked (or I will if I'm a reader)

Q: Who's that at the final scene?
A: guess who! XD LOL though I said that, I still haven't absolutely decide of one chara. So, if you have any guesses, feel free to say it. Because if I were to use the person in my mind… then I think it won't be a surprise anymore because I think most of you already can guess it

Q: Vampire? Could it be Hibari?
A: Well, maybe yes, maybe not LOL. But really, it may be not Hibari like we (including me) first think.

Q: So… this setting is where and when?
A: Hmm, around 18-hundreds I guess…? LOL, it's long time ago, basically. And for the "where"… hmm, I don't think it need to be specifically Namimori, no? But the setting of the village is somewhere isolated and deserted, with the borders and surrounding area like the last scene. I think it'll be okay to picture it somewhere near the desert with a few forests nearby…? LOL, I know, this is quite ironic and paradox, but well…

Q: You say AU… so could it mean there's a possibility that TYL version people or Primo-era's people appear here?
A: Yeah, that's one of the special thing about AU right? :3

Q: Though you say dark or mythical like fairytale… It doesn't really show.
A: err, I hope I can make it more into those theme better next time

Q: Who are Antonio and Alda?
A: After Tsuna's parents died (yes, I planned to make her original parents Iemitsu and Nana, still), she was taken care by Antonio, who volunteered himself to take care of her ever since she's a baby. Why? Because he's a good person LOL. While Alda joined in Antonio's place some time when Tsuna's older.

Q: So… Tsuna got a prophecy that she'll be killed by a vampire?
A: Yes, Tsuna got a prophecy that speaks directly about her future. And no, it's not specifically said that she's going to be killed by a vampire. It just mentioned that her future involved with a vampire. For the rose-thing… well, there's also a riddle behind that one.

Q: Climax… so soon?
A: Yeah I know. It's only the first chapter and already there's the lead to the climax. *sigh* sorry about that.

Q: How long is this gonna be?
A: I can't really guess it. Haha…?