Hi. So this has been a fairly long project in the making. This was loosely inspired by the book series The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare. I say loosely inspired meaning that reading those books made me want to write a dystopian fanfiction/murder mystery, but as I finally got around to outlining the plot at the beginning of the summer, the plot quickly evolved into something a lot different from that, to the point where the original idea I had for this has almost nothing to do with the final outlines of the plot. But yeah. I've been working on the backstory and the general plot of this for around 3-ish months now, so I hope that it turns out well. This is an au. It takes place in a whole different universe, and the characters here are not countries, they are human. (Well, most of them.) This is my first story that will be more than just two or three chapters, so I'm praying that this goes ok. *sighs* Oh well. Here we go. I hope you like this!
Full Summary: After the Disappearance, the survivors founded Sastra, a refugee camp. Years later, when they find a girl named Elizabeta dying of an attack in a forest and rescue her, murders start happening, and Eliza must help them find the culprit, lest she gets blamed for them herself. As she discovers darker things about reality itself in the process that change the perspective on everything, the world is set on its top, and things get dangerously, precariously, severely complicated- fast. When the lives of her friends and allies are endangered, her morals tested and her boundaries pushed, the identity of the real enemy becomes unclear, and Eliza becomes unsure of who she's fighting for and why she's even fighting in the first place. Lines are crossed and friends are betrayed, and everything is at risk in the fray. And as people say, all is fair in love and war.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. I am a broke student, incredibly nervous about starting school in a few weeks. Please don't sue me.
This is rated T for later fighting, murder, swearing, and general things of the sort.
Stars in Dystopia
Part 1: Prologue
"O see ye not that narrow road,
So thick beset with thorns and briers?
That is the path of righteousness,
Tho after it but few enquires."
"And see not that braid braid road,
That lies across that lily leven?
That is the path to wickedness,
Tho some call it the road to heaven."
- Excerpt from "Thomas the Rhymer"
The woman dressed in white took a deep breath as she strolled through the grassy field. Green grass poked at her bare feet as she stepped through the soft dirt and ticked her toes. She breathed out a breathy laugh as she stepped in a puddle of mud; it had recently rained here and it was going to rain again soon.
Glancing up at the clouds, she shaded her eyes with her hand. There was no sun here, only cloudy sky, filled with black storm clouds gathering ominously. Her eyes glittering, she reached her other hand out as to touch the clouds. The wind lightly brushed over her arms as she reached out, pricking at the hairs at the back of her neck. The winds were stirring. She could sense his presence here, and she smiled peacefully, retracting her hand and clutching it tightly to her chest. She was relieved to see that he had come, she had been waiting for him.
Turning around calmly, her glassy eyes the color of milk met his inky-black ones. He frowned at her, his hair tussled. He clearly wasn't pleased with being here, she could tell by his fidgeting. His feet tapped impatiently against the ground, and she stifled a laugh. He still had that same impatiently dark aura that surrounded him as he moved. He hadn't changed one bit since he had fallen.
"You know," She started, her voice as smooth as glossy silk, "I never thought that you'd willingly come if I called, of your own accord. I'm pleasantly surprised."
He matched her peacefully sleepy grin with a twisted scowl. "Well, I'd never turn down a call from you, my blessed lady." He matched the last few words with hateful sarcasm. Ignoring this, the woman smiled brighter at him.
"Little sheepherder," she said affectionately, "I can tell that you're plotting something. Do you honestly think that I, of all people, wouldn't be able to tell?"
He looked her dead in the eyes. "I could say the same of you."
She ran her fingers through her long hair, starting to braid a small twist in it. "I certainly can't deny that." She gave him a cheerful look that had once stirred so much loving emotion in him, but now stirred absolutely nothing. He chuckled, but it was a chuckle lacking laughter and instead substituted it with darkness. It was full of poison and hate.
"Dark forces are stirring," He began, "and they will claim their rightful place. There is nothing that you can do to stop it, darling." His voice held a sharp edge and false warmth.
"Maybe I can't stop it," She concluded, "but as long as they exist, they can stop you, and your forces will never win." His mocking grin abruptly vanished and was replaced by a low growl. He looked up at her furiously. "It's your own fault for not taking them with you. You could have brought them to your side, tamed them. Instead, you all abandoned them and left me to raise them. It's hardly my fault if your mistakes are your undoing. I did ask you and your friends if you did want custody, after all."
He snarled at her. "We aren't going to be giving up anytime soon, bitch." He whirled around and dissolved into mist. She stared at the spot where he had once stood, her former lover, and suddenly laughed, hard, as it started to rain. Chuckling happily, she wiped tears off her eyes as he stared back and grinned at the spot where he once stood.
"And I wouldn't have it any other way."
A/N: Well, there's the prologue! You'll find out who these people are... later. Hehe. They're pretty important to the backstory here. I hope that you liked this, and please, please feel free to leave a review telling me what you think. I love reading reviews. They make my day and give me life. Thanks for reading this chapter, and I hope you liked it! Ciao!
Disclaimer: I do not own Thomas the Rhymer. Thomas the Rhymer is a ballad that is centuries older than I ever will be. I'm not entirely sure who the author is, because no source that I found would give me a clear answer, but if you do know, please tell me and I'll properly credit the author. Also, I do believe that Thomas the Rhymer is in the public domain.
Next Chapter: We're introduced to some of the main characters. (One in particular.) Blood, attacks, slight gore, fuckin' weird dreams, occasional name-calling ... this is going to be fun. *giggles slightly*