HEY EVERYBODY! Blue Moon Angel here!
So, this is the second story I've written on fanfiction. This one is another -Man one, an Allen x OC. The OC's name is pronounced "Bear-ill" by the way.
This story was actually sparked by a thing we had to write in English last year in about a half hour and this was basically what I wrote, only elaborated upon.
Disclaimers: I do not own -Man. The song Beryl sings in this chapter is actually "The Requiem" by Linkin Park from the album 1,000 Suns. I do not own Linkin park either.
Enjoy!
Gatekeeper
Chapter 1: Entry
The sky was cloudy and the air was heavy with anticipation. A gust of wind blew, swirling the fallen leaves around Beryl's figure. She stood outside the forest outside her small village in Scotland. She looked up and down the wall of trees, which was now enclosed by a twenty foot tall fence of wrought iron. The bars had been there for as long as she could remember, the mayor of the village saying that because of the fence, the people were safe. By chance, Beryl's father, a seasoned locksmith and weapon forger, was given the honor of holding the one key to the one gate in the entire wall.
Ever since the gate had been built, the villagers were warned to avoid the forest, especially at night. Supposedly, a great evil lurked in its depths, a terror so unimaginable that the very thought of the forest gave every child nightmares. Beryl had never experienced these nightmares, and she could not imagine how anyone could. No one had ever even seen the monster in the forest. All she knew was that for generations people had been disappearing, their last screams being heard coming from the massive oaks of the unnamed forest. After the gates were built, the terrifying occurrences stopped completely. Just because she had never had a dream about the creature, however, did not mean she did not believe in it. When Beryl was five years old, she once walked with her mother along the forest's edge, along the only road that led out of the village. She remembered this day vividly because it was the day she believed she saw the forest's demon. As her mother walked briskly in front of her, Beryl sang and skipped behind, running her fingers along the forest's bars. A burst of wind blew through the monstrous trees, growling as it went, and blowing dirt into her singing mouth. Beryl stopped to cough and when she looked up, deep in the forest, she observed two orbs with slits for pupils peering back at her. Beryl, surprised by herself, was not afraid. The orbs appeared to be curious, they were slowly cocked to the side, their rippling indigo and green colors reflecting the little bit of light filtering through the tree tops. Her mind was stopped in its tracks by the call of her mother, telling her to hurry up.
It was this incident that brought Beryl here today. For ten years, she had wondered what it was she had seen, the feeling slowly eating her up inside, like a parasite. She had not planned on when exactly she would venture into the forest, but Beryl knew it would happen eventually. There was nothing in the village to keep her there anymore. Her mother had died six years earlier, leaving her father to become a psychotic alcoholic. She had no friends, none of the children were like her. When Beryl was born, she had strange black birthmarks on her back. The birthmarks, besides being an odd color, were absolutely symmetrical. The other children of the village deemed her a witch and their parents were not too fond of her either.
Beryl took a deep breath; inhaling then exhaling. With her emerald eyes closed she reached her hand into the deep pocket of her autumn trench coat, pulling out a dirty, oversized key; her father's key-the gatekeeper's key. She stared at it, sitting in her gloved palm, seeming so innocent. It was hard to believe that this little piece of metal was what saved the village from that thing when Beryl was young. She grasped the key firmly in her hand and shoved it into the watermelon sized lock in the middle of the gate. Before turning it, Beryl turned and looked back.
It was almost time for the men of the village to wake up. The sun was peeking over the hills casting long shadows into their lows. Behind one hill was the village, she could see the smoke rising from the chimneys of the early wives, lofting into the morning sky. The dew of the wheat fields glistened in the sunlight, sparkling like sleeping fairies. Shadows were cast onto the ground by the billowing cumulus clouds floating above her. Beryl was well aware that she may never see this sight again; she basked in its glory, possibly for the last time. She turned back to the gate, and turned the key.
The weather beaten tumblers of the lock creaked and screamed as they turned and twisted for the first time since their creation. With a powerful shove, Beryl forced the gate-the gate that was never intended to be opened-wide. Her long shadow stretched between the two gargantuan oaks on either side of the small unused path leading into the forest. Again, for the second time in her life, a considerable wind rushed towards her from the center of the forest, blowing the oak leaves into her face and blowing back her long, brown hair behind her. Beryl picked up her heavily burdened pack from next to her and slung it over her shoulder. She sang a village prayer-
God save us everyone.
Will we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns?
for the sins of our hand, sins of our tongue,
sins of our fathers, sins of our young?
With one last, deep breath. Beryl stepped forward. Again, she was not afraid. Full of fierce determination, she closed the gate behind her, locked it, and walked forward into the place of the village children's nightmares.
The heavy gate would never be opened again.
So, DID YOU LIKE? I know it was really short but don't worry, this will probably be the only chappy that's this short.
If you did, please review! or fav! or rate! or comment! (I LOVE ANY FEEDBACK POSSIBLE!)
Next chapter coming soon!
