Grow for Me
"I've given you sunshine
I've given you rain
Looks like you're not happy
Unless I open a vein"
/
Marth raises a maneater.
Notes:
Chapters should get longer eventually. But the first few will be babies. Please bear with me, I haven't writen a fanfic in years. My gears are rusty, aha.
Prologue
(Green Thoughts)
On the twenty-first day of the month of September
in an early year of a decade not too long before our own,
the human race suddenly encountered a deadly threat to its very existence.
And this terrifying enemy surfaced, as such enemies often do,
in the seemingly most innocent and unlikely of places
"My name is Sergeant Belmont. Working the twenty-four hour shift on a homicide, and this is my workshop. The part of town that everybody knows about but nobody wants to see. Where the tragedy is deeper, the ecstasy is wilder, and the crime rate is consistently higher than anywhere else.
Skid row.
But homicide alone wasn't the only darkness lurking in the back allies. There was something much deeper than that-something even darker than the silent nights where the worst of events unfolded.
Creatures of the night with a thirst for blood have made themselves comfortable here in skid row. Preying on people already down on their luck-waiting in the shadows with sharp teeth that could tear your flesh straight off of your body as they licked your bones clean.
The streets had taken to calling them 'vampires,' and me? I'm the guy stuck cleaning up the city.
I-"
"And in other news! For our daylight deprived indoor dwellers, there was a total eclipse of the sun today! Wow, can you believe that? Since the event earlier today, there has been an onslaught of reports of supernatural activity around the city
The local authorities are asking for all persons with such inquiries to please call a scientist instead of the police department.
Moving on! Local scientists appear to have gone missing! Reports of unanswered phone calls have been streaming in since-"
With nothing more than an unceremonious click, the tiny restaurant went nearly silent-save for the clamor in the kitchen and hustle and bustle outside.
It wasn't like anyone besides the owner was really listening anyway. There were only four people in the building-and it could barely cater to twelve at most-and two of those people were the owners, a man named Chrom and his daughter, Lucina. The third person was kid skipping school, and the fourth was a regular-neither of which had come for anything other than a drink.
Chrom spoke from behind the counter to no one in particular, "Jeez, not much good on the radio today, is there? I'm tellin' ya, it's all those supernatural radio dramas that have people imagining ghosts in the street! You know the exact same thing happened in Castlevania just last week? A solar eclipse, I mean."
"Huh? Oh...how strange." the regular, a young woman named Peach, replied.
She had honestly tuned out at the mention of Sergeant Belmont. Their part of town was already bad enough. Why anyone would go out of their way to imagine it even worse was beyond her.
"Right? What a coincidence. I'm sure later we'll be hearing about vampire attacks that happened while the sky was dark."
Lucina popped up from behind the counter and grabbed herself a drink from the fridge. "I don't know, Dad. A total eclipse does seem like the perfect time for bloodsuckers to suddenly appear."
The girl whirled her apron in front of her like a cape. "You know. Bleh!"
Chrom and his daughter both laughed, and, despite herself, Peach couldn't help but laugh a little herself.
"Maybe the next story could be something a little nicer? Like...plants from outer space!"
The laugher grew louder. At the very least satisfied the mood had become a little lighter, Peach stood up and passed her cup of tea across the counter to Chrom. He and Lucina were so happy together, and seeing them together as a family always brightened Peach's spirits on her days free from work.
"Speaking of plants…"
"Headed out so soon?"
"Uh huh! I got a call from Mr. Lowell earlier about some strange new plant he bought today, and he asked me to come check it out."
"You and Marth aren't working on your days off again, are you?"
Already at the door, Peach turned around and waved goodbye. "Of course not! Plants are are his hobby too, you know!"
That, and she didn't know if Mr. Lowell had ever had a day off in his entire life.
