So, I read the books a long time ago and now I'm watching the Netflix series. I really like it, and it's inspired me to do a new fic based in the ASOUE world. Basically, the orphans learn that VFD was an international organization. At this point, several nation's branches of VFD have turned dark and are at war with the branches that stayed light. If one more country falls, the entire war could be lost, and VFD will become a fully dark organization. Enough with the backstory, time to start the real story.
Oh yeah, I don't own ASOUE. Please don't sue me.
Pruffrock Preparatory School
October 13th, 1934
Outside London, Great Britain
12:03 am
Isadora was just beginning to calm down. Count Olaf hadn't found them in the library, and he'd only left the hook-handed man outside as a guard. Her breathing slowed back to normal pace. Suddenly, she thought of something. The Baudelaires were still studying in their shack. They had no idea that she and Duncan had failed.
She turned toward her brother.
"Duncan" Isadora whispered.
But her brother payed her no attention. He was staring at the lower rack of a book cart next to them. She followed his gaze, her eyes finally landing on a thick book with golden lettering.
The Incomplete History of Secret Organizations
The book that the Baudelaires had been looking for earlier that week. Duncan suddenly snapped out of his trance. He grabbed the book firmly and placed it in between Isadora and himself.
"Duncan" Isadora whispered again. "The Baudelaires don't know we failed. They're still researching"
Duncan looked over at Isadora.
"Count Olaf doesn't know they're in their shack. Besides, I was thinking of doing some research ourselves"
Isadora mindlessly stuck her hand in her pocket. She felt something cold and metallic touch her hand. She grabbed it and pulled it out. The complete spyglass. Not that it would be any help. Spyglasses didn't help you read in the dark. Suddenly, the eye symbol on the end of the spyglass flipped open, allowing a beam of light to escape.
Isadora quickly covered the end of the spyglass. She knew that the hook-handed man could have seen the light through the fogged glass doors.
"We can't do our research here. Let's find the Baudelaires and research with them" she declared.
Duncan nodded as Isadora put away the spyglass. He looked around for a few moments, eventually settling his gaze on a very large ventilation shaft that was missing its grate. He gestured toward the pile of books in front of the shaft.
Isadora nodded and crawled silently toward the pile. She carefully removed the books and placed them off to the side. She made a waving motion to Duncan. He crawled less silently toward the grate.
Together, with the book, they climbed into the ventilation ducts and went to find the shack.
Violet could feel her eyes drooping as she flipped the 501st page of her textbook, her brother snoring lightly next to her. What was the title of... Suddenly, she heard the sound of a man walking outside. He seemed to pause in front of their door. There was the low sound of something hitting the pavement and scuttling past. Whoever was out there, this got their attention. Violet let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding as she heard the man walk away to investigate.
A few minutes earlier...
Duncan crawled through the ventilation duct, his sister close behind. He paused for a moment, feeling the wind travel through the tunnel. They were near an exit. Isadora poked him, reminding him to keep moving. Duncan put his hand out, motioning for her to stop moving. He climbed toward the exit.
There was a grate covering this exit, which was unfortunate. Duncan could see the shack through the bars. Across the way, he saw another ventilation duct. A ventilation duct which didn't have bars covering it.
Duncan moved his foot to crawl back toward his sister, but he accidentally hit the metal, causing a racket. He knew that any moment, Count Olaf or one of his goons would come running into the area.
Duncan tried to move himself back into the darkness, but soon realized he was stuck. Duncan could now hear footsteps approaching the courtyard. Helplessly, he motioned to his sister to go around to the next building over.
She understood the gist of it, and silently took off through the tunnels. The footsteps were louder now. Loud enough that they could probably be heard from within the orphan shack. Duncan's eyes widened as Count Olaf stepped into the courtyard.
He was suddenly hit with a thought. Olaf was searching for the Baudelaires as well as he and Isadora. Olaf probably thought that the Baudelaires had caused the noise. After all, it was near their shack.
Duncan watched in sheer terror as Olaf stepped toward the Baudelaires' door. He looked across the way toward the open ventilation shaft. He saw Isadora poke her head out and, although he couldn't see her facial expression, knew that she had probably drawn a similar conclusion to his own.
Isadora suddenly looked down at the ground. Duncan didn't understand what she was doing until she picked up a small rock. He felt his mouth turn upwards. He saw Isadora climb farther out of the tunnel, risky, but if her idea worked, it would be worth it.
Isadora now had enough room to freely move her arms. She pulled her arm back with the rock as far as she could. Suddenly, with all her power, she chucked the rock toward the distant ground. The rock hit the ground, making a footstep-like sound.
Count Olaf turned away from the door and walked in the direction of the sound.
Duncan breathed a sigh of relief, then turned his attention back to the fact that he was stuck. He tried to move again, but still couldn't go more than a few inches. He looked around, could find nothing that would help him get free. Then it hit him. He hadn't checked the ventilation grate yet.
He reached his fingers through the bars on the duct, trying to find the screws. He found the first one and wiggled it. It was loose. He slowly twisted the screw until it fell out of its socket.
He heard footsteps, and quickly retracted his hand back inside the vent. He now peered out of the ventilation grate. Seeing that it was just Isadora, who had by now climbed out of the other tunnel, Duncan tried to get his fingers around the next screw. Unfortunately, he couldn't quite reach it.
Isadora was now at the grate, only the bars separating them. She quickly unscrewed the other screw and removed the grate. Duncan crawled out slowly.
He looked at her, whispered "We've gotta keep going. We're safer in the shack than out here". Isadora nodded her head slightly.
Klaus stirred from his sleep. He looked around, found the outline of his glasses. He reached out for them, putting them over his eyes. His good sight returned and he groggily sat up. He saw that Violet had a book in her lap, but she wasn't looking at it. She was staring directly at the door.
"Violet, what...?" He began, but she quickly put her hand over his mouth. She began speaking, so low that Klaus could barely hear her. "Someone was walking around out there. I think it was Count Olaf" she whispered. Klaus's eyes widened at the mention of the Count, but he shut up.
Klaus paused, was about to speak again, but he heard footsteps. Violet must have heard them too. "He's coming back!" she hissed.
Klaus looked for something, anything he could use as a weapon. The best he could do was pick up one of the crabs off the ground and get ready to throw it.
Violet rolled her eyes, but could do any better. Sighing, she also grabbed a crab and pulled her arm back.
The footsteps were louder now. And it sounded like two people. Count Olaf must have brought back one of his goons.
The Baudelaires heard the people stop at their door. Violet pulled back her crab so it was now dangling upside down. Someone on the outside grabbed the doorknob and began to turn it. Klaus took careful aim.
The door opened and someone stepped into the room. Isadora. Followed by Duncan. Klaus quickly put his crab down. He, Isadora, and Duncan burst out laughing. Violet was so shocked that it wasn't Count Olaf that she held her pose. Eventually the crab in her hand got tired of being held upside down.
It pinched her finger, snapping her out of her trance. She immediately relaxed, despite the fact that her finger was bleeding. Isadora shut the door. Violet stood up and ran over to Duncan. She hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad you're not Count Olaf" Violet mumbled. Isadora giggled and looked at Klaus. He felt his face turn a bit red. "Hi" he said shyly, and gave her a little wave. She gave him a little wave back, feeling her own cheeks heat up.
Violet stopped hugging Duncan, and stepped back a little. Realization crossed her face. "Why are you guys here?" She asked quietly. Isadora gave a small smirk. "We found this" she said, pulling out The Incomplete History of Secret Organizations.
The Baudelaires' eyes visibly increased in size. Klaus quickly searched around for a table. He spotted an old folding table in a corner of the hut. He unfolded it and Isadora gently placed the book on it.
Violet grabbed the book gently and flipped through the pages. "How will we know what to look for?" She asked. Isadora fingered the spyglass in her pocket. Slowly, she pulled it out. "We use this" she said. "That?" Violet questioned. "Yes" Isadora replied.
Duncan rolled his eyes. "How is that going to help us?" He asked. Isadora put the spyglass down on the table. "I don't know. I just feel like it will" she replied. Klaus picked up the spyglass and inspected it. He tried twisting it a couple different ways. He then set it back on the table.
"I agree with Isadora" Klaus declared. "I think it will help us find whatever we need to know" Duncan rolled his eyes. "That's only because you like my sister" he said dismissively. Klaus turned as red as a tomato. "I DON'T" he said. Isadora visibly flinched when Klaus said this.
Violet rolled her eyes. "Why don't we just figure it out?" She asked. Everyone nodded and Klaus opened the book to the table of contents. There were about 500 possible options. "Where the hell are we supposed to start?" Duncan wondered.
Klaus put his hand on the spyglass. He began turning pieces of it in different directions. He flipped open the eye symbol on the end of the spyglass, keeping it on the table. There was no longer any light coming from the end.
Isadora was paying attention to the book, and felt a sudden need for the spyglass. Without looking, she grabbed at the spyglass. She ended up grabbing Klaus's hand instead. It was that moment when Duncan looked up from the book. "Aha! You do like my sister! Holding hands behind my back is a 100% guarantee!" Klaus waited a moment, but dropped her hand. Isadora was disappointed.
After Duncan turned back to the book, Klaus held out his palm with the spyglass in it. Isadora made a grab for it, but accidentally turned one of the sections. A low purple glow emanated from the end of the spyglass.
Isadora pointed the purple beam at the table of contents. Violet and Duncan jumped back from the beam, but were curious to see what would happen. Slowly, the beam began to eat away at the page. A specific topic and page number were cut into the page.
VFD pg.3782
Violet began flipping through until she reached page 3782. It took a while, but she found the page and the header VFD.
VFD
Article written September 23rd, 1892
VFD is an international organization. The original meaning of the letters VFD was volunteer fire department. Their goal was literally to put out fires, and the members of the organization were called 'volunteers'. The actual organization originated in the 13th century to deal with the high flamability of buildings in those days, but since the Seven Years' War, it has also acted as an armed peacekeeping force. It doesn't have the top military tech, but as far as militia groups go, it keeps up with the times and actually has its own unique uniforms. Recently, some volunteers decided to start lighting fires instead of fighting them. They have a habit of burning rich people and then trying to adopt their children for control of their money. Unfortunately, this looks good to people. Slowly, the ranks of many nation's VFD groups has decreased as they join the dark side. This has sparked a global war between the fire fighting side and the fire lighting side. There have already been 20,000 casualties, and VFD has fallen completely to the dark in several nations. These include Russia, Germany, Sweden, the Ottoman Empire, and China. There is no foreseeable end to this conflict, but resistance against the dark is strongest in these countries:
1) The United States
2) France
3) Great Britain
4) Argentina
5) Canada
6) Australia
7) Egypt
8) India
VFD is a very righteous organization, and before joining, you must know the difference between uniforms for dark and light. Each country's VFD uniform is a little different, but soldiers for the fire-fighting side can always be identified by the blue cuffs on their coats and their helmets which are based on the British Military. Soldiers on the fire-lighting side wear a red strap across their chest and wear a black plastic cap on their heads.
The organization may sound militaristic, but it is really an organization that is all about knowledge. They are big on secret codes and difficult definitions. They believe that your brain is the greatest weapon you can ever be given.
Klaus shut the book and looked up at his sister, friend, and (crush?). "Count Olaf must be working with the fire-lighting side in some way" he declared. Everyone nodded. "It's going to be really dangerous to try and stop him if he has an army behind him" Duncan stated. "Not if we get an army behind us" Violet responded. "Then where is the army? They said that Britain had one of the highest resistance to bad guys rates" Isadora stated. Klaus looked at her. "That article was written in 1892. Britain could have easily fallen by then."
Violet looked over at Duncan and Isadora. "I agree with Klaus. If they haven't come for us yet, it's probably because we're stuck in enemy territory. We're alone in Britain. We need to arm ourselves and find that army. In most situations, your enemy will start hunting you as soon as you are on to him" she said. Isadora looked at her. "We need to leave the country for sure, it's illegal to own a gun in Britain. We need to go to a country that it's legal to own a gun in, and where there are friendly forces." She said. Duncan and Klaus nodded in agreement. Klaus began slowly. "A bunch of these countries are part of the British Empire and will have similar laws about guns. I have no idea what the gun laws are in France and Argentina, but I know that the Americans have relatively few gun restrictions. I think the United States is our best bet." He said. The others agreed as well. "We need to make legal travel plans, but we have to keep them from Count Olaf. It would suck to be stuck on an ocean liner with him for a month" Duncan said. "This is going to be really difficult, and we probably won't survive" Klaus said.
Isadora heard that they probably wouldn't survive. She didn't care. Her feelings for Klaus were more than a simple crush, like Duncan thought. She would follow Klaus to Mars if he asked her to. She had only met him at the start of this semester, but Isadora Quagmire knew that she was in love with Klaus Baudelaire.
However, she did realize that they probably wouldn't all survive. She knew that she very well could be the one to die, and she mulled it over in her head. What was more important? Making sure that Klaus knew she loved him or making sure that Duncan wouldn't be angry at Klaus over something he didn't control. She decided the former.
Duncan had just finished talking about a bunch of different ways they could mess up and die. Klaus let out a sigh and started thinking to himself. He got a glimpse of Isadora. She was beautiful. He knew that he felt more for her than simple sexual attraction (although he definitely felt that for her too). He had only known her since the start of semester, but Klaus Baudelaire knew that he loved Isadora Quagmire. He would follow her to hell if she asked him to. He knew that there was an extremely high chance that one or more of the people in this group would die. He mused in his head. He could easily be the one to die. What was more important? Making sure Isadora knew she was loved or making sure that his death wasn't because Duncan overreacted to himself being in love with his sister. Klaus chose the former.
At the same time, Klaus and Isadora took a deep breath and addressed the other.
"Klaus"
"Isadora"
Isadora giggled.
"You go first" she said.
They now had Duncan and Violet's full attention. Klaus took a deep breath.
"I need to talk to you outside" Klaus said
Isadora smiled at him.
"Funny. I was going to ask you the same thing" she said.
Klaus checked just outside the doorway. There was no Count Olaf.
He led Isadora outside and closed the door.
Inside the hut, Duncan looked up at Violet. "That was weird" he said. "Yeah it was" Violet agreed. There was a long pause. Duncan found himself staring, and forced himself to look away. For some reason he started humming the "look away" song. He knew that he felt more for Violet than simple sexual attraction (although their hug earlier had made him super horny). He had only known Violet since the start of semester, but he knew that he was in love with her. The question was whether he would rather tell Violet that she was loved or keep his friendship with Klaus before he died. Duncan chose the latter.
Violet looked over at Duncan. She sighed. She knew that she might die on this adventure, but she also knew that she loved Duncan. However, she didn't know how a relationship between her and Duncan would affect his friendship with Klaus. Was is worth the risk? Would she rather tell Duncan she loved him or have him keep Klaus as a friend? Violet chose the latter.
After the door shut, Klaus grabbed Isadora's hand in his own. Though unknown to the other, both of their hearts did a leap at the same time. Klaus led her out of earshot of anyone inside the shack. "You go first this time" he told her. Isadora shook her head. "Nah. We'll say it at the same time on three" she said. "Okay" Klaus agreed. "One, Two, Three" they both blurted out "I love you" at the exact same time. About a second after, Isadora grabbed his head and shoved her lips onto his own. And Klaus kissed her back. Life couldn't get much better than this.
Isadora and Klaus breathed through their noses so that they could extend the kiss as long as they wanted. They were standing there for a VERY long time. Eventually, Isadora pulled away. "Let's go back now" she said to him quietly.
Duncan saw the door open again about a half hour after Isadora and Klaus left. Violet had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Klaus and Isadora were holding hands and they sat down together on Klaus's bed. "What was that about?" Duncan asked. Isadora looked shyly at Klaus, then shoved her lips onto his as hard as she possibly could. "Oh" said Duncan when they stopped kissing after about 30 seconds. "Erm... I need my rest for tomorrow" said Duncan. "Goodnight" he said. Duncan closed his eyes and lay on the small couch, Violet propped against him. Isadora crawled under Klaus's covers, and fell asleep next to him.
Several hours later, all of them would be awoken by Carmelita Spats and her terrible performance.
