A long oneshot written inspired by FMG's steampunk au in her ResBang and the Bell Tower at my school~
Special thanks to fullmetalgrigori and keysamoguri for letting me spill my plot bunnies~ (very massive special thanks to fmg who beta'd this story)
Enjoy~
She was four when she met him and he was five.
Their families took a small tour on the same day at the same time at the same place. They found each other at a bell tower that hadn't played for centuries, for no one could figure out the controls or power the steam technology. Although, on that day, the bells began to chime again. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
They'd never once laid eyes on each other nor met before that moment. When they collided paths one cloudy afternoon under the arch of the entrance, their hearts sparked. They twined their fingers together and smiled knowingly, like the universe gave them a secret only they could ever hope to find. They didn't need to learn names, for what four and five year old wants to be burdened by formalities?
As their families walked around the building just below the bell tower, they slipped away. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
They climbed the stairs that were blocked off from the public eye, curious of the soft orange glow that came from fake candles on the side of the brick walls. Their feet carried them side by side and not one of them was faster than the other. Songs were sung and giggles echoed through the corridor.
When they reached the top of the tower- and mind you, it was a very tall tower—they came across a wooden door, open and inviting. They slipped in and closed the door. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
They entered an open place in the sky. It was like the clouds were in reach and the heavens themselves came down the greet them. The girl gently touched the boy's hand and they separated. She circled the strange place with a machine in the middle, eyeing the bells that towered above her. He went to the device itself, stroking the little knobs and keys that he found to be like piano keys. He pressed each one, imagining a tune as he poked each button.
She noticed a large lever to the side of the machine and called the boy over, pointing at the handle. They grabbed it, placing their hands on top of each other as they pulled then pushed downwards. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
Suddenly, a loud rumble shot through the building. It shook the floor under their feet and their hearts trembled. The girl felt soft arms envelop her and she pressed her face against the boy's shoulders. His eyes were shut and he gripped her hand tightly.
"I won't let you go. I'll protect you." Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
The girl nodded once, then twice, then vigorously shook her head up and down with her jaw set and her feet spread beneath her. She embraced him with her free arm and she spoke with a firm voice, "I'll protect you, too."
Then there was nothing. The sky stopped shaking and the ground became stable. They both fell to their knees, their foreheads touched and they were still locked together with their eyes sealed shut. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
The boy heard small gears turn and he couldn't risk a peek. He listened to the machine beside him whirl to life and steam whistling while it exited, warming up the air. He dared a glance above him and saw one of the bells move ever so slightly. He shook the girl's shoulder and pointed to the bronze. She peeled an eyelid back and saw the boy first, shaking his hands excitingly as his face lit with exhilaration.
A second later, the bells started playing in harmony. It ran through them like an electric current and pulled them towards each other as if they were magnetized. The vibrations were calming and soothing but loud to their sensitive ears. A song that was only theirs played for all to hear. Their ruby and emerald eyes met and sparkled. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
It was only after the song ended that their families found them, cuddling on the floor and filthy with dust. Their families apologized to each other, then to the tour guide, and finally made their children apologize too.
They separated that afternoon but their hearts felt lighter. He would never forget the beautiful forest that shone like emeralds in his eyes and she would never forget the flames that glistened like rubies in hers.
They met again when she was fifteen and he was sixteen.
Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
They both never forgot the jewels they found six years ago. Individually, they wandered through the halls of the bell tower often as they grew up, hoping to find each other against all odds. When they finally found something familiar evening in the rose garden beside the bell tower, they collided once more.
Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
They snuck into the bell tower every night for a year since that day where they exchanged anecdotes and tales of their lives. They talked about anything and everything, letting each other into their lives and welcoming the other's as well.
He found out that she was nobility and he told her he was too. They both lived in separate neighborhoods and belonged to different social groups within the wealthy circle. Her family was new money and his was old. Neither truly fit into their rightful place in their cruel world. They were too soft and warm to survive where people made each other suffer. They were too kind for such a life.
She told him her favorite flower was the euphorbia milii, because they were as red as his eyes. They were small and fleeting like the children they used to be, yet they were as bold and dynamic as his impact on her heart. They were the crown of thorns that latched onto her forever. His poison ran through her veins, incurable and eternal, but she welcomed it.
She learned his favorite flower was the helleborus viridis, because they were as green as her eyes. They were small and blossomed for only a fleeting time in the coldest season of the year, like her impact on his heart. They were the winter roses that held unspoiled elegance. Her poison was said to have the ability to summon demons and was powerful enough to kill Alexander the Great, causing madness and insanity, but he welcomed it.
It was only after a year that they realized they didn't know each other's names—so they shook hands. She was Maka and he was Soul.
He almost wanted her to keep her name hidden forever, lest he wake up from this dream and she'd vanish from his memory. He told her his worries and she swatted his arm, giggling at his absurd confession.
She whispered, "Even if you forget, I won't let you go."
Midnight struck at that moment. The bell tower sang their song that his younger self created and etched into the gears forevermore. The melody rang through their hearts like it did every night since that day eleven years ago.
The crown of thorns and the winter rose merged their poison that night. They didn't know who leaned in first or how their hands became tangled again. All they knew was that they became toxic and that nothing tasted sweeter.
Two years later, they took a stroll in the rose garden beside the bell tower. She was eighteen and he was nineteen. Their grassy path was lit by the blue glow of the full moon and Maka's cheeks were tinted pink.
They sat in the center of the garden's maze, surrounded by deep red roses, still hand in hand.
She asked him what his favorite season was and he told her it was spring, for it was dyed in her color and laced with her voice. It was the season of new life and she was his new beginning.
Soul watched her flush with a deeper shade of carmine and brushed the lovely tint with his thumb. He saw tiny snowflakes begin to descend, swirling around them in contrast to the darkness of their clothes. A single speck gently kissed her cheek and it transformed, slipping under his thumb.
He asked her what her favorite season was and she told him it was winter, for this was a moment they shared and she could never forget.
The next night, she stumbled into the open top of the bell tower, where he waited like he always had. Tears pricked her eyes at the sight of him and she gathered all of him in her arms. They held each other for what seemed like hours. Their knees gave out as soon as he silenced her hiccups with his lips and he dragged them over her swollen eyelids.
He whispered to her, but in the still of the night, it was almost deafening to her tuned senses. She answered his questions one by one with her unsteady, raw voice.
She was a noblewoman and he was a nobleman; it was a fate they never wanted. Her eyes clouded over once more. There were duties that nobles must do. She choked over her words. One of their many troubles finally caught up to her. He coaxed the last answer out of her.
She was of age to partake in a union between two families. She slowly brought her dainty hands to her sorrow-streaked face. He glared grimly at the wooden floor of the bell tower and he admitted that he received similar news only a few days ago.
Soul closed his fingers over hers and tapped his forehead once against hers. He rubbed the knots out of her back and then pressed himself against her tightly. His voice carried to her petite ears, drifting along the same breeze that carried snow to their feet.
He was a nobleman and she was a noblewoman; it was a fate they never wanted, but perhaps something could become right. He traced his thin fingers down her back. There were duties that nobles must do. He nearly sung each phrase. One of their many troubles may finally be good for them. He coaxed his irrational dreams to deliver to her.
What if they had been promised to each other?
He couldn't accept any answer other than the one he crafted for her sake. He had gone into a blind fury only a few days ago, howling until he lost his voice. He spoke no words that night when he met her at the top of the bell tower except the love he gave through peppering her body with kisses.
He cried again after Maka left him for the safety of her covers. He brought his knees to his chest and sat beside the machine that powered the bell tower. He wished for a miracle, for she was a beautiful winter rose and he was but a mere thorn latched to her side.
Later that summer, they each found the name of their new fiancés.
It wasn't Soul. It wasn't Maka.
They wept that night, wild and primitive as their hearts were shattered to hell. Their screams traveled above and bounced off the bronze bells of the bell tower and they vibrated with them.
Their toxin began to spread through their bodies as each one was racked with pain, noxious and too hot for the summer night. She was by no means lucid with her desires but she met his flame-licked rubies with her woe-filled emeralds. She pleaded silently to him, praying her poison had already spread and tainted his mind.
She wasn't disappointed.
He pulled her closer, luring out shivers despite the warmth of the air. He captured her trembling lip and they mixed, becoming deadly and polluting. She allowed his hands to wander like the many stolen nights they'd shared. She whispered to the air of the vile corruptions she wished he was bold enough to inflict. She desired for his color to dye hers before she became impure.
Who was he to deny her?
He moved his attention to her neck, stroking the flames of their passion until she gripped his hair with lust. He tore her thin, summer dress away from her pale skin as she ripped his loose, white shirt away from his chest. Her own sins traveled deeper down his torso and she whispered again of the blight she would infect upon his flesh.
They casted away their finery until they were bare before each other.
She asked him in that moment to escape with her, before she was wedded to another being. She begged him to run away from their languid world of nobles and to lead her astray of her duties.
He devoted himself to her in that moment, enticed by her for all she was.
"I won't let you go. I'll protect you."
"I'll protect you, too."
They resolved to liberate themselves on the night before her twentieth birthday, on the eve of the new year. They rooted themselves into each other, letting their toxins collide as the summer heat became too much for them to bear.
The bell tower rang as they drenched themselves in poison.
They met secretly for the last time on the eve of her birthday. She was twenty and he was twenty one.
Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
They both never forgot the jewels they found sixteen years ago. Together, they wandered through the halls of the bell tower like they had done as they were growing up when they found each other against all odds. When they reached the rose garden beside the bell tower, they collided once more, prolonging their lingering heat as the sun rose behind them.
Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
She approached the arch of the entrance first, gathering her dress in her fists as it dragged on the snowy pathway.
She slipped into the warmth of the lobby and turned left immediately. The way to Soul was engraved into her feet and she carried herself to the top of the tower where her lover was bound to be waiting. She saw the light fall of snow drift through the open door—as it always was- and slipped inside, hearing it click as the breeze closed it behind her. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
She walked around the bells of the tower after seeing that he hadn't arrived yet. She sighed with relief, for it gave her time to relax before they absconded, leaving their old life forever. She sat on the wooden floor, surrounded by snow and ice.
Midnight came and the bell tower began to chime the song he carved into the tower when he was only five years old. It tinkled and boomed above her in harmony. She looked to her right and saw sparks igniting—but this time, it wasn't from her heart. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
The machine smoked soot rather than steam and it screeched in discord. A spark and a glint of light later, the machine became aflame.
The flames descended to the wooden floor of the top of the bell tower, undeterred by the layer of frost that melted instantly. The vapor had no effect on the heat of the ever-growing fire. Her long dress caught aflame and she ran to the door, pushing the gateway with her frantic hands. It didn't budge, not once. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
The inferno licked her ankles and she became engulfed in smog.
He trudged through the thick sleet and he went a little faster after he heard the bells sing as they always did. He sighed with content as he came closer to Maka, but he hesitated for a second- something was amiss. The bell tower in front of him seemed to glow orange like a beacon and it was almost screaming, fitting with the song's mood, but... screaming? Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
The screams became louder and desperate as he came closer to the building. He lightly jogged to the arch of the entrance and then sprinted the last few meters. Black exhaust swirled around him and he witnessed the fire growing, writhing and twisting around the tower.
He screamed her name and pounded at the door under the archway. He felt Maka perishing in the sea of flames in the sky, shining like the explosion of a dying star. He kicked and clawed at the entrance, but it was locked shut. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
A loud crack shot through the winter night and a small tremor hit the earth underneath him. He tripped backwards, falling to the ground and looked up in time to see the embers flicker above him.
The tip of the tower loomed over him and seemed to come closer to him. He saw a figure falling and he was mesmerized by the sight. It was as if heaven and earth were meeting once more. He felt ash rain unto his face, then was hit by the weight of bricks that cascaded from the sky. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
Bells clanged and smashed together around him, crumbling to bits as they met with ice. He clutched his head and then she crashed on top of him. Her legs were eaten away by the blaze. Her dress still smoked from the collision of embers and snow. He dragged her away from the wreckage and into the maze of the rose garden beside the bell tower.
His head pounded and scarlet dripped from his hair to the frost. He collapsed next to her in the center of the garden, too dizzy to see the blaze spreading to every bush of roses beside them. It slowly encompassed them, trapping them in a fury of burning roses and thorns. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
He traced his shaking fingers down her face and she moaned with agony. He pressed his forehead against hers and he whispered into her ear. "I won't let you go. I will protect you."
She peeled back a single eyelid and she smiled softly at him, urging his hand to rest on her cheek. "I'll protect you, too." They closed their eyes for the last time as the thorny rose garden claimed them. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
Officials spread word that in the morning after the fire, two bodies were found in the ashes of the rose garden, only a few meters away from the remains of the bell tower. Their scarred bodies were beyond medical help and were too unrecognizable to identify. Their souls were gone before their earthly forms were discovered.
Workers reported that the top had not been accessed for sixteen years, for the wooden door had always been locked. It opened for the first time after two children snuck to the top a decade ago, but it never opened again. Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.
Others believed in the legends that revolved around the remains of the bell tower: Whenever the light of the full moon struck the top of the bell tower, it was possible to spot the silhouette of two mysterious individuals who appeared precisely at midnight. Residents believed that the ghosts of two young lovers haunted the bells. The door at the top was supposed to open only to those sneaking away to meet each other in secrecy, assisted by the woeful spirits. After the night of the fire, bypassers whispered of the mysterious tune that used to play every night at twelve o'clock for sixteen years- up until the inferno consumed the bells. It was as though the silence was cursing the city with the couple's sorrows. No one had an explanation for the two bodies that laid in center of the incinerated rose garden.
They never rebuilt the bell tower after the fire consumed it nor did another flower bloom on the blackened plot.
Call it fate if you will but there are no such things as accidents in this world.