Fragile

by SoThereWasThisRaccoon

An AU where Vincent appears at the Baskerville gate instead of the Nightray gate as a child. Traumatized by the Tragedy of Sablier that he inadvertently caused and his own self-hatred, Fang, Lottie, and the other Baskervilles try to help him recover while trying to gather the rest of their lost comrades, including Gilbert, so that they can reawaken their leader, Glen Baskerville.

The sounds of roaring fire and blood-curdling screams. The scent of burning flesh and cinder. Blood from their stab wounds blossomed through their clothing like roses. His eyes burned from the raining ashes to the point he where couldn't even cry anymore. He didn't think his life could get any worse, but even fate seemed to hate him.

Hate wasn't a foreign concept to Vincent. His parents yelled it at him more times than he could count. They preferred to lock him away so no one could see him. Once he was able to take care of himself, they just ignored him. When they heard they could sell him for money, they didn't pass up the opportunity. They cursed him. They called him a monster, and for what? For having a physical trait he couldn't control or get rid of, no matter how much he wanted to. Yes, he understood hate very well.

The townspeople were even worse. They called him a Child of Misfortune and told him he would bring disaster to them. The townspeople threw rocks at and did other horrible things to him. He could have succumbed to this learned helplessness, but he didn't because of him. Vincent didn't understand why he protected him and stayed by his side. He wasn't worth it. Out of everyone in the cruel world, he never wanted Gilbert to suffer. He assumed that his big brother hated him like everyone else, but he didn't. Gilbert was the first person who said, "I love you" to him. It was the first time his heart felt neither pain nor hatred. Once he felt it, he never wanted to let it go.

Gil...He only wanted to save him. He wanted to protect him for once. He wanted to prove to himself -and maybe even to the world -that he could save someone, instead of making them suffer. The red-haired woman told him to open the gate to stop the ceremony that would turn Gil into the next vessel for Glen, the leader of the Baskervilles. Gil would die, and he couldn't let that happen.

But like everything else in his life, something went wrong.

When he reawakened after opening the gate to only find this destruction and mass genocide, something in him snapped. Everything else that followed was a blur. He remembered falling and falling. Wherever he ended up, he knew he would never need hope again.

He was a monster that caused suffering, just like they all said.

And so, the city known as Sablier drowned in the despair of the Abyss. For years to come, this unfortunate event would be infamously known as the Tragedy of Sablier.