Short: AU, Ikarishipping with other mainstream shippings as well, and also some less mainstream shipping such as Penguinshipping and ShootsDownShipping. Or maybe it is mainstream and I just don't know about it, or whatever. Characters are OOC. I don't own pokemon and hope you enjoy reading :3
CRIMSON HEROES
Summary
Seventeen year old Paul Blackwell has an uncanny relationship with death. His family died when he was born. And three succeeding families that tried to adopt him all died as well. Wherever he goes, people just die around him. He ran away from his foster home to know what he really is, only to find out that he shouldn't even exist in the first place. Reunited with his siblings he never knew he had, series of tragedies start to weave before them. How can he accept himself if he's just one mad killing machine slaved to an old-aged prophecy? If nothing can stop him from becoming to what he is destined to be, how could a plain and simple girl save him and the world?
Prologue
"Johanna..."
"Johanna wake up.."
It was in the middle of the night. A cold familiar voice woke Johanna up. She flung her eyes open after recognizing the voice.
The voice was ragged, hoarse and full of dread. And the fact that it came from someone who died made it all the more worse.
"Alder!" Johanna hissed. She sat up and gathered her blanket around her defensively. She tried to locate where the sound came from.
"You're supposed to be dead ten years ago!"
"A devil emperor doesn't perish that easily." The eerie voice replied. The devil emperor's presence darkened Johanna's room even more, creating a heavy and sickening atmosphere. "But basically I'm dead. I can't do anything other than just talk to you. This is just my last remaining essence."
"Last remaining essence?" The baffled bluenette questioned.
"Don't mind it for now."
The hairs on Johanna's skin stood up as she felt something creeping up close to her, a cold eerie gust brushed past her.
"Listen." Alder continued. "The children, save them, please. Jhon is planning to dispose them by morning."
"WHAT?!"
"Ssshh..." Alder cut her off. "I've seen you take care of them and I know just how close they are to you. Please."
"But I believe father wouldn't do such a thing!" Johanna retorted. "I..I mean he may have done some nasty things to them, but he would never kill them!"
"Your father have gone crazy! Those experiments, have you even seen them yourself? How could anyone subject children to those kind of paraphernalia? Your father has gone mad, he's no longer human."
Johanna cast her blue eyes down at the memories of her father bringing the children to their isolated chambers where their cries would haunt the castle all day.
She bit the insides of her cheek.
For a voice that was coming from the king of all devils, worry and concern was glued in the echoes of his voice. Even such ruthless creatures were capable of worrying and concern.
"I've seen demons and humans in all shapes and sizes for years, and your father is the worst of your kind."
Johanna stood up from her bed and slipped her feet inside her slippers. With her sleeping gown, she wrapped her favorite red scarf around her neck and rushed outside of her room towards the basement floor of the castle where the seven children were kept.
"What do you want me to do?" She asked as she made her way downstairs with a lamp on her right hand.
"Gather them up and bring them outside."
She nodded. She heaved open the heavy steel doors of each room of the seven kids – four boys and three girls, the ten-year old half-devil septuplets.
She then gathered all of them by the stairs. She put aside her lamp, dimly illuminating their surroundings. Even with little lighting, Johanna could still see the bruises, scars and stitch marks embedded all over their bodies – the aftermath of five excruciating years of experimentation.
She tried her best not to cry at the sight before her. It was painful.
With the darkness around them, seven individual bright red irises glowed.
Unlike devils which have natural red glowing irises of both eyes, the children only had red irises on their right eyes with a bright blue sclera around it. It was a mark of being a half-blood.
They all yawned together.
"Mother?" One asked. "Why are you here?"
"You're supposed to be resting." Another one followed.
"Grandpa sure will get mad at you."
Even though at their state, they were more concerned at her.
What kind of evil creature would worry about others? They were all adorable, selfless, obedient and good children.
She knelt down and hugged them tightly.
"Let's get all of you outside first okay?" She broke the hug and wiped a tear from her eyes.
They all nodded as they started climbing up the stairs.
Johanna and the children all gasped for air once they were outside of the castle. She nudged one that she piggy-backed because he was still sleeping. She then put him down as soon as he stretched his arms.
"You idiot! You shouldn't let mother carry you! You're not a baby anymore!" A girl reprimanded.
"Hah, I know it! You're just jealous." He yawned as he stuck out his tongue at her.
Johanna suppressed her laughter, they were really kids after all.
Who would have thought that these children were the ones responsible for the deaths of a thousand people just within a few months.
Johanna understood they were dangerous, but they were only protecting themselves from the pain of those cruel experimentation.
Ever since the children were aware of how their eyes looked, they began hating mirrors. It only made them realize how much of a monster they all were. All of Jhon's, Johanna's father, workers found distraught and intimidation in the eyes of the children. But to Johanna, the children's eyes were the most beautiful thing she have ever seen.
Johanna's right hand suddenly glowed bright and a silver dagger with a peculiar scent materialized.
'This weapon is my last remaining essence, use this to stab the children so they may be free from their physical bodies. They won't die I assure you. I'll gather each of their spiritual essence and scatter them throughout the four regions so they may reborn. Each of them will have different families, and hopefully they will forget everything that happened to them here. And hopefully, they will lose their destructive powers too. This is my last wish and you know this is what your sister would have wanted for them, as our beloved children.'
Johanna gripped the dagger tightly. She then stabbed the children one by one, no blood dripped and there were no wounds. Instead, they turned into orbs of different colors and floated around her. Even though she didn't say anything to them, each of them seem to understand what she just did. They danced around her, laughing and giggling.
It made her remember five years ago, way back before they were experimented. They were really sad back then because of how their eyes looked, that they weren't normal, that they were devils meant for killing and destruction and they were responsible for the deaths of a lot of people in the castle. They came to fear and hate the color red. But Johanna told them that the color red was also the color of a hero, that the color red was a sign of beauty. She told them that they weren't devils at all, they were little super heroes with beautiful gems. She told them that what they have wasn't a curse, but super powers.
And they would laugh and giggle pretending to be little heroes.
The sight was so overwhelming that Johanna broke down and cried.
For someone who cared deeply for them, all she wished was nothing but happiness to each and everyone of them. They had suffered and cried more than they ever had smiled or laughed.
"Why are you crying mother?" A purple orb floated near her asked. "It didn't hurt me at all!"
"In fact, it made all my hurt disappear!" A green one answered.
"Yes, it wasn't painful!"
Johanna didn't answer and wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
When she looked up, she saw that the orbs were slowly gathering above her. The laughter and giggles stopped, as if they got tired of it and decided to sleep. It was in the middle of the night after all.
She wiped her tears away and waved her hand goodbye as they sprinted out flying in opposite directions.
"Thank you Johanna, I could never be grateful enough for what you just did for me." The devil emperor's voice rang around her.
"I did it for the children." She replied. "And for my sister."
"I still thank you nonetheless."
"I'm going to miss them. I hope they'll forget every bitter and painful things they went through here once they'll be born again." She answered and stared up at the starry night sky.
"Before I'll disappear completely, as my thanks I'm going to give you a gift. This will be for the future and for the prophecy."
A mystical glow formed and seeped inside Johanna before vanishing in a second. She felt dizzy and light-headed for the duration. It took her a minute to compose herself.
"Gift?" She asked. "What did you just do to me? And what prophecy?"
"You'll know in due time. And yes. The great prophecy." Alder replied. "With this, you started the second chain of the prophecy. We can only hope it won't end in a tragedy like how I end it."
As the cold wind howled around her, she could no longer feel Alder's presence. The cold wind swayed her short midnight blue locks. By the far horizon on the sea, the sun was slowly rising up.
She removed her red scarf and stared at the rising sun.
"The second chain of the great prophecy. I hope it won't end as bad as what happened after the last war."
The early rays of dawn gave Johanna a new sense of hope. She smiled. "What a beautiful sunrise. Dawn will always be my favorite thing."
"I hope I was able to be a good mother to them." She whispered to herself as she gripped on the red piece of clothing.
"To your new mothers, please stay as loving as you all were."
Johanna then felt the dagger heat up. She dropped it immediately to the ground. Words slowly engraved itself on the blade of the dagger.
Her eyes widened at the set of words that blazed themselves into verses.
Two separate world, two separate race
Strife and wars on endless days
One in darkness, the other in daylight
A suffering of pride and blight
The king of daylight
With gift of enormous might
The emperor of darkness
Cloaked in eldritch blackness
A clash of power, a clash of will
With no other way but to kill
One drives to end competition.
One for extinction.
The fallen darkness brings rain
While the risen light brings bane
What once thought to bring peace
Suffering and fear didn't cease
The old-aged war will be reborn
With the fruit of mourning and scorn
The chosen one of light
And the chosen one of night
In a tragic string of fate
Loss of hundred lives for love and hate
How it all started and began
The same tragedy will now reveal the hidden son.
"The great prophecy." She picked the dagger up and tightened her grip on the object. "Whatever this means, everything will be alright."
A.N: Anyone familiar with Kangerou Project? Yes this story is inspired from that amazing piece! Hopefully I can update as soon as I can though. Please do leave a review, I would really appreciate it! :3