Rated PG-13 for language, violence.
The Characters and Story of Shadow Hearts belongs to Sacnoth and Midway. Again thanks to Gutterfiend for transcriptions, which I freely changed! I again stress my thanks to www.firstworldwar.com and insist that anything I put in this story is my own "messing with history". For the truth please check the aforementioned site, it's worth many visits! And once again, Italics are "flashies" or things that happened in the past, not necessarily Canon! [You've figured this out by now anyway, right?]
What went before:
Margarete arrived in Strasbourg after dark. Tired, cold and hungry, she did stop for a quick meal and a bath. She did not look at Yuri's satchel. She did not think about its contents. But beneath the Book of Flesh lie Yuri's talisman. It had begun to glow a deep, pulsing, blood-red and small striations appeared on its surface, then suddenly it cracked.
Chapter 4: Fade to Black
"If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with a sword, with a sword he will be killed." - Koudelka
Mid December 1914. Life in the trenches was no life at all. Torrential rains had turned the trenches into death traps where only the slowest movements were possible. Men lost their boots, even their clothing to the thick, sticky goo. In Givenchy a group of Highlanders were unable to fire their weapons because most of their rifles had clogged with mud. They were subsequently captured. Further north in Antwerp, the German army was bombing the city in an attempt to wrest control from the partisans. The noise of the sound sensation, according to one nurse who lived through it, was so enormous that it seemed to belong to some transition between life and death; impossible to come through the sheer volume of the exploding shells and live.
In Vosges south of Strasbourg, as December progressed, a strange rumor began to circulate. At first it was reported that a vicious beast was seen in the mountains and descending to the foothills. Then the report changed and stated than it was actually an insurgence of western troops, probably a covert group, assigned to harass and destroy moral by attacking in the rear. Whatever the truth, the German 4th Army sent out patrols to find and contain the interlopers.
Jilin prefecture was the bread-basket of northern China; fertile valleys, gently rolling hills, rivers with fish - a paradise. Over the years, Yuri's peripatetic wanderings had covered great stretches of Russian Siberia and northern China even dipping down into Hebei, but he had avoided Jilin. Now he was back. The weather was fine, winter was yet a few months away but the nights were chilly followed by days of incredible warmth. Trudging up one final hill he stopped at the top and turned to look down on the valley he had just climbed out of. Lying below were the corn and wheat fields and across the valley cattle grazed. Yuri sighed and sat beneath a lone oak at the crest of the hill. Memories of his mother and father trickled through his mind; the day of the festival when his father had bought the Fox Mask, that special birthday they spent fishing down at the river: they caught more than fish that day with Yuri soaked through and getting chills. Yuri smiled slightly at the memory.
'Is this where I grew up?' he thought surveying the idyllic scenery. 'I don' remember ...'
His ruminations were put to a sudden halt with a jabbing pain in his head. He rolled onto the ground, clutching his head and shuddering with the agony.
//Train ... Changchun ... girl ... go now ...// a faint voice instructed through the pain.
"Ow, ow, damn it! Can't I have a moment of peace just once?!?" he moaned. Sitting up he swiped at an errant tear and sighed.
"Shit, Changchun. I'll have to hurry."
Yuri rose to his feet, dusting off his coat. He would have to run the few miles into Jilin in order to catch the train to Changchun on time. He started down the hill, heading south-west toward town, but stopped before too long and turned to look back longingly at the valley, the lone tree on the hilltop.
"I guess I'll never know," he said softly, then turned at a run toward Jilin and the train station.
*Yuri ...*
Yuri moaned softly in his sleep then awoke with a start. He looked around, momentary confusion and fear in his eyes before he remembered.
'Oh yeah, the mountainside. I was looking for Alice. Those bastards took her ...'
Standing, he stretched sore muscles, and then inspected his blanket. He had tucked the remaining bits of dried meat into a corner, along with his make-shift claws. He brushed away the ants and grabbed up a piece of meat, chewing it slowly while he surveyed his surroundings. The mountainside was rock and scree, showing evidence of severe erosion. Below lay thick old growth forest.
'Why would they take her, I wonder,' he thought. 'Maybe they were from Dehuai? Nah, I killed that bastard. Albert then?'
Sniffing the cold air, Yuri began his descent into the dark forest below.
Margarete made her contact in Strasbourg, receiving word she was to proceed to Paris at once. The Germans were still threatening Paris and she was needed.
Malkovich Priority stop Investigate German 1st Army troop movements stop they have couriers stop Report direct end
"Humph! Don't they have anyone else?" she crumpled the missive and tossed it into the fireplace at her hotel room. She dressed quickly and was tossing her few belongings into her case when she spotted Yuri's satchel. "Shit, what do I do with this?" She opened the satchel again and gazed at the contents. "I guess I'll leave them here in the hotel safe. I should be back for them later." With a snap she closed the satchel and left her room.
Yuri sat quietly on the ridge watching the soldiers below. On his left was a platoon of mixed British and French soldiers trudging heavily through the forest. Yuri watched them carefully, listening to them speak; their tongue reminded him acutely of both Alice and Margarete. These soldiers were cautious but relaxed as they progressed through the forest, not expecting the Germans to have stationed themselves this far into the woods. But the Germans had tanks and had not only penetrated deeply into the forest; they had set up bunkers with machine guns. Yuri looked to his right and saw the trap for the British soldiers. A group of Bifronze and Wind Shears were waiting in the bushes some small way ahead of the troops, their bloody scythes waiting to cut down the unsuspecting soldiers. Yuri scowled.
"It will be a slaughter," he growled.
He adjusted his antler claws and slid from the ridge, landing with a plop onto the soft forest floor. He quickly scanned for listeners then ran for the hidden monsters. In minutes he engaged the creatures, their scythes slicing the air where he had been standing. With a laugh he punched one Bifronze in the face, smashing it into pulp. He spun, kicking out to catch a Wind Shear in the legs, sending it crashing to the forest floor where he put his heel though its neck. In another moment he heard the breaking of twigs followed by shouts as the British soldiers caught up to him and began firing. Other monsters arose from the bushes, firing magic at the soldiers and Yuri cursed loudly. It was now a matter of seconds before the British forces began to fall. Yuri frowned and reached within to grasp a fusion soul. Waiting was Raging Bull. Yuri's lips pulled back with grim satisfaction as the voice in his mind whispered "Change, change!"
He fused with Raging Bull, feeling the full power of the Earth Soul joining with his own mortal soul. Seconds later the transformation was complete and the towering, bull-horned fusion launched himself into the fray, powerful arms grasping and smashing anything within its angry reach. Monster bodies went flying, and then Raging Bull stepped back, calling forth a flying destruction as stones and giant boulders suddenly gathered and stormed at the remaining creatures. Behind him, the British soldiers had thrown themselves into the mud of the forest floor, some cowering, some watching in fascination as this behemoth decimated the German platoon. And when the last one was dead, the mighty creature leapt off into the woods, bellowing a cry of anger and defiance.
Margarete, in a non-descript military green uniform signed out the Triumph motorcycle from the motor-pool in Strasbourg. She stuffed her braided blond hair into a helmet and kick-started the German cycle, throttling the engine a few times before engaging the clutch and speeding away. She took the road from Strasbourg heading west, but she needed to intersect the German 1st Army which, as far as anyone knew, was making a straight line for Paris from Ypres in Belgium after their victory at Mons. While Margarete approached Lizy from the south-east, the 1st Army began a change of direction and she caught up to the left flank just outside the small town.
In advance of her was the 1st Army under command of Alexander Von Kluck. She had expected them to be heading directly for Paris at this point, and was surprised to see that was not the case. She pulled her Triumph to the side of the road and hid behind some dilapidated trees, watching as the lead column turned decidedly south.
'What are they doing? I thought they were taking Paris?'
She watched as several couriers left the forward column and as one approached, she prepared herself for action. She moved over to the roadway, setting her motorcycle down as if from an accident and threw dirt on herself. As the cyclist approached he slowed slightly and Margarete pulled her gun and fired, killing the courier instantly. His cycle slewed then crashed into the brush along the roadway and Margarete quickly rifled through his pouch. She found several reports; a few letters and a coded transmit for the High Command. These she put back into the pouch securing it to her belt and, pulling the soldier into the ditch, took her own cycle and road like mad for Paris.
Several hours later, after several near accidents on shelled out roads, she arrived at Military Headquarters in Paris and dropped off the courier documents, Margarete was next sent north to meet with the British Expeditionary Force and its commander, Sir John French, with whom she would coordinate a flanking attack against the southerly moving German 1st Army.
Yuri had come to himself deep in the forest, his blanket and remaining food now lost. He looked around in confusion.
''What did I do? I thought I was fused to Raging Bull? But afterwards --?" He scratched his head and shuddered. He was soaked through from the rain. He looked down at his antler claws and saw the scarlet blood caked on the tips.
"What th' fuck was I fighting? Bifronze don't have red blood!" A frisson of trepidation crept up his spine. "What is happening?"
He began to walk, following a deer trail in the forest until he came to a stream. He lay flat and scooped up handfuls of water to wash his face and then drank deeply. He then looked at his reflection in the water's surface. He saw a thin, haggard young man, long brown unkempt hair, eyes both bewildered and haunted, and from what he could tell in the wan light, lacking irises.
"Yer not what ya' were, Yuri," he said softly to himself. "What the hell is happenin' to you? And where is Alice?" With a sigh he pushed himself to his feet and looked around. Nothing but forest as far as the eye could see, but he knew he must be near civilization because of the soldiers. Casting a glance skyward at the thick rain clouds he shuddered.
"I guess I'll keep headin' toward the sunset. I gotta hit somethin' some time," he muttered.
It was the night before Yuri and the group would head for the Float. Roger Bacon, the ancient recluse and scientist living at the Nemeton Monastery in Wales assured them the teleportation device would be ready by early morning and so the group gathered in the library for one final night on Earth. Keith, never one to sleep if he didn't need to, was deep in a book, and Zhuzhen browsed the stacks of manuscripts. Halley was curled up in an oversized chair asleep, while Alice and Margarete spoke quietly. Alice finished speaking to Margarete and spotted Yuri hanging in the background. He had been wearing a strange expression all day and now looked embarrassed.
"Yuri," the petit exorcist inquired, "what is it?"
"Um - well," he rubbed absently at the back of his neck, and then scratched his messy hair. "I - well - I got this for ya." He handed her a small box wrapped in white paper and with a pink bow.
Alice looked surprised and pleased at the small box then pulled the bow off with a giggle.
"Oh!" she exclaimed once the lid was removed. Inside, nestled in some paper, was a pair of black lace panties. Alice looked up in confusion.
"Yuri, I don't understand. You got these for me?"
Yuri made a crooked smile. "Well, yeah. I thought you might like these instead of yer pink ones."
Alice looked shocked. "M-my pink --? How did you know?"
"Oh - uh – heh," Yuri blushed furiously, quickly swallowing the smirk that threatened to materialize.
"You've been peeking!"
"Well - NO! I didn't peek!" Yuri exclaimed looking down at his feet. "I jus' thought 'cause you were such a virginal girl that, uhm ... you might wear pink?"
Alice glared at him. "And so I would prefer black?"
"Uhm, well, I thought you might look nice in them is all, an' I kinda, well, I can't help watching when you do Advent or hit an enemy; you - you look so cute and your dress bounces up and -- well -- ummm, ~~ I'm in trouble."
Alice stared at the young fusionist, one delicate eyebrow raised. For a full minute she refused to speak, and then simply walked away with the box in her hands a slight shake of her head the only indication of what she might be thinking.
Zhuzhen shook his head, sending his pig-tail swinging. "You're really something, Yuri."
"What?" he asked and at Zhuzhen's pointed look, "I'm a man!"
"Men think with their brains; you use your nether regions." Yuri thought about that a moment.
"Yes?" he said.
But the next time Alice did Advent, Yuri was treated to the black lace panties!
*Yuri, please ~*
Yuri started awake. He had sat down for a breather sometime after dark and had fallen asleep. He wasn't sure what had awakened him; he thought he had heard his name spoken, but then remembered his dream and sighed. It had sounded for a moment like ... but no, it couldn't have been.
'Alice ... Alice where are you? I want you ...' he thought.
Standing, he stretched then grunted as his empty stomach rumbled a protest.
"Shit, and I lost my food," he sighed. With a shrug he headed out once more in a north-westerly direction.
After several more hours of walking, Yuri finally broke free from the forest. A rolling plain spread before him, dotted with copses of brush or trees; and in the distance he saw white smoke from wood fires.
"A village or farm house? Oh thank God,"
He started to run at a loping gate, covering as much ground as he could. At close to midnight he was approaching the small town at a much slower pace however; his strength and endurance were just about gone and his stomach felt like it was touching his backbone. He had one thought on his fading mind: food.
The city was small, more like a village, with an ancient stone fence surrounding most of it and a stone arch at the entrance. Yuri stopped at the arch, one that commemorated Napoleon, and paused for breath, each panting intake bringing him tantalizing aromas of meat and bread. His stomach set up an incessant grumble and he salivated, his mind turning over how to get food without money.
"Fuck it! I'll steal it!" he growled and, pushing off from the arch, headed deeper into town.
Yuri kept close to the buildings and deep in the shadows. He had no idea what town he was in and, having seen the soldiers earlier, was unsure if this town might hold friend or foe. However hunger ruled his general thinking and he followed his nose toward a large building with many windows. He slunk stealthily beneath one window and, grasping the sill, pulled himself up to look inside; he saw a sleeping room with six cots and foot lockers at each bed; sleeping quarters for a military garrison. Dropping down, he chose another building across the narrow street. This one was a family dwelling, obvious when Yuri saw the children's toys lying on the floor, and the lights were dim, the family long since retired. With a nod Yuri pulled on the window, opening the two panes outward and giving him room to climb in. He had to kick a small toy away from his feet as he landed on the carpeted floor but otherwise his entry was silent.
He knelt down, watching the shadows in the room for a moment before rising and crossing to the door, looking out into the foyer. A staircase was across the way, leading to the upper floors and presumably the family; this Yuri ignored. Instead he turned his steps to the left and the back of the house and hopefully the kitchen. He was careful to avoid the usual furniture in the narrow confines of the hallway until he reached the nether door; this swung inward and revealed a dining room and another door beyond. Grinding his teeth Yuri proceeded across to the next door. This led to the kitchen.
"Finally," he breathed.
The kitchen was small but well organized, with bins for grain and flour and jars displaying fruits and preserved vegetables. Yuri grinned. His stomach had hit pay dirt! In another moment he had twisted open a jar and began drinking down the contents, little caring what it was. When he finished he opened another and then noticed another door leading out of the kitchen. Upon inspection he found it lead to the larder.
'Oh there IS a God!' Yuri thought as he leapt to the floor and searched the shelves. He happened upon a ceramic pot and, reaching in, pulled out preserved meat. This he devoured while walking around the cool dark room. He found nothing else to tempt his hunger so when he reached the stairs again, he climbed up to the kitchen, and into the surprised gaze of a servant who promptly screamed. Without thinking Yuri kicked out at the woman, knocking her down and causing her screams to escalate. Shouts from upstairs followed and Yuri fled down the hall and back through the small sitting room and the open window, potted meat still in hand.
Yuri landed in the flower bed beneath the window, rolled, and sprinted into the street, heading for the shadows of the large garrison he had seen before. He slammed his back to the building, breathing heavily and stuffed more meat in his mouth as he thought over his next move. Unfortunately for him the noise of the household across the street caught the attention of those residing in Yuri's shelter. The window above his head slid open and a soldier looked out, speaking to someone behind him. Yuri ducked down but not in time to prevent his presence being known. The soldier shouted out an alarm and Yuri, cursing, fled back down the road toward the gate. But Yuri's karma was not holding well this night and the watch had been alerted by the shouts. Yuri now faced a couple of well-armed soldiers with more pounding down the road behind him. The soldiers at the gate spotted him running down the road and shouted at him but, even though he had heard Margarete speak similar sounding words to Keith during their travels, Yuri did not understand their tongue. He was forced to fight his way through.
By now, however, the soldiers of the garrison were also within shooting distance and several paused in their approach to fire their rifles at the combatants, little caring who got shot. In frustration Yuri threw the meat pot at the soldiers and ran through the gate, the soldiers in hot pursuit. It never occurred to him that it wasn't his theft that kept the soldiers pursuing him down the road, but rather the description of a mad-man that turned into a demon that had been reported from the survivors of his earlier confrontation with the German army. This had to be the man or creature that had harried the troops and caused the 4th Army to send out patrols in pursuit. It was just Yuri's bad luck he was in the midst of German occupied Lorraine.
Yuri fled Neufchâteau, his feet flying as fast as he could over the muddy roadway. Pounding behind him were the soldiers, their tenacity standing them in good stead against the fatigued fugitive. Yuri got five miles down the road when he met troops marching from the other direction. Startled he stood panting a moment, allowing the two groups of soldiers to catch up to him. He cursed, shaking his fist at one group and turning to head off-road and into the rolling hills but both patrols began firing sending bullets skittering along the ground, pinging off trees and rocks and eventually thudding into Yuri's back.
Yuri fell, his face meeting the mud. The soldiers now flanked him, their guns at the ready, torches lighting the area and showing the tattered remains of a man lying on the ground. Yuri struggled to his knees, hearing several rifles clicking into readiness behind him. Wounded, facing the muddy ground with his teeth clenched, Yuri could only feel. He no longer could think, only the emotions of anger and fear clenching his pounding heart. He could hear a voice screaming at him to change; to punish these damned soldiers. He heard the voice and felt the pain and grasped the fusion.
"You will all die," he groaned as the fusion took him. He felt his body and mind rupture like a blood vessel, his soul and that of the fusion monster becoming one but the fusion was dominating. He did not have the strength to control the fusion monster and the unfathomable darkness that was Amon pushed him down into dreams and darkness.
Amon rose from the muddy ground, his dark scaly skin like armor and his eyes a fiery red that sent shivers down the spines of the nearby soldiers. A growl like grinding boulders issued from his black lips and then he pounced, his razor sharp claws rending the nearby soldiers to shreds. Before another heartbeat he summoned his dark magicks, blasting the remaining patrols into scattered dust. Then with leather wings spread he leapt into the chill rainy sky and flew north.
Within the hour Amon landed in a small village along the Meuse, the quiet broken only by the patter of rain drops on the cobbles and ... singing? Curious, the fusion monster flew closer, finding a church with stained glass windows lit with candles. Inside voices were raised in song and the fusion listened a moment before turning darkened eyes to the deeper shadows of the basilica. A wrought iron gate tantalized the dark Lord of All Soul Spirits and he approached. Beyond the gate were stone steps leading down into darkness. In a moment Amon had torn the gate from its hinges and descended into the dark catacombs just as the bells of Christmas chimed in the basilica above.
*Yuri, no ...*
Margarete returned to Paris in early January. She had returned from the front with a smile on her face. The combined British and French forces succeeded in commanding heavy loses for the German 1st Army, and there had been an unofficial truce in force between the opposing armies for the Christmas holidays. The officers and higher ups were not happy but the smiling faces of Tommy and Fritz as they exchanged cigars, whisky, cigarettes and chocolates was a thing to warm the cockles of the heart. Granted both sides knew the other was also checking out fortifications and weapons emplacements, but it was the thought that counted.
Checking in with headquarters she received yet another assignment.
"Escort duty! What is THAT all about?" She quickly read the accompanying report and frowned. "The Germans have sure been busy with this one. I wonder though ..." she paused and perused her orders again. "But all that way to escort a priest? What were they thinking?" Margarete sighed. "Oh well."
That afternoon found her speeding south toward Marseilles to take ship to Italy.
AN: Thanks go to those who have stuck through this thing this long. What started out as three chapters has grown. Luckily we're almost done.
Aegis: I'm glad you liked the proposal; Yuri insisted! Pigeon toed, or "knock kneed" is when knees come together when walking; or when toes point at each other when walking or standing. Alice is definitely in that class. It's a fancy for Japanese males who like that kind of thing. I pity Alice's back pain later in life!! (Ooops! That's assuming she lived! J)
necro leelsy person(): Yes, Miss Ma'am did want Yuri; clear back in the sewers of Fengtian. Just because she lost him to Alice doesn't mean she still doesn't want him. But wanting and having isn't the same thing.
Next time: Will Yuri come out with a whole skin? We'll have the answer in "Redemption."