A/N: Hello, I decided to post this fic here too. This will be heavily OC-drived story but naturally the canon characters will get to shine too. The first seven chapters will be about establishing the timeline and introducing the characters. Thus Skull gets to appear first since he is connected to the OCs and older than them so for pre-canon he is ideal.

But enough of my rambling, please enjoy this first chapter!

Chapter 1.

Cloud

1974

Saku Nordström was nine years old(almost ten) when he had enough. His father had always been more or less violent but it had been sporadic. Just episodes every now and then. Father was a war veteran, suffering from shellshock (later named PTSD). He had been just fifteen when he went to war. But it didn't excuse his actions. No one hurt Saku's little sister. No one hurt Saku's mother. Absolutely no one.

He had enough. The hits he'd handled before when he'd been too weak to protest. But when the beer bottle flew at the head of his six-year-old sister Saana…

The bottle shattered on the boy when he shielded his sister and in the next moment in the midst of slurred insults, Saku had tackled the man to the ground with a strength he didn't know to possess. Tuukka Nordström was not a strong man. He was tall and willowy but his temper was violent and loud and that had scared Saku before.

No more though. It was time to act. With the adversary down, Saku nudged his mother Aino to move. The woman was bleeding and concussed but Saku ushered her and Saana out and to the sidecar of the motorbike sitting outside. The bike had been their uncle's and given to Saku last year. While the boy was way too young to drive it properly yet, desperate times required desperate measures and thus he made it work for him.

The tank was full and with it Saku drove all the way to the hospital where they got treated and then questioned by the police.

Tuukka Nordström was arrested, Aino filed for divorce, and she and the children took her family name, Sariola.

Later, when they were sitting at home after cleaning the mess made, Saana tugged Saku's sleeve.

"Saku, what were those purple flames on your wounds?" The girl asked.

Saku had no answers.

1980

Saku was sixteen when he left for America. Studying just wasn't his thing. He went through the Comprehensive school, there was no need for higher education in his opinion. Besides, Finland's schooling system was the world's best. He could continue from there on his own to whichever direction he desired to. But not yet.

"Now don't cry baby sister, you have enough smarts for both of us while I have the adventuring spirit." The teen grinned and patted twelve-year-old Saana's locks colored like wet straw. He used to have similar color too but after the incident with their father and his purple flames, his hair had taken a permanent violet hue. It wasn't that strong at first but as the years progressed and incidents happened with the strange flames appearing again and again… Saku's hair was the color of the violets found in their flower bench.

"Will you come back?"

"Yes, I will. And in the meantime, I promise to write and send you lots of letters and postcards. And I promise to come back to when you finish schooling and when you have high school graduation and whatever other special days you might have."

Saku loved to travel. He liked to take long walks in the forests and along the roads. He regularly drove around on his trusty motorbike. But he would always come back home.

"Have a safe trip."

"I will."

In America Saku got to know more about motorbikes and sub-cultures and sports around them. Bike gangs, dirt-biking, street racings and… stunt driving.

He loved it. The adrenaline, the rush, the danger… Putting on a show, having everyone's eyes on him yet not seeing everything. The injuries, even the most serious ones, burning away with his purple flames.

Skull de Mort was born.

1982

A tattooed teardrop on the face signified killing someone. At least in some prison tattoo tradition.

Skull had a single teardrop tattooed under his left eye. To signify he had killed one person – himself – many, many times.

The stuntman was on top of the world. Everything was great. While it was sometimes exhausting and painful to recover from the injuries that failed stunts caused, it was small compared to all the good and excitement. He had fans, he got to meet new people, see new places. He has his own stunt show and sometimes he worked as a stuntman for the movies. He had money that he definitely needed for his travels and living expenses in America and other parts of the world.

Everything was fine.

So, when some weird guy in checkers and mask appeared at his apartment in California on a late night, he was understandably thrown off and alarmed. Why hadn't the alarm system gone off? How had that guy broken into his current home? What did this man want?

"I Prescelti Sette?" Saku – Skull now to everyone but his family – frowned. "Is that… Italian or Spanish or something?"

"Italian." The strange man replied, one hand around his cane's diamond shaped handle and the other toying with something round and transparent. A glass marble maybe? "It means 'Chosen Seven'."

"Chosen for what? And why?" It was unnerving. Why him? And… Skull had a feeling that whichever façade he'd thrown on before for the masses, this man in the mask would see straight through it. Time to play for another angle then. The clueless one.

"You have the strongest Cloud Flames of your generation." The man spoke.

Flames? The purple ones healing him? Did this mean there were other types of 'flames' too?

"So are you interested? Just a couple of jobs with other six people of your caliber."

It was too weird! And what did this man mean with 'of his caliber'? Skull was a stuntman!

"What sort of jobs would a stuntman like me do for… whatever your occupation is?"

"Oh, you'll see. You'll just need to show up at this location on this day." He was given a map and date. What? Only a week away? And in Italy? He didn't even know the language!

Skull was about to decline when…

"Your sister has almost as strong flames as you have though latent, unawakened… Must be a family trait…" The man mused as if absentmindedly before looking up. "Besides, what do you have to lose?"

And the man was gone.

Skull was angry. This was blackmail. No one touched Saana! No one! She wouldn't be mixed into this shady deal, no matter what.

What did he have to lose? A lot but Saana would not suffer for his decision.

And with that resolution, Skull began packing and making phone calls. He had been meaning to take a break for a while anyways.

Finding the place was easy. Saku had always been good at reading maps and having a good sense of direction. Sort of had to when he went to wander the forests and foreign towns.

He wasn't the first to arrive, nor was he last. There was a woman in white and orange, heavily pregnant too. There was another woman in some sort of military uniform. There was a man with green hair and a lab coat. There was a… person in a cloak that completely concealed their gender. Skull could only see their lower face and dark blue hair underneath the hood.

"And who's our newest guest?" The woman in white asked in English with a gentle smile. It was… contradictory. Warm and welcoming yet somehow it sent shivers down Skull's back. It gave same feeling than other smiles of varying warmth he'd seen around the show business. People used to charming people and putting up a front so long that they'd forgotten how to convey actual emotion anymore.

"Skull de Mort."

"Ah, our Cloud. I'm Luce. Donna of the Giglio Nero famiglia."

Famiglia? Skull had a bad feeling about this. Nevertheless, he took a seat at the table where the other four were seated at. There were two other people yet to arrive. Maybe then he'd get an answer.

It was really not good. Mafia? Magic flames? Strongest Seven? And jobs of mostly illegal nature.

Skull could only take comfort from the fact that it wasn't Saana doing the jobs. Considering that the weird man had roped a pregnant woman into this (mafia Donna of her own right or not), he wouldn't put it past the man to get a fourteen-year-old girl into this mess too.

And considering how the others of the I Prescelti Sette treated Skull… a lackey, a civilian, a burden, a liability… The only useful skills to them he had were his driving skills and being an unkillable distraction for the enemies.

Skull learnt a lot about the world around him but he wished he didn't. He had been fine without knowing all the applications of his flames, without knowing the extent of mafia, without associating with these dangerous people around him whom he couldn't escape from.

And so went the year…

1983

Last job. Some treasure hunt to the mountains. Lal Mirch's student Colonello trailing after them once more. Skull almost being left behind after once too many snarky remarks. But it was fine. Soon he could leave the others and never see them again. No more constant show to them and false bravado. No more abuse both physical and verbal. No more stifling presence in close quarters. After this Skull could get away from these people, wash away his make-up and relax.

He was the drifting Cloud that had been chained to the six people before him.

And he…

He was still chained. Now with the purple pacifier at his neck and as the size of a toddler, Skull was still chained.

He was an Arcobaleno.

He waited until they were back at the base. All eight of them as Colonello had intervened and gotten the full blast of the light instead of Lal. They weren't talking to each other. Some were throwing distrustful glances at Luce who'd been rumored to be able to gaze to the future. If that was true, then she'd led them all to a trap.

It was harsh adjustment to them all despite them retaining their memories and abilities of their adult bodies. Skull wanted to cry. He bit his tongue though and waited until they were back in Italy and the night fell. Then he snuck out to the closest call box with pockets full of change he'd collected during the past months. International phone calls were so expensive…

"Haloo?" Came a sleepy reply. Skull smiled grimly. Of course, Saana would be the one answering.

"Saana… I screwed up."

"Saku… You sound strange."

"I know. I… I'm coming home as soon as possible but… It is possible that I need to stay away more or less permanently later on."

"Is this about the jobs you did this past year?"

"Yeah… Things happened and I'm… stuck. I'll tell more when I come back."

It took a month for them to part. Skull managed to have Verde build him a child-sized motorbike and have Viper ease his access to his own money regardless of his own appearance. He had to pay heavily for both of them but considering that all the Arcobaleno were in the same situation, they didn't really have any real reasons to decline.

Skull left. He wanted to go home.

Saana was understandably worried and horrified of what had happened. Saku told her about the mafia and Arcobaleno and flames and jobs and the fact that he was most likely going to be part of that world.

"I'll still visit even if it will be in secret." He promised the girl who nodded. They were sitting in Saana's room. Their mother was still at work. Saku would be staying for a week with them before leaving.

"And I'll see if there is any information on the Flames in Finnish mythology. From the sound of it, the Flames are an international phenomenon and not confined to Italy and mafia." Saana mused.

"Yes… Judging by the accents… Despite Reborn, Lal, Colonello and Luce being Italian, Fon was Chinese, Verde was maybe French and Viper Dutch."

"And you are Finnish."

"And proud of it."

"Hmm… Do you think it's possible for me to awaken my flames, too?" The teenager mused.

"I don't know. It requires some real danger and… I don't want you to be dragged into this world."

"Saku, you are only nineteen… Please don't…"

"I'm already involved. I will be careful. Everyone wants a piece of the Immortal Skull de Mort after all so I need to keep my eyes open!" He posed heroically on top of Saana's desk, gaining a laugh as a reward and grinning himself.

Maybe it would be okay.

1987

Saana had met a man named Eemeli Aarnio two years ago during her research period. They'd fallen in love and, after she'd graduated, married. They were young but Skull had a feeling that they'd be just fine. They had similar interests and continued studying at university. He was happy for them.

1988

Saana was pregnant. The baby was probably conceived during their honeymoon to Italy. At Italy the newly-wed couple had scoured libraries and museums for information about the Flames.

"I think I met that Luce you mentioned." Saana said during one of their phone conversations.

"Huh?"

"She was with a five-year-old girl named Aria. They… They both had that orange marking on their left cheekbone."

Skull paused. Five… It matched the timeline but…

"Was Luce… Was she a toddler or…?"

"An adult. Sickly but fully adult. Do you think it means you could grow up again, even if temporally?"

Skull had to think about it but… "I think… I think that Skies are exceptions to every rule existing."

Saana and Eemeli's baby girl was named Aada.

"Aada. A good Finnish name and not that hard pronounce internationally either." Saana had stated for the rest of the family. Skull cherished any family photos that reached him. He wished he could visit more.

1994

Saku managed to visit his sister's family. It was Aada's sixth birthday. She was adorable. And immediately took to call him 'Saku-nii' in Japanese fashion at his suggestion and behest.

And…

"You're a Sky? A latent and weak Sky but a Sky nonetheless? Mitä helvettiä?" Saku stared at his brother-in-law. The years in mafia and at the range of flames users strong and weak, active and latent, had honed his senses.

"Well…" Eemeli laughed. "I only found out when helping Saana? And it's called Hearth in our Mythology."

"Not helping…" Saku growled and pinched the bridge of his nose. Thankfully Finland was such a recluse country when it came to underworld that the family would most likely be safe but this meant that Saku would need to be even more careful so he wouldn't lead the mob to them even accidentally. He glanced at Aada. He hoped that Saana's strong Cloud – Wind – flames would smother any possible Sky inheritance in the girl. "Why is this my life?"

1995

Skull was trapped again. It had taken years but a mafia famiglia had trapped him into a contract. The American based Carcassa Famiglia didn't thankfully know about Saana, Eemeli, Aada and rest of his family but it didn't mean he was any less trapped.

Oh well, he should make the best of a bad situation. Like having many practice targets for Oodako, his pet squid and partner that had been gifted to him by Luce a couple of years back. The woman was trying to make amends and Skull didn't know what to think about it. He wasn't ready to forgive and forget. Being an Arcobaleno had ruined his life as he knew it but he did appreciate Oodako and his company.

Life was hard.

And he really didn't appreciate the Carcassa tradition of attacking Mafia Land where he'd inevitably would get beaten by Colonello.

In the fall Saku got a word from Saana that Aada had awakened her flames when falling off a cliff when she was hiking with her scout girl group.

Strong Cloud Flames with underlying Sky.

Saku buried his head in his hands and dearly hoped the girl would be safe.

A/N: I probably should have a bit more information about Skull and Arcobaleno than just manga and fanfiction but... I haven't gotten far enough in the anime so see the backstory created there...

And... There will be two SI-OC characters among my OCs. They will be introduced in the future chapters but I can promise you that they won't be stealing the show from canon or my other OCs.

Anyways, please review and tell me what you think of this.