Cruel Fairy Tales

By: Katan Yue

Disclaimer: see chapters one and two.

Special thanks to: realdarkangel and Neriad for being the only ones to review thus far.

Also, at the end of this story there will be an author's commentary giving you a little information about the story incase you are lost.

Chapter 3: Crystal Raven's

The sky was dark by the time that Queen Jenova escaped the castle by disguising herself as a commoner. In her black robes, the young queen became one with the night as she sneaked out towards the forsaken meteor site. She was impressed by the huge size of the meteor, but she was even more impressed by the gigantic crate left by the meteor in what once had been fertile soil.

With great difficulty she descended towards the pit of the crater where the meteor lay. When she finally reached her destination, Queen Jenova found something completely unexpected. She noticed that the meteor had a strange glow about it. It was as if the meteor was alive somehow. The huge rock began to glow in time with Jenova's rapid heartbeat; instantly drawing her body, her mind, and her soul to it. Entranced by the meteor's fiery glow, Jenova reached out to touch it.

No……No………Noooooo…………!

Jenova screamed in agony as the crystal began to devour her soul. Shards of smoky darkness began to seep from the meteor as Jenova touched it. The darkness began to envelop her body as she tried to pry her hands off the meteor, but all was useless as the darkness began to devour her life, her soul.

Finally, everything became nothing but darkness……

Crystal Raven's Flat 9:25 a.m.

It was raining.

Riku could hear the soft patter of raindrops against his bedroom's window. His acute, preternatural ears were able to hear the raindrops falling flat on the wet soil, or resounding rhythmically against the puddles of water nearby. Somehow, Riku always found the sounds of the pouring rain to be quite relaxing. Riku had been awake for three hour now; the constant nightmares repeating over and over in every supernatural creature's dreams. Why did they have to dream those dreams in form of a fairy tales? They were cruel and constant; like a mantra that would repeat over and over in their sleep.

WhyWhy……

Still, Riku refused to open his eyes. Even after hearing the red-head girl sneak into his bedroom, Riku still refused to open his eyes. The silver blonde vampire had felt the girl's slender body cuddle against him; the girl's nimble fingers tracing gentle, circular patterns against the bare skin of his arms. Yet again he refused to acknowledge her presence. She continued her gentle ministrations in an attempt to awaken him, but when the hours had passed without a reaction from the sexy silver blonde vampire, she fell asleep.

Lifting the covers off his bed, Riku took the opportunity to sneak away from the girl. Quickly he snatched his navy blue satin robe to cover up his current state of complete nakedness. A few months ago, the young vampire girl that lay sleeping in his bed had confessed to having feelings of love for him. He simply could not return those feelings. He had politely refused her advances and he had no desire to lead her imagination in the wrong direction.

A giant roar of thunder tore through the darkened skies just as a slight rustle of fabric came from the bed.

"So you finally woke up Riku, you lazy bum." Riku heard the girl's playful voice tease him.

"Yes, I barely woke-up." Riku gracefully helped the young girl sit up on the bed. "Sorry if I kept you waiting Kairi, but I've had a lot on my mind in the last few days." The older vampire apologized by pressing his soft lips to the back of Kairi's small hand. Kairi could not help but giggle childishly at Riku's chivalrous etiquette. It was in his nature to be a charming gentleman; the dashing debonair women swooned for.

"Selphie said you had a surprise for me Riku."

"Yes, I've spoken with Nero. He has given you and Selphie permission to stay in Vienna for a while.

Kairi bit her lower lip in slight resentment. "So……you want to get rid of me, Riku?"

Riku shook his head a little. "No. I want you to go to Vienna for a while so that you and Selphie will be out of harm's reach. There is a war threatening to spill between Virtue's Council and the rebel group Anima Mundi."

"So, what does that have to do with me Riku?"

Riku frowned. He wanted to lose his gentleman's decorum and shake the imprudent young vampire girl to her senses. Just because he couldn't return her feelings in the way that she wanted, that did not mean that he didn't feel a brotherly type of love for her.

"Shinra has officially become The Prince for the area of New Your City. He has been trying to pass a law against all 'thin bloods' like you and Selphie. To put it simply, he dislikes all 'thin bloods' and wishes to kill them. On top of that, Shinra plans a war against Anima Mundi. You're no longer safe in here anymore. I just……"

Riku sighed. What could he do to make her truly aware of her situation? She had been abandoned by her sire because she was reborn into the vampire world as a thin blood. Her vampiric blood was so weak that she had no powers, virtually no strength, and no preternatural abilities. What could she possibly do against the vicious world of the underworld? Nothing. Kairi was practically in limbo; unwanted by the vampire world and clinically dead for the world of the living. That was Kairi's curse.

"Kairi, I don't want you to be here when the bomb goes off. It is a dangerous place for you. You and Selphie will be safer with Nero's coven for the time being."

"Don't you understand Riku?" Kairi jumped off the bed and closed the small distance between them; pressing he lush, pink lips against Riku's cold unresponsive one's. All that Riku could do at the moment was to push her gently away.

"We've been over this before Kairi. I don't feel the same way about you." The jade-eyed vampire took Kairi's chin between his thumb and forefinger to tenderly force her to look at him in the eyes.

"I do not love you."

"But Riku…?"

"You will leave for Nero's coven in Vienna, tonight. Your friend Selphie will accompany you. Tidus and Wakka will escort you to Vienna and stay with you for your protection."

Riku's voice was authoritative. He was speaking as the lord and master of Crystal Raven's Flat and not as Kairi's friend or brother type figure.

"I hate you…" Kairi hissed angrily at Riku before turning around and leaving the older vampire alone with his thoughts.

o o o

Crystal Raven's Flat 11:56 p.m.

"Sweeet…friggin' sweet!" Reno commented while browsing though the new furniture that had arrived for project SORA's room.

"Damn right!"

Axel gave a low, appreciative whistle at the massive red cherry wood furniture. "Its like a James Bond type of movie kinda shit!" Axel continued to babble excitedly. "Security features by finger print encoding and recognition with security grid panels for combination type locks. Whoo! That shit's tight man!" Axel opened one of the drawers to find two guns crossed together atop whit shirts. Two platinum covered guns with the inscriptions: Bloody Rose Cross Gun engraved in elegant Old English type letters, to be exact. Axel wanted to hold the two guns in his hands. He could just picture himself firing those two cool looking guns.

Damn they're tight……

"Fuck! Those damn Primogens from the council should spoil us like that too." Axel mused before leaning against the glass casing.

"You of all people are the one to least deserve that kind of attention, Axel!" A spiky haired blonde yanked at Axel's right ear.

"Ow………!"

"And get your filthy hands away from that protective glass. You break it, you pay it!" The feisty blonde yanked at Axel's right ear even harder.

"Ow…Ow. Ow……sorry babe!"

"You better be Axel!"

Hahaha Reno was doubled over with laughter before cold, blue eyes froze him in his spot.

"What are you laughing at 'Little Debbie'. You're in trouble too. Tifa wants to see you. What you guys think you could cuss out a storm without us ever knowing about it? Fat chance!"

Reno gulped in fear. He knew better than to leave her beloved little Tifa waiting.

"Wait, Roxas." The serious tone in the man's voice made him halt in his tracks. Roxas turned around to see Vincent Valentine leaning casually against a white column.

"Riku wants Axel and Leon to investigate one of the abandoned warehouses owned by Anima Mundi."

Roxas let go of Axel's right ear and the pyrokinetic began to rub his ear soothingly against the pain.

"Aw……" Axel whined. "Not with that bastard!"

As if Axel's words had been his cue to make his grand entrance, Leon jumped from the third floor and landed casually in front of the red-head Axel. Within a few seconds, Leon was dragging the complaining Axel by the right ear once again.

"Come on Flame-y Locks. Move it."

"Ow…Ow……Ow! What happened to the original Goldie Locks story, eh Leon?" Axel shot indignantly.

"Nothing." Leon punctuated by smacking the back of Axel's dark demin jeans playfully; a cold glare in his dangerous blue gray eyes.

"Hey!"

"I find you much cuter. Now move it before I put a silver bullet through you, Flame-y Locks." Leon ordered

"Hey!" Axel wiggled out of the older man's grasp and smacked his hand away. "Who died and put you in-charge here?"

Leon couldn't help but smirk at Axel's ignorance. "Riku did, got a problem kind? Tough go tell it to someone who cares."

"Keep him in line for me, ok Leon." Roxas requested from behind them.

"Babe……!"

"Sure thing Roxas, count on me to keep this flirt in line. Now move it Axel." Leon ordered while shoving Axel out the door.

"What are you thinking Roxas?" Vincent's serious voice broke through the silence after Axel and Leon had left.

"I was thinking that Riku is…not very pleased by Shinra's decision to send someone over."

"Never trust Shinra, Roxas. Never forget that he is out there for his own benefit. He is no prince but a spoiled brat. I he sent someone to join our group it is either to spy on us or wipe us out. Best to be on your guard Roxas."

"Why…?" Axel shot defiantly. "Why do they hate those who are different, who believe different than what they believe? Why do they have to oppress us with stupid rules! The same rules that prevent lycanthrope Leon to be in love with vampire Cloud, the same rules that prevent you form being with Lucrecia because she is a gifted scientist and you're nothing but a lab freak!"

Roxas could not help but to groan in exasperation. He dreamed of the day in which lycanthropes could go about town without the fear of being hunted down like wild beasts. The underground shelters were full of lycan women protecting their little cubs from vicious hunters. The people from the shelters were poor, dirty, hopeless, and broken.

"Calm down, Roxas. I know what your species has to go through, but that is why we decided to join Riku; so that we can defy their senseless rules, so we can stop their ludicrous slaughter towards your kind."

"I know, but we're still not enough. I mean……we could be so much more, Vincent."

"What do you mean Roxas?" Vincent asked suddenly with suspicion clear in voice. Roxas sighed profoundly and shook his head.

"Nothing, Vincent…its nothing."

Vincent's crimson colored eyes watched as the spiky-haired blonde walked out of the mansion's foyer.

o o o

Crystal Raven's Flat 1:00 a.m.

Rude, Raven's Flat nightly security guard fixed his ultra sleek, ultra modern sun glasses as he casually flipped through the pages of today's news paper. Stopping in his favorite section of the news paper, Rude carefully read his horoscope.

Scorpio: October 23 to November 21

You will have an encounter with someone special today, but be careful because you have a tendency to make quick judgments based on people's appearance. Remember that appearances can be deceiving.

Today's lucky color: Blue; Today's lucky number: 14

Rude scoffed indignantly at his horoscope and lowered the noisy piece of news paper only to be surprised by a pair of beautiful sapphire eyes staring directly at him.

"I need to speak to Riku, please. Where can I find him?"

Rude almost jumped off his cushioned stool. "Jezz kid! Don't scare me like that!"

"I'm sorry, but I really need to speak to Riku. I need to see him. Where is Riku?"

Rude scoffed again.

The nerve of this little runt……

"Look, Kid. Riku is attending a very important matter. He doesn't have time to play with you right now, so buzz off little kid."

The young man tilted his head musingly; eyes locked into Rude's eyes with amusement.

"Can you tell Riku that Sky Lionelly was here to see him? I'll be at Café Noir."

"Yeah, yeah kid. Now get out of here before I call your mom besides, you are way past your bed time kido."

The blue-eyed boy only gave Rude a brief smile then disappeared somewhere out in the rain.

o o o

New York's Streets 2:00 a.m.

Darkness and rain seemed the perfect, soothing combination to give Riku peace of mind as he walked through the deserted streets of the city. After accompanying his best friends Selphie and Kairi as well as his comrades Tidus and Wakka to the airport, he had decided to take a walk to clear his plagued mind. All through the ride to the airport, Kairi had been mad at him, Selphie had been overly hyperactive, and Tidus had been trying to control Selphie's spontaneous outbursts, while Wakka tried to please Kairi in her awful mood. The journey had been a complete chaos. Riku sighed heavily.

When did a small drizzle turn into a heavy downpour in such a short time……

Ha…the silver blonde vampire had to chuckle at nothing in particular. He had decided to take a walk back to Raven's Flat just as the weather decided to be capricious and start a monsoon. He watched with apathy as the people scattered about town in a feeble attempt to take cover from the rain. Taking cover under his umbrella he walked idly about town. He would reach Crystal Raven's in a matter of minutes.

With another weary sigh, the tall vampire directed his emerald-colored eyes toward the red crossing stop sign. That's when he saw him; a young male about seventeen or eighteen with brown spiky hair even spikier than Roxa's unruly mass of hair. The shorter brunette was sitting in one of the benches near the stop bus stop. His legs were curled up to his chest and his chin resting on his knees in a boyish fashion while getting soaking wet under the heavy, pouring rain. What most unnerved Riku at that moment; was when the petite boy directed his brilliant, sapphire-blue eyes toward Riku in acknowledgement of his presence. The silver blonde could have sworn his breath hitched it his lungs for the three seconds that their eyes connected. However, the magic was broken when the petite brunette decided to break their eye contact and revert to his previous position on the bench.

What was that strange glimmer in those beautiful blue eyes?

Riku's interest was immediately aroused by the appearance of the stranger. He wanted to know what kind of a creature the petite boy was. There were so many possibilities…he could have been an angel, a demon, a ghost, a mortal, lycanthrope, or vampire. It did not matter to Riku because his mind coaxed him to investigate. The blue-eyed boy was definitely beautiful enough to be a vampire; he was petite and fragile enough to be a mortal and angelic enough to deceive anyone.

With graceful speed, Riku closed the small gap between them to shield the pristine creature under the safety of his umbrella. The smaller boy snapped his head up to see the person who hovered above him; cool, aqua-green eyes looking back at him with interest. Riku wasted no time to scan the boy's features. He had beautiful creamy skin, delicate features in a proportioned body, and body heat emanating from his body. By the way the smaller boy was holding a half empty bottle of water, Riku came to the conclusion that the boy was a mortal. But if the boy was indeed a mortal, what was he doing here, all alone in a dangerous place like this at tow in the morning? Riku decided to investigate further.

"Hello. Why are you here all alone, in such a dangerous place so late at night?" Riku asked with genuine concern in his voice.

"I'm waiting for someone." Was the petite boy's curt reply.

"Who are you waiting for?"

"It's a secret." The spiky-haired brunette said with a brief wink.

"Can I at least have a name, or is that a secret too?" The green-eyed vampire responded with a seductive and confident smirk.

"Sure…" The boy uncurled from his position on the bench and extended his right hand towards Riku. "Sky. Sky Lionelli." He said with a goofy grin.

"Sky Lionelli, huh…?" The vampire slowly repeated the name while savoring its gentle tone. "In that case here, have my umbrella, Sky. It will protect you from this drenching rain."

The boy named Sky shook his head slowly; refusing the help given to him. "Nah…you keep it. Besides, it is enough to have one person utterly soaked instead of two."

Riku was surprised to find that his dominion abilities were not having an effect on his target. Perhaps Riku was losing his touch after all. Even his persuasion and seduction abilities had had no effect on the boy. That was very, very strange. Riku was a master with those abilities and up until now, everyone had succumbed to his powers.

"Have it your way." The handsome vampire chuckled briefly. He had no time to waste in someone who was immune to his powers. Perhaps another day when he was not so occupied, Riku would he try to seduce this slithery target. "Well then, I must really get going now. It was a pleasure meeting with you Sky…maybe we could see each other some other time until then, be careful." Riku offer the boy fair well then turned to leave.

o o o

Crystal Raven's Flat 3:58 p.m.

"It was bogus, just a false alarm!" Axel reported to Riku.

Leon and Axel had arrived to Crystal Raven's a short while ago and they were having a private meeting in Riku's study. By the exasperated look on their faces, the master of Crystal Raven's could see that it had been another false lead.

"However……" Leon interrupted and handed a small, gold gilded envelope to Riku. "We did find a note. The note is addressed to you."

"It's like those shitty bastards are leading us on. They leave us notes and evidence and we can't still track them down! They're messing with us, Riku." Axel was boiling with anger.

"Calm down Axel! We don't want you to start a fire like last time." Riku demanded. He flipped the envelope to find Anima Mundi's seal stamped in the back. Care fully breaking the seal, Riku read the letter.

Dear Master of Crystal Raven's Flat,

We were sorry for the attack that we conducted to some of your men in Glacier Prison.

We sincerely hope they are all right now. We have been informed that you have been assigned by Shinra to hunt us down. Let us in Anima Mundi assure you that we are every where, but do not try to contact us. In due time we will contact you, possibly shortly today or tomorrow. The question here is our esteemed Riku:

Are you ready to learn the one and absolute truth?

Sincerely,

The members of Anima Mundi

"Where did you find this-"

Ring…ring……ring………..

The sounds of the telephone interrupted their precious meeting. Turning the dreaded machine on, Riku braced himself to face Shinra in a videoconference report.

"To what do we owe this sudden intrusion, Shinra?"

"Ah…always so aloof Riku, nut I'd rather not discuss such important matters with such……lowly creatures."

Shinra offended Leon and Axel accordingly by pointing at them; while Leon tried his best to hold down Axel's explosive temper.

"Leon and Axel stay here, Shinra. You have something important to tell us? You better do it in-front of us all." Riku stated coldly.

"Very well…I just called to inform you that project Sora got in a different plane than the one destined for him. Apparently the plane that was headed to New York for tomorrow was canceled and they decided to book him an early flight. He should have arrived already and reported to you." Shinra said confidently.

"No, we've heard nothing of that. Let me check." Riku reached for the black phone near his desk and called Rude.

"Yes Sir."

"Rude, has someone important come here today?"

"No, just some barely potty trained kid by the name of Sky Lionelli came looking for you today."

Riku's eyes widened in sudden realization as to whom he had met outside of Café Noir today.

"I'm waiting for someone."

"Well that's him." Shinra assured with a smirk. "Sky Lionelli is Sora's human alias. We had him used his alias in order to avoid him being tracked by our enemies, but I'm sure I told you that."

Riku twitched in anger. "No. I guess you forgot to give us all that important information from the start."

"Don't tell me that kid was? No way!" Rude exclaimed in amazement.

"Well, where did he say he was going to wait?" Leon asked. "Maybe we can go get him."

"That won't be necessary Leon. I already know where he is." Riku shut down the video conference and darted out the door.

To be continued…

o o o

Author's comment: Who! I finished the story just in time. Sorry because I intended to make the story a little longer, but because I wrote the one-shot story Friends With Benefits this week also, I didn't have time to do all that I planned. So in order to make up for it, I decided to post some brief spoilers about my story. Beyond this line, it is up to your discretion if you want to read or not.

1.The beginning of the stories always commence with a story. This is a little independent story on how the vampires were first born. Everyone is having these dreams on occasion, but they are told in a story format hence the title for this story.

2.What happened 29 years ago, is actually one of Sora's memories before he became a vampire. This will be regarded briefly in the next chapter.

3.Don't get confused with Kairi's appearance now. In the 29 year span, she was turned into a vampire, but because she was a weak vampire (thin blood) her sire abandoned her to her own fate. Riku met her and took her under his protection. I will not go further into detail of what happened to Kairi, unless you review and request for me to do it. If you want to know just tell me.

4.I wrote this chapter in order to get the characters and the stage settled for the rest of the story. Next chapter will be Project Sora part 2 and the plot really thickens from there.

5.Keep an eye on Axel and Cloud because their rebellious behavior will be an important part of this story.

Here is the list of Riku's Group and the member's of Crystal Raven's Flat.

Riku: Leader of Crystal Raven. Sephyroth's childe.

Lycanthropes: Roxas, Axel, Leon, Barret, Cid, Rude

Vampires: Riku, Reno, Tifa, Cloud, Yuffie, Tidus, Wakka

Thin Bloods: Selphie, Kairi

Jenova type vampires: Sora, Vincent