Disclaimer: I do not own Newsies or any of it's characters, Disney does. I do not own Jo, ChocolateCoveredJockey does. I do not own Merlin. I own Floaty, Trench, Edward, and Trisha, and Fred, and Bullet and Murlough.
Trisha Mclacklan parked her car in front of her apartment building on Neutral Grounds, she had been turned nearly two hundred years ago. Her Mate, Edward McLacklan the fifth, was nearing five hundred years old; after one hundred and ten years of marriage she had finally got to one of those rare times in a female's life when a female could reproduce...In other words she was on her cycle for three days once every fifty to one hundred years. The first time they had tried to have a child she had a miscarriage, this time, fifty years later, she was nine months pregnant and would give birth to the baby any day.
She grabbed her plastic sack of groceries and climbed out of her car, she paused as she slowly stood up and braced the small of her back with the back of her hand. She winced as her back gave a sharp ache, she paused, shut the door and pressed the small button of her car key to lock the car up then headed inside.
"Hi Fred," she smiled to the door man, who was half vampire...From what Edward had told her Fred had been coming home from work when a female, who was far from sane tried to turn him; he managed to fight her off, the result he became half human and half vampire...Which was extremely rare.
"Hey Mrs. McLacklan, how are you this fine evening?"
"I'm doing as well as a pregnant woman with sudden and odd cravings can do," chuckled Trisha as she walked past him and into the apartment building. She stepped into the elevator and pressed 3. A minute later she stepped off and walked into her and her husband's penthouse. She went to the vault and twisted the knob, then pulled the heavy, small metal door open and peered inside, she sighed wishing she could wear the Blood Ruby.
"Trisha, I told you, you cannot go around opening that safe," Edward's sharp British accent exclaimed.
Trisha jumped and looked to her husband. Edward was a tall man of nearly six feet; he had light snowy blonde hair and silver eyes; today he wore his black button down suit that was modeled after a suit from the nineteen fourties, a brown open trench coat over it, and a dark grey fedora atop his head. She knew her husband was heading to the gangster-historians meeting at Manhattan Public Library. Back in the nineteen twenties and early thirties he had lived in Chicago and worked for Al Capone as a boot legger then a hit man.
"I know," Trisha sighed, her ocean blue eyes losing their glaze from her day dreams of being Dahres-Naga, Vampire Queen. She tucked a lose strand of her reddish-blonde hair behind her ear and put a hand over her stomach, "I just...Wish I could wear the Blood Ruby."
"I know," Edward replied softly, "I would love to be Dahren and wear the Blood Garnet, but I can't. Our places are as Guaridans of the Rings; whoever wins this war, of if this peace plan that is starting to happen, is successful then Spot or Trench, hopefully Spot, will wear the Blood Garnet, his Naga will wear the Blood Ruby. Now close that safe before someone sees in and I have to move us again."
Trisha nodded and slammed shut the vault, Edward walked over and pulled back the invisibility curtain to make the safe dissapear and an empty square hole in the wall appear, then pushed the painting back over it. Merlin had made the Invisibility Curtain for Edward when he was given the rings to guard three hundred years ago.
"How is the baby?" Edward smiled putting a hand on Trisha's stomach, he smiled when a tiny foot kicked into his palm.
"He or she is doing quite well," Trisha smiled, "active as ever. I heard an interview on the radio today with an author who wrote a series about vampires. She said that vampires could never get pregnant."
Edward laughed, "oh, how silly the author is! If they only knew."
Trisha chuckled, and looked down at her stomach, when vampires had babies the baby or babys started off human. Then anywhere from 18 to 23 they went through a natural change and their bodies would turn from human to vampire all on their own. During the change, however, the man or woman had to drink fresh blood straight from a wrist of a human, thankfully Fred's wife, who knew what Fred was, had agreed that when that time came Edward and Trisha's could drink from her wrist.
Just as Edward opened the elevator to leave the penthouse Spot Conlon walked in.
"Spot, old chap! Wonderful to see you!" Edward smiled.
"Heya Edward, heya Trish," Spot smiled to the couple, "I'se ain't alone tonight I'se brough wid me da Tuuli-Rah, my Nashah."
"You're dating the Tuuli-Rah?" Trisha asked, "dear Tasara, Spot, she's half wizard and she works for Trench-"
"And I'se was one of da chosen males to date a female I'se chose Floaty," Spot replied, "she's da one who came up wid dis peace plan."
"That was three months ago old chap," Edward exclaimed.
"Yeah," Spot nodded, "and I'se heah t'day ta let yas know dat Floats and I'se, Jack and Jo, Skitts and Melinda...We'se engaged."
"Oh my!" Smiled Trisha, "Congratulations!"
"What about Creepy and Specs?" Edward asked.
"Didn't woik out," Spot replied shaking his head, "Tanya was too scahed of Creepy an' wound up movin' off ta England somewheah, Arts..."
"What about Arts?" Trisha asked softly.
"She was killed..." Spot whispered, "by a Tahker the night Specs was going to ask her to marry him. He's still heart broken...Those two really loved eachother."
"What of Trench?" Edward asked.
"Floats is woikin' on a way to make him human again, but she can't do it yet."
"Why not?"
Spot frowned, "dere ain't enough vampires who are trustin' enough ta date a male or female from each odda's clan."
"Damn it," sighed Edward.
"Yeah, so dat's why I'se heah, Edward yas know all dem formah gangstah-vampiahs and I'se know deys willin' ta do anythin' foah peace since the Tahkers come aftah youse guys moah den deys go aftah us."
"Yes," Edward nodded, "the Tahkers seem to think us ex-gangsters will try to bring back the Roaring twenties," he rolled his eyes, "which was relatively sane compared to this day in age."
"Well, Floats has t'ree females lined up, Annie, Kelly, an' Isadora, deys awll willin' ta date one from me clan an' I'se know youse don't take sides, but da males dat yas know do."
Edward paused, "Ralph, George, and Justin, they'd be the best to date the three females. They're in your clan and they've been the biggest supporters in the gangster-historian group of this peace plan."
Spot nodded, "alright, could ya send dem ta Diomedes at 2 AM tonight? Da t'ree females will be waitin dere, table eight."
"I will send them."
"Thanks," Spot smiled, "Ok Floats."
Trisha looked over to see the Tuuli-Rah walk in, she had always heard how the Tuuli-Rah was very powerful and could be quite threatning and dangerous. She didn't look anything like most of the descriptions that she had been told of. From the descriptions the Tuuli-Rah was tall, cold hatred in her eyes, and walked slightly bow legged. The female who walked in had none of those features.
She was small and petite, Trisha was shocked if the female even reached five feet tall; she had curly firey red hair tied back into a lose pony tail; her eyes were dark brown; she wore a long ankle lengthed dark blue cowboy styled duster over old denim jeans and a t-shirt. Atop her head she wore a light brown fedora, in her hand she clutched a long wooden staff with a purple cloth around the middle. She wore ankle lengthed black boots.
"Hello," smiled Floaty, "it's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. McLacklan."
"Yah! Hay-ah!" Shouted Jo as she kicked and punched the heavy punching bag hanging from the gym on Neutral Grounds. She panted and brothe heavily as she beat the heavy punching bag and pretended it was Trench.
Trench had found out about the peace plan, he had found out Jo was engaged to Jack, Floaty engaged to Spot, and Melinda engaged to Skittery; he forbid it. Or tried too, until Jo told him there was nothing he could do about it, which was true. Sure there were about 50 vampires from each clan that didn't agree with the peace plan and wanted war, but the 450 or more from both clans wanted peace. Jo had seen these past three months males from Trench's clan dating female's from Spot's clan, and vice-versa. Even Star-Gazer was dating a female from Spot's clan! Her name was Melissa, she was a tall blonde female with a kick-ass attitude and a you-get-used-to-me-I-don't-get-used-to-you outlook on life.
"Hay-yah!" Jo shouted as she sent her fist flying into the middle of the punching bag. A droplet of sweat fell from the tip of her nose, tears kept threatning to fall her eyes, her clothes clung to her. At home she didn't have to deal with this war, at home back in Port Royal she heard of it and hoped Spot would be Dahren, but she never had to take part in any of this fighting or fighting for peace. For the last two hundred years she had lost so many friends, she had wrote the names down of all the friends she and Floaty had lost, the list went on for nearly two pages.
"Woah, don't blame da punchin' bag!"
Jo looked up, "Jack," she panted, "hey..I.."
Jack put his hands on each of her shoulders and held her there, "Jo, what's da mattah?" He asked softly, before pulling her into a long hug, he walked her over to a bench and handed her sport's bottle filled halfway with ice cold B positive blood. Jo popped open the tip of the bottle and drank a few good mouthfuls of the blood down then pushed the tip back down.
"Trench," Jo replied, "he found out! He tried blocking me from seeing you, Floaty from seeing Spot, and Melinda from seeing Skittery!"
"It didn't woik," Jack replied with a shrug, "deys ah only fifty vampiahs dat are loyal to him from your clan. The other 400 are all loyal ta youse an' Floaty. Trench is pretty much a threat now only ta da human woild. Haven't ya noticed how he's been lacking interest in da vampiah community? Bullet's his second in command now for his human gang; he's pratically head ovah heels dat whore he met two months ago...Starlett Sugar Cookie or whatevah, an' dis is da only time he's spoken up. Jo, what does dat tell ya?"
"I know Trench well, Jack, he's not going to give up," Jo exclaimed with a frusterated sigh, "since the day he turned myself and Floaty..Well he almost killed her, but since that night really, he's always asked me to marry him. He still does!"
"Jo, da man's a whore," Jack reminded with a frown.
"I know, but-"
"Jo, he may not be givin' up," Jack said softy, "but he knows dat he's pretty much defeated. He's tried all dese plans to get all da vampiahs from both clans ta stop datin' an' befriendin' eachodda. From threats to tryin' ta earn their liking, respect, an' friendship. None of dat woiked. He's a vampiah supportin' a lost cause."
Jo nodded, "he'll be human soon."
"Ya know what," Jack asked soflty.
"What?" Jo questioned.
"I'se t'ink he'll be moah dan happy ta be human, I've seen da way he's looked at da human woild when he was steppin' outta Macy's da odda night. He misses it, I'se shoah he's still gonna try t'ings...but...He has only a handful of followers, and newly turned vampiahs can't fight for nearly twenty years, deys gotta wait until their entire vampire strength comes ta dem. Unless he gets Murlough's help, which is unlikely since Murlough don't want nothin' ta do wid us afta we caught his spy, Les Jacobs, an' sent da kid back...Trench is screwed."
Jo nodded.
"Wanna heah some good news?"
"Good news would be nice for a change," Jo replied.
"Specs is datin anudda female."
"That's great!" Jo beamed.
Jack nodded, "Spot had Floaty use her magic ta call up Arts spirit, an' Art told him to move on or have his glasses become a permanent unmoving fixture on his face."
Jo laughed hard, "when was that?" She questioned, she hadn't seen her sister in nearly a month now.
"About two weeks ago," smiled Jack, "Spot took Floats ovah ta see some friends of his."
"Who?"
"Dont know who deys ah," replied Jack, "'e won't tell us deys names, all I'se know is dat deres a rumor dat deys da keepers of da Blood Garnet and da Blood Ruby."
"The Dahren's and Dahres-Naga's rings? The actual rings of royalty?"
Jack nodded, "da actualy rings of royalty, it's jist a rumor dough."
Jo smiled, "hopefully it will become truth soon."
Jack nodded, "I'se hope dat dis war will end soon."
"It has pretty much ended," Jo replied softly, "only a few small skirmishes between a few vampires from Trench's clan and Spot's clan fight and they pretty much kill eachother off. Sadly. Besides that...the only other fighting is with the Tahkers."
Jack nodded, "Spot's been sayin dat if he becomes Dahren he's gonna have a special group of warriors dat ah gonna be highly trained ta protect other vampires dat will be called Civilis (Vampire Citizens) from da Tahkers."
Jo beamed, "I can't wait for this war to end now, for once I can feel what Floaty's been feeling."
"What's dat?" Jack asked.
"My heart huge with hope and filled with faith in other vampires to do the right thing; I always thought my sister...was a little naiive for the way she thinks," Jo shook her head, "she proved me otherwise."
"Floats and youse ah good females," Jack smiled, hugging Jo close, "an' I'se talked ta Floaty da odda day if helps any...She t'inks yer way of thinkin' befoah was weird."
Jo laughed hard and long, she needed that, "only my sister!"
Trench laid on top of his bed his arms above his head, crossed, and supported his head. His dark brown eyes looked up at the ceiling, where had he gone wrong? He wanted to win this war the warrior's way and the..."honest business man's way." Instead Floaty, from what he had been told she had come up with this plan for peace, managed to get both clans pratically fully together now.
The only other thing Trench could think of to do was have Floaty killed, but Murlough had tried that now almost five or six different times. The first time Floaty sent the elf back unharmed, the second through the fifth time the elves just vanished, and this time the elf decided to stay with the vampires revealing he hated Murlough with a passion. Trench had seen Floaty's power, the reason why he never touched Jo or forced her to marry him was because of her sister. Floaty could easily kill him, faster than a bullet could fly.
How many times had he dreamed of finding a way to kill off Floaty and have Jo for himself and only himself...One night about a hundred and eighty two years ago Floaty had cornered him and had used to magic to almost burn off little Trench and told him if he ever tried to force her sister to his bed again she'd not only cut off Little Trench, she'd kill him as well. Trench knew she wasn't bluffing. His groin knew she wasn't bluffing.
Hell, even Star Gazer and Bullet went out of their way to stay away from Floaty.
"Aren't we gloomy today?"
Trench bolted up, "Murlough, after our falling out...What are you doing in my bedroom and how long have you been here?!"
"Long enough," replied the elf as he traced the outlines of his lips, with a long index finger.
"What do you want?" Trench asked, reaching slowly for a pistol that he had made with custom made bullets that had Centaur's blood in them. Centaur's blood killed elves.
"What you want, for the Tuuli-Rah gone, but from what I can see," commented Murlough calmly, "killing her is not an option." He paused and leaned forward, "I've been thinking about this for an entire month now...One of us needs to marry her."
"What?! I'M NOT MARRYING HER!" Trench never raised his voice, but this time was a special occasion.
"One of us has too," Murlough replied, "I was reading a law that is the same for both our races, Vampire and Elves, whatever male takes a female as his wife...Naga... The Naga can be literally brainwashed on their wedding day to do whatever the husband wants. It's a very old law and about to be banned in both our races, but while it's still around we can exercise it. Whoever marrys her will have access to her power."
"And you'd be an idiot for even trying," replied Trench.
"Why?"
"Floaty, the Tuuli-Rah, is half wizard - remember? She's not full vampire, the special brain wash wouldn't work on her...Her magic would kick in."
Murlough gave a soft curse, "well then we'll just have to find some way to either get rid of her or have her...Come to our turns...Didn't you say to me once that...She had a sister..."
Trench smiled, "a beautiful sister."
"Threaten that sister and I'm sure Floaty would come to her senses," Murlough smiled, "since you dislike Floaty so, I shall take her as my bride."
"I thought you were married," frowned Trench.
Murlough shrugged, "I got tired of her, divorced her and gave her to Gween whose more of a...Gentleman than I am. The last time I saw her two months ago she was rather happy with her new husband. Do we have an accord?"
"That we do," Trench smiled, "that we do."