Hello! This is my first fanfiction post to this website, and despite the fact that it is on a cartoon not many are familiar with I just thought it would be fun to send it over here as I've noticed some writers posting their stories relating to Albert The Fifth Musketeer. I know it's not a fluff fic as it does contain angst and low-key yandere themes but perhaps I'll make another story later.
This does contain death present in the story and undertones of gore (mildly) so if you are uncomfortable, I suggest you don't read this one :)
Anyhoo, enjoy!
It was evening now in Paris with citizens preparing to wind themselves down for a good rest to get ready for tomorrow as candlelights were set lit to bring light to the darkness. For the most part, it was times like these that were so rare that citizens who had common sense knew the troubles of today's society.
The time caller screamed out, "It's 9 o'clock, sleep tight, good people of France!" and along came the sound of a splash. The duck messengers who were thankfully not called on duty would crowd amongst each other and chatter away like none's business. Children would be rushed inside from the calls of their mothers and sent straight to bed, whilst the fathers would come home late from their friends at the local inn.
Most had found themselves at peace but except for one who could not help but walk in anxiously, Albert de Paramagnan.
At this time, he would have been busy creating new inventions for the musketeers to use when in danger but the fact that someone so dear to him had not returned from their walk had his mind go haywire. It was unusual for his partner to be out so long, and the recurring thoughts of them running into trouble had his stomach churning.
Sitting on his workbench in his workshop, the little man released a sigh and turned towards his window; his heart pounding hard than before. Before his Lady had left, he pleaded with her to let him tag along with her at such an hour, but the uneasiness she had held caused the girl to dash off before he could even comprehend what had just occurred.
Gertrude, the small mouse who happened to be Albert's friend, came out of her mousehole to stare at the blonde with confusion as to why he wasn't doing what he'd normally do.
Feeling a small pair of eyes watching him, Albert looked down at the creature with a gentle smile, "Bonsoir, Gertrude. You must be worried for me, am I right?"
The snow-white mouse squeaked as if to say yes to the man, before climbing up from the wooden table's leg to sit on the palm of his hand.
"I am worried for her, Gertrude. I worry for her with all my heart to know where she is…Dear me, I can't seem to think properly anymore." To keep himself calm, Albert began to stroke his friend, who in return snuggled up tight.
D'Artagnan, who happened to still be awake compared to his comrades, headed towards his close friend's workshop in hopes the little blonde could keep him company. He paused in his tracks at the door as the faint sounds of someone rambling inside had him confused.
"Albert? I say, are you alright in there?" He asked as he knocked at the wooden door a few times, causing the other to open the door and look desperately at his friend.
"(Y/N) has not returned for the last two hours, D'Artagnan... and dare I say, I'm troubled."
"Perhaps she had to go elsewhere before making her way back to our headquarters? Or someone she is friends with stopped in her tracks and they're having a chat?"
Albert shook his head sorrowfully, "If that was the case, I wouldn't be so afraid that something has gone wrong, and I am not there to help her…"
The fourth musketeer thought for a while until an idea came his way. Giving an encouraging smile to the troubled blonde, D'artagnan bent down and held his friend's shoulder in a not-so-tight manner but gently. "Let me get the others awake, and you go on ahead searching for her. We'll join you in a short while."
Albert gave a nod before heading back inside to fetch his rapier and have his mule, who was almost asleep, ready for a search that would surely take a toll on him. He knew he should have stayed a bit more for the others to come down or better yet, alert the Captain of the squad but with the feeling of dread hitting his head, nothing could stop his patience from running thin.
It was not long till the pale blonde found himself on the now empty roads to the main streets of Paris; too empty, he might add. Holding a lit lantern to guide his way in the town square, the fifth musketeer was certain he had heard a group of laughter coming not so far by his right. "But why would anyone wish to hang around in that direction? That would surely lead me to…"
The River Seine.
"No…It must be all in my mind…" Albert's head started to spin now. The thought of his Lady ending up in such a dangerous area had his stomach churning as he released a shaky sigh, guiding his mule to the direction where the laughter began to grow louder.
He had to calm his mule down a few times as the thick fog from the river withered its way into the streets. He knew you were not the type of person to wander yourself to a place where he could not rescue you in, and yet frankly, that worried him deeply.
You could hear the Cardinal's guards laugh roughly at the miserable state they did to you as you were hunched tightly to yourself. The silliest part was the fact that you couldn't recall how you got into this mess. The constant throws and near chances of being sexually assaulted constant times made you pray to the Lord that the men would end your suffering.
"Where is your gallant rescuer, little lady? Has he left you behind at last?" One of the guards, particularly the blonde one, laughed out loud; drunk from a whisky bottle as he swayed around with one arm. "It is such a shame for such a young woman like you to be all alone at this time!"
"Say…Aren't you one of those filthy foreigners? Perhaps you'd make good as a slave for the Cardinal."
"Or for us instead! We can use a bit of entertainment around here!" Piped up another guard as the group laughed together whilst you continued to back yourself against the railings of the bridge.
It was not the first time you had encountered the guards each time you wandered around Paris or for anyone. Most already know how treacherous the Cardinal can be when one does not listen to his orders as the Bastille is big enough to fit half of the townspeople inside. Albert always was a worrisome man; even half of the time, he would come with you on your outings.
It wasn't already bad enough that you have no way of going back to the musketeers' headquarters but rather the fact of imagining how your fiance's mindset is at the moment.
Just thinking about him made you close your eyes, diving deep into your memory lane of the happiness the two of you had on much prettier days back the time you two met. From times of suffering to pure laughter. Looking back to when you both had met, he was on a mission at that time, and you happened to be caught in the mess by accident. And yet, despite the fact you were almost forced to massacre the King, by pure luck, Albert and his brothers-in-arms helped you out of it.
While it did mean that while the Cardinal and Milady still plan on hunting you down to be sent to the Bastille, you had been living since in Captain de Treville's mansion; particularly in Albert's workshop. You never had thought as a child that you were going to love someone from your people's enemy, but de Parmagnan was different; far too different to despise.
From how long you refused to say anything with the group of drunk men had put them off. One of the broader guards advanced their way toward you; his arms outstretched to grab the top of your dress. "Stay down on the floor, petite chienne, and take off those clothes of yours. It will not do any good not to show us your angelic beauty."
With a yelp, you tried to push the guard away from you but failed to do so when the other members rushed to grab hold of your arms, ensuring you had no escape. The butterflies in your stomach increase, as well as your heart, beats getting into a faster pace. Your hazel eyes darted left to right in hopes of a passerby to come to your aid, but all vision was blocked by the horrendous colour of vermillion red of their uniform and the sickening smiles they shot at you. You wanted to scream, but no words would come out of your mouth as your brain froze in panic.
Just like the time, you were taken away from your homeland in the slave trade to France all those years ago.
Dizzy spells came not long after as you felt your tired knees collapse to the ground whilst the man in front of your hazy sight started to unbutton your dress with his hands slowly making their way to where your breasts stood; now soon to be naked to the eye. Yet, as your eyes started to close, your puzzled mind left you to think of one person that you grew to adore as an ear-piercing shot rang in the misty air.
"...(Y/N)? (Y/N)?"
A hushed voice called out to you in the darkness as you tried to think deeply about who it belonged to.
There was no sign of any light present in your sight, causing you to feel frightened. But when your senses finally came back to you, you felt yourself to be lying somewhere…mellow and safe.
Considering yourself, you can't even recall the last time you had laid in such a comforting object.
Slowly open your eyes, and a blurred sight of a person that sat to the left came into your vision, making alarms go off your head. However, when the blurriness cleared to reveal the one and only Captain de Treville looking down at you with concern brought you to ease.
"At last, you are awake, dear child. You had us all in a mess, you know." The elder man spoke with relief, a reassuring smile forming upon his features. "For your information, (Y/N), you're in Albert's bed chambers within his workshop."
After hearing his words, you felt a tad of joy in you that you were no longer outside with those cruel men. But, just before you let your lips open to speak, a rush of pain came towards you like a tsunami that had you groaning.
"I suggest that you lay low, (Y/N). It ails me to say this to you, but when my musketeers found you in the river Seine with such bruises, the clinician believed you were a dead woman."
Bruises…The River? When did you get those, or how did you end up there? When you had asked the captain, his response was a simply tired sigh and a look of remorse. "I'm afraid I cannot tell you why, but from the state that Albert was in when he returned you here might be a clue."
Looking towards the ceiling, you asked Treville where your fiance was and why he was not the one by your side. The older man was silent for a moment but spoke once more.
"D'Artagnan and Porthos had to take Albert outside for a bit in hopes to calm him down. The young man refused to move away from your side, yet not once came out to even have something to eat. Aramis and Athos are outside, but I fear what has become of Albert; he stays still as if frozen in a spell, and if one dares to go near you? Why! It's straight to the infirmary."
Albert…attacking the innocent? That can not be true.
You released a small, awkward laugh that what he said could not be true. You knew the young blonde to be the one with goodwill, generosity, humbleness, and wisdom. It was true that he would only fight those who wished to bring trouble to the King and Queen, but it was mostly the Cardinal Guards. And he rarely used his weapons to cause serious injury.
Standing up, Captain de Treville started to make his way towards the door out of the bedroom but paused to give you one last look with a smile.
"He loves you more than anything (Y/N). But you must be wise and careful if you try to ease his heart." And with that, he walked through the door and left you alone in the now dim room with tension still tight in the air.
It was not long after you had heard someone giving out a shout that sounded so broken before the bedroom door burst open, only to reveal your fiance, Albert de Parmagnan, staring at you with such longingness it made you feel guilty for his soul.
There were times you had seen the man during his low moments, but it was never to this level from how he stared at you intensely. The only moment you could ever think of his emotions was almost close to this was a day some months ago when he told you about his mother's passing anniversary.
You had little time to react when the next thing you knew was how you were tackled back on the bed with arms hugging you tightly, to the point you struggled to breathe,
"Pardonne-moi, pardonne-moi, pardonne-moi, pardonne-moi!"
Whispering out, the troubled blonde's name had him pause from his mumbling, only to look into your eyes once more with his tearful azure ones. You both stared at each other for what seemed like forever until you felt him gently stroke your cheek with his index finger as if you were a fragile doll.
"Mon chérie (Y/N), why did you forbid me from coming with you? You left me frightened for how long the days of you simply lying cold in my bed…and it ails me!"
His tone was full of such sorrows that broke your soul, yet his once bright colourful blue eyes contained some disturbing secret.
You wanted to speak out your feelings to him, but alas, nothing came out of those quivering lips of yours. You just wished you could explain your mistake but the words of the Captain making their way back into your head forced you to stay quiet. Who knew what Albert was capable of when his nerves were set off?
Slowly, a smile that did not fit right with you, rose upon his rosy lips as the moonlight radiated his snow-white skin. "But all is well now for I have dealt with them. They shall not bother you again, mon amour."
Pulling you closer to him, the Fifth Musketeer nuzzled his face into your hair, mumbling how much your damaged body broke him.
You muttered to him who he had meant that 'they' will not bother you anymore. You told him that you noticed something is off about him and how it was quite unsettling but it was the look he gave to you that kept you silent.
"Have I frightened you? Oh dear…that will most certainly not do... forgive me. But you must promise me one thing, mon trésor." Albert brought out his index finger and laid it delicately on your plump lips which quivered from a hidden fear of something he is keeping from you. He moved to be close to your ears as he whispered out the words, "Never lose that precious smile of yours and stay close to me from now on. You will always be safe with me, (Y/N)..."
But would you truly be safe? You closed your eyes as you felt such sleepiness return its way to you as you allowed Albert to sing a lullaby as the moonlight sky flooded the land.
"Je suis désolé!" The third guard cried out but his plea was ignored.
Ring-a-ring-a-rosies
A pocket full of posies
A tissue, a tissue
We all fall down
A sickening crunch of bones being shattered was heard once again as the youngest guard of all watched his comrade go down. He tried to hide behind the girl's body in hopes that the bastard wouldn't see him.
The king has sent his daughter
To fetch a pail of water
A tissue, a tissue
We all fall down
'I cannot hold on anymore, it's too much….merde!' The guard bent down as he retched horrifically at the sight in front of him. He tried to control himself, he truly did. And he felt sick of it.
His quivering eyes looked over at the woman his friends and he was going to harass. If only he didn't pick such a special victim today…
The robin on the steeple
Is singing to the people
A tissue, a tissue
We all fall down
"You think hiding behind my lady will help you, you little rodent?"
"Oh, Dieu…Oh Dieu…Oh Dieu…"
"Keep on praying to him, for no one will aid you tonight." A sound of something being reloaded can be heard that had the smallest guard's heart freeze within an instant, "Let me aid you instead, good sir!"
The wedding bells are ringing
The boys and girls are singing
A tissue, a tissue
We all fall down
He could see it now; the utter madness present in those fury blue eyes that glared back at him with pure hatred and...joy. Out of panic, the man grabbed the girl's body as a shield to protect himself but that only seemed to cause the other to release a crazed laugh which echoed through the Parisian air.
"Kill me and you kiss your bâtarde lover farewell! Bastard!"
The blonde stared at such pathetic action but his grin remained ever so sweetly upon his lips as he pulled the trigger,
"Adieu!"
When the musketeers arrived at the scene along with a few citizens from such commotion, they were shocked to see their comrade crouched down cradling his fiance as he rocked himself ever so slowly. D'Artagnan rushed over as he screamed at his friend, asking him if he was injured but sealed his mouth shut when Albert turned to give him a death glare. Backing away slowly, he whispered, "Albert, what happened….?"
But no answer came as the small blonde tensed himself in hopes to protect who he deemed his away from everyone.
Such a sight no one would ever think they would see their whole life. But no one had heard nor seen the last of the infamous Cardinal's Guards' remains.