All Rights to Hiro Mashima
Hello, hi. Everyone enjoying CoLu week this year?! I know I loveeddddd GemNika's wonderfully dark and sexy vampire AU. Seriously, go check it out if you haven't already. :3
This one came from nothing. I had no idea what to write for this prompt and the suddenly one afternoon BAM words on a page.
Love you all my precious cupcakes, stay crazy,
LoadedEel
Mamba
Day 3: Invite
They called him The Locksmith.
Not many knew his actual name, and only a few alive could even remember it. He was an immortal, a cornerstone in many cultures, generation after generation told his story. The One Who Closed Doors, The Everlasting Lock, Eternal Secret Keeper, they whispered into the night. Children let go of their insecurities and clandestine adventures to him in hushed voices over pillows and blankets. Adults hoped that he would grant them a marriage that clicked as easily as one of his deadbolts, that it would last and they would link forever.
But there was only one person, and it was hard to tell if she was a true person at all, that knew his first name. The one that he gave her when the sun and the stars and the moon came together in the Heavens after Titania demanded better security on High after Salamander wept bitterly at his brother's betrayal. After Spriggan was cast out to the Depths to fester and rot. Because she held all the keys to the stars, and he had sacrificed one of her beloved friends for greed and power, she agreed. She held keys that didn't fit any locks, they were unsafe, vulnerable.
So, she traveled to the Underneath and met a man whose flowers grew in already dead and was filled with tragedy and was ignorant of why he was the only one left alive. He held no love for the ones on High, he was unbiased and wicked and so incredibly intelligent, but ill. She gave him the option, go on living like he had been and die of disease too early, or become her other half, immortal until the galaxies stopped turning.
He had watched for a moment with a cruel smirk, words dripping like honey off his tongue. "You already know what my answer will be, don't you?" He said.
She knew. She had always known that he would accept. That was half the reason she had chosen him in the first place. The other half was that he intrigued her greatly.
"Who are you? Really?"
"I have held many names over the years. They call me the Key Holder now."
"What should I call you then?"
She laughed. He was unbothered by her status, by her ethereality. She liked that very much. "You may call me by my first. Lucia."
He nodded and glanced around his small house, at the roots of the skeleton trees and the withered flowers that pushed through brittle grass. "Hmmm, Lucia. Then you may call me Erik, but only if you grant me a boon."
She nodded, delighted by his boldness. "Erik. Honorable ruler, a good name. Ask and you shall receive if it is in my power to gift it. Keep in mind that I cannot resurrect the dead, nor can I send anyone to their own demise. I do not have the power over life like The One Who Rules does."
He pointed lazily to the withered branches of bone-white trees then to the dry spindle grass that grew in tough and lifeless. "Why does everything die before it has a chance to live in this place?"
Enchanted at his choice of question, she was more than happy to answer. "Erik, I am afraid that your clan had the unfortunate luck to try and build a home above an ancient relic that unlike myself, does have the power over what lives and dies."
He was silent, eyes curious in the half-light of the waning moon. She could see that he was more than intrigued and gave him a wicked grin back. "Beneath this crust of earth we stand on, bubbles an everlasting spring. When blessed correctly by someone with the power to do so, the water from that well can give the drinker immortality, but if not, it takes life instead. The fabled Fountain of Youth, as it were. My people call it the Well of Souls."
"Bit of a misnomer, isn't it?"
"Quite. Anything that uses the water without the blessing to grow is fated to die."
Erik eyed the dusty ground before pinning her with his violet eyes. "We really didn't have a chance here, did we?"
"None."
"Did the water always kill?"
"No, once, in the beginning, it was something that healed and brought life. But the water was cursed and no one can figure out how. No one in a thousand years has truly gone looking for the reason why though."
"I see. I should have died here too, then."
"Yes, but you held up longer than most which is truly remarkable. I have never seen anything quite like you before, Erik. And I am older than everything, so it isn't a something to scoff at."
"Just how old are you?"
"Didn't your mother teach you never to ask a lady her age?"
"My mother died, here, when I was young. And you are not a lady."
Lucia loomed in front of him, her face ethereal and terrifying. But her smile was warm. "You will be spectacular Erik. Fearless and wicked, you are the right choice for this I think. And to answer your question, I am timeless. Ancient beyond all things."
His eyes glowed at the praise. "Lucia, what must I do to stave off my death?"
"Pledge yourself. Your eternal servitude." She held up her hand here to stop him from blurting something before it was time. "But not to me, no. You will not serve me, but the truth. You will uphold honesty and hold the secrets of every being in Earthland behind your locks. As I am now, I am truly vulnerable. However, with the power granted you could become the immortal to close the gates that have been left open for eons. You will be unbiased and true, answering not to myself or even to any of those on High. You would be separate, but at all times, my equal."
He was silent again, but something in his eyes made her laugh with barely restrained glee. "Have you made your decision, Erik of Nirvana?"
"I have, Key Holder. Lucia. I accept your offer."
"Then it shall be done." She glided forward with surprising grace and kissed her other half with everything she had. Lucia broke off a part of her very essence and shoved it violently into the other man who only moaned and delved deeper into her mouth with his tongue.
Erik sunk down to his knees, the dry grass snapping under his weight. He panted for air and smirked sharply, teeth a white scar through his face. "I was truly not expecting that."
Lucia wiped her bottom lip off with her thumb. "There are many ways to create that which does not yet exist, to warp and change and make new. I just enjoy that method more than others."
"I believe that I will enjoy working with you, Lucia. I have no doubt that it will be…fun."
She smiled but sobered quickly. "You are immortal now Erik, but have no place with us, no name, no station. You must earn that, and quickly too for my keys and I will be exposed until there can be a lock on the gates that truly holds them closed. Right now, the seal is inefficient and make-shift."
"What must I do?"
She leaned into his body again and grazed their lips together softly. "Prove yourself, dear Erik." She breathed into his mouth. "Any way you can. Then, when have a name, I can invite you to the one place that will give you the station that I promised."
"Fine. How long do I have to do this?"
"A single turn of the seasons Erik. That is all I can give you."
"That is all I need, Lucia." He kissed her again, and she stumbled as he took more of her life force for himself. Such a small thing, but his knowledge and the fact that he could do something so intimate so quickly made her tingle.
"You will be so beautiful when you are finished, Erik. Come back to me soon. I cannot wait long."
He nodded and with a last impish lick to her lips he darted away into the gnarled mess of skeleton trees that bordered the mountains. Lucia reveled in the taste of her other half and grins as a flash of fire greets her.
"Do you really think you made the right choice sister?"
"Oh, Natsu. He is perfect."
"If you say so. He looks a little…devilish for my tastes."
Lucia grinned at her older brother in all but blood. "But to my tastes, he is what I need. And I him. We complete each other, just as you and Gray do. And that man is delicious, dear brother."
"Then he will be everything I cannot be."
"I never begrudged you for that Natsu. I could never be what you needed as well. It just wasn't in the cards for us you know."
"But he is?"
"He is."
-ooo-
One year to the day found Lucia standing among the garden that had once belonged to Erik. She was restless, her other half had been gone for hundreds of days and the time between attacks from the Depths had been growing shorter. The gates must be sealed, and soon, lest she loses another dear friend. Aquarius was her first, the spirit strong and unimaginably powerful, but Zeref had the Black Arts on his side and many followers that agreed with his plans blindly. The constellation of the Water Barer had been wiped from the sky and the mortals who still dwelled in the Underneath were confused and heartbroken. Lucia could feel that.
So, she needed the one who would close the gate and she needed him now. It did not help that she longed for him in other ways too. He had a bit of her life force inside him, and it called to her, as she knew it would.
The figure that finally emerged from the trees at dusk was familiar, but so entirely different she almost didn't recognize him. Hair still auburn, but short sat atop his head. His face once smooth was marred on one side by a massive scar that bisected his eye. His clothing, torn and dirty from blood and mud hung limp around his muscular frame. He was paler than he should be, and Lucia had no idea why.
"Lucia," he whispered, and it was like coming home to her. That piece of her soul called out to her and she didn't struggle against the need she felt.
He met her in the middle of the courtyard and she fell into his embrace with all the grace of a baby deer. "Erik. Look at you. You have come so far." She brushed a finger down his still sensitive scar and fire burned down her spine at his shiver.
"Lucia. It has been so long. Too long." He leaned forward and devoured her mouth with a hunger that she had very rarely seen. She moaned while sparks cracked up her bones at the feeling of finally being one after long days and longer nights of being apart.
She pulled back to breathe and rested her forehead against his. One eye burned bright and violet into her own amber. He was still just as handsome as that first day she saw him, but something now made him more dangerous, more exciting. "A name, Erik. Did you find one?"
He only nodded and then gestured down with one hand to the garden. "I think that I have more than proven myself worthy of it, Key Holder."
Lucia looked and what she found astounded her. No longer was this just a patch of dead weeds and skeleton branches devoid of green, but something new, something more. There was colour back in the garden again. Tiny white flowers had started to grow and the grass was more vibrant than before. There was life.
"Remarkable, Erik. You must tell me everything about your adventure."
He laughed and kissed her sweetly on the forehead. "As you wish."
Erik started that day he had left with a part of her essence inside him. He had gone for the mountains to look for the entrance to the Fountain of Youth and believed that it could be found in a cave. He happened upon it when spring had turned into summer and had journeyed deep within the cave overcoming rock slides and all manner of beasts that inhabited the tunnels. He found as an immortal, he needed little sleep and no longer thirsted for water or hungered for food. It was easy to keep going and so he did. Down into the depths of the cave until he came upon a pool of crystal clear water and he knew he had finally found what he was looking for. It was innocuous at best, nothing fancy to look at, but he knew he was in the right place when he was confronted by the keeper of the well. The one that had found the Fountain of Youth millennia ago and had kept it for itself.
Erik looked at Lucia who was enraptured by his story, and stripped off his meager shirt and turned his back to her. She gasped as she saw the black snake tattoo that curled up his spine, the head rested just behind where his immortal heartbeat. As if it was guarding him now.
"This beast Erik. Was it a basilisk?"
"Yes. She is."
"She?"
"Her name is Cubellios, and she is the reason why the Fountain of Youth was so deadly. Her poison had been seeping into the water for thousands of years."
She breathed deep. A remarkable feat, doing something that no one had thought of doing before. What an extraordinary man Erik was. "Did you slay her, Erik?"
His muscles rippled as the tattoo slithered to life, down his arm, and from his hand came a light. Then before her bewildered gaze, a massive snake with emeralds for eyes glared down at her and hissed. Erik smirked at his other half while he ran his hands over Cubellios' scales.
"No. I tamed her instead."
Lucia's eyes sought his out. "And your eye?"
It flicked over Cubellios and the snake collapsed and wound its way around his neck and down his back to sit still on his spine until called on again. "The price I had to pay. A necessary sacrifice."
She let her hand drag down the tattoo and delighted at the muscles bunching under her touch. "She is exquisite Erik." As she made her way around him, Erik caught her hands in his own and brought her closer so that she could feel the heat of his skin through her flimsy dress.
"I have missed you, Lucia."
Her smile softened. "And I you." The kiss this time was long and languid as if they had all the time in the world to map each other's mouths. "Erik. Did you find a name? Can you tell me?"
He barked a laugh and buried his nose into the crook of her neck. "It is Cobra, Lucia. Ironic, isn't it?"
"But fitting. It suits you well…Cobra."
His eye darted up to hers again. "Others will call me that name. But to you, I want to be only Erik."
She nosed along the shell of his ear, just to hear him groan into the skin of her neck. "Only if I am always just Lucia to you, Erik. All but my brothers call me Nova, my name that was given to me when I proved myself worthy of such things."
"Then it's a deal."
She grinned happily to the sky as he sealed his promise with a light kiss to her collarbone. "It is done. Come, Erik. You are formally invited to the ceremony on High. You will receive your station, and then after…well. My blood hums for you, and I can feel yours call to me." She twisted her hips to graze along his interest that sat stiff by her thigh. "After, we will join in all ways, truly be one. And we can begin as two halves to the same whole."
His answering kiss left her winded and breathless in the best ways. "Promise, Lucia?" He purred.
"I promise, dear Erik."
-ooo-
Her family was judgmental and sometimes closed off, but Cobra didn't let it get to him, especially because none of the rest of them had a loyal basilisk by their side. Titania the Shield, who he glimpsed always armed and dangerous with a weapon that seemed to change with her mood, eyed him from across the room with barely held annoyance. Salamander the Flame Bringer, an older than sin half Dragon from days long passed, watched him closely as he stood by his mate, Absolute Zero. Their bodies were always in tune with each other, and Cobra could see that they were each other's halves, just as he and Lucia were. He saw how they moved together and hoped that with time, he and Lucia would match their trust in each other.
The Demon, Titan, and Mystogan all were curious before he was brought before Gran Dorma, The One Who Rules. He was asked his name, to which he supplied Cobra in a loud voice. He was asked to divulge his story from where he received this name. As an answer, he stripped his shirt and turned to let them see the tattoo. He pushed for Cubellios to come and was delighted to see the looks of shock and one of absolute glowing pride from Lucia.
Gran Dorma listened and seemed wary of the gigantic beast at his side. But he agreed that Nova the Key Holder had made the right choice. When he had slipped his shirt back on after calling Cubellios back into his skin, Lucia lead him by the hand to an enormous gate. "This is the first Gate, Cobra." He watched as thin black tendrils of smoke pushed through the cracks between the metal.
He wanted to reach out and touch them, shove them back so that the brass was clean and bright. "As you can see, the seal is breaking, the lock crumbling. It was only temporary…but—"
"You have me now. I have pledged myself. I have proven that I am worthy of a name. All that is left is the station I was promised. I am ready, Lucia. Give me a purpose."
Her lips descended on his for only a moment and he watched as tar black need blew her pupils wide in her hunger for him. Cobra felt the same, his blood sang and skin itched uncomfortably in his clothes. "I promised you, that you would have whatever you wanted if I was able to make it so. And I can give you this, Erik. Ask and it is yours, I cannot deny you anything you want."
"Just you, Lucia. As my half, and for a reason to continue existing. I was meant to be the one to lock away the darkness that would try to find you. I can feel it in my bones, in my veins like the sweetest poison."
"Then it is yours. Both myself, and what you crave to be."
That very same day, she named him the Gatekeeper, and Cobra locked the Gate closed, repaired every crack and became the immortal of kept secrets.
Lucia was thrilled and when they came together it was violent and primal. He took her hard and fast against their chamber door, then bent over her chaise and then again, slower this time, spread out and sated on the bed. "You will know me, Lucia. You will know the feel of me inside you and you will want for no other."
"You were made for me Erik. You know that there will only be us, like this, until the end of days."
His rhythm faltered when she spoke those words and the harsh slap of skin against skin could be heard throughout the Palace on High. Their family knew what they were doing, but Lucia didn't try to muffle her joyful screams as her Gatekeeper pushed her to new heights and dropped her off cliffs into ecstasy previously unknown to her.
"I am yours, Cobra."
"As I am yours, for eternity, Nova."
And she was content for she had the half of her that would keep her safe, and he had his half that would always find him, for she was the Key Holder, and she could unlock any door.