Title: Seed of Darkness

Summary: A new threat descends upon Cloister and Jack must use the Crown of Erik to call on some unlikely allies. Fallon/Isabelle, Fumm/OC

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I do not own or make any money off these characters or storylines. I'm writing this cause it's a fun world to play in, not because it'll bring me zillions of dollars. There you go. Don't sue me, guys.

Author's Note: So after I saw JTGS I came to this archive and found a shocking lack of Fallon/Isabelle stories. Well, I guess it's not so shocking, since this pairing is about as unlikely as it would be for Godzilla to conscientously avoid stepping on people but, damnit, I REALLY want it! So, off I went to write my own. This takes place a few months after the movie. Obviously, I had to change the ending slightly so Fallon doesn't die, but he still gets hurt pretty bad anyway. With that said, I'll step aside and let you guys read...

Prologue: Innocence

Fee, Fye, Foe, Fumm, ask not whence the thunder comes. Ask not where the herds have gone, or why the birds have ceased their song. When coming home, don't take too long, for monsters roam in Albion.

Nights are always a wonder in Gantua. Starlight plays games flitting among shadow within its huge forests of pine and juniper. Wraiths of blue mist flow over the ground like hunting serpents, moistening every stone with a cold sheen. The air - especially in autumn - has a bite hard enough to frost any exposed skin it touches. Most of Gantua's citizens preferred the comfort of a dry, warm cave after dark, unless they were hardened to the cold. Or simply did not care.

On a rugged cliff overlooking an impossibly vast height stood a lone figure. He was large for one of Gantua's people, battle-scarred with ropy muscle sliding beneath his skin at each movement. Spiked bone armor covered one broad shoulder, gauntlets of iron covered his forearms, and a battered helm was on his head. Both of them.

For this Gantuan had been born with a strange companion: a second head. A smaller, misshapen head that could barely speak and was more annoying than useful most of the time. Still, the small head possessed enough insight to know when his brother was unhappy and was even now trying - but failing miserably - to communicate with his companion.

"Squeeaaaggh?"

The first head remained silent, lost in contemplation of the thick mists swirling at the edge of the cliff.

"Gluggg?" Though barely a phlegmatic gargle, the noise still managed to convey inquisitive worry.

"Shut up." A low growl edged the words with a hint of barely contained anger, and the second head wisely did as it was told.

Fallon - for that was the Gantuan's name - gazed down upon the edge of his world, tried to see past the blue-tinted mists that hung like a curtain on the air. Even if he could see through the soupy stuff, his eyes - all four of them - were not sharp enough to pick out the shape of the human world below. But when the wind shifted just right, he thought he could smell it. The stuffy reek of draft horses pulling carts, the burnt-iron tang of metal being worked into swords, the disgusting stench of sweat, offal, and dead bodies in their crowded human villages; it all made him wonder how they could stand living so close to each other. Humans smelled like rot unless they were properly cooked and seasoned.

Well, he amended, except for the Princess.

She had smelled wonderful. Like apples and sugar. He licked his lips at the thought of it. She was down there now, far beyond his reach. Down there with that boy she liked so well.

Damn that boy. He had come so close to winning. The princess was in his grasp, terrified and helpless. Fumm - even as a rat-faced traitor he was still useful - had broken through the city gates and was about to make short work of whatever pitiful fools remained of the King's Guardians. Cloister was all but conquered.

Damn you, Jack.

Fallon shivered as the memory of the bean dropped down his throat awakened remembered pain of internal wounds; torn, ripped, and gouged organ meat that was mostly healed now but embedded in each hidden scar lurked a different flavor of agony. When that leafy-green monster sprouted in his belly, all thought of the princess, Jack, and the war fled clean away from his mind, to be replaced with a single imperative that beat like a thunder drum in his brain: get it out! get it out! get it OUT!

And he had gotten it out. He'd yanked the slimy, still-growing stalk out by the roots, tearing chunks of his own vitals out with it, and crawled on his hands and knees toward Jack, who'd been holding the princess in his scrawny arms. He'd snarled and cursed at the boy, trying to reach him, kill him, but his hand had fallen limp a foot away from Jack's boots as he'd collapsed in a spreading pool of his own blood.

That was the last he remembered of the battle. When he next opened his eyes, he'd been back at the Citadel, with Fee gripping his right arm and Fye holding onto the left while Foe poured healing water down his throat. He supposed he should thank his three brothers for his continued existence, but he hated owing a debt to anyone.

And why should life bring me joy when a chance for vengeance against King Erik's people was laid before me, and it withered in my grasp? His lip curled up in a snarl as he glared down through the mist, through the fathoms of cloud and air that separated him from the human world. From her.The second head tried to mimic his fierce expression, but ended up looking like a deformed ogre who'd eaten too many pigs. Above him, the stars journeyed through the heavens, mocking him with their freedom.

What freedom is there for us now? The humans have the crown. Our will is enslaved to theirs. The thought made his scarred entrails quiver with revulsion.

A footfall sounded from behind him just as an all-too-familiar scent reached his flared nostrils.

"Going to shove me over the edge, Fumm?" He acknowledged the dark-haired giant without turning around, with the corners of his mouth turning down as though he tasted something foul. Fumm merely shrugged as he came to stand beside him, his small weasel eyes traveling to the same faraway place his former king was contemplating. "It's tempting," Fumm growled, "but your body might land upon some innocent girl and kill her. I would not condemn any female to such a fate."

Fallon felt the jab cut like a flaming sword in his heart. His fingers flexed, aching to grip the beautiful iron chain of his flail and smash its spiky ball into something, preferably something in the approximate shape of Fumm's skull. Around them, night animals hunted; he could hear the near-silent swoop of owl's wings as they fell upon unwary mice and carried them off to be devoured, along with the rasping scales of snakes coiling around fledgling birds tumbled from their trees.

He heard Fumm sigh beside him.

"We were closer once. Weren't we, brother?" Fumm's hissing voice sounded, of all things, sad. Brother? He hadn't spoken that word to any of them since they'd all played together in the safety of the nest-cave. Those times felt ancient as buried clay, when they'd been nothing more than five carefree young lads wrestling, laughing, and waiting for their turn to win glory and make their Father proud. Then the Sister's Three brought them out into the world and gave them their Names: Fee, Fye, Foe, Fumm, and Fallon.

Feigeor, Fyelar, Fohane, Fumersu, and Fallanor.

Madness, Grief, War, Pain, and Loss.

Fallon gritted his teeth, exposing sharp white incisors the size of a man's fist.

"Yes, brother. We were." And before Fumm saw him moving Fallon struck, whirling around with teeth bared and landing a solid blow to the other giant's face. Blood sprayed from Fumm's shattered nose as he reeled backwards, stumbling and cursing. Then Fallon was falling on him, taking him down hard enough to leave a spiderweb of cracks in the stony ground. They became a roaring tangle of arms, legs, and clawed fingers scuffling dangerously close to the cliff's edge as Fumm tried to throw the larger giant off while his assailment mercilessly smashed closed fists into his face and chest with enough force to pound granite into powder. Warm blood splashed into Fallon's face, a few smaller drops spattered across the gaping-idiot mouth of his second head, and he became dimly aware that if he didn't get control of himself fast, he would have one less brother in the world.

Breathing hard, with spit dribbling from the corners of his mouth, Fallon let his fists drop to his sides. keeping one knee firmly planted on Fumm's chest while the other pressed down hard on his right arm, preventing him from reaching the stone-slinger fastened to his belt. Purplish bruises were already darkening his face and one eye was swollen shut. Still, Fumm managed a weak, gap-toothed smile, as though he'd expected all along to end up beaten and bloody

When he spoke, Fallon barely recognized himself, his voice twisted into the guttural barking of a wolf pack fighting over a carcass. "I'll let you live because you carried on the fight after I fell into that thrice-damned hell of a fire-lake. But don't expect me to forgive you for leaving me to burn!" Rage transformed his face, his eyebrows drawing together while the angles of his cheekbones sharpened into knives. "And especially not for trying to save the princess from me!"

"She was helpless and a prisoner! You had no right to-"

The knee digging into Fumm's chest bore down harder. "What was I supposed to do with her, Fumm? She's the spawn of that bastard Erik!"

Fumm managed to croak out through swollen, bleeding lips. Defiance thrummed through him like lightning. "King Erik was a monster," he said, "but you are far worse."

Fallon roared, a terrible sound like the rumbling descent of an avalanche. The smaller head chimed in; his roar less impressive but just as angry. The two-headed monster leapt off his fallen enemy in one quick motion, needing to get away from that ruined, mashed-in face or he knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself from tearing his little brother's throat out.

You are far worse.

Birds rose into panicked flight as Fallon stalked away, pushing trees in his path aside like sticks. It wasn't true. Just a soft bite from an upstart weakling. Not even worth considering. The ground trembled as each of his heavy footsteps startled forest animals into taking flight. A herd of deer caught in the middle of grazing sprang away from him, their liquid-brown eyes bulging with fright as their long, tawny legs propelled them gracefully through the air in quick leaps.

He stooped down to snatch up a fawn that had the misfortune of being just a tiny bit slower than the rest. It squirmed in his fingers, forelegs sticking out like twigs while its hind legs kicked madly. His thumb encircled its haunches. completely trapping it. Its chest was against his palm, the frightened beat of its heart insignificant next to his own thundering pulse.

It wasn't true.

Still...

As he lay beaten and half-dead on the floor of the human's castle, there was a moment before his sight failed him where he'd seen into the eyes of the Princess and thought he'd read something, a soft, sad light that spoke of...kindness? Mercy?

He would've granted her neither.

Warm guts squirted out between his fingers as the fawn's body was crushed to pulp in his grip. Sniffed the wet blood smearing his hand. It smelled sweet. Clean.

Innocent.

He wiped the blood away and stalked off into the night.

{O}

Isabelle's heart was pounding in her chest as she forced herself to run, run, and keep running. She could hear the two-headed beast cursing behind her, feel his thundering footsteps echo through the barren stone of the catacombs. She'd loved exploring the old tunnels beneath the castle when she'd been a little girl. The long deserted rooms once called to her, whispering of heroic tales, legendary kings, and of forgotten history filled with wonder and magic. Now they felt more like what they truly were - a vast, mazelike tomb a single thought burned the surface of her mind like the flames on the oil-slicked moat outside: I don't want to die here!

Jack! Where was Jack? He'd been running with her, but his hand slipped free of her own when the giant's spiked flail had sheared the air directly over their heads. The gust of wind generated by the flight of the deadly iron ball had nearly sent her flying face-first into the dusty floor. Jack was nowhere to be seen now. Was he dead?

"You smell of horses, mixed with sugar." The monster's voice floated like poisonous mist throughout the tunnels, smooth and taunting. She heard a birdlike squawk, which must've come from the misshapen second head. Her legs trembled, almost spilling her to her hands and knees, but she forced them to keep running, spurred on by sheer desperation.

Her breath was coming in ragged pants by the time she heard stone smash behind her as the giant swung his mace again. Dust clouds and debris peppered the air all around her, stinging her arms and face, nearly blinding her. Her gold dress was a mess of torn and fluttering silk. A coppery taste filled her mouth, and Isabelle realized with horror that sometime during the chase she'd bitten her lower lip; now blood was flowing freely. Dear God, the blood-scent! Fallon can track it! Without thinking, she ran down a narrow hallway overlooking a balcony.

The sound of the wooden balustrade cracking was the only warning she had before Fallon's hand reached through and his thick, calloused fingers wrapped around her. Her whole body strained to yank itself out of his grip, one hand making a futile grab for the ruined balustrade, then she was face to face with the ugly creature. His flabby lips pulled up in a cruel sneer, and the second head let its tongue dangle from its mouth, panting like a dog expecting a juicy bone from its master.

"It's the end of the line, Princess."

She leaned back, trying to pry the enormous fingers off her as Fallon lifted her to his mouth. Jack! JACK, HELP ME! But Jack was far away, too far to reach her in time. Through the burning haze of pain and fear, she thought she could hear him screaming her name. His voice was tinny, distorted, as though it were being shouted through mud.

Isabelle! Isabelle!

Some evil magic prevented her from closing her eyes. She saw everything as she slipped, legs kicking, past Fallon's teeth and into warm, wet darkness. He'd swallowed her whole. Everything became a blur of red as she dropped headfirst down his throat, arms flailing, hands looking for purchase but finding only smooth fleshy tissue, and then a sphincter opened and she plunged into viscous green digestive juices...

The scream flew out of her like an arrow shaft as she followed it, sitting bolt-upright in bed with her right hand clutching her racing heart and her left gripping the wool coverlet as though trying to anchor her to something real. She gulped in air, taking huge, shaky breaths like a frightened fox being run to ground by a hunter.

"My lady?" A timid voice piped up. "Are you well?"

Isabelle glanced over at the girl in the bed next to hers. She was propped up on an elbow, her long strawberry-blond hair falling over her shoulders, and her sea-green eyes were wide with concern. The room was dark except for a few sputtering candles; the smell of beeswax and freshly cleaned linen hung in the air like a balm. Safe smells.

"I'm fine, Anastasa." Isabelle brought a hand up to massage the ache between her eyes. 'just another nightmare."

"Of the giant?" Rustling of sheets and coverlets, then Isabelle's new lady-in-waiting sat on the edge of her bed, dangling cream-smooth legs over the side. Her naked pink toes swept the wooden floor anxiously. "What was his name again?"

'Fallon." Isabelle sighed. She wanted it to be Jack with her in the dark, holding her while he chased her nightmare away with a silly story or, even better, passionate kissing. But Father insisted they sleep in separate rooms until the night of their wedding, which wouldn't arrive until next spring. He'd also decided it would benefit Isabelle to have girls her own age around the castle. And so he'd gotten Anastasa, orphaned daughter of a jewelry-maker who'd inherited her father's quick fingers and so could string together necklaces like spiders wove webs. Ana was sweet and kind and Isabelle was genuinely fond of her, but she'd been sheltered for most of her life, spoon fed with fairy tales of girls falling in love with and being loved by monsters, and so Isabelle had a difficult time impressing upon her how terrifying it had been to actually be hunted by one.

"Was he really that awful?" Ana was hesitant, not wanting to upset her further but curiosity was an itch that had to be scratched.

She thought of poor Crawe, ripped into chunks of meat and eaten right in front of her. 'Yes."

"Why was he chasing you?"

"He wanted to eat me, Ana. Because I'm the last of King Erik's kin." Isabelle flopped back onto the bed, stared up at the oaken ceiling beams. Oh Jack, I wish you were with me now.

"Maybe not. Maybe he would've kept you in his castle."

Isabelle shuddered. "That would've been even worse." The polished wood of the ceiling beams crossed each other, and she tried not to think of how much they resembled the bars of a cage. A cage she once cringed inside of, trying to make herself as small as possible, while a smooth, sharp-edged voice asked her questions she couldn't answer.

How did you get here?

I came alone.

Your blood betrays you, Your Highness.

She pushed the memory away. It wouldn't go easily. "Go back to sleep, Ana. I think I'll be staying up for a while. Alone." She continued to lay on her back, knotting her fingers together, and thought of Fallon the last time she'd seen him. Torn up and bleeding, inside and out, with the remnants of the half-sprouted beanstalk laying like a tangle of blood-smeared kelp beside him. He'd been groaning in pain, defeated, helpless. She'd even felt a twinge of pity for him, but far greater was her joy at still being alive. His grip on her had been so tight.

The giants took him back to Gantua. Maybe he'd died there.

But she doubted it.

Author's Note: If you read the first part and are thinking "What?" I'll explain the deal between Fumm and Fallon in later chapters.. Isabelle gets a lady-in-waiting because I was a little annoyed she was the only woman in the entire movie and, no, her name isn't meant to be reference to Princess Ana from Frozen. I just saw Frozen a few days ago whereas I wrote this last month. Loved Princess Ana, but this Ana wasn't intended to be a rip-off of that Ana. Though they do have some similarities, now that I think of it. Oh well. I have a bunch of chaps already written and they just need a little polishing up before I send them out into the world so if anyone cares I could post an update in another week or so.