Author's Notes: Welcome, readers! I'm honored to introduce my fellow writer, EYESviolet, who is available on fanfiction . net. She is going to be co-writing this story with me, and I'm sure that her own individual writing style will create a nice and new ray of sunshine(: Read on and review! Cupcakes to anyone who comments!

Summary: Located in London, the Hackney Monastery is a home to many hybrids, or half-human half-animal creatures. These rare 'hybrids', hunted, hated by society, and viewed as a mutation, were forced to flee to this Monastery for safety. However, when a group of people discover the hiding place and reveals them to the government, they are forced to run for their lives. This is their ultimate journey.

Crosses Don't Count

An original story by chrissytingting and EYESviolet

:: PROLOGUE ::

The Hackney Monastery was tucked in the deepest corner of London in the East End, where people were warned to never take a walk in that area at night.

From a young age, children were warned with sharp frowns and wagging fingers that they must never, ever go down towards Hackney Monastery. Even the bravest adolescents could not be fooled into going down to press the aged doorbell, only to sprint away. Even the most righteous men and women, concluding every sentence with something alike to God's word, would not walk up to that arched doorway and ask to pray. During Sundays, the pews of the church room were barren.

It wasn't as if the people who owned the building and area kept it presentable. The place was old and falling apart, the stone slabs were covered with dirt and grime, and the paint on the door was peeling. It was a large place, but it looked inhabited from the outside. No one knew what it looked like from within. No one dared to enter.

Rumors about the area didn't help. There had once been a man who walked past the Hackney Monastery at 2 o'clock AM and never woke up next day. No one understood why.

Sometimes, strange eyes would flit past the windowpanes, never lingering longer than a moment. Singing would rumble out from the Monastery early each Sunday, but even that seemed strange. No one could put a finger on why, but the words seem to have been spoken and sung with voices not quite suitable for their melodies.

The area was layered with secrets. So many secrets smothered the building that it was nearly tangible, and people would shudder, because if they got too close to discovering a secret... well, there would be consequences.

So, here's a secret.

It had been scientifically proven that human beings have evolved from monkeys. In this case, humans changed from an animal to... well, an intelligent human.

However, is there a way to... say, 'undo' it?

Strange diseases have plagued only a few people in the world. A percentage of the population of the world that is smaller than 0.0000001 have been struck with this strange recessive gene in which animalistic characteristics have begun to develop in their features and in the way that they behave.

It was a gene that would bring out the strongest animalistic wants in a person. These people, titled "hybrids" were called dangerous. They were called greedy, and violent, and incapable of caring for anyone but themselves. It is said that some of them hunt among the human population, not pausing for a moment before devouring their prey with greedy fingers and sharp teeth. Now, no scientific proof has ever arisen to make one believe that this gene caused cannibalism, but when people didn't understand, they were afraid. And their fear made them capable of making up any stories as to why they didn't approach the Hackney Monastery.

But what is the real story?

Well... if you're up for a journey...

::: CHAPTER ONE ::

A loud scream pierced through the Monastery. Some shuffling was heard, and some loud steps, and a hubbub of confusion.

"Who?" A girl stormed down the worn, wooden steps, her anger sparking and crackling in the air. Dust motes circled high in the air as she made her harsh trek downwards; the girl's stomps were loud and sharp and her dark brown eyes were wide, her eyebrows drawing together to form a sharp 'V'. "Who took away my shampoo?"

There was some quiet chuckling, and another girl, her gray eyes narrowed and her arms crossed, scowled at the girl. "Stop making such a big deal about everything. What we just need are people to start hearing screaming coming from this place."

The first girl, named Belle, stomped her foot indignantly. "A big deal? A big deal? My hair needs to be cleaned every morning and night!" She grabbed her shiny blonde locks, shaking them as if to accent her point. A thin blue-green peacock feather peeked out from between the layers of luscious hair.

The other girl stared at her uncomprehendingly. "You take two showers every day?"

"Yes, three at best!" Belle snapped. There was a pause. "You don't?" Her once angry and irritated countenance melted into an incredulous look as she peered at the other girl with wide eyes.

"Well, I'm normal, so I take one shower a day. Y'know, singular." She lifted a bottle of orange juice up and swigged on it briefly before recapping it and leaning back, running a hand through her short-cropped, pixie-cut hair.

"Mio dio*!" Belle muttered, inching away slightly. "Your hair is going to be infested with lice."

The other girl rolled her eyes. "You do realize that lice has nothing to do with how often you wash your hair?"

"Stop it! You are trying to brainwash me and change the subject! Where is that shampoo?"

"You know Maize can't stand it when you put obscenely-smelling things in that shower. He has a sensitive nose. He probably took it out." She smirked slightly, in an almost victorious fashion, and gulped down another mouthful of her juice.

Belle's tiny hands curled into small fists as she squeezed her eyes shut and shrieked, "MAIZE! WHERE ARE YOU, YOU SCUMBERING BIRD?"

"He's on the top floor, you dolt. Even your screeching won't reach him from down here."

The younger girl (Belle was approximately 15 years old) was about to screech something back but was firmly cut off by a warning stare from an older woman who had just stalked into the room.

"QUIET, everybody!" the older woman hollered, and, immediately, everybody was silenced. The older woman had her grey hair up in a strict, no-nonsense bun, and her tall stature gave her an intimidating look as she looked down her nose at the 'children'. She was all skin and bones, all sharp, jutting angles. "We have a new member joining us today. Please welcome... honey, introduce yourself, if you please." The woman looked at the girl standing next to her, nodding to encourage her to speak.

The girl surveyed the room, eyes cold and blank, before speaking. "I'm Liys," the girl introduced, the 's' at the end of her name coming out like a snake's. "Liys, spelt L-I-Y-S, pronounced 'lies' for a reason. My full name is Liys Vivienne Azure. I'm half-snake, and I'm 19 years old. I'm from London, right here." Her glassy, slanted eyes stared strangely at the crowd. At an angle, they seemed black, but the people standing right in front of her saw an electric blue. Her long black hair was sleek, and her temples were slightly scaled, silvery-blue lines crisscrossing across her pale skin.

"Nela, part fruit bat," the girl with the short hair said importantly, holding out a hand. "I'm seventeen." She said this while bringing the bottle of orange juice to her lips again and swallowing.

Liys stared at her hand for a moment before shaking Nela's hand. Her own hand was considerably colder.

"Belle Autumn Grace," the girl who had screamed about the shampoo introduced. "I'm half-peacock, and I'm 15 years old." They shook hands awkwardly.

"Chase Black," a broad shouldered male stood up. He shook hands with her, barely flinching from the temperature of her skin. "Half-wolf." His blue eyes stared mockingly into hers as his lips curled up into a taunting smile.

"Would someone go fetch Andreievich?" another nun, this one younger than the first, said, looking up impatiently towards the narrow, highly-slanted stairs. Nela rolled her eyes at everyone's blank expressions. "Sister Parker, everyone calls him Maize."

The woman frowned. "Well, Maize, then?"

"I'll go find him and give him a piece of my mind!" Belle announced, stalking up the stairs in a fashion similar to her grand entrance. "Besides, climbing up stairs give you nicely toned legs."

Nela frowned after the girl incredulously, and just shrugged, swigging her juice again and muttering "toned legs…" under her breath.

There was a momentary peace in the room as the young girl left to find Maize, and the quiet chatter of the hybrids filled the dining hall. However, the temporary peace was shattered the moment Belle entered the room once more, arguing passionately about her shampoo. Her companion was more so placating the girl than arguing back, however.

It was pretty much granted that everyone took a double take whenever they looked at Maize. He was very slender and small, without seeming to be short, with such delicate, feminine features that he looked practically androgynous. However, this was not what made him so different. His eyes were a deep black, very large, with no visible pupil. His skin was as white as a china-doll's. He was dressed in a thick black jacket, despite the day's heat. His hair was vividly yellow, and, quite obviously, constructed of slender, needle-thin feathers.

It was his voice, however.

It was higher than a woman's. It was lilting, and singsong, and at such a high pitch that most did not believe their ears.

"I did nat mean to cause you panic, Belle. Vhat is it - ze perfumed second-rinse shampoo in ze blue bottle? Da, da, it is under ze sink." And coupled with the fact that his English was atrocious and his hands flippantly moving with every word, it only made him cut a stranger figure.

"WHER-? Under the sink? What? Why in the world would you put it under the sink?"

"Becauze Seester Parker does nat like things on ze counter, Belle," he reminded her in a singsong fashion.

"Well, I needed that shampoo! You can't just stuff it under that dingy sink counter and suffocate the aroma of cleanliness!"

"I am sorry," he placated her with a feather-light hand on her shoulder, before adding, "I vill give you ze special edition Marillon Cotillard copy of Vogue," with a knowing glint in his dark eyes.

"Really? Would you?" Belle's eyes began to sparkle excitedly. She began jumping up and down, flapping her arms. "The special edition? For me?"

"For no vone else, Belle," he smiled delicately and poked the tip of her nose with a paper-white finger, before turning to their newest addition at the base of the stairs. "And I am being wery rude. I am Andreievich Kuznetsov," he held out a hand gracefully to Liys.

"Or Maize," Nela peeped up. "Because he's got, y'know, yellow hair—,"

Liys shook his hand silently, eyes assessing him.

"I call him Andrea," Belle chirped in.

"Yes, but it's also an unspoken truth that no one calls him that but her," Nela rolled her eyes. "I heard that once, someone tried to call him that other than Belle, and he tried to peck their eyes out," she stated dramatically. Maize fixed her with a cool stare, and she smiled back innocently.

"But Andrea always makes special exceptions for me, right Andrea?" Belle batted her lashes at him.

His expression immediately changed when he faced her. "Of course, Belle," he flashed her his trademark smile.

Belle looked around, trying to fill in the abrupt awkward silence that followed. Her eyes flit around the room. "Well… I'm going to go shower now, tata!" Belle leapt elegantly over the table and rushed up the stairs towards the bathroom, singing a soft tune under her breath.

Nela just rolled her eyes and glared at her now-empty bottle, Maize was picking a piece of lint concernedly off of his jacket, before moving back up the stairs, and Sister Parker strode over. "Dinner will be ready in half an hour, children. Liys, mind you come into the kitchen for a moment? We need to fix up your meal plans."

Liys nodded slowly, glancing around warily as she followed Sister Parker to the kitchen. For a moment, her tongue flickered out, but then, it slipped back in at the same speed as a snake's.

The kitchen was a large area with a large stove, steel appliances, and ceramic plates and bowls neatly piled on a wooden table. The light overhead was dim, and the floor tiles were laminate, but the counters were surprisingly steel. Out of everything, they had to spend money on the kitchen to keep it from catching fire.

Nela scampered after them, waving her bottle around. "Parker! Parker!"

"-Sister Parker, Nela," the woman reminded her inelegantly, "what is it?"

"I'm out of juice!"

"What am I, your servant? You know where the fridge is," she huffed, leading Liys over to the head chef, a scrawny man whose rotund belly looked out-of-proportion. "This is Leonard."

Liys cocked her head to one side, her strange, glassy eyes staring at the man. She seemed to be able to tell what type of person he was with just one glance.

Leonard nodded to her, slightly hesitantly, both hands occupied with large bags of celery to be peeled. "Just give me a brief overview of your diet, Miss. I'll work from there, and you can tell me what you do or don't like from dinner tonight."

Liys stared at him for another second before saying, "Prey. Any sort of meat."

"Well, I suppose I can do that. I'm sure you'll be fine sharing a meal plan with Chase, then. Most of the others are either vegetarian or vegan, and I don't even understand why anyone would want that kind of—,"

"That will be sufficient, Leonard, thank you," Sister Parker said shortly. "Come, dear. I'll show you to your room. I hope you don't mind staying on the highest floor with Belle and Andreievich. It is the... warmest... up there."

Liys raised a delicate eyebrow and nodded.

Because Liys was a half-snake, she was cold-blooded, and, therefore, her body temperature changed. She could not live in extreme temperatures, such as extremely hot or extremely cold places.

Sister Parker waved a hand and moved out of the kitchen, where Leonard was whistling some folk-tune under his breath and efficiently peeling vegetables. She led her up the narrow, dangerously steep stairs, then around a corner, and then up another flight of stairs. Two more flights, until at last, she climbed onto the topmost floor. The boards squeaked ominously beneath her feet and she led her past two doors, from one of which a high, warbling note of birdsong was reverberating from, to the last door. It was a dark, reddish cherry wood, and she pushed the door open to reveal a moderately-sized room, with a narrow bed in the corner, several empty shelves, a dusty dresser, and a neatly-folded stack of linens by the bed.

Liys' sharp eyes surveyed the room before nodding jerkily. "It will do."

"Good, good. Get settled in - I'm sure either Belle or Andreievich will tell you when it is time to eat. From down the hall you could hear Maize banging on the bathroom door and asking for Belle to hand him his wide-tooth comb.

"I'm afraid you'll have to share a bathroom with them," the woman sighed sympathetically.

Liys shrugged, walking in fluidly and settling down on the bed. She combed her thin fingers through her long hair as she stared down at a mouse that was scurrying across the pavement outside the window.

The nun nodded and smiled shortly, with little trace of any real warmth, before turning and departing, demanding that Andreievich put on more than a pair of pants before venturing out into the hallway, then treading back down the stairs.

Suddenly: "ANDREA, WHERE IS MY CONDITIONER?"

"Behind your second body vash, ze wanilla one, Belle! On ze third rack near my face wash!" he twittered back immediately. Although it was questionable how he actually knew which one he was talking about. I mean, have you seen all the bottles in there?

"WHAT? WHERE... ah, FOUND IT!"

Belle's high-pitched shouts made its way downstairs, where people listened to their back-and-forth conversation with snickers and snorts. Belle and Maize were well-known to be a source of entertainment in the monastery.

Chuckling soundlessly, a 17-year-old boy lightly tapped Nela on her shoulder, silently asking for her attention.

Nela turned around quickly, sipping from a fresh bottle of apple juice, responding with a muffled "hmm? Oh, hi, Austin."

The boy had large, dark eyes and light brown hair. His eyes were warm and doe-like as he smiled at her in greeting. Austin blinked at her twice, and then motioned upstairs questioningly.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "What about upstairs?"

Austin raised his arm to what seemed to be Liys' height. Who is she? he mouthed. No sound came out of his mouth.

"Aah. New girl, Liys. L-I-Y-S, for whatever reason. She's part snake and... nineteen, unless I'm remembering incorrectly, which is quite possible," she rambled.

Austin nodded, sitting down. He made a drinking motion and pointed at her. How many cups of juice so far?

"Today? I'm on a mean streak, my silent friend," she smiled victoriously. "This is my twelfth bottle!"

He gave her a large grin, kicking back and applauding.

"You see? At last, someone appreciates my efforts!" she laughed, sitting down next to him. She frowned at the window for a moment, before releasing a high-pitched shriek and grabbing his shoulder, pulling him around the nearest door and calling out in warning, "JAHOVAH'S WITNESSES!" just as the old, loud doorbell rang. Sister Parker's mouth thinned and she fished in her pocket for a silver whistle. Everyone either froze or leapt into movement at the sound, and she answered the door with a monotonous, "hello, ministers..."

"These people are getting braver every day," Nela hissed.

Austin placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, though his own eyes were just as troubled as he watched the entrance door.

Even Belle's shower was temporarily paused.

Maize's melodious birdsong had cut off when the doorbell rang, and several doors slammed upstairs. Everyone looked wary and tense- these things didn't happen often.

The Sister had a brief conversation with the men before closing the banter with a "thank you and God bless," for good measure. She peered out the window until their figures became small, and then turned. "They simply wondered what our Easter show plans were."

The tension in the room immediately melted, and if felt as if a large boulder was lifted off of their shoulders.

"Have no fear, people," Sister Parker smiled very faintly before retreating into the dinner hall to lay down all of the plates and cutlery.

Austin offered an arm to Nela as he motioned to go back towards the dining room for her to finish another cup of juice.

Nela smiled and hooked her arm through his, leading them back towards the long room. "You know just how to read my mind, Austin."

Austin gave her a charming grin and tapped his head, mouthing 'intuition' as he guided her back towards the wooden tables.

She laughed and pulled the door of the fridge open creakily, 'hmm'ing at the choices. "What do you think. Orange, cranberry, grape, white-grape, pomegranate, or apple?"

He pointed at the pomegranate after a second of deliberation.

"Good choice," she said decisively, snatching out the half-empty jug and filling her cup to the brim, briefly sucking carefully at the edge of the cup, so it didn't overflow. She looked at him. "You want anything?"

He put his index finger on his lips and looked around before stealthily slipping around the refrigerator towards a small, unnoticed icebox in the back. He quietly opened the icebox to reveal three bottles of cream soda that was stashed into the crushed pieces of ice.

"Aha. I knew there were some of those left," she grinned slyly. "Although it is questionable whether anyone else actually drinks soda, because Sister Parker just looks at me blankly when I mention it, and Maize hates anything that isn't organic, and Belle would probably insist that it was bad for her pores - as for Chase, well, I don't actually know..." she rambled obliviously, before gulping down a mouthful of her juice.

Austin grabbed a piece of paper from his jean pocket and wrote quickly and neatly: Chase smuggled some cream soda in. No one else knows.

She wriggled an eyebrow. "How sneaky," she observed gleefully.

He gave her a lopsided smile and wrote: He can be mysterious, but he's quite good with sneaking in and out.

"Well, in my book, mysterious is just about synonymous with good at sneaking in and out, so that works fantastically!" she said in a hushed laugh, peering sideways at a plate of warm suet with vegetables on the side, just placed on the counter, wrinkling her nose in a horrified fashion. "How Maize eats that, I will never know." Her gray eyes were round.

"It is qvite good," Maize commented, walking past, clutching a glossy magazine to his chest and smirking lightly.

Austin grimaced before giving Maize an 'okay, whatever you say' look.

"He has the weirdest diet of anyone," Nela proclaimed when he was out of earshot, as though this was news to anyone. A nearby cook began doling dishes out to everyone in the room, to carry into the hall, and both of the two were handed covered plates. "Well, comrade, it is time to be assaulted by a variety of smells that should never go together," she stated, hooking her arm with his and pulling him into the dining room, where a few people were already seated.

Austin wrinkled his nose.

Nela plopped down in her seat, customarily, as the nuns placed it, beside Austin's. Across the table, Maize was enraptured in his magazine, obviously waiting for Belle.

Belle and Liys entered together. Belle, chattering on about hair products and Maize's organizational tendencies with her makeup and shampoo in the bathroom, was oblivious to Liys' blank look.

"Belle!" Maize perked up, kinking a pale finger. "I have your Vogue, ze one I promised you..." he patted the table beside him.

Belle broke off, mid-sentence, and nearly flew across the room towards him, running into him and flipping over a couple of chairs. "OHMYGOSH ! I LOVE YOU ANDREA!"

"I love you too, my Belle," he smiled sweetly, his mezzo-soprano's voice as calm as ever as he carefully held the magazine away from her flailing arms, for fear she would damage it. "I must show you my faworite, da, it is resembling of ze late Alexander McQveen..." he flipped through the glossy pages until he reached the right one, holding it out to her.

Belle immediately grabbed it greedily, oohing and aahing as she looked through it. She was completely hypnotized by every page as she sped through articles and stared at pictures.

Maize peered over her shoulder, occasionally pointing out things or making comments in his distinctive Russian accent.

When finished, Belle gave him a quick peck on the cheek, her eyes glowing with happiness. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou soooooo much, Andrea!"

He smiled gently and pecked her on the cheek in return. "My pleasure, Belle."

Sister Parker loomed into the room, beginning to pull off the covers of the food, specifically placed in groups along the table, interspersed with jugs of drink and stacked glass cups.

Chase, sitting in a darker corner of the room, gave Liys a taunting smile and beckoned her over to where he was sitting, as Sister Parker had recommended for her to sit.

Nela was cheerily recounting the tale of falling down a flight of stairs this morning to Austin as she loaded her plate with several fruits and vegetables, crunching her supplement pills down. Everyone was required these - herbivorous animals did not want to eat meat and carnivorous ones vice-versa, but staving off to small choices in their diets would have led to serious medical problems. Thus, they took quite a few vitamins and other minerals daily.

"Attention, please," Sister Anne stood up, clinking her glass to get the room's attention. Everyone fell silent obediently.

"The Annual Games are coming up soon, and many people will be visiting London. They will be staying in hotels, motels, inns, whatever. I ask you all to be especially careful in the next couple of weeks, for many tourists will be visiting London."

Some people, like Maize, looked unperturbed by this whatsoever. He was far too distinctive to even venture outside for anything - let alone into the public. The most of the outdoors he had gotten in years was the humid breeze rolling in through his open window. Other people, however, like Nela, who crossed their arms and frowned, looked decidedly unhappy.

"In the case that some tourists wish to visit the Hackney Monastery––" some people snorted disbelievingly "––we are going to go through a lock-down drill tomorrow."

"For practice," another woman added.

"Hmm," Maize looked on disapprovingly. If there was something he hated, it was the emergency drills. He was twenty and had been here since two weeks before his ninth birthday, fresh out of Russia and not knowing any more than a few sentences of English. He was too familiar with what to do should there be a problem.

Belle rolled her eyes and leaned against Maize's shoulder lazily. Boring.

"You may continue eating."

And with that, chatter picked up once again.

Maize thoughtfully offered a forkful of Belle's meal to her as he simultaneously nibbled at a sunflower seed, glancing down the table. "Da, vell, dat should be fun."

"Everyone gets it all ready. Well... except for her," she glanced at Liys, "but you get the idea easily. Just follow the crowd."

"Da, vell, I suppose some people are supposed to put on ze hats and sunglasses and such," he shrugged, offering Belle a few of his seeds before swallowing a forkful of suet.

Belle munched on the seeds contently. "I suppose. I could probably pass as a human out there. I've got normal skin and normal-ish eyes. Sure, I've got a tattoo on my back, but don't humans get those too? And I've got a feather in my hair, but I've heard that it's a new fashion trend to get feather extensions."

"It is," he nodded wisely. "I could nat, hovewer," he joked, patting his neatly-combed, vividly-yellow hair. Or, well, feathers, whatever you wanted to call them.

"Hm. I like your feathers," Belle poked at his head.

"Da, I know you do," he preened with a small grin, reaching out to curl a strand of her hair around his finger, straightening a rampant lock. "But with ze hair and ze voice and ze eyes, I could nat pass for human."

"It's not like being a human is something great," Belle scoffed, muttering under her breath, "Kicking out some half-human half-animal creatures just because they're bloody afraid that we're going to murder them in the middle of the night. Cowards."

"Zey are afraid of vhat zey do nat understand," he said gently, patting her hand and biting down neatly on a piece of celery.

"Their idea of love is so twisted," Belle continued ranting. "One moment, they're all 'Oh, Belle, I love you so much, darling...' and I'm all 'I love you too, mummy and daddy'... and the next thing you know, they're sending you to some hospital to get you treated for a feather in your hair, and then, after the hospital gives you an x-ray and finds a billion abnormalities in your system, they send you to the science lab to get you bloody observed as if you're some animal."

"Da, Belle, I know. My mama and papa never brought me to a hospital. In Russia," his accent thickened over the word, "you are often killed if you are as ze obvious as me. Ze subtle ones can lead normal lives, but nat me. Yamayo!* My parents had to hide me avay to get me here. I still sometimes get letters."

Belle sighed, resting her head on his shoulder again. "It's hard."

He rested his own head against hers. "I had an older seester before. You vould haff liked her. She vas much alike to you."

"What's her name?"

"Natassia," he sighed.

"What happened?" Belle peered at him closely.

"Ven I left, she vas fivteen. I do nat know if she is a hybrid or nat - if she is, she is subtle. Zat is how I know she liwes," he frowned. "But, da, I miss her. She vas kind."

"Oh," Belle said in a small voice. "I never had a sibling. My parents always spoiled me. But I think that they had another child to... to replace me." Her voice shook slightly, and her bottom lip trembled. Belle's eyes were round and seemingly naïve and close to filling with tears.

He tapped her nose gently and smiled at her quietly. "Nonsense. Zey made you a sibling. You are nat easily replaceable."

Belle beamed at him, her earlier sadness gone. It was as if someone had swept their hand across her face and replaced her sad mask with a happy one. "Let's talk about something else. Something happy. Like... say, getting some emergency shampoo before the tourists come."

"Da," he agreed complacently. "You must remember to get me ze new bottle of my conditioner. I'm running out of ze one in the baby blue bottle, you know, beside your miniature loofah." Nearby, Nela caught the topic of their conversation and rolled her eyes.

"I will. Too bad that I still need someone to go with me... you think Nela will?"

"Perhaps. Alvough, if you convince Austin to go too, you can awoid harassment," he twittered amusedly.

"Hmm... that's a good idea. We all know that Austin is a right sweetie anyways. I'll ask them later," Belle concluded, popping more seeds into her mouth.

"Mmm," he agreed, stealing a seed off of her plate before sipping his water.

"Ya know," Belle said conversationally, "I'm quite glad that there aren't any half-spiders here yet. I am quite afraid of those things."

Maize smirked a little at this. "I do nat blame you. I haff heard horror stories of some aktually being born vith more limbs than necessary."

"Ah... ew," Belle muttered gagging slightly. "At least we actually have human legs."

Maize nodded gratefully, shifting his own. "Considering how many other varbler tendencies I have, I would nat haff been surprised, being born with bird legs."

Belle grinned, imagining him with thin bird legs.

"Or with vings," he joked, flapping his arms in the miming action of a bird.

Belle laughed at his flapping, eyes shining and lips stretched into a genuine smile. Across the room, Liys was cautiously talking to Chase Black, who had a dark and mischievous half-smile on his face. On the side, Austin and Nela were having a juice-chugging contest (Nela was in the lead by a lot).

All seemed fine.

All seemed perfect.

But that was going to change very, very soon.

Author's Notes: That is the end of the very first chapter of 'Crosses Don't Count'! We hope you like it. Remember to give us your thoughts.

Characters are our creations and each one is specifically written by one of us. Belle, Austin, Liys, Chase, and Sister Anne are mine, and Maize, Nela, Leonard, and Sister Parker are EYESviolet's.

*Mio dio: 'My God' in Italian.

*Yamayo: an exclamation in Russian.

Maize's accent has been done to the best of EYESviolet's ability. It is also done in an extremely stereotypical fashion – any basis of accent is mostly gathered from Pavel Chekov in Star Trek. Any inaccuracies are not meant to be insulting or offensive. Most changes are in the vowels (a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y), v, w, and th.

Eet: it

Ees: is

Ze: the

Vhat: what

Seester: sister

Lowe: love

Faworite: favorite

McQveen: McQueen

Vill: will

Wery: very

Wanilla: vanilla

Vash: wash

Varbler: warbler

Ov: of

Qvite: quite

No vone: no one

Becauz: because

Da: yes

Vith: with

If there are any that are not on the list that you have questions about, you may ask in a review or send me a PM.