Chapter Text
It was long passed time to go, Melody thought to himself, as the aurors started to make cracks in the manners wards, that shook the ground and cracked the walls. Ever since his husband Corban Yaxley had been arrested and kissed earlier that year, every interaction had only consisted of just barely leashed violence and distinctly lethal undertones. It had become so bad that Melody had decided to take his son out of Hogwarts all together. Something he is now thankful for as the new minister keeps rolling out more and more anti-dark magic laws and propaganda. While Albus Dumbledore radiates a sticky sweet molasses like aura that slowly suffocates all who come near. As he encourages the blatant abuse of the slytherin students, only stooping so low as to pretend to help his “darker” students, if they only sold out their family.
He kicked off his heels and hiked up his skirts a little more as he started to run to his son’s room. Crane met him halfway with his school trunk in hand, Melody smiled grimly as the thirteen year old grabbed his hand. “Mom, what are we going to do?” he was almost hyperventilating, as he shook in Melodys' grasp. “Just hold on” he said then with a twist and a pop they appeared out of the house with a little bit of help from Melody’s flames, just as the aurors round the corner, with curses on their lips and righteous fury in their eyes. They ran as fast as they could away from the crumbling manner as the aurors started to brake as much as they could in a frenzie, attempting to be the first one to anything valuable.
They didn't stop running until they reached the nicer ‘lighter’ side of town. They slumped in the shade of a building to catch their breath. “Are we going to the house in france?” Crane asked. “No, I had to sell it to pay off the war reparation fees the ministry demanded … I had to sell everything, that house was all we had left.” Melody sighed. “What! So where homeless'' “calm down … we will just have to go live with my brother” Melody said in a calm steady voice. “but … you hate uncle Amycus” crane's voice wavered and crumbled but Melody said nothing.
Amycus had sold Melody like a slab of meat to the highest bidder the day after their father had died stating “father indulged your shameless actions far too much, SISTER, but I have neither the time nor patients for abominations like you”. And Melody was promptly wed the very next day in the marriage registration office at the ministry. Amycus had made it quite clear over the years what he thought of Melody's “ridiculous notions of masculinity”, ever since he had caught Melody wearing some of his clothes in front of a mirror and smiling. As a result Amycus refused to provide so much as a nut of his dowry or inheritance until Melody fulfilled her role as a woman and provided the family with a male child. Things had always been more antagonistic then settled between them but Melody was family, blood in all the ways that mattered, so he had never once thought that Amycus would turn them down. Which was why it was such a surprise when instead of letting them in Amycus simply stated “the boy can stay but I can not let a single drop of your shaim touch my family, sister”. “What but uncle” “ENOUGH, good day sister” Amycus said turning his back to the door “come along crane”. Melody just sided “go on” he said to his son. “No, No mom, what will you do?” “I'll figure something out, don't worry about me” but his smile was wobbling and crane was not having it. “I'm going with you” “NO” Melody said sharply “no” softer now “you can come live with me again when I have everything figured out” he said with a softer smile “go on now”
Melody left the house knowing that he would most likely never see his son again. There was next to no work for anyone associated with even a hint of dark magic, let alone a woman who was married to a known death eater. They would sooner rat him out to the aurors then spare him so much as a kind glance.
With that in mind Melody decided to quietly slip into the muggle world with a last goodbye to crane.
In his better days there father had sung the praises of his heroic deeds as a death eater. Taken pride in protecting his family from the disgusting filth that contaminated the varie air. But when Amycus informed him about how Melodys' filthy muggle loving roommates had convinced her that she was male. He was only somber and serious as he tried to beat such “utter rubbish” out of her, until one day he went to far and punctured a lung with no knowledge of the healing arts, he left her to die. and while that day Melodys strange purple fire saved him it was the end of their fathers happy days.
Wandering through the muggle world Melodys anxiety rises as he stocks through the shadows, nails digging into his forearm and drawing blood.
In the freedom of anonymity Melody could finally do the one thing he never could back home, dress and act like himself, as a man. Rummaging through the bright red medal box with the words Clothing Bank on the side that Melody had seen an elderly lady adding cans to. Melody found a pair of jeans and an oversized flannel, then with the glass from a broken bottle nearby Melody cut his hair as close to the scalp as possible. After which he headed towards the bridge by the river where he saw other homeless people with fires. After all, just because no one knew he was here, didn't mean that he could get sloppy and leave parts of himself around for the aurors to do who knows what kind of spell with.
Later that night, he went looking for work but quickly had to backpedal and scramble when the legitimate jobs started asking for identification paperwork he didn't have. Walking on the edge of the shadyer side of town he found a three star restaurant that's hiring under the table and didn't look back even when they asked him to bring cadering in a backpack to an abandoned building.
For the next two years Melody ran more and more catering errands to rent an apartment and buy a motorcycle after he had become obsessed while watching a biking competition on the small corner TV in the restaurant. He taught himself how to ride and do tricks pretty fast and before you know it a video of him doing tricks starts to make its rounds, and five months later a man by the name of Lee Knope came looking for him at the restaurant. He said that one of their back up bikers got hurt recently and would Melody like to fill in for him. Within a year Melody is doing his own shows and he has to pick out a stage name.
He knows its beyond petty and at first glance sounds like hes honnering to guy but he cant think of a bigger fuck you to the wizarding world and his family. To have the muggles think cowardly bikers when they think of Skull De Mort. While he did his best to hide from the wizarding public despite his name, he soon gained the attention of a different crowd.
The other “beings” and “creatures” started taking notice when a man under the same name as their champion started to rise amongst the non magicals. With the worsening conditions within eastern Europe they start to flock to Skull and as he hires more and more of them the show begins to become more and more fantastical as they start to travel the world.
They know by now he's no supporter of you know who but they also know that Skull is the closest thing they have to a unified leader and he is a good leader. He teaches them to blend in with the muggles, how to forge documents, how to endear themselves to the locals, how to survive the darker jobs for those that require humans as sustenance. and sooner or later they set up a world wide network of people and forgers and there's enough work moving people and faking deaths for everyone that needs it, and for the first time in a century the magical non wixen community is stable and working towards permanence.
In an effort to repay Skull's efforts, Lee and the network found and kidnaped a doctor named Tristan Shamal to perform a gender change surgery, and with the addition of a few potions Skull was as male as he could possibly be.
Within 2 years the network is stable and the workers start to socialise covertly through letters. and as families and comradery across species grows so two does their desire to have their own hidden community. As the boss It's skulls job to find and buy them the land and protection needed for such endeavors while still keeping them close to Italy for those that need to consume humans. So when a man in a checkered mask appears asking about Skulls pretty purple flames and offering ungodly amounts of money, it's the suspicion of an unknown enemy that brings him to the first meeting, but the paycheck that keeps bringing him back.
For the first time Skull regrets his new Identity.
Reborn is a pain in the ass but he's like his father and brother, the devil Skull knows all too well. It's comforting leaning into the familiar actions of soft violence. But Skulls interest doesn't really pick up till he gets captured on there fourth mission and Reborn slotters everyone in his way to HIS LACKEY, and proceeds to spend the next week giving him “training drills'' so Skulls ``pathetic civilian ass doesn't do something particularly stuppid and die”. It's the first piece of compassion directed solely at him for being himself and like many men before him starving for something they've never had before. Skull becomes completely and utterly obsessed with the soul thought of getting more. More attention, more complements, more of everything Reborn is willing to give him. But there's just one problem, Luce is the perfect packedge of everything Reborn has ever wanted. With sky flames strong enough to hold him, the power of a famiglia backing her and boobs, Reborns foremost priority is to obtain her.
Luce reminds Skull far too much of Dumbledore. She does nothing but smother them in flames of sugary sweet obedience, and while the others may fall in line like hypnotized hippogriffs, It takes every ounce of Skulls willpower to stay in character and not slotter her where she stands. But the forcite is too much and when it comes to light Skull doesn't just walk away he sprints. He can catch Reborns attention outside of the confines of their missions, and Skulls seen enough apathetic fire side generals to know one when he sees one. Slipping out of the window under the cover of the new moon he apparates back to his lieutenants.
Skull wakes slowly, head pounding like he just drank a whole bottle of sinestro's souwer absinth. He trips his way down the stares and into the kitchen to have breakfast with the other arcobaleno. Fon smiles at him and passes the water, it washes out the taste of blood in his mouth. “What are we doing today?” he asks the table. “We are going treasure hunting on a mountain isn't that exciting '' Luce answers excitedly as she surreptitiously eyes him from the other side of the table. He frowns “didn't we just complete a mission?” They only did one mission every two weeks. Lal smacked the back of his head “no dumbass it's time to do another one” “the Great Skull Soma knows that” he said pouting and rubbing his head, the migraine was only getting worse.