the light of day is fading

sei bereit, sternkind

This is what happens when you tell yourself, i'll quit writing, because i can't write for shit. Especially fanfic. Your muse will spend its time trying to stop you from starving it and come up with the most ridiculous of AUs. And to think all this started because I was drooling at Victor and noticed that he very much resembled the early Deaths [and the beautiful androgynous Takarazuka actresses].

Dedicated to Ellen, my long-suffering Facebook coconspirator and kouhai, to Nobu who led me into the Elisabeth fandom through her enthusiastic posting, and to Charlie [if ey ever comes across this], my Plurk partner-in-crime. I love y'all, and sorry for the crap quality and weirdass-ness that is my wish-fulfilment writing.

Beta-ed by Natalie [cresstic on Twitter and AO3].

Title comes from a song in Elisabeth, Die Schatten werden länger, specifically its reprise. That's the song where Prince Rudolf dances with Death. Literally. It's the gay song, if you don't count the Mayerling Waltz. You don't have to have any knowledge of the musical for this fic, though I made plenty of references to it. Essentially, it's about the life of the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, reimagined as what is essentially her search for freedom and love affair with Death himself. And the carnage it leaves in their wake. My favorite cast for it, and the cast that I will be picturing writing this, is the 2012 Vienna revival, with Mark Seibert as Death, Annemieke van Dam as Elisabeth, and Anton Zetterholm as Rudolf. Speaking of the show, there's also some references to a certain Elisabeth fanfic that I like very much. Can you find it? :)

Victor's parents are named Mikhail and Katerina as a shoutout to Separation Anxiety by Okaeri_Kairi (WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE, GO READ SEPANX). Disclaimer: It's just a shoutout because I literally can't think of Victor's parents being named anything else. SepAnx is just that good. Other than that, my characterization, if any, hews closer to the musical's portrayal of Franz Joseph and Elisabeth - Rudolf's parents - than what Kairi does with Papa and Mama Nikiforov. And besides, her writing's wonderful, and mine sucks.

I'm on twitter as liquid_sleep and tumblr as waytoadream - feel free to follow if you want to swear at me, or decide to check out what in tarnation this Elisabeth or Yuri on Ice thing is! =))) I might be able to direct you towards locations to watch one/both. The tag for this AU is #elisabethonice on any social media, in case you want to discuss it...

There is zero fact-checking done in this, because all I know, I know from the two shows. Nothing about figure skating, or life in Russia/Japan. So... help wanted? =))

Trigger warning: this chapter includes a not-detailed description of a car accident and implied death of a minor.

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen and those who identify as neither! Welcome to the story of Victor Nikiforov, five-time consecutive world champion, a living legend. You must be here expecting a fun time - perhaps an edgy retelling of what you have known to be true. You want something fresh added on top of your regular experience, so you can enjoy the old material again and again without feeling the staleness of rereading.

But mostly, I am sure, you are here expecting a comforting, moral story about how the underdogs win despite all odds. How they defy the establishment. About two people finding each other, completing each other, and then living happily ever after in the blissfulness that is what you've been taught to expect from life by fiction.

Well, this is not that kind of story.

Consider yourself duly warned. No refunds will be issued even in cases of severe emotional trauma.

You're still here? Right then, let's start.

It did not begin the moment Victor Nikiforov put on skates for the first time and slid slowly, clumsily, around on the ice with his mother. Their laughter had rang out across the public rink as they clung together for balance. (It turned out that Katerina, despite being a dancer, was utter rubbish when there were skates instead of ballet shoes on her feet. If you asked him about it, Victor would give you his best PR smile and deny it fervently, but he was delighted that he found something that he could have for himself. Something Katya couldn't do.)