Of New Beginnings
Chapter I
Notes: Chapter includes mild cussing; further warnings will be included at the beginning of each chapter
The robust smell of vinegar clouded the small room, devoid of anything but a couple of chairs, two buckets of water, the window beaming light, a bottle, a pair of scissors and two men. One sat silently, leaning backwards over one of the buckets while the other sat behind him, running the vinegar through the locks of his hair. It was a tough deed lighting someone's hair up with only a mix of vinegar, lemon juice, and honey to do the job, but the man was persistent. Finally, he began seeing results. The man's newly cut hair was beginning to look a lot like his own blond locks.
"Captain." He smiled. "I think we're almost finished here."
The other didn't respond other than bringing up a handheld mirror and viewing his reflection. The man behind him saw the melancholic look in his green eyes. "Very good." He muttered, setting the mirror back down without another sound coming from him. The other lifted an eyebrow, worryingly.
"It's not too late to change your mind about any of this." He leaned closely towards him without coming too close to touch the other. "This seems like a huge jump for you, but not permanent–"
"I know, but it will be permanent." He closed his eyes. "Francis, I made my choice. I thought about it for many seasons now, this is what I need to do. For me, for my brothers, and for mother."
"You were never bothered so much by them before." The man sighed from Francis' reply, remembering suddenly of the last time he spoke to his brothers. Alfred didn't look at him in any other manner other than absolute disgust, and Matthew didn't want to look at him.
Asshole, scumbag, dirty, pudding-headed quean. He shivered remembering Alfred's words. While mother laid in her death bed and talked so highly of you, how dare you show up two days after her funeral. Don't you love her, Arthur?! Go rot in hell.
"I don't want to live on bad terms with them, now that they're the only close family I have left. I'm going to start over, become the man my mother raised me and prepared me to be during my childhood. Just be glad I'm turning The Vanity over to you."
"If that's what you desire, Captain, than I will take great care of it." Francis ran his hands through Arthur's drenched hair playfully, though it saddened him to no longer hear orders for him to stop touching him so much or for him to not slap his hand away. He moved his hand away from his hair. "I assume you'll prefer to stay in contact with us, no?"
"Francis," Arthur hesitated. He wanted to leave every aspect of his past behind him, but he never thought about the people around him. He did know he wouldn't be speaking to most of his crew for a very long time, if not forever, after he left. But Francis, as well as Antonio and Gilbert, were much bigger parts of his life. "I want to forget my past, but I guess I can't leave behind family."
Francis' hands fell onto his shoulders as he let out a relieved sigh. "I take that as a yes?"
"If it's that important to you."
"Well, of course it is. I wouldn't be here helping you if I didn't care, captain."
"It's Arthur."
"My apologies."
Francis left Arthur alone to wash off all the substances from his hair and the rest of his body. After washing once, Arthur could still smell strong traces of vinegar and lemon on him, so he continued rinsing and scrubbing himself. He was thankful that the new light shade of blond clinged to his hair after so many times he scrubbed it.
Finally, the smell was faint and tolerable. Arthur dried himself off and put his new commoners clothes on. He picked up the handheld mirror that Francis had left sitting on the chair and took a look at himself. He couldn't quite tell if he liked his shorter, lighter hair yet; it was so different compared to how he had always looked. The clothes were completely different from his usual attire, too. He was unrecognizable, and it was a good thing.
Elizabeta Héderváry greeted him with a smile on her face once he exited the room. "Wow," She looked at him in awe and moved her hands up to touch his head, but stopping midway, as if asking for permission to touch him. The side of Arthur's lips curved up gently and he bent his head down some. She brought her hands to his hair, trapping a lock between her two fingers and running her other hand down the other side of his head. "It's such a big change, Mr. Kirkland. But it looks good on you."
"Thank you, Elizabeta." He responded. Her hands left his hair and she took a step back.
"Of course! Are clothes fitting right?"
"They fit perfectly. You and your husband did a perfect job putting it together."
"That's good. Do you need anything else before you go? More food for the road? Some more change just in case?"
"No thanks, Mrs. Héderváry, I'm good to go thanks to you and everyone else. I'm very grateful for helping me out."
"It's no problem." She pulled him into a hug. Arthur hugged her back, feeling her grip get tighter.
"You'll be alright Arthur. It's okay to feel scared but have faith that you'll have the best new start after you walk out of my house, okay?"
Arthur nodded some. "I will, thank you." He half-heartedly believed her, but knew if things were not going to be okay for him, he probably would deserve it.
"Woe guys, who is that?!" Gilbert spoke out loud, being the first one of the four to notice that Arthur had come into the room. Antonio looked up from the oven and over at Arthur, as did Francis and Roderich.
"Your hair is much lighter once you're in light," noted Francis. "I think it's close to my hair color."
"And it looks good," uttered Roderich.
"He's right." Antonio added, walking over and nudging Gilbert. "He's probably nervous about leaving, don't make jokes like that."
"Alright, alright." Gilbert replied, still smiling. "I'm sorry Arthur."
"It's okay." Arthur took a deep breath and went to grab his bag that was resting on the dining table. "I should be headed out soon."
Everyone went quiet, looking at him in despair. Arthur stopped and put his hands onto the table instead.
"What is the rush, Arthur?" Roderich asked, concerned.
"I know you're ready, but I don't think I'm ready to see you go." Antonio spoke sadly. "And I'm not finished cooking, so sit down." Arthur nodded sadly, he didn't think his words through, and he couldn't leave without saying goodbye to everyone correctly.
He sat down in between Roderich and Francis. They made small talk while Antonio cooked. He was both thankful and bothered that they avoided speaking about his plans on leaving. He was beginning to wonder if he truly wanted to leave or not. He laughed, spoke, and ate his food without showing any hint of his true feelings.
He helped Francis and Gilbert clean up while Elizabeta and Antonio danced to the sound Roderich's piano playing. He stayed quiet as the two spoke, until Gilbert nudged him gently in the side.
"I might as well tell you know that I'm going to miss you, but I don't want to seem like I'm trying to stop you." Arthur glanced up at him, but he couldn't bring himself to reply.
"What you're doing certainly brings out the man your mother knew you were." Francis spoke up. "You're brothers will see that some day, instead of thinking of you like that Norvian scumbag does." Arthur laughed some.
"I'll certainly miss you guys, too." Arthur set the rag down. "I'll stay just a little longer."
"Before you go," Elizabeta stood ahead of him, he hands cupped in front of her. "I want you to have this." She set a small, neatly-folded paper crane onto Arthur's hands. The bird was obviously folded by an expert out of a pink-patterned sheet of paper. "A pretty Shingian woman I met earlier this week handed me this and told me she had made a thousand of them over two years ago. She said if you fold that many, you can make a wish, and it would come true. Her cousin was having a hard time finding a job, so she made all of these and wished he would find one, and now he's rich. She is now handing one out to a stranger daily, and I thought you would appreciate hearing that story. Think of it as a good luck charm on your journey."
"Thank you." Arthur tucked the wings carefully against the bird and swiftly slipped it into one of his pockets. "It's very beautiful, and the story behind it is interesting."
"Good, because Roderich thought it was silly." He glanced over at her husband and smiled.
"It's not, and thank you, too, Roderich, for everything."
"No problem, Arthur. If something goes wrong, we will be happy to help you again."
"I'm sure I'll be fine."
Antonio came to his side and unzipped his bag. "You can take the rest of lunch with you, too." He set the bag of food into Arthur's and zipped it back up.
Francis slipped some change into Arthur's pocket while he wasn't looking. "I have something, too." He held a blanket up to him. "You will need something for cold nights, after all."
Arthur held the blanket out in front of him and observed it. It was a new, soft beige blanket. "You're right, and thank you, too."
"And from me…" Gilbert opened up his arms and wrapped them around Arthur, crushing him. "A big hug!"
"You really shouldn't have, Gil." Arthur told him, gasping for air. Francis and Antonio shook their heads and joined in on the hug, and soon Roderich and Elizabeta joined as well. Arthur sighed and smiled some, letting the others enjoy the group hug as well as himself. He didn't want to think about leaving them all behind.
After bidding farewell numerous times, he headed for the door. Opening the wooden door, he never expected one more step would officially start his new journey. He felt himself break into a sweat, though the air around him was a bit nippy. Was he ready?
"Arthur." He turned around to see Francis was behind him, biting his lip.
"Yes?" He asked. Francis' eyes turned to the side and down.
"I'm not good with words."
Arthur nodded. For the many years they had known each other, it felt unreal to say goodbye at this point. It also felt unreal for Arthur to lean in and hug him sincerely, hearing himself and Francis sob some.
"You're the best man that I could ever call captain, Arthur."
"Was." Arthur responded, pulling back from the hug. They looked at each other for a minute, leaving their hands resting on each other's arms. Never in his life had Francis seen Arthur on the verge of tears. He didn't believe it to be the fact that he was leaving him behind, but rather everything he had grown to love, too. The sea, the crew, the adventures; they were all memories now.
Arthur was just as puzzled as Francis was, seeing him tear up some. All those years of showing their obvious differences, yelling, and amongst other things, Arthur found this moment the one where Francis was showing his true colors. He was the most loving person to ever be in Arthur's life, and though that side didn't show as much as it could over the time period they had been side by side, he didn't regret spending all those years with him as it was.
Francis leaned in and pressed his lips against Arthur's. He would always jokingly kiss him, and Arthur would push him away and sometimes splash a full glass of beer onto his face. But this time was different; it was sincere and sorrowful. Arthur felt more tears roll down from his eyes.
Francis placed more kisses onto his cheek before pulling away. Arthur didn't need any more words spoken from there, but Francis continued. "Good luck out there, Arthur."
"You're the one who needs the luck, not me." He grinned, wiping the tears from his eyes. "You're a captain now, not me." And just like that, Arthur felt as if he wasn't carrying as much weight in his chest. He looked back at Francis. "Goodbye Francis, I'll miss you."
"Goodbye Arthur, I'll miss you, too." Arthur nodded and turned around. That was it, he had accepted his new life and it was time to begin. He stepped out of Elizabeta and Roderich's home and closed the door behind him.
Notes: And there it is, the first chapter of a two-part story (the other being the DenNor side to this one)
At first, I was going to make this story historically accurate in the time period and set mostly in France, but many parts involving important events that happen in this story would contradict with history, so I decided to set this in a world I created. The nations are much different in this case. Confusing? A little. But I'll be posting a key to understanding it at the end of every chapter so things will not be so complicated.
Each name is a weird combination of the country's name, a city name, and sometimes just whatever looks nice in the name.
Norvia – Norway/Iceland
Great Engerian – England/America/Canada
Parance – France
Deustria – Germany/Austria/Prussia/Hungary
Shingan – Japan/China/Thailand
Spariquill – Spain