AN: Hi guys, I'm Zaphodiop, and this is my first 07-Ghost fanfiction. Normally I write for Bleach, but this was a dream I had a few nights ago and I am DYING to get it out on paper...technically speaking. Now remember, this story is AU so it has no relevence to the actual plot what so ever. Well, maybe some.....
Genre: Fantasy/Romance
Setting: AU fairytale times (think Brothers Grimm)
Pairings: You'll see...
Warnings: Gratuitous German and Japanese. =3
Rating: T for Bishie Bashing 8O
Songs to listen to while reading: The Truth Beneath the Rose- Within Temptation; Arrival of Tears- Ayane; Schwarzweiß~kiri no mukou ni tsunagaru sekai- REVO +Haruka Shimosuki
Disclaimer: I do not own 07-Ghost! However, random background peeps are mine! XD
07-GHOST: ローズの下の真実
07-Ghost:
The Truth Beneath the Rose
Kapitel Eins
Ein Abend Dieb in der Verlorenenschloss
Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is. ~German Proverb
"Say, Aya-tan, have you heard about the Abend Dieb?"
"Is that a new sweet shop you discovered while 'patrolling' again?"
"Nya, Aya-tan, that hurt! It has nothing to do with sweets!"
"So you're not denying anything, huh?" Konatsu muttered as Hyuuga attempted to persuade the young Barsburgian prince to engage in friendly conversation.
"Can you at least pretend you're interested, Your Highness?" Hyuuga pouted, "Even if it's just to humor me?"
"Fine, I'll humor you," Ayanami stated coldly, still continuing on his way to the throne room of Verloren Castle without any sign of interest, or even irritation, for that matter.
"Yay!" Silence followed.
"Well!?" Konatsu prompted angrily.
"Oh yeah, I forgot," Hyuuga replied sheepishly, "As I was going to say (honest I was), the Abend Dieb, as our fellow aristocrats call 'im, is a thief that has been plaguing them for the past fortnight!"
"Joy."
"Was that sarcasm Aya-tan? But anyways, this thief likes to strike in the evening, hence the name."
"Hyuuga," Ayanami said slowly, "most 'smart' thieves do…"
"Oh yeah…"
"Maybe there's nothing special about this thief after all?" Konastu suggested, "Maybe you just misheard the native tongue?"
"I know what I heard," Hyuuga grumbled while stopping in the middle of the hallway, "This thief is special, I swear. At least, they think they are by leaving a stupid rose in the place of the stolen artifacts all the time…" Konatsu whirled around.
"Why didn't you mention that!?" he yelled at his superior.
"Because he's not called the Rosen Dieb?" Konatsu smacked his forehead.
"Idiot…"
A cool breeze ruffled a dark figure's cloak as they perched upon one of the various spires of Verlorenenschloss; they licked their lips in anticipation, and hawk-like, emerald eyes scanned each buttress, tower, and battlement, searching for possible ways in or out of the magnificent castle. The forlorn figure shivered slightly in the wind as it howled over the ramparts, and the sun sank low on the horizon, it's dying orange rays reflecting off of the stained glass windows of the keep. It was time.
Jumping from their perch on the spire, the figure gracefully dove down into a cart filled with hay. They winced at the noise and waited tensely, holding their breath as they waited to see if the guards noticed. However, no one stirred, and the cloaked silhouette sprang from the back of the wagon. Ducking into some shadows created by the setting sun on the other side of the keep, the thief paused to get their bearings.
"So what are you doing tonight, Roth?"
"I dunno, maybe take the wife and kids to see a play. You wanna come, Takeshi?"
"Nah, I gotta start working on that new greenhouse I promised my gal."
"Oh, building your way into the bedroom, eh?" The thief waited patiently for the two guards' raucous laughter to fade off into the distance before darting from the shadows towards a dark stairway. From their scouting earlier, the thief knew that there was an out-of-the way entrance into the keep. In fact, it was so out of the way, the royal family didn't even post guards. Once they were up the stairs, the thief opened the door and moved from shadow to shadow towards the throne room.
""This thief is special, I swear. At least, they think they are by leaving a stupid rose in the place of the stolen artifacts all the time…"
"Why didn't you mention that!?"
"Because he's not called the Rosen Dieb?"
"Idiot…" The thief paused and listened to the conversation in amusement. Surely these three weren't the only guards?
"Either way they are not a concern," the deep, cold voice of the third member of the group stated, silencing the other two. Peering cautiously out from behind a column, the thief's green eyes caught sight of a pair of violet ones. Fortunately, they did not notice the thief. The would-be bandit silently pondered how on earth they would get to the artifact without being seen by the three men.
"Are you done with the paperwork yet, Konatsu-kun?"
"I'm done with mine, but yours is another story, Hyuuga-san."
"Keep at it then!"
"You're missing the point…" The thief refrained from rolling their eyes. How on earth did that one guy put up with them? After ten more minutes and no sign of the men leaving, the thief gave in and decided to wing it. Using a torch sconce as a boost, the thief silently grabbed a hold of the chain fastened to the wall that held up the grand chandelier, and shimmied up it. Praying to God that the plan would work, the thief mounted the chandelier, tied a robe onto it, and proceeded to lower themselves towards the prize while the others' backs were turned. Almost there, the thief kept on thinking. Their tongue was sticking out in concentration as they reached for the prize. Suddenly, a shining blade was resting across their wrists.
"What do you think you are doing with that stone?" A cool voice breathed in the thief's ear. Emerald eyes once again looked up into a pair of amethyst ones, and the thief knew that they were in trouble.
"Well, shit," they muttered. A low whistle sounded.
"Fyuu, nice one Aya-tan, I didn't even see him!" Hyuuga whistled, impressed.
"That's because you're eyes are always closed!" Konatsu snapped.
"Did you hear something, Aya-tan?" 'Aya-tan,' as his subordinate called him merely closed his eyes for a fraction of a second before fixing their piercing gaze back on the thief.
"Now," he said calmly, voice sounding like a serial killer's, "Would you please put the Eye of Michael back?" However, the thief had tucked the Eye into their coat pocket and was scrambling back up the rope on the chandelier.
"Why do they always run?" Hyuuga asked cheerfully, drawing his twin blades, "they only end up dying tired." Ayanami just smiled.
Well, things could have gone better, the thief supposed as they ran across the rooftops, followed by hoards of angry guards, including the three from the throne room. Well, one of the three looked pissed; the tall one with black hair looked like he was having fun while the scary one was just that, scary. Never had the thief been so frightened in their life, and the human-shaped hole in the stained glass window was proof of that! Thinking quickly, the thief dove off of a battlement and into the moat. Maybe from there they could swim, unseen, into the river which fed into it and back to town.
"I've lost him Aya-tan," Hyuuga stated, still smiling broadly, "I told you they were something special."
"Indeed," Ayanami murmured to himself.
"Don't rub it in," Konastu added grumpily.
"Where could that child have gone to?"
"I honestly don't know, Mother."
"Teito, there you are! Have you seen you sister?"
"No, Ma'am…" A plump, friendly looking woman sighed in exasperation. Honestly, she thought the boy, Teito, would be the issue around here, but noooooo! It was the girl!
"I'm sure she'll turn up eventually, Verena, have some faith," her husband, who had been hoeing the garden outside of the kitchen window, said reassuringly.
"I certainly hope that's the case," Verena sniffed, placing a pie in the oven and lighting the fire, "But, Kurz, I'm still worried!"
"Relax, Mother," Teito replied, bright green eyes staring up at his parents, "Aneue just went to the village square to shop for some food. She promised she'll be back after dusk." Verena relaxed, but only slightly.
"But it's sunset now, Teito, and I don't hear a horse. Which one did she take?"
"She took Erl because Dad was using König and Arcady to plow earlier."
"And he's damn slow," Kurz said leaning into the window of the kitchen, "so when she said sunset, It'll be more like midnight."
"I certainly hope not," Verena muttered as she swatted her husband's hand away from the pie.
"Darn it, Erl, why do you have the most energy when I need you to be NORMAL? I wish Dad hadn't been using Arcady; she's much more reliable…" Eve could have sworn she heard the old gelding laugh at her; it honestly wouldn't have surprised her anyways. "At least I managed to escape, huh? The Church better like there present or so help me I'll…" Eve never finished that thought. How could she? She was friends with everybody in the church, and would do anything to help provide for it and the people it protected. Eve winced as she felt a painful throb in her left arm. Apparently she didn't jump through that window unscathed, for she saw that a large chunk of glass was sticking out from her bicep. Ironically, there was a rose painted on that particular piece; Eve laughed, which soon switched to pained giggles as she tried to dig the glass out of her arm.
Having finally torn the glass from her arm, Eve tore the hem of her shirt, wrapped it tightly around her arm, and used her belt as a tourniquet to staunch the bleeding; she didn't think the wound was arterial, but it was better safe than sorry.
"Note too self," she muttered, "No more jumping through windows. Better yet," she added, thinking about the whole scenario, "No more stealing from royal families with angry white-haired guards."
Erl whinnied in agreement.
"At least we're almost home," Eve muttered, closing her eyes and trying not to pass out from blood loss, "Although it looks like I'll have to crawl in through my window so I don't give Mum a heart attack."
Sure enough, Eve soon reached the clearing where her small cottage lay with ivy creeping up its sides and roses flowering along the cobblestone walkway to the front door. Guiding Erl over behind the house, Eve steered him underneath the tree outside of her window. Standing up on the tall gelding and using his height to her advantage, Eve grabbed a hold of the lowest branch and pulled herself upwards (wincing too, mind you). Once she was safely inside, she proceeded to change into a clean riding dress that didn't have any blood on it. Hiding the tourniquet was the hard part, though, for it was kind of large due to it being a belt. Fortunately, she found a dress that had loose sleeves to hide the bulge. Giving herself a once over in the mirror, Eve nodded in satisfaction.
"No one will suspect a thing!" she stated cheerfully. However, her good mood quickly vanished when she heard a knock on the front door downstairs. "Don't tell me," she muttered, quietly opening her bedroom door and tiptoeing to the top of the stairs.
"'Scuse us, ma'am, but do you by any chance have a teenage son or two?" Eve narrowed her eyes; that voiced sounded familiar.
"Now what the hell kind of question is that?" Well THAT one was clearly her mother, and she sounded most irritated. Electing to climb back out of her window and pretend she was just arriving, Eve carefully scaled down the tree and onto Erl's back. Steering him back around, through the trees, and onto the road, Eve tried to act like she didn't know anything was going on. As she approached the front door, she saw the three guards as well as a carriage outside of her house, and she heard the rest of their discussion with her mother.
"Why would you suspect any of my boys of stealing from the royal palace?" Verena asked furiously.
"I never said that, ma'am," Hyuuga said, trying to calm the furious woman, who at this point grabbed her trusty rolling pin, "We're asking all of the local families! You see, Aya-tan here saw the thief's face and can identify him."
"Oh can he now? Well, I can assure you it is neither of my boys, for they have been helping me in the kitchen all day! Teito! Capella! Come here for a second."
"What's going on, Mutti?" Capella, Eve and Teito's little brother asked curiously.
"There are some men here you want to meet you and Teito."
"Ah, pedophiles!" Capella cried, pointing at Hyuuga, Ayanami, and Konatsu.
"Hardly!" Konastu exclaimed, shocked that anybody would accuse him of pedophilia. Hyuuga, he could believe, Ayanami not such much, but HIM!?
"No, Capella," Verena cooed sweetly to her little boy, "they're the police!"
"I dunno, Mom," Teito muttered, "the one in glasses looks suspicious."
"But I have candy!" Hyuuga protested.
"See what I mean?" Eve tried not to giggle because technically she shouldn't be listening in on their conversation.
"What do you mean, Teito?" She asked pleasantly as she rode up. Teito beamed at his older sister.
"I've met a pedophile!"
"Nani?" Teito laughed at his sister's confused expression.
"It's nothing."
"Alright," Eve said slowly turning to the three guards from the palace, "so why are they here?" Ayanami stepped towards Teito and Eve.
"We're here to arrest your brother for stealing the Eye of Michael."
"What!?"
AN: Well, so ends chapter one! Please don't be disappointed if it does not update quickly. I've very busy with school and stuff, blah blah blah. Not to mention I'm working on like three different fics...T_T BTW, I'll be adding a German dictionary-thing at the end of most chapters...if I remember...
Zaph's German Dictionary and Pronunciation:
Ein Abend Dieb in die Verlorenenschloss [eye-n ahbend deeb in dee fere lore ren en schlawss]- An Evening Thief in the Lost Castle (Veloren [fere lore en] means lost).
Abend/Rosen Dieb [ahbend/ rozen deeb]- Evening/Rose Thief
Roth [if you can't say this, I'll shoot you]- Old German spelling of Red
Verena [fere ee nah]- female name meaning truth; the typical translation of truth is Wahrheit [Vahr h eye t]
Kurz [kerts]- short (teehee! I made a pun! Kurz Klein=short small *is shot*)
Mutti [moo tee]- mommy
Erl and König [ere l/ koenig]- based of the German Death Spirit, Erlkönig. He lures people to their death by promising beautiful flowers in the afterlife, much like a certain somebody we know...The names together mean Erlking, with König meaning king. I think Erl is a reference to the Alder plant.
Arcady: Eve's horse-thing in the manga. ^_^ Arcady is another name for Arcadia, which is a region of ancient Greece in the Peloponnesus. Its inhabitants, relatively isolated from the rest of the known civilized world, proverbially lived a simple, pastoral life. Arcadia can also mean rural contenment.
Eye of Michael- now this is a very important note to make. The English spelling of it is wrong according to how the Japanese are trying to pronounce it. Instead of Mikail, or Micheal as we say it, it should be the German way, [Mee ch(as in ich bin) eye el]. Remember, [Mee ch eye el]! Danke!