Veneziano: Welcome to another of my weird fanfictions. I felt like doing the 100 Themes and since I already made this (and it fits the first theme) I decided to start with number 1: Introductions. ^w^

Nihon: Note, Mammon is an adult in this one. In this AU world, the Arcobaleno curse doesn't keep them in baby form all the time and Mammon is able to not only use his illusions to turn into an adult but actually fully do so but not for very long. The rest of the Varia may or may not know (I haven't decided yet; review and tell me what you think would be better/funnier).

Veneziano: For now though, enjoy! Oh and I don't own anything by the way. ^w^

1. Introductions

Give him a thousand lifetimes, a thousand times to try, a thousand memories to try and forget but he never would; Mammon was well aware that he would never as long as he was himself still forget the day he found Mikari.

It was just another Varia mission, a few years before Xanxus would wake up again and they'd meet the true next generation of Vongola; Squalo had given them all their missions for the week and Mammon's had been simple enough. Take down some scum who had been inching in on the Vongola's territory, killing innocents and bringing the police's attention to the families. Which was of course never a good thing.

That night was especially cold, Mammon felt the need to pull his cloak closer around him as he walked through the dark alleyways of the city, only the moonlight and Phantasma to light his way; the Varia illusionist took a moment to look around and listen to his surroundings, making sure he wasn't seen just yet. He wanted to get this over with quickly so he could return to the manor and count his money, a pastime of his he never could quite quit. Not that he ever wanted to.

After being satisfied he was still under the cover of surprise, the grown man walked into one of the buildings to one side of him, slipping in as quiet as a breeze, his cloak fluttering behind him. He closed the door behind him and silence fell again; everything seemed to be dark inside except a flickering light down the hallway before him, hidden partially by a halfway closed door. Obviously to him that was where his targets were hiding out, if it could be called that. Really it was more like they were simply waiting to be killed.

His face completely stoic, Mammon approached, readying himself for what was probably going to be an annoying fight. Unless of course he was quick and didn't give them the time to attack; upon coming onto the door, he took a deep but silent breath before casting his illusions. A few seconds later there was the small sound of strangling and Mammon peeked inside the door to see three of the men inside, the ringleaders of course, being strangled by snakes which had apparently come out of nowhere. Two of the lower men with them got up from where they were standing against walls, holding their guns, trying to shoot at the snakes in hysteria and only succeeding in hurting their leaders. Chaos ensued, Mammon made sure of that with more illusions of poisonous animals and within a matter of moments the whole gang was dead; really was stupid of them though to be all together in one room.

Feeling his job was done, Mammon sighed and turned to leave but was stopped by something he noticed out of the corner of his eye; another partially open door and what appeared to be a leg on the other side. He went over and pushed the door open gently to see inside. It was dark except for the moonlight filtering through a window, casting itself upon a body on the ground; it was of a girl sitting back against the wall, her long black hair looking slightly unkempt and covering her face. She wore a shirt that was far too big for her, falling off one shoulder, and ratty torn jeans; her wrists were handcuffed together and her legs were shackled as well, the chain connected to the wall behind her. For a moment, with her not moving, even Mammon thought she might not be alive, but then he noticed the gentle movement of her body as she breathed. Great, another survivor, he thought to himself and approached her. She moved her head up and looked at him, her hair moving to reveal her face and something around her throat; a collar it seemed though slightly different. Even Mammon had to frown at what it was; a shock collar, they'd put a shock collar on a human being. Soft blue eyes, sad eyes, stared at him and the illusionist stopped for a moment, just staring back at her. Seconds past before finally one of them spoke; it was Mammon incidentally, "Who are you?"

The girl didn't respond for a moment and he could see hopelessness in her eyes, an emotional pain that was deep and stopped her from showing eal emotion and yet something else, something familiar. Or the spark of something at least. Finally she spoke, her voice soft, small, "Mikari…"

"Hm," he said walking a little closer; he scrutinized her and her appearance for another moment. Really it wouldn't be hard to kill her and get it over with, he did want to get home, but there was still that something he saw in her. He couldn't help it; it wasn't like it was every day he found someone who obviously had the necessary trait to be someone like him.

He decided to take a chance; he reached out and grabbed one of her hands, the chains and cuffs melting away as he did so, and tried to lift her to her feet. The girl Mikari was obviously confused by this and was unsteady on her feet, ending up falling forward into him once standing; Mammon looked down at her, noticing how she was shorter than him, so small and fragile in a way. She was probably no older than thirteen, just a child; even for someone like him, he had to wonder how someone could do this to a child. He still wondered how anyone could do this to a child. He wouldn't find out until later her story, why she was there and how she ended up with the gang he was told to kill.

He pulled her along towards the door, feeling her trip and pull back at his grip as he did so but follow either way; her hand felt thin in his and she spoke again, a bit frantic, "Wh-what are you doing?"
"Taking you with me," Mammon said and took her outside, never letting go, "Everyone here is dead. You're going to come with me."
"Why?"

"Why are they dead or why are you coming with me?"
"The latter…"

He took a moment to answer, during which he picked her up and Phantasma circled the illusionist assassin's head, allowing him to fly. It was only once they were in the air and almost gone that he finally answered, his tone completely serious, "Because I'm greedy and as such I want to take you as my apprentice. People like me aren't very common after all…people like us."