Autumn in Venice is a place any author would love. With the falling leaves and pigeons of the Basilica San Marco, it's like poetry in motion.

And that is why she was there. Acey.

With her curly brown hair pulled into a ponytail and a black pen behind her ear, she was ready to experience. To become a real author. But first, she needed to unearth a story here; find characters and personalities. A plot, a climax.

And it was all here.

As she sat in the Basilica, a cup of coffee in her hand, she watched the tourists around her. Unlike her, they were here merely because they enjoyed traveling. She was here for a reason.

Sighing, she stood. Nothing interesting here; just a bunch of tacky tourists with their cameras.

Then, she saw it. Or rather, him.

A boy with a black mask, a mask that resembled a bird of prey. Intrigued, she watched as two other boys followed him out of the Chapel. Where were they going? Ah, they were walking towards a girl and a two boys; one obviously much younger than the rest.

She moved closer, an interested smile making its way onto her face. The boy in the mask had an envelope, and one of the one's who had been with him held a basket.

What was in the envelope? What was in the basket?

Before long, the boy in the mask turned her way. 'He's seen me!' she thought to herself, but it just added to her excitement. Finally, an original person in Venice.

He walked up to her curiously, still wearing the bird mask.

"Who are you?" he asked, not bothering to beat around the bush with questions.

"I'm Acey. And I think I could ask you the same question," she said, raising an eyebrow.

"I," he said with a grin, "Am the Thief Lord."

"Interesting," she said, scribbling something on her notepad. "The Thief Lord… you can't be any older than I am."

"And how old is that?"

"Fifteen."

"Then you'd be right," he said, as he motioned for the others to come over. "They're Prosper, Bo, Hornet, Riccio and Mosca."

Acey nodded as he pointed them out. "Let me guess," she said thoughtfully, "You're crew?"

"Precisely. Crew, this is Acey," he said, and the others nodded. "Alright, let's go before the Snoop comes."

After a few steps, the Thief Lord turned back to Acey. "You coming?"

Acey followed the group to an abandoned movie theatre; The Stella, she could tell from the signs that had once been lit up and welcoming. Now, they were dull and falling apart.

The Thief Lord opened a side door, and the rest followed him in.

"Is this where you live?" Asked Acey suspiciously as she stopped in front of the door.

"Yup," said The Thief Lord proudly. "Now, go in."

It was fabulous inside. From the blue, starry curtain to the few, scattered letters of 'Stella'. Even if the seats were falling apart and full of mice, the theatre was still quite remarkable.

"Wow…" she said, turning around in awe. "You really live here?"

"Yeah," said Prosper, nodding.

"But… why? Haven't you got proper homes somewhere?"

"No. We're orphans!" said Bo, the little five year-old. "But we're a family!"

Acey couldn't hold back a smile; he was too cute.

The Thief Lord grinned and took off his mask.

Acey stopped in surprise. The Thief Lord was cute! He had perfect, chocolate brown hair and wonderfully kind-looking eyes.

"You can call me Scipio," he said to Acey, giving her a smile.

"Scipio…" she said, wondering why the name sounded so familiar. "That's an original name."

"Yeah, it is," added Hornet with a nod.

"Well, so is Acey," said Scipio, shrugging. "And Prosper and Boniface. We all seem to have different names, huh?"

"Yes, I guess you could say that," she chuckled, and then scribbled something down on her notepad again.

"What are you, some kind of writer?" Mosca inquired, looking over her shoulder.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I'm going to be an author," Acey admitted, covering up her page. "But no one gets to see it yet."

"Well, if I was a famous author, I'd buy lots of cakes…" said Riccio, a far off look in his eyes.

"Cakes?" laughed Acey, writing another word down. "Why not buy a decent house?"

"That's a good idea," laughed Hornet, looking over at Riccio.

Acey smiled. She liked it here, with all of them.