DEDICATED TO IROSAMA0410!
This is basically a butchered, overly-complicated version of Cinderella, with every character having a secret (or not so secret) kick-butt awesome side. Also, city/country names are going to be taken from HetaQuest because I'm terribly unoriginal. Some places I'll include myself, and I'll be sure to list them in the AN's.
*Daplon- Poland
*Nhaci- China
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!
Fiore
Chapter 1-
There was stirring in the castle.
Rumors (mostly started by the Duke of Daplon, Feliks) floated about, whispering through darkened halls and behind closed, locked doors gilded with gold. The normally cold pillars of marble that lined the snowy courtyard were much colder this year; the mere sight of it could give one the chills.
This is where Prince Ivan anxiously paced.
His heavy boots had long left a rut in the accumulated snow, forming a convenient path for him to further stomp through. He had been outside for a good hour now, worrying about his sister's health, and the no-doubt sinister plans she was hatching in her head as the doctor examined her. Ivan knew that things were about to change very soon because of Katyusha's illness. If she didn't get better, he would have to assume the throne. If she did get better, then the country would continue its downward spiral into destruction.
Ivan loved his sister. He really did.
But Katyusha was the worst empress the magnificent Rukassian Empire had ever seen. It had been an awful day when she was crowned queen and empress the day after their father had died. Ivan had been far too young to assume the crown, and all his cousins were even more incompetent than Katyusha.
"Like, Prince Creepy! Oh, sorry. I totes meant Charming!"
And speaking of incompetent cousins….
With a small, malicious smile, Ivan paused and turned to meet Feliks, prancing through the formerly peaceful snow. "Like, Her Majesty has summoned you to her deathbed," the blonde faithfully reported with a wicked grin. The expression turned more sinister as he directed his gaze to his manicured nails. "Seriously. She's, like, on her deathbed right now. And she's about to make an important announcement, so we're all, like, going to go. Me included. When I'm, like, king, this drab place will so be getting a makeover. I'm thinking miniskirts for the ladies, and adorable bowties for the dudes. Plus, I'll be totes changing the throne room tapestries into red and white instead of that icky blue and yellow your sis got. Like, talk about your hideous colors."
"What?" Ivan burst, worry overtaking him once more. The taller man shoved Feliks out of his way and took off running, completely undeterred by the snow and the wicked smirk that had unraveled on Feliks's face.
If everyone else in the family was going to be there, there was no telling which one would sway her first! Ivan had to get that crown! He had to!
((((()))))
Topside was a wonderful place filled with industrial wonders, snotty aristocrats, and flourishing businesses. The streets were always crowded and busy, and for miles one could hear the shouts of vendors and exclamations of surprise when folks noticed their pocket watches and money had been stolen.
Arthur Kirkland and Francis Bonnefoy were by far the best in the trade.
Most of said exclamations had been their doing, and they were mighty proud to admit it. They flaunted their stolen wealth, teasing guards and taunting hungry vendors itching to partake of their goods. Out of everyone on Topside, Arthur and Francis were no doubt the richest- even more so than the great Roma Vargas, most likely. Maybe richer than the queen.
Arthur had ties all over the capitol city. He was the true ruler of the streets, and as such, the palace guards could not touch him. Everything was his- and everything would always be his. War did nothing to tear apart the fine network of black markets Arthur had set up- even when pesky Saians leaked through the so-called impenetrable walls of the city and attempted to burn it all or massacre everyone in sight.
And that was where their third partner came in. Isabel Carmen Antonia Fernandez-Carriedo, once one got past the lengthy name, was a cheerful woman Arthur and Francis had met in their youth. Isabel had a strange obsession for las tomatas, gazpacho, and los mariscos. She always talked in her Spinan language just to get on Arthur's nerves, and was the first woman that Francis had ever regarded as a friend instead of his next partner in bed- though this was mostly due to her obliviousness towards his advances.
But aside from Isabel's lively, sunny demeanor, she was, to put it lightly, a killing machine. She was a war veteran with a look in her eye that told everyone around her to watch their mouths or she'd hack you to pieces with her axe. Her smiles often teetered on the edge of insanity, like she could snap at any moment and rid Rukassia of a few sleazy souls.
This had mostly been the reason behind Francis taking her under their wing. Arthur had hated her at first, claiming her to be a stupid country bumpkin that would only get them exposed to the wrong people. He had quickly found a dagger at his throat. "Don't you remember me, amigo viejo?" she had asked in a frighteningly calm voice. "The battle at Nhaci."
Isabel had then become the most wealthy woman in all of Rukassia- yes, probably even richer than the queen.
"Oh, Señor Artie~!" their Spinan friend sang as she twirled into Arthur's office, a blood-red traditional Spinan dress fanning out around her. "Señor Francis and I are back! I saw the cutest little boy outside- I wanted to go pinch his cheeks, but Francis said people would start calling me a pedophile and he made me leave. But he had the most adorable cheeks!"
"I don't see 'ow 'e could be conzidered 'cute'. 'E looked like 'e was getting ready to strangle the other boy beside him. An' 'e looked like 'e was-"
"Would you please stop talking in that annoying accent of yours?" Arthur irritably snapped, irritably smacking his paperwork on his desk. "This is bloody, freezing Rukassia, not Cenarf."
"I'll stop talking in my accent ze second you stop talking in yours, mon ami, becauze zis iz Rukassia, not Elgnand," Francis swiftly put in. His shiny boots tapped across the marble flooring in Arthur's office, echoing in the vast expanse of the room. Stunning originals from Feliciana Vargas hung on the walls, portraying amazingly detailed landscapes of happier places than Rukassia. Arthur had her entire collection of Elgnand paintings- in oil, acrylic, and water color.
With a soft, teasing smirk, Francis leaned across the desk. "Now, how much do you love me today, Arthur?"
Arthur was not amused. "Give me the money and get out," he hissed, roughly pushing Francis back. "I've got serious matters to deal with."
Isabel took Francis's spot in leaning across Arthur's desk. "Ooh, are these the guards' reports on those murders, isn't it? They don't seem to have many suspects yet. Hey! Look at this! They have us down as suspects! We may be unlawful thieves, but we're not murderers!"
Arthur and Francis chose not to comment on that.
Isabel hopped up on the desk, sticking her nose in the reports, scanning the names and blurry photos for anyone else familiar. She paused a moment, recognition showing on her tan face. However, Isabel shuffled the paper to the back of the stack and continued reading. When she found no one else significant, she neatly shuffled the reports in order and laid them down before Arthur. "Well," she started cheerfully, curtseying low, "I'm off to impersonate some guards and find some information on these murders!"
"What? Isabel, you can't just-"
Francis interrupted him. "Leave her be." He pulled out one of the reports and handed it to Arthur. "We know this girl," he said simply, a frown creeping up on his face.
After a moment's examination, Arthur looked up in confusion. "But… she's the mechanic that lives in Underground. How could she have this much on her record?"
"War, mon ami. She was our general at age seventeen. Led us into the battle at Marne, and singlehandedly wiped up "
Arthur looked back at the young face of Gillian Beilschmit smirking up at him.
((((()))))
"Luuuuuuuuuuuddyyyyyyyyyy!" the whiny, nagging voice of Gillian Beilschmit rang out, echoing from below in Luddy's workshop. "We have a cuuuuuuuuustomeeeeeeeer!"
Luddy Beilschmit scowled bleakly into the dark, rich soil before dropping her shovel. "Coming, coming," she sighed, leaving the job of finishing her flower garden in Feliciana's hands. The caramel-haired girl whooped in glee, eagerly calling over her brother. Lovino complied with a sneer at his sister's dirty hands, and refused to join her on her knees, digging through the freshly overturned dirt. After all, unlike Feliciana, he had a regal appearance to keep up.
Coughing as she reentered the oily, thick air of the mechanic shop, Luddy picked up her toolbox as she went to the front of the shop. Heavy machinery hummed and whizzed all around her. Steam blew out in front of her, but, from countless years of experience, knew to stop just inches from the deadly heat as it sprayed out. Once Kiku, hidden away somewhere amongst the pipes, fixed the problem once more, Luddy popped her head into a world completely unlike the workshop below.
The actual "shop", so to speak, was absolutely spotless. Tools lined the shelves with hefty prices labeled neatly below them. Luddy spent most of her spare time keeping the shop spic and span. After all, even though Gillian was head of sales and had the job of taking orders for the repair shop below, it wasn't like Luddy's sister dearest would dare lift a finger and clean something. Gillian was the laziest person she knew- perhaps after Herakles Karpusi, but he had reason to be, with all the money and servants he had.
Gillian absolutely beamed at her younger sister, crimson eyes wide with excitement. "Mr. Imperial Man here needs his pocket watch fixed. Says it's loaded with all sorts of gadgets."
"Mr. Imperial Man" certainly did not look like he was from Topside, or that he was anything close to being Imperial. He was a Saian for crying out loud! How on earth had he gotten that kind of title in this day and age? But Luddy knew that appearances could be deceiving- taking Feliciana, for example. The man, a boy really, looked about sixteen with flat, emotionless eyes slightly slanted like Kiku's. Also like Kiku's, the boy's hair was dark and sleek, chopped short and half falling in his eyes. He was dressed in a traditional Saian garb that Luddy had only seen in old photographs of before the War- an earlier age of peace.
The boy cleared his throat. "I'm certain repairing my watch will be no problem for you."
Luddy nodded. "Yes sir. Is there a certain date you need this back?"
"Like… within the week, if possible. It's actually, like, my mom's, so…."
Actually, Luddy was wondering what hour of day. "Loaded with gadgets" or not, it was still a watch, and still nothing too difficult that would take up very much of Luddy and Kiku's time. Upon being handed said watch, Luddy found the problem to be that the hour hand had a malfunction and wasn't ticking properly. It was stuck on the twelve o'clock mark. That was nothing a few new gears couldn't fix.
Luddy smiled. "Alright, sir. I'll have it working as good as new soon."
The boy politely bowed, golden sash tied at his waist hanging forward to touch the ground, arms straight at his sides. Luddy's eyes went wide. That kind of politeness from a Saian to an outsider was shocking. This boy was obviously either well raised to be painstakingly-polite at all times or he had never opened a history book in his life. "Thanks. I'm Jia Long Wang."
With another nod and a polite farewell, Luddy ducked back into the workshop. Gillian would take his money and send him on his way, then return to lazily lounging about as if they weren't in the middle of a war and weren't living solely off of Feliciana and Lovino's money.
Speaking of the two aristocratic teenagers, Luddy came face to face with Feliciana the second she turned around. The fifteen-year-old was positively beaming. Her pearly white teeth contrasted too greatly against her dirt-caked face, and her ponytail was loose and askew on the back of her head. Luddy sighed and reached for the rag on her tool belt. "What have I told you about letting Lovino bully you?" she chided, wiping Feliciana's face clean. She then turned Feliciana around and tied her hair back better.
"That it's not nice and I need to stick up for myself," Feliciana recited. However, she didn't look angry in the least that her brother had pushed her face-down into the dirt. Lovino was still angry over his arranged marriage. Feliciana considered herself lucky that she was still too young to be married off.
Their grandfather had spilled the news of Lovino's arranged marriage over breakfast. He had been absolutely livid ever since. Feliciana, on the other hand, thought this was wonderful. Alais seemed like such a nice girl from the way Roma had described her, and Feliciana was eager to meet her.
The young aristocrat's thoughts flew out the window when something golden flashed out of the corner of her peripheral vision. Feliciana's eyes darted to the watch so carefully cradled in Luddy's callused hands. "Ooh, that's pretty!"
"And is not for playing with," Luddy strictly told her, holding it out of the younger girl's reach. "Kiku-"
"I am here," she calmly said, walking out from behind a massive furnace. Kiku smiled at Feliciana politely, then directed her attention on this afternoon's job. Kiku studied the watch critically with her craftsman's eye. "It looks very well made. Perhaps before the war?"
"The boy said the others in Topside couldn't fix it. You don't think-"
"-that Yao and your grandfather made it?" Kiku finished for her. She nodded thoughtfully. "Perhaps. This looks awfully similar to my late grandmother's work."
Feliciana rocked back and forth on her heels. Luddy slightly frowned. "Feliciana, don't you think it's time you took Lovino back home? Before he destroys the garden up there?"
She gasped in horror. "Oh no, I'd completely forgotten- I'll see you two, later! Lovi! Lovi Lovi Lovi Lovi, don't mess up the flowers! Luddy made them so pretty!"
When the rich girl was gone from sight and his frantic shouting a mere echo swallowed by the grating sounds of machinery, Luddy and Kiku released a simultaneous sigh. Feliciana was a wonderful friend, really, and Luddy and Kiku loved her dearly like a little sister, but it was impossible to get work done with her bouncing around. Seeing Kiku's pale face dirtied with soot and grime, Luddy handed her the rag next. "Hand's not ticking. Probably a rusted gear in there and it's broken a part off."
"I see. I'll go ahead and dismantle it."
Luddy smiled and bowed politely to her partner. Kiku bowed back and disappeared once more into a world where the sun was replaced by the fire of the furnace and the sky and grass replaced by pipes- endless, endless pipes.
Luddy felt good to know she was home.
((((()))))
Alfred F. Jones, for once, was silent. He had finally caught a lead on his target, and… well, he wasn't sure he wanted the case anymore.
The cadet had been in the Rukassian military for as long as he could remember- Alfred had been born and raised in the country side town of Aricema, but with a foster family with heavy ties to the military. He had grown up learning drills and techniques most soldiers themselves didn't even know. Alfred was the ultimate soldier.
But that didn't mean he threw chivalry to the wind.
No, Alfred was a hero. He used his upbringing and skill to aid the weak and save the day! Which meant that this case was perfect for him- find the murderer running around the kingdom and bring him in! Alfred was fighting for not only his kingdom, but also for Justice, and for the people's safety.
He looked back down at the list and pictures of the suspects in his hands. This was what made him doubt himself: all of these names, all of these completely innocent looking people…. He shuffled through them as he walked down the street, his uniform practically shining in the rare sunlight. People stopped and stared at him, freezing in their daily rituals, but Alfred didn't notice. He figured they were admiring him- don't see guards as young as me everyday, do you?- and continued on his merry way.
Luckily, Alfred didn't personally know any of these people. They were all strangers to him, although he did see a few familiar names here and there. One of said names was Natalya Arlovskaya. Natalya was a young woman his age involved in the Special Task Force. She may have been a terror with a knife and a bloodthirsty personality when out in the field, but Alfred knew she wouldn't go as far as to kill innocents.
At least, he hoped not, because that would mean confronting her, which would mean Alfred would most likely lose some very important anatomical body parts.
Suddenly, a blonde girl that had come out of seemingly nowhere collided into him. With a simultaneous oof! they collapsed on the sidewalk. "Oh geez, I'm sorry!" Alfred burst, picking her off of him like a gentleman.
The girl sat up with a hazy look on her face, uncertainty clouding her lavender eyes. Alfred noticed a pair of glasses at his side. "Um, are these yours?" he asked, handing them to her.
With a fierce blush the girl nodded. "Y-yes. Th-thank you," she quietly stuttered. "U-um, I've got to go now."
With that, the girl took off running, her pale pigtails flapping out behind her.
Alfred blinked in surprise. Then he shrugged and looked back to his files. Isabel Carriedo, Gillian Beilschmit (Alfred's eyes went wide at the things written on this one), Madeline Williams-
Once again, he froze. Alfred pulled the picture up to his nose, as if he were looking at it wrong.
That's her, alright! Pigtails and berets and everything!
Mouth agape, Alfred stared off at the fleeting blonde, already successfully melded into the hectic streets of Topside.
…Alfred really didn't want this case.