-1Chapter One: Just…… call me Phoenix

The Venice air was crisp and cool as the night blew in, scattering Scipio's brown unruly hair into eyes; in through the holes in his mask. The Thief Lord was out on was out on one of his moonlight expeditions, scouring the many backstreets and alleyways for an easy pocket to pick. He was just wondering whether he shouldn't just call it a night when he heard hurried footsteps below him. From his perch on one of the many close-set rooftops in the heart of the city, he could see the small, frightened figure of a girl, her thin shadow racing along the walls of the narrow alleyway. Scipio barely hesitated then, after a moment, alighted onto the next rooftop, following the sounds of her labored breathing.

She had obviously been running for a long time, and it wasn't long before she collapsed, panting on the cobblestones. Once she had caught her breath, she wrapped her arms around her knees, which were pulled up tight to her chest, hung her head, and began to cry, long hard sobs that sounded as if her heart was being torn to pieces. She looked up suddenly when Scipio's dark shadow crossed her back form above.

"Leave me alone! Haven't you hurt me enough?" her voice was brazen, but with unmistakable tremors of grief and fear.

"It's all right. What are you doing out so late? Surely it's past your curfew?" The Thief Lord's voice was calm, almost soothing, like a trainer with a spooked animal. "Are you lost?" She lifted her head, long read hair falling like curtains in front of puffy hazel eyes.

"Yes, I suppose you could say that." she said hoarsely.

"Then I can get you home."

"No!" She made a noise somewhere between a chuckle and a sob. "No, home is the last place I want to go." Scipio nodded. He knew that feeling well enough.

"All right," said The Thief Lord in a very business like tone, "Then you'd better come with me."

"What?" she sounded afraid, but she took the hand the strange boy offered her all the same, and allowed him to pull her up.

She stood gracefully, stopping to examine the mysterious boy that was apparently helping her. Scipio's stomach filled with butterflies under her gaze. He went to look down at shoes, kicking the stones; trying to break eye contact, and realized that he was still grasping her hand. He dropped it quickly, clearing his throat as he did so.

" W-What's your name?" he asked, coughing

" Just ……. call me Phoenix." She responded apprehensively.

"OK….. Phoenix. Follow me." He had walked several paces before he heard her following with quick, tentative steps. She got a little closer.

"Err, where…..where are we going?" she whispered.

"To my Star Lair. Come on."

They walked in silence for some time, Scipio looking back every so often to make sure Phoenix hadn't gotten lost in the winding labyrinth that was Venice. Eventually they came up on and a seemingly abandoned movie theatre, just of the main road. The front doors had been blocked off by brown paper in their filthy glass windows, and the walls were covered with graffiti. The sayings written on the surrounding walls ranged everything from 'Live long and Prosper' to cuss words and couples' names in hearts. The neon letters on the marquee had been taken down or fallen, all except an E, which was hanging by only an electrical chord. They stopped outside a small side door. Scipio rang a bell mounted beside it, and knocked twice. A rat scurried past their feet, right over the toe of the Thief Lord's dark blue Converse high-tops. Maria jumped and grabbed Scipio's hand.

"It's all right. You can stay with us, instead of sleeping out here with the rats." She let go his hand. "I'm Scipio, by the way. Also known as the Thief Lord, Greatest thief in Venice." He drew himself up to his full height, and said the title proudly. Someone inside turned on a light, and by it, Scipio could see Phoenix more clearly.

She had beautiful hair, deep red like a sunset on the canals, the very tips as yellow as the sun, curling like waves past slender shoulders. The colors almost made it look like her head was on fire. She obviously had plenty of money, and maybe a small rebellious streak. Now the Thief Lord could see where she could acquire such an interesting nick-name. She was short, maybe an inch or two shorter than Scipio, and very thin. "She looks like she could do with a few decent meals." Scipio thought. Her eyes were a deep, vibrant green, with great flecks of gold floating inside them. They were covered in dark, clock-spring lashes, and outlined by thin brown brows. Her pupils were alert, surveying her new surroundings. She was wearing a pair of stretched out, too long jeans, probably hand-me-downs, that had rips straight up the hems, all the way to the back of her knees; a long, tight white tee-shirt that was covered in stains and tears, and a pair of blue and white checked Vans tennis shoes with a big splotch of grey paint in the center of one. She looked up at Scipio. "Wow, she has extremely foreign eyes, I doubt if she's from Venice.….." The door opened, breaking into his thoughts.

"Hey Scip! Where have you been? You said you'd be back an hour a……" his voice trailed off as he noticed the girl standing silently in Scipio's shadow. "Wait, who's that?"

"This is Phoenix, Prosper. She'll be staying here for a little while, ok?"

"Fine by me." The other boy answered, "Just be glad Hornet's gone, because I don't think she'd be too happy about it. I think she rather enjoyed being the only girl in a movie theater full of boys. But she's tucked up safe and sound at Ida's, so for now," he looked at Phoenix, "Welcome home, Phoenix." Prosper stood a side to let the Thief Lord enter, and Phoenix, after a moments hesitation, followed.