Second part of Chapter One! I have decided, after much thought, to divide these into two seperate chapters because I think it works a bit better like that. Personal decision, if you will.
Yes, if you have read this story before 5/10/10, you have already read this chapter.
Good news though~! Currently working on Chapter Three, so watch out for that somewhat soon. (:
Playlist
Chapter Song: See Who I Am by Within Temptation
"Let's show them that we can
Free our minds and find a way.
The world is in our hands,
This is not the end."
L&L's Office of Scouting and Searching, Central, 2010
He grunted every few steps, favoring his right foot a bit though he wasn't slowed down by it. His clothing had rips in it, his hair was a complete and total mess, and there was blood on most parts of his body.
Though most was not his, it was still not a pretty sight.
He had truly almost had his ass handed to him tonight. Thankfully, Roy is more than a little lucky when it comes to handling vagrants, and the three that attacked him were barely a problem.
He had been out on a simple assignment, scouting out for new recruits that looked like they could "lay a punch, deal with criticism, and remember every word that I say", as quoted by Lucien of course. He wanted someone to recall what he said, since he could barely keep track of what he was doing and saying himself.
He had found a hopeful, though that chance in recruitment was shot down when the three men that stepped from the alleyway scared him away with his tail between his legs. If that wasn't enough, apparently Roy was on their part of the city, their territory, so they decided to teach him a lesson.
In the end, it ended with two bleeding and broken vagrants, and one rat sprinted off when the first punch was thrown and Roy showed that he could hold his own.
But it was against Lucien's policy to do anything about the bodies, so he just left them there and started limping back to the main office.
You'd think he would care more about not trying to kill anyone, but Lucien had the mindset that "if anything gets in the way, then kill 'em". Straight from the man's mouth himself.
He was a true devil of a man, who worked him long hours over the course of the day, called him at random hours for bizarre assignments, and clearly tortured him and his paycheck day after day. Sometimes Roy believed he liked throwing causing him misery, that that was his goal and that he probably wouldn't be doing shit if he wasn't so favored by the man.
To back up a bit, Roy can be described as bound to this man. Well, more likely his profession, this office. L&L's Office for Scouting and Searching mainly deals with recruiting people to work for the jobs and assignments that Lucien gets from his superiors, where people generally must be invisible. One slip up and its game over.
The jobs include things like getting information, spying around, digging through graves (sometimes literally), and searching for answers. Sometimes the problems are nonsense, though Roy has come across a few good ones in time.
The reason he was bound to the office was simple really. So simple that he wouldn't tell you, but let you figure it out for yourself. The other reason would be because he couldn't.
Roy had a breech in his memory around the time he began working for Lucien, though it was almost a decade or so ago. He recalls being introduced to the man, getting his first assignment, being forced through a hell called training, and meeting all the people who worked alongside Lucien in the office.
Before that, he remembers semi-normal childhood, alright life growing up as an only child in a middle class home, but nothing that points him towards why he went into this line of work. His last memory was an interview with a man, the same silhouette that haunts his dreams every now and again.
The man is tall, very broad, though he stands in a way that he almost isn't even a figure. He's almost drawn out, stretched out. Golden light and color shines all around him, as he sits there telling Roy nonsense about life and death.
It's always been confusing, for after that memory lapses him, Roy finds himself in the Scout's Office, no regard or anything about what had happened before.
It was like the span between the meeting with that man and showing up at the Scout's Office, being fit with a job was in the same moment.
But when he was first brought to the Office, he wasn't put under Lucien's care, but by another brown-noser who treated him like scum and tried to make him remember meeting that mysterious man. Whenever he mentioned the man, his associate got really strung up, literally forcing him by beating the answer from him.
Lucien saved him from the man, getting him subsequently transferred. It's been at least a decade now if he wasn't mistake.
And though he's grateful, it gets old when Lucien waves that over his head. Even just for a joke, it still bugs him when he uses that ploy to get what he wants. What a devilish man.
Roy looked up from where he had been staring at the ground, sighing in relief when he realized he had reached his destination.
The Scout's Office, as most shortened it to call, was an old building in the deceasing part of town, where more bars and whorehouses were opened than restaurants and the 'high class' people tried to avoid. It was two stories, though the second story was used mainly for other things.
He couldn't elaborate that much on it, for that's what Lucien explained it as every time he asked. He would say it was for offices of the higher ups, and where they kept a lot of important documentation that he shouldn't worry about.
He did know that a few people that served under Lucien had work up there, but that was about all.
Roy had only been up there once, for a brief second, during his tour of the Scout's Office way back when he started.
The main floor held a variety of offices and rooms for people who decided to make it their cozy home in the middle of downtown Central. As far as he knew, Lucien stayed there, making his home in the farthest room in the back. His office was one of the first people saw, though, as it was straight down the hall from the lobby, directly forward.
And that's where Roy's feet had taken him. After waving by a few people of all shapes and sizes, he hadn't run into any of his working buddies yet. With a sigh, figuring most were gone for the night or on an assignment, he knocked once on the peeling mahogany door.
"Yeah?"
Roy took that as his cue, shrugging the door opened and crashing inside.
Lucien sat straight ahead at his desk, which was askew with books, papers, leaking pens and inks all over the once top of the class desk. There was probably something living in the stacks he had made to at least try and be tidy, though it didn't help much with how everything else around him was a mess.
His head was tilted downward, glasses that he didn't need skewed on his face. They were usually for play, like when certain clients came in and Lucien wanted to "not appear completely perfect for them". Such modesty.
Lucien looked up from whatever was on his desk, effectively peeling off the glasses as he realized who it was.
He was handsome; the type agents would kill for any day for a model to look like. His presence was uncanny and he held a superior aura to anyone who was in the same room as he was.
He grabbed attention with his looks as well. His hair was dark brown, messy and unkempt just like the person who 'styled' it every morning. Lucien said he kept it long for personal reasons, since it was easier to tie back if he ever needed it to be. Today, however, his hair was down, swishing dangerously close to covering his eyes.
They were the color of wine, a deep red wine that seemed to glow whenever he got pissed enough. Currently, his eyes were half-closed, like he was bored with whatever he had just been reading.
"Oh, finally you're back. I thought those bums might have gotten the best of you and I'd have to go find someone else to take over your shift." Lucien said, pointing his glasses at him as he spoke, before setting them down on the desk. "I mean seriously, between you and that girl I'm always behind schedule."
Roy frowned, shutting the door as he approached his employer. "How sweet of you to think of me as you sit back here in the safety of your office on your ass." He bit back, hearing something enter his words like he was angry.
If Lucien heard it, he didn't give a sign and just continued to stare at Roy.
The silence lasted a moment, before the other man sighed, leaning back in his chair.
"So, did you find anyone worthy of working at LOSS?" It was a nickname that a lot of the workers usually referred to the company as. If you just took the initials of the business' title…
"No, no one looked right at all." Roy snorted. "The only ones who could lay a punch are lying in a gutter a few blocks down." He sighed.
Lucien looked troubled for a moment, picking up a pen to sketch down something on one of the many papers in front of him. "It seems like people are either getting worse at defending themselves or better at hiding themselves." He looked back up. "This company used to have people clawing their ways inside the doors to try and get an interview, and now the only people who will even step foot in here are the ones who do nothing but demand, whine, and turn in zero results." His voice rose a bit, exasperation in his tone.
Roy raised a brow. "Well, perhaps it's because of your poor people skills." Lucien flashed him a look, with which the he couldn't help but grin. Sure, his boss had the looks, but between him forgetting nearly everything without jotting it down and his foul mood whenever he got new employees, always claiming he was 'testing' them, it didn't surprise the scouter that they had no new people in quite some time.
"I'm sure you've got loads of applications under all that shit on your desk. Have you thought about cleaning it off lately? I think something might be dead in there." That or the office smelled of something else rancid.
Lucien looked thoughtful for a moment, before shaking his head. "Nope! You're wrong on both accounts, Roy-boy."
Roy visibly shuttered at the name, but saw Lucien instantly turn that frown that had been etching its way on to his face into a happy look.
"I don't have poor people skills; people are just assholes nowadays. And I can clearly see from here that the last application was from that disgruntled sin of a man who I would kill myself before I'd let him work for my company, get it?"
"Get it" was Lucien's term of endearment for shut up and don't argue. He'd heard it many times before, but it had never truly stuck in his head.
"That's exactly why people don't work for you, because you're the asshole and they are just trying to find work. Maybe if you lighten up a bit you'll have more people wanting to join."
There was a pause, as Lucien looked up from his papers and gave Roy a dry look that lasted several moments.
He then burst out laughing.
"Oh, man, should I tuck them in to bed as well and read them a bed time story? Roy-boy, you're getting a bit soft around the edges aren't you?" Lucien clutched his sides, his hair shading his face as he slammed his head on the desk to try and contain himself.
Roy grumbled, turning away from the scene. "You're a riot."
"And you're both complete idiots, aren't you?"
Roy turned his head to the left, where a woman appeared at the far door behind Lucien's desk. She stepped firmly and proudly with each step, her stilettos clicking on the marble flooring.
She was decked head to toe in tight leather clothing; the top was the only exception.
Her top consisted of a corset, strung tightly in the back as it pushed up her breasts which didn't need anything to accentuate them already. The corset flooded down, as it eventually faded into the tight leather pants that gripped her hips smoothly, before it ended, tucked into knee high stiletto boots. The heel was thin, and Roy always wondered how she kept her balance and managed to not break the paper-thin heel with every step.
Over her corset, the woman had a long sleeved leather jacket, only held together by the clasp right below her chest. It morphed into gloves just above her wrists, and didn't end until just below her nails, completely covering both hands.
Her nails were manicured, pointed black tips, which hung devilishly at her sides.
While Lucien had worn more simple clothing for the day: tight black slacks and a long sleeved black shirt and the same gloves that stopped right below his sharpened nails, this woman looked down right ready for anything from a party to a gathering on a street corner somewhere.
She stepped closer, more towards the two men, stopped just at Lucien's side with her arms crossed over her chest.
Her hair was roughly the same color as Lucien's, though it had an almost red tint in it that matched her red wine eyes perfectly. It reached just past her shoulders, swung in light, natural waves.
Lucien didn't even look back, just waved a hand over in her general direction. "And you're useless, Genevieve. I swear I told you and your mangy man to be back here before Roy got back. Can't handle a simple assignment, can you?"
Genevieve stared back at the man who was pointedly ignoring her, unfolding her arms and gaping over at him. "A simple assignment? You bastard, you sent us on delivery! Not just any delivery, but to bring Father Cornello some mutated water for his sick, sadistic self! If Gerard and I hadn't already been to hell and back, you would have condemned us!"
Lucien snorted, doodling on the paper. Roy stared at the outburst. It wasn't uncommon.
Roy knew some things about Genevieve, like how she had lived in a place she considered hell before she came to work for Lucien. She dragged her lover, Gerard, with her, though he showed up only a quarter of the time that the female actually showed her face around here. But he grimaced at the thought of her assignment.
The couple was sent for the more hefty assignments, such as the deliveries, which Roy sometimes envied and sometimes was glad he was never chosen for them. Such as this one. Father Cornello was some pervert a town over who always bought from LOSS because he wasn't really licensed as a father so he had to get his holy water somehow.
Roy never knew exactly where the office got it themselves, mainly because he never worked for the delivery unit as stated prior. He was a scouter; good at paying close attention and sneaking around, as Lucien would describe his work ethic.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Stop bitching, you ungrateful lecher. You should be lucky I don't send you back to hell so the devil can deal with you himse—"
Lucien caught himself, flashing a quick look over to Genevieve who was staring at him with a warning glare perched on her face. Roy looked at each one in turn, confused. "Wha—"'
"Oh, nothing, nothing, Roy-boy. Just a simple threat to calm the storm, don't you say?" Genevieve continued to glare at him, which Roy guessed it was like telling an adopted child they were going back to the orphanage. It was something people just didn't say.
But it wasn't the first time Lucien said strange things like that. Hell was a natural euphemism for his boss, like he'd been there before or something. Roy never thought his boss as being actually Satanist, but sometimes it was hard to doubt that he had some beliefs in the Underworld, with all the threatening he said to Genevieve and Gerard.
"Right…" Roy drew out, looking pointedly at them both. "Anyway, am I done for the night?"
"Yes, yes, I thi—"
"Hey, don't you try and change the subject, old man! I want you to fucking get a grip on reality and stop sending us on these bogus, good for nothing deliveries that threaten our lives! Unlike you, this is our last chance at life and I'd rather not die by a sadistic church-goer who was trying to fondle Gerard the entire time!"
"Oh, I didn't realize Gerard swung that wa—"
"That's it!" Genevieve stalked over to the man, dragging him up by his collar as she shook him back and worth, muttering something or the other at him. It lasted a few mere moments, before the female calmed down, slammed the man face first into the desk, and stomped back to her position off to the side.
"Roooooy, you didn't even try and help me!" Lucien wailed, muffled from his face being turned towards the wood. Roy smirked in turn.
"You had it coming for you, boss." Lucien grumbled at the response, as he practically felt the triumphant grin radiating from Genevieve.
"Anyways, I guess you're done for the night, Roy." He paused. "I swear I had something to tell you, to keep an eye out for someone but I-I can't…" He trailed, lifting up the file folders, papers, and books as he searched for something he misplaced.
Not only can't he remember shit, he also couldn't seem to find any of the papers he wrote things on since he knew he would forget whatever he was supposed to remember!
He made an irritable sound, before looking back up at Roy. "Eh, well, I'll tell it to you when I remember! Toddle-lu!" He gave an animated wave, ushering the man out as Roy gave him a disgruntled look, muttering to himself as to why he wasted his breath there.
Lucien kept waving until Roy left. "Whew! That was a close one!" He exclaimed, leaning back in the chair, as Genevieve continued to stare pointedly at where the door just slammed shut. He frowned at her downturn face.
"How does he not catch on, with every fucking mess-up that you have every day. How does Roy not remember a damned thing?! You basically call me a demon, and all he does it stare at us and blink!" Her voice raised a few octaves at the end, though her gaze did not falter. Lucien gave up looking at her, before turning his gaze towards the door as well. All traces of his happy demeanor were gone.
"You know as well as I do that his binding magic is strong. He can't recall it because all we mention are normal speech to him; the devil and hell. We never speak to him as if he once spoke with the man himself or lived far below the earth's surface." Lucien sighed, as he continued to stare forward. "Besides, I'm sure Lucifer would count on those subtle hints breaching the contract. Probably why it was made extra powerful just for him."
"No, it was made greater because that's how Roy was. Greater and more powerful than Lucifer and that's why the devil had to eliminate him by sentencing him to a human life. I only wish he had at least let Roy keep his memory." Genevieve sighed, leaning to sit on the corner of Lucien's desk.
"You know as well as I that that would never worked. Roy was too awestruck with power; he would have destroyed LOSS and all of us, no matter how close he had been with you and Gerard." Lucien shifted behind the female demon.
The room was silent for a few moments, before Genevieve nodded her head in agreement. Another moment, before the male spoke, "Now would you mind getting yourself off my desk and your ass out of my face so I can finish my work? And where's Gerard? I clearly remember seeing his lazy self here when I issued your assignment!" A pause. "Oh, and tell me how the fuck it went. I need some uplifting after these teary-ass memories."
Genevieve rolled her eyes, stepping off the desk as she turned to him and started on explaining the latest mission, with as little slapping and aggressive words being used as she could handle.
Roy grumbled to himself as he let himself out of the office, saying goodbye to the people he passed before starting the trek to his apartment. He didn't live far, which was good, since he felt like he would drop at any moment.
The spat between Genevieve and Lucien hadn't helped his mood, though it never surprised him. Lucien always brought up mentions of sending Genevieve back where she came from, the place from before, and instead of scaring her shitless with the threat, she just got pissed off.
But, for some reason, whenever they mentioned hell and the devil, Roy got the feeling as if he knew exactly what they were talking about. Perhaps that was the reason he always got uncomfortable, and ushered himself out.
He couldn't say exactly why it made him feel that way, but it wasn't the best feeling to have the urge to join in the conversation but never know what exactly to say. He felt as if their inside jokes were his; they had known one another for many years before Roy had even joined LOSS.
Roy hadn't realized he had missed his turn at the last block, leading him down towards an alley that would lead him in a complete circle around the office building instead of back home.
"Way to fucking go." He muttered under his breath, turning to head back the other way. Yeah, he wouldn't look retarded at all. Turning slowly around, he was about to head back out when movement caught his eyes and a distinct cry was heard around the corner from him.
He immediately flinched, knowing that he could either investigate or run; leaving someone else to find whatever was going on in the alley. If he left, he could just say that he had been imagining things and the night air was messing with his head. But he couldn't leave someone there if a person was in danger…
He cursed himself, turning sharply around as he plunged around the corner and into two men. They both were around the same height as him, with long black cloaks on and hoods covering their faces. He saw some light hair peeking out from one of the figure's hoods, but nothing more.
"Hey, what's going on ov—Ahh!"
He screamed in surprise as the one closest to him, the one with the light brown hair, suddenly advanced on him, grabbing Roy in the process. He yelped as the man threw in forward, straight to the sidewalk behind them in one fluid move.
Roy got around to defend himself, moving to his feet in one jump. The hooded man got ready, but before Roy could ask anything else, the other one placed a hand on his comrade's shoulder. "Lahash, let's not waste time."
A movement resulted to Roy's left, inside the alley mouth. This Lahash person was silent, as Roy could feel his aura of wanting to attack Roy with all he had, but the other man was persistent. "No." The other man answered, as if reading Lahash's mind. "We did what we were supposed to do. Let's get back."
They turned tail then, flitting back in the dark alleyway, where they promptly disappeared.
"What freaks…" Roy trailed, staring at them, before turning to go, but not before whatever was in the alley moved once again.
He cocked his head, staring defiantly inside of the alley. "Hello?" He creped in slowly, feeling along the wall until he stepped on something squishy and wet. He could barely see anything since the light didn't go this far into the alley, but he didn't have to illuminate in front of him to realize what was there.
He had stepped on a piece of torn cloth, completely covered in blood. It was deep red, dark like a murder scene as it extended past the pieces of fabric on the ground, before leading to a figure. Roy could do little else as he felt his eyes widening.
There sat a person in the middle of this blood pile, a once white garment now handing loosely off their body as they sat stiffly on his side. Their eyes were cast downward, not betraying any hint of emotion as the dull irises stared at nothing.
The hair hung off the person limply; as if it had lost all its shine and could do nothing more than slowly start to fall apart. Roy first believed it to be a girl, but as a little light pierced the alley from a passing car, he realized it was a young man.
His face made him look in his prime teen years, maybe a little older, but his lithe body made him appear a bit feminine and smaller.
His front was mostly clean, but his back…
"Hey, are you alright?" Yeah, because someone covered head to toe in blood is completely normal.
The boy did nothing but stare forward.
He waited a moment, before sighing, looking at the mouth of the alley before he moved forward and crouched down by the boy. He then realized something. Didn't those two men just come from this alley…?
The realization shocked him for a second, thinking that perhaps the boy had been attacked by the men.
"Oh my fucking god, we need to get you to a hospital!" Roy exclaimed, placing his hands on the shoulder on the young boy in front of him. Bad move.
The young man screeched in pain, darting forward and knocking Roy off balance. Not only that, but he had moved closer to the light, and in turn, gave a vivid picture of how he was injured.
The blood seemed to be coming from two long slashes on his back, parallel to one another and about seven inches in length. He could only see half of the mark, but he could see how far it went thanks to the darker stain of blood.
"Hos…pital?"
"Yes, are you even aware of what's going on?" Roy was startled at the way the young man took the words, as he looked around like he was doing it for the first time since he had been sitting there.
"Now, I'm not going to hurt you, but those are some nasty cuts on your back. And I think we shoul—"
"No." The young man suddenly bit out the word.
"Wha?"
"No hospital."
Screw the stubbornness of Genevieve and Lucien; he was taking it to a whole new level. He never knew anyone so close to death to refuse treatment. Wait… if he was bleeding everywhere, how was the young man still conscious? He may not be a paramedic, but Roy knew a few things thanks to health in high school.
Roy noticed the boy had looked away after his short statement, and was referring to look at him. He also realized he had been so busy worrying for the kid that he hadn't taken him in till just now.
He realized the lifeless hair that hung like string on his head was once probably a vibrant gold; now it just sat there, a dull blonde that still made him look like Adonis incarnate.
He sighed, seeing that his persistence wasn't getting him anywhere.
"Fine, if you won't let me take you to the hospital, will you at least let me take you to my house? I'd hate to say it, but you don't look like an angel covered in all the blood, kid."
Roy didn't even have the chance to blink as the young man whipped around, staring at him placidly with eyes that matched his lifeless hair. A spark of something was hidden beneath, as he crooked his head and glanced at Roy.
Maybe he should have stayed with Genevieve and Lucien a little longer, so he wouldn't have to deal with this kid himself. Or maybe he shouldn't have taken the wrong fucking turn that ended him up in this situation. Devilish thinking, he knew, but this wasn't the way he wanted to spend these few precious hours before his boss was calling him out on assignment again…
"An… angel?" The kid spoke tantalizingly slow, lowering his head and keeping his eyes trained on the ground.
"Yeah, kid, but I promise we'll have you looking like one once we get you patched up." Was this tactic at charm working?
Roy looked at the young man who was slowly raising his eyes up once again. A stifled nod came from him, which was so slight that Roy would have missed it if he hadn't been looking properly.
He smiled to himself, before standing up to try and figure out a way to hold the kid. So what if his assignment today had been a bust and he ended up in between a spat between his friend and his boss? If only Lucien could see him now, acting finding someone like the scout's office usually sent him out to do. If only this was an assignment where he could score points.
But he had to make do with the promise he just said he would accomplish, and Roy wasn't one who usually broke his promises.
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- Mazzie
