Chapter 1: The Mishap at the Auction House

Two hundred years later...

The Dark City of Treno, called that for its eternal night, was best known for its mix of the most upper class aristocratic nobles and most underclass citizens of bandits and poor folk. The two extremities added to the quirkiness of the city, and its bright lights and beautiful architecture made it a common attraction in the entire world. This evening was just like any other, with fancy dinner parties being had, street events filled with laughter, lower class bar fights, and anything else you could think of in a city where night always fell.

Underneath the great city was an ever winding train system that went nonstop twenty four hours a day.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" A concerned looking girl asked, with her big green eyes staring wonderingly at a young man standing in front of her. He was about a foot taller than her, making her eye level with his chest.

The two were standing in the aisle of a train, holding the long metal bar hanging from the ceiling so they wouldn't fall over from the turbulent ride. The odd persons were sitting or standing around them, but they made sure not to be within hearing distance.

The young man shared the same shade of green eyes as the girl, except his were filled with determination. He had spikey dirty blonde hair and patches of facial hair trying to grow around areas of his cheeks. He wore a black, high collared jacket and black pants. His distinguished feature was a long, monkey like tail that hung down his backside.

"Ovelia, it's a little late to be backing down now," the young man commented, looking down at his sister. She had long, messy brown hair that was done back in a high ponytail. She also wore black, her long cloak covering most of her attire.

Ovelia turned her head to the side as the two silently continued their ride under the paths beneath Treno, awaiting their stop.

"Of course you don't understand what I'm getting at," Ovelia muttered under her breath.

The spiked haired man got an annoyed frown on his face as he kept looking straight ahead.

"Of course I do, but it's not like we're going to get caught," the man replied. "...You didn't have to come along," he felt like he needed to add that. He knew it would get under Ovelia's skin for saying that, but it comes with being an older brother.

"Oh shut up, Dane!" She spat as she marched down the train a bit and sat at an empty seat. The man known as Dane peaked down the aisle to see her folding her arms and looking at the ground. He raised his eyebrows and blinked uncaringly.

The next ten minutes of the ride was filled with silence, half of it out of awkwardness and half out of eagerness.

"Next stop, King's Street," announced the computerized voice on the intercom of the train. "Next stop, King's Street."

With that, the two siblings' eyes met each other and Ovelia stood up. They already decided they would exit the train in different cars; once the train pulled to a stop, Ovelia headed down the aisle while Dane headed up. He thought it funny that whenever a train stopped and people began moving around that it always seemed more crowded than before.

When he stepped off the train, he found himself at the King's Street Underground Station. There were middle class mother's urging their crying children to get on the train, rich nobles walking with their heads held high in their flashy attire, poor beggars with holes in their coats asking for a tip, or trying to convince a noble that he knew a shortcut to the latest hot spot.

As Dane walked through the underground station towards the staircase, he put his hands in the pockets of his dark black jacket, closing his eyes and smirking. Treno had been notorious for its rich nobles as well as its sneaky bandits, and how uncanny it was that such two extremities lived in the same metropolis for so many years. He thought it funny. Some people called it dangerous, some called in too aristocratic, but he thought the perfect blend of it made it one thing, home.

He soon arrived at the staircase and quickly marched up, overhearing teenage girls, probably about Ovelia's age, talking about their latest Lucky Colour, as well as two young boys excited about their first Triple Triad deck.

Once he reached the top of the staircase, he found himself on the busy King's Street. To his left was a lake of dark water, with benches filled with lovers looking at the moon or students reading under the street lamps. He didn't know how anyone could concentrate on reading though, with all the people walking around and chatting. His green eyes soon locked on the Auction House, his destination. But it wasn't quite time to go there yet.

Dane looked around and headed towards a cafe called Morrid's and sat down at one of the outdoor tables to wait.

"Excuse me sir, you can't sit there. Paying customers only," a gruff voice from the window called out. Dane turned to see a tired looking older man who was on the heavier side who looked like he'd rather be anywhere but there. Dane guessed he must have been working since morning. Many of the lower class citizens in Treno were over worked, not being able to afford hired help because of the Noble's constantly raising the taxes.

"Alright, I get what you're saying," Dane replied as he walked to the window. "I'll get a cup of Burman coffee."

The owner nodded his head and disappeared into the building. Within minutes, Dane had his coffee and was sitting down again.

"Well it's nice to see some of us can just sit and relax," a voice behind Dane commented, which made him jump. He spilt his coffee and turned to see a young man about his standing behind him with a goofy grin on his face. He had messy brown hair, divided by his forehead with a red bandana. This was Lor, Dane's longtime friend.

"Maybe if someone showed up on time, I wouldn't be," Dane replied dryly. "I'm guessing you checked on Nika and Ovelia already?"

Lor nodded his head in accomplishment.

"Then let's go," Dane concluded as he stood up. The two young men casually walked towards the Auction House.

For centuries, the dark city of Treno has been known for its acclaimed Auction House, which managed to get rarities from ancient artefacts from the lost continent to old useless parts from Airships that ran on mist. It was located in the exact middle of the city, and had been owned by the noble King family since the first two boards were raised to start building it.

The boys soon found themselves outside of it, looking up at the huge white mansion with hundreds of windows perfectly placed throughout; its flat roof gave it a slight box look to it. When they walked in, they noticed it packed full of nobles. Both had been in the building plenty of times, but every time they went in it seemed as though they were walking into the past. He remembered Ovelia telling him before that the King family managed to succeed in keeping the building's authenticity since the Great Era. Yet, it still had a new, rich feel to it.

There were pearl white ivory columns reaching high to the arc shaped ceiling, which had four angels spread out, holding a grand chandelier in their carved hands. There was a stage at the front, where a middle aged man with slicked back hair and a thick curly moustache stood formally. He was a lanky man, and his yellow suit looked anything but tacky.

"...And our next item up for auction is the rare Blue Chocobo egg," the auctioneer announced.

Lor elbowed Dane who immediately looked at him. With his eyes, Lor signalled for Dane to look up at the balcony. When Dane did, he noticed a young woman with fire red hair elegantly sitting between two nobles. They could tell that she noticed the two boys as she casually stood up to leave the balcony area.

Dane and Lor managed to casually walk through the rows of nobles and find their way to a door where they quietly waited. Luckily, most of the people were so enthralled with the Blue Chocobo egg that they didn't notice the two young men standing at the locked door. Within minutes, the handle of the door turned on the other side and it cracked open.

The woman with the fire red hair poked her head out of the door.

"We've got to move fast," she said with a stern look in her azure blue eyes. This was Nika, another one of their accomplices. Nika was born of noble blood, which was a big asset to Dane and Lor, who were more lower class. She was able to get them to places in the Auction House that they wouldn't normally be able to get to. The two followed Nika through the door and found themselves standing at the bottom of a spiralling staircase.

"Okay Dane, you need to get to the twelfth floor," Nika commented as she closed the door behind her. "Once you're there, you'll come to a hallway with another door at the end of it. You'll find what you're looking for in there. It's just a small storage area, but stay in there until Lor comes to get you; we have to make sure the coast is clear."

Dane nodded his head and embarked up the winding staircase. Each level of the mansion had a small landing with a door, and he kept count of how many landings and doors he passed so as not to miss the twelfth floor. The sound of his footprints echoed as he started to catch a rhythm in his walk. Soon, he reached the twelfth floor.

He was standing in front of perfectly rectangular wooden door with a thick black handle on it. He pulled the handle open to reveal a long hallway showing his next destination to be about twenty metres away. He carefully closed the door behind him as he looked around the surroundings.

The hallway fit the rest of the mansion, with its lush burgundy carpet under Dane's feet and paintings of noble Lords and Ladies hanging on the pearl coloured wall to his right. On his left was a ledge that overlooked the auction hall. The voice of the auctioneer was now faint, being as he was further up. Directly in front of the ledge, Dane could see the tip of the chandelier and another ledge on the other side of the hall.

He quietly continued down the hall, his tail swishing vigorously as his green eyes looked intently at the door in front of him. The door at the end of the hall was similar to the one blocking the staircase. When he got into the room, he saw that it was filled with crates. His eyes quickly scanned the dark, musty chamber until he soon found what he was looking for; a little sliver of light shining underneath the wall.

Dane took extra caution to softly close the door behind him as he kneeled down to the crack. All he could do now was wait. Soon, he heard shuffling coming from the area where the light was shining through. Nika was right, this did show another room.

"Yes, the preparations are all made," a man's voice announced. He sounded as though he had authority, but the quiver in his voice said that he was slightly nervous. Dane recognized it as the auctioneer's voice. "Her highness will be arriving here tomorrow evening."

"Good," growled the second voice, which also belonged to a man. His voice sounded harsh and gruff. "And make sure that that...thing... is disposed of."

"Don't worry," assured the auctioneer. "It's going to be auctioned off soon enough and will be stored away by some noble who won't think twice of it after they take it home." Dane's eyes immediately widened.

The two men then left the room, continuing to talk. Dane clenched his fist. He needed to know what that 'thing' was. At least he had a lead; it was going to be auctioned off soon enough. He looked down at the time to take a mental note in his head what the hour was.

He let out a big sigh and rested his back against the cold wall. His nose was adjusting to the smell of must in the room.

xxx

Ovelia sat in a seat on the main floor of the auction hall. She looked around curiously, seeing if she could spot the others, but they were nowhere to be found. Ovelia hadn't seen any of them since she arrived at the Auction House. It was just like Dane not to inform her that he was actually here. For all she knew, they could've abandoned the mission and all gone home.

The auctioneer had taken a break, leaving the nobles to all chat amongst themselves. Ovelia looked down at her notebook. She kept track of which objects were being sold to whom, and what time they were happening at.

Soon, the auctioneer came back out.

"Sorry for the wait, ladies and gentlemen, out next item is Une's Mirror," he stated aloud, queuing everyone to take their seats.

xxx

Dane's eyes stared at the door as it opened into the storage room.

"Finally," he replied. "I was worried I might turn into a rat."

"...And who might you be?" An armoured man asked, walking into the room. Dane's eyes widened, as he immediately realized that this clearly wasn't Lor. The guard stood stunned long enough for Dane to make a run past him, sliding between his legs.

When he got to the hallway, he noticed two more guards standing at the other end. He looked around frantically. Luckily, it was dim enough in the storage room that his face wasn't revealed, and he was far enough away from the other two to see him. Dane made an eye at the chandelier. He gulped, and stepped up onto the ledge. By now, all the guards were charging at him.

He lunged towards the chandelier, successfully grabbing hold of it. He could hear the gasps of people below as he tried making his way towards the other ledge. His feet were kicking as hard as they could.

Soon, Lor appeared in front of him.

"Lor! What are you doing there?" Dane yelled out.

"You said the twelfth floor! I couldn't find you..." Lor replied defensively. He was talking as though he didn't realize his friend was hanging off a chandelier.

Dane made one last heave towards the ledge and crashed into Lor. The grip on his hands caused the chandelier to drop, heading straight to the auction hall. The panic and screams of nobles filled Dane's ears as the hurriedly rushed away from the falling chandelier.

"We've gotta get out of here," Lor concluded. "This way!"

xxx

Ovelia stood outside the Auction House, a safe distance away. She was blankly staring at the smoke pouring out of the huge doors to the manor, while nobles staggered out, coughing. There was still no sign of the others. She saw that it was Dane swinging from the chandelier earlier, causing it to fall and set the main hall on fire. Fortunately, it didn't seem like there was too much damage done.

Ovelia's eyes soon caught the back of two familiar looking boy's heads. She immediately felt a glare forming on her face as she marched towards them.

"What were you thinking?" She commanded aloud, causing the boys to jump.

"Ovelia! You scared the oglop oil right out of me," Lor replied as he turned to look at her.

"There you are," Dane stated. "We gotta get out of here," he stated, grabbing his sister by the arm and casually walked down the street. Onlookers everywhere were staring at the commotion and no one paid any heed to them.

"What about Nika?" Ovelia asked.

"She's fine," Lor commented. "She split not too long after Dane went upstairs."

"Did you get the names?" Dane asked.

"Yes," Ovelia replied.

"Good," Dane commented. "Now, who wants a coffee?"

x

Author's Note: Just wanted to get chapter one up as well so those of you who are reading can get introduced to the protagonist. To be continued...