Dialogue spoken in French but written in English for convenience.

Paris, 'Bastille Day' 1938

A full moon shone over Paris, the City of Light as it is popularly known. A title it truly deserved, for as far as the eye can see lights bathed the buildings and streets of the ancient city. The Eiffel Tower lay illuminated by spotlights where it stood on the Champ de Mars, making a grand centerpiece amongst all the lights as its grand height and majesty shone above the rest. However, more than just building lights illuminated the sky as fireworks soon began peppering the night with dazzling displays of colors and patterns. The Eiffel Tower itself was the center of the grand light show being held by the city, as currently crews were working on organizing the fireworks for later on tonight.

For you see everyone, today was July 14th. La Fête nationale, it's National French Day! The day where French people around the globe celebrate that one time they had a revolution and killed everyone in a shitty royal fort and then tore it down!

All things that young 16 year old Jacques Moreau appreciated about the fine capital of France. The young teenage French lad strolled about the streets, dressed in his finest casual suit. He wore no hat, and his black hair was combed back. There was a smile on his face as he took in the joy and pride of his fellow Frenchmen. People waved the French tricolor out every window and off of every rooftop they can find. Some children ran by him dressed up in costumes made to resemble that worn by French soldiers in the late 18th century complete with tricorn hats. Accordion music can be heard from multiple directions, and there was even a large group of people gathered in a plaza singing the French national anthem in a group. Their singing was so loud that he was able to hear the lyrics of the anthem clearly through all the commotion of the street.

These things were all nice and good, but this boy had other things in mind. Wandering into a richer district of the city, he had a special someone he wanted to see. A girl he's been seeing for the last week.

But first, he needed a gift. So what does a young gentleman like him get a girl? Simple, some jewelry. And where does one get jewelry on a day where everyone is busy celebrating their country? A jewelry store. Like, it's not that hard to understand, but the important thing to focus on here was that he was going to drop by a jewelry store and 'acquire' some jewels for his girl.

Soon enough, he finds one. The store was at the corner of the many rows and rows of buildings that connect to each other in the city, but to his luck, the store was closed as the owners were out celebrating the holiday. Looks like it's gonna be an easy job then, as the only people around were too focused on shooting their own fireworks up into the sky to notice a little robbery. Slipping behind a narrow back alley on the side of the building, he found the back entrance and got to work lockpicking it. A couple simple moves of the picks and wrenches, and his efforts were rewarded with a click. He smiled as he opened the door and closed it so no one got suspicious.

"Child's play..." He chuckled softly to himself as he pocketed the lock for later.

The room he was in contained several crates and boxes of stuff, obviously the storage room. While he would've loved to stay and ransack these crates for the jewelry and whatever else lay within, he was a professional gentleman thief, and he only stole what he wanted. Quite frankly, he wouldn't have needed more than a couple necklaces or whatever else. He had all the money in the world, and he just needed some precious stones to please his love. No point in robbing these poor people out of all of their wealth. Now that would be inconsiderate, especially on a holiday.

It was totally dark inside the first floor only store as all lights were off due to it being closed. The only lights came from outside because of the streetlights, and every now and then fireworks would send their colorful lights deeper into the store and provide brief flashes of illumination. That was fine for Jacques though. He was able to find the display cases easily. The teenager strolled along the isles of the store, intently expecting which fine piece he wanted as if he were here shopping in the daytime.

There wasn't much to fear about anyone seeing him from outside as no one was paying attention.

"Hmm... too gaudy..." He said to himself after seeing a not so ideal piece. "Too many jewels... Not pretty enough. Too big... aha! This is the one..." His eyes laid on a diamond necklace carefully displayed on a cushion behind the counter. It consisted of a single circular cut diamond surrounded by a highly detailed and ornate gold that made up the rest of the necklace. Not too fancy and not to simple. Perfect.

Whistling, he took the necklace and simply headed towards where he entered the building. That's it. A simple jewelry store rob in an era where alarms were uncommon among small family run operations like the store he was in. The only issue he ran into was when he was entering the storage room, the backdoor he entered from had slowly opened, forcing him to run up behind it and hide as whoever was entering entered. Whoever it was, it was most certainly not the owners. Even if it wasn't the owners, this was bad. His face was exposed and there wasn't enough space or time for him to slip out the door just behind him. He didn't want to get sent to jail today, not on a holiday.

Jacques dare not peak out, just not yet. He waited until the mysterious stranger opened the door wider, watching the light cast from outside grow bigger and bigger while the shadow of the person crept into the building. Once he judged the person to be inside enough based on the shadow, Jacques rushed the door and slammed it right on top of the person. The person had the air knocked out of them and fell backwards out of the building where Jacques rushed out and prepared to knock this person the fuck out with a swift punch to the face.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" The stranger, identified as a male yelled. "Jacques!? Is that you!?"

Young Spy blinked. He had frozen in place when the person yelled, and his fist was just inches away from knocking him out. Taking a moment to see his face, Jacques frowned.

"Enzo? What the Hell are you doing here?" Jacques asked, continuing to frown as he loosened his fist and offered his hand to help his friend up.

"I came here to rob this jewelry store, what else does it look like?" His friend said through a nasally nose. "Oh damn, this hurts!"

"Serves you right, I was robbing this place first." Jacques said, not feeling sorry for what he just did.

"It's not my fault I saw an unlocked door..." Enzo muttered, clutching his hurt nose.

Enzo was a strange acquaintance of his. He was an Italian boy born in France, and as far as he knew, he couldn't speak Italian and his family's been living here for a while. He was younger than him by two years, and he wasn't rich like him. It's an unlikely match how a poor Italian kid in France would be a friend to a rich French boy, yet that's exactly what is happening now. In a lot of ways, Jacques treated him like a student and even a little brother at times. Teaching him the ways of stealth and being a gentleman every now and then.

Jacques merely sighed as he got out the lock and placed it on the door. "Well, you're too late. I already got what I came here for."

"Was there anything good in there?" Enzo asked, unaware that it was a jewelry store.

"No." Spy lied, not wanting his friend here to amateurishly break in and get caught. "Come on, I got someone to see. Walk with me."

The two walked out of the alley and to the street. Just in time too, as the owners had just came back by way of a cab and were now entering the store Jacques just broke into. People were still celebrating in the streets as they were before.

"It's a nice night, isn't it?" Jacques said to Enzo, admiring the enthusiasm of the French people.

"I guess so... ow, is my nose bleeding?"

"No, you're fine." Spy assured him.

"Ugh, my mother's still gonna get mad at me. She'll think I got into a fight or something..."

"Yes, well like I said before it's your fault for robbing a store that is already being robbed." He said, earning a glare from his younger friend. "Anyways, I got this little trinket from inside..." With a smug grin, he pulled the necklace out of his pocket and waved it in front of Enzo's amazed face.

"Whoa! Who's it for? Wait! Don't tell me, is it for that pretty girl I've been seeing you with? What was her name again, uh... "

"Élise." He finished for him, a smile forming on his face at her name.

They were nearing the luxury hotel meant for those with money now, and Spy was getting ever more eager to see his girl. Enzo however, couldn't come with him. Only known names were allowed in the building as a lavish ball was being held in celebration of the national holiday. Enzo's poor middle class background effectively rendered him a nobody, and he was aware of it. Jacques wasn't oblivious to his friend's problem though, so before saying goodbye to him for the night, he gave him three fat stacks of money for him to spend.

"Here. Go buy yourself something nice." Jacques said in a wholeheartedly good-natured way. The younger boy's eyes flared up with stars when he saw the cash, looking at Spy as if to make sure he was serious about it. "Go on, take it. It's a holiday after all."

"Thanks, my friend! You're the best!" The young Italian boy cheered before running off all the way to his house. Spy watched him as he ran, a smile on his face. Enzo was a good kid. Naive, young, somewhat poor, and eager, he had potential in becoming a thief, but rather a thief with standards as Spy will continue to teach him. He'd have to teach him some other night though, as now he's got a date.

Jacques entered the hotel where he said his full name to the staff. The staff immediately let him in as everyone in the high class community knew who the Moreaus were. Speaking of which, if he remembered correctly, his parents should also be here attending the ball. His memory proved true as upon walking through the ballroom, he saw his mother and father speaking to some of his father's old war buddies. He decided he'll join up with them later, as his girl was waiting for him up in her room.

The people here were far more sophisticated than the people singing and dancing out in the streets from earlier. They were the usual sort of aristocratic high class individuals that one would expect at a ball like this, though they weren't quite as snobby. It was a holiday, how could anyone put their fellow countrymen down? Besides, there was a slight feeling of uneasiness in the room as people were talking about what the Nazi government in the country to the east could possibly mean for France. If war were to come, then France will stand together against Germany.

Jacques himself wasn't too worried about war against Germany. It didn't concern him much because he didn't believe that fucking maniac Hitler will dare to invade France. His father had told him of all the plans the army had in place in case the Germans did, and he has to say that anyone who will want to invade France is going to get butchered like pigs.

Anyways, the boy made his way to the upper floors past several guests. A lot of the people he walked by recognized him and greeted him. Even some of his ex-girlfriends...

"Jacques..." A dark haired girl with green eyes said his name distastefully when he walked past her and her friends.

"Adilene." He nodded at her with a grin, annoying her to no end. Just to mess with her further, he winked towards her friends. This made the girls giggle and blush as they couldn't help but fall to his handsome charm. Obviously, this made Adilene yell at her friends in embarrassment for being so inconsiderate of her.

Jacques couldn't help but let out a small chuckle after that encounter, and that wouldn't be the last. Throughout this long hallway to get to the next set of stairs, he's met seven ex-girlfriends alone.

"Amie... Bell... Celeste... Mimi..." And so on... Sixteen years old and already so many broken hearts, even if a lot of those hearts still loved him secretly.

A lot of the young people here were around his age, and they were all as rich and high class as him. Since rich people typically stick with other rich people, a lot of these young rich kids knew each other, therefore everyone was aware of who Jacques was, and also what he actually is. That is a dirty, thieving, romancing, handsome, well mannered, rich bastard. Still, the fact that he's a known thief didn't seem to discourage most people when it came to how much of a gentleman he is. He often refers to himself as a thief with standards, and standards he definitely has.

Just like with the list of ex-girlfriends, his list of friends or more appropriately, 'acquaintances' go on and on.

"Antoine, how's your mother? Adrien, tell your father I said hello. Pierre, your suit is awful. Evan, tell your sister I said hello." And so on...

That was more half enemies than friends, but that's to be expected when you break up with their sisters. After this next flight of stairs, he reached the floor where his current girlfriend was waiting for him. Her family actually owns the hotel, and they live on the top floor where they have a wonderful view of the city across the Seine River. As a matter of fact, the entire top floor is reserved for them and guests who are very very close to them. And Jacques was not one of these guests. Her parents were well aware of this boy's reputation and hated his guts. That's why they're not going to see him tonight.

Peaking into the door leading into the lavish living space of his girlfriend's family, he saw that her parents were speaking to a couple very important guests of their's in what can be considered the main lounge. There were maids and butlers scattered about, either waiting for the family's orders or currently working on some chores. His girlfriend's room was tucked away in a hall beyond all this, meaning he'd have to sneak through a floor full of people who will quite literally throw him off the building and into the Seine River if he was caught. Well, just like her parents, these people aren't going to see him.

Deciding that sneaking through all that would be impossible, he gently closed the doors and went to the nearest balcony. The balcony was down the steps and overlooking both the ballroom and the outside plaza where the river lay. The moment he reached the balcony, someone pulled him back behind some curtains.

"If it isn't Jacques Moreau..." A sultry voice greeted his ears. He didn't even have to turn around to know who it was.

"Charlotte." He said, giving his signature charming smile to an old flame of his. His smile was awarded with a slap across the face.

"Don't you dare smile after what you did to me, Jacques!" The girl hissed. His blue eyes fell on her after recovering from that slap, and he was greeted by the sight of an angry red-haired girl with blue eyes.

"And why not? You look magnificent this fine evening..." He said, motioning to her rather elegant red dress. Again, he was slapped right across the face.

"Shut up! How could you leave me!? I thought you loved me!" She cried angrily, just about ready to hit him again.

"Oh Charlotte, I did love you. Did." He said with emphasis. "Then you started being quite... abusive."

"Abusive!? I'm not abusive! How dare you accuse me of such a thing, you idiot!" The angry girl reared her hand back to slap him again, but this time Jacques lazily dodged his head to the side. This made Charlotte completely miss her swing and she ended up falling out into the floor. Not only that, but she also tore the curtains down so that it all piled on top of her and got her all ensnared in it. Jacques was fine for the nimble lad had easily stepped out of the way.

"Hope to see you again, Charlotte. It's been a pleasure." Jacques continued out to the balcony, leaving his angry ex-girlfriend clawing at the curtains to get free. He kept his cool though, he's got someone else he wants to see.

Finding the balcony, Jacques decided to put his parkour skills to use. Due to the nature of how the hotel was designed, scaling the side of the building was really easy because of how many window sills, poles, and large ornate decorations there were to climb onto. It was so easy to climb, that he reached the top floor in three minutes tops, though that might have to do with how he was merely on the floor right below. All that mattered though was that he was able to see his girlfriend undetected, though the question now was which one of these windows was his girlfriend's room. He's never been here and before, but he had to start somewhere.

Deciding on a window that was already wide open, he entered and was immediately caught by a maid. This was not his girlfriend's room, and the maid was busy fixing up the bed when he suddenly dropped in. She was surprised to say the least. The maid was a young brown haired girl who seemed to be just about his age. Before she had a chance to scream out and alert the others, Jacques rushed her and held onto her tightly while covering her mouth.

"Shhhh... be quiet, my dear..." He said, placing a finger gently onto her lips. The young maid blushed when she felt his finger touch her soft lips, and she couldn't help but turn red as Jacques worked his charm on her. Never in this young woman's life did she think a high class boy like him would ever treat a lowly maid like this, but she wasn't complaining in the slightest because it was just like her dreams! She enjoyed every movement of his hands gently caressing her back and hair, and she got to the point where she couldn't control herself and pulled him in for a kiss.

"No, not today." The boy said, resisting her attempt at a smooch by holding her back. "Keep quiet, and I promise I'll come back one of these days. Can you do that for me?" The maid slowly nodded her head, her face still red. "Good, consider this a parting gift from me..." Her heart stopped beating when the charming young man kissed her on the cheek. That simple kiss was enough to make her faint on top of the very bed she was organizing.

Knowing for real that his girlfriend wasn't here and confident that the maid will definitely not wake up to alert anyone, he went right out back the window and scooted over the ledge to the next one. This time, he made sure to peek in first to make sure he didn't get caught a second time. What he was greeted by was a very welcome sight. It was his girl, Élise. She was sitting alone in her bedroom, tying her hair so that she could go downstairs and join the ball later.

Being the sneaky young man he is, he very quietly opened the window, so quiet that the sound of the window's locking mechanism being opened was inaudible. Just a valuable skill of sneaking into places with people inside them. Opening the window slowly but not too slowly, he opened it just enough for him to slip through so that he wouldn't waste any time. He didn't bother with closing it though, for it served an easy distraction for his girlfriend who had noticed the breeze of the wind and suddenly louder noise of fireworks. To her, he was completely invisible, having not a single clue that it was her boyfriend who made the window open and not just wind.

Once she got up to close it, he carefully moved over to her bed where he intended on giving her a huge surprise. He sat down on her luxury queen sized bed with a grin, just waiting for her to turn around. And he was not disappointed by her reaction.

"Jacques!" Élise yelled. Curiously though, she sounded more distressed than gleefully surprised. He noticed this, and he raised a brow at her. Then, he found out the hard way why she was so distressed. He found the air getting knocked out of him when someone tackled him from behind and forced to the floor.

"Think you're so slick, Jacques?" A rather pissed voice hissed down at the struggling boy.

"Mathias..." Jacques hissed back. Mathias was Élise's older brother, and he had a fierce rivalry, even hatred with him. Long before he even met Élise, these two have been hating each other for as long as both of them can remember.

"I knew you'd come for my sister tonight, you damned pervert... I know how you're filthy type works, you're going to keep seeing my sister until you get bored of her and then you'll leave her in the dust with a broken heart." Mathias hissed. His hiss was cut short when Jacques slipped out of his grip and punched him off.

"Maybe that's because most girls I meet are just too... well, not quite my type." He said. There was truth to that though. A lot of the rich girls he's dated turned out to be either too crazy, too whiney, or too demanding of him. "Now, are you going to stand there? Or are we going to fight?" Jacques said, facing his rival while assuming his fighting stance.

Five Minutes Later, The Ballroom

"...And then I stabbed the German officer in the chest with my bayonet, like this!" Jules, Spy's uncle for those of you who remember, then mimicked the action of thrusting a bayonet into the guts of a man for his old war buddies to see. Of course, the other guests of the ball who weren't war veterans were weirded out by it, but for the men who fought proudly in the defense of France at his side had a good laugh about that. The Great War was a fun time...

"Ah, those were fun times, weren't they Alphonse?" Jules threw an arm around his best friend, Spy's father.

"Yes, my friend, they were..." Alphonse laughed softly. While he didn't quite enjoy that horrifying war as much as Jules oddly did, he felt proud for defending his homeland during it. The feeling was mutual for all these Great War heroes here around him, all men he knew and respected back during the war.

"Dear, where is our son?" His wife and Spy's mother, Ariane Moreau, asked. "Jacques said he'd be here an hour ago. What can possibly be-"

*CRASH*

The entire ballroom fell silent as up above, two brawling boys smashed through the railing of the second floor and landed straight into the fountain in the center of the ballroom. This got several loud gasps from the guests, and even more when the boys continued to fight each other despite falling off the goddamn second floor.

"Oh, there he is..." Jacque's mother sighed at watching her son get into a fight. "That's not very gentleman like at all. Alphonse, dear, will you please tell our son to stop? He's going to ruin his suit..."

"No, leave the boy to it..." Captain Alphonse Moreau sighed himself, shaking his head at his son's actions. On one hand, he appreciated the fighting spirit of his son, but on the other, it made for a real bad example to the other families. That boy already has a reputation among the French elite for being quite the badass. While most French rich kids were just arrogant, Jacques's actually willing to get his hands dirty and is not afraid to get into a scrap if it's not avoidable.

Somehow, the two boys had gotten rapiers on their long and massive fight downstairs, and they were now dueling each other like how musketeers a couple hundred years ago used to. Mathias' parents and Élise came screaming down the steps, urging the two boys to stop before they hurt each other... more than they already have that is.

"Well, you've certainly done it now, Mathias." Jacques said, momentarily taking his eyes off his opponent to look at the audience they abruptly gained. "Now that we've got these blades, I suppose we really can settle this like true gentlemen."

"Indeed we can..." Growled Mathias.

At an instant, he lunged forward with his rapier to stab right at his chest. Jacques responded by narrowly stepping to the side and slapping his opponent's blade down then going for a counter slash. The attack hit and Mathias now had a neat and thin slash mark across his chest, just barely missing his skin. With a vengeance, the rival boy rushed in with a lightning quick series of strikes to keep Jacques on his toes. His strategy appeared to be working too, as now Jacques was struggling to deflect and block all the attacks without backing too much into the crowd.

Just a little more retreating, and then Jacques ducked under a swipe and slashed at Mathias' leg. The attack missed as Mathias moved his leg out just in time, and then he awarded Spy with a harsh knee to the chest. The blow knocked the air out of Jacques, leaving him stunned as Mathias moved in to finish this fight off before it got any worse. Obviously, it got worse. Though he was stunned, Jacques still ducked under a slash just in time and had recovered enough to grab him by the coat and throw him down to the ground.

"Looks... like... I've won..." Jacques heaved, still reeling from the blow with his rapier held to Mathias' neck. Mathias wasn't too much of a sportsman however, and he unceremoniously slapped Jacques' blade away and attempted to do a standoff with him. It did not work however, as Jacques masterfully tangled their rapiers together, and now both boys were wrestling for control here.

"Huh... reminds me of when you and I when we were younger." Jules whispered to Alphonse who can only nod. His son really was a lot like him when he was his age.

Soon, the boys ended up throwing their own rapiers out of the way purely on accident, but that didn't stop them from still fighting each other. Now they were doing the gentleman's sport of boxing, albeit a bit more roughly. Although here, Jacques had an advantage. His training in martial arts allowed him the upper hand over his opponent, but Mathias was no slouch when it came to boxing. While Jacques was trained in more martial arts, Mathias was the better boxer of the two and he was able to block and take most of Jacques' attacks.

The crowd watched in awe. It may have been a holiday and these were all rich people, but they still appreciated the art of boxing and combat whenever they saw it. Depending on who they liked better, people began cheering out for either Mathias or Jacques. Though the crowd may have been surprisingly enjoying it, the parents of both boys did not. Deciding that this fight had gone on for long enough, they finally went in to separate the two boys.

"Alright, that's quite enough young man!" Alphonse yelled as he grabbed onto his son. Mathias' father did the same, but both boys struggled as if they still wanted to fight each other.

"Well, looks like it is a tie for now." Jacques said, fixing his literal tie as it had become loosened in the fight. He gave his characteristic grin to his rival, annoying him to no end. It annoyed him so much that Mathias broke out of his father's hold and clocked Jacques right in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Seems like that tie has turned into a victory for me, bastard..." Mathias spat, turning to go away with his own father and family.

"Ow..." Jacques groaned as he clutched his face in pain. A shadow was casted over him, and he slowly looked up to see his girlfriend Élise.

"Jacques! How could you hurt my brother like that!?" She yelled in his face before giving him a quick slap to the face, stomping off to see if her brother was okay afterwards.

"What was I supposed to do, let him throw me out the building?" Jacques said to himself as he rubbed the sore spot where he was both punched and slapped.

"Come on, boy, get up." His father urged him with a helping hand, but yet his voice sounded dead serious. "You're in so much trouble..." With that said, Alphonse led his son outside to the courtyard lining along the side of the Seine River. His mother went to speak with Mathias' family while Jules stayed back to have a laugh with his old war buddies.

The crowd, despite the disruption and damage the fight had caused, was rather excitedly murmuring and talking about it as it was the most exciting thing to happen yet. It didn't necessarily mean it was a good thing, just that it was something that livened up the night for these rich people.

"Son, tell me what did I just witnessed." Alphonse asked his son.

"Well, you witnessed me defending myself from a brute masquerading as a gentleman, father."

"Hmm... and did this so called 'brute' attack you because you snuck into his sister's room?"

"...you know me too well, father." Jacques sighed, earning a face palm from his dad.

"Jacques, we've talked about this. You cannot keep doing this. A young man like you shouldn't be getting into fights over whoever's sister or girlfriend you're falling for! It's indecent and an embarrassment to the family."

"Well that's only if I'm caught." Jacques shyly laughed, earning a glare from his dad. "...which is multiple times."

"And every time you get caught, people will think less and less of you! You're lucky that I'm a respected war hero, otherwise people will never talk to you and you would've been banned from every event long ago. That means no balls, no races, no parades, no restaurants, no nothing! Does that sound like something you want?"

"Father, please. We talked about this before also, and I know already. So please don't worry about me! I can handle myself and I know my way around people. Believe me, I know how my constant 'changing' of girlfriends may lead to something of a bad reputation, but surely you must understand that all these girls are just not... ideal." Jacques said honestly.

"Oh... I do know." Alphonse sighed. "You have no idea how long it took for me to find your mother... but that's beside the point now."

"Yes, well I know what you're going to say next father. I don't mean to be-"

"No, be silent and listen to me. I don't care how many times I have to tell you this, I will keep doing it until you get it into your stubborn head, boy! You shall continue your classes and training and stop this rogue-like lifestyle you indulge in. You're not a character in an elaborate novel, and no son of mine is going to be known as a womanizing bastard. And a thief... that's what I'm most disappointed in you in as you are already so very aware of."

"Yes..." Jacques muttered, thinking of the necklace he stole for nothing earlier. Then, both of them looked to the side to see Jacques' mother approach.

"The Fourniers forgive us for the damages and have agreed to not kick us out, dear. But they still ask us to pay for any damages our son has caused." She announced. "Also, they wish to speak with you..."

"Right... of course." Alphonse sighed, before turning back to his son. "I expect you to change, son. Change into a true man, otherwise you can expect an unpleasant future..."

His father left him outside after that, entering back into the hotel with his mother to speak with the Fourniers, that is the family that owns the hotel and also the family that Élise and Mathias are members of.

Young Jacques stood alone that night, leaning over the stone wall that separated the hotel from the drop into the river. A little distance away, he can see the Eiffel Tower in all its illuminated glory with huge French flags hanging down from the sides.

"Change? Humph... if only it were so easy..." He sighed to himself.

Remembering the necklace he stole, he reached into his pocket and retrieved it. It truly was a pretty little thing. The jewel shined like a miniature star in the brightness of the fireworks going off and the lights of the city. Then, he looked past the necklace and into his reflection at the water below. His appearance was rigged and rough. His suit had been ruined and ripped from the fight and his face had bruises and scratches across it. This was not how a young French gentleman should look, and he knew it. It wasn't like he wanted to get into a fight, but when it comes down to it, he was the one who instigated the fight to begin with. He couldn't help but think back about all those girls earlier, all those people in general who disliked him for how he was.

He also thought of his father, proud war hero of France and all that jazz. That wasn't to say he didn't respect his father's prestige, no, just earlier today at the Bastille Military Parade he cheered his father on as he marched with other Great War veterans to the praise of all his fellow countrymen that he protected all those years ago. His family was respected and rich, yet Jacques couldn't help but be the thief and ladykiller he was. There was no reason to be any of those things yet he does it anyway, and though it may feel good and exciting, it still fills him with self shame every time his father and really anyone else calls him out on it.

Jacques gave a long hard sigh to himself once more, closing his eyes as he thought about all these things. His eyes only opened when the Eiffel Tower suddenly lit up into a massive display of fireworks. Red, white, and blue colors arranged in the order of the French flag spewed from the proud monument, and he couldn't help but give a small smile at it. From behind him, the guests of the hotel filed outside to watch the grand display of fireworks. He didn't bother to look back at them though.

"One of these days..." Jacques said to himself as he watched the fireworks, putting the necklace away. "...one of these days I'll change." He promised to himself.

He didn't know when or where he'll change, only that he will, whether he likes it or not. For now, he decided to enjoy the impressive display of fireworks.