On the off-hand- I'm sooo upset I can't go to New York Comic-con! :( I just don't have that kind of money on me right now, and my best friends are out of town. If anyone's going, tell me how it went?
P.S; A quick heads up; some subjects in this chapter are a bit touchy, and by no means do I mean to offense anyone by it, nor am I glorifying it. Now to the chappie; GO TEAM HELCHRILLEN! Lmao, see how I mashed up Helga, Chris, and Allen's names? Lol, sounds like a name a DBZ villain would have…
It's been a month since Helga and me left everyone in the Mansion. Since then- we've been covering a lot of ground on foot. Three days into traveling, our freaking carriage was stolen! I don't know how far we've walked since then, but I could tell Helga was more exhausted than she let on. Even me.
…
… We trailed behind Allen.
Since the carriage was stolen, I swear- no one's said a word! No matter how hard I try to squeeze a conversation out of them! I swear if I have to spend another day in silence- I'm gonna explode!
Helga peered into her pocket, taking out a watch. "Mister Walker, I think it wise to find a Hotel for the night. It's almost sunset." Inwardly, I thanked the old maid as Allen looked back at us and nodded.
"I suppose you're right. We do need to find a place to stay for tonight. Perhaps an Inn, they're cheaper."
I couldn't hold my relief. Letting out a big 'whoop', I slumped over my rather 'light' (In rich people terms, a couple dozen bags is only a bit.) luggage. "OH THANK GOD!"
… That was, until I heard the word 'INN'. "OH- EWWW! ~"
~^*^~ (Hours later…)
"-WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE CAN'T? IT'S MY FLIPPING MONEY!"
"—Chris, I don't think you quite comprehend what can and will happen if you just-"
"- This is stupid! You just told me that I can't spend money on one measly pair of leather loafers!" Just to get my point across, I threw my hands up dramatically, waving them in front of his face.
Allen was starting to get agitated, and I have a feeling the bloke usually doesn't do that. But I really could care less… He friggin' TOLD me what to do! The nerve! "Chris, if you just- stop doing that -shut up and let me talk!-"
"OIIII- NOW YOU'RE TELLING ME I CAN'T TALK TOO?! WHAT IS THIS, COMMUNISM?!"
Allen gave me a deadpanned look as he watched me pace back and forth across the plain looking Living Room of the Inn. "… Chris, that's rather offensive-"
"- AND SO IS TELLING A WELT WHAT TO DO!"
I heard Allen mutter something about 'Bakanda version two' before he spoke up again. "Exactly what kind of neighborhood are we in right now, Chris?"
I blinked, taken aback by his question. … Would it be rude if I said trash? "… Like where poor people live in?" At this, I noticed Allen give me a disappointed look, but it was gone before I could point it out.
"… Say you walked in that Shoe's Smith's store down the block with a quarter of a thousand Celts… What impression would you give people?" His silvery blue eyes looked at me.
"… That I'm filthy rich?"
"…. Besides that, Chris…"
"… That's all I had….."
"Parading how much wealth you have, and fine cloths will only get us unwanted attention from thugs."
"… Like… 'Robin Hood'..?"
"NOO! Like thieves, hoodlums, even roaming Akuma! ~"
My eyes widened. So- those Akuma's… "O-okay… SO- what do we do?" I asked. Allen strode towards me, swiping a crimpled vanilla parchment paper from the splintered oak coffee table and handing it to me.
"We- use this." A small smile graced his lips as he ghostly trailed over the paper in my hands. "It's a system on tracking money expenses. Each week, we'll spend only the specific amount written down strictly for food and necessities. And at the end of each month, we can spend on clothes and such, you know? The non-important stuff." I ignored most of what he was saying though; making sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on how much we were expected to spend in a week.
"That's too little. And why is it in Pents?"
"The currency here is in Pents, so how much we'll need we'll just change it at the Bank."
"Allen- 34 PENTS ISN'T ENOUGH."
He frowned. "It is BEYOND enough. I've survived on 5 Pents a week before for a whole year. And it isn't like we're going to buy the most expensive foods."
Ouch. For some reason, I felt like he was talking about me when he said that.
We both looked when the door burst open and Helga walked in with several rolls of fabric in her arms, and large cones of different colored threads. "Good Afternoon, boys." The tall woman said curtly with nod in their direction, setting down all the materials on the counter. I walked over to her with curiosity, wondering why she bought all this stuff.
"What's the occasion? Is it almost All Hallows Day?" (A/N; HALLOWEEN! ~) "Cuz if it is- I totally forgot to get a costume."
"No, no. It's to keep me occupied. I just hate not being busy."
"Oh. Well, guess I'll take a look around this dump- err, I mean town and see if there's anything interesting."
"Mister Walker, would you please accompany Master Welt? I don't want anything bad to happen. And there's this charming park down by the Square." I glared at Helga for this.
… Sometimes the old maid cared too much.
It seemed like everywhere they walked, the locals wouldn't even bother to cover up their blatant staring. Being the wealthiest Bachelor in the high class society- not to mention in his Home Town –Chris couldn't help but too feel a wee bit uncomfortable. He was used to being stared and awed by lower class people- but not in this way. In fact, he got the rather STRONG feeling they were thinking ill thoughts about him, Al. Inconspicuously, Chris eyed his attire carefully.
Maybe the imported silk vest, cotton trousers, and fine silver cross brooch were a bit too risky?
By the 'I told you' looks the white haired boy was giving him, they screamed 'rich brat' a bit too much. "Hey Allen?"
"? What?"
"… You don't think we might get mugged or something, do you?" Allen gave him a pointed glare.
"…"
By the time they found the park at the Square, the park was full with children screaming and jumping about. Adults ran after them in a desperate attempt to stop them from straying too far, or climbing up something. Vaguely, Chris recalled seeing a Nursery nearby. "Maybe the park should wait." Allen nodded vehemently, watching with partially hidden disgust as one of the kids passed by him with a finger deep in their nose.
"Agreed."
Instead, they kept on walking around. It was getting late when the two decided to head back to the Inn (more like Allen whining to head back and eat Helga's cooking). The streets had emptied the pedestrians, and a lazy atmosphere hung over the town as the sun set. Chris yawned, surprised at just how tired all the walking made him. He watched as the street lamps were lit, and almost missed completely Allen suddenly run at something. "… Huh?" Deciding it best to follow the boy, The brunette ran across the empty streets towards the Alleyway Allen went in, and stopped in surprise at the sight of two thugs holding Allen by the collar of his shirt, a few inches off from the ground.
The Exorcist briefly flashed him a smile. "Don't worry Chris. It's just the usual." The latter's eyes widened marginally.
"HOW OFTEN DOES THIS HAPPEN..?"
Allen didn't get a chance to reply when the two thugs- both burly, thick men with battered suits kicked him in the stomach abruptly.
"Allen!"
"Oi- Who the bloody hell' cha think you's is, brat?!"
The other thug, who was now looking in Allen's pockets spit on the ground in front of him, and Allen scrunched up his nose at the sight of glistening phlegm. "Let me guess." Allen started off, eyeing both of the thugs in the eyes. "Kidnapping a young girl for ransom?"
"?" Chris was about to point out there weren't any when he noticed the small hunched over figure beside him on the ground. "Oh." The figure looked up at him fearfully from behind covered thick eyelashes, and it finally registered to Chris that this was the girl Allen said.
… TO SAY SHE WAS FRAIL WAS THE LEAST. From what he could tell with the tattered hood covering her, exposed purple splotches of skin, and cuts, dry, brittle blonde hair- she had been through a lot. Her hooded, dull hazel eyes trailed over weakly to the thugs and back to him as she clutched her hood closer. … Without a word- Chris understood perfectly.
She was asking for help.
Chris smiled softly to her as he extended his arm out. "Don't worry, as long as me'n him are here- you're safe." The girl, who looked a couple of years younger than them, visibly brightened at his words, shyly accepting his hand.
"P-ro- mise?" Her voice was cracked, and hoarse from probably not speaking for a while, but Chris didn't care. His smile only got bigger.
"Promise by the name of my family. And trust me, a Welt's promise never goes unbroken- if it did, you'd have to kill me!" He joked lightly, but there was some truth in his words.
"I reckon I'll have'ta kill you, then." Chris's head snapped at the voice of the thug in front of him. Chris scowled, scoffing at the thug's overly-flamboyant taunt.
"Oh reeeeally? You think so, ya big ape?!"
Punch!
Chris gloved fist connected with his face. The man let out a howl of pain, staggering back as he gripped his now bleeding mouth.
"-You little brat!"
Allen had already beaten up the guy grabbing him, and was now standing behind the remaining one. "Is there a problem?" The thug grunted.
"Is there a problem?! Yea, there's a bloody problem! You're getting in the way of our merchandise, that's wha-" His blood ran cold when he saw his buddy slumped a few feet away in bloody pulp, groaning in pain. He stepped back in fear as Chris and Allen loomed near, big grins on their faces.
Wonk!
"Haha!" Chris let out a whoop, patting Allen on the back. "I can't do a thing to an Akuma, but I can sure as hell beat the crap outta thugs!"
Allen chuckled, shaking his head but then he turned his attention to the girl. "Are you alright, miss?" Chris turned to her.
"Why were they after you anyway?"
"…" She said nothing, looking blankly at the ground as they both helped her up.
"Hey, it's okay to tell us." Chris said.
Her lips quivered slightly, and the two boys looked at each other. "….. A-lright…"
Helga merrily sewed away the last stitch on a jacket, humming quietly as she adjusted her glasses. Her long, thin fingers trailed over the stitches, deeming it fit, she un-pressed her foot against the pedal for the sewing machine, and eyed her work closer. "Oh- think of how adorable Master Chris would look in this! ~" The door opened, and she greeted the two boys as usual without looking at them. "Good Afternoon boys. Found anything interesting?" When they replied yes, she looked up at them, and gasped at the sight of the haggard young girl. "What happened?!"
Chris sighed. "You wouldn't believe us if we told you…."
Allen stepped forward, leading the girl to sit on the couch. "Some men were trying to kidnap her." The slivery blue eyed teen offered to the tall German maid. "Apparently they run an avid prostitution ring up in this town's Red District. You should have seen the fellows, quite brusque and unappealing if you ask me."
Chris nodded. "Yup. Suuu-per ugly as hell." Allen rolled his eyes.
"- T-they were going to take me to B-Boss."
Allen and Chris almost missed her voice suddenly quip in the conversation. Burrowing his brows, the Exorcist sat next to the shivering girl, offering her his vest. "Boss? Who is 'Boss?'"
"Y-es. Their Boss is my Uncle. He took-k me in after my parents died when the Old Church burned down 5 years ago." Her speech was more clearer than before, and the girl looked at them shyly as she hid herself more with her tattered hood, along with Allen's vest. "… M-my name i-is Sue, by the way…"
Allen smiled warmly, giving her a slight bow. "Wonderful name. I'm Allen, nice to meet you Sue."
"Hold up… Your UNCLE runs a prostitution ring?"
"Aye. And unfortunately, I was dragged in it."
Helga suddenly embraced the girl warmly, tears welling up in her eyes. "Oh, you poor thing!"
Quietly, Allen watched the girl, torn that someone so young looking could have been forced into such a shady business. The more he heard Sue talk, the more did his anger deepen against this so called 'Uncle.'
"- and h-he'd make us go out a-and seek customers if he needed more. There's about 7 other girl's in the house- a-all that he's kidnapped… A-and sometimes, if we misbehaved or tried to run away, we'd get punished and he'd l-let his men do what they'd please to us…. T-that's why I c-can't go back! I-I don't want to go back there! You have to help m-me!" Sue's eyes welled up with fear at the thought. Chris looked at her gravely.
"Like hell we'd let you go back there! Your asshole of an Uncle needs a good beating, and I think I'd like to have the honors!"
Sue shook her head vehemently. "N-no, no! He'll kill you!" Chris only snorted at this, waving it off casually as he swung an arm around a peeved Allen's shoulder.
"Funny story! Well this guy is an Exorcist!"
Allen muttered something about annoying brunette's that ran their mouth too much, before he forced a smile at them. "… Miss Sue- we'd like to help. It isn't right that your Uncle has dragged you into such a risky business. I want to help you, and the other girls he's kidnapped."
Tears were flowing out of her eyes now, as the young girl looked at the two older teens.
She didn't understand. Why would anyone, two complete strangers offer to help her? It just didn't make any sense. Sue had learned the hard way that with the promise of help, there was always some kind of ulterior motive behind it. And if it was money they were looking for, they were out of luck: she had none.
Her eyes searched deep into theirs, trying to find a lie in it, but her spirits brightened when she saw they were telling the truth. "… You two really are just going to help me because you want to…" Her small voice rang across the room in disbelief. "Even though I have no money to give- you two will really help me finally be free from my Uncle and his goons?" Allen and Chris nodded.
"Yes."
"You bet'cha!"
… A smile crawled up on Sue's lips for the first time in years…
^*^*^* (The next day)
After they brought the girl in their Inn, Allen and Chris decided to let her rest for a bit before asking her more about the prostitution house, and her Uncle. By the looks of her tattered clothes and dirtied hair, she must have been hiding away from the thugs that were chasing her for days until they found her. They learned that Sue was only thirteen, her only sibling- a little brother who turned three a few days ago –had gone missing ever since the police handed the two over to their Uncle. In just a night, the aging man had turned cynical. He went from the seemingly caring Uncle they saw on the holidays, to a cold, angry man that didn't hesitate to lash out. It wasn't until 2 weeks since they were put under their care that he lured her in the 'business'.
… She had been trying to run away ever since. But Sue had a feeling these two boys that seemingly came out of nowhere would help with that.
Rubbing her eyes, Sue entered the living room and shyly greeted everyone, still wearing her tattered hood even though Helga had made her some clothes. Chris grinned toothily back at her from his seat near the window. "Sleeping beauty woke up!" Allen groaned at this. She watched the two boys then fight over the last piece of garlic bread along with Helga, the latter only getting peeved at both teen's childish antics.
"Are they always like this?" She asked the old maid, who answered her with an irritated sigh.
"Oh you have no idea."
"- HELGA IF YOU'RE GOSSIPING ABOUT ME, I SWEAR I'LL STOP EATING YOUR FOOD, AND BUY MY OWN!"
"- ABSOLUTELY NOT, CHRIS!" Allen yelled over the brunette haughtily.
…. (The next day)
"- So Sue, mind telling us where the house is?"
"?! You two aren't planning on going there today, are you?!"
"You did say there were other kidnapped girls there." Chris said blatantly.
"Chris is right." Allen joined them in the small park's bench. "The sooner we can help you and the others- the better. Although I don't think of it wise for you to be out in public when those thugs might still be out looking for you."
Chris waved it off; pushing the two aside so he could sit in the middle of them (makes him feel special, lol). "Oh Allen! ~ That's part of the plan!"
Stare. "WHAT plan."
"The plan to lure the idiots into our hands, that's what! So we just barge in the slu- err, I mean Prostitution house: Sure, they'd be surprised at first, but no matter how kick ass my or your fighting skills are (I recall you saying YOU don't fight civilians) they'd overtake us in minutes! But! Say we let them find us, let them think they have some 'competition in the business', they'd be on guard, and those creeps will litter around the house like garbage! With all that attention focused on the house, it'd be easier for us to slip in! It's perfect."
Allen shook his head. "No, that sounds like an oxymoron. You're suggesting that by letting them know we're coming to free the others, it would be easier for us to slip in the house, and free them undetected? That sounds highly improbable, if not stupid…"
Chris took offense to that, but ignored it for the time being. 'Somebody's turning into a dick lately…' "Tell an empire there's a war coming, and they'll over prepare, leaving room for a shitload of errors and weak spots wide open for the enemy to slip by. I read that in one of my Grandfather's old books."
"I don't know." The white haired boy sounded dubious of the whole ordeal. It could work- but it could also be a complete disaster. And it wasn't like he was going to use his innocence on civilians.
Sue pursed her lip. "This is very dangerous." In only a few hours, she had grown accustomed to the three strangers- 'peculiar' ways. "Some of the men have killed before."
"Don't worry, we got this!" Chris assured. "We'll attack at dawn, mwahahaha!"
"… Chris, we're not going to war…"
(Dawn;) Allen's p.o.v
We were stalking out the prostitution house by pretending to mingle in a nearby pub. Which would be sooo much easier had Chris NOT decided to wear 'his Sunday's best' at the moment. The locals, never before having seen so much fine cloth and detailed brooch, blatantly stared in awe (envy, in some cases) at us and Chris. Sue had changed into Helga's clothes, wearing a hat that covered majority of her face. It wasn't long until everyone lost interest at the sight of women performing, and all three of us watched idly to the large house across the street. I could make out a dozen or so thugs surrounding the premises, as well as some pretending to be street merchants in disguise.
Leaning in to Chris, I spoke in a low tone so that Sue and Chris could only hear. This wasn't a problem since half of the men at the bar were already past ridiculously drunk. "Security's tight."
"Yeah. This makes it all the more easier on us."
"I hope your plan works."
…
Chris was right. They had managed to slip in easily through a back door in an alleyway. "Okay." The brunette peered around the corner. "We're in. Sue, we need you to tell us where you Uncle's room is."
"We'll need to take the staircase then. It's two floors up, a room across."
"There's a guard in front of the staircase." Allen warned quietly.
"There's another staircase nearby. It's rarely used. Right across from us."
"Right." Allen quipped, thanking Sue for her help. "We'll need to distract the guard, then."
"Distract the bloke? Got it" Allen sweat dropped. Allen's eyes widened in dismay when Chris took out a gold coin from his pockets.
"Chris, what are you doing..?" Without a word, Chris rolled the gold coin towards the direction of the guard. Alarmed by the sudden noise, the guard looked, and screamed out in joy as he followed the coin.
"GOLD- I'M RIIICH!" The trio stalked across, Sue taking longer than the two boys as she struggled to walk. Allen, noticing this, stopped and turned back at her. "Sue? Did you hurt your leg or something?" She shook her head, and hurried across to them.
It wasn't long until they reached Sue's Uncle's office. Chris and Allen were surprised that they found no guards surrounding the room, and with ease, the two burst down the door, stepping in. Chris howled in anger, eager to punch the guy's face in. "- THERE YOU ARE YOU ASSHOLE!" Chris moved forward, but Allen stopped him dead in his tracks.
"… Stop." Puzzled, the brunette looked at the Exorcist. Allen didn't look away from the man sitting at the desk, back facing them as they looked out the window. "Why are you here, Noah?"
The chair spun around, and Wisely gave them a mischievous smile. "Hello, 14th…"
Gosh, I'm so tired. Anyways, I posted up Chris on my DA Account, and I'm going to put him up as the new book cover image for this story, so feel free to check him out on my Deviant Art account, which is the same username I use here. Sorry about the crappy, unfinished gallery on my DA, most of them were years ago, or I just lost interest in finishing it. But I really enjoyed drawing Chris! It took me longer to think of how he may look, but surprisingly I only spent two days coloring him in on Photoshop. Usually I take weeks, or months depending at how much of a perfectionist jab I get at the moment, if that makes sense. Sorry if this chapter seemed a bit rushed or off form the vibe of the other ones, I have a lot on my mind. Ciao till next chapter! :D