Nana opened her eyes and she was in that dark endless space. She heard singing and spun around. There was a beautiful teenage girl sitting on a marble bench reading a book rocking back and forth. The woman was beautiful with her silver hair, blue eyes, and white skin. She heard cries of "mama" she turned to see a pair of children running towards her. The children were practically identical. The girl's silver hair was longer than the boy's and the boy was wearing shorts in place of a skirt. The girl welcomed the children with open arms. They each took a spot next to her and she hugged themboth.
"Now my children do you want to hear a story." They nodded vigorously.
"Once upon a time two sisters lived in a marvelous palace with their mother and their father. The mother was a wonderful woman and the father was not a perfect man The mother you see was having a baby, a son, the long-awaited son. When the baby was born the mother died so the child could be born. Without the mother around the father became very unhappy and took It out on his children. Without the mother's love the sister feared for the son, unfortunately the older sister was married to a bad man. Courageously she ran away, the younger sister was left to fight for herself. But then a King came hearing the tales of the young girl love and courage. He rescued her and her brother and took her to his palace on the hill. Her sister came out f hiding and joined them. The girl became his queen and had a miracle and a blessing. They lived happily ever after."
"Mama, why did girl stay so strong?" the boy asked
"My son, it was the girl's love for her brother and mother which kept her brave. She knew things would work out, she kept faith. Things won't always work out but if you stop hoping there's no chance it will happen. You have to stay strong because sometimes that's all you can do. Promise me if something happens you will never give up and remember I will always love both of you and that life is a gift and must be used to the fullest."
"We promise Mama." The girl said.
"Yeah!" The boy agreed. The girl smiled at her children and began to sing in a delicate voice and her twins fell asleep nestled against her sides. She smiled fondly at them stroking the hair that mimicked her own. Then she looked up with her eyes closed tears trickling down her ivory cheeks. She took her hand and reached for the sky her eyes reflecting it.
Nana woke up startled. It was still raining. The city was only a few miles away but since it was raining they took shelter in a hollow tree. Husky had nestled against her unintentionally Senri was curled on another side while Cooro was curled into a ball in the back. She gently nudged Husky to the floor-regretting it immediately- she watched the rain slowly wane away. When it stopped she woke up the others.
"It's stopped raining." Husky gathered together his bags.
"Let's get going then." The city seemed to get bigger and bigger until there were towers in the sky. Nana stared in awe at the large buildings. Before they entered Husky stopped them. He went through Senri's bag pulling out his gloves and slipping them on. He tugged on Cooro's cloak on his shoulders.
"You guys have to keep your markings hidden until we're in the slums."
"Why?" asked Cooro.
"In Asta plus anima are viewed as the lowest of the low, trust me you don't want to be found out." He sighed and they walked into the city.
None of them had ever seen such a marvelous place except for Husky. They wandered and gawked while Husky kept them moving. Much to Nana's chagrin many girls had stared at Husky and Senri blushing furiously. Husky had gotten more attention because they must have assumed that he was a rich man with servants trailing behind him. Husky now wore a high collared shirt that buttoned up in the front with elaborate buttons, with a tight black shirt underneath; his pants matched his button-up shirt.
While Nana was in a world of her own they turned into an ally way. He stopped at the wall, there as a space filled with crates.
"Here, I hope you guys can fit."
"What's that supposed to mean!" Yelled Nana.
"It means, last time I fit through this thing I was seven." He began shifting the crates.
"Cooro, Senri, Nana make sure no one sees me. If the authorities find out there are escape routes from the slums, they'll close them. If they do that there would be no hope of escape."
"Huh, escape?" Cooro asked.
"Just distract people." He insisted shifting the boxes more. Nana huffed but did as she was told. She sat casually a few feet from the ally. Some boys eyed her, some curiosity, and some attraction. Just as Nana got uncomfortable Husky called her back into the ally.
"Husky, why'd you make us keep watch?" Cooro asked. Husky looked uncomfortable.
"In Asta the slums dwellers were considered dangerous so the whole area was shut off from the rest of the city. The King said it was to make things safer for citizens and orphans etc. It's a huge lie; they merely wanted a big prison for those not worthy to walk the streets in the eyes of the king. They allow some trade, but they lock in plus anima and orphans so they don't have to deal with them."
"Why is there a hole here?"
"It's a secret passage, legally orphans are allowed to live outside but if police see one they'll drag the kid to the slums. The poor live there too. Many try to escape the city through here. Although the slums are calmer than they used to be."
"Why?" asked Nana anticipating the answer.
"The three gangs control the slums; they serve as a form of law enforcement. No one dares go against them. All three hate each other, but they don't want to fight unless it's necessary. Especially because one is more powerful than the others. The gangs' names are the Rock Dragons, the Lionesses, and the Outlanders."
"Which is the strongest?"
"The Outlanders, the gang of illegal aliens, imported slaves, plus anima, orphans of ambassadors and the survivors of the kingdom Anah. The leader is Duchess my self-proclaimed foster mother."
"EH! The leader of the strongest gang is Duchess!?"
"Yeah, I was her protégé. I was meant to succeed her as the head. Everyone in the slums fears me as much as Duchess herself. Duchess shares a similarity with me nobody else understands." He eased them through the hole in the ally end. He eased in last moving crates in front of the hole.
"Here we are." Nana shivered, this was very different from the glorious city. The atmosphere seems grey, the people seemed downtrodden.
"This is the effects of the King's vanity. People suffer and die, children are tormented until they're taken in by a gang." He stood closer to them.
"Whatever you do, do not get separated from me. There was one thing the king never lied about and that it's dangerous here." Husky took a few steps forward and looked around. He walked to a nearby sign to wipe off some of the soot that coated it. He coughed roughly and grimaced. Nana could have sworn she saw specks of red on his gloves.
"The headquarters isn't too far from here."
"Husky are you okay?" Cooro asked curiously. Husky jolted.
"Fine why?"
"Face pale." Said Senri.
"Paler."
"I'm fine, look let's hurry to Duchess, it's a rule that kids can't stay out after dark." He increased his pace down the filthy road. His companions exchanged glances, the they trailed after him. Husky walked down the street with a regal air. Men women and children pointed and whispered. One man made a charge at Nana; Husky intercepted him and broke his arm.
"Back off, the chick's with me and unless ya want a bunch of Outlanders after ya…….." He spoke with an accent, the man's eyes widened in recognition, cradling his arm.
"That's right everyone, Majesty's back and anyone who dares harm my companions will face my wrath and the wrath of the Outlanders." The people backed off and many hid.
"What was that about and also, Chick!?"
"I have to speak their slang or they won't understand. I told you that I'm feared as Duchess, no one dares cross me." Nana hesitantly took hold of his cloak; he took her small hand in his slightly larger one. They trudged on through the dank slum. Husky stopped in front of a series of identical houses all next to each other. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door will a weird symbol carved into it. A boy, couldn't have been older than seven, answered the door.
"What do you want?" He had a heavy accent.
"My name is Majesty; I'm here to see Duchess. I used to live here." The child's eyes got wide.
"You're Majesty?" Husky nodded. The boy's face grew pink in excitement, he spun around and started shouting in a foreign language and many came running. The children all squealed and were tugging on him at different directions. Footsteps came down the stairs calmly and all the children froze. A woman was walking with the importance of an empress. A man walked three steps behind. The women was among the most beautiful Nana had ever seen, she could feel Cooro and Senri staring too. She had long black hair that swayed with each movement of her hips, her violet eyes glittered like the stone on her brow. She had three sliver dots tattooed under each eye. Her robes were regal and flattering to her curvy form. The man was simpler, black hair and brown eyes, even his smile was simple but he also walked with a sense of importance.
"Duchess." He spoke in a breathy awestruck tone and the woman's eyes glittered.
"Welcome home, my darling boy." Her smile was enough to calm even the fiercest beast.
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Princess: I like the way this one ended and began, the middle not so much. You'll see who the woman is later but you could probably guess. Duchess is going to play a part in the next few chapters.