The Thief Lords from Beneath
CHAPTER ONE
It is not that he is lost really; it is just that he didn't know where he is, that's all. He knows the streets of the capital like the back of his hand, having been a former heir; it has been his duty to study such things. However, his tutors had never mentioned anything about the underground paths of the city (except maybe in a story, but those tales they labeled fictional).
Allen Walker clutches onto his map tightly; he briefly thinks about how utterly useless Cross Marianne is at giving directions. It had taken him a day— a day— to figure out his guardian's directions to the secret passage to what Cross labeled as "Underworld Gray" (which was a rather plain name if you asked Allen, but it made sense: it was a world underneath the city of Gray, and was thus labeled accordingly).
The streets of Underworld Gray are many levels more complicated than the streets of the city above it though, and thus, Allen finds himself wandering aimlessly. The former heir finds himself wishing that they would have signs pointing to the entrance of the Black Order's base. Of course, he knows that this is unlikely, because the Black Order is a secret society of thieves that very few people know about. In fact, one could even say that none but its members knew about the Order. Allen sighs, and decides to pause and think. He sits down right there and then, and opens his backpack. Not a second later, a winged golden ball zooms out of his bag.
"Timcampy!" Allen exclaimed, thoroughly surprised. "What are you doing here?"
All this time the snow haired boy had thought that Timcampy and Cross Marianne are an inseparable pair. When asked what Tim was, Cross usually replies that "He's the proof of my status, without him I'm just a man." But at times, the red haired man will seem very annoyed that Timcampy is present. Allen has yet to discover just what the little winged ball really is. He'd figured that it is some sort of machine the Black Order had built for Cross. Why they would bother making something for the man, the former heir can only attribute to his guardian's status as a Thief Lord.
Allen turns his glance to Timcampy's abnormally long (and also golden) tail. There a letter is attached, and the seal is undoubtedly Cross Marianne's. The seal's design is a cross, similar to the design on Timcampy.
Allen inspects the envelope carefully; it said: "To be given to the Head Strategist." Briefly he debates on whether he should open it or not. He decides, however, that looking for the Order's entrance should go first. He turns to his little golden companion.
"Hey Tim, do you by any chance know how to get to the Black Order?" because, Allen assumes, Timcampy had surely gone there before. Tim flaps its wings, and heads towards one direction. The former heir takes that as a yes.
………………
"I know what you're trying to do" says Cross Marianne one day, completely out of the blue.
Young Sir Walker tilts his head slightly to one side and replies, "…What am I trying to do?"
The red haired man, throws his cigarette away casually and then says, "You're trying to be a Hansel duFroid."
To that, the former heir laughs. "Don't be silly! There is no way that I can be a Hansel duFroid, though I guess we are similar when you think about it, both being banished princes and all… But I cannot ever do what he did, because it isn't as if there really is such a thing as a Thief Lord."
"Well, brat…" Cross says, lighting another cigarette. "What if I told you Jasper LuRim was real?"
Suddenly, Allen doesn't feel like being cynical. "Do tell," he says, and Cross Marianne does exactly that.
………………..
Up until the time Earl Millenium usurped the throne and became king, "The Tale of Hansel duFroid" was the most popular and most loved story of the people of the Kingdom of Dorian. It is a story about the banished prince, Hansel ri Froille, who takes on a new identity (Hansel duFroid) and claims his Kingdom by conquest.
The story starts with Hansel rebelling against his father, the King, because said monarch is becoming such a brutal tyrant. Hansel attacks his father but is then apprehended by the Royal Guards. He is stripped of all his rights, and then thrown into the streets outside of the castle. After days of wandering aimlessly through the city, Hansel passes out from hunger.
When he wakes up, he is in an unfamiliar room. He is greeted by a woman who introduces herself Lanette duBoise. After much conversation, Lanette asks Hansel if he would like to meet his host. The answer was, of course, yes.
Hansel is then led by the woman through a series of complicated winding tunnels. The sight he sees in the room he is led to is described as such: "There beyond a wine red canopy, atop a mountain of glittering gold treasure, was a chair rivaling even the throne of a king, and on it sat the most tantalizingly handsome man Hansel has every laid eyes on". The man then introduces himself in this manner:
"Welcome Prince Hansel, from the House of ri Froille. I am Jasper LuRim, and this is my den. The den of the Thief Lord."
From that point on, the story circulates on Hansel's change. He changes his last name to duFroid and cuts his hair as a symbol of his beginning a new life. Throughout his days in the den of the Thief Lord, he is depicted to get especially close to the characters Lanette and Jasper. He is also shown to see the many horrors his father has been inflicting upon his people. After seeing a little girl being hit by a Palace Official, he vows that he would stop his father's reign. He is said to ponder on the best way to do so, and he decides that he will opt to vie for being King by conquest. He would claim the title that was supposed to be his by blood.
This however, Hansel duFroid realizes, is not a meager task, and as such he could not hope to ever accomplish it alone. He needed an army. He turns to the Thief Lord. Jasper is at first skeptical, he does not want to leave his beloved den, and does not want to knowingly put his men in danger. Hansel goes about telling him all his reasons, both noble and selfish, in an effort to convince him. He says that he will make Jasper's band of thieves the Knights of his Court. Jasper would be his highest knight and would take part in the making of decisions. He promises a better life for all. Jasper LuRim's initial reply is that he thinks that he is already living the best life, but he will think about it. After much pondering, and observing of the town above, LuRim finally agrees.
They create an elaborate plan to raid the castle. It is said that on a stormy night they put the plan into action, and after much bloodshed, Hansel declares himself king by conquest. The Kingdom rejoices.
………………
"Ah, is this the place Tim?" the reply to Allen's question is an action akin to a nod (as close to a nod as a flying ball could muster at least). It looked much like the entrance to one of the houses of the nobles. Three enormous doors, made out of fine redwood, elaborately designed with carvings of thorny roses on a long winding vine. The door in the middle had the carving at its center, of a cross similar to that found on Timcampy.
"Now how do I get inside…" the former prince wonders loudly. He reaches out to touch the center door.
"Identify yourself," says a voice from behind.
Allen briskly turns around to look at his unexpected company, only to be roughly pinned onto the door that was now behind him. The blade of a sword was pointed at his throat.
"What business do you have here?" and Allen's eyes widen for several reasons, fear, surprise, and curiosity to name a few.
This man did not look like an individual born in Dorian. His features were distinctly foreign. He had piercing black eyes, Allen noted, which matched well with the dark tresses he had tied in a ponytail. Had they been in any other situation, the former prince would have been gawking at this man mesmerized by his exotic beauty, mulling over why he had not been born with such looks. However, since said 'beauty' had a sword pointed against his throat, he could not bring himself to muse on it as much.
"Speak," the sword-wielding gentleman says with venom, making Allen snap out of it.
"I… um…" It takes a moment for a proper response to formulate. "…Cross Marianne sent me…" he breathes.
A wary expression appears on the foreign man's face, his dark eyes narrow, and he presses his lips together until they form a thin line.
"I have a letter!" Allen exclaims dumbly, and he fumbles for his backpack, struggling. The blade against his throat was proving to be quite the hindrance however, and so the best he could do is shift to one side completely. Allen bites his lower lip in frustration.
Suddenly a certain golden ball appears in front of him, biting a familiar looking envelope. Allen had forgotten that Timcampy occasionally bares teeth.
"Tim!" he exclaims, sounding more relieved that anything else, really. The former prince carefully shifts again, to face his assailant. "That's the one," he says, glancing at Tim. "The letter I mean…"
"That golem…" the other, decidedly taller man's dark pupils dilates as he looks at Timcampy. "…It's Cross Marianne's…" he mumbles, then turns his gaze at the snow-haired boy in front of him and glares. "Why do you have it?"
"I just said!" Allen exclaimed, now soundly frustrated and defiant. "Cross sent me!", and then the foreign-looking man gives him a look.
"Sent you?" Not moving his sword from where it is (i.e. against the former prince's throat) he reaches for the letter between Tim's teeth. He takes a moment to read what is written on it, then says, "Tsch… Wait here."
Then the man literally passes through the center door, letter and sword at hand, leaving Allen confused and alone. He touches the door once again. "But it's solid!"
………………….
"They never do say whether or not Hansel kept his promise to Jasper," Allen comments idly, during one of the few occasions that he and Cross dined together. His guardian merely shrugs and replie,s "People just assume that he did…" he pauses. "…they also assume that he made Lanette his queen…"
"He didn't make Lanette his queen?" If Allen remembers the story right, a romantic relationship between Lanette and Hansel was highly possible.
"Well, in the version that's told to kids, he did."
"So what you are implying is that Hansel duFroid had his heart set on someone else in the original?"
After a few moments, Allen took the general lack of reply as a yes. "Never say that in public…" he frowns. "…It'd break little girls' hearts"
…………………...
"Let the golem bite you."
Allen is of course, completely shocked when the man appears yet again, passing through the door. "Why would I let Tim bite me?" the former heir asks, to which the other man replies, "Because it's the only way the door will let you through."
"Why is it the only way?" The sword-wielding one grunts in frustration. "Look, only members of the Order can pass through these doors— if you don't fucking let the damn golem bite you, the door won't acknowledge you."
"…and I become a member if Tim bites me?" He finds the sword pointed in his direction yet again.
"Look, you little bastard, stop asking stupid questions. Of course you won't become a member, it's just that golems don't bite just anyone; if that thing bites you then the doors will trust you enough."
Cross Marianne did always get Allen into astonishingly strange situations. This was obviously not an exception in the least.
"Bite away, Tim," he says.
………………
Allen Walker fidgets uncomfortably in his chair as he watches a man, who was probably the "Head Strategist," read the letter. The foreign man he had encountered earlier is in the corner of the room, glaring daggers at him. The former prince tried to ignore said man, turning to look at the other presence who is reading his guardian's letter.
The man also looks foreign, but this Allen would not have known if not for his eyes. The bespectacled man has eyes no local would ever be born with. The shape, so to speak, is entirely different. Although, the man has the pale skin that a local would have, and dark hair such as that was never an issue around here really…
"Hmm… It seems we have another Lord Heir on our hands," he fiddles with his eyeglasses as he says this. "Welcome to the Order, Allen" he offers a hand shake. "I'm Komui Lee, the Head Strategist."
"Nice to meet you," Allen says with a smile, taking the handshake. "Uhm… what exactly is a Lord Heir?".
Komui Lee looks at him in surprise. "You mean Cross didn't tell you yet?" And to that the snow haired one merely answers with a flat "No."
"Well…" says Komui "…In a nutshell, Cross Marianne just made you his first and only heir to his title as a Thief Lord…" he pauses. "…and seeing as how he gave you Timcampy, I'm guessing he's planning on making you the last."
Allen gawks at him, surprised. "No pressure though!" Komui tries to laugh reassuringly. "Kanda, would you be so kind as to show Allen over here around the Order?"
Allen turns to look at the man who attacked him; he meets a sharp glare. "What a pathetic excuse for a Lord Heir…" Kanda says. "… I want nothing to do with this beansprout." And then he stomps away to leave the room.
The former heir stares at his wake, quite annoyed by the nickname he'd just gained right then.
"Bother… Now I'll have to ask Lenalee…" Komui remarks. "Don't worry about that sourpuss Kanda, he's always like that."
That, Allen thinks, is actually more of a cause for worrying than not-worrying.
…………………….
NOTES:
"The Tale of Hansel duFroid"- purely made up, there is no such tale (I got the story from one of my would be manga plots that I never put into being)
Lord Heir and Head Supervisor- Hierarchy of this universe's Black Order will be explained in the next chapter
Thank you for reading!