Chapter Three
Moments after Scipio arrived, Riccio and Mosca returned, and Prosper quickly ushered them in. (After asking for the password, to which Scipio was pleased. He was not so pleased, however, when the two boys couldn't remember it.) Goblets were soon filled with grape juice, and the hunks of sausage and salami were quickly sliced. Bo arranged the crackers and bread on a plate, and Rae picked the grapes off their stems and added them to a bowl of black olives.
"Well, as I can see it, you guys aren't used to feasts, eh?" Scipio strutted around the table like a proud cockerel. Heads nodded in hasty agreement, even Rae's—she hadn't had a decent meal since her birthday, when she had treated herself to a heaping bowl of spaghetti at a restaurant. A feeling of loneliness filled her as she remembered what it was like to watch families eat and laugh together—while she, a thieving orphan, ate in a corner by herself.
But that heavy feeling soon lifted as Scipio put a hand on her shoulder, bending close to her ear. "So how 'bout it?" he asked. "You stay with us, and you'll have meals like this every night." His dark eyes glittered as he stood up straight again. "Especially if you and Prop become my chief loot-sellers. What say you?"
Bo jumped up with his goblet raised, some grape juice splashing over the rim. "Aye!" he cheered. Mosca and Riccio raised their glasses also, grins spreading around the table, the widest on Scipio. Prosper and Rae looked to each other and blinked before shrugging.
"Although I'm sure Rae could convince easier than I could," Prosper said after taking a gulp of his juice. Rae quickly kicked his shin and glared at him across the table.
Scipio sat himself down next to Prosper, raising his eyebrow at Rae. "How's so?" he asked, resting his chin on his palm and watching her with curious eyes.
"She lied and told him she was your partner—"
"It slipped!" Rae interrupted, kicking Prosper again. He rubbed his leg and scowled at her. "Besides, it's not like he would taken me seriously if I hadn't said something convincing."
Scipio looked worried. "Convincing? More like suspicious! How is he supposed to believe that the Thief Lord has a fourteen-year-old girl for a complice?"
"Maybe it's because she has a whip?" Prosper observed sardonically, taking another sip from his cup. "Look, Scipio, it's really not that big of an issue. Barbarossa seemed to believe her anyway, and not that he really cares who steals and how old they are—he just wants the loot."
Scipio ran his fingers through his hair, sighing. "Yeah, yeah…I guess you're right." His eyes flickered over to Rae's side, where the whip was curled up and tied to her belt. "Why do you have a whip, anyway?"
Rae touched the smooth leather out of habit, running her fingers along the tapering strip. "Defense," she said flatly. "And to get me places where the Carabinieri can't catch me."
Scipio narrowed his eyes coolly, scrutinizing her face as if he could tell whether or not she was telling the truth. "You've raided before?"
Rae nodded. "I've been on my own for nearly a year now—my father left when I was five, my mother remarried to a horrible man, she died, and I ran. My stepfather…" her voice trailed off and her eyes grew stormy. "My stepfather was a bastard—sorry, Bo—and living in the streets was better than having to look at his face everyday."
The theater was quiet as the boys all listened intently to Rae, even Scipio, whose dark eyes flashed with interest.
"I grabbed what I could—black clothes, money, my violin, this whip, and some of my mother's jewelry. My stepfather had been…out, I guess, and by the time he got back, I was already gone. At first, I only lived off the money I took—but pretty soon that ran out and I had to sell most of the jewelry, save a few things too valuable to me. When that money was gone, I started thinking about stealing… but I decided it'd be better to play for money." Rae chuckled darkly, shaking her head. "Turns out life as a musician doesn't pay as well as life as a thief."
"I want a whip!" Bo chirped, popping up suddenly next to Rae. She briefly wondered how he could sneak around so quietly. Prosper grunted and pulled his little brother into his lap.
"Oh, no you don't. That's the last thing I need—my little brother swinging around like a little blonde monkey."
"He already is a little blonde monkey," Riccio grumbled, spitting an olive pit into his hand. Bo stuck his tongue out at the bad-toothed boy.
"Better a monkey than a hedgehog!" he cackled, quickly ducking when Riccio threw the olive pit at him, immediately earning the spiky-haired boy a resounding slap from Rae. He looked rather shocked at first, before his eyes narrowed and he tackled her out of her chair, the two of them falling to the ground. Rae had a slight upper hand, since she was a good few inches taller and almost as thin, but Riccio was quick and he had her pinned in a second. She laughed and wrestled him down, then Bo jumped on the two of them.
"Idiots," Mosca muttered, shaking his head. He grabbed Riccio and Bo by their scruffs in one large hand, and then tucked Rae under his arm like a parcel. "Punishment!" he roared. "What should it be, guys?"
"Mosca!" Bo screamed. "Let us down!" Mosca giggled insanely, flipping Rae over his shoulder with ease. Riccio and Bo thrashed around like caught fish.
"What do ya say, Scip? Should I toss them in the canal? Or tickle them 'til they burst?"
"Mosca!" Rae shrieked, hitting his muscled back. "Put me down!"
"No fighting!" Mosca ordered, righting them all again. Riccio smoothed down his wrinkled shirt and puffed out his chest indignantly.
"We were just joking around!" he whined. "You didn't have to choke me!"
"Ah, don't tempt me!" Mosca slouched back down, grinning at the three. Scipio and Prosper laughed as Bo scampered around, jumping onto Mosca's back. Rae sat back down, her smile so wide that it was hard to believe that she had ever frowned in her life.
"ACK! Prosper, watch it! Aim for that streetlamp, not my face!"
"Sorry!" Prosper apologized sheepishly, coiling up Rae's whip and throwing it back at her as if it were a poisonous spider about to bite him. "Take it back—I'm gonna kill someone."
"You're not going to kill anyone," Rae laughed, flicking the whip out with a grin. "It's easy Prop…you point the handle at your target, then carefully swing it over your shoulder. Then you move your arm like you were throwing something, while you snap your wrist to make it tight." She quickly demonstrated by curling her whip around a streetlamp.
"I wanna try!" Bo squeaked, scurrying in front of Rae and gazing at her with large puppy eyes. "Can I try?"
"When your brother does it right, then you can try, angelo," Rae smirked, handing the whip back to Prosper. "Do it again."
"This is going to take forever," Bo pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and sticking his lower lip out.
"Thanks for your support, Bo," Prosper ruffled his little brothers hair. He sighed and swung the whip hard, a loud crack echoing as it slapped the streetlamp. Then in the blink of an eye, Prosper was clutching his forehead, hissing in pain.
Rae fell to the ground, cracking up. "It's not funny!" Prosper snapped, rubbing his forehead. He threw the whip onto the ground and glared at it.
"You have to wait until it wraps around before you pull it back!" Rae howled, clutching her sides and gasping for breath.
"What happened?" Scipio appeared from around the corner of the Stella's side alley, yawning.
"PROSPER HIT HIMSELF WITH MY WHIP!" Rae screamed in delight, dissolving into more laughter. Scipio shook his head with a smile and picked up with black leathered whip, running his fingers along it's long tail.
"Why are you still here, Scipio?" Prosper grumbled, scowling at Rae.
"There were some intruders at my place," Scipio said. "I crashed with you guys, if that's alright."
"Of course it's alright, Scip." Mosca stood up and threw his screwdriver back into his toolbox. "It's your hideout, technically—we would have never found it had it not been for you."
Rae couldn't help but frown at this news. Was something going on at Scipio's home? Would he be in trouble for staying? She wished she could ask him, but how was she supposed to explain that she knew he wasn't a real thief?
Scipio eyed the whip and flicked it harmlessly. "So how do you use this thing?"
Rae groaned and curled into a fetal position, fisting her blanket in her hands. Her stomach felt as though it were ripping itself apart, churning like some stormy sea. Sick again—that was the second time in a month!
A month…she certainly had been living in the Stella for a while. It was now the beginning of October in Venice—her birthday would arrive within four weeks. Four weeks, and Bo was already taunting Rae about what he would get her. She only hoped that whatever it was, he didn't steal it.
"How are you feeling, Rae?" a voice asked soothingly. Rae opened her eyes and saw Scipio and Prosper sitting by her, their faces etched with concern. Scipio smoothed her hair back and frowned. "Any better?"
"Well, does she look any better?" Riccio said impatiently. "She needs a real doctor…she must be diseased if she keeps getting sick like this."
Rae whimpered at the idea, and Scipio shot him a glare. Riccio scowled, but fell silent. "He's right, you know." Prosper said softly, pouring medicine onto a spoon. "She does need real help."
"She's too strong for a doctor, right Rae?" Bo tugged on her arm, and Mosca gently pulled him back when she whined softly in pain.
Surprisingly, Prosper was quite the doctor himself. He made soup and gave her medicine, and knew what she should drink and what would make her feel worse. However, Scipio was the one who sat at her side, stroking her forehead in hopes that she'd fall asleep, where there was no pain.
Scipio rubbed her back in circles, hoping to ease away whatever had made her fall so ill. What's so wrong that she keeps getting so sick? Is it too cold in here? Do we need a new, warmer hideout? He thought briefly of asking his family's private doctor, but realized that it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do.
Scipio stood up and gazed down sadly at the long-haired girl, who had fallen asleep—for now.
"She won't be asleep for long," Prosper said sorrowfully, as if reading the Thief Lord's mind. "She cries herself to sleep in her own pain, but then she wakes up from nightmares." The wavy-haired boy slumped down dejectedly, burying his face in his hands. "I don't know what else to do—we can't afford any good medicine for her."
"Then I'm going to steal some," Scipio said, and before Prosper could argue, he had disappeared.
When he came back nearly two hours later, he face was stony and there was a large bruise across his cheek. Prosper pressed his lips together, tempted to say something snappish about thievery, but if it was for a good cause –said cause being Rae's health—then he wasn't going to question where Scipio had stolen it from.
"Wake up, sleepy head."
Rae groaned and sat up in on her mattress, taking a look around. Scipio lay sleeping at her side, his hand still on top of hers. She carefully moved it, trying not to stir him.
"You needn't worry…he will not wake."
Rae jumped in surprise at the sound of an ethereal voice. She saw a figure dressed in a long white dress step from the shadows, smiling at her kindly. She looked like a ghost, with pale skin and silver hair. The spirit kneeled down next to where Prosper slept, tracing her fingers along his soft neck. "Isn't he a pretty youth?" she mused, sweeping her hand through Prospers wavy hair. Prosper smiled in his sleep, as if he could hear what she was saying.
"And this little angel," the ghost sang, looking at Bo, who snuggled deeper into his brothers side. "You think of these two as your brothers, do you not?"
Rae nodded unsurely, still suspicious of the woman. The spirit giggled to herself as if she had just thought of something funny. "And these little fellows, Mosca and Riccio? They are your family too, yes?"
"Who are you?" Rae asked, suddenly entranced by the fair being.
"I'm afraid that is not important right now," the ghost smiled sorrowfully. "But if you are searching to name me, you may call me Dramlaya."
The name brought the images of dragons into Rae's mind, although she couldn't place why.
"Ah! And who is this that guards you like some noble knight?" Dramlaya touched Scipio's face. "He is beautiful, isn't he?" she laughed, the sound starting sweetly from her throat and bubbling from her mouth. It reminded Rae of jingling bells, clear and pure. "I can sense power from within him. You love this one differently from the rest, you do."
"Why are you here?" Rae interrupted, trying to hide the blush that had begun spreading across her cheeks.
"I am here because you have questions," Dramlaya replied, standing up and fixing Rae with emerald green eyes. "About why you are here, hmm?"
"Is it magic?" Rae whispered, feeling as though someone finally understood her confusion.
"A bit of magic, a touch of destiny," Dramlaya chuckled, looking around at the boys. "You are here because here lies your own answers—answers I cannot give you."
"What answers can you give me?" Rae pleaded, tears springing in her eyes for an unknown reason. Dramlaya soothingly wiped Rae's face, gazing at her with understanding.
"I can tell you that this is a metamorphosis. Until you can come at peace with your presence in this world, you may find yourself more frequently growing ill. You fear for what you call 'your new family,' am I right? Since you can predict what will happen, you will try to alter the future, yes?"
"I don't want Prosper and Bo to get sent back to their aunt!" Rae cried. "And I don't want Scipio to be an adult!"
"Now, now, my child, calm down. This is how human crystallize—they find they're way through confusion." Dramlaya leaned over and gently kissed Rae's forehead. Suddenly, she felt drowsy and her vision began blurring.
"Find you r way through confusion—the answers you seek will come more quickly then you think…"
"Bo! Come back here!"
Little Bo squealed in delight as he ran from Rae, who was stumbling after him. "You little thief!" she accused, but Bo most likely thought of it as a compliment than an insult. "Come back here before you hurt someone with that!"
"You gotta catch me first!" Bo teased, glancing over his shoulder with a grin. "You're getting slo—oomph!"
Bo suddenly slammed into something that sent him sprawling onto his back. He shook his head and look up in confusion.
"Now, that's not very nice, is it?" a voice said condescendingly.
"Scipio!" Bo jumped back to his feet, adjusting Rae's whip over his shoulder. He beamed from ear to ear as Scipio kneeled down in front of him. "What are you doing here, Scip?"
"I've got some loot," Scipio said casually, handing the satchel to the blonde boy. "Why don't you go take it over to the stage so every can see it, eh?" Scipio took the whip and Bo skipped off, happily holding the sack as though it were the answer to his prayers.
"Ah! Hey Scip," Rae greeted, putting her hands on her hips. "How's it?"
"I'm fine, but how are you?" Scipio's tone went serious and he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Feeling well?"
"Good enough to be chasing that little creature around," Rae laughed, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. Scipio smiled in relief, his shoulders lifting happily.
"Good…where's everybody else?"
"Out and about," Rae waved her hand dismissively as the two followed Bo, who was trotting toward the stage of the Stella. "They should be back any minute. Who'd you rob this time, eh?" She tried to use mockery, but Scipio didn't seem to notice.
"Contarini," Scipio grinned. "There was a party, but I got in safely."
Rae fell silent. Scipio seemed to be a good person at heart, but she could help but to get angry whenever he talked about a 'heist.' Why should he be named 'Thief Lord,' when she could raid his house and several others before he could even blink?
If Scipio noticed her stony silence, he didn't show it. He snuck behind Bo and tickled him, scooping him up and carrying him over to the stage. There was a series of raps at the door. Scipio slunk over and cracked the door open a bit. "Password?" he drawled.
"Scipio!" Prosper said in surprise. "What are you doing here? In daylight?"
"Come now, I'm a thief, not a vampire!" Scipio laughed and opened the door all the way. "And I have some more loot for you, Mr. Stony Face, and you too, Miss Partner…"
Woot! Chapter three! Dramlaya, of course, is also from the original 'Of Fallen Angels.' She's a witch...and originally, she's a lot darker and cynical than this Dramlaya, but Rae's changed too... (If you'd like, imagine Yuuko from D.N.Angel, and you ahve Dramlaya...)
Ha ha...at first, Prosper was going to be 'beautful' and Scipio was going to be either 'dashing' or 'magnificent,' but I switched them around...because Aaron Johnson is really pretty...he's a very beautiful boy. I've recently become obsessed with his skin...has anyone else noticed that he's got nearly flawless skin? He always looks soft and cozy...I want to hug him!!! XP
Anyways, please review!!!