Here's chapter 3! Long time coming, I know. But, life happens and pulls you away from stuff you actually want to do.
Huge huge thanks to EternallyBurning and Xrose96, my lovely reviewers (Also Deviln, but I think I already thanked you on Facebook. XD). Your kind words are so encouraging and nothing makes me happier than seeing a good review on something I've worked hard on. I'm glad you like this story. ^_^
This chapter is a bit slow. Nothing super exciting, but it is plot-advancing. Enjoy!
The underground city from their father's stories was real. Lucius didn't believe it at first, but what he saw beneath the metal grate had shown it all. At least a mile of open space, with buildings and lights and…life far down below. There was a city there, and the brothers made it their mission to get there. It had turned out that they were in almost the perfect area, as the main entrance to the Underground was in an alley less than a mile from where they'd fought the four Military Police. They stumbled upon it purely by chance, but once they knew what the metal door in the ground was, they didn't need to exchange any words to know that this was it. Their new home. They'd go down to escape the Military Police and hopefully to find some solace.
It took the both of them to lift the heavy trap door open, and that was followed by at least ten minutes of descending a long flight of stone steps almost in pitch black darkness. They were scared, they had to admit. Everything that had happened just in the last month was replaying itself in their minds over and over. In just a few short weeks, they'd lost their mother, become orphans, started living on the streets, and became petty criminals.
Well… murder wasn't exactly 'petty'.
And now they were heading below ground to an unknown city filled with God-knows-who, to try and start a new life. Perhaps they were being too hopeful that this would turn out in their favor?
At long last they had reached the end of the steps, which opened up into the main square of the Underground city. The city was dark, and for the most part looked run-down. Some of the buildings on the outskirts were half-collapsed, and everything was dirty... no... filthy. It made Levi's skin crawl as he remembered how filthy he had felt when his hands were covered in warm, slick blood. Dirt had started to have the same effect on him.
They weren't exactly welcomed at first. Everyone who lived in the Underground was obviously skeptical of those who came from the surface, and two kids were no exception. Everywhere they went, people would give them looks, and no one would give them a roof over their head, even for a night. For a few weeks, they lived in an alleyway in the underground city, and the only thing that really made living down there better was that there were no Military Police to worry about. So they thought, at least.
Occasionally, the MP would arrive in the Underground, just for regular inspection and surveillance for a few days. The place was known for being the home to thugs and convicts, after all. Their excuse was that they were just making sure everyone was following the laws of the land above.
That was just once every couple of weeks, though. And Levi and Lucius managed to keep well out of sight every time the Police came around.
They eventually managed to find an abandoned shack on the outskirts of the city in which to take shelter. It was small and rundown, but worked just fine for the two of them. In that shack they managed to lead a decently peaceful life for almost two years. They still stole in order to survive, and both brothers now found they were getting better and better at it. Levi could 'bump' into a man on the street and walk away with a week's worth of meals in money. Lucius was more skilled at stealing physical food. He'd pretend to be browsing a merchant stall's goods, wait until the merchant was distracted with another shopper, and sneak off with pockets full of apples, or bread rolls, or the extremely rare chunk of meat.
Of course, they were caught on several occasions. Two unsupervised children were prime candidates for pickpockets and petty thieves in the Underground. Even above the ground in any of the cities they would be suspicious. Some of the people they stole from, however, seemed to take pity on them. They didn't let them get away with their goods, or even without punishment, but Levi and Lucius were lucky enough to keep their lives, though the beatings they got sometimes made them wish otherwise. Cracked ribs, broken wrists, concussions, and threats to cut off their hands (Though none of the threats were actually put into action) were the most common punishments they received when they were caught.
Though this just made them more determined to hone their craft; get better at stealing.
On their way back to the shack one afternoon after a successful run through the Underground's town square, the brothers chatted aimlessly about what they'd buy with the pouch of silver coins Lucius was bouncing in his hand.
"I think we should treat ourselves this time… we deserve it, after all. That was a pretty good steal." Lucius hummed, hiding the pouch by his side underneath the dark green cloak he wore as they passed by other citizens walking the streets. "Like… some nice cheese and dried meat."
"Cheese sounds good… meat is expensive, though." Levi murmured, tacking up the prices in his head. Having never received any formal education (Their mother taught them to read and write, and do basic math, but they'd never attended school due to lack of money once the depression hit), he didn't know whether he was right in the assumption that the money they'd stolen today wouldn't be enough to get them some meat. Neither brother knew exactly how to count money, and they knew several merchants had taken advantage of that fact and had taken more from them than what they really owed, but they could usually assume how long a certain steal would last them. Today's steal would probably only be a few days' worth of food. If they didn't splurge and get meat, that is.
"But, Levi… it's been so long since we've had meat. My stomach misses it." Lucius smirked, rubbing his stomach as it growled, making the presence of his hunger known. "I'm no omnivore. Besides, we can always just steal more tomorrow if the meat drains all this." He emphasized 'this' by flashing the coin pouch again.
Levi shook his head, sighing lightly. "It's getting kind of dangerous, don't you think? I mean… last time you were caught, that fat grocer sat on you and almost suffocated you."
Lucius groaned. "Ugh…. Don't remind me… But, it's not like you to be so cautious, Levi. Something wrong?"
The younger Ackerman brother stopped in the middle of the street and looked skyward. There wasn't actually any sky in the Underground, but the roof of the cavernous subterranean city was littered with stalactites that, Lucius had to admit, were pretty interesting to look at.
"Nothing's wrong…" Levi started, averting his eyes from the ceiling as a small group of people rushed past them, in the direction of the city's pub. "I just don't want you to get hurt. Remember what I told mom the day she died? Dad said he'd always protect us, but since he can't anymore, I have to. I wasn't able to protect mom, so you're my last chance to keep that promise. Got it?"
Lucius smiled lightly, knowing Levi's protectiveness ran deeper than just wanting to keep a promise.
"So…. I was thinking, maybe I could start taking up small jobs around the city." Levi continued, looking back at his feet as they continued walking. "Try to make an honest living… you know?"
"Who would hire a kid, though, Levi? And what kind of jobs would we do?"
Levi didn't miss the 'we' in Lucius' question. "I could probably help the fish merchant with his product… isn't he always complaining about how much he hates preparing the fish?"
Lucius crinkled his nose in disgust. "You wanna play around in fish guts? How very unlike you, Mr. Clean freak."
Levi's obsession with cleanliness hadn't lessened at all in the past two years since moving down to the Underground city. In fact, one could say it had gotten worse. The run down building they'd made into their home was near the large lake that filled half of the cavern-city, and this little feature was a great factor in what had finally pushed Levi into agreeing to live there. Their first day upon finding their now-home had consisted of cleaning the dirt and litter-filled shack from top to bottom. Lucius remembered making at least a hundred trips down to the water to fill the small bucket they'd found in the shack, and bringing it back up for his brother, who scrubbed relentlessly at the walls with a brush he'd plucked from the open window of a home, where the owner had been doing some cleaning of her own.
Not only was their home probably the cleanest building in the entire Underground city, but Lucius was pretty sure they were the cleanest inhabitants. The second day their shack, he and Levi had managed to pick enough pockets (People down below weren't wealthy in the least. They managed a coin or two per person on a good day) to buy a bottle of soap, and both brothers bathed in the lake every night.
Lucius had grown used to Levi's new little quirk, however, and was simply satisfied that he no longer woke up in the middle of the night, hearing mumbling about invisible blood and whatnot as Levi scrubbed his hands raw. And now, he felt comfortable enough to even make jokes about it.
Levi, of course, wasn't amused with the nicknames his brother would bestow upon him, but nothing he said or did would prevent Lucius from continuing to call him 'Mr. Clean Freak'.
Just before Levi opened his mouth to make a retort, someone rammed hard into Lucius' back, and he stumbled forward, the only thing preventing him from falling flat on his face being his brother. The boy immediately straightened himself, ready to turn on whoever had pushed him and give them a piece of his mind when he remembered the coin pouch. Running into others as if it were an accident was how he and Levi always pulled off their steals, who's to say someone else couldn't do it to them?
But the coin pouch was still safely gripped in his hand.
Still, he didn't like being shoved. He turned to watch as the one who had ran into him continued at a rather fast pace down the road in the direction of the pub.
"Lots of people heading that way today…" He observed.
"They all seem in a rush, too. Wonder what's going on?" Levi turned to his brother. Gray eyes met ice-blue for a second before the elder brother nodded, and they both started off in the same direction so many others seemed to be headed.
A large group of people were gathering around the local pub, which also served as the meeting place of the city, as it was located relatively in the center and everyone knew where it was and had stopped in at least once in their stay in the Underground city. A wooden stage had been erected outside the building, and a large bulletin board was perched atop that. The stage was commonly used for town meetings. There was no official leader of the city, but a few men who held power (The pub owner, the thug leader, and a few of the more successful merchants), would occasionally call meetings about things such as the Military Police invasions, preventing thieves (Which always seemed pointless. Most everyone in the Underground city was a thief), and increasing overall quality of life down below.
Now that they drew closer to the pub, the brothers could see three men standing up on the stage. One was trying to calm the crowds while the other two were hanging a large poster on the bulletin board. Levi quickly pulled his hood low over his face, and then turned and did the same to Lucius, when he recognized the military uniform the three men wore, with the green unicorn emblem emblazoned on the back of the jacket. Something was up. The regular visitation of the Military Police to the Underground city wasn't due for another week or so.
Pushing through the crowd of people, Levi managed to overhear bits of what the conversation was about.
"I hear the Police are going on a mass killing spree…"
"How is the king allowing this? I heard they went so far as to burn down several villages in the outer walls because a kid in one of the villages said he wished things were different in the world."
"Disgusting! I swear, if I weren't outnumbered a hundred to one, I'd make all those bastards pay…"
Soon, the three police standing on stage called for the attention of everyone gathered. The crowd fell relatively silent and hundreds of eyes turned toward them. When the leader of the Police squad felt satisfied that he'd garnered enough attention, he started speaking.
"As some of you may know, the Military Police's main goal for the past five years has been to bring traitors to our world to justice. Those who commit treason against the king or his rule are to be thrown in prison, and they'll be lucky if they aren't sentenced to death. As you can see, we of the Police don't take treason lightly.
"We have received notice that two traitors are living among the citizens of this city. Two young boys, eleven years of age, who two years ago killed several of our soldiers in cold blood."
"They probably deserved it!" Someone shouted from the crowd, and one of the Police on stage, clipped a blade into one of his hilts, threatening to slit the throats of anyone else who interrupted.
The first Police continued as he eyed the crowd. His gaze swept over everyone, including the twins, and Levi suddenly felt extremely grateful he'd thought ahead and pulled their hoods low.
"If anyone in this city sees either of these boys," at this, he pointed behind him at the poster the other two had pinned to the board, "you are to report directly to the first Military Police you see. Also, because of this update in our search, a squad of Police will remain in the Underground city at all times until these two are caught. They are to be provided with lodging and food, and are not to be got in the way of."
There were some angered responses from the crowd. Obviously, no one was happy to hear that the Military Police would be taking a permanent spot in their city. Especially not Levi and Lucius. Levi only hoped the other citizens, who had slowly grown accustomed to the two boys and some even growing to like them, wouldn't give their position away. After all, the sooner the Military Police could accomplish their task of capturing them, the sooner they would leave and everyone in the Underground would be able to return to their regular lives.
"The first squad of Police will arrive in your city tomorrow, and four squads will circulate every week until the traitors are caught. Please take a look at the poster and let us know immediately if you've seen these boys. Thank you for your cooperation and have a good day."
As the police stepped down from the stage, several others got up to look at the poster. Said poster was blasted with two hand-drawn images of what appeared to be the same boy. A boy with sharp features, narrow eyes and dark hair. The twins had no doubt in their minds that everyone who laid eyes on that poster immediately recognized who they were. The familiar sense of impending danger reappeared after two long years of absence. They grew anxious and knots formed in their stomachs. Lucius even feared he may wet himself when the pub owner stepped up, took a close look at the poster, then turned to look straight at them. Instead of going after the retreating backs of the Military Police, however, the large man simply turned and retreated back into his building, followed by several others who craved a heavy drink after the announcement given to them by the military.
Once the square was void of most life, save for the regular citizens and merchants who had gone back to their daily lives, Levi and Lucius stepped up onto the wooden platform and approached the bulletin board. The worst part about the whole thing wasn't that they were still being hunted down by the police, or the fact that the drawings on the poster looked exactly like them, but that they knew their semi-peaceful life of the last two years was about to come to an abrupt end. The only upside was that no one seemed too interested in turning them in at the moment. That could change at any time, however. Someone could get so sick of the Police invading their city, or the Police would grow impatient and bribe a willing citizen. Any of the thugs in the Underground would be willing to do anything, if given the right price.
With an irritated growl, Levi tore the wanted poster down and ripped it to shreds. "Fuck this… after everything we've been through, it's all going to hell again…"
"Levi…" Lucius frowned, not wanting his brother to get too upset over the situation. After all, they'd managed to lead a relatively danger-free life in the underground city for the past two years. The Military Police obviously weren't too familiar with the territory under the streets of the inner city of wall Sina, so continuing to avoid them shouldn't be too difficult.
"No! Don't try and tell me to calm down, Lucius! Why can't those bastards just leave us alone?! They're the ones who started this whole mess when they killed dad! We never asked to become killers…. We were just acting in self-defense…"
Lucius was about to say something, but Levi clamped a hand over his mouth when several sets of footsteps were heard walking across the wooden stage towards them. The brothers turned to look at who was approaching, hearts thudding in their chests and hoping against hope that it wasn't the Police coming back.
Instead, a group of kids (Or, Levi thought they were kids since none of them were as tall as the average adult) approached them. There were six in all, and each one of them wore dark green cloaks, much like the ones the twins wore, with the hoods pulled low over their faces. It wasn't too surprising. A year and a half ago, an MP warehouse had been broken into by one of the thug leaders in the Underground and the man had distributed the supplies amongst the people in the city before eventually being caught by the Police and killed on the spot. The cloaks had been in abundance in the warehouse, so most everyone in the Underground now had one. Which, Levi and Lucius were more than happy about. It made them blend in.
They stared intently at the group in silence, and the group stared back, before the tallest one reached up and pushed his hood back. As Levi thought, it was a kid. Older than him and Lucius, but still a kid. He gave a toothy grin and something glinted in his deep brown eyes that Levi didn't like.
"You're the Ackerman brothers, aren't you? The ones the Police are looking for."
Lucius tensed up, still clutching the coin pouch tightly in one hand, but reaching for a hidden knife with the other. Levi held out a hand to stop his brother from doing anything stupid.
"What's it to you?" He asked, trying to lace his voice with as much malice as he could muster. He didn't want this guy to think they were scared of him, because they weren't, and he'd actually much prefer it if it were the other way around. If this guy knew who they were, then he knew that they'd killed a bunch of Military Police. He should be the one scared of them.
"We know your secret." The kid continued, and he motioned to the others in the group. "But don't worry, we won't tell anyone. In fact, we'd like to make a deal with you…"
Woot! New characters! Now the only question that remains is... are they good guys? .
Idk if I liked this chapter. Then again, I'm my own worst critic and am always unsure of whether or not I like my work. As long as you guys, my faithful readers, do though, it's all okay. Let me know what you think! And chapter four should be out shortly! I'll try to make it within a week.