'Welcome to the Mob'

These words rang over and over in Hannah's head. She had never wanted to be a part of this. Whatever this was. She didn't exactly know what she was doing to do now. Steal things for him? If he was so powerful why did he even need their help? Why did he even have this gang? Surely he could probably take over the entire city if he wanted to. It all made no sense, but regardless, Hannah walked out of the jewelry store, closely followed by Esme and Gregory.

After they had joined the organization, Skull told them that they would be contacted shortly about their first job, and that it was a 'test'. None of that sounded good to Hannah. She wished she could get out.

"Slow down."

Esme reached out to her, grabbing her shoulder. Hannah jumped and her head snapped back. She saw Esme smile, but she knew her well enough now to know that she was also terrified, behind her mask.

"You're right. I'm sorry, I'm just freaked out y'know?"

Greg quickly interjected.

"The first day is always the worst one, girl. Skull doesn't usually meet his new recruits personally unless he sees potential in 'em. And don't worry about your first job. I'll be there to show you the ropes. Tomorrow."

"T-tomorrow? And what are we going to do exactly?"

Esme tried to look at him straight in the eye but failed. She remembered how easily he had defended himself when she tried to stab him. She shuddered.

"Well, I don't know yet, but I'll be notified soon enough. we're gonna start moving soon. The boss is vying for control of the city."

Of course. That was the end goal of the Mob. Or at least she thought it was. Hannah finally adjusted her walking speed and they kept going through the crowded, muddy streets. After a while, they made it back to their inn and sighed. At least this was familiar. Home.

"Go get your things. We're moving you."

Or not home. This was too sudden. Moving where, headquarters? That was only a single room according to what they had seen earlier. Hannah looked up at him hopefully.

"Moving where?"

"Headquarters. Where else? The room you saw earlier was just an Illusion spell. Ye didn't think that our central base was just a single white room didn't ye?"

Hannah blushed, and Esme smiled. Greg was trying to lighten up the mood. He knew how they were feeling. He had probably gone through the same thing years ago. But he wouldn't tell them. Not yet.

The girls went to talk to the [Innkeeper] about leaving. He was sad, since he had known them for a few weeks now, but he knew this was part of the job. [Innkeepers] almost always had to say goodbye to all their customers. They went up to their room. The room with a single bed and the walls full of holes with bugs and rats in them. The room with the dusty floors and without lighting. Esme looked around and talked.

"Believe it or not, I'm going to miss this place. Not the bugs, of course."

"Yeah. We were at our lowest and at our highest in this room. It's where things finally started to look up."

"And then all our hopes came crashing down."

"Hmhm."

They didn't have many things, really. Just their bag. But their bag was special. It was from Earth, their real home. And it had their phones.

"Well. Wasn't that anticlimactic. We ready then?"

Esme nodded, and that was that. They left and closed the door, and a chapter ended. They gave the key back to the [Innkeeper], who bowed and thanked them for staying so long. He didn't usually get customers that stayed for more than a few days.

Gregory was waiting outside. When they got closer, he nodded and grunted in approval

"Ready?"

They answered in unison.

"No."

"Well, ye never truly are, aren't ye?"

He chuckled and let them outside. Esme started asking him questions.

"Well, Greg. Aren't you the second in command of this gang? Shouldn't you be doing better things than leading us to our bedrooms?"

Greg chuckled and shook his head. He answered.

"Well, like the boss said, you're special. Plus, I'm not the only important guy 'round here. Ye just haven't seen them yet. Actually, you've seen one already."

"Which one?"

"The lady that put that lass under the [Detect Lie] spell. She's one."

"Hm. Unsurprising. How many are there?"

"Haha! Hold your horses girl. You'll meet 'em at the conference tonight."

"A conference? What will be going on there?"

"Just some fancy announcement about our goals for our plan. With the city, I mean."

"Right. And that plan is?"

"I told ye, be patient, girl!"

"I have a name you know. Esme."

Greg chuckled lightly and kept going on ahead. Hannah felt kind of left out here, as she wasn't participating in the conversation at all.

"Y'know, I haven't apologized yet. About the money."

Esme's light smile vanished. He slowed slightly and kept going.

"I'm sorry. Thought it was some easy cash for the boys. I usually don't do things like that."

"You piece of shit."

Esme knew she couldn't have her revenge. Though Hannah was sure she fantasized about it. She kicked the ground in frustration.

"It's your fault we had to do this. Become [Thieves]. I hope you know that."

"I managed to guess. And again, I'm sorry."

"What happened to that man?"

"What man?"

"The old man who tricked us."

"Oh. He's dead."

Hannah stopped dead in her tracks. Dead? Okay, he had tricked them, but killing him? That was simply going too far. Esme looked at Gregory, her eyes full of fury.

"Why?! Why did you fucking kill him you piece of shit! You asshole!"

"He had to be an example. He had owed us money. A large sum."

"An example. An example. I may be a part of your fancy gang now but I sure as hell won't like you. Murderer."

Gregory nodded sadly. He expected this. But all of them knew they didn't have to like each other to work together. But unexpectedly, he replied after a bit of thinking.

"You stole from innocents."

"I-I did. But-"

"You did. And that's all that matters. Don't act all and mighty. You know nothing about me."

Esme was hurt. Hannah could see it. She finally intervened.

"We had to do it to survive! We were starving out here! And murdering is worse than stealing."

"Still. You are criminals. We all are. You. Esme. I heard about how you stabbed a half a dozen men without hesitation. You could have surrendered and served your sentence."

Silence. Complete silence. Hannah and Esme were shut up in one swift cold reply. And the worst part was that he was right. They were criminals. And they enjoyed it. The thrill. The adrenaline rush after you successfully managed to steal something. It was addicting. It got to your head.

"It's easy to claim you're better than someone else without knowing the full picture. I have my reasons for following Skull. Now shut it."

Every so often, Hannah and Esme realized how weak they were. This was one of those moments. The air around them tensed, and people started to look this way. Gregory quickly relaxed and the atmosphere became normal again.

"Sorry. Aura skill. It's hard to control when you first get it."

The conversation died, and they kept walking. This was a part of the district that they had never gone to before, in its southern parts. Here, a building sat. Not a particularly large one, but it stood out when compared to the wooden houses surrounding it.

"Welcome to our humble home."

"I thought we were going back to the jewelry store. You're telling me this small building can house your supposed thousands of members?"

Esme was suspicious about this, but they couldn't do anything about it. They went in. Gregory pointed.

"Look."

There was a counter in the building, where a man sat. He was the only one in the building.

"Greg. Who's this?"

"New members. They're important. You can open the passage."

The man crouched and the girls heard something open. A trap door. They walked behind the counter and saw the staircase leading down into a lit tunnel. They walked in.

"This is one of the many entries to headquarters. It's-"

"An underground system. Impressive."

Esme had regained her composure from earlier. Greg continued.

"Yes. the air is filtered in and out by a few of our good [Aeromancers]. We have thousands of people living down there. Hidden. Nobody outside of the organization knows this. Anyways, here it is."

The tunnel slowly got larger. It went from a tall man Gregory having to duck to advance further to being basically twice his height. Huge wooden double doors were waiting in front of them.

"That [Mass Silence] spell is really good, huh?"

He opened the doors.

 

And a sprawling underground city revealed itself to them.