Chapter Text
In the Pale City, it was common knowledge that the rich neighborhood was a secluded place. Not quite the same lofty heights as the Pearce’s house on the hill, but still gated off from the rest of the bustling skyline. Typically, grimy teenagers with odd clothes and no proper home wouldn’t be anywhere near the area.
And yet, there Atychís found herself and her friends, trying to ignore the clear stares from the residents. Her bright red hair and starkly contrasting black outfit was certainly enough to attract attention, but she pushed on through.
“They won’t stop looking,” the girl next to Aty hissed, glancing around distrustfully. Leuko was a more wild-looking girl, her beige hair in a messy and knotted bob and her almost unnaturally large blue eyes practically refusing to blink. No, Leuko’s eyes are perfect the way they are, don’t think things like that.
“It’ll be fine, Leuko,” Aty insisted, practically yanking the other girl’s arm along. “You worry all the time. Right, Eight?”
The boy that Aty had dubbed Eight just glanced up at her, then shrugged, his slightly oversized flannel shirt covering his hands, and the ratty hair covering his eyes making it impossible to read his expression. Apparently he’d been shunted around to different foster homes eight times, and…well, Eight was a perfectly good name, Aty had thought. Nothing wrong with it. He barely talked anyway, and hadn’t given any indication that he answered to another name. So Eight would do for him.
“See, he agrees with me,” Aty said, continuing to pull Leuko along. “We’re gonna get paid anyway, and everything will be just fine.”
Leuko scowled, but allowed herself to be tugged. “If you say so.”
Enduring the stares, the trio made their way through the neighborhood, stopping at an ornate house with no cars in the driveway. Aty double-checked the paper in her hand, signed by someone called Capgras that had come to their place earlier…was it gilded? Fancy. “Yeah, this is the place.”
Steeling herself, Aty knocked on the door loudly. If some kind of crime boss wanted them, it had to be something important. Maybe someone looking to cut in on Persephone, or maybe it was even the woman herself. Working under the Felony Four, or, Three, ever since their poor inventor-
The door opened. Aty immediately opened her mouth to prepare her grand and flattering speech about how grateful they were…and the words died on her lips. There was a fifteen-year-old boy standing at the door, looking them up and down. He wore absolutely nothing but a fluffy and sparkly bathrobe, along with matching slippers.
Aty fought for words, and blessedly, Leuko swooped in to save her the embarrassment. “Who the hell are you?”
Right, maybe that was just as embarrassing. Aty regained her sense of English and tried to smooth things over. “What she’s trying to say is, ah…are you the one who invited us?”
The boy raised his eyebrows and nodded, his face a bit scrunched up. “Yep. I’m Capgras. Come in, just…use the mat first, mkay?”
Oh. Well, rich people had standards, she supposed. Aty guided her friends into the entryway, removing her shoes and setting them aside, brushing her feet on the mat delicately. Leuko and Eight reluctantly did the same, both of them staring at the rich teen with barely masked mistrust. Aty quickly broke the awkward silence (rude, we’re guests, we should be nicer to him) and stuck out her hand. “I’m Atychís, this is Leuko and Eight.” She pointed at the two in turn. “It’s good to meet you, Capgras.”
Capgras turned his disgruntled gaze from the other two and gave Aty a grin, taking her hand in an old-fashioned way instead. “Charmed, of course. Go ahead and sit at the guest table, I’ll tell you your job when the other one gets here.”
Well, it was a bit awkward, but maybe he was just being sweet. Aty followed him, glancing back at Leuko with a slightly confused look. The other girl just rolled her eyes and came after her in a huff, tugging a distracted Eight along.
“You’re early,” Capgras commented, letting go of Aty’s hand to let her sit. “Didn’t expect you for another few minutes.”
“She made us get up early,” Leuko mumbled.
Aty cut across her quickly with a big smile. “And they were perfectly happy to do it, isn’t that right?”
Leuko glared at her, but the tension was quickly offset from a series of short bangs on the door. Capgras slipped right past the table, chirping happily, “Ah, that’s your partner!”
Leaning over to Aty, Leuko murmured, “Didn’t say anything about a partner.”
“More help is better than less,” Aty fired back under her breath. “Be nice.”
Leuko’s next words faded into what Aty thought were mumbling curses as Capgras returned to the room, leading another kid about her age, looking downright terrifying with bones adorning him all over, necklaces, bracelets, and an earring that looked like a sharpened tooth.
How fun.
“Guys, this is Ostheo,” Capgras announced, edging away from the bone-covered teen. “Say hi and get to know each other, I’ll pull up the presentation.”
Ostheo glanced at each of them in turn, then nodded. “Hey. You know what we’re after?”
“Nope,” Aty shook her head, speaking brightly. “But we’re happy to have you aboard!”
“We?” Leuko hissed in her ear, but any further protests were cut off by Capgras turning out the lights, the wall at the far end of the table lighting up with a projector screen.
The title page was so overloaded with sparkles that Aty could just barely make out “MY MASTER CRIMINAL PLAN” before the page swapped to a picture of what looked like a painting of a shadowy figure, strings extending from the hands into a noose that held a silhouette. Creepy, in all honesty.
“Does anyone know what this is?” Capgras asked, grinning mischievously.
“Yeah, it’s a painting,” Leuko said.
Aty elbowed her sharply, turning to look at the screen with rapt attention. Capgras looked a little miffed, but continued like nothing had happened. “Yes, it is a painting. One of the most famous in the city, I’m sure you all know of the great artist that lives in the penthouse downtown.” One by one they all shook their heads. Capgras looked stunned, but shifted gears quickly. “Right, of course you don’t! Yes, so. Here.”
His screen changed to a picture of a slightly overgrown penthouse, perfectly bridging two skyscrapers. “This is the home of renowned artist Celene J, her work is just awe-inspiring, particularly the painting you just saw.” Capgras grinned. “I want you to steal it from her.”
“You brought us all here to…steal art?” Aty questioned, a bit deflated. The letter had seemed a bit more….grandiose than that, if she was being honest.
Capgras’ face fell in annoyance again. “Celene is one of the most influential and hard-to-find people in the city. It took me months to find out where she lives, stealing her art will get me- us, on the map in a way petty street fights could never. Sophisticated crime.”
Oh. Well, when he put it that way, she needn’t have worried at all! Aty’s smile grew back and she stood triumphantly. “We’ll get you your painting, live or die trying!”
Leuko looked at her like she had gone insane, and even Eight seemed confused. Capgras clapped his hands together. “Excellent! Go and hop to it, then! The address is in the note on the table, I’ll be waiting when you get back and you’ll all be paid handsomely!”
He strutted out of the room, leaving the other three at the table to all stare at Aty pointedly. She gave them the most innocent look she could muster before Leuko started hissing under her breath again. “Live or die trying, huh? For a picture?”
“It pays very well and it should be easy, what are you complaining about?” Aty snapped back briefly before composing herself. “Besides, if this is all he wants, and we do it well, that means more money on the table for us, oh and Theo of course.”
Ostheo raised his hands slightly. “I’m taking my cut and leaving when this is done. You can all do what you want.”
Right. Aty turned to Eight. “You in this, buddy?”
The quiet child looked between the beaming Aty and the still-fuming Leuko, then shrugged.
“That seems like a yes!” Aty pumped her fist in the air, then gestured for their newly assembled motley crew to follow her. Ostheo immediately got up and slipped in front of her, stalking out into the entryway without another word. All those bones, gross….no, it was a fashion statement, let him have it. The other two followed Aty out and back into the city, Leuko’s glare burning a hole in Aty’s back.
***
Crowds were always a problem with Eight. Aty had been around him long enough to know that they couldn’t stay in the thick of the masses rushing from place to place for very long, otherwise he’d get upset and run off someplace else. Back alleys and corners it was, although it took much longer to get to the address Capgras had left them with this way. Leuko had finally stopped mumbling curses under her breath, which was nice. Better for everyone’s blood pressure. Ostheo had stopped at the edge of the alleyway, pointing upwards. “Found the place. Up there.”
Aty craned her neck upwards….and upwards….good grief, it was high up. “Is there an elevator in the building?” she suggested tentatively.
Ostheo peered at the glass doors of the closer skyscraper, then shook his head. “Not an option. Looks like you need some kind of keycard to get access. There’s some kind of event going on, too.”
“Of course,” Leuko sighed. “Had to send us on the one day some idiots want to look at art.”
“Hey, maybe he didn’t know, calm down,” Aty shot back, turning back to Ostheo. “And we’d stick out even if we did steal one.”
Nodding, Ostheo glanced upwards again. “The ventilation system’s too small. If we could get through that, someone could unlock the maintenance hall door from the inside and let everyone else in. These places typically have a special elevator for that.”
“Have you done something like this before, Theo?” Aty asked innocently.
He just gave her a tight smile and turned his gaze on Eight. “He’s the smallest. Kid, can you do what I just said?”
To Aty’s mild surprise, Eight gave a nod, then jetted off towards the building. Huh. Guess he could listen when he wanted to. Why didn’t he listen to her more often, then? Engaged with wrestling the small pout that had come over her face, she almost missed the sound of clattering behind them. All three of them spun at once to see a can rolling towards them, the source just up ahead.
Gazes turned only a little upwards, to see a tiny girl, who had to be no older than six and wrapped in a flannel scarf, staring at them with big eyes.
Oh.
“Hi!” said the little girl, running up to them and speaking extremely loudly. “I’m Poly!”
Ostheo hissed through his teeth. “Talk to her, I need to watch.”
“Wh- Talk to-” Aty spluttered, her balance completely thrown off, but Leuko was there to jump in.
“Hey, Poly. I’m Leuko.” The ragged girl smiled kindly. “Where are your parents?”
Since when was she so good with kids? Aty was the nice one!
“Don’t have ‘em,” Poly said, twisting the scarf in her hands.
Leuko’s expression fell noticeably. “Oh, that’s….not good.”
No kidding, Leuko. For more reasons than one. Aty was about to open her mouth and fix the problem her way, but was interrupted by Ostheo’s quick words.
“Eight’s got it open, we need to go now!”
Aty hurriedly patted Poly on the head. “Stay right here, please!” She began sprinting across the street, tugging Leuko along urgently. Eight held the door open, looking all around for anyone who might spot them, then slammed it closed the minute they were all through.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Aty turned back to interrogate her friend on where she learned children skills, only to find said child standing right in front of the door, grinning impishly. “Whatchall doing?”
Ostheo facepalmed and groaned, dragging his hand down his face. “Right, we can’t toss her out without potentially getting spotted. Leuko, you’re on baby duty. Make sure she doesn’t blow this whole thing.”
“Me?” Leuko angrily shouted, standing on her tiptoes to get in Ostheo’s face. “It’s not my fault the kid ran in here all by herself, if you think-!”
Aty wrung her hands, trying to think of a way to stop the argument. She hated conflict. Before she could say anything, she vaguely noticed Eight speaking extremely softly to Poly. Why was everybody suddenly displaying skills that they never showed to her??
Eight gripped Poly’s hand, smiling a bit, then walked forwards directly between the two arguing teens, shutting them up as he pressed the elevator button and got inside, staring at them and tapping his foot. Poly smiled innocently beside him.
The three others silently got in the elevator, none of them looking at each other. Overly happy music filled the space, which was normally Aty’s favorite, but right now it was only lengthening the awkwardness. She tried to break the silence. “Hey, does anyone want to-”
“No,” was the immediate response from both Leuko and Ostheo.
Fair enough.