- Roderich's POV -
"Have a nice day," I called out to a customer who received their order and walked out the door of the Cafe. It was a slow day in the week. The place was empty, and it was a quiet afternoon.
And then I heard a loud sigh coming from the back room.
"Less sighing and more washing dishes" I yell out to Lovino, who was busy being emotional and not doing his work. Because it was a slow day, only two of us would work. Today, I had the 'pleasure' of working with Lovino. Which always gives me a headache. He would always complain or make the atmosphere sour with him grumpy attitude. But today he was annoying in a whole different way. He was quiet and reserved, spacing off and being emotional. And it started to disturb me because it was nothing like him at all.
Seeing there was no customers coming in, I decided to go ahead and lock the door and switch the "Open" sign over. I made my way towards the back of the kitchen, where I saw him do his work slowly and dazed. I pushed my glasses up and crossed my arms as I stood besides him. It was one of those rare times where I had to do 'parent stuff', "Okay. Are you going to mope around all day or are you going to finally vent your problems out before you run out of breath from sighing dramatically,"
He gave me a side eye and scoffed, "What are you talking about?"
I rolled my eyes, "Lovino, you have only two moods; angry and tired. And honestly, you look both upset and exhausted but it seems like something is bothering you,"
"I'm fine..." He lied. He didn't make eye contact with me for a moment as he wiped a cup. After putting it down, he grabbed another one, but finally looked up at me, "When you and Elizabetha met... did you both knew about each other being ghouls?"
I raised an eyebrow from surprise and confusion. Lovino wasn't one to care enough to ask questions about others. Especially if it pertains to stories that he would get bored of. But he seem genuinely curious. And somehow, somber. I answered, "When I met Elizabetha, I had just moved here, I didn't know anybody. In my family, it was every ghoul for themselves, so I was left alone pretty young. I had just turned 18 and was all alone for the first time. I got a job at an old coffee shop that has been shut down a while ago and she was a regular customer... she's always been lovely and kind. But I didn't dare talk to her or anybody else, not knowing if I can trust them. And there was also the fact that she always came in with a man, later learned that was your Father. They were very close friends. Even so, I always looked forward to seeing her every morning. Anyways... Then one day, I was starting to get hungry and I went out at night. I never hunted before. I didn't know if I had the guts to murder a human, even if it was for the sake of my survival. I was always considered weak. I walked aimlessly in the streets when I suddenly heard a scream in an alley way and I recklessly followed it. As I turned the corner, I saw, red eyes and bloody from a man she just killed. She turned around and saw me, who was frozen on spot, hehe... and then your father came out and almost killed me... but Elizabetha was able to stop him in time. For some reason, she wanted to save me. She barely knew me and I saw her true self, yet she thought that I was worth saving. When I was able to recollect my thoughts and speak, I explained to them that I was a ghoul as well. I should have mentioned that in the first place before almost being mauled alive. Elizabetha was ecstatic and since then, we were friends and later on, made plans to save up and have our own shop and-"
"Okay, okay, I get it" Lovino muttered, "I didn't ask for your whole life story"
I was about to yell at him for being rude, but then he looked up again and asked more, "So you didn't know she was a ghoul up to then. She was just a human customer you had a crush on. Would... would you have really passed up the chance to talk to her and get to know her more and ignore your feelings just because you were a ghoul?..."
I blinked, even more confused as to why he was asking so many questions in a soft whisper. He was starting to sound like Feliciano. I shrugged, "Probably. It's the number one rule for ghouls who want to live a normal human life; to stay away from human contact if you want to live in peace. But to tell you the truth... deep down I knew I probably would have cracked and say something to her... but I don't think she would had talk to me back, hehe... I'm grateful that we are both destined to bear the curse that comes with being ghouls because at least we can bear it together,"
"What about Elizabetha?" Lovino crossed his arms, "She was prepared to save you even though she thought you were a human! Even after you saw her for the monster she was and she fought against her friend in order to save your life. She was... your savior..."
His loud voice started to trail off to the soft whisper again, as if he had just realized something. Something painful and something he did not want to know.
"I guess I never thought of it that way" I replied, "But it's funny how fate worked out for the both of us,"
He was quiet for a moment, "Do you think... it was foolish of my father to fall in love with a human?..."
I thought for a moment before replying, "Technically, yes. Quite foolish. But, there really was nothing we could do about it. He had made up his mind and so did your mother. They thought it was fate,"
"You believe in fate?"
I thought for a moment, "Only in circumstances that I think confirms it,"
"...yeah, well, look what fate brought them. To death... it's foolish after all. Ugh, what am I thinking..." Lovino scoffed to himself. I wasn't sure I was meant to listen to those mumbles. He finally came back to his senses, looking down at his shoes again, before putting away the last cup and wiping down his apron, "I'm going home. Bye"
"What? No explanation for the sudden interest about my marriage? Every time we talk about it, you gag like a child,"
Lovino rolled his eyes as he put on his jacket. As he walked out the coffee shop, I called out to him, "Hey, bring in the newspaper that's in the mail!"
He came back inside and dropped the newspaper on the counter, "Bye"
With that, he left in a hurry. I scratched my head, confused about the whole situation. He was hiding something, that was obvious. What I wanted to know was what exactly was he hiding.
But the answer came right away as I looked down on the newspaper and opened it to read it. A familiar face instantly caught my eye. Or more like a familiar mask.
WANTED:
By order of the Commission for Counter Ghouls. Any information about the ghoul pictured will be given reward. The CCG need him alive. Last seen wearing a black jacket, jeans, black shoes, and most notably, the mask with one eye exposed, and a spade symbol and a frowning face.
It was a blurry picture, but I could recognize who it was. It was Lovino, wearing his mask and running away and he was carrying something?
No, someone.
This is what Elizabetha and I feared for Feliciano and Lovino. The one thing that we promised their father of, to protect them. I took a deep breath as I recognized the person Lovino was carrying in the picture.
Elizabetha and I promised to their father that we would protect them no matter what. And that's what we intend to do.
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- Elizabetha's POV -
I rushed to unlock the door and head upstairs to my room to see that Roderich was already there, seated on the bed and looking down on the newspaper on his lap.
"Good, you're here" I said, out of breath. I came speedwalking home after a discovery and needed to consult Roderich. By the expression of his face, it seemed like something was on his mind as well.
"I'm guessing you learned about the secret too?" Roderich looked up.
"Yes. Feliciano-"
"Lovino-"
". . ." We both said different names in the same time, stopping in confusion and worry as we processed.
"What about Feliciano?" Roderich asked.
"Wait, Lovino? What are you talking about?" I asked back. We both stared at each other, realizing that we both were talking about different problems.
Roderich took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes in frustration, and handed me the paper he was looking at, "Lovino apparently killed the Kol Clan leader and saved a human. And now he's wanted, Alive, by the Doves. Seems familiar?"
I looked down at the blurry image of Lovino. And unfortunately, I did recognize another person, "The student who's living with him..."
"I can't believe he's done this. After years of trying to protect him and reminding him of the precautions we have to take. We warned him to not move out to live with that human and now, his face is plastered everywhere in the city. I did not expect it of him"
I sat down beside Roderich, putting the paper away, "...Then you're not going to be happy about what I learned about Feliciano..."
He perked up, remembering the other twin, "Is he alright?"
"He is right now... but I don't think it's for long... you see, when I went out for groceries for the Cafe, I saw him... with someone..."
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- A couple hours earlier -
"Okay, I think that's everything" I walked out of the grocery store with my bags, heading home. It was only Roderich and Lovino in the cafe. The rest have been upstairs in their rooms or going out. I was thinking about Feliciano and Gilbert in particular, and how they always seem to go outside doing who knows what whenever they had the chance. I barely saw Feliciano lately, only seeing him if he's working a shift with me or going in or out the Cafe.
And as if he was summoned, I heard his voice. I turned to my left, towards the park that was across the street. I saw him walking by the path of the park. I smiled, about to call him to say hi, until I see him wave to someone. A person in the distance waved back, as they walked closer towards him. I felt myself become tense and terrified as I saw them close the space between them with a kiss. I gulped, seeing them walk away together.
Of course, I wasn't going to leave without knowing more. And so, I followed them. I stayed my distance, to not let Feliciano see or hear me. But it was enough for me to get a close enough look and to hear some of what they were talking about. I immediately recognize the man he was with, a regular customer that came to the cafe. A customer that Feliciano would constantly talk to during his shift. And now that I thought of it, he only ever came when Feliciano was working. I thought Feliciano was only being friendly as he always was.
What send shivers down my spine was the silver briefcase he held onto. The weapon of a Dove. I couldn't help but curse at how much of a fool Feliciano was being. They stopped by a bench, and started talking about nothing in particular until, the Dove spoke.
"Feliciano, I've been meaning to ask you something..." he said, glancing away nervously, "Uh, I know that you love being with your family and how convenient it is living with them for work. But I wanted to ask if you were willing to consider... moving in with me... you see, I'm moving from my apartment to a bigger place and well... you know...."
He was flustered and Feliciano stayed quiet for a second before giggling, "Really, Ludwig?"
"If you don't want to, it's fine. I understand it's a sudden change and-" Ludwig stuttered.
Feliciano interrupted, "No, I didn't mean it like that. It's just... I wanted to ask if you're sure. I mean, I think I'd be a terrible roommate. I thought you would think I'm annoying, and messy, weird and loud and-"
"You're not annoying, Feliciano, or any of those things. I mean it. I've been thinking about it for some time and I really want you to be with me," he said genuinely.
I can see Feliciano's eyes shine brightly, but his smile faltered a bit, as if he had just remembered that they were not supposed to be together. But he hid it by pressing a kiss onto his boyfriend's cheek, "I want to be with you too. Always,"
I heard enough, and headed home quickly to tell Roderich.
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- Present Time -
Roderich stayed silent the whole time I explained to him. It seems he got more and more hopeless as he heard more of how complicated the twins' situations are, "What are we going to do, Elizabetha? One is tangled up with the CCG and the other one is tangled up with a CCG agent-"
"We are going to keep our promise to Romulus and protect them, no matter what" I said firmly, "And that means we need to prevent any more danger"
"And that means we need to stop whatever or whoever can be a source of danger" he finished my thought.
We looked at each other. I grabbed his hand, to comfort both of us. We care about them both. And we felt sorry that their lives had led them to this and what will be heartbreaks. But we can't let them make the same mistakes their father did. And we both knew what we had to do.
"We need to kill them."
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A/N:
Cranked out another updated yeehaw
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I appreciate all comments and votes and I'll see ya next update! : )