"Monsieur Gunter," He smiled at the old man as he placed the heavy box filled with metal weapon made by his father on the table. The old man, Gunter, returned the smile as he limped over to the box and opened it with care. He reached in and pulled out one of the many weapons arranged properly and with care, inspected the dagger. He whistled in amazement at the craftsmanship, running his finger gingerly at the sharp blade.

"As skilled as always, your father." Satisfied, Gunter placed back the dagger and reached to his back pocket to pull out a small pouch of silver coins and handed it to the ginger. Caelum took it and opened the pouch. He nodded and tilted the tattered cap down. "Merci. I must get going now." Just as he gave his farewell, he noticed a slightly crumpled letter on the ground as he turned. He picked it up and asked whether it was the old man's, to which it wasn't.

He turned the letter to see an address on it but there was no name, however. "Would you mind sending the letter, young man? It must have been one of my customers." While Caelum wasn't one to do something this troublesome, he wasn't going to say no. Besides, his instinct told him to do send the letter for something big might happen.

For good, or for the worst, he didn't know. It didn't matter, because his dear uncle had told him to always follow his instinct no matter what.

"I'll do it. Good day." With that, he ducked out the weapon dealer's stall, tucking the letter into his pocket with care. He pulled his cap lower as he swiftly weaved his way through the crowd, keeping his eyes from staring at anyone for a second too long. There were merchants and killers all around him after all, armed and definitely could kill him with ease. He still wanted to live.

Once he was out of the market and in a more secluded area, he took a look at the address once and nodded to himself. The house right at the edge of the village, the cold, big house which was said to be the cursed house for the incident many years back. Caelum honestly didn't believe that there was such thing as cursed house, no matter how true the rumours and housewives tales were.

But the house owner was always travelling, or so he had heard. It was because of that he didn't particularly liked going near that area. The house gave a lifeless, cold and dead vibe whenever the owner wasn't around. He huffed and pulled his cap up to ruffle his ginger hair before wearing the cap again.

And so, he walked to the house, memories serving him well as always because it didn't take him too long to find the house. Granted, it was one of the largest house around, but their village had one of the most confusing roads that could potentially be a labyrinth.

He blinked in surprise that the house had lost the vibe. Granted, it was still cold looking, but less dead. He took a deep breath and went to knock the door when a voice of a man, smooth and pleasant to Caelum's ears, was heard.

"What are you doing?"

He jumped and whirled around to come face-to-face with a beige-haired man, half a head taller than him. His icy blue eyes narrowed dangerously at him. Caelum blinked thrice and stammered slightly. "O-oh, uh. I'm looking for the owner of this house."

"That's me."

The ginger immediately pulled the letter out of his pocket and handed it to the man. "Um, I found this in the weapon dealer, Monsieur Gunter's stall." If possible, the man's eyes narrowed even more. He screamed internally, couldn't understand how that could happen. "How do I know that you didn't steal it?" That? That Caelum didn't know how to answer. He had no proof that he didn't steal that letter.

"You don't." He slowly said, carefully as he mentally arranged his words. "I've no proof that I didn't steal it, but I didn't. If you can't believe me, I can't do anything as well. However, the seal was still intact." He held his gaze, not backing down. His late uncle had said before that to make a point, he should square his shoulders and stand tall, eyes never wavering. He had also said that these methods should only be used to those whom he was sure that wouldn't potentially kill him, since it was the period where killers were everywhere.

Caelum, while he was never one to judge so quickly, knew that this man in front of him wouldn't kill him. Perhaps one day, but not today. This man who seemed so prideful wouldn't kill one just for the petty reason of thievery. (Deep inside, he hoped.)

The beige-haired man stared at him, studying him for a full minute before taking the letter from him. He nodded at him in what Caelum thought was gratitud- before moving pass him and into the house. Caelum wasn't offended by that. He had somehow anticipated it. He nodded back at the man even though he had his back facing him and left without a word as well.

Though, he had to wonder. Why would anyone call this rather sophisticated man a monster?

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The next time he met him was, well, in the meadows where no one goes to other than Caelum himself. There was wolves about so no one dared to go anywhere near the meadows nor near the forest. He didn't exactly meet the man himself, because he was asleep on the grass where dandelions flourished on every stretch of land, the wind blowing softly as the clouds shield him from the harsh glare of sunlight.

He had fallen asleep long since the second bell of the day rang from the church, signifying afternoon. The weather was too great for him not to fall asleep, so he did, with a leather covered book on his chest, hands intertwined on top of it. He had not felt any presence of life during the time he napped, or so he thought.

When he woke up, the sun was beginning to set slowly. He stretched like a cat and yawned. He rubbed his eyes to chase away the sleepiness and sat up before noticing a bright red apple sitting innocently beside him. He blinked in surprise and looked around. There was no one around, and it would be impossible for any animals to bring it to him. (Animals seemed to hate him despite him not having any ill intention, sadly.)

He stared at it, wondering who could it be and picked it up. The ginger smelled it and hummed. It wasn't rotten and it was rather fresh.

He smiled slightly behind his hand and stood up. He picked his book up from the ground and rolled his shoulders, making his way down to the village and back home.

"Cael! Cael!" He let out a breath as two girls rammed into him, pushing air out of his lung as he almost lost his balance. "You're back!" "Welcome back!" He chuckled at that and bent down to kiss them on their foreheads. "I'm home, Noella, Naeva." The one with warm, amber eyes grinned before the one with lilac eyes did as well. Their eyes were absolutely beautiful and breath-taking despite seeing it almost everyday, unlike his. His were scary and piercing, as people had said, as though he could see through their soul.

"Caelum," He looked up to his mother and smiled. "Welcome back." He went forward after untangling himself from the twins and hugged his mother. "I'm back." He pulled back to ask if she needed help preparing dinner, seeing that she was cooking when he arrived, only to be hit on the back of his head with a wooden ladle.

He winced and immediately reached up to his head, rubbing the sore spot. "You've been to the meadows, haven't you young man?" He laughed sheepishly, not denying the statement rather than question. She rolled her eyes. She didn't even need to hear his answer to know that he did. Honestly, her youngest son has always been the wayward child of the family. No matter how many times she had warned him not to go down the meadows and the woods, he would still do it.

"Come on, help me in the kitchen. Papa and Lucien are arriving soon."

He nodded and follow her, but not before placing the apple on the fruit basket on the dining table as the twins resumed playing around the house. The moment he stepped into the kitchen, he sweated. His mother was definitely cooking a feast for his father and older brother, who were finally coming home after two weeks away to another village for business purposes. Usually, it would be his older sister and sister-in-law helping his mother in the kitchen, but they were out to the tailor's for his sister's wedding dress, with his future brother-in-law.

"Caelum, you do realize that you're going to be seventeen next month, don't you?"

He sighed internally. 'Here we go again.'

"Yes."

"So, when are you going to find a wife?" He huffed as he washed the vegetables. "Not now, mother." "But you'll be seventeen soon! You ought to find a partner soon or you'll be alone for the rest of your life, like your uncle."

That was why he try to be in his mother's immediate attention. She had been pestering him to find someone to marry when he didn't even want to. She always used the excuse of to not end up like his beloved, late uncle, whom she apparently disliked with a passion. He didn't say anything despite not liking her insults towards his uncle, but he couldn't, didn't understand. He was merely sixteen, going seventeen. He had a long way ahead in front of him, where he would meet all those who would be in his life. He didn't understand the need to find a life partner this early in his life. He felt like he should be patient in searching his other half.

Apparently, his mother didn't think so.

He had long given up on explaining his reasons to her. "Mother, the fire." She stopped mid-rant about how his brother managed to charm his sister-in-law at the age of fifteen and everything and rushed to the stove to check on the fire. (He didn't need to hear that at all.) She paused, realizing that he was merely trying to avert her attention away from him and gave him a withering look.

He returned an indifferent, blank look as she sighed in exasperation. "Caelum, I know you don't want to be tied down now, but," No, she doesn't understand at all. "this is for your own good. Everyone bounds to leave the nest, especially boys like you. You're no longer a boy, in fact. You're already a man, my dear child. It'll soon be the time for you to spread your wings, my son."

He pointedly stayed silent, merely humming as an indication that he was, in fact, listening. (He ignored the gnawing feeling in him.) She sighed again, knowing that he wouldn’t heed her advice. Out of the five siblings, Caelum, as the middle child, was the one with different mindset and ideals, like his uncle. She regretted leaving him with his uncle when he was younger for a long period of time. Look at what his uncle did to him!

Caelum had an inkling what his mother was thinking about. He said nothing of it however and simply continued on what he was doing.

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For almost two weeks he didn't see the beige-haired man since their first encounter (and perhaps the one in the meadows), but they did meet each other, in the meadows somehow. If it was on purpose or simply a coincidence, Caelum didn't know. He was definitely surprised to see the man sitting on the grass, looking far off. He hesitated, debating whether to approach the man or leave.

'But.... He's somewhat interesting…' He ruffled his rather messy hair and huffed.

He walked up to the man and sat down beside him, with a reasonable distance between the both of them of course. "Hello." He greeted. The man looked at him and nodded before turning back to his daydreams. Caelum didn't mind as he pulled his legs closer and stared off into the distance as well, leaning his cheek on his knee. They sat there in silence, appreciating and basking in the beauty of nature, until Caelum murmured.

"Thank you for the apple."

The man turned to him with a raised eyebrow. Caelum pushed back the urge to look away from those icy blue eyes that clashed with his own metallic blue ones. Instead, he merely observed how it seemed to glint in amusement. "You were the one who gave me that apple here that day, right?"

He had expected the man to shrug or reply curtly or something, but no. The man didn't do that. "It was nothing. You returned that letter to me after all." He replied instead, still looking at Caelum.

Caelum resisted the urge to shiver because the man looked like he was slowly unravelling him with his sharp eyes, seemly looking for his weakness or something. "Ah, okay." He barely managed to choke out. "The letter was important, wasn't it?"

"It was."

Caelum nodded. "Though I didn't expect you to actually believe me."

"Really? It was rather expected." He tilted his head, or however he could do that with his head still leaning on his knees. "I've never met anyone who would answer me like that without trembling from head to toe." Caelum flushed a little and laughed sheepishly, scratching his cheeks.

"I guess so. Though, am I supposed to act differently?" Those icy blue eyes glinted more, definitely in amusement. "Anyone in the village would react differently."

'Even though you're human just like me?' That, Caelum didn't say but simply just laughed some more. He hummed and shrugged. "Who knows." He reached out his right hand to the man, smiling. "I'm Caelum."

The man smirked and grabbed his hand, shaking firmly. "Alaude."

When he released his hand, Caelum sighed in content and leaned back, lying down on the grass, all but sprawled out. He didn't mind the fact that Alaude was beside him, clearly staring. He folded his arms behind his head as a pillow and stared at the sky, clouds rolling slowly.

"Are you a traveller?" He asked.

"Not in particular."

"A merchant?"

"No."

Caelum scrunched his eyebrows in concentration. "Then what do you do? You never seemed to be around for a long time." That, Alaude raised an eyebrow. He had never expected this ginger to be so observant and sharp. Not to mention that he was, how should Alaude put, very casual with someone he had just acquainted.

Either the ginger was naive, or confident enough that they would get along. (Not that Alaude was going to deny, because Caelum seemed to be the type of people he could tolerate.)

"An agent." It was vague, but it had Caelum whistling, definitely impressed. "You do rather suit that. I actually can't imagine you doing anything else." Alaude was absolutely intrigued by the other now. Normally, people would ask for more information about his work, which very much annoy him even though it was clear that he wouldn't say anything else. (He does work for a secret intelligence agency.) Caelum? He didn't even ask and simply went with it.

"Oh?"

"Yep."

"What about you?" He asked instead. "Hmm," Caelum hummed. "I'm helping out my father in his shop. He's a blacksmith. Though, I'm just an errand boy currently." He chuckled, more to himself. "I haven't figure out what I want to do yet."

"I see." With that, they ended their conversation and stayed silent yet again, either daydreaming or simply watching the sky. At some point, Caelum had managed to fallen asleep and rolled to his side, facing towards Alaude.

Alaude tore his eyes off the bushes he was staring at and looked towards the sleeping, defenceless ginger. Alaude couldn't help but wonder if Caelum was only acting or he was genuine. Even though he knew he was a killer (of sort), he didn't even care and let his guard down easily. It was as though he trusted Alaude.

Alaude was wary, yet he was lured in by the younger man. Perhaps he was always surrounded by people who would always be wary of him regardless how long he knew them, but he had never met someone so, how should he put it, trusting. In his line of work, trust was, and is, a weakness. No matter how long you knew your comrades, one should always be on guard with each other because you'd never know when and who would betray you one day.

It was a common knowledge, and a common instinct for Alaude. And yet, this man here had trusted him the moment they shook hands, perhaps the moment they met for the very first time. It was unnerving, yet refreshing for Alaude. (He reminded himself that the blond he had met during more than one of his excursion in Palermo was very similar to the ginger.)

He pursed his lips when the blond popped out in his head.

'Storm has stirred and the people of my village are living in terror, so under the suggestion of Cozart, I've created a vigilante group. It's still unnamed and unknown to many but a handful. I know you'd reject me, my dear friend, but I request for your cooperation when time comes.'

He sighed inaudibly. He had written back a decline, short and curt, and had sent it back to the blond by messenger birds. The blond's idea was good, but for now, Alaude simply wish to continue his job as an agent for his agency. (Years after, when both his agency started to fall apart because of the rising conflict and the situation in Palermo worsen, he permanently shut down the agency, annihilating the betrayers and joined the vigilante.)

He sighed again as he broke himself from his train of thoughts, looking at the still sleeping ginger and shook his head in exasperation.

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A/N= Hey guys! I'm back from that long absent. My exam had finished like a month ago and now I'm free! With a sequel!

Actually, this story had been in the draft since last year, I don't know, March? Yeah. I've been wondering if I wanted to post it up now because I haven't exactly finish plotting the whole story. But then I decided to screw it and just publish it now. (Hopefully, I won't regret it at some point.)

Those who had read Second Life, I apologize. Ryuuichi, Tsuna and Co. will not appear in the story! Maybe until the very last moments but who knows.

This story sets back into the mid to late 1800s, where the Cosa Nostra started. (I'll say this first. I've little to no knowledge about living in France and Italy in the 1800s so I kind of winged a lot of thing.)

This story will be slightly fast-paced and unfortunately, there won't be a happy ending. For those who have read Second Life would've probably guessed it. Well, knowing how Vongola fell to Secondo's hand, it was actually a given, right?  

I'll probably be slow on updates as well..... Probably.  

Merci= Thank you. 

Monsieur= Something akin to Mister or Sir.

Caelum's family consist of his parents, his older brother named Lucien, his older sister, his younger sisters (Twins), and his late uncle who had passed away when he was twelve. 

Noella is the older one while Naeva is the younger one. Noella have amber eyes while Naeva have Lilac eyes. (I kept mixing it up for some reason.)

[I apologize for any grammar, spelling, etc. etc. mistakes]