Hansel Lorraine's Story

It was far too early in the morning for anyone to be awake, and only the biting cold of the early dawn kept the young man from drifting back into the world of dreams. For the hundredth time in that hour alone, the teenager yawned massively and ran a hand through his unruly brown hair. He and another man were standing in front of a black carriage, the silhouette of the castle behind them, barely visible through the thin coils of fog that drifted through the air. Both men were cloaked in capes, the older man’s in royal purple and the teen’s in a dark brown that was the exact same shade as his knee high riding boots.

“Now Hansel, you must remember your purpose in Ascavia.”
The older man advised, pulling at the folds of his cloak. His hair was gray in some spots, and beginning to thin out. Though he had yet to grow a beard, it was obvious that age was starting to creep up on him. The teenage boy, Hansel, had a mischievous and carefree smile hanging on his lips. As he listened to the man though, his smile slipped a bit.

“Wait, who are you again?” He asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

The older man heaved a sigh, shooting Hansel an almost exasperated look, as though this was something he had to deal with constantly. “I’m your father Hansel. The King of Ashwood.”

When he heard that, Hansel laughed and shook his head. “Sorry about that Father. You know I’m really forgetful.”

His father smiled a bit too, but the expression didn’t seem without effort. Forgetful wasn’t even beginning to describe Hansel’s rather fragmented memory. Something was definitely broken in his son’s brain. The King just had no idea what it was.

“Like I was saying, Hansel,” His father tried to pull them back on topic. “Don’t forget what you’re supposed to be doing in Ascavia.”He eyed his son meaningfully. “I want either you or Gretel to secure the throne. So that means be on your absolute best behavior, alright?” As he said the last few words, his eyes drifted down towards Hansel’s belt, where a wicked looking knife sat sheathed.

“But Father-!” Hansel was about to protest, but he could tell from the stormy look on his father’s face that an argument would go nowhere. Even if he talked about how relishing it was to stick a knife into a person’s stomach and watch the blood flow out like a river, it wouldn’t do him any good. His father was dead set against violence. He backed off, letting his attention instead greet the empty grounds. Aside from the carriage, the black horses and the patiently waiting driver, they were alone. Someone was missing. Who? Oh yes, his sister.

“Father, where’s Gretel?”

The King had returned to absentmindedly smoothing out his cloak, but when he heard Hansel’s words, he looked back up. “Oh, Gretel is leaving in a separate carriage later. I thought it would be safer if you two went individually. You’ll meet up with her later at Ascavia.”

“Ah, I see.” Hansel grinned again before opening the door to the carriage and setting one foot inside. “Well, I think I’ll be off now Father. Take care, alright?”

Realizing that the time for departure had come, the driver got into his seat and took the reins of the horses. The King gave a slight wave as the carriage rattled down the paved road. He wondered if he would see Hansel again. Then again, was that really Hansel that was leaving him? Ten years ago, his son had been an extremely sweet boy who wouldn’t have hurt a fly. After returning from the woods though, Hansel had changed. He was still as sweet and carefree as ever, but he had developed an affinity for violence and blood and he could become explosive and dangerous without warning. He definitely suffered from some sort of mental breakdown. There was no other explanation for his forgetfulness and constant mood swings. The King didn’t know what happened in the forest so many years ago, and he had never dared to ask. But whatever it was, it had changed his two sweet children into cold-blooded murderers. He couldn’t relate to them anymore. It was this reason that prevented the King from shouting one last goodbye before the carriage turned the bend in the road and was completely out of earshot.



Ashwood was roughly three-quarters of a day’s distance away from Ascavia. A relatively short trip compared to many of the other Kingdoms. The minute that Hansel settled down into the velvet seats at the back of the carriage, he had succumbed to sleep. Last night he had gotten only two hours of sleep, spending the rest of the evening jostling around with friends in the castle’s supposedly haunted basements. When his eyes opened again, he could not remember exactly where he was or even who he was. That wasn’t an uncommon development though. Hansel had learned after years of the same experience to simply sit around and wait for his mind to sort out the puzzle pieces and come up with a coherent explanation for his situation. Sure enough, after sitting silently for a few moments and bouncing along to the rhythm of the carriage, Hansel managed to recollect enough of his memories to understand that his father, the King of Ashwood, had sent him along with Gretel to another Kingdom. Unfortunately, he couldn’t remember for the life of him why he was being sent there. All he could hazily recollect was his father’s statement earlier that morning. ‘Don’t forget your purpose’. Well, he had gone and done exactly that. Forget what he was supposed to be doing. Fortunately, Gretel would remind him soon enough. Wait, where was Gretel? Oh right, she was coming in a separate carriage as a safety precaution.

With his memories assorted back in place, Hansel grinned and crossed one leg over the other. The small window to his left was covered with a velvet drape, and he moved it back slightly. Outside, it was well into the afternoon and the sun was making its journey towards the west. A golden light pierced the window and he had to squint his eyes to make out his surroundings properly. The carriage was going at a fast speed, and he could just make out the blurry outlines of trees lining both sides of the road. He craned his neck, looking to see what was up ahead. It was just the same stretch of trees and road. It appeared as though they were nowhere near their destination.
Hansel leaned back into his seat and squirmed a little bit to get comfortable. His normally unruly brown hair was even more tousled as a result of sleeping, and that combined with his huge grin gave him the appearance of a madman. So when the driver stopped the carriage a few minutes later to see how his charge was doing, he did a double take.

“Oh, M-Master Hansel. Y-You’re awake.”

The driver, whose name was Peter, was a nervous and fidgety man who always steered clear of the children of the royal family. He had heard that both the son and daughter were mentally unstable, and it seemed as though this young man in the back of his carriage fit the description that was flying around the castle. Peter deeply resented the fact that his colleague Brent, who was originally supposed to be making this trip, somehow fell ill the night before. As a result, he had been left with what he felt was a risky and dangerous job. In the time that Hansel had been sleeping, Peter had nervously checked over his shoulder every twenty minutes in fear that the boy would wake up and do something horrid. Now that he was awake...

“Yes I am!”

Hansel replied cheerfully, stretching his long limbs and grinning. “Where are we right now?”

Peter had heard about Hansel’s horrible memory, so he was well prepared with his answer. “W-Well, Master. We’re h-headed towards the c-city of Ascavia. I t-think it’ll be a little l-longer until we arrive though.” He wondered if Hansel would throw a fit at the idea of having to wait any longer. To his surprise though, the teen simply nodded before leaning forward abruptly and asking excitedly,

“Hey, what’s this Ascavia like?”

Hansel had a burning curiosity to figure out what this Kingdom was like, as either he or Gretchen could certainly rule it one day. Peter started slightly at the question, unsure how to answer. He had resided in Ascavia for a few years when he was still a young man in his twenties, and didn’t know a lot about the city. However, he could tell that Hansel desperately wanted an answer, so he decided to give it a go with his limited knowledge.

“Well, Master...”



Two hours later, a black carriage with uniformly black horses and a very small and fidgety driver pulled up at the grand gateway to the Ascavia palace. When the vehicle clambered up the road, all the guards snapped to attention, eyes fixed keenly on the doors of the carriage. Peter, nervous as always, hopped down from his seat and scurried towards the carriage doors. Hansel watched through the window with some amusement as the man tried to open the door and lost hold of the grip. He was grateful for the extra time though. It meant a few extra seconds for him to prepare himself to look and act the part of a proper Prince.

When Peter did finally manage to yank the door open in a rather undignified fashion, Hansel rose from his seat and clambered out of the carriage, cloak bundled up in his hands. As he stepped out into the evening light, he calmly rose to his full height of over six feet and stared at the guards in front of him. He offered a small smile, though nothing near his usual mischievous one.

“Where is my sister Gretel?”

His tone was light, but also direct and forceful. It was clear that he wanted to be answered immediately. One of the guards bowed and muttered towards the ground, “She is yet to arrive, Prince Hansel. Perhaps while you wait, we can have you situated in your designated bedchamber?”

“What a kind offer, but no I’ll have to decline.” Hansel replied as politely as he was able to. He couldn’t muster this guise for much longer. What he really wanted to do was flee from here, or better yet, slay these talkative guards.

His hand twitched, reaching for the knife, but he thought better. Rather, he diplomatically said, “I think I’ll wait here for her.”
With his mind made up, the Prince settled down in a spot near the gate. The guards and Peter, realizing they could do nothing else, headed their separate ways. The guards back to their posts, and Peter back into his carriage to commence the long ride home.

"Little Red, Little Red, are you awake?"

Scarlet lifted her eyelids, revealing her dark gray irises. She found herself staring straight into the darkness, broken only by a pair of malicious, glowing red eyes. She caught a glimpse of gleaming ivory fangs. She did not scream. She did not try to run away. She only blinked, and said:

"What red eyes you have."

At once, the eyes and fangs dissipated, and Scarlet caught sight of the pink light of dawn filtering though the trees and streaming into her room through a half-opened window. She sat up and ran her hands through her lengthy black hair. She blinked again and looked towards the floor. There was the wolf, her wolf, sitting placidly by her bedside. A large pool of blood was on the floor in the middle of the room, and bloody pawprints led to where the wolf now sat. There was no carcass in sight. Typical. With a soft smile, she rose out of her bed and took her crimson hood of the wall. As she tied the string aorund her neck and let the cloak fall about her shoulders, she spoke to the wolf without looking at him, gazing at her reflection in the mirror instead.

"I haven't summoned you. It's odd to see you here when I haven't summoned you. Yet you have woken me up. Why is that?"

The wolf seemed to chuckle, blood dripping from its exposed fangs. "That imbecile huntsman wouldn’t have done it. You do remember your duty in Ascavia, don’t you, Scar? I took the liberty of making sure that you aren’t late. No need to thank me.”

She gazed at herself for a moment in the mirror, processing what the wolf had said. “Oh,” she breathed. “I had almost forgotten.” She blinked her gray eyes once more and turned from the mirror, stepping in the middle of the room, right in the center of the blood pool. She crouched down and touched the crimson liquid with the tip of her index finger.

“Oh,” she whispered, half to herself. “How beautiful.”

---

The wolf had gone to fetch the huntsman, and then he disappeared. Scarlet boarded the carriage just in time to see the huntsman scramble into view and hop inside, next to her. Quincy was his name, and he was a rather amusing fellow.

“Good morning, miss,” he greeted her, tipping his hat to her. He signalled to the driver to go. As they rumbled down the woodland road, Quincy whistled a tune. Scarlet laughed a little to herself.

“So tell me, Quincy,” she began. “How was your wake-up?”

He sighed mock-dramatically. “Oh God, it was horrid. Do you realize how freaky that pet of yours is?”

Scarlet laughed again. “How many times do I have to tell you? He is not my pet. Only my servant for a time.”

“How long of a time?”

“Long enough.”

---

After what seemed like an eternity, the carriage rumbled into view of the castle, grand gates and all. It was here that her fate lay. The horses seemed to pick up speed as they approached. Scarlet noticed two people by the gates. “Halt by the gates,” she ordered the driver, who obliged.

The carriage drew to a stop and Scarlet looked out the window at the two. It was a young man and a young woman, obviously siblings. She concentrated. If one had looked close enough, one would have seen a bloody red tinge come to Scarlet’s gray eyes. The Spying Eyes. As she looked again at the two, she saw them differently. Killers. She smiled softly. It appeared they had something in common already.

“Scarlet, what are you doing?” Quincy hissed behind her. “Saying hello,” she murmured in reply.

“Hello there,” she called out to the children, the red tinge dissapearing from her eyes.

Hansel didn't like waiting. Absolutely hated it in fact. He leaned further into the gate, the sharp black metal piercing into his back and causing a thoroughly uncomfortable sensation. He wiggled slightly, allowing the pain to pass through his skin and settle into the small of his back, where it was cushioned by the heavy folds of his vest. How long had he been waiting like this? He didn't know, but one thing was certain. Peter had rattled his carriage down the road a while back, and many of the guards had abandoned their positions at the gate as the sun settled further and further into the west and day gradually became blanketed by the darkness of oncoming night. How much longer would it take for Gretel to arrive? It seemed as though she surely wouldn't arrive until the night was full-fledged. Impatient, Hansel began wiggling again. When this movement wasn't enough to relieve him of his agitation, he detached himself from the wall and started pacing. The more he paced, the greater the agitation and frustration inside his mind. Finally, after a few minutes, he decided that, if Gretel could not arrive in the next few minutes, he would take his anger out on the nearest person at hand: namely the unfortunate guards a few steps away.

As though some sort of fate had willed it, a carriage pulled up at that moment. Hansel could tell immediately from the great tree carved into the carriage side on the right side of the door that it was, indeed, a carriage from the Kingdom of Ashwood. That meant only one thing: Gretel had arrived. As he waited for his little sister to come out of the carriage, Steven nearly fell as he clambered out of the driver's seat. Knowing he'd have to wait even longer, Hansel wanted to push the man out of the way and open the door himself. This driver was nothing but a hindrance after all. Maybe Hansel should just get rid of him. Before he could make up his mind though, Steven had somehow managed to untangle himself off the ground and leap with uncommon speed to the carriage door and open it. A second later, Gretel appeared. With her blue-white dress, ballet flats and porcelain like face, she didn't seem like a killer. Yet Hansel could smell that there was blood on her. He grinned immediately, crossing the few steps towards her and slinging an arm over her shoulder.
"Do you know how long you've kept me waiting Gretel?"

He asked playfully, rubbing her shoulder vigorously with his hand. As he did so, he caught the whiff of blood again coming from her skin, and his grin broadened.

"Oh, it seems as though you've been at it again. Who was the unfortunate victim this time?"

Hansel knew that it was probably one of the unfortunate maids that attended to Gretel. All those girls never seemed to last more than a month in his sister's murderous hands. The minute one of them made even the slightest mistake, she would find herself with a knife in her throat and a premature visit to the god of death-whomever that may be.

As he fussed around playfully with his sister, another carriage pulled up on the same road. Hansel glanced at it out of the corner of his eye. It was from a Kingdom that he didn't recognize-or maybe one that he just couldn't remember. From inside, he could barely make out the silhouette of a girl with a red hood. How strange. She appeared to be staring intently at the the two of them, and he instinctively moved a bit closer to his sister. A silly move really. Gretel didn't need anyone to protect her. In fact, out of the two, she was definitely the one more capable of killing. After all, if his memory was to be relied on, it was her that pushed the witch into the oven all those years ago.

The door to the mysterious carriage opened, and Hansel's playful grip on Gretel's shoulder turned a little tense as the girl inside stepped out. She greeted the two, and while her 'hello' seemed to be kind enough, he wasn't about to let his guard down. Still, two could play at the same game.

Hansel grinned his usual cheerful grin, and laughed.

"Hi! Who are you?"

Gretel chuckled at her brother as he sling his arm over her shoulder. "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting Hansel.." She said softly as she smirked.

"It's seems it's been Grace this time, father gotten a nasty sight walking in on me.." She said giggling as she stare at her brother. She frown when his playful grip on her shoulder turned a little tense as she look where he was looking to see a girl, a girl with a red hood. She smirked as the girl came over and greeted them with an 'Hello there' as Gretel smirk widen as she look the girl up and down, she clearly didn't trust her but she was the kind of girl who liked playing games with others as she wave at the girl.


"Hello, what's your name?" She said sweetly, as she smiled innocently, but there is nothing innocent about her, in fact people are so gullible now a days, they think she wouldn't hurt a fly, but clearly she could kill you in seconds. She love being two different people, one who use to been the sweet innocent girl, now the bloodthirsty killer who would love to bathe in an tub of blood like always.


She tilted her head to the side as she waited for an answer, while pulling her brother closer to herself, in case the girl will try anything foolish as to try to harm one of them. She was growing impatience like always but she will control it, since she isn't an heartless killer no more, oh no she is now the sweet little Gretel that she want the others to believe she is. Until she leaves this place, she has to act like the old Gretel who wouldn't hurt a fly, though it be difficult since her love for killing others. But she loves acting, making people believe lies, when clearly they have two killers close by.

Scarlet had never seen such cheesy acting in her life. It almost made her laugh aloud to see the girl smiling like an sweet, innocent little child. Scarlet didn't need the Spying Eyes to tell her that there was something seriously off about the girl, whatever her name was. Someone she obviously couldn't trust. Instead of laughing her head off at the almost comical acting, she brightened her smile and answered the girl's question. 

"Why, my name is Scarlet. Scarlet St. Lucas. But, you can call me 'Little Red' if you wish. An old nickname of mine. Long story. May I ask your names?"

The boy, while a bit more sincere looking than his companion, was also obviously not what he seemed. Scarlet felt a twinge of amusement. These two, whoever they were, while she was unable to trust them whatsoever, would most certainly be amusing to observe. 

Hansel resisted the urge to roll his eyes when Gretel slipped into her cute and sweet facade. Or rather, what she thought was her cute and sweet facade. In reality, Gretel was such a horrible actor that even a blind man would not have been fooled by her attempts to disguise her murderous nature. He never bothered telling her this though, because he feared that she might cut his head off out of anger. Family bonds could go only so far in the face of a murderous girl's rage. He didn't feel like dying yet. So he let her go on and believe that she was fooling everyone. He never bothered though. No, Hansel believed that staying true to himself was the best approach in any situation. Besides, in his nineteen years of experience, he had come to realize that disguises could take one only so far in life. Sooner or later, the truth was bound to slip out. It was an indisputable and incontrovertible law-like gravity. What goes up, must come down. What stays hidden must be revealed.

The girl in front of the duo introduced herself as 'Scarlet St. Lucas', but Hansel didn't like that name. It was much too stuffy and uptight. Little Red sounded so much better. He briefly wondered where in the world a girl like her could have gotten such a childish nickname. What was she exactly? He surveyed her for a few seconds, taking in her stature, her dress, her seemingly pleasant mannerisms. Well, if she was acting, she was certainly twenty times better at the art then Gretel would ever be. When she bothered to ask their names, Hansel didn't even hesitate twice to respond. After all, there was no harm in Scarlet figuring out who the two of them were.

"Me, I'm Hansel. Hansel Lorraine. And this,"

He reached towards the side and scooped his little sister into the nook of his elbow, pressing the back of her hand against the underside of his arm. He knew that she didn't like it when he did that, but for the sake of appearance, she would lay off scolding him for a while.

"This is my younger sister Gretel. Right, Gretel?"

To the innocent bystander, it seemed as though Hansel was asking a rhetorical question. In reality though, he was asking Gretel for real. It wasn't unusual for Hansel to completely forget who he was-and who his sister was as well. He had paid a price to earn his skills as a hunter and assassin. That price had been his memory function. Something was definitely broken inside his head.

Scarlet blinked. The boy's, Hansel's, question seemed odd. Like he was asking for real. Maybe he was just jesting. Maybe not. Either way, Scarlet was weirded out by the two. But in different ways. The girl, Gretel, was obviously sick, twisted, perhaps even manipulative. Not to mention a terrible actor. She was the kind of weird that made Scarlet unsure wether she wanted to die laughing or die hurling her guts out. She was sure the wolf would die laughing, thought. Hansel was a different weird. The kind of fascinating weird. It made Scarlet curious. She wanted to know what was going on inside his head, what his quirk was. Either way, the pair certainly was very entertaining. Scarlet would be most interested in observing the brother and sister in the future, testing them, perhaps. 

She tilted her head at the two and gradually regained that faint, distant smile of hers and blinked. "Well, it was lovely meeting you two. I look forward to conversing you in the future." With that, she sat back in her seat and motioned to the driver, who proceeded through the gate. Quincy was fixing her with the weirdest look, as though she had two heads. She just laughed softly and fixed her eyes on the magnificent palace ahead.