Tales Of The Underlands (jjba part 5 Wonderland AU)

The Golden Sorcerer

When you woke up that morning you were surprised that neither Narancia nor Fugo or Mista were waiting for you. So you made your way over to the food tent, as you had called it in your head, by yourself.

Going inside made a shock run through your veins. At one of the bigger tables sat Prosciutto, Pesci, Melone, Ghiaccio and Formaggio, eating their breakfast unbothered. Meanwhile you saw Illuso standing in front of one of Bucciaratis soldiers, said man seething with anger, was being held back by Mista and Fugo, while Narancia was trying to calm him down.

Illuso himself didn't look too happy and his face had warped into an angry scowl. As you got closer you could make out Narancias words.

"We understand that you're angry! But they are one of us now, I promise!" his panicked sounding voice wasn't really convincing.

A few tables over sat Abbaccio downing a glass of wine before he stood up to take care of the situation himself.

"Hey!" Abbaccios call made the whole tent go quiet, "If you got any problems with Bucciaratis decisions, you have to take it up with me. And I'm sure you don't want that." his hand was resting on the hilt of his sword.

You wondered how Abbaccio became such a good fighter, as Narancia once told you that he was mainly responsible for collecting useful information for Bucciarati and his plans.

Everyone at camp knew that Abbaccio was not to be underestimated, he was one of their best swordsman, even before he started working under Bucciarati.

The Man let out an angry huff, before he ripped his arms out of Mista and Fugos grip, "Don't tell me that you, out of all people, have a right to talk about forgiveness." the man spat at the ground in front of him and stomped away, back to his seat.

You expected Abbaccio to lash out at him and start a fight, but all he did was glare.

Everyone turned back to their meals and acted like the scene never happened.

You noticed Fragola standing next to you at the entrance, her eyes wide in shock.
"That he would dare to say something like that..." she muttered.

"Why, what was he implying?" you asked, your interest peaked.

She looked at you like she hadn't noticed that you were there, "Nothing important." she quickly changed the topic, "Mista told me you were looking for me yesterday to train, I was guarding the camp entrance, but if you want I can train with you today?" her brown eyes were kind when she looked upon you. Fragola was probably in her mid thirties, she reminded you of an older sister of sorts.

" Oh thank you, but that won't be necessary. I can train with Narancia again."you thanked her for her offer.

She just shrugged and bid you goodbye, joining her comrades at one of the tables.

What you said was partly the truth, during your time there you had noticed that Narancia had a loose tongue, so if you wanted to know something about someone, he would be the one to tell you, mostly by accident.

You made your way over to the table where Illuso just sat down to continue his breakfast.

Melone was the the first one to notice you standing there, giving you a grin. "Nice to see you again little human, I thought you forgot about us." he liked his lips.

"As if she could forget your creepy behavior, Melone. I bet she had nightmares because of you." Formaggio chimed in, before Prosciutto gave both of them a slight slap on the back of their heads as a sign to stop it.

"How have you been in the meantime?" you asked, directing your question at all of them.

"Nothing special happened, we were stuck in that tent, trying to not gag Ghiaccio." Prosciutto grumbled and got approving nods from the rest of the table, except for Ghiaccio, who looked ready to cause another scene.

"Where is Risotto?"

"He is still sleeping." Illuso said, "The dinner must've exhausted him. I'm sure he will join us later."

"I hope that doesn't cause another turmoil." Pesci muttered.

You doubted that, from what you had seen and heard the people here feared Risotto too much to start a fight with him. They only whispered his name together with stories of monsters and victims torn to shreds, crying bloody tears and screaming for mercy.

You knew enough about propaganda to know that most of these stories were made up to make people fear him. In his past it must've served him well, but now it would prove to be an obstacle if he wanted people to trust him.

Speaking of the devil, Risotto entered the tent and for the second time that day everyone grew silent. Not only did Risottos height make him stand out, but his eyes too.

Risotto picked up his tray and made his way over to his men. Meanwhile he had all sorts of eyes upon him, different emotions behind each pair of them, but there was one thing they had all in common, all of them held a cold judgement in them.

He looked at the table where his team sat, the only eyes who looked at him like he was a person.

Then there were your eyes, he had expected to see at least a little bit of fear in them, a judgment of his past actions, anything really, since surely Bucciarati told you about his sins?

But there was only friendliness and understanding, a softness in your gaze that no one had shown him in years.

He sat down quietly and began eating, his thoughts drifting over to kind eyes which didn't glow like his did.

You had also sat down and began to eat your bread, making some light conversation with the others, asking them what they were planning on doing now that they could move around freely.

Melone told you about how he would get his 'research' books back, no matter what. They appeared to be very important to him.

The others wanted to get their stuff and check their tents out. Maybe they would join you again for dinner today. Bucciarati would want to talk to all of them regarding their role in the rebellion.

"Risotto, what are you planning on doing today?"

He looked at you shortly before his attention went back to his food. " I'll join training today. You were learning how to fight, right? Let's see what that boy taught you."

That was surprising, he acted like he didn't want you to fight at first and now he wanted to monitor your training? It was a bit irritating, but you tried to ignore it.

" I'm not that good yet, I barely know the basics and I don't have a companion to protect me either. It will take some time till I can truly defend myself."

"We will be more then happy to help." Melone said with a predatory grin.

The rest of the team stared at him in disgust.

"Why are you like this?" Ghiaccio screamed, right into his ear. For the first time, since you knew him, Melone flinched away from a person.

You chuckled. During the time you were separated from them, you didn't notice how much you missed them, the talks, the meals spent together and the dynamics in their group.

Having finished your breakfast you wanted to check on Mista, Narancia and Fugo. It was nice of them to step in earlier, even if they weren't obligated to.

Deciding to ask Fragola again, who also finished her breakfast, you were told that they would be in the tent near the outskirts of the camp, one with a view over the white cliffs.

As you neared said place, you could already make out their voices, they sounded excited. You heard greetings and questions of 'How are you' or 'How was your journey'. Did someone new arrive at the camp today?

Curious you peeked through the tent flaps and saw Fugo, Narancia and Mista surround a blond boy dressed in a dark blue coat with some embroidery that looked like ladybugs.

As if he had sensed your presence the boy turned around and caught you looking at him. He gave you a knowing smile before addressing you.

"You must be the human that Bucciarati wrote about. It is nice to meet you." he slightly bowed his head at you, "The others might have referred to me as the golden sorcerer, but you can call me by my name, Giorno Giovanna."