Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

alban Knox is a normal person with a normal life. he is a kind individual that looks out for others and doesn't believe in the materialistic views most this age has. he is a normal person working in a konbini, and that's the solid truth.

so, being the totally normal person he is, he was walking around one of the busiest streets of the city, one filled with businessmen and women and workers. he was of course doing what any normal citizen would be doing, people watching.

alban loved to look at people. they were all so different, from different ages to different working status. after so long people watching he could he tell what they worked in by the wrinkles of their clothes, by the bags under their eyes and especially by their belongings.

many of the people walking wore fancy watches, shiny pearls, glittering headpieces and loud jewellery. alban loved staring at those as it really told you the person's social status. he was a completely normal person watching ordinary people go through their life. he just had a small fixation on things like those, but that's what a normal person does, right?

whiles walking down the street, alban was admiring a pearl necklace. it shone in the early morning light, glinting off the small pieces of gold and titanium that were held within.

alban wasn't one for necklaces, especially not for pearl ones, but he saw them in the pocket of this one man's trousers and he couldn't help but taking a closer look.

it was completely normal to admire what others had, no?

as time went on, the more things alban had decided to admire. a fake piercing with a ruby inside, a ring made out of osmium that shone blue, a hairclip made out of gold, a handkerchief that was hanging out a bit too much for Alban's comfort, a bracelet that shone in a myriad of different colours, a credit card that was peaking out of a wallet, a pen from someone's open bag, and a lot more things he had shoved in the giant pockets of his pants and jacket.

he was on his way home, in a much brighter mood than he was before. observing and admiring all those shiny pieces were quite the refresher.

however, right in front of him, walking briskly down the sidewalk, was a man with long black hair, half of it put up in a ponytail, letting the purple accents be seen. he had purple eyes that shone brightly in the early morning light. that was what caught Alban's eye.

eyes, while they do reflect light, do not shine, however this strangers eyes had a glow around them, it felt mystifying. alban couldn't look away. he was entranced.

but he was a normal person, and a normal person does not gawk at a random person on the street, so he adverts his gaze, his eyes trailing the sides of his body until he sees a wallet sticking out a bit too much outside.

so as a kind, normal and law-abiding citizen he is, when he walked past the guy, his hands had removed the object from his pocket, the guy too busy walking quickly to get to work to even realise what had happened.

alban was satisfied. and so he went home, walking through the dark alleys until he reached his apartment.

once home, alban had dropped his haul on the dining room table. however there was one key item that alban was looking forwards to. the man with the glowing eyes' wallet.

it wasn't anything fancy, which had made the konbini worker sad (he had expected something more grandiose from a person that enthralling), it was small and thin, an indicator that there wasn't much inside, with a pattern on the outside, one resembling an eye and a block-y looking person, something akin to what a kid would draw when they were asked to draw a person. with rectangle arms and legs, no neck and a circular head, safe to say, that odd guy was definetly into some weird things, alban guessed.

however, now came the good part: opening it and seeing all its contents. alban was hoping it had money inside, or maybe even a credit card, but what he was most looking forwards to was finally knowing who the mystery person is.

alban had carefully grabbed the wallet, gloves hands making sure not to put too much pressure on it. his fingers had prodded around the wallet, looking for anything that could resemble a defence mechanism. he really didn't want to have to explain himself again to the police, especially not sunny brisko, which for some reason that maniac had decided to try to get into every small offence alban made. alban tsked mentally thinking about the vsf officer.

back to the wallet, alban was sure enough that he could open the wallet and be just fine. so, with jittery hands, gleaming eyes awaiting for the treasures within and his heart beating with anticipation, alban opened the wallet.

all his excitement went crashing down and all his predictions were thrown uselessly to the ground.

inside the wallet was nothing but a piece of paper that fell out, landing on the pile of goods on his table.

albans eyes hardened and he clenched his jaw.

inside the piece of paper was written in cursive the following words:

'meet me at midnight at the top of the clock tower in the city centre, I have a job you might be interested in.

oh and make sure to bring my wallet with you'

alban was pissed. or was he frustrated. or maybe tense, or even sorrowful.

he hadn't taken a look at the rest of the gleaming jewellery since he read the note. all he did was pace around his apartment.

sure he could call it a bluff, something to scare away people, but the konbini worker knew otherwise.

the clocktower was the place where local phantom thief had stolen the giant precious stone that lived in the middle, making the clock in the clocktower work. it was also rumoured to be where said phantom thief lives, or makes his plans, or even stashed the jewellery, considering the fact that no one could get to the top of the clock tower, it was completely locked and closed off.

that glowing-eyed guy knew alban would take his wallet. he knew what the konbini worker did in his free time and used it to his advantage. and that pissed alban off.

the fact that someone could read his movements so clearly. that his own pastime was used against him. in frustrated the brown haired man so much.

alban was fine with many things in this life, but he hated people being able to read him.

he was in the end a normal person doing normal person things. there was nothing, absolutely nothing special about him.

alban had a horrible rest of the day. he never even opened shop.

right before midnight, alban was now walking up the stairs to the top of the clocktower. he had ditched the black turtleneck and white chequered blouse in favour of his 'night time' clothing. he now wore a full black jersey with orange highlights and a black jacket on top with an orange hood.

the 'night time' outfit was more practical, especially at night, with it's built-in gadgets to get away, several pockets with weapons on the go to protect himself. he even wore some sound-enhancing gadgets so he could hear everything more clearly. this was all just for a normal citizen to protect himself, I mean, who knows what could happen at night in elysium. alban definitely didn't want any trouble, that's for sure, because a normal citizen wants to stay out of conflict.

his glasses? his glasses were a stylistic choice, who says you can't protect yourself and look good in the meantime.

while alban was pondering why he was even going to meet the mysterious person (maybe he just wanted to see those glowing eyes once more, maybe?), he had reached the top.

and while the normal person, well maybe not just the normal person as many policemen and criminals have tried to break in, wouldn't be able to get in, alban was not a normal person.

he had created a custom mechanism, one that doesn't exist in the archives of the government, to open the reinforced door. it was by no means a simple mechanism, and it was ridiculously long to deter anyone from opening it. the door was halfway indestructible as alban made sure it's composition was airtight (he still has no idea how he made the door as he had been in a state of delirium after days of not sleeping trying to make said door, but he decided to not linger on that thought).

so alban was even more frustrated that someone had been able to get in.

once inputting the last puzzle of the door, alban prepared himself not only mentally for whomever he may have pissed off, but also physically. his hands were right next to several built-in gadgets, making sure to have everything within reach just in case.

the door opened and he was met with the familiar glow of the faint headlight in the centre of the room, all the stones, jewellery and other shiny goods shining on the walls.

there, on top of his desk, sat a lone figure, it's tall shadow looming over alban, it's dark outline only emphasised the unnatural glow of its purple eyes.

alban walked in and closed the door, staring at the figure tensely.

"welcome, dear phantom thief, or should I say, alban knox"