Chapter Text
His eyes snapped open. Keith rolled on his side, yawning and glancing at the clock of his night table before freezing with his mouth wide open; he had overslept. “Shit” he muttered as he flung his legs to the side of the bed.
Once fully dressed and with the brim of his top hat between his teeth, the young man locked the door of the Shirogane residence and stepped into the sidewalk. Placing the hat on its rightful place, Keith stared at the crowded street: people of all ages gathered to see the military parade, the fighter aircrafts waving Altea’s flag above them while the army marched under the anthem’s rhythm. The young man sighed, watching the exciting faces of the capital; he would never understand why the war with Galra Empire made them smile. The two neighboring countries had a long history of hostilities and it’d been almost a year since the warfare broke out. Whenever Keith heard people cheering, he started wondering if they realized the Capital could be bombed at anytime.
With the ongoing display of the country’s power on the main streets, he had no option but to take the side alleys and passageways if he wanted to get quickly to the shop. The Shirogane family had been taking care of him since he could remember and Keith had naturally helped and worked at their tailor shop in return as he grew up. Over the years he learned the job well enough to run it with his brother Takashi, ‘Shiro’ for him.
The steady thump of his feet as he jogged through the empty and narrow streets echoed in his ears. He loosened the tie around his neck as a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. He hated being late, and having to take a longer route thanks to the parade only made it worse; he was already pretty moody.
But Keith’s inner bickering came to a stop as he turned right. Leaning against the wall, just a few inches away from him, there was a man and just by looking at him, Keith could tell his intentions.
“Whoa, someone’s in a rush” the man snickered as he took Keith in with a sweeping glance.
He clenched his fist; Shiro had instructed him to run off instantly in that kind of situation after Keith had fought with the first person who tried to rob him at knifepoint and had ended up with a few stitches. But his always serene brother didn’t understand that his blood boiled whenever adrenaline was pumped into his bloodstream and the need to beat up those little rats was strong on him.
With a sweeping glance of his own, Keith smiled at the stranger. The man arched an eyebrow. “What is it, boy, any funny idea?” with a crooked smirk, he glanced past Keith and nodded. “Good thing my friend is here too”
Before he could turn around, a large hand collided with the right side of his face. The surprise attack made Keith fall to the floor, stunned with a loud screeching in his ear.
A taller man joined the first one; they exchanged a look before glancing down at him as Keith narrowed his eyes at them. Both men burst into laughter. “Such a defiant glare” the man who had hit him said and the other one chuckled. Keith’s attempt to stand up only earned him a kick on the stomach. As he coughed, the smaller thief kneeled beside him. “We are truly thankful to the great parade and people hurrying through these streets” he smiled, and this time Keith could see the dirt of his teeth.
“That’s right, the spectacle is awesome!” a new voice beamed.
The three of them turned their heads to look at the man standing in the corner. His long brown hair was loosely tied over his shoulder. The whiteness of his suit contrasted with his dark olive skin, the blue shirt matching the color of his eyes. He shifted his gaze from Keith, still on the floor, to the two muggers, a wide grin plastered on his face. “It’s a wonderful show indeed, why don’t you go and have some fun?” he twirled his index finger.
“W-what?” the men muttered as their bodies started moving on their own accord, heading towards the main avenue. The brown haired guy waved a hand at them while they tried to glance back.
He looked down at Keith, who was staring at the two muggers walking away agape. He raised an eyebrow. “Still on the floor, pretty boy?” he asked, catching the attention of the other one. “Up, up” he snapped his fingers twice.
Keith glanced down as a rush of wind pulled him up on his feet. He patted his own clothes and noticed the dust was no longer attached to his black suit; he looked at the stranger with wide eyes. “H-how did you-”
The brown haired guy chuckled, folding his arms over his chest and raising a cocky eyebrow. “Never seen magic before?”
Keith barely shook his head. He had heard about little spells people bought from the so called wizards or witches, but he never believed in anything taken out of a fairy tale. Yet he couldn’t find any other explanation for the past few seconds of his life.
The guy seemed to be in his early twenties just like Keith. Slightly taller than him, the tight suit accentuated a slender body. When he glanced over his shoulder, Keith noticed his glittering blue pendants.
“How lucky of you I was running away from those gentlemen” he chirped, pointing behind him with his thumb.
Keith looked past him. Several meters away from them, two figures ran across the street in their direction. He was about to open his mouth when the young wizard yanked him by his hand. “Come on!” he cheered and darted off, dragging him along.
As they rushed through the streets, more men kept on popping out of nowhere, from the front, from the right or the left. After a few abrupt turns due to this, Keith realized he couldn’t really call them “men”. The things chasing after them were made out of a dark viscous substance: they tried to maintain a human form, but after clashing with each other in their hunt they were no longer distinguishable between them.
“What are those things?” he yelled, glancing back at the amorphous entities.
The guy with dark skin smirked over his shoulder. “Those are Haggar’s dummies!”
Keith narrowed his eyes at his answer: how was he supposed to know who Haggar was? He was about to remark this when the other male asked where he was going.
“To the Shirogane’s tailor shop” he said, looking around them. They were completely surrounded by the dark matter and they came to a halt for there was nowhere to run.
“Alright!” his savior mumbled, his left arm hugging Keith’s waist. “I will drop you off” he said, bending his knees and before Keith could muster a word of protest, they were several feet above the street. He was not proud of the shriek he let out at the top of his lungs on the way up.
“T-this isn’t r-real!” he stammered, his right arm instinctively circling around the wizard’s shoulders as his left hand fumbled and clenched the blue shirt. Keith couldn’t tear his eyes away from the ground in spite of the terrifying sight, the dark sea of creatures swirling beneath them and, the worst part of it: his feet kicking into thin air.
The other male laughed madly. “Of course it’s real!” his head tilted a little just to scrutinize Keith’s expression. “And you should be enjoying the flight” he whispered.
His words made him finally look up at his grin. “Now start walking normally” the brown haired guy instructed, and Keith glanced down at his feet. He hesitantly let go of his grip in the shirt and put down his arm.
Gravity seemed to ignore the two of them: they were walking in the air and the previous tight feeling of his chest was gone, his own laughter reverberating through it as his eyes scanned the ongoing parade beneath them. It was a breathtaking sight and Keith knew it was the most exciting moment of his life.
They started going down progressively, the shop’s roof coming into view along with the large sign which read ‘Shirogane’s’.
“I’m leaving you on the side street” the wizard informed and Keith nodded in response. A few seconds later, their feet touched the ground.
“That was incredible” was the first thing Keith could come up with.
The brown haired guy chuckled. “I thought you were going to pass out back then” he jeeringly said, putting his little finger on his left ear. “I can still hear your scream echoing in my head”
Keith frowned at his mocking tone. “Well, excuse me for not being used to fly” he hissed, folding his arms over his chest defensively.
The other male laughed again. “Oh, we forgot something” he pointed at Keith’s black mane. He smacked his hands together and when they came apart, the exact same top hat left behind on the alley was resting on one of them. “Don’t you have something to say?” he smirked mischievously, cramming the hat down over Keith’s eyes.
The black haired guy pushed it up with a scowl. “Thank you, I suppose, for the creepy creatures and a nice flight” his lips curled into a smile.
“For the creepy creatures and a nice flight” the wizard repeated with a nod and a grin. “See you later, pretty boy ” he winked at Keith, whose mouth opened a little at the nickname, before jumping into the air.
His purple eyes stared at him until he was out of sight. Keith slowly brought his hands up to his face and pressed his long fingers against his warm cheeks.
The bell on the door rang as Keith stepped in. From behind the counter at the end of the room, a black haired man straightened up. “Welcome to- oh, it’s you Keith” he smiled, dropping all formalities.
Keith put his hat on the hanger beside the door and took off his jacket. “Seriously, Shiro, why didn’t you wake me up before leaving?”
Shiro shrugged. “I tried, but you were really asleep” he explained, disappearing behind the counter again. “Besides, it’s not like we are going to have a lot of clients today”
Keith groaned. “It doesn’t matter, Shiro. I can’t be late to the shop” he folded up his sleeves as he stepped farther.
“Always worrying about this place” his brother’s muffled voice said. “No one is going to get mad because you showed up a few minutes later”
Keith shook his head, leaning on the table and peering at the kneeled man. “The least I can do for your family is respect the shop they worked so hard for. You already dropped the buttons?” he asked with arched eyebrows.
Shiro frowned at him. “It’s your family too, stop drawing a line between us. And yes, I was picking them up” he sighed, looking down at the scattered little disks.
The younger man chuckled. “I’ll give you a hand” he said, going around the table and getting down on his knees too.
“Say, Shiro” Keith said after a while. “Have you ever heard about magic?” he asked, the brown haired guy popping in his mind.
Shiro blinked at him. “Well, yes” his brother answered. “There’s old Jenkins in Clover street”
Keith shook his head. “I’m not talking about stupid little tricks from a swindler. I mean real magic”
The other man frowned as he thought. “There are certain rumors about wizards and witches going around. It’s said that they are even part of the war” he shrugged.
Keith’s eyebrows met in his brow. He thought about the sorcerer from earlier and couldn’t picture him participating on the armed conflict at all. “So, do we have a magician in Altea?”
“Hmm, people were fussing over a certain Lancelot these days” Shiro finally picked up the last button and they stood up. “Rumour has it he lives in a moving castle” he added, chuckling in disbelief. Keith smiled but couldn’t laugh along with him after the events of that morning. “Anyway, why are you suddenly asking about this?” Shiro asked curious.
“I just…” Keith trailed off, not being able to tell him about his first encounter with magic. He was struggling to find the words when the ring of the bell announced a new customer. They instantly looked at the door and smiled to the man. “Welcome to Shirogane’s”
“Keith, do you mind closing? Mr Pikes asked me to deliver this since he couldn't come”
He looked up at Shiro putting on his jacket in a rush. “Of course not” he smiled at his brother who was already at the door.
“Thanks, good night!” Shiro waved his hand already stepping outside.
Keith waved back until the door closed behind him. He swept the room with a glance, looking at the few things out of place he had to put away and stood up with a sigh.
When he heard the bell, he turned around with a frown: it was pretty late and quite obvious every shop was closed by then, but the weirdest thing was that Keith could swear he had already locked the entrance.
The woman standing on the door frame looked beyond suspicious. Her long white hair and the purple coat wrapped around her hump made him think she was an old lady, the yellow details of the fabric catching his attention. Her garments were not altean in the least, the obscure vibe they emanated contrasting greatly with the colourful nature of the country.The hood pulled up to her head covered her eyes completely and Keith couldn’t help the uneasiness taking over him. Nonetheless, he gulped and tried to pull out a smile. “I’m sorry madam, we are closed” he said, walking up to her.
“His magic still lingers over you” her croaky voice said, stepping closer to him. Keith could only blink as the stranger grasped his wrist. “What a foolish boy” she snickered.
Keith wouldn’t know how to describe what happened next. He was looking at her pointy teeth at one second and the next one he was staggering back, the feeling of a wave crashing on him speeding up his heartbeat. Something was coming out from her hold on him, and he remembered the time he flew with the wizard for he sensed the same foreign force washing over him: magic. The arm of the guy with dark olive skin made him feel lighter and able to fly, whereas the witch’s touch was poisonous; when she let go of his arm Keith fell on his knees, the heaviness in his head clouding his senses.
“My regards to Lancelot” were her last words as she turned around and left the shop, the door clicking behind her and silence filling the place.
Keith groaned still on all fours; he opened his eyes when the world stopped spinning around. As he had expected, there was no trace of her left behind except for himself. Taking a deep breath, he stood up and started looking at his body, searching for any sign of a curse; when he found none, he folded his arms over his chest. What was he supposed to do after such encounter with a witch?
Her words echoed in his mind. Apparently, the same wizard people were gossiping about in town was the same guy of the morning and the same Lancelot connected to that woman. Thinking back, meeting the brown haired guy only caused him trouble, weird creatures and an ugly witch popping out in his life; had he known all of this, Keith would have chosen the two muggers in the alley and a normal day, thank you very much.
He sighed deeply with no idea of what to do. In the end he opted to do what he was asked for and grabbed the keys on the counter. He went to the hanger and took his jacket; not until he tried to put on his hat did he noticed something off.
It wouldn’t go down properly, his ears seemed to be the problem. Which was really strange taking into account that the hat fitted him perfectly… it was at that moment that he patted them.
They were bigger, way bigger. And freakishly furred. Keith’s eyes widened; he stumbled through the room to the nearest full mirror and gaped at his reflection.
The Keith gaping back from the surface was completely normal except for the purple cat ears on his head. His arms quivered a bit as he brought his hands up to touch them once more; upon stroking the soft hair, he shrieked.