Chapter Text
1
Alwin
You’d think a rich life is an easy life, right? Wrong. Most of the “rich” and easy part of Alwin’s life was spent alone, bored, or neglected. He’d spent the years after his recent riches alone in his room.
He enjoyed the simple pleasures of wealth to keep him from going mad with loneliness. He owned an extensive library connected to his room, with unnecessarily extravagant golden rims on the edges and bright royal reds that made his eyes hurt if he looked at them too long. He used to spend hours in that library, reading every fantasy novel he could get his paws on and wishing for the whimsical magical adventures that the people his age in the novels lived. When he finished the fantasy novels, he started on the nonfiction fiction, and then straight encyclopedias. Reading about fun facts about amphibians and reptiles and fish and birds bored him out of his mind, but it was preferable to staring off into space for hours on end.
Maybe once or twice a month, his father would have a discussion with him, discussing trivial matters like the weather, or how Alwin’s day was. It wasn’t much, but Alwin looked forward to it. He didn’t like his father, or at least, didn’t want to. Maxi hadn’t been an active part of Alwin’s life since his mother, Ida, had passed away nine years ago, when Alwin was twelve. He’d confined himself to his room to grieve, refusing to take any action to care for his son—or work a job to make any wage.
After repeatedly missing his rent, Maxi was evicted. Even then, he refused to do anything. He’d spend hours on end staring blankly at the dirtied brick wall at the end of the alley the two slept against, like in a moment, she’d reappear. This left Alwin to take matters into his own paws. He learned to be quick and nimble—a good pickpocket—not that that mattered after his father met up with an old friend.
The cat was maybe half a foot taller than his father, with kind, interesting eyes. The fur around his eyes was tinted a bit brighter, like fake square glasses. Based on the sleek, well-groomed look of the cat’s fur, he was clearly wealthy, but he wasn’t flaunting it, which was new, and almost disappointed Alwin, who’d been wanting to try out a new pickpocketing technique. The cat introduced himself as Fritz. Fritz was a prince—well, not literally, the monarchy was long dead—he had a mansion comparable to a palace. He kept shooting glances at Maxi, to see if he was impressed. Maxi was most definitely impressed; his eyes lit up in a way Alwin hadn’t seen for nine years.
Alwin was glad to see his father so happy, but he was also puzzled. He stared at Fritz with a bewildered look, as if to ask, are you really stupid enough to give a bunch of poor beggars a home in a mansion?
Fritz’s response was a kind smile—no, that was beyond kind, a sort of strange excitement to be throwing out money to them. Alwin’s suspicion only grew the more he stared at this rich stranger, and the mansion he was practically giving away. Had he even seen how messy Maxi could be?
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His suspicions had practically faded away after a month of living in the mansion with Fritz. If the guy had intentions to hurt them, he probably wouldn’t have tolerated them that long. Alwin knew he wouldn’t tolerate living with himself if he had the choice. He still wondered about Fritz’s intentions, but he shrugged it off. He supposed it wasn’t really his business.
He sat in his room, bored stiff as always, pondering his life and how everything had turned so dull and uneventful. He could even claim that he enjoyed living on the streets more. At least on the streets he had some form of entertainment, and he could meet and talk with Aozora, a cat that lived with her family in a small, shabby corner. It was strangely comforting to see that small living space tucked away, with its red ivy edging its way up the cheap stone ridges. He would easily give up this posh life to see it again.
Maxi barged in, interrupting his dazed, lost in thought state. Maxi’s eyes were wild and dark, the same way they’d been when Alwin’s mother had passed. He scrambled against the smooth wood floors, knocking over a stack of books Alwin had beside his door, and stumbled in in a craze, almost drunken, which was abnormal for Maxi, because he usually wouldn’t remember Alwin’s existence if he was drunk, though that wouldn’t be too far from normal. It reminded him a bit of bees infected with a parasite he’d read about, Apocephalus borealis.
Maxi tripped over the pile of books and faceplanted on the extravagant carpet that blanketed the floor of his room, which didn’t seem to do much to carpet his fall. He stumbled forward, claws continuing to dig into the carpet. Maxi always made such a fuss about not ruining the expensive furniture in the house, so naturally, Alwin was a bit concerned.
Alwin rushed forward to stop Maxi from crashing into something else and knocking it over, casting a protective glance at the tin amulet on top of his in-room bookshelf. “Maxi, what happened? Are you drunk?”
Maxi heaved a few breaths, which didn’t do much to calm his erratic state. His pupils were dilatated in horror. He exhaled, letting out a slow, shaky breath. “F-Fritz is dead.” He managed in a voice that matched the pitch of a kitten he met on the streets begging for coins.
“He’s what?” For a moment, Alwin almost felt guilty, after all, he had decided that he would easily trade this life for his old one, helping out Aozora’s family, and snatching purses right beneath the noses of the rich scum. Maybe this was fate’s way of rubbing his thoughts in his face—mocking him.
He pushed the thoughts away, reminding himself that the universe is not out to get him. The universe probably didn’t notice him, he was just some small insignificant cat living with his father and mourning his dead mother.
“He’s dead…” Maxi choked out a sob, before blubbering to himself some nonsense about how it happened again and it was all his fault. Alwin had never seen his father look so… pathetic. The word didn’t feel right.
Alwin tuned him out, lost in a different cloud of thoughts. If Fritz was really dead, this threw off his lifestyle again, and as much as his heart soared at the thought of seeing Aozora again, he knew this wouldn’t be easy, especially with Maxi getting a taste of the wealthy life and another friend dead.