Hansel and Gretel (1)

Seon yawned, sprawled out on the cold, hard ground, idly holding a hamster by its scruff and making it dance like a tiny doll.

They had been locked up in this sealed jail, freezing space for nearly three hours, and Seon's patience was hanging by a thread.

"Ugh... remind me why we're here?"

She muttered, seemingly trying to ask Yunnie, who sat slumped in a corner with a face showing a picture of defeat.

"Well, Madam Prophet, what a fascinating question," Yunnie drawled sarcastically. "Let's think about it. I wonder who thought it was a brilliant idea to start bashing an officer in broad daylight."

Seon rolled her eyes.

"Fine, it's my fault! But he was asking for it!"

So?" Yunnie huffed. "You think that means you get to beat up anyone who annoys you?"

"Naturally."

"NO!" Yunnie snapped, looking genuinely appalled. "You can't just beat up anyone! What if you were up against a god or something?"

"Wouldn't change a thing, besides, I already have resentment against Gods."

Yunnie threw his hands up in frustration, running them through his hair. "I give up… I just want to go home." He buried his head in his hands, muttering, "Why did I sign up for this…?"

The hamster gave a tiny squeak as if sympathizing with him.

Then suddenly, there was a soft scratching, almost imperceptible at first, then a chunk of the stone wall crumbled away, revealing a small, hidden manhole.

"Meow"

An orange cat sat by the opening, with its tail swinging left to right.

Seon and Yunnie stared at the cat, dumbfounded.

"Oh… the 50 gold reward," Seon muttered, blinking.

"How do you plan to get that 50 gold when we're locked in here?" Yunnie shot back, giving her a skeptical look.

"well look" Seon pointed at the manhole. "Outside."

"Wait... You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?"

****

The chatters in the bustling street seems to mixed together with the sound of machinery and trains. Steel made houses stretched long, with iron frameworks layered with metal pipes on each side.

Chimneys billowed dark smoke, and faint gears and cogs turned within exposed clock faces set into each corner.

Yunnie gazed around the entire place with awe on his face.

"Woah... no wonder it is called the Kingdom of Invention."

Seon bat an eye and asked. "So are the other kingdoms not advanced like this?"

"I'm sure it's not as advanced as this."

"huh...I see."

Yunnie held the orange cat awkwardly in his arms, seeing how his cuffs remained in his hand- albeit it was ripped apart; he still felt guilty somehow. "Maybe we should go back..."

Seon barely looked up from the crumpled poster in her hand, glancing back and forth between the map and their surroundings. "I'm sure it'll be fine. We're just here to collect fifty gold, after all."

"Ugh... we might really be treated as wanted criminals at this point."

Seon's steps slowed as they ended up reaching a shadowy street that seemed wholly disconnected from the lively atmosphere inches away.

The streetlights stopped at its edge, even the radiance of the bulb refused to wander further.

No people dare to move close to that side as if that place is cursed.

The further in they peered, the clearer it became that no one ventured down this particular street by choice.

As if... it was abandoned.

Yunnie swallowed, shifting the cat in his arms as he looked into the murky darkness ahead.

"What... what is this place? It looks like a graveyard."

"That's because it is a graveyard," Seon replied, pointing to several crooked tombstones nestled between the cracked, uneven pavement up ahead. 

Yunnie swallowed his own saliva, as his legs began to weaken.

Even Hunter who was hiding under Seon's hat, did not dare to peek, and kept its silence underneath.

"Well, it doesn't look like the kind of place that'd be interested in buying a cat, but fifty gold is fifty gold." Seon waved the poster as she added. "We have to make a living somehow, and we're not exactly spoiled for options right now."

Yunnie sighed, clutching the cat tighter as it squirmed.

"Just... if someone with a shovel starts heading our way, I'm out."

"Or a hand reaching out on your feet"

"I-IEEKK" Yunnie whimpered as he looked away, keeping his distance close to Seon.

The air became substantially cooler as they stepped forward cautiously, and the noise of the city behind them died down, giving way to an eerie silence.

The further they walked, the more they felt as though invisible eyes were watching, waiting.

Then Seon finally stopped walking, making Yunnie bump on her back. Confused why she stopped, he turned his gaze ahead and saw a faint light.

A young girl with short, silver-gray hair was shoveling dirt back into an open grave, while beside her, a boy with the same hair color steadied a wooden coffin in the ground.

Together, the two carried the coffin, putting it in its position, before covering it up with soil.

Yunnie leaned closer to Seon, confused.

"Aren't those... children? Why are they doing the gravework?"

"Why can't a child work? You think coffins carry themselves?"

"Sure, but... it's just strange to see kids burying someone at this hour. In a place like this."

Seon opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, the twins noticed them watching. They paused, brushing off their dirt-streaked hands, and approached with identical expressions of curiosity.

"Are you a customer?" the girl asked.

Her brother nodded, staring at Seon and Yunnie with the same expression. "Or are you here for an appointment?"

"Uh... neither, actually. We're looking for someone who buys a cat. You wouldn't happen to know anyone around here who's interested, would you?"

"We don't get many people looking to sell things here. Most people come to leave things behind... forever."

"I-ieek-" Yunnie gulped, instinctively tightening his hold on the orange cat, who squirmed uncomfortably. "W-Well, we're just passing through. No appointments, no... leaving things behind. Just a cat delivery service!"

"There were only, dead souls and spirits here."

Seon chuckled, giving another light joke. "Spirits, huh? Well, if they're paying fifty gold for a cat, I'd say bring them on."

The twins exchanged a glance, then gave them a considering look.

"We can try to search for one tomorrow, but it's already midnight. How about you two take a rest for now?"