Demus Oneshots

A Whole New World

Winding in and out of the crowded streets of Agrabah, it was very easy to steal a money bag or a piece of jewellery off of unsuspecting market stall owners. Easy, yes, but never fool-proof.

"What do you think you're doing?" A stall owner asked, twisting the thief's arm behind his back and taking back the bracelet he had stolen. The thief smirked.

"Only taking what's mine." He said, not struggling against the stall owner. Not yet, anyway.

"You think that this is yours, do you, Street Rat?" The market owner asked, breathing down the back of the thief's neck.

"No. I know that it's mine. Haven't you ever heard? Finders," the thief kicked the stall owner in the shin and lept onto a wall out of reach of the crowd below him, "keepers." He laughed before running off along the roofs of the poor houses of Agrabah.

The crowd soon disappeared after the thief's display. Not all of them, though. One man wearing a long green cape kept staring at the place where the thief had stood, triumphant with his prize. He intended to memorize every feature on the thief's face. The blue eyes, long hair and even every scar and mark on half of the thief's face.

"Hey, kid!" The same stall owner yelled, bringing the man out of his trance. "Your first time here?"

"Uh, yeah." The man said, tugging his green hood over his face a little more. The stall owner nodded in understanding.

"A word of warning stay away from Deceit. He's always looking for prizes and you don't want to be one of them."

Janus lept down into his hide-out and sat down on a broken wall, dangling his legs high over the streets of Agrabah. A little snake hissed at him before winding up his arm.

"Ah, you should've seen it, Medusa. I was like a bird, flying high." Janus explained, careful not to move his arms too much in case he frightened his pet. "And there was this one guy with a green cape. I couldn't see his face but the cape looked to be of good value. It was almost regal and the way he moved or stared at things in wonder..." Janus trailed off, looking towards the palace that was just visible on the sky-line. "They say the princes haven't been out in years. You don't suppose..." He trailed off again, looking at his snake as if it was going to answer. "No. It's stupid. No one of royal blood would ever come this far into the poor area of Agrabah."

Janus sighed before swinging his legs back into his hideout and pulling a make-shift curtain along the broken wall. He emptied out his pockets, his eyes shining as several pieces of gold, bracelets and necklaces clattered to the ground. This should provide him enough food for a while, Janus thought.

***

"No! I am not taking anything you stole, Dee." Virgil grumbled. "And that's final."

"Aw, come on Virge. They'll never trace it back to you."

Virgil slammed his hand on the table. "Three palace guards have already searched my shop. It isn't even Wednesday yet!" Virgil looked at the ring Janus was trying to sell him and sighed. "I'll take this and you can get... a loaf of bread for it. Only because this one is actually mine." He muttered, dropping the ring into a box and handing Janus his payment.

"Aw, come on Virge. It's worth at least a bag of dates as well." Janus pleaded. Virgil glared at Janus.

"Final offer, take it or leave it."

Janus sighed and stormed off.

Leaning against a wall, Janus felt a pull on his coat. Looking down, he saw a small boy with cracked glasses staring hungrily at his bread while what Janus assumed to be his brother was pulling on his coat.