Tales Of The Underlands (jjba part 5 Wonderland AU)

Over Dinner

After an hour of thinking about everything that you were told a sudden calmness overcame you. You didn't know why, but you guessed that it came from exhaustion.

Narancia and Mista had come back shortly after Bucciarati left and kept you company for the last few hours. They told you about various pranks they pulled and battles they thought together, about how a the advisor of the prince once poured tea over 'the golden sorcerer' giorno and how they snuck food out of the kitchen to feed Mistas fireflies, called Sex Pistols.

During this time, you felt normal again, like you did when you talked to Risottos men by the campfire.

When you noticed that the sun began to go down, your new friends bid you goodbye. Mista told you that one of the guards would escort you to Bucciaratis tent for dinner.

That was a conversation you were dreading.

Lifting yourself from the bed, you put on the new clothes and shoes, which felt a lot warmer. Just as you finished changing, one of the guards entered. Without saying much you followed him outside through the snow till you stopped in front of a larger tent, the symbol of the white lily on a gold background embroidered on the entrance.

The guard lifted the tent flaps for you and motioned for you to get in. Inside you could make out a table with two chairs, a bowl and spoon sitting in front of each of them and a pot sitting in the middle of it.

It definitely wasn't what you had expected when a prince had invited you to dinner.

Bucciarati sat at a desk in the back of the tent, but as soon as he noticed you he stood up quickly and walked over to where you were standing.

"I apologize, but soup is all I can offer you to eat. Our resources are limited and food is scarce, especially in the cooler regions."

You dismissively waved your hand,"Its fine."

The prince gave you a small smile, which was probably only out of politeness and gestured for you to take a seat.

Just as you had sat down on the wooden chair, your stomach began to grumble. When was the last time you had eaten something?

The lid of the pot was lifted and you could've sworn that no food had ever smelled better then the soup in front of you.

Filling your bowl you leaned back and eyed the raven haired man in front of you. When he noticed you staring at him, he raised an eyebrow with a slight smirk.
"Is something the matter?"

"What happened to the others?" this question had been dancing around your head for the last few hours. You knew that they were being questioned earlier, but what happened afterwards? We're they killed? Locked up to rot in some cell? Walking around freely?

" They are currently under arrest, till I deem it safe to let them walk around the camp." he said like he was talking about the weather.

His attention went back to his soup.

"So they are locked up in a cell."you replied.

The prince shook his head, looking at you again "No they got their own tent with beds and a fireplace to rest while they are being guarded. You could visit them tomorrow if you'd like."

"Oh" you didn't expect that.

"You seem to be very fond of them, I take it you've grown quite close?"

"Close isn't really the right word to describe it, but they saved my life multiple times and treated me like a part of their team." you confessed.

"Im sure Narancia told you that they worked for the King and are wanted criminals?" he added.

"He did."

The word boogeyman came to mind.

The Prince just nodded at that and took another spoonful of soup.

"What are your plans, now that you have 'a human' on your side?" you asked, making air quotes with your fingers.

"We will still fight our battles strategically and try to win more allies along the way, currently we are preparing to send men to the river roads, so that we gain control over them. With a few more ships we should be able to defeat the part of Diavolos fleet that was stationed there. His manpower focuses more on the shore of lights."

The river roads, that was Pescis homeland!

"One of Risottos man is from the river roads, maybe he could be of use?" you hoped that you were convincing enough, if he found use for Risottos men he wouldn't kill them.

"I'll make sure to remember that." he gave you a slight smile. In his eyes it was admirable how you tried to prevent them from getting thrown into a cell or killed. You were definitely someone who was loyal, but he still needed to find out a bit more about you before he could fully trust you.

You continued your meal in silence with the occasional small talk, he asked you about your world and you asked him about the Underlands. You both avoided too personal questions to not accidentally make the other uncomfortable.

At one point you found Bucciarati staring at your eyes like he was mesmerized before quickly averting his gaze. "I apologize for my rudeness, I am just not used to the uniqueness of human eyes."

You guessed that he was referring towards the fact that your eyes don't glow a distinctive color like his, he had a white glow to his eyes and hair, which made him look like an angel.

You wondered what your color would be if you were an Underlander.

"How did someone so young manage to raise an army with men who seem all very loyal towards you?"

The prince chuckled at that, a warm boyish, noise which made you realize that under all that discipline and authority he was still only a young man, almost a boy.

" Well let me word it like that, a few children are very determined to see me on the Throne." he chuckled again. "All jokes aside, most people don't agree with the way Diavolo reigns, it's a tyranny and almost everyone lost someone because of him or the red weed." he sighed, the lightness had disappeared from his face.

"I understand." you lowered your head looking at your empty bowl. "I should leave now, I bid you a goodnight Bucciarati."you bowed your head as you stood up.

The prince had gotten up as well and followed you to the entrance of the tent." I enjoyed your company this evening, hopefully we'll be able to discuss more exhilarating things soon."

You nodded and were about to leave the tent when you heard him adress you again.

"One last thing, I would like you to join me and the others at training tomorrow, if you're going to join the rebellion you'll need to know how to fight."

You left and a guard brought you to back to the medical tent, so much has happened, all you wanted to do was sleep.

This time you dreamed of different shades of blue and red swirling around each other to clash together in a deadly dance.