In the shadows, two small figures could barely be seen. One a young boy in his early teens wearing a tan wool t-shirt that had four easy to spot holes in it. His hair was dark black and unkempt, just like his appearance. With bare feet that had scaring, he peeked his head out from the corner.
"Priscilla, look!"
His voice was weak, but to him, it sounded normal.
Priscilla was a young girl who much like himself wore tattered clothes. It was worse on her than him due to the fact she was female. Her body was beyond skinny, as there was barely any meat on her bones.
Not having the proper nutrients she needed, she almost looked similar to the young boy. Her chest was flat, barely having any fat on it to show she was female. Her arms were slim just like a toothpick and it was easy to see her bones.
"What?"
She asked him as she stopped searching through the small pile of garbage in the alley.
Her stomach was grumbling as it has been a whole day since she last ate anything. If you could call it eating, because all she had was a piece of old moldy bread.
"I think that's Jacob!"
Pointing to the young boy who resembled their friend, he told her.
Priscilla had bad vision so she needed to squint her eyes to focus. To her amaze, the young boy in proper clothing looked very similar. Except, he was clean and his skin seemed to shine compared to hers.
"No way Daniel. Jacob's dead, the whole alley knows it."
Shaking her head, Priscilla went right back to digging into the garbage hoping to find something to settle her stomach.
As much as she would like Jacob to be alive and well, there was no assurance.
"Why are you saying that? You know it's not true!"
Daniel, upset by her words yelled in anger.
Jacob was his best friend and a survivor. No matter how many times they got beat, both of them always got back on their feet and lived to see another day.
Alarmed by his sudden outburst, Priscilla quickly covered her head as her body started to shiver in fear.
This was her first instinct, something her body was used to after being caught and punished multiple times by those she stole from. Sometimes, she even had to defend herself in case someone tried to take her food.
Seeing her take such an action made Daniel regret his decision to raise his voice. He knew how much his sister was easy to scare, and what happened after someone raised their voice.
All that awaited ahead was a stern beating, be it with fist or wooden weapons.
"Sorry… Don't be afraid, I did not mean to scare you."
Taking her into his arms, he pulled her close as he patted her head.
Feeling his warmth and the comfort of his words, Priscilla calmed down. Tears were already formed in her eyes.
After a moment of crying, she wiped her tears with her dirty hand.
"I'm ok. But Daniel, you know when we stole that apple we were all struck with heavy blows. Even you blacked out! Jacob was already starving since he gave me the chicken bone he found. We could not move him so we leaned him against the wall and left to search for more food. When we returned, he was gone."
She informed him of the past events that happened.
"I know, but still…! Look at him, I just need to make sure."
With the little hope he had left, Daniel pointed towards the young boy walking down the street. This was all he had left, the wishful thinking that his friend was out there, still alive.
Sighing Priscilla nodded.
"Fine, but if he is some sort of noble I'm ditching you."
Daniel could not help but smile, showing off his pearly yellow teeth.
"I'll take the blame for it if anything happens."
Grabbing his sister by the wrist, Daniel rushed off after the young boy that reminded him of his friend. Even if that was not the case, at least he could have some form of closure.
It was just him and his sister left. All those he knew left the city, died, or just vanished. Not knowing where they went, Daniel was scared for his life. So he took his sister and left their old alley and found a new place to call their home. At least for now.
There was nothing strange about homeless people moving here and there. Everyone needed a place to belong, and orphans like them were no different.
Both their bodies were weak, and they barely had the strength to run for a long distance. Although the young boy was not that far from them, what was a short distance seemed like a mile away for these two siblings.
Priscilla already started huffing and puffing while her hand clutched at her chest. Daniel was no better, as he found it hard to stand.
This was as far as they made it, roughly twenty or thirty feet from the alley.
It was not enough. There was still more distance that needed to be covered.
Daniel took in a deep breath.
"Jacob!"
Sapping him of the rest of his strength, he yelled with all his might. It drew the attention of the nearby citizens.
Jacob who was walking back to the estate ears wiggled when he heard his name being called. Naturally, when someone calls your name, your first reaction is to turn around to see whose calling you. He was no different.
He stopped moving and turned around, that is when he noticed two young kids breathing heavily for air.
'Daniel? Priscilla?'
Vulcan's voice cried out in surprise.
Inside his mind, memories flowed and he recalled the two. They were orphans much like himself whose family ran out of money. Their father died from an illness, and their mother did all she could to keep their home. However, it was not long before she sold the house to keep their bellies filled.
Driven to the brink, their mother killed herself leaving the two siblings to fend for themselves.
Eventually, they met Jacob, a young boy who was tossed away by his father forced to live on his own. Being bullied by the commoners who had a better life than him, Daniel stood up for him at the price of a hellish beating.
Soon, the three of them became friends and got into trouble day after day. Doing whatever they could to survive.
That is what Jacob could tell from the memories.
Daniel and Priscilla's eyes were shining brightly as they grinned. It was him, it really was.
"I told you! I told you, Priscilla!"
"How can this be?"
After a moment, the two of them caught up to Jacob.
"Jacob! Where have you been? What have you been doing? No, forget that, come here!"
Daniel moved quickly and ended up hugging Jacob with his dirty body, not even caring he was ruining Jacob's clean clothes. He ended up catching Jacob off guard, as Jacob was trying to organize his thoughts.
Soon Priscilla joined in, wrapping her arms around Jacob and Daniel. Instead of what seemed to be a joyful moment, it appeared to be a sad one as she just wept. Those were not tears of sadness, instead, they were tears of joy.
Everyone told her Jacob was dead, but here he was. She hated that she doubted her brother, and even felt upset she herself did not believe in the survivability of her friend.
Jacob himself was confused but kept his cool. Vulcan knew them, and they knew who he was. Even if it was his own mistake by turning around when they shouted Jacob. If he ignored it, then he would not be in this situation.
Luckily, Vulcan did not possess the body or else things may have gotten out of hand. Who knew how he would react if he was in control.
One whiff of them was enough to nauseate him, but he held it down. They smelt terrible, was this how Diana saw him when he first came into the mansion? He could now understand her prejudice.
Needless to say, the hug did not last long as Jacob pushed the two of them back. He needed to get away, or else the contents in his stomach would be emptied.
"It is good to see you two again, what are you doing on this side of town?"
He questioned them as soon as he pulled away.
"Where else were we going to go? Dave and Andrew both left, they were recruited to some army. I wanted to join, but I have to take care of her, so I declined. Hank vanished. Then it was just us, so we decided to go somewhere else. Did not help that more and more people were showing up to the alley, the fights for food was intense!"
Daniel answered.
"Army? What army recruits homeless people?"
Daniel shrugged at Jacob's question.
"I don't know. Some man was praising about another who would bring about change, saying it is unfair that the taxes are so high, and food prices shot up making it hard for people to live. It is what's causing so many people to lose their homes. Anyone that wanted to join in the change was free to."
'The rebel army? They already made their way into the city? This is not good… the generals have not even had their grand assembly yet!'
Jacob started to panic on the inside but kept a calm face on the outside.
He had no idea what caused this change to occur, but for some reason, the rebel army was spreading its influence faster than it did in the timeline in-game. If word already reached this city which was the capital…
Fuck. Jacob did not even want to think about it anymore.
"What about you? Where did you disappear to?"
Priscilla asked him as she looked him up and down. His body was better, more fat on his bones and he even wore nice clothing.
"Long story. How about we talk about it over a nice meal?"
It was strange, he did not feel on guard against these two. For some reason, it brought him comfort. Maybe it was due to Vulcan's feelings and memories, or it could be that it reminded him so much of when he first arrived in this world.
Just like them, he was in an alley and walked the streets until he bumped into Renold. It changed him for better or worse, and maybe it was fate that brought him together with these two.
He could be their Renold, but without the hidden plot.
Besides, he really needed to understand the circumstances surrounding the rebel army. Jacob was unsure how much either of them knew, but some information was better than none.