Where's the Blacksmith

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Ace Attorney AU
Chapter Summary: The Undying One goes to an old acquaintance for supplies.
Word Count: 1080
Rating: K
Note: Apollo Justice spoilers.  Probably spoilers for the rest of the series, too.

            When he catches up, he sets down the bags, breathing hard, and the blond is meanwhile glaring at an ancient yet sturdy looking door and hammering on it for all he’s worth.  Apollo would ask if it’s sure it has the right place, but, well.  Despite everything he does, in fact, have some ounce of self-preservation somewhere. 
            The door eventually opens, revealing a woman with extraordinarily long hair, strange things that only vaguely resemble Advisor Kristoph’s glasses, and…what looks like a chain mail dress.
            He doesn’t get confirmation about whether or not he’s hallucinating, because the door is slammed in their faces.
            “She’s happy to see you,” Apollo remarks.  He takes the whole self-preservation thing back; he’s being snarky to a devil’s face.  Fortunately, the Undying One doesn’t seem to take offense.
            “She’s always happy to see me, but, well.  It’s not as if I expected any differently.”  The resigned tone makes a reappearance.  The devil apparently has a large repertoire of fake emotion at his disposal.  He raises his voice as he begins hammering again.  “I’m not going to hurt you, Fraulein Skye!”
            “Is that what you told Daryan?” she shoots back, loud and hysterical and biting, and suddenly there’s a long, uneasy period of silence.  Apollo shifts.  One of the Tainted Soul’s victims?
            “Actually, as I recall, I said absolutely nothing,” Klavier corrects, voice weary, the sound of the defeated devil back in the cell.  “I would hardly be such a fool as to dismember you in front of a representative of the House Gramarye, but on their behalf I would greatly appreciate it if you would open the door and offer us aid.”
            There’s no sound for a long while, and Apollo’s about to ask whether they should look elsewhere for help.  The door finally swings soundlessly open, and Klavier steps through, stylish as ever, as if that had happened when he’d first knocked.  Thanks for offering to help.  Jerk.  Apollo huffs and goes for the bags, when they’re both picked up and lugged inside, then dumped unceremoniously.  Still, that’s strong for a woman, even a woman wearing mail.
            “I work as a blacksmith, rare goods trader, and do most of the work in this town with no thanks, scientifically speaking,” the woman informs him and then looks back at the devil again.  “You want to explain what happened to Daryan and the rest?”
            “I would love to do so.”  Klavier doesn’t make a move to continue.
            The woman takes a close look at the devil, and her eyes widen.  Unfortunately, she’s standing in the way, so Apollo can’t see what she’s looking at.  “Still doing errands for that jerk, then?”
            “Ja.”  The devil shrugs, still uncommunicative.  “This is the messenger for the House I mentioned.” 
            The blacksmith’s eyes narrow as she stares at Apollo, but eventually she nods.  “Well, he’s no commoner, that’s for sure.  His hands are going to be all torn up by the end.  And you get to be escort to a brat even more spoiled than you, lucky you.  What do y’ need?”
            “It’s not going to be cheap.  It’s a relatively long journey, and as you can see we don’t have the supplies we’ll need.”
            The woman snorts.  “Yeah, I got that on my own, thanks.”
            “What, exactly, we’ll need will depend highly on the road we take,” Klavier states, and the woman nods like this is common knowledge.
            They turn to Apollo, who suddenly feels put on the spot.  “Don’t show him the map,” Kristoph had said, but really, it’s not like he knows how to navigate.
            He hands it over, and the two spread it eagerly over a handy table.  In her excitement, the blacksmith seems to have forgotten her earlier animosity at Klavier.
            She whistles and stares at Apollo with what could—almost—be sympathy.  “What did you do to tick off your Captain that much?”
            Even Klavier’s frowning.  “That is a long trip. Through some dangerous territory, too.”
            Apollo shivers, and the other two actually remember he’s there.  “Ach, don’t worry!  I’ll keep you safe, meine Maus.  It’ll just take a little more work than I was expecting.”
            “I’ve seen your ‘work’, and it’ll be difficult, even for you,” she continues, and it’s weird, but there’s a little bit of worry in her tone.  Maybe.
            The demon smiles, but it doesn’t reach the innocent blue eyes.  “But I live for a challenge, Fraulein.  It’s been too long.”
            “So, that thing about the dungeon thing was real?  I thought that was just talk…” she continues.
            Apollo breaks in, annoyed.  “Are you forgetting that he’s a demon?” he asks, and Skye rolls her eyes.
            “Demon diva, maybe.  Look, have you ever seen him in action?”  Apollo falters a little.  “Then don’t lecture me on what exactly this man is.  I know what he is, better than you.  I’ve seen the bodies.  I just owe this man a favor, and it’d be nice to not owe a demon a favor.  That being said, he really does seem like he cares about protecting you, but then, if that jerk is the one pulling his leash, then he doesn’t have much of a choice, does he?”
            Apollo is tempted to argue, to protect Kristoph, because there’s no one else she could be referring to, but holds his tongue instead.
            “I see you’ve got your sword, so that’s not a problem.  What kind of messenger isn’t properly outfitted with weapons and equipment and food?  You sure you didn’t sleep with your Captain’s wife, or…”
            Klavier laughs merrily and gestures to Apollo.  “Does that seem likely?”
            She looks back over him and laughs, shaking her head.  “Maybe not.”
            Apollo really feels his anger rising, but Skye fixes him with a glare.  “Don’t tick off the person that’s going to be giving you supplies to keep you alive, kid.  And don’t just pick fights because you’re mad, or you’re going to leave a trail of bodies that Klavier’s been forced to kill to keep your miserable carcass alive.  Keep your head down.”
            It is supposed to be a secret mission, so she has a point, but it still makes his blood boil.
            The demon smiles.  This time, it’s unreadable.  “Kristoph ordered me to keep you alive.  Not to have you like me.”
            Apollo tightens his jaw and nods shortly.  He may not like it, but keeping quiet is part of what he’d been asked to do by Kristoph, and his advisor knows what he’s doing.