Victoria

We asked the librarian about the house, but if she knew anything about it, she vowed never to tell us. Angelica flipped the bird at Ms.Pinocchio, and for once I felt the compulsive need to high five her. Vincent rolled his eyes, seeming to regain his ‘gentlemanly manners’, after having lost them this morning. Cyrus shot one last glance at Hawthorne before we exited the ‘lovely’ establishment, of which I hoped never to enter again.

Cyrus led us around for a while, looking overly confident, when he stopped and realized something. “What was the address again? I forgot.” He said to us, and I let out a groan.

“We’ve been walking around, when you didn’t know where you were going?” I asked, my hands reaching out to strangle him.

“No worries.” Vincent said, “I remember. It’s just the next town over. Firlington.” He said coolly.

“Thank ya Vince. Yer a good lad.” Cyrus said as if he were an old man, patting Vincent on the shoulder. Vincent dutifully removed Cyrus’s hand, and called out for a cabbie. I looked at Vincent curiously, and tapped Cyrus on the shoulder while Vincent spoke to the driver.

“Does he know?” I whispered to him. Cyrus shrugged.

“Who cares?” He asked. “I doubt Vincey ‘ere would” I stepped away in thought. I suppose. We all compiled into the cab and set off down the road to Firlington. I sat next to Cyrus this time, and he went on chattering about God knows what for the next ten minutes. We drove down a dirt road, out of the city and into a nice green forest of trees. The sign said it was Kings Road. After another five minutes of driving out into the middle of nowhere we stopped in front of a large iron gate. We gazed up at the luscious white manor behind it, it was tall and elegant with ivy growing up the side of the wall in a way that almost seemed as if it had been carefully constructed.

After paying the cabbie an outrageous fee for the length we drove we started investigating the gate.

“Am I the only one that expected the house to be gloomy, with stone walls, and menacing gargoyles looming over it?” Vincent asked.

“Yes, it’s a bit more cheery than I thought it would be.” I concur, stepping out of the cab, gazing in awe at the large manor.

“I’m feelin’ sligh’ly insecure about muh boa’.” Cyrus added. Angelica nodded, not seeming to have anything to say.

“The hell are we gonna do about the gate?” Vincent asked.

“We can climb i’.” Cyrus said enthusiastically, already halfway up the damn thing. He sat at the top of the things, and held his breath in memory of his manhood before falling off onto the other side.

“Or we can open the gate.” Angelica said, pushing the gate open.

“Heheh, moron.” I said, kicking Cyrus’s breathing corpse on the ground. He glared up at me before standing up, not bothering to dust off the dirt he’d gotten all over himself. I contemplated treating him like a child and patting off his bottom, but I resigned thinking of the expression Angelica was likely to have if I did. I will admit it did make it slightly more tempting.

We walked up the graveled walkway to the giant, oak doors at the head of the manor. I was about to knock, when Cyrus just burst in and opened the door, figuring it would be the same as the gate.

“Isn’t that breaking and entering?” Vincent asked. I shrugged. There was no going back now anyways.

“Does it matter? Our captain has entered, and we as his crew are to follow him blindly!” Angelica declared heroically, storming in after him. I mimicked her before following in afterwards. Vincent snickered before doing the same.

“‘Ello?! Anyone ‘ome?!” Cyrus called out obnoxiously. “We’re ‘ere to ask ya some questions!” He said, hopping around the entry hall, his boots tracking dirt everywhere on the formerly spotless, marble floor.

A servant ran into the room and stopped dead in her tracks. “Who are you?” She exclaimed, her hand flying to her mouth as her eyes flitted across the room. Another servant came up behind her, equally surprised by our arrival.

“How the hell did you get in here? Get out before the master sees you!” The other servant hissed.

“Is someone here?” A voice called from up the stairs. My mind reeled, I recognized that voice from somewhere. A man walked down the stairs and I gazed in shock at Hawthorne. He looked mildly interested in our arrival.

“I’s you again!” Cyrus shouted, stepping forward. The servants darted in front of Cyrus, blocking Hawthorne. He stopped and stood up straight, and gazed up at Hawthorne confused. “‘Ow the bloody ‘ell did ya get ‘ere before us?” He asked.

“Well, if we hadn’t spent the last half an hour walking around aimlessly because someone forgot the address, we might have beaten him here” I said, rolling my eyes. Cyrus reddened, but didn’t dignify my taunt with a reply.

Hawthorne walks down the rest of the stairs and holds his hand out to Cyrus. “Lucian Hawthorne, at your service.” Cyrus looked down at the hand, as if handshakes were an alien custom. Even Angelica looked at him as if she were questioning ‘her dear, honorable captain’s’ mental capacity. “Not going to grace me with your name?” Lucian asked sweetly, tilting his head slightly to the side. Cyrus, still stood there like a dunce for a moment, as if he were trying to decipher this man.

I cleared my throat, stepping past Cyrus, and grabbed the man's hand, shaking it quickly. “Im Victoria O. The idiot behind me is Cyrus O. And those two are Angelica Adriano and Vincent Mirasaki.”

He smiled slightly and kissed my hand. “A pleasure. Now. Whatever have you come to my home for?”

“We would like to know about the Wellington family that use to live here.” Vincent replied. Lucian studied Vincent for a moment, then turned his gaze back to the hollow husk of Cyrus.

“Is that so? I saw you all today at the library I believe.” Lucian replied politely. “Is it usual for you to cause trouble everywhere you go.”He added, with the same smiling expression.

Angelica gaped open mouthed at him, and it took only a second for her hand to go to her sword. I assume in an attempt to defend her captain’s honor. Lucian’s servants pulled out matching daggers from their uniforms and held them against her back. Cyrus (the stupid ditz), finally seemed to remember how to function properly, and pulled out his own sword, aiming it at their boss’s neck.

“I highly sugges’ you le’ my second in command go.” He growled. “We don't wan’ any ‘arm.” The noble snapped his fingers and his servants retreated. Cyrus sheathed his sword and looked Hawthorne in the eyes. “Now, abou’ tha’ information.”

“I don't go giving information to people who threaten me and break into my house. If you want to know about the Wellingtons, tell me first why you want to know.” Lucian demanded, his voice alone portrayed his leadership and nobility over us. Cyrus seemed to despise it. We knew damn well about being talked down too.

“We are trying to find who took our comrades.” Angelica said quietly. Vincent looked away. Cyrus’s jaw was set, and he continued to hold eye contact with Lucian. “They were… taken. And we want to find out who.”

Lucian frowned and looked away. “And you think the Wellington family history will help you find out what happened to them?”

“Yes.” Cyrus said gruffly. Lucian seemed to think about something, and looked back at him with an eyebrow raised.

“Why exactly the Wellington’s?” He questioned.

“We found this at the place where it happened.” Cyrus handed him the torn family crest and Hawthorne examined it.

“Fine. Follow me.” He turned lavishly and stepped up one step before turning back. “One more thing.” He said, pulling Cyrus into a lover’s embrace. Cyrus froze, and Lucian pulled away, his purple eyes flashing. “Anyone else?” He asked us, arms extended with a grin.

Angelica looked like someone had slapped her, Vincent had his eyebrows raised and Cyrus had the same frozen look from earlier. I sighed, the fool would never get a man with that expression Lucien turned around and continued off, calling back at us.

“Your loss~” He said, disappearing around the corner of the corridor. We followed him quickly, all silent as we walked the halls of the eloquently decorated manor. The servants from earlier split up, only one of them following us. They must have a bit of confidence in this one’s ability if they’re only sending him, I thought. That is until the man servant stood next to Cyrus, his hand on his dagger’s sheath. I suppose they guessed they only needed to have at the leader if they wanted to keep us down.

I looked at Angelica, whom was standing directly behind the manservant, and doubted that was going to work out very well.

Lucian entered a medium sized office, with shelves of books surrounding the desk in the middle. He whistled to himself as he ran a finger along the spines of the books, finally pulling out a single, old, tattered book. Inside, instead of pages there was a key. He pulled it out, snapping the book shut with one hand, and looked at us with a bored expression. He set the book back down on the shelf before leaving the office.

He swaggered down the hall and unlocked a small door hidden in the corner. It opened with a click, revealing a staircase. The servant handed Lucian a candle and lit it. We walked up the rickety stairs into the attic. The attic was a large room with exposed beams, and was surprisingly less dusty than the office from before. We looked around in awe at the multitude of stuff cluttering the attic.

“By God, this makes Vic’s store look clean!” Cyrus called out, and I jabbed him in the ribs when I got next to him. He shot me a glance, but didn’t say anything. I would have to check up on the place soon, I doubt my apprentice appreciated being left alone for so long without any word. She probably thought I was dead, she was a bit ancy in that way.

Lucian glanced over at Cyrus, his eyelids lowered. I’m guessing he didn’t appreciate having his home trashed both literally and verbally. (Cyrus never did apologize for the earlier dirt tracks.)

“This is all of the Wellington family’s furniture. It was kept up here for the last twenty years they have been gone. Feel free to look around. But I will be staying here to watch, can’t having you steal any valuables.” He said, eyeing us all.

“We’re no’ thieves.” Cyrus said. Lucian looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

“You just break into people’s houses then?” He asked, I assume rhetorically. Cyrus scowled.

“The gate was unlocked! And so was the front door!” He yelled.

Lucian waved the words away with a hand, his eyelids lowered as he looked between us all. “I am giving you three hours to find what you need, clock's ticking.” We all glanced over at Vincent, who groaned.

“The bloody hell, are you guys looking at me for?” He asked. We shuffled our feet.

“You seem to be good at finding stuff.” I said. His eye twitched.

“That was a library! It was categorized. It had order!” He pleaded, his hands flew all over, gesturing at our surroundings. “This is just an absolute mess!” He looked ready to have a seizure. Lucian was stone with his legs crossed as he leaned against the wall. I didn’t know whether to feel sorry for him, or hope that Cyrus tries to stick him in a skirt out of spite.

“Fine, we’ll help you look.” Angelica sighed, we fanned out and each searched a corner of the room. I glanced over at Lucian, and wondered if he would have any idea what might actually help us. Although, by the looks of it, he doesn’t seem to keen on helping us. I look over at Cyrus, and wonder if I can get him to creep Lucian out, just to the point where he’d want us out of here faster.

I kneeled down and started filtering through boxes and baskets of stuff, trying to find anything useful to us. Most of it was junk, valuable only in sentimental factor. After what seemed like forever . “Why is this entire pile useless?” I groaned, putting my face down into the stack I was currently sifting through. “The bloody hell are we even looking for?” I asked Cyrus, who looked up at me.

“Dunno.” Cyrus said. I was about to throw the basket next to me at him when he added, “Jus’ sumthin’ tha’ migh’ lead us tuh their curren’ wherabou’s.” I sighed, and turned back to my stack when he cried out.

“What?!” I shouted, my head snapping back towards him. He was semi standing, though honestly it was more of a crouch. His fleshy arm was pulling on the mech arm, which was stuck inside the box he had been sifting through. “Stop! Stop before you break it!” I screeched at him, speed crawling over. I slapped his meat arm away. Useless thing.

“I’s stuck!” He cried out. I looked him dead in the eye.

“I see that.” I said. I carefully grabbed his mech arm, turning it slightly. Lucian was watching us curiously. I looked at the box he had gotten his arm stuck in, the wood was old and splintering. It had somehow gotten caught on Cyrus's mech arm. I let out a sigh and started twisting Cyrus's arm and carefully pulling at the box. Cyrus grumbled as I worked. Finally I unattached the box from his arm, splinters of wood were still stuck inside the mechanics though.

“I can’t fix this until I have my tools.” I said, picking out the larger pieces of wood. “The splinters are stuck inside the gears. You can't move this arm until we get back to the ship. If the splinters move too much they will get pushed into the mini generator in your arm. If that happens it will explode, not enough to hurt you, but I will hurt you.”

He looked terrified. Good. Serves him right for doing this to my work. A shadow covered us and I looked up to see Lucian peering over at Cyrus's arm. Before I could open my mouth he turned on his heel and wandered away, the heels of his boots clicking against the floor.

“Weirdo.” I muttered, turning back to Cyrus. He was gazing sadly at his arm. “Don't break it again.”

He nodded, taking off his jacket and reaching inside his shirt to unhook his arm, and I stalked off back to my corner to search more. “I’m gonna end up tryin’ tuh move i’ with i’ on.” He moped, holding it up in front of his face.

“Stop staring at it, and please get back to work.” Vincent called, slightly annoyed he was doing most of the work again. Cyrus lit up when he realized something.