The new information hit Lucian like a train, "Angels!? Gods!? Why would you bring us there for a chess match!?". The place Lucian and Theo had just been seemed exactly like it'd be a good fit for a god or angel, but he never would have expected that to actually be the case!
Theo stroked his goatee as if thinking up an excuse, "Because I felt like it, besides I wanted you to see the real beauty behind being an Ethereal. You'll learn about its horrors later on, but who cares?"
He's way to nonchalant with how he acts and speaks.... it's a bit scary. "Our match is over now, so what should I do now? It's nighttime right now, wait, how long have I been playing chess matches?"
Theo pulled a pocket watch out of his inner coat and clicked it open. "According to this, you played for about nine hours, the current time is three AM. Thank the gods we finished our matches fast, I thought we'd be playing for days, hahaha!"
As Theo was calming his laughter Lucian noticed how fatigued he was. His eye's kept on trying to shut while his movements were sluggish. "Now that were done, you'll be heading back to the docks. At the moment we don't have anywhere for you to stay except for Ozzus's ship. A carriage should be waiting for you outside so feel free to fall asleep in it, I'm sure Priscilla would be happy to drag you onto the ship."
Quite the jokester, how in the world does he have this much energy at three in the morning?
Theo noticed Lucian's tired lingering and said, "I still have to report to Eliot about how you did in our match so your free to head to the coach."
Walking outside, Lucian looked up at the night sky and tried to compare it to what he witnessed in the divine plain. It wasn't nearly as pretty as the sky there, plus the light pollution made it less of a sight you wanted to see. Sure enough, waiting for Lucian on the side of the road was a cheap coach. It seemed that this one belonged to Eliot, so he didn't have to worry about paying the driver.
Opening the door Lucian hopped in the carriage and sat down near the window too tired to notice the other two individuals in there with him and swiftly fell asleep.
***
"It's a shame I couldn't get here in time to witness his tests, Lady sylvia got home later than usual and I had to help Mable with her studies once again.", said Charles with a look of serene happiness while looking at the sleeping young man across from him.
Priscilla followed his gaze to Lucian, "My skill in chess is average at best, but I'm still surprised he managed to beat me so fast. We were told we had to make our moves as fast as we could, so we didn't waste any time. He caught on quite quick and it seems that he's just as smart as his sister but still clueless about everything."
"It's as expected, even though he's spent too much time away from his family he still the same. Bringing him into our line of work still doesn't sit well with me though, and I'm sure Lady sylvia would be ten times more unhappy about it." stated Charles.
Priscilla looked down at her boots and said with bleak expression, "It's not like we had a choice; the higher ups chose this fate for him, and we can't go against their wishes. It's better for him, right? It'd be hard for him to live a regular life knowing that somewhere, he just might be able to learn a little bit about what lead to this."
Taking a pocket watch, Charles slipped it into Lucian's coat pocket, "Now that he's with us, I hope that we can help him discover what happened over his past years. I'll leave this in his hands so he's never alone."
"A pocket watch?", asked Priscilla with a face of perplexion.
Charles looked out the window at the large canal they were passing over, "It will be way more than that to him."
Once the carriage arrived at the docks, Charles carried Lucian on his back while he was still asleep. Lucian was a heavy sleeper, so it was easy to bring him all the way to the couch and lay him down. Charles left shortly after and headed back to the Crowe household meanwhile Priscilla headed over to Ozzus who was at the stern of the ship looking out over the vast, dark sea. "You know I hate playing chess."
"Is that Priscilla for "Lucian beat me and I'm pouting"?" Replied Ozzus in a half mocking tone.
Priscilla elbowed him in the rib, "Real funny, you're starting to sound like Theo now."
"That guy? C'mon I'm way funnier than him.", stated Ozzus as he clenched his side. A moment later his mood went back to that of what one might say a priest's. "How'd he do?"
"Very well, I believe he's the fourth best chess player here. He might have been third if he went against you next.", Remarked Priscilla.
"You know high rank Ethereals aren't allowed to do that, only mid- to low rank Ethereals and assistants are allowed to. You put up a good fight for me though, right?", exclaimed Ozzus with a proud smile.
"Of course I did. It's not my fault that he shares the same intellect as Mable.", stated Priscilla half offended.
"Didn't she beat you every single time you played at her house?"
Priscilla was about to elbow Ozzus again when he said, "It's a good thing he's down here; this is his home and I bet his past self would have been happy to be down here as well.". His expression was stern yet seemed as though it contained relief.
"I hope you're right."
***
At mid-day, Lucian finally woke up. The day was cloudy with gentle rain pouring about. His eyes were a bit groggy but his body felt energized. I'm back at the ship? Crap, did Priscilla actually drag me back onto the ship!? Sure, I barley have any memories, but she could have just woke me up! I should pray that Mable isn't like this.
Before Lucian could think more of what happened last night, he got off the couch. He was still in his clothes from last night, so he got one of the many white buttoned down long sleeve shirts and black trousers that Ozzus and Priscilla had stowed in a closet. As Lucian took off his coat, he felt something hard and metallic within its pocket. It was a pocket watch, a stunning one at that. The engravings on it were of stellar craftmanship.
Clicking it open, the time showed it was 12:21. The time didn't faze Lucian in the slightest. What really caught his gaze was the picture displayed in the top half of the open watch. It was a bit old, but he could still make out the figures of a young boy in the center holding two figure's hands. The first was his mother with her left hand on her belly and the second appeared to be a man dressed in a similar formal wear. Could this have been my father? His face is torn out but the rest of his body is still there.
It would have been interesting to see what his father actually looked like, but that might be an easier task said than done. Lucian didn't know who gave the present to him, but nevertheless, it put a smile on his face.
After putting new clothes on, Lucian put the gorgeous watch in his pocket and headed out of the cabin. It appeared that Ozzus wasn't aboard today, and Priscilla was still sleeping in her room soundlessly. Should I wake her? It doesn't appear that I have anything to do today, but I just have a nagging feeling that I do. No, I shouldn't wake her. It's stupid but I'm just embarrassed of what happened last night.
After careful though, Lucian decided that he'd just walk around the city and become more acquainted with the locations of everything.
Before he left, he put a note on the door to the cabin saying "Going for a stroll, be back later. Might be at the library. - Lucian.".
The city had one extremely large canal flowing through it to the ocean with multiple bridges built on it for less traffic and more efficient transportation of goods. Lucian hadn't realized it at first, but they did travel over a bridge to get to the crapy house. It appeared that a large majority of the lower class lived there with only a few parts being in the main city.
Lucian ran his hand through his hair to fix his bed head with the help of the rain and headed off. He decided to head to the other side of the canal to try and scout out any places he might want to live. Middle class wasn't an option due to him being affiliated with the Ethereals.
Walking along the bridge, Lucian saw tons of coaches pass by him and even a few officers patrolling around. Looking to his left, the sea was slightly rough with ships sailing and some paddling with contraptions of all sorts.
The lower-class houses didn't seem too bad when I visited so it shouldn't be any worse than living in that cramped ship right? Lucian was dead wrong.
While looking up at one of the many buildings, a man's voice said in a crackly tone, "Interested in it? it's not my best one but it's a great fit for families."
The man next to him was skinny, wearing clothes that of a noble's with a monocle on his left eye. His facial features resembled that of a rasin with a black beard.
Lucian smiled placidly and said, "No, but thank you. I'm looking for something that'll be just for me. My family lives elsewhere. The entire building is for a family correct?
The man chuckled hearing Lucian's response, "No sir, each floor is for a family of at most four."
Did he just say four? How does that work!? The inside of just one of those floors is only a little bigger than the room I sleep in on the ship. "I apologies for my little knowledge, are any of the ones around here for one individual only?"
"Of course, there are. I believe if you head further down, you'll find them. They aren't used that much anymore so they aren't kept together like they used to be. You'll have to make the renovations yourself."
After bidding the man farewell Lucian headed to where he was directed and sure enough, when Lucian finally found them, he actually ended up right on the street where Eliot brought him. The houses looked more horrid than where he had his chess matches. Some of the walls had vines spreading all across them while some of the windows were shattered.
Can't say I wasn't expecting this. Although it seems that Eliot took the best one.
Just as Lucian was leaving, another voice called out, "Lucian? Is that you?". The voice was feminine and soft. Turning around Lucian saw the delicate young woman with auburn red hair strolling down the sidewalk towards him.
After some formal greetings and bows, "You're looking for a home?", asked Lilith out of curiosity.
"Yes, I don't want to freeload off of Ozzus and Priscilla for much longer so I'm looking for single person homes although they don't look that welcoming, hehe."
"Why are you looking for single person homes?"
"What do you mean? Aren't I supposed to get one?" asked Lucian a bit dumbstruck.
"I can't believe they made you think that."
muttered Lilith. "Usually, Ethereals and assistants live next to or with each other in the apartments. It makes it more convenient if were all in one place. No offense but I don't think you'd make it very far in having a house all to yourself."
Lilith had a point, Lucian's memories are fully gone, meaning that there's nothing in his head that would help him in living alone. "You're right, I probably can't live by myself without someone like Ozzus making sure I don't do something stupid. If it's alright, could you show me where you live?"
"Sure, It's a couple streets away. It's not well kept so don't expect anything grand. The people currently living there are me, Theo, and one other person although she, unlike us, is an Ethereal.