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thearchmanofgreenfield · 1 year ago

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As the morning dawned on Hatlynshire, marking the fifth day since the bombing at Hatles Borough, the sun once again graced the roads of Allison Street. The sunlight creeped through the windows of the house labelled No 9, Allison Street. However, that sunlight awoke no one. As the loud bustling sounds of an entire family hard at work already filled the house.

Lucian had woken up early that morning. Mostly because he had not gotten much sleep that night. He was overwhelmed with both fear and excitement. The thing he had dreaded most, his initiation ceremony, was tomorrow. He tried not to think too much about it. For the more he thought, the more worried he became. However, he found it impossible not to, especially since the entire house was preparing for it. Every now and again, a piece of furniture would fly passed him as Lily and his mother Janice rearranged the house to suit the guests they were expecting. Lily had given the twins the task of hanging banners in the ceremony hall, a task that Lily only gave them in order to keep them busy and stop any mischief they might cause due to boredom. Luin had decided not to help at all and retreated to his familiar hideout in the library while Lucian sat in the living room in a big red sofa with his mind deep in thought. Lily would sometimes stop by him and berate him for his ‘laziness’.

“Are you going to assist me anytime in the near future instead of brooding about your nonsensical predicament?”

Lucian did not feel like answering her. Lily, who had her hands concentration on lifting a small chair, sighed and shook her head in pity.

“Well, can you at least get up from your sad little rock? Because mother wants to move that sofa out of the way before the others come”

“I don’t understand why we need to rearrange the entire house. The ceremony is supposed to be in the hall, not the living room or the kitchen,” said Lucian finally. Thinking that a response was what Lily was after.

“Well mother says the house is too cluttered. And I intend to agree with her. Especially considering how many people are coming today”

“I still do not understand why every other house has to come. It’s unnecessary!”

“Well there’s nothing you can do about it. Therefore, I suggest you try to act happy. Besides, I think it would be quite fun to meet the others again. We haven’t seen them in almost a year!”

Lucian groaned. In truth, he did want to see the other children of the Great Houses. They were pretty much the only friends he had. Since no child of a Great House was allowed to wander freely through Circulion domain. A rule that he both hated yet understood was necessary. And while he wanted to see his old friends, he definitely did not want to see them witnessing his initiation.

Lily raised her eyebrow at Lucian. Lucian then heard a call coming from down the hall.

“Lily! I need you!” said the feminine voice. Lucian recognized it to be their mother Janice. Lily almost instinctively turned her gaze towards the hall.

“Coming mother!” she said as she laid the chair she was lifting on the ground and left. Lucian expected to be left alone but, to his dismay, a few moments later Lily returned. This time with a tray of muffins and a cup of tea floating above her hand. In her other hand was muffin she had taken a bite from. She then, without hesitation, put the tray on Lucian’s lap. Lucian immediately felt the heat from the teacup on his thigh but he was too surprised to act. He then quickly lifted the tray with his hands before frowning at Lily, who had once again gone back to lifting the small chair with her hand while still eating her muffin.

“What is this for?” Lucian asked annoyed at the fact that Lily continued to disturb him.

“One of the muffins in for Luin and the tea is for Grandfather Wren. Mother said to take them up to the library. I suggest you take one of those muffins as well. Perhaps it would wash you of your worries and get you to help the rest of us set up your ceremony,” said Lily, whose voice was muffled due to her chewing. But it was clear that she enjoyed Lucian’s frustration.

Lucian raised his finger to argue but then realized it was hopeless. Lily simply walked away with a chair in tow. Lucian took a deep breath. He used one of his hands to make the tray float before standing up from his lonely seat and making his way to the staircase. And while he did so, he did take Lily’s advice and grabbed one of the muffins for himself.

The library was situated on the second floor of the house so Lucian opted to take the stairs normally since he wasn’t used to concentrating on multiple things at once. He ate his muffin during the entire short journey and finished it before he reached the sand green and gold trimmed doors of the library. Lucian waved his finger and the door swung open. Revealing the vast literary collection of the Demon household.

The library of the House of Demon was quite an expansive one. Mainly because a lot of Circulion poets, writers and artists came from Demonum Borough. The library housed everything from ancient texts dating to the very early years of Hatlynshire to newspapers as recent as two or three days ago. Lucian didn’t read newspapers that much. Mostly because they came from publishers in Angelsby Borough, which meant the Great Houses owned and operated them. Lucian had long since learned that those newspapers tended to skew information to whatever narrative they pleased. But in all fairness, Lucian also knew the newspapers that came out of Great Borough did the same.

Lucian walked through the library with the tray floating closely behind him. He made his way to the other end of the library, where there was a large open space the shape of a semi-circle that faced a large window overlooking the street. Lucian went and placed the tray on a large circular table in the middle of the space. On either side of the table sat two people. One was Lucian’s grandfather Wren, an ancient wrinkly old man who wore a black robe and a long white beard. His head was half-bald and he wore circular glasses. He was also the only person Lucian knew who wore his top hat and shoes indoors. He sat in a rocking chair basking in the sunlight with a big book on his lap and his polished walking stick beside him. He looked quite intimidating at first due to his stern, undistracted look. But Lucian knew that under those eyes lay a kind man of many scars. For, according to his father Henry, Wren had been a warrior as much as he had been a baron.

On the other side of the table sat a person Lucian held in much, much lower regard. On the other side of the table sat a short boy on a cushioned chair, his face completely obscured by the book he read. He too wore glasses in the same shape as Wren, yet he looked far less imposing to the point that Lucian compared him to a Ferret or a Meerkat. He had short brown hair and he wore a light blue shirt under a white sweater with grey flowers sown into it. Lucian saw Luin peek his small head out of his book as he placed the tray on the table.

“What’s all this?” he asked gazing at the muffins and tea as though it was some exotic object of unknowable origin.

“Lily had me bring this over. I assume you want to eat. Otherwise, I’d happily take it back”

He then grabbed the teacup with his hand. He brought it over to Wren. Who was so deeply entrenched in thought that he did not even noticed Lucian come in. Lucian slowly walked over to him and tapped his shoulder with his hand.

“Grandfather?” he asked softly.

Wren suddenly jerked back in surprise. His glasses fell out of his face and into his lap. His face immediately turned to Lucian, to whom he gave a wide-eyed stare.

“Ah! Who are you? What do you want?” he asked with his hoarse, dry voice.

Lucian sighed. This wasn’t the first time this had happened. He had realized long ago that his grandfather had a bit of a shoddy memory. His mother had told him it was due to the harsh experiences he suffered during the conflict between the Circle and the Order of Man almost fifty years ago. He seemed to both embrace those times yet still reject them.

“It’s me Lucian. You remember me, right?”

Wren blinked several times. He then looked away, pondering. His expression then changed, as he seemed to remember. He then turned back to Lucian with a smile on his face.

“Ah, I do remember you! You’re that messenger boy I was supposed to meet at Barnesby! Well, let me tell you. You keep a very poor schedule!”

Lucian sighed again. He had expected this. “I don’t why you bother. Its better just to give him the tea and leave him alone” said Luin suddenly with a smug face. Finding the situation slightly funny.

“I would appreciate it if you SHUT. YOUR. MOUTH.” whispered Lucian, trying not toy shout aloud. “And go back to whatever nonsense you’re reading”

“It’s not nonsense!” said Luin, the only insults he ever took notice of were the ones made against his reading material. “This is fascinating stuff! And it requires more thought in order to understand than you can ever muster!”

Lucian leaned down facing Luin’s direction in order to read the title of the book. He saw that written on the maroon cover was the title ‘The Incomplete Knowledge of the Arylmoor’. Lucian then faced Luin again. A title he had seen before.

“I’ve seen you read this before! This is nothing new!” he said. Luin then immediately retreated his eye contact but this kept his smug expression as he diverted his eyes to the pages. “Well, if it’s good then why read it only once?” he said quite softly.

Lucian grinned and slightly chuckled. Then handed Wren, who had barely noticed their conversation, his tea and handed Luin his muffin, which he took without a fuss. Lucian lifted the tray once more as Luin lifted his book out of the table and flipped the pages with one hand while eating the muffin with the other.

“We should have sent you off the School of Scribes and left you there. Moor knows you wouldn’t have complained,” he said as he walked away with the tray once again following him. Lucian sniggered as he took a bite out of his treat. “You’re right. I’d prefer it over you imbeciles”

“Well, you’ll have to face something far more repulsive than my idiocy if you don’t come out of your little cove and join the rest of us when all the other houses arrive,” said Lucian who decided to walk away from the conversation instead of prolonging it.

“I wouldn’t say all the other houses,” said Luin carelessly as he went back to his book.

Lucian stopped dead in his tracks. For a moment, he stopped concentrating on the tray and it fell from midair and landed on the hard wood floor with a heavy thud. Luin’s gaze turned back to Lucian as he quickly picked up the tray. Yet instead of taking the tray and leaving the library, he headed right back towards Luin.

Lucian placed the tray on the table and turned swiftly towards Luin, looking at him with an intrigued gaze.

“What does that mean?”

“What does what mean?” asked Luin, confused on why his cousin had turned around so suddenly.

“My father’s letter from five days ago said all the houses were coming today. What did you mean when you said ‘I wouldn’t say all the other houses’?” asked Lucian swiftly. Luin took the final bite out of his muffin and swallowed it. He seemed just as confused as Lucian.

“Well I would say that letter was outdated. Or you’re just being too literal about it. Especially after what happened.” he said turning his attention back to his book trying to ignore Lucian’s all-encompassing gaze.

“What do you mean? What happened?” asked Lucian, who was still unsatisfied.

Luin raised his eyebrow. “Oh dear cousin, are you seriously telling me you have never read a newspaper?”

“I do not see the point, all the Circulion publications are slanted and biased,” said Lucian. To which Luin gave a chuckle of amusement, which did not improve Lucian’s mood. Luin then raised his eyebrow at Lucian while maintaining his grin. He then reached into his shirt and pulled out a large piece of folded paper. He then handed it to Lucian feeling a feeling of superiority.

Lucian looked at the paper. He was momentarily confused. Yet as he unfolded the paper, he realized it was newspaper. He stared at the front page which had the words, THE HANINSBY HERALD, written in large bold letters.

“What is this?” he asked Luin. Now intrigued as to why Luin had it on his person.

“It’s a small independent publication,” said Luin returning to his book. “Not funded by any House. So you can trust them to be honest about their news”

“How did you get this?” asked Lucian who was more than a bit surprised as he looked at the newspaper in his hand. He then saw Luin scuffle his shoulders awkwardly. He avoided eye contact and stared into his book.

“I…may have been using my allowances to pay off the newspaper boy who goes by the house,” he said in a soft and screechy voice. Lucian gave him a wide eyed I stare. “Why…” he began but Luin immediately cut him off before he could say anything.

“How I obtain my news is none of your concern. What’s important is what that news is about” he said pointing at the paper. Lucian stopped talking and looked at the newspaper. He saw that below the name of the newspaper sat a headline written is slightly smaller font. It read ‘MAYOR SHOT AT PARK, PERPETRATOR OF BOMBING COMFIRMED?’ Lucian immediately forgot about questioning Luin’s questionable habits and began to read the first paragraph.

Yesterday it was confirmed by our sources that on the afternoon of 285th Day of the year 634, Sir Victor Del Mir of Canterberg, the Mayor of Great Borough and Hatlynshire was shot whilst attending a fair organized by the City Hall. The circumstances of such a shooting are unclear but it is widely considered as an act of revenge against the Mayor for his involvement in the bombing outside the Circulion Great Hall, which occurred on the 282nd Day of 634…

Lucian read the paper with a deadly seriousness. Some of this information he already knew. He knew Ulysses Everton had died. He just didn’t know the circumstances of his death. It was not as if he cared that much. To him Ulysses was an old man whom he didn’t know that much. All he knew was that his father Henry looked at Ulysses like a hero.

“They shot the Mayor? But isn’t that considered an act of war?”

“The papers run by the Houses say it’s justified. According to them, the bombing was an act of unprovoked aggression. Therefore, retaliation is ‘to be expected’. The state papers all make fun of that Mayor for stepping out onto a stage after committing such an attack. Personally, I think there is something else afoot” said Luin who, for the first time since Lucian had entered the library, seemed genuinely interested in having a conversation.

“There always is...” said Lucian reading the rest of the article while giving Luin little attention. “So the Mayor is dead. End of story?”

“Read the article,” said Luin, who turned a page in his book. And Lucian obliged. He read the article all the way until the end.

While we cannot confirm the death of the Mayor Del Mir as his body was taken out of sight of our reporters before his death could be confirmed. We do have great evidence to suggest that the Treasurer of City Hall, Mr. Maxwell Farthing Harny of Renanberg was confirmed dead at the scene. We have yet to receive any news of any response put out by the Order of Man in relation to this incident.

The article ended there, with the article below it having the title ‘EVERTON’S HEIR STILL MISSING!’ Lucian was quite unsettled at the fact that the mayor was not dead. He also felt suspicious as to why the Mayor would commit an attack against the Circle if he were ‘unprovoked’.

“I thought Mr. Everton died of some sickness or whatnot,” said Lucian processing all the information he just read.

“Well I bet the state papers would have agreed with you if his death wasn’t so public,” said Luin who momentarily stared at a nearby bronze cloak, which hung on the wall in front of him before returning to his book. He seemed to be getting annoyed at how long Lucian had stayed in the library talking to him. “But now they’re trying to spin the story as an attack for the sake of sport, and all the victims were innocent. Not to mention that Mr. Everton’s son is missing”

Lucian could barely hear Luin. He was busy contemplating how misinformed he had been. He wouldn’t usually care for the outside affairs of the Circle. But thing like bombings and shootings caught his interest in more ways than one.

“Do you think there will be war?” he asked in worried tone.

“I cannot tell you that. For as you know dear cousin even my intellectually superior self does not have all the answers you desire” said Luin. Lucian immediately forgot his worries and tuned his attention to Luin.

“Are you seriously insulting me in the middle of all this?”

“Well I think you should be thanking me. You wouldn’t know any of this if I hadn’t told you. Now you have something else to think about other than your stupid initiation.”

“Oh yes indeed! I should thank you for increasing my worries!” Lucian said sarcastically. Yet Luin only smiled.

“Yes, you can repay that thanks by leaving the library. And take your tray with you” said Luin, seeming eager to get back to quietly reading his book. But Lucian didn’t step down that easily. He took the newspaper and threw it at Luin’s head. The newspaper landed in his face and Luin looked at Lucian with an annoyed frown. But Lucian only smiled back.

“I will repay my thanks by not telling Uncle David that you bribed a newspaper boy into giving you independently published newspapers. I think that would be enough to repay by ‘debt’”

Luin’s small head turned red. But he said nothing. He simply went back to his book and pretended as though Lucian wasn’t there. Lucian grinned as he grabbed the tray and made it float above his hand before walking towards the exit. Luin stayed quiet.

Lucian made his way back down the stairs and to the living room. He sent the tray flying down the hallway to the kitchen. But just as he crossed the doorway into the living room, he saw how Lily had changed it. It was more open and less cluttered. Lucian noticed that every book in the bookshelf was organized and every odd speck of dust had been removed. In the room sat Lily, who was sitting on the couch with one hand holding a small round biscuit which she had taken from a bowl which sat on the table in front of her and her other hand was floating a set of knitting needles that slowly seemed to knit a piece of cloth. Lily was quite preoccupied with her knitting, but she didn’t seem to enjoy it.

“Oh curses!” she shouted when she made a mistake. “I shall never understand why mother insists I do this hogwash!” she said as she took a bite out of her biscuit to ease her anger.

“Perhaps you’d be better at it if you did it with both of your hands,” said Lucian sincerely. “Besides, I doubt mother gave you those to eat by yourself”

“Well it isn’t as easy as it looks!” said Lily angrily waving the needles in midair. “Mother thinks it makes a good hobby. I beg to differ. And yes, those are for the guests. But I doubt anyone would question me if some went missing”

Lily reached in to grab another one. But before she could, Lucian waved his hand and the bowl came flying off the table and towards him. Lily only realized this when she felt her hand touch the cold table surface. She looked at the table and realized the bowl was missing. She then looked directly at Lucian who held the bowl with his hands. She gave him an unenthusiastic look.

“Well maybe we should keep this out of your reach until the guests arrive” said Lucian who took the bowl and kept it in a table in the corner of the living room. But before he did, he too took one of the biscuits for himself knowing that what Lily said was right. No one would know if a few went missing.

As Lucian turned around after pocketing his treat, he noticed Lidian silently standing near a window. Staring at the outside with an almost eerie stillness.

“What is he looking for?” he asked Lily.

“I told him the guests will be arriving any minute now. He has been silently looking out the window ever since”

Lucian looked at Lidian with a sympathetic expression. Lucian himself was expecting a few specific people. But before he could reminisce, anything Lucy came running into the room. She appeared to be looking for something. Something she found when she saw Lucian and paused before giving Lucian a wide smile.

“Well there you are!” she said in her high-pitched voice. Lucian simply raised his eyebrow in confusion. “Yes?” he said.

“Do you mind looking at the hall? Lid and I just finished decorating”

Lucian, almost instinctively, gulped. He saw Lily’s smug grin return and he knew why. He knew Lucy and Lidian had only been given decorating duty as a distraction. But it had never occurred to him that he would have to gaze upon whatever unholy mess they had made. Lucian smiled on the outside as Lucy grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hallway to the main hall.

“Close your eyes!” she said in her ever-cheerful voice. Lucian obliged. He closed his eyes as Lucy guided him to the hall. He knew when they entered the hall due to his feet feeling the coldness of the stone floor in the room. He heard Lucy snigger next to him.

“Open!” she commanded cheerfully. Lucian opened his eyes. And what laid in front of him was not what he expected. Beyond him was the huge hall. With its arch wooden roof held together by two rows of stone columns. A large round window with a frame engraved with the symbol of the Circle could be seen on the back wall with a long white carpet leading down the center of the room all the way to it. Below the window was a slightly elevated semicircular floor, which too was made of stone.

Lucy smiled gleefully as Lucian inspected the room. Immediately he found several mistakes in the decorating. He found the lack of symmetry between the two sides the most annoying. Banners containing the symbol of the House of Demon, a nine eight toothed circle with a trident in the middle, were hung on the stone pillars. But Lucian noticed that most either were slanted in one direction or didn’t line up correctly with the other side. Yet for all the flaws he saw in his younger sibling’s work he did not say a word.

“I’m sorry it doesn’t look better. Lid left near the end to look out the window” said Lucy shooting an angry glance at the living room. A glance that was obviously meant for Lidian.

“It’s…beautiful!” said Lucian knowing that Lucy’s sadness was much worse than the shoddy decorations. Lucy looked up at Lucian with a wide smile and glow in her eyes.

“Really?” she asked with a sense of joy Lucian had not achieved in years.

“Yes, it’s very nice,” said Lucian with a smile thanking the fact that Lucy couldn’t see through his expression.

“Thank the moor that she’s not one of those mindreading Hatlys,” he said to himself.

But just as he turned around to leave, he heard the very high-pitched scream of Lidian as he came running down the hallway. “THEY’RE COMING!” he screamed with a mile wide smile.

Lucian froze as nervousness overcame him. He quickly left the hall and jogged directly to the living room. He immediately went straight to the nearest window only find that Lily was already there staring through it with curiosity. Lucian pushed back the curtains and looked. Lidian was right. Lucian immediately saw a long line of black vehicles coming down the roads. It was not often that a car went through Allison Street, since it was a private road where all the houses were just empty facades with the only exception being No 9. The line of cars seemed to stretch all the way down the street. Lucian squinted his eyes and read some of the license plates attached to the front of the car. He could see one labeled HAT-002 and another labeled BIRD-001.

“They’re here alright,” said Lucian, slightly shaking as he saw the sheer number of vehicles coming up the road.

“Well then we have very little time. Mother went upstairs to get ready. I’ll go get her and you get Lucy and Lid and welcome the guests”

“Hold on…no” Lucian began but it was too late. Lily had bolted to the stairs before Lucian could even open his mouth. Lucian grumbled in frustration but ultimately accepted his fate.

“LUCY! LID! COME HERE!” he shouted watching the window closely. He could see the cars stop in front of the front door. And just as he saw the doors open Lucy and Lid came rushing into the room.

“Yes?” they both asked at the same time. Lucian took a deep breath and turned to his younger siblings while wearing a not so real smile.

“I want you both to stay behind the door and welcome the guests with me. And I want you to behave! Understand?”

Both Lucy and Lidian nodded obediently but they also shook in excitement. Lucian took one last deep breath before placing his hand on the doorknob. He then unlocked the door and opened it with a swift motion letting a wave of sunlight into the hallway. He smiled his widest smile as he looked at the crowd of people in front of him.

“Greetings!” he said. He intended to shout cheerfully but his voice faltered at the sight of so many people looking at him. But it didn’t seem to matter, because before he could say anything else. He was immediately hugged by a red haired girl wearing a navy blue dress and a sun hat.

“Oh Lucian, good to see you!” the girl said.

“I…um” said Lucian, who was not expecting this at all. He could already hear the sniggers of Lucy and Lid standing behind him. Luckily, someone else in the crowd. A red haired boy in a similar navy blue coat and black top hat came to his rescue.

“Calm yourself Alice. We’ve only just arrived! Don’t go assaulting him the moment he steps out the door!” he said. To which the girl roughly replied “Oh stop it you! We haven’t seen each other in more than a year! Don’t you dare compare your emotionless self to me!”

Alice then let go of Lucian, who took a step back before composing himself once more. He smiled and tried to ignore what had just happened.

“Nice…to see you too, Alice” he said. Alice chuckled. She then walked past him and went through the door while waving at the twins. The red haired boy from earlier then came towards Lucian.

“I suppose Alice greeted you enough,” he said with a smile. He then extended his hand and Lucian shook it. “Nice to see you again, James” said Lucian. James took back his hand before turning around waving his hand. Lucian then saw a small another small girl walk slowly walk towards James from within the crowd. James picked up the girl as she cautiously walked up to him before turning again towards Lucian with the girl in her arms.

“I assume you remember Mabel? Do you not?” he said as Mabel gave Lucian an unnerving and emotionless stare. Lucian ignored that stare and simply pinched Mabel on the cheek in a polite manner. Mabel did not respond in the slightest. James sighed. Lucian then stepped aside as James walked past him and through the door where he too was greeted by the twins.

Lucian looked at the crowd. He knew that since they were all here for his ceremony he had to greet all his peers first. He looked at the adults standing in the crowd. He immediately noticed Harold Venshire, a thin man with short, curly red hair who stood in a long coat. He stood alongside his wife, who was fair and had darker hair. Next to them stood Marilyn Morrow and Leonard Bernstein along with several others. But Lucian did notice a few exception.

“Mr. Hatly, Mrs. Morning and Mr. Morrow are not here,” he told himself. “Neither is father or Uncle David”

As he was pondering the absence of several people, someone once again approached him. This time a short yet slightly fat boy who was younger than he was. He wore a top hat and light brown coat that went well with his hair. One of his hands was pointed directly at a golden birdcage that floated next to him. The cage contained a raven, something Lucian was famously not fond of. However, he was very fond of the boy, whom he recognized immediately.

“Lucian” said the boy in a cheerful manner and extended his hand.

“Benjamin, good to see you!” said Lucian shaking his long time best friend’s hand. Benjamin smiled before tipping his hat at Lucian. Lucian then once again stepped aside and tried furiously to avoid the golden cage as it passed by his head as Benjamin went inside the house.

Next came a girl who was both taller and older than Lucian. She too wore a brown coat and had a feathered hat as well as another two birdcages floating above her hand. She looked at Lucian with a serious expression as she walked up the stone steps. Lucian knew her to be Benjamin’s sister Lira. She was the oldest among the children and she was the only one to have been initiated before Lucian.

“Lira” he said holding out his hand. Lira shook with a sternly with stillness that made chills run down Lucian’s body. “Lucian” she said quite plainly in a rough voice before walking into the house. Lucian stepped out of her way without hesitation. And so did the twins.

Next, came another boy in brown coat and feathered top hat. Lucian knew him to be the youngest Bernstein child, Morgan. He had no birdcage since his was carried by Lira. He shook Lucian’s hand silently and went.

Next came three more children one by one. Two were girls who wore bowler hats and one was a boy with no hat. Each wore black coats. Lucian knew them to be the Hatly children. The oldest was Laura, who had a shimmering brown hair with hints of amber. Next was Charlotte, who looked very similar to Laura but she wore glasses with a gold frame and had a pointier chin when compared to Laura. The youngest among the Hatlys was Elliott, who held Charlottes hand as he walked up to Lucian with his face shrouded in caution.

Lucian tried not to think too much, for he knew the Hatlys read minds. Yet he often found himself gazing at Laura. Whom he personally thought to be the most beautiful. Yet he tried to hide that thought as much as possible when Laura came up to him to greet him.

“Well thank you. It is a nice hat,” said Laura suddenly while shaking Lucian’s hand. Lucian’s face turned a very light shade of red. “What?” he asked to which Laura only smiled.

“I can hear you think something about me. Yet your mind is trying to hide it. I’m just assuming you're complimenting my hat”

She then said immediately when past Lucian and talked to the twins while Lucian stood there stunned for a few moments. He then quickly shook it off as he saw Charlotte approaching. Charlotte too raised her eyebrow at Lucian but said nothing.

After the Hatly, children came the Morrows of which there were also three. The oldest was Willow, who Lucian knew to be eccentric even by Circulion standards. This was exemplified in her choice of wearing a purple dress with the only striking feature being the gold pocket watch that she had connected to a gold chain. Her brother, the equally eccentric Charles, then followed her shortly. Charles was accompanied by the youngest Morrow child, a boy named Oliver.

“I assume you already know how the day is going to go,” said Lucian as he greeted Charles. Charles sniggered. “Well I wouldn’t say that. All I see in the future is me being rather bored and thinking about why I’ve never seen a grasshopper hop. The presence of my parents makes it so that I cannot predict anything else”

After the Morrows came two people. One was dressed in a red dress while the other was in a dark red coat with an orange scarf. Lucian knew them to be the Morning children. The girl was named Evelyn and the boy named Arthur. Lucian greeted them and they too went inside the house.

This left but one remaining. Lucian saw a thin boy with blond hair in a dark green suit approach him. He had no siblings. Lucian knew him to be Joseph Angelmore. He was almost exactly Lucian’s age with Lucian being only about two months older. Joseph walked up to Lucian and stood mere inches away from his face. He then extended his hand before Lucian could extend his. Lucian shook his hand while looking at him with utter seriousness.

“Lucian Demon, pleasure to see you again” he said with a snide grin. Lucian did the same.

“It is indeed, joe,” he said. Joseph’s grin vanished. He then almost pushed Lucian aside as he went into the house.

After the children came the parents. For them Lucian simply stepped aside and let them past with a welcoming smile. He received several congratulations from Mr. and Mrs. Bernstein and a few others. But once they were all in the house Lucian walked in and slowly closed the door.

As Lucian closed the door, he looked back at the now crowded house. The twins had disappeared from the hallway yet he could still hear their high-pitched voices in the distance. Along with several other childish voices. He looked at the living room. He saw a group of adults sitting on the couch talking about things he didn’t care enough to hear. He knew from experience that it often wasn’t important. Just small talk. He saw that among them was woman in a blue dress, his mother Janice. He then heard a sound from the staircase and when he looked, he saw Luin walk down the stairs with Lily walking behind him. He could tell from Luin’s expression that he wasn’t here willingly.

“You actually came,” said Lucian but Luin’s sour expression did not change. He merely just walked past Lucian without saying a word.

“I made him come with some mild convincing,” said Lily. Lucian raised his eyebrow at her yet he didn’t ask her what she meant by ‘mild convincing’.

Lily then looked at the crowded room. “Well, looks like we’ll have quite the audience for your initiation. I had to direct some of them to the upstairs lounge since the living room didn’t have enough space, even with all the uncluttering I did. I hope this doesn’t weaken your nerves too much”

Lucian stared emptily. It did weaken his nerves but he was too proud to admit it. He then caught a glimpse of Benjamin, Laura and her brother Charles sitting amongst the people in the living room. His calmed himself. Knowing that he need not fear his childhood friends. His only friends.

“Yes,” he said quietly staring into the living room. “Quite the audience.”

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