Ghost of the Past

Chapter 9:

April, 1899

The two of them frowned, "Matthew? That's not possible! He died in that fire!"

I saw his ghost this morning!

The Swiss shook his head, "Well clearly your sources are wrong because it says right here that he opened the vault 11 years ago. And written records don't lie."

Not wanting to anger the blond with a rifle slung behind him, he changed the subject. "Have you heard from him ever since?"

"No and I don't see why I would've. You said it yourself, there's nothing left."

Arthur huffed. He didn't like feeling useless. He especially didn't like feeling useless when confronted by a logical and armed man. "But that still doesn't explain how a dead child could've come in here, opened up a safety deposit box, took all its contents, signed for it and left! Where would he have taken it to, his grave?"

Roderich placed a hand on his shoulder, "of course not, you idiot. You should know that dead people can't do these things. Let's discuss this somewhere less dark."

"Wait, you two have to sign for this first."

He sighed in exasperation, "Right…"

Once the three of them returned upstairs, Roderich crossed his arms, "I don't believe neither Vash nor Lilie will be able to help us with this so why don't we leave them to their business. I will see you two later this evening for dinner."

The blonde nodded, "yes, of course. Thank you for coming by, Herr Roderich. Will you be alright finding your way back?"

The Swiss immediately protested, "Don't get friendly with that guy!"

"But Bruder…he's just like you."

"Don't say that!"

Quickly nodding goodbye, the pair returned to the streets. "Do you actually believe the lad rose from the dead and came to open the box?"

The Austrian shot him an unimpressed look, "I find it highly unlikely, Mr. Kirkland."

In return, he frowned, "How'd you know I'm living in the Bonnefoy house anyways? I don't believe I've ever told you."

Roderich gave an unhelpful shrug, "It wasn't exactly hard to find out, at least not with the connections I have-where are you going?"

Opening his bumbershoot, he began making his way down the street, "I'm going to try to get to the bottom of this! Enjoy your dinner!"

Left alone, the brunet pushed his glasses up as he looked around the bustling streets, "oh dear…let's see…now how to get back home…I'm pretty sure if I walk this way…"

Although he'd boldly stated his intentions, he actually had no idea how he was going to 'get to the bottom' of things. Feeling more and more frustrated, he tried to think back to anything he might've missed, any patterns he overlooked…suddenly perking up, he hailed a carriage and left.

The blond in front of him merely stared blankly, "I'm like, totally not understanding what you're trying to ask."

Arthur ran a hand through his hair, "like I said, you told me last time that you still saw one of the Bonnefoy boys around every now and then, correct?"

Feliks nodded, "Yea, that was like, the secret that I told you. So what about it?"

"I just wanted to know if you meant you saw a child who reminded you of the boys or if it was actually someone around your age."

Toris leaned in and whispered something into his friend's ear causing him to perk up, "oh, I totally get it now! Why couldn't he just have like, said it the what you did, Toris? I'm like, not really sure since I haven't seen the guy around recently. I've only seen him like, a couple times before, you know? But he wasn't dead or anything, since that'd be totally gross. Ghosts are like, totally not my thing, you know? They're just like, ew!"

He raised a brow, "Can you remember if he reminded you more of Alfred or Matthew?"

The blond shook his head, "I like, wouldn't have been able to tell either way! Those two were super identical, like seriously, to the max! Only their papa would've been able to like, tell them apart. Anyways, the last time I saw him, he like, totally turned around and booked it! Isn't that like, totally rude?"

The brunet looked at him curiously, "is something going on, Mr. Kirkland?"

"Not that I know," he laughed weakly, "sorry, I didn't mean to intrude on you. I was suddenly overcome with curiosity and happened to be in the neighbourhood at the time, that's all, really."

Though the younger man appeared unconvinced, he nodded slowly anyways, "I see, well, would you care to come in for tea?"

He shook his head, "I'm afraid I'm in a bit of a rush you see, perhaps next time. Thank you for your help though!"

"Oh, alright…good luck on whatever you're doing."

Feliks crossed his arms, "if you're like, that curious about whether they're alive or not, why don't you just go to the guy that found them? Must've been totally gross though, I mean like, really, finding bodies? That's just super gross."

Arthur stared at the other blond, "you're right. I can't believe I didn't think of that..."

"It's because I'm like, a super genius, you know?" Then, bored, the younger man pulled his friend back inside, "Bye then. Come on Toris, I'm like, totally going to braid your hair, okay? It's going to look super cute, like seriously, to the max!"

So on his way back home, he came across the fire brigade's office and decided to step in. Inside, a familiar little girl was talking to one of the men, "but daddy, Sebo only has one more newspaper to sell then he can play!"

"But Wy, love, I've already bought 2 earlier! A Times and a Post!"

The brunette frowned, "But daddy, it's not much! Just one more then I can stop bothering you! Peter's waiting for us! And it's raining! Are you really going to make them wait in the rain?"

Giving a sigh before smiling, he handed the girl a coin, "fine, here you are. Make sure you're home by supper though!" With the girl gone, the fireman turned to him, "oh, g'day, mate. Sorry about that, how can I help you today?"

He took a step forward, "hello, Arthur Kirkland. Do you think you can direct me to someone who can help me fill in a couple blanks in regards to the large fire of 1888? It's about the death of the Bonnefoys."

The brunet pulled his lips taut, "don't tell me you're another one of those bloody reporters, are you? With the way they skewed my words last time, I'm surprised you even need to come back for more information; you might as well just make the whole story up."

"I'm not a reporter, actually, I'm a biographer, I happen to be writing a book on the Bonnefoys. I have several other titles that have been published under 'Kirkland' if you must know," that was only a partial lie. His father had written books before, a few copies had even been published but they weren't exactly appropriate for the general public and so, they're only found on the shelves of demon worshipping nobles. But the man didn't need to know that. "As a writer, I pride myself in getting my information straight from the source to ensure accuracy of course."

The fireman raised a brow before slowly grinning, "Alright, you've got me convinced, mate. I'm Steve, by the way. Pleasure."

Arthur nodded and shook the brunet's hand, "pleasure. So about the Bonnefoy case…"

"Yea, I was there fighting the fire and I was the one in charge checking that poor bloke's place for bodies. Probably the worst job I've ever had to do, found a boy's body along with his dad's, you know? The poor thing, must've been no older than Wy."

At this, he blinked, "a boy's body? What do you mean? I thought there were two."

"That's right, I found two of them. The boy and his dad's."

He shook his head, "No, I meant, I thought there were two boys that perished in the fire."

The brunet frowned, "where'd you hear that? Is that what they're churning up nowadays? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at all! No, I'm telling you, those reports are absolute fakes. I was in there and there were only two bodies, a child's and a man's. I would've known if there was a third. I even specifically told those reporters there were two bodies, those idiots."

As he stood there, he could feel the base of his investigation crumble. Running a hand through his hair, he began thinking back. Alfred was clearly haunting his house as were Matthew and Francis. If that was the case and there were only two bodies recovered, where was the third? And who opened the box? "This just keeps getting more complicated," he muttered to himself, "I'm never going to figure this out."

The other patted him on the shoulder sympathetically, "have a Times, mate. I'm sure whatever's wrong will go away with time."

He sighed, the problem was that they wouldn't. "Thank you for your time, sir."

A cheery smile, "Anytime! Have yourself a nice day!"

Although determined to do something once he got home, much to his horror, he found his parents' carriage there, waiting for him. "Bugger," he muttered under his breath as he walked up to it. Poking his head into the carriage, he frowned, "hello mother, father…" nothing the flash of red, he turned to his brothers, two of them redheads and one of them blond, "and brothers…all three of you."

The three of them grinned back him almost menacingly, "hello Arthur."

"What's going on?" He was almost afraid of the answer.

"Arthur, dear," his mother began, "your father and I found an absolutely fascinating ritual but I'm afraid we need more participants so we need to take you away from your precious little house for a little while."

His father merely looked over at him and gestured for him to get in, "Come along now and don't make a fuss."

Reluctantly dragging himself into the private coach, he took a sullenly seat next to one of his brothers and stared out the window almost longingly, which earned him a confused look from Lars as they rode past his tulip garden. "Where are we going?"

The woman smiled, "you'll see. You know, you told me that you bought a charming little house but I never imagined you meant charming as in 'haunted by Francis Bonnefoy' charming. But I must say, I do approve of your taste in spirit companionship. Even as a ghost, he's as handsome as ever, that man."

Green eyes blinked as he looked at his mother. They shouldn't have been around. The Frenchman already appeared in the morning. He picked up Matthew by the door and disappeared into the kitchen. He'd watched it happen. "You saw him? What about the boys?"

She tilted her head slightly, "Boys? I'm afraid I must've missed them. Oh dear, am I losing my touch?"

His father shook his head, "nonsense, of course you're not."

His brothers snickered and cooed mockingly, "our poor little Artie's stuck in a haunted house with a French family!"

Their mother frowned, "now, now, let's not cause Arthur any trouble. He's a grown up now, just like you three so it's time to start treating him as such. Besides, that French family was absolutely lovely."

Arthur raised a brow, trying to ignore his siblings, "you've met them all before?"

"And so have you, don't you remember, dear?"

He shook his head, "I'm afraid not. I only remember eating at the restaurant…"

The woman looked up in thought, "It was when we were at the station returning from…now where was it again? I don't remember anymore but that's quite alright, it's irrelevant to the story anyways. We were returning from somewhere, probably to visit one of your brothers, and we lost you at the station. Apparently you stumbled across Mr. Bonnefoy and his boys who'd just returned from a trip to Paris. You still can't recall anything? Well from what I recall, I believe you got along rather well with those boys…"

February, 1885

Although the sun was still up and the day still bright, he could barely feel his fingers anymore. "Mama, where's our ride?" When he received no reply, he looked around only to realize that his parents had suddenly disappeared. Desperately lost and alone, he began running around the station when he spotted a familiar looking blond with a pair of boys.

Unsure of what to do, he approached them.

While he was freezing his toes off, the Bonnefoy family looked quite comfortable in their new scarves and gloves. One of the boys was chatting excitedly, "so when can we go give Bella and Lars their gifts, papa? These gifts are so awesome!"

The man laughed, "mon cher, you've been around Gilbert too much. You're starting to talk like him!"

"But it's really awesome, right, Mattie?"

"Yea, they are," the other boy smiled from behind his crocheted toy.

The Frenchman was the first to notice him. The man shot him a quizzical smile, "bonjour…ah, I remember you, you're the boy who came to the restaurant! Are you alright?"

"I'm Arthur," he muttered. Although he felt flattered that the infamous chef remembered him, it didn't change the fact that he was lost and cold and miserable, "and I don't know where my parents are."

Francis frowned lightly, "mon dieu…well they can't be far off." He stood there in thought for a moment before patting him on the head reassuringly, "don't worry mon cher, I'll go find your parents for you, alright? You just stay here with my sons until I get back, okay?"

He immediately turned on his defences, "i-it's not that bad! It's not like I can't take care of myself! Don't treat me like a child, you're probably only a couple years older than me anyways! I'm not actually lost, cold or hungry or anything since I'm not a child, you know? So don't treat me like one!"

Raising a brow, the man laughed, "of course not, monsieur, I would never! What I meant to ask was whether or not you'd be able to keep my boys company while I go look for something, that's all."

Arthur's frown lightened, "well I guess I could…"

Then Francis turned to the boys and placed a kiss on each of their heads. And while watching, for a moment, he wished he was part of their family…full of kisses and hugs and other normal family things.

"Now Alfred, Mathieu, make sure you stay here alright? Roderich's carriage should be here soon and we wouldn't want to miss our ride, oui? So stay here and make sure you play nicely and listen to Arthur here since he's the oldest, d'accord?"

The two nodded in agreement, "d'accord!"

As he turned, the boy with the crocheted toy called after him, "papa, wait!"

The Frenchman turned around, "oui, Mathieu?"

The child held his doll out, "h-here, to keep you safe! Alf's here with me so we'll be okay!"

The man nodded and accepted the doll with a smile, "merci beaucoup, mon cher."

After Francis left, the boy with blue eyes held a gloved hand out, "Artie, right? I'm Alfred and this is Mattie! It's nice to meet you, right, Mattie?"

A friendly smile, "Oui, enchanté."

Arthur furled his brows in distaste at the name as he shook their hands, "Artie? Um, nice to meet you two too…are you two twins?"

Alfred gave a carefree shrug, "Maybe, we never found out. But either way, I'm older."

The other blond frowned, "Alf, that's not fair!"

"Don't worry about it, Mattie!" The boy grinned before turning back to him, "what's wrong? You look upset. Why don't you tell us about it? I mean, we're all friends, non?"

Reluctantly, he nodded, but where to start? He was lost, cold, hungry, and he had brothers who were ready to torment him at any given opportunity and his parents summoned demons… "I'm really cold," he muttered lamely.

The brothers exchanged glances before Alfred took his gloves off and offered them to him, "They're too big for me so you can have them, Artie."

His eyes widened at how easily they were offered, "I couldn't…what about you?"

Alfred laughed, "Don't worry about it." As though reading his mind, the other twin immediately handed one of his own gloves over to his brother. The two turned back to him, ungloved hand in ungloved hand, "see look, and my coat's got a really big pocket if our hands get cold! Put them on Artie, they'll make you a little warmer, right, Mattie?"

Nearly moved to tears, he did as he was told.

"D-do they fit," the quieter boy asked.

"Yes, they fit perfectly, thank you…" he mumbled, staring at his shoes.

"Aw, don't cry! Your tears will freeze and that won't be fun at all!" Then, already bored, Alfred immediately launched into a different topic, "oh, guess what? We just got back from Paris! You should see the gifts we got for our neighbours! They're really nice so we went and found them gifts! Oh, and we went to see papa's mum and dad! Papi and mamie! And we found a really big old hat! It was black and had really soft feathers sticking out of it and stuff! We had papa try it on and papi said he looked like his great, great, great…"

Mathieu continued for him with an excited smile, "great, great, great, great grand-papa!"

"It was super awesome! Oh, hey Artie, do you have any brothers or sisters?"

He nodded rather sullenly, "I have three older brothers. They make fun of me all the time but it's not like I need any help from anyone or anything because I've got it under control!"

The other boy looked shocked at his confession, "what? That can't be right! Older brothers are supposed to be awesome! Gilbo told me so! Tell you what, if I ever see them around, I'll make sure they stop bugging you, okay? 'cause I'm a hero, right, Mattie?"

The blond dipped his head in agreement, "C'est ça, Alf's a hero! But um, I-I'll try to help too!"

Inwardly, he couldn't believe he was going to be defended by someone younger than him but smiled at the idea that someone was willing to do that for him. "Alright, next time, but it's not because I need your help or anything, alright? It's only because I don't want you two feeling silly or anything, okay?"

The twins merely smiled back, "okay, Artie, if you say so. So what else do you do? I mean, we go out and play all the time! And sometimes we get to visit papa at work! What about you?"

"Well I…"

The three of them continued their lively conversation until his mother appeared with the Frenchman, "Arthur, dear, there you are! We thought you were kidnapped! Thank goodness Mr. Bonnefoy came and found us! How can we ever repay you, Mr. Bonnefoy?"

The man merely shook his head, "it's nothing, I'm always happy to help out beautiful mademoiselles in need."

"You flatter me, sir!"

Almost disappointedly, he turned to the younger boys, "I have to go now. I guess I'll talk to you two next time-b-but it wasn't as if I enjoyed it that much! I was just here to keep you two company because your dad asked, that's all!"

Unfazed, the two smiled, "please come find us to play some time, okay?"

"We'll be waiting, Artie!"

"Oui," the Frenchman stood next to him, "thank you very much for keeping Alfred and Mathieu company. Perhaps you wouldn't mind doing it again sometime?"

Trying his best to not look to eager, he shrugged, "I suppose I could…"

Francis nodded, "merci beaucoup, until next time then." He turned to the younger twin and returned his toy, "here Mathieu, Kumajiro did a wonderful job of protecting me. Merci."

The boy looked pleased as he took his doll back, "de rien, papa."

Alfred tugged on his jacket, "hey Artie, if you want to visit us, me and Mattie will draw a map for you so you'll never get lost around our house, okay? We'll get it to you somehow! We're really good a drawing! And our neighbourhood's full of really nice people, right, Mattie?" His brother smiled and dipped his head. "We'll take you to go meet all of them when you come visit, okay?"

Nodding enthusiastically, he replied, "okay! I mean…fine, I guess."

He waved goodbye as he followed his mother towards their carriage. "You seemed to be having fun with those boys."

Arthur shrugged and crossed his arms, "I was just keeping them company like the mister asked me to."

His mother glanced over, "where'd you get those gloves?"

"Oh, Alfred and Matthew gave them to me, I should…" he turned back, ready to return the gloves but he found that the three had already disappeared. His shoulders slumped slightly, "they're gone…"

"Don't look so upset," the woman spoke gently, "I'm sure you can return those to them next time, alright?"

The idea of there being a next time cheered him up slightly, "Yea, next time…"

"That family was so delightful…I wish we got to meet them again. Why didn't we again?"

His father frowned, "the week after was when that happened."

The woman nodded understandingly, "ah yes, I remember now. We had to move to a new house, didn't we? That really was quite terrifying, wasn't it?"

"Don't worry dear, I'm sure it'll go better this time."

She smiled, "Yes, I'm sure it will."

Looking out the window, he sighed, "huh…I kind of wish I remembered this sooner."

"And why's that, dear?"

One of his brothers began snickering, "looks like little Artie misses his one-time friends. Maybe he fancied one of them?"

And that was enough to get the other two started, "Maybe he fancied the twins?"

"What if it was the French man?"

"Oh, that's always a possibility!"

Slouching in his seat, he groaned, wishing the Bonnefoy boys had kept their promise and told his brothers off. His mother tsk'ed and gestured for him to sit back up, "come on now, young man, don't slouch. It's bad for your posture. You're a gentleman now, so you should at least sit like one."

Nya~

I hate when I edit and something messes up and nothing saves! Curse you technology (please don't delete my work)! The only historical tibit is that gloves were popular because apparently there was something against physical contact between men and women during the Victorian Era? Polish people actually have one of-if not the highest average IQ in the world! I didn't have time to look more interesting things up... Early on in this chapter, I actually had writer's block when my train of thoughts collided with my truck of 'things I have to get done'. There was a huge mess and the roads had to be blocked off for nearly half a day but luckily, there were no casualties, just minor injuries. So I'm sorry if this chapter's choppy. But other than that, I will let you know that this fic is drawing to a close. For those of you who are fed up and wondering if this will ever end, yes it will so don't yea... Though I'm not entirely sure if I'll be able to update next weekend since I have a super hectic schedule coming up where I have something due or a test or whatever on 4/5 days next week so staying up super late to type doesn't seem like a viable option. Uhh...yes Arthur was super tsundere as a child. His brothers are Scotland, Ireland and Wales, and if you want a mental image of his mother, I'd suggest thinking something along the lines of Sharon's grandmother from Pandora Hearts (somewhat sadistic, but always with a smile, just like a real lady). And Steve...it just had to be 'Steve'. Anyways, thank you readers and love you lots and lots reviewers! Enjoy!

Oh, and if you're worried/wondering about what happened to Roderich. About half an hour later, Lilie sent Vash out after him. He was found and brought back to the bank where he spent the rest of his afternoon trying to convince the two that he wasn't lost.