Once again, I apologize for the delay. We've had endless tests and essays so I couldn't write this fic. Fortunately, Christmas holiday is in two weeks so I'll had time to write .

Chapter 8: I've found you

"I'm going out now!" was all Fine said when she ran out the front door, before Camelot could stop her. Rein woke up from her shout.

"Wh…where are you going, Fine?" she asked groggily into space.

Yet if Fine were here, she wouldn't have answered Rein. If she did, then Rein would most definitely stop her and give her a lengthy lecture on how not to trust strangers and not to befriend ones who have stolen your wallet and your necklace, especially the good looking ones.

Because that's who Fine was going to find.

Down the valley she went, as quick as the wind down the alley, so that there was no way Camelot could catch up. Fine slowed down when she passed the dimly lit shops, panting as she glanced back to make sure Camelot wasn't chasing after her. The dirt path leading upwards was empty. Good.

Now for the difficult part.

Fine had no idea where Eclipse usually lived. She assumed that no clever thief would inform everyone else of their hiding spot and Eclipse was a particularly clever thief to have stolen from her (thinking about it, it probably didn't require much skill to have taken stuff from Fine, but she hadn't realised it at that time). She wandered around the town centre, peering behind carts and in alleys, trying to find Eclipse amongst the bustling crowd, yet to no avail.

Suddenly, she spotted Tio at the street corner, right by the church. She waved at him. He didn't wave back.

Tio sat cross-legged on the pavement, seemingly trying to contemplate on something intelligent. His hands were in his pockets as usual, and he downcast his eyes. The corner of his mouth twitched, then stopped, then twitched again. A woman passed by and dropped a coin in front of him.

Before the coin even touched the ground, Tio caught it and threw it back to the woman. It bounced against her apron and rolled into the gutter. The woman glared at him, then sniffed. "Ungrateful brat," she muttered.

Tio heard it. "What did you just call me?" he stood up, fist clenched, baring his teeth. Fine had never seen him react so angrily. His hands were now out of his pocket, and one of them was bandaged coarsely.

The woman sniffed again, and hurriedly left Tio alone. "Go to hell," he screamed after her. Unclenching his fists, he stroked his bandaged hand, as blood seeped into the bandage. Fine raced towards him.

"Tio," she breathed, "have you seen Eclipse anywhere?"

"Eclipse?" he asked, his eyes widened. "Why would you want to look for him? He stole your necklace, didn't he?" At that moment, he noticed the dazzling jewel dangling off her neck. He stared incredulously at it. "How…who had…?"

Fine nodded. "That's why I want to find him. I want to know as well."

However, Tio downcast his eyes again. People were looking at the boy who threw a tantrum and the girl who didn't fit in with the peasants. Neither of them seemed familiar looking. A young boy, no older than Tio, was dressed in blue silk and had nicely combed hair. He approached Tio tentatively, a coin in hand, but ran back to his parents, an apologetic smile on his face. His parents dragged him away immediately.

Waiting for Tio to reply, Fine sighed and sat next to him, while he continued to stare after the young boy. She waited patiently. Finally, Tio replied, with jealously laced in his voice, "At St. Sebastian avenue, behind the door between the tailor's and the barber's."

Without listening to further instructions, Fine rushed off to find that street. Yet if she had waited, she would have had an easier job finding Eclipse.

Behind the door between the tailor's and the barber's was a narrow corridor lined with pipes. Like the long arms of the predator, they seem to engulf Fine, trapping her. There was no exit at the end of the corridor, only holes in the middle just wide enough to wriggle through. Fine counted them: there were five of these holes within her sight. The nearest one reeked, and two others were teeming with rubbish. Fine walked towards the fourth and peered into it.

Inside, a family of five slept uncomfortably on an uneven ground. The youngest one squirmed, and her older brother gazed right back into Fine's eyes. He shrieked, and the others woke up immediately, scrambling to collect what they have and slide down the smaller hole at the back of their 'room'.

Frozen with shock, Fine heard the last person land with a 'thunk' at the end of the slide. Water dropped through the ceiling of their room. As the droplets gathered to form a puddle, Fine moved on.

Several people were squeezed into the other holes as well, but they were hidden more obscurely. As she continued, Fine realised she was walking downwards, as if the corridor lay on top of a slope. But she knew this shouldn't be a slope. The town was at the pit of the valley, and nothing lay beneath it.

Finally, she reached the very end of the corridor. A circle was sealed shut, like a heavy metal cover. For some reason, she knocked on it.

"Dovetail?" a man bellowed from inside.

"Umm…yeah?"

Silence. "Umm…hello?"

"Dovetail?" the man repeated.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to find Eclipse, you see, and I was wondering whether he's here. Is he…um…in? Or do you know where he is?"

"Dovetail?" the man said for the third time.

A voice behind her spoke up. "Horrible smells. Lucky escape?"

"Hung drapes." The circle turned slowly, screeching as it scraped against the walls, until it popped open. The cover fell inwards.

Fine turned to see the person behind her. "Hello," said Eclipse.

"How…how long…I didn't hear you," she replied lamely.

He simply smiled. "I had to make sure you came here alone."

A burly man stepped out of the hole and grunted. Eclipse said, "She's with me."

The man nodded, then replaced the cover back into the hole. A short girl leapt into the hole, and Fine could just catch a glimpse of a pair of brown plaits before the cover was fitted back into the hole. Eclipse strolled away as the cover screeched again, unwilling to be forced back into place. Fine followed him.

The sunlight was blinding, but Eclipse took no time to adjust, as if it had no effect on him. Fine squinted and saw that he was heading towards the hills. "Wait," she cried after him. Yet he walked on, ignoring her cries. She struggled to catch up with him.

They were back onto the dirt path leading to Fine's mansion. The sun streamed down onto Eclipse's hair, and Fine realised how much time has passed since she first stepped into the corridor. "Wait!"

By the fields, he stopped. White flowers lined the path, overwhelmed by weeds. He sat on the fields and looked down on the town. Fine sat beside him, and both of them watched the townsfolk run around, finishing their work. A fluffy cloud blocked the sunlight from the silent couple.

"I just wanted to thank you," Fine said.

"Why are you so sure that it's me?"

She hadn't really thought about that. "I don't know. I just, sort of, you know, know it's you. Thank you for giving it back to me."

Eclipse laughed. It was a hearty laugh, mind you, and it brought to Fine's mind of sturdy oak and woodwind instruments and creatures running about. Not ghastly creatures like rats and bugs, but field mice and sparrows. "It wasn't mine anyways."

"But why? Why did you return that to me?"

The cloud moved on. "Well, maybe, you said that it was important to you."

The Bijoux family carriage approached them. "I should leave," Eclipse muttered. He sprung off the field and disappeared into the distance, almost like a shadow. The black carriage slowed down and Altezza stuck her head out.

"Why are you sitting there like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like a…a peasant!" Altezza beamed triumphantly. "You're acting like a peasant."

Bright, unseen from Fine's angle, offered to give Fine a ride. Fine felt tired, but she didn't feel like sitting next to Altezza, so she said that she could walk. Bright explained that it wasn't gentlemanly of him to let a lady walk alone, but Altezza ordered the driver to speed off. Fine shrugged. All she could think about was that shadow which disappeared across the fields. That dark, menacing shadow, a shadow that had a hearty laugh and a jaunty tie.

Fine smiled. Maybe, just maybe, she could be friends with that shadow.

Bright hugged the Leau family when he entered the dining room. His father had invited them.

"But why so sudden, father?" Altezza asked.

A malicious twinkle sparked in the Duke's eye. "Bright should get to know more about his fiancée. Don't you agree, Bright?"

He nearly spat out his soup. Grudgingly, he looked up, and managed a weak smile at his fiancée, the Lady Mirlo of Leau.

Arghh! Why does my maths teacher give us so much homework?