CH 3 Mystery Man
Matthew sat back in the carriage seat as yet another bump in the road caused the entire moving vehicle to shake and shudder. At this point, Matthew honestly wouldn't be surprised if the entire thing suddenly collapsed at the next bump. He had already read over the file about eight times and wasn't super interested in reading over it another time. After all, he had a near photographic memory so at this point he could probably recite the information word by word.
Blinking a few times, Matthew tried to keep awake. It would look really bad if he feel asleep right before a mission and he had no doubt that the driver of the carriage would end up reporting it to Arthur. It didn't help that there were probably a few hours before he'd actually get to the town and start his mission. Oh well, Matthew might as well review what he knows.
The house was four stories tall and had a basement. It seemed like most of the people who worked there and lived there lived in the basement which was spacey enough for the 12 of them to all live there. Apparently that would be where Matthew was staying as well since he would be working and living there. The house had very high windows and the grounds around the house was covered in trees, had a garden, a stable and pasture, and had a high wall surrounding the grounds.
The description of the inside let Matthew know that he'd be able to find plenty of hiding spots and apparently there were tons of secret passages all throughout the house that very, very few people knew off.
The people staying at the house all seemed to be a bit strange, each one being marked down as having their own quirk and each other coming from different part of the world. It seemed like the entire house was really diverse.
Moving on to the people he was supposed to take out. The father was tall, had long blond hair that was partly braided. His name was Alaric. He was a widow and closer in age of a grandfather to the two brothers rather than a father. The father apparently was already suspected of being ill and rarely went out of his study or his room except to get meals and talk with the towns people. It would be simple enough to bide his time and kill the father when no one was around.
The younger brother inherited his father's looks, being very tall and having short blond hair slicked back along with crystal blue eyes. His name was Ludwig and he had been named heir to the position of power over the town, which was surprising considering he had an older brother. He was noted to be slightly OCD and to have a pattern of how he went about doing things each day. It would be simple to use those patterns against the brother and figure out a way to slip him some sort of poison or set up a trap for him.
The older brother seemed to be completely opposite of the other two. His name was Gilbert and he had pure white hair and red eyes, both of which were natural. As a believer of magic, Matthew had to wonder if there was some kind of demon blood within their family, but Matthew cast the notion aside. If it wasn't mentioned in the file it wasn't needed information. The brother was known for being loud and obnoxious and not really trusting anyone. Gilbert apparently would randomly disappear into town without telling his family or run off into the forest. Matthew knew it would be easy to take the albino out in the woods.
Matthew's cover was interesting. He was supposed to be an orphan with two younger sisters who lived at their uncles house. His 'uncle Jim' set him up with the job at this mansion so he could pay for his youngest sister to be visited by a healer and get her illness cured. The father had been told that Matthew was a skilled fighter, cook, and musician. He was supposed to wear glasses, which was actually a relief since Matthew's vision wasn't all that great and since wearing glasses reminded Arthur of Alfred, Matthew hadn't worn glasses since he was a kid. It was an interesting set up and almost sounded like one of those crappy romance books some of the girls at his house read. At least it would've if one of the brothers was a girl instead of a boy, but Matthew shrugged it off. It didn't really matter to him anyway.
Satisfied with having the information memorized, Matthew yawned lightly and leaned his head against the window. A tiny nap wouldn't hurt right?
The thing that woke Matthew up was the fact that the bumping and jostling had stopped. His eyes flickered open and he looked around, sitting up quickly. Just after he sat up the door was pulled open and the driver of the carriage told Matthew that they had arrived. Standing up slightly, Matthew got out of the carriage and looked around. He didn't see a town in sight, but he did notice that it wasn't quite sunset yet.
Turning to question why they weren't at the town, Matthew saw that the driver was already ready to leave. The driver pointed at the path and then without another word cracked the reins to the horses and left.
Matthew looked at the path for a moment and sighed loudly. Now he would have the joy of walking the rest of the way to a town he had never been to before along with hoping that
Starting down the path silently, he watched the clouds, happy that at least it was a nice spring day outside. It would be terrible to have to walk around in bad weather especially since Matthew didn't have a change of clothes and wouldn't get one until the next morning. At least he had a bit of money to buy his dinner would. He hope it would taste good. After living with Arthur and having eaten his and the cook's nasty cooking almost all his life, Matthew was looking forward to some real food.
Matthew was still wearing all black, but unless someone looked closely at his clothing he would just look like a normal teenager who liked the color black.
Matthew looked down at the ground and frowned. Sometimes he wished he was just a normal teenager. Then he would have a real family rather than a guy who was a few years older than him and ruled over his life. Matthew also wouldn't have a bunch of blood on his hands either. After Alfred ran away, Matthew was trained and conditioned to be the perfect assassin. He could use invisiblity spells to erase any trace of him being there, but he wasn't allowed to learn any other magic. He had been tutored and forced to learn everything he needed to know at an extremely fast pace. Fighting was essential because if he didn't learn how to fight back Arthur would've let him be a punching bag for quite a few magical creatures. If he had just been a normal kid maybe he wouldn't feel so empty or alone. Maybe he'd feel as if someone actually liked him for him.
Shaking his head quickly, Matthew went back to gazing at the clouds and loosing himself in happier thoughts. His thinking was soon interrupted by a hooded figure who accidentally bumped into him.
The force of getting bumped into cause Matthew to fall over on his butt, but he was able to recover quickly and was back on his feet in an instant. Moving into action, Matthew tripped the hooded figure swiftly, his training causing him to automatically assume that he was under attack. He balled up his fists and jumped backward a bit, ready if it came to a fight.
The hooded figure held his hands and arms up in front of his face and said, "Whoa, whoa! Don't hit me, I just bumped into you!"
Matthew looked down at the person he had tripped and relaxed. Matthew couldn't see the guy's face, but from his pleas for Matthew to not hit him, Matthew knew that this person wasn't a threat.
"S- sorry about that... Um... reflexes?" Matthew said as an excuse for him basically attacking the person who had just bumped into him. Moving up to the hooded figure, Matthew extended his hand to help the other off of the ground.
The guy took Matthew's hand and used his other hand to make sure that his hood stayed on as he stood up. "It's cool, it's cool. Just be glad you caught me off guard because otherwise my awesomeness would've kicked your ass." The guy said as he brushed himself off.
Matthew gave him a skeptical look and crossed his arms. This guy seemed overly cocky and it kind of annoyed Matthew, but he didn't say anything.
"Anyway I'm Gil- lian. Um... Yeah. My name is... Gillian?" Gillian said holding out his hand in greeting to Matthew.
Laughing lightly, Matthew took Gillian's hand and shook it. It was painfully obvious that 'Gillian' was using a fake name, but Matthew ignored it. It didn't matter to him who this person was after all.
Dropping his hand, Matthew teased, "I thought Gillian was a girls name." When the other's shoulders slumped a bit showing that Matthew had upset him, (He was guessing since he couldn't see Gillian's face.) Matthew wondered if the other really was a girl. The voice sounded like a guys and the build looked like a guy's build, but with the robe and hood on, Matthew really wouldn't be able to tell.
Trying to cover up his mistake, Matthew quickly said, "I'm Matthew. It's nice to meet you."
Gillian glared at Matthew for a minute before saying, "Don't mock my awesome kid. It's not cool. Or funny. And I'll have you know that Gillian is a perfectly fine name for a guy, okay?"
Matthew nodded when suddenly a peep came from inside Gillian's robe. A little yellow bird came flying out of the clothes and fly around Gillian's head peeping. Matthew gave the other a confused look as the little bird flew around.
Suddenly the bird flew over to Matthew and sat on his head, quickly making a nest of his hair. Matthew put his hands on his head and tried to fish the bird out of his, now, mess of hair.
Gillian started helping Matthew, swatting the other's hands away since Matthew was just making more of a mess. "Come on Birdie, Gilbird doesn't bite and you're just making more of a mess of your hair," Gillian said calmly as he finally got the bird out of Matthew's hair.
"Gilbird? You named a bird after yourself? W- wait, why'd you call me 'Birdie'?" Matthew asked frowning. He didn't like randomly getting nicknames from people and he was upset that his hair was insanely tangled up now.
"Yeah I named him after me! I'm his owner so why not? Well... Gilbird really likes you, after all most people he first meets he pecks and he only makes nests of people's hair that he likes. And your blond hair is that same color as Gilbird's must think you're a bird if he likes you so much. Plus, Birdie's much awesomer than Matthew," Gillian explained calmly as he set Gilbird on top of his head.
Matthew gave Gillian a skeptical look before shaking his head. "Whatever. Sorry for bumping into you and then tripping you, but I need to get to town," Matthew said stepping around Gillian and continuing down the path.
After a few moments, Matthew heard footsteps behind him and then felt an arm slung around his shoulder. He tensed up at the physical contact, but relaxed again and glared at Gillian for a minute.
"Well, Matt, I think I'm going to accompany you into town as I was heading in that direction anyway and you seem to be new. The town doesn't see new people a whole lot." Gillian said with a large grin.
Matthew gave Gillian a 'you've got to be kidding' look and was met with a shit-eating grin. He sighed loudly and said, "Don't call me Matt. And how do you know I'm not a robber or something like that?"
Gillian just laughed and declared, "Well if you were a robber you would've jumped me earlier after you tripped me! And it's not like I have any money on me anyway." He looked at Matthew for a second and noticed that the other looked kind of serious. "Why don't you want to be called Matt?"
Giving him an angry look, Matthew looked at the ground and said, "Someone I knew a long time ago called me Matt and it kind of brings up bad memories, okay? Just call me Bird or whatever you were calling me earlier."
Gillian felt bad that he had upset the other, but quickly changed the subject. "Alrighty then, Birdie. How about you and I go into town and get some food? I haven't eaten in a little bit and I'm friends with the owner of this one place so we can eat there for free. It'll be fun," Gillian said with a softer smile. He figured that free food would make up for bringing up a bad topic and it would give Gillian a better chance to get to know the somewhat strange blond.
Matthew looked at Gillian a bit skeptically before sighing loudly and nodding. There was no harm in getting free food after all. "Sure. I'll come with you, er- Gillian," Matthew said, feeling awkward about using the name Gillian for the man considering Matthew was certain that it was a fake name.
Gillian chewed his lip for a moment before saying, "You know what? Forget the Gillian thing, just call me Gil okay?"
Matthew nodded calmly and continued walking towards town, ignoring the arm that was still around his shoulder.
Matthew looked around the town as the walked and Gil talked rapidly into his ear about everything from what Gil had eaten that morning to cats being Satan. After being a recluse for so long because all he ever did outside of his home was go and kill people, Matthew wasn't quite sure how to react to Gil's talking, but so far Matthew had decided that hit himself over the head with a frying pan sounded nice.
Suddenly the arm around his neck tightened a bit and Gil exclaimed, "Here's the place!"
Matthew tried to catch sight of what the place was called, but he was dragged through the door before he could read what the sign said. Frowning Matthew gave Gil a glare, but he was ignored and dragged over to a table to sit at.
Sitting down, Matthew scanned the area, noticing that the entire room seemed to be filled to the brim with people, each one at varying levels of being sober. Apparently this place was the life of the party. Matthew yawned, covering his mouth quickly and looked at Gil to see what exactly was going on.
Matthew decided to study Gil for a bit, curious as to who this person was. He still had the hood up and the robe covered everything except a bit of his forearms and his hands. What skin Matthew could see was very pale and it didn't look like there was any hair on the other's arm either. Based on their conversation Matthew assumed that the guy was around his age, maybe a bit older because the other's voice was deeper, but maybe a bit younger because Gil seemed more hyperactive than most people Matthew's age.
"So this is the place my buddy owns. You could meet him if you want to, but you might not want to cause he's definitely not as awesome as I am, I mean it's impossible for anyone to be as awesome as me, but he's okay. Oh yeah, and this place is called the Fleur de Lis. Best food and drinks in town," Gil said, interrupting Matthew's thoughts.
Matthew nodded slowly, not paying attention much when it registered that Gil had said that this place was the Fleur de Lis. Smiling lightly, Matthew said, "That's actually really convenient. I was told by my uncle that I'm supposed to stay here for the night before starting a job tomorrow."
Gil's eyes lit up slightly when Matthew said that. He was happy to be able to help someone out like that. "That's good. I'm gonna go let Franny know that we're here and what I want to eat. I might be a little bit cause we've got some catching up to do, but I shouldn't be too super long so don't worry," Gil said with a grin as he stood up.
He was about to walk off when he realized that he hadn't asked Matthew what he wanted to eat. "By the way Mattie, what do you want to eat?" Gil asked, looking back at the blond.
Matthew had no clue what kind of food they would serve here so he just said, "I'll just take whatever you get." He was certain that after living with Arthur's cooking for so long that whatever Gil got wouldn't be bad. Or at least that Matthew would be able to stomach it without dying.
Gil nodded quickly and said, "Alright. I'll be back in a bit." He turned around and walked away, disappearing behind the door to the kitchen.
Yawning once again Matthew crossed his arms and laid his head down on the table. Apparently the nap in the carriage hadn't been enough. His eyes slowly closed before snapping open again. He couldn't go to sleep. He had to focus on the task at hand. If he fell asleep on the job it would look really bad. Plus, to do the night time part of his job he was probably going to have to give Gil the slip and to do that he needed to come up with a plan.
Another yawn stopped his thought process as he let his eyes slowly slip shut once more. Maybe just a few minutes of sleep wouldn't hurt. Plus the smell of the food was making him really sleepy. Before he fell asleep he had one final thought, The food smells just like Francis's cooking...
Matthew felt a hand on his shoulder shake him gently, but he was still sleep for the most part. "But Francis I don't wanna get up... Al always hits me with the ball when we play catch." Matthew muttered sleepily as he shifted lightly.
"Birdie. Mattie, you gotta wake up. Come o- Franny, where are you going?" Gil said looking to his friend in confusion.
"Oh mon Dieu, Gil, I've got to go."
"And why is that? I don't appreciate you ditching my awesome."
"I'm sorry Gil I ju-"
Matthew stirred again, this time his eyes flickering open a bit as he mumbled, "Wha is it?"
"Franny! Fine, ditch me and hide in the kitchen. Mattie, wake up!" Gil said shaking the blonde's shoulder again. Gil shook Matthew gently, not sure if the blond would end up waking up at all. "Come on, wak- Hey why's this piece of hair sticking out so much?" Gil asked before grabbing the curl on Matthew's head.
Matthew went from half laying on the table to standing in a split second, grabbing Gil's wrist and twisting his arm behind his back. Matthew slammed Gil face first onto the table before realizing just where he was and what he had just done. Letting go like he had been burnt, Matthew took a step back and quickly apologized. "I'm sorry! I- I just kind of... um... reflexes?"
Gil rubbed his face and frowned. "You really gotta stop beating me up kid. Reflexes just from me pulling that little piece of hair?" Gil asked pointing at the curl that now hung in front of Matthew's face.
Nodding lightly Matthew said, "Yup. It's um... really sensitive or something. Just don't ever touch it."
Gil lifted an eyebrow and stared at the piece of hair, now thoroughly curious about it. "Does it hurt or something?"
Matthew shook his head and said, "Look, never mind about the curl." Matthew looked down at the table and saw one plate that looked like someone had eaten off of it and another plate with food on it.
"I got you the food, but you were asleep so I just let you sleep, but it's kind of late now so I was trying to wake you up," Gil explained calmly.
Matthew nodded and sat back down, scarfing down the food quickly while Gil stood there and observed him.
Once Matthew was done eating some of the food he stood up and looked at Gil. "Y- You said it was night right?" Matthew asked nervously. He hoped he hadn't been asleep to long, but from the looks of the room now it seemed like most everyone had left.
With a nod from Gil, Matthew chewed on his lip before saying, "Do you know if you can ask you friend if I can stay here for the night? I've got enough gold to pay for the night." Matthew reached in his pocket and pulled out a few gold coins.
Gil looked back at the kitchen door nervously before looking at the hopeful look on Matthew's face. "I... er... I'll see what I can do. You um... stay here and finish eating okay? It's not good for you to eat that little," Gil said pointing at the plate. He honestly knew that he was in no place to tell Matthew what to do, but he couldn't let Matthew follow him back into the kitchen since his friend apparently didn't want Matthew to see him.
Matthew was a little confused about why Gil wanted him to stay out here, but he didn't argue. Giving Gil the gold pieces, Matthew sat back down at the table and actually took the time to eat his food. It was amazing. He hadn't had this kind of home cooked food since he was a really little kid. It brought back some good memories. With a smile on his face Matthew finished the meal quickly, having not actually eaten a full meal in a long time. He normally either didn't have the time to eat the food or it was really bad and he could only eat a little bit of it.
Gil walked off to the kitchen and started talking with his friend. "Fra-" Gil started to say when another voice hushed him.
"Fine, I won't say your name, but the kid wants to stay here for the night. He said that his uncle told him to stay here for the night before he goes off to start his job tomorrow. He'll probably be gone in the morning," Gil said.
The other voice quickly responded, but in a quieter voice, "I know, I know. But he just can't stay here, okay? Tell him all the rooms are full or something. I mean, why can't he like stay at your place or something? Your house is huge."
Gil's angry voice came next, "Are you kidding? Vati, is probably going to kill me for sneaking out again. If I show up with some random stranger he'll strangle me and that would not be cool."
The other responded angrily, "So why doesn't he just stay somewhere else? There are plenty of people that would let him stay in their home for this much gold! Plus there's that little place across the place that lets people stay over night. Town Centre or something. I'm sure that they'd take him in."
There was a pause and Matthew assumed Gil either sighed or thought about what he said next. "When we got here he said that he was looking for this place specifically to stay at which means he's not going to just go somewhere else. Come on, he's just a kid in town for work. He's probably even younger than Luddy, not even an adult. If he wants this specific place and he's starting a job he's either being told how to do things or he doesn't want to go into unfamiliar places and knows that this place is safe or something like that. He's like a scared little bird without a nest," Gil said trying to convince the other person to let Matthew stay.
Matthew licked his lips nervously. He hoped that Gil would be able to convince the other to let him stay. He didn't care what the two thought of him and had no clue who Luddy could possibly be, but it didn't matter. Arthur would pitch a fit if he couldn't stay at this place and that would set him back in finding his brothers.
This pause was even longer, the silence setting Matthew on edge when he heard the other voice say, "Fine. But I'm not going out there. Just give me the gold and tell him room 14."
Gil quickly said, "That's so unaw- Don't give me that look. Alright, alright, I'm going. Gott, someone's pushy. I'll see you around."
Pushing open the door and walking out from the kitchen, Gil went back to the table. "Sorry about that. Franny's a bit odd a lot of the time. He says you can stay in room 14. The key will be in the room. When you leave tomorrow just leave the key where you found it and the door unlocked," Gil said with a grin as if he hadn't been arguing with his friend for a while.
Matthew nodded and softly said, "Thank you, Gil. You helped me out a lot."
Gil seemed to beam at the idea of being able to help and said, "No problem Birdie! Well, I gotta go now. It was awesome talking to you. I hope that I'll get to see you again." With that Gil waved lightly and then left before Matthew really had a chance to say anything to him.
Matthew was a little confused about why Gil had left so quickly, but he left it alone. Gil was gone now and Matthew would be able to start his mission now.
Sighing, Matthew got up, leaving his plate where it was on the table. He went to the stairs and walked up them calmly. Matthew walked down the hall, scanning the doors for his room number. When he got to the room he twisted the knob and opened the door, walking inside.
Closing the door firmly behind him, Matthew scanned the room to see was was in it. There was a single bed in the middle of the room with a nightstand sitting next to it along with an unlit lantern. On the other side of the bed was a desk with a chair sitting beside it. He could barely make out a bit of flint sitting near the lantern to light it and a key sitting on the top of the desk.
Crossing the room, Matthew grabbed the flint and steel and lit the lantern before going back to the door and locking it. He went to the desk and set the flint and steel down before grabbing the key and shoving it into the little pocket he had. He took the chair near the desk and went back to the door, shoving the chair up under the door so now it would be impossible to open the door unless someone broke it down.
Glancing back across the room, Matthew took notice that the window in the room was quite large. He walked over to it and opened it up, looking around. There was a large tree just barely out of his reach to the left, but looking at the window sill and the metal pipe that ran up the side of the building just to the left of Matthew's window, he knew that he'd be able to reach the tree easily.
Matthew grabbed the blanket off of the top of the bed and foldded it up twice. He thanked whatever deity was out there that the blanket was balck and set it half hanging out of the window, but in a way it was balanced and wouldn't fall over the edge.
He slid out on the window and stood with his toes just barely on the window sill. With his right hand he grabbed onto the pipe to steady himself and shut the window with his left hand. The blanket kept the window from closing all the way and locking him out.
Matthew pulled the hood over his head, covering all of his hair except that little curl that just barely poked its way out of the hood. Brushing the curl inside the hood, Matthew tightened his grip on the pipe, suddenly wondering why he didn't do this before going out of the window. He pulled the other cloth around his neck up so it cover the rest of his face except his eyes. Feeling around the edges, Matthew made sure his hair was tucked in and wouldn't fly out to obstruct his vision or give anyone who possibly saw him a way to identify him.
Sure that he was completely covered, Matthew grabbed the pipe with his left hand, keeping his grip with the right hand tight. He braced his feet against the wall. His arms were screaming at him for having them hold his entire body weight up, but he ignored the feeling.
Glancing to the right, Matthew saw that he was still a bit away from the tree, but there wasn't anything else he could use to move that way. He thought it over and decided that he could jump to the tree and easily be able to grab onto the branch.
Taking a deep breath, Matthew shoved his body weight to the right, letting go of the pipe, and using his legs to give an extra push. He reached out to grab the branch and found that he had over shot his jump and hit the branch with his shoulder. Before he fell far he snatched the branch with his left hand, halting his fall, but wrenching his arm out of the socket.
Matthew grabbed the branch with his right hand and tried to ignore the screaming pain of his left arm. Looking below him he saw there was a branch he could land on if he let go. Slowly letting go, Matthew fell and landed on the branch. He walked in towards the trunk and sat down on the branch.
He looked at his left arm and grimaced. Matthew hated putting his arm back into the socket, but due to an injury while in training when he was younger his left arm would dislocate if he strained his arm like he did.
Taking hold of his arm with his other hand he snapped his arm back into socket, grimacing at the pain. Matthew hadn't dislocated his arm in a while so the pain of fixing it wasn't something he was used to anymore. Letting out the breath he didn't know he had been holding, Matthew got down the tree quickly after that.
Now on the ground, Matthew looked around to see if anyone had seen what he had just done. Glad that no one had seen him or at least was around anymore if they had seen him, he brushed himself off.
Glancing up at the sky, he noticed that it was a full moon. That would be both a good and a bad thing for Matthew. The good side would be that it allowed for people the see better, which at the same time was the bad part. He would be able to see the area and would remember it better, but others would be able to see him if they were looking.
With a sigh, Matthew ignored the thought. He wasn't to worried about people seeing him and even if they did, he'd be able to get away or fight back. Matthew started his way to the mansion. In the file he had been given very good directions so he was able to get there quickly and easily. He stuck to the sides of buildings and walked silently.
Once at the mansion he looked at the gate, examining it. He wouldn't be able to climb up the gate and just then a guard walked by. Matthew slunk around the corner of the wall and walked until he was at the part of the wall that was just in front of the side of the house.
Examining the wall Matthew knew that he could climb the wall, but it'd be a bit difficult to do so. It wasn't like he could just not climb the wall though so he moved back and away from the wall.
Facing the wall, Matthew suddenly sprinted at it, pushing off the ground and leaping through the air. He hit the wall and found hand and foot-holds before he was able to fall off the wall. Taking a second to glance around to make sure no one was on the outside of the wall, Matthew waited.
When Matthew saw that no one was around he started up the wall quickly. It wasn't too high up so he figured it would be easy enough. He was careful as he climbed, not certain how stable the wall actually was or if his hold on the wall was good enough.
Almost to the top of the wall, his foot suddenly slid off the wall and caused Matthew to grip that wall painfully tight and push his body against it. He was able to find a foot-hold and made his way up the rest of the wall. He pulled himself up onto the top of the wall and sat down on it, there being about a foot of flat space.
Looking around, Matthew smiled lightly. He had a great view from the top of the wall, being able to see clearly to the left and right. Directly in front of him was the house so he couldn't see past that.
Matthew got down on his belly and slowly started moving along the top of the wall so he'd be able to see past the house. He heard a door open and looked back towards the house, sitting up suddenly.
"Hey! Who's there?" A strong looking blond man shouted from the door when he saw Matthew sit up. An auburn headed man stood next to the blond with his arms wrapped around the blonde's arm.
"Who is it Ludwig?" The auburn asked as he looked over at Matthew.
Matthew, startled by the shout and having sat up so fast, lost his balance and found himself falling over the edge of the wall. He fell on the mansion side of the wall and hit the ground with his back.
With the wind knocked out of him, Matthew laid there trying to regain his breath and ignore the pain in his back.
"Is he dead? Oh Dio, don't let him be dead. Ludwig we just killed him! They'll blame us and then we'll have to go to jail. I- I've heard scary things about jail and they don't serve pasta there and we'll grow old and we'll die alone without being happy!" The auburn exclaimed, getting close to being in hysterics over the thought of accidentally killing someone.
Ludwig pushed the auburn back towards and door and calmly said, "Feliciano, the wall isn't high enough to kill someone if they fall unless they fall on their head. He probably got his breath knocked away. Stay inside in case it's a burglar and tell my father that someone's inside the grounds."
With a nod, Feliciano went back into the house closing the door behind him.
The sound of the door closing coaxed Matthew to stand up. Jumping to his feet he turned to try and go back over the wall. He froze for a second when he heard barking behind him. The shock of dogs behind him wore off quickly as soon as he noticed that the wall on this side was to smooth for him to climb.
Turning to the right, Matthew saw a person he didn't recognize running at him. At first glance the biggest thing Matthew noticed was the cowlick sticking up on the guy's head, but Matthew didn't wait to see anymore seeing as the person was charging at him.
Turning on his heel and dashing the other way, Matthew ran for the tree near there that had low enough branches for him to climb and high enough branches that he'd be able to climb over the wall.
Hearing a shout to the right of him made him look over, therefore slowing him down. He was met with the great hulking Ludwig tackling him to the ground. A cracking sound made Matthew wince, praying that he hadn't cracked his rip when he hit the ground.
Struggling to get out of Ludwig's grip, Matthew elbowed the other in the nose before sliding out of the other's grasp and taking off again, but the one with the cowlick had caught up and was blocking Matthew's path. Sprinting towards the house now, Matthew was glad that he was fast.
He could barely hear the sound of his pursuer's footsteps over the pounding of his heart, but the barking of dogs rang clear in his ears. Matthew needed to get over the wall and fast.
There was another tree just ahead and Matthew was sprinting towards the tree when teeth dug into his right leg causing him to shout in pain and stumble slightly. He kicked his leg forward causing the dog on his leg to let go of his leg. Matthew ran forward, adrenaline blocking the pain at the moment, and jumped, grabbing the first branch he got hold of and pulling himself up onto the tree.
Matthew scrambled up the tree ignoring his leg and moving as fast as he possibly could. Looking down, Matthew saw that thankfully no one was following him. Sitting with his back against the tree he watched the, apparently, two dogs circling the tree and barking lightly. Looking closely at the dogs he saw they were bigger than normal dogs and looked more like a cross of a wolf and a dog then a pure dog. They both seemed to have blackish fur. When one lifted its head to look up into the tree, Matthew saw they had the same color eyes as Ludwig.
'They must be the first one's familiars or something...' Matthew thought. He recalled that the file had nothing on anyone there being able to use magic, but now it made sense why Arthur wanted them dead. Matthew knew that Arthur wanted to be able to take control of most of the world by using his magic and such so another magic user powerful enough would be a huge threat to Arthur. It was the reason Matthew had only been taught spells to turn himself invisible and half taught healing spells.
"Don't be an idiot. The both of us are to big to climb the tree. The branches are to thin to hold our weight and even if we got up the tree the guy's probably already over the wall and gone. Stop talking about being the hero," Ludwig snapped angrily, interrupting Matthew's thoughts.
Matthew got ready to climb up the tree, ignoring the thought that the other person with Ludwig looked familiar. He needed to get out of there before they discovered he was still in the tree. Feeling his chest gently Matthew smiled, knowing that the cracking noise hadn't been one of his ribs. He checked his leg quickly and saw that the cuts looked nasty and were extremely painful.
Trying to move up the tree, Matthew hissed in pain. Glancing down at his leg, he saw that it was still bleeding a bit. He tried to think of a healing spell for his leg. Sitting back against the tree he put his hands on the wound and murmured a few words before letting go of his leg. Looking at his leg he smiled when he saw the bleeding had halted completely.
Matthew moved up the tree and winced in pain. He sighed, but was thankful that he at least wouldn't bleed to death.
Slowly making his way up the tree, Matthew got level with the wall and then moved down the branch before stepping onto the wall. He glanced behind him to see the other two were still arguing about something and started down the wall in a hurry. In his hurry, Matthew lost his grip and fell, landing on his back again.
Ignoring the fact that he couldn't breath well, Matthew hurry off to the tavern, not caring about the pain in his leg.
Once at the tavern, Matthew climbed up the tree at a very slow pace. Once he got level with his window he was shocked to see that the blanket was no longer there, but the window was wide open.
Chewing his lip lightly, Matthew grabbed the pipe and got into his room through the window easily. It would've been a lot harder had the window been closed like he left it, but now Matthew knew someone had been in his room while he was gone.
Standing in his room, Matthew looked around cautiously. There was nearly no hiding places, but Matthew sensed the presence of someone else. The lantern was no longer lit, but the moonlight allowed for him to see just a little bit. His fists were balled up as he slowly moved farther into the room. He hoped that whoever was there wasn't looking for a fight because with his leg, Matthew wouldn't be able to fight a whole lot.
Matthew was about to drop his fists since everything seemed to be in place and there was no where to hide, after all, you got a bit paranoid when you killed people as a living, when he saw something shift in the air. There seemed to be a tremor in the air.
Turning to face the space, Matthew said, "Invisibility, right? Too bad for you, that's my specialty and you're not very good at it." Matthew leaped forward and took a blind punch at the person in front of him.
The person laughed and apparently dodged because Matthew's fist was met with air. Something grabbed his out-stretched wrist and an invisible hand was placed on his face.
"Elsep," was the only thing Matthew heard before his eye closed and everything went black.
The man made himself visible now that Matthew was asleep and caught the blond before he could hit the floor. The man had shoulder-length, wavy, blond hair and bright blue eyes. He sighed loudly and picked Matthew up, setting him face down on the bed.
Looking at the sleeping boy, the man pushed his blond hair back with his pale hand. He couldn't believe that Matthew was there in the flesh. The man looked at Matthew's wound and ripped the cloth away from it. Placing his hand on the wound, the man murmured a few words and moved his hand away. It now looked like Matthew hadn't gotten hurt in the first place, the only trace being the torn pant leg.
The man flipped Matthew onto his back and pulled the hood off and pushed the mask down so Matthew's face was visible again. The stranger pulled the other's shoes off and placed them at the foot of the bed.
Move back to Matthew's head, the man gently put a hand on the blonde's cheek with a frown. "Mon petit Mathieu... What has Arthur done to you?" The man said, a few tears leaking from the corners of his eyes and falling onto Matthew's face.
Wiping the tears off Matthew's face, the blond leaned in and kissed the boy's forehead gently. He set a red rose with a blue ribbon down on the desk gently and muttered, "Who would've thought that after so many years I'd see you again like this. I wish I could talk to you, but I'm afraid that you'll hate me for running away when I should have protected you."
The man bit his lip and turned around before walking through the wall and out of the room.
((A/N: I promised a long chapter and you got one that was over twice as long as the first two chapters combined. I have to say that I think I fulfilled my promise. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter! I know a lot happened, but I've introduced new characters that are definitely going to come back.
Huge thanks to my friend who gave me the name for the other place mentioned in the chapter, Town Centre. The place will come up a few times within this story so I wanted a good name and I'm horrid at coming up with names for things that aren't cheesy.
Another insanely HUGE thanks to my only reviewer, XionAmmy! And thank you to everyone who's actually read this!
Translations:
French-
Fleur de Lis - Lily
Mon Dieu - My God
Mon petit Mathieu - My little Matthew
German-
Vati - Father
Gott - God
Italian-
Dio - God
I apologize if I ever use something wrong. I'm only in French 2 and I'll be starting German 1 this school year. I use google translate otherwise.
I hope to see a few more reviews than last time if you guys could send them. Anyway, until the next chapter~
Edt: I am so sorry! I accidentally uploaded the wrong chapter! The chapter uploaded was from my other story, The Trouble of Secrets. They both start with 't's and they were both the third chapter ones so I got mixed up. I hope you guys like this chapter a lot better. ))