Chapter 3: Noise
Oz has no idea how he manages to get back home before anyone notices that he is missing. He arrives to a ticked Ada, who shrieks when she glimpses that her favorite party dress is tattered and covered in burs. Liam is nowhere to be found, causing Oz to wonder if that freaky Vincent guy did something to him.
"At least you came back somewhat safe," Ada sighs while giving Oz a pathetic smile. "I'll just say that one of the servant's pets dragged my dress outside," she adds, staring at the once-beautiful article of clothing with aghast.
Oz yawns. He had walked 6 miles to and fro his "hidey hole" to get home and his feet were aching because of it. All he wants to do now is plop into bed and retire for the night.
So, he does just that.
The kindly furnished Vessalius ballroom glows from the bright light nearby. An oversized, cackling fire burns all remnants of the room, leaving everything into dusty piles of ash. Bodies of various members of nobility are scattered all over the floor with each corpse donning expensive garments. In the middle of the lavishly decorated room is one alive child with short blonde hair, different colored eyes (gold and maroon), and a blood-stained white gown.
"It isn't my fault! It's his! All of this is his fault!" he screams while twirling around the room and laughing erratically. Once he's done spinning, he wobbles towards one of the corpses and falls to the ground. He picks himself up first and the corpse second, dragging the dead body by the arm. "Let's go," he innocently whispers in the corpse's ear before toddling towards the hall.
He stops right before the ballroom fully crumbles to the ground, leaving only a pile of bricks, bodies, and ash. "I did this for you. Everything and anything I do is for you," he murmurs to the corpse before leaning into the corpse's angelic, but bloody face. The corpse's lifeless gold eyes stare at the child, its pupils enlarged and motionless.
The child can't help, but grin maliciously when looking at the corpse's face. He leans closer into the corpse until their faces were touching. He then wraps his chubby fingers around the body's raven black hair. "I love you," he breathes softly while the grin on his face grew even nastier and seductive. Pressing his lips on the corpse's, he indulges in a sloppy kiss.
"Ah," he gasps after pulling away from the limp body and its cold lips. He pulls the body over his shoulder and presses his hands to the ground, causing a black hole to appear beneath his feet. The scene fades into a sea of black, with the only sound being the child's echoing words.
"Older brother, this is for you."
"What was that?" Oz gasps as he springs out of oversized bed. He usually dreams about himself and the many things he wishes to do (pull tricks on Liam, get a girlfriend, explore, etc.), but this one scares him instead of giving him motivation. It doesn't help that each mortifying detail is playing over and over again in his brain despite that he already woke up.
"Was that kid…Vincent? Why was he in my house and destroying it?" he asks himself while pushing the thick covers on the other side of the bed. He half-mindedly crawls out of bed and onto the floor, where he just stares at the wall while trying to regain his consciousness.
Seeing the bloody corpses on the floor makes Oz want to vomit, so he runs towards his personal bathroom and stays there for an hour or so. "I'm going to be sick…" he queasily moans while running.
The wafting smell from the bathroom gives Oz a further feeling of nausea, but he ignores the urge to gag in favor of starting his morning routine. In a matter of seconds, he washes his face, puts on a pair of fine clothes (The only type of clothes he has), and brushes his messy morning bed head.
He dashes towards the kitchen, where Liam and Ada are already seated. "Good morning, young master Oz," Liam greets in monotone. Oz lazily waves back and seats himself, hoping that the family cooks serve some water with his breakfast. The taste of vomit lingers in his mouth and it irritates him greatly.
"Can we go bird-watching today, Liam?" Oz asks politely, staring at the brunette with the most innocent expression on his face that he can muster. "There's a type of bird that I want to see." Liam stares at Oz with confusion. "You usually find bird-watching boring, young master, what brings this sudden change?" he asks, raising his eyebrows. "I want to see…," Oz starts to say, trying to figure out a type of bird that is in season (he actually just wants to run outside when Liam isn't looking). "Uh…I want to see…a raven," he blabbers without thinking, causing everyone in the room to stare at him with bewilderment.
"Uh…, young master Oz, you can't even see ravens at this time of year. They don't even come to Reveil no matter the season. You can see hummingbirds and songbirds now," Liam insipidly reminds Oz. He tries to hide his urge to laugh at his foolish master, but fails. Ada laughs along with him. "Are you imagining ravens out the window, like how you used to swear that you saw a grey haired girl outside?" she cutely squeaks.
"No," Oz replies bluntly, "I just want to see one." He grins cheesily, hoping that it will back up the thin lie. "I see," his glasses-bearing valet concludes as he gives Oz an expressionless smile. "So you can smile after all!" Oz comments, causing Ada to laugh and Liam to grimace. "When's breakfast?" he adds impatiently while his stomach rumbles loudly. "Soon," Ada chuckles as she smiles jovially.
A plainly dressed servant with curly red hair brings the three of them their breakfast. Oz, being the heir of the Vessalius name, receives the finest meal of the three: smoked goose, imported cheeses, fruity red wine, and cranberries. Between bites, Liam hands Oz some news that might be of assistance to him. "The duchess of the Rainsworth Family, the duke of the Barma family, and the duke of the Nightray family has arranged to visit here to speak with you tomorrow," he announces while chewing pieces of stale bread. "They also wish to plan a social get together later in the month," he adds.
"Why would the Nightrays want anything to do with us? They have never participated in any previous meetings that involve the Vessalius family," Oz suspiciously questions in between servings of goose and gulps of wine.
"I can't say, young master. Maybe it's a change of heart? This is an era of peace you know," Liam predicts while cleaning up his crumb covered face.
"Maybe," Oz replies doubtfully while rolling his eyes. "Why now?" he ponders to himself while pushing his plate to the middle of the spacious table. "I'm finished," he announces as he gets up from his chair. "Tell the cooks that the food was good, Liam," he adds.
"Will do," Liam replies, watching as Oz causally walks away from the kitchen quarters.
"Why did I have to mention ravens out of all birds? It's obvious that they never come here," he groans while strolling across the hall. Then, Vincent's words play in his head: "I have an older brother….his name is Gilbert, but he uses goes by the alias Raven."
"Oh, right, I have to look for him or else Vincent will have my head," Oz shudders. "Just where will I find someone that I don't even know, looks-wise?" he wonders while scratching his head. He ponders to himself, wondering where to start.
"Oh! I know!" Oz exclaims as he snaps his fingers. "I was wondering when I'd have a chance to go to that room again. I've only been there twice." He skulks across the hall, hiding in a broom closet whenever someone else walks by. In a matter of what feels like hours of sneaking, Oz reaches his destination. In front of him is a laughingly plain wooden door with a white doorknob on it. "Here it is," he thinks to himself with a satisfied grin. Hesitantly, he opens the door and carefully steps down the worn stairs nearby. The railing feels slippery and the stairs creak with each step. Once he's downstairs, he enters a vacant and eerily silent room with the only sign or past life being a cage on the wall.
"This room hasn't a changed a bit, and it's been ten years since I've last been here," he observes while taking out a necklace from his shorts pocket. The necklace is oddly simple in design for someone so royal; it consists only of a petite mirror around a golden chain. "I don't even know if this will guarantee my chances of finding Raven or not, but it's worth a try. It's not like I'll have another chance to use this blood mirror anyway," Oz mumbles as he breathes in slowly and…blanks out. "Wait…how do I use this? I forgot," he demands, puzzled.
Fumbling with the mirror, Oz tries to remember how to activate his chain. He fails and grows frustrated. Throwing the mirror to the ground, he stamps his foot and then sighs. "At least I'm not in any danger," he grumbles before pouting. Then he looks at the cage behind him. Behind the cage is no more than a sea of nothing; no walls, no doors, nothing. Clumsily, he walks over to the cage (without picking up the mirror) and reaches towards it, sticking out of his hands between the bars.
Nothing happens, which makes Oz disappointed. "Oh well," he sighs pitifully as he picks up the mirror, puts it in his pocket, and painstakingly trudges up the stairs. When Oz goes back into the normal levels of the house, everything's still the same. Oz pouts in continuing disappointment, expecting something, anything to happen. "I was warned by Liam that something would happen if I did that, but I guess he was lying," he clamors while walking the hall. As he walks, a strange sound pierces his ears. "Ow, what was that?" Oz yells as he covers his ears. Then, an annoying buzzing noise echoes in his ears. The buzzing only grew louder and he walks farther and farther away from the secret room.
The noise leads the young duke to the old guest house next door where he had his coming of age ceremony. It came from the Clock Tower of Silence, which is usually…silent. "I must be imagining things, it can't be coming from here," Oz laughs while staring directly at the withered clock.
"Just why is it ringing again? This is a bad sign...," a male's voice looms in the distance. Oz turns his head to see one other person who's standing on the other side of the room. Since he can't fully see the man from such a far distance, he moves closer to get a better look at him. From what Oz can see, the man is breathtakingly tall and slender. He wears a black coat that reaches a little below his knees and has wavy black hair to match.
The face of the corpse from his dream flashes before Oz's eyes. "They look similar, but they're probably not the same person," he whispers. He sedulously tiptoes towards the other side of the room, hoping that the stranger doesn't notice his presence. "For some reason, this feels nostalgic…" he deliberates while tiptoeing quietly. Just before he finds a place to hide and watch more closely, he trips on a handgun that somebody dropped. "Ow!" Oz whimpers in pain.
The man tenses his shoulders. "Just what was that?" he mutters to himself before turning his head. He notices the blonde man within seconds. "O-Oz?" he stutters, "What are you doing here?"
((Author's comments: Heck yeah, Mister Seaweed-head finally makes an appearance in the story! It took me long enough. Anyway, this is my favorite chapter so far, mainly because…okay, I don't have a reason. It's just my personal opinion. As usual, critique/comments are appreciated, but just reading the story makes my day. Oh yeah, and expect a ))