It's an uber long chapter! You know, I have an easier time writing certain chapters. This one, as you will be able to tell, was one of those times.
Chapter 18
A Normal Day in the Camelot Household
Sheryl Camelot began his days with a cup of tea. It wasn't that he enjoyed tea in particular. Rather it was his staff's attempt to prolong their master's life as long as possible. As a Noah, he was more resilient than the average human (but his staff had no knowledge of this). Sheryl also could not find a way of deterring them short of firing/killing them.
So he began his day with a cup of tea taken in bed. He would clean up shortly after that, dress according to the dictation of his schedule. Then Sheryl would go down a single floor to the dining room for breakfast, his favorite time of day.
Tricia would be there waiting for him, the first of his family to say good morning. Sheryl would be the first to admit that she was well past her prime days of near flawless skin. But to him her smile was like the sun setting; it struck the chords of his heart and even as the beauty faded, it brought peace with it. Her smiles became all the more precious over the weeks when he was away, or when she had to sleep in a separate room because of illness. He treasured the twenty or so minutes that they had alone together, chatting about trivial matters.
Then Road would bound into the dining room, a sleepy look in her eyes. On days when there was no school, she would wear a nightgown to breakfast, the epitome of childhood innocence. Sheryl found nothing more endearing than having the oldest Noah acting like that little girl she appeared to be. Except for Tyki being a wonderful younger brother and a gentleman, of course.
That was how Sheryl's days went before the arrival of Walk—Ashley.
The boy was an eyesore, the bane of Sheryl's existence. The Earl had told him to adopt the boy, renaming him Ashley Camelot. Tricia had taken to the idea at once and rarely left the child's side. Every day she would take him outside and talk with him. She would encourage him to emit an emotion of some sort, anything. Sheryl was not fond of Akuma, but at least they had a bit more personality to them. The boy held no interest for him. Ashley only did as told to do and more often than not had difficulty discerning between sarcastic remarks and honest ones. Sheryl had told Tricia that Ashley was a lost cause. But she simply replied that she believed otherwise and continued to try and coax a response from their adopted son.
That was the real reason Sheryl hated the Exorcist boy. Jealousy.
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The sun shone brightly at the morning's peak. The rose garden was doing wonderfully well and dozens of bees flocked towards the fresh blooms. On the lawn, not too far away from the garden, sat Tricia and Ashley. There was a neat blanket beneath them and she had a basket with food by her side. Ashley was not very social, so Tricia was confused every time that he complied. Little did she know that he had been ordered to fulfill any requests she had.
"Do you have any hobbies that you enjoy?" the woman asked pleasantly. The white-haired boy remained as still as a statue as he thought out a reply.
"Hobbies are for enjoyment and I am not allowed to indulge in something like that."
"Of course you are," she said kindly, wondering what kind of person who could have possibly raised this child to be so apathetic. "As a matter of fact, I want you to find a hobby!"
Ashley gave her a leisure blink. "What kind of hobby do you propose?"
Tricia put a finger to her mouth thinking about it. Road liked playing with dolls and eating candy so that would not do for a young boy. Her husband seemed to enjoy sampling fine wines and watch people. Both were things she would not suggest for her new son. The perfect role model came to mind.
"Your uncle, Tyki, enjoys reading books," she told Ashley. "That is a good hobby to start with. Do you enjoy reading?"
"I have never read for enjoyment," Ashley confessed monotonously. "Do you know how to do that?"
Tricia was at a loss. She did not know how to explain reading for one's own pleasure. She herself enjoyed playing music, but there is a difference in creating a sound and reading words for the fun of it.
"Well I suppose you could ask your father," she suggested slowly. "He doesn't read much, but when he does, it's at Tyki's request."
They fell into silence. Tricia was concerned for Ashley. She had tried very hard to bring out the person that Ashley had buried deep inside. However, she herself was beginning to lose hope. Nothing she said or did was getting through. It was if there was no one inside at all.
The sun flared in her eyes and Tricia looked up at the sky, felt the breeze tugging at her.
"Ah, what a nice day," she said softly.
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Sheryl sat in the large wing-armed chair of the library, reading the book that his brother had sent. It had come in such a messy and beaten package he would have thrown it away if he had not seen the sender's name. To Sheryl's great relief, the book was in excellent condition without a single mar or cracked binding. So on the first rainy day of the summer, the Noah of Desire took out the precious book and opened it for the first time. He didn't love reading, but there was something about the devouring the contents of the few hundred pages during the stormy days that he enjoyed immensely.
There was a polite knock on the door, dragging his attention from the book. His wife entered, a smile on her face.
"Road and I are going out to have afternoon tea at our friends' house. Do you mind watching over Ashley for the duration of our stay?" she asked. Sheryl didn't know why he had to watch the boy. They both knew he could easily take care of himself. Still, he smiled and nodded his consent.
"Of course, dear. He can just stay in here with me."
Ashley walked in, closing the door behind him. Sheryl waited until he heard the sound of the carriage driving off before his smile fell away and he pointed a finger at his adoptive son.
"Sit," he ordered. Ashley obeyed without hesitation, plopping right down on the carpet in front of Sheryl's chair. The Noah of Desires was satisfied by the act and continued to read his novel.
Ten minutes passed, and the man's eyebrow had begun to twitch. The boy was sitting obediently; there was no question about that. The thing that disturbed Sheryl was the lack of movement. Ashley breathed and he blinked and he did nothing else.
"Don't you have anything better to do?" Sheryl snapped irritably.
"You have given me no instruction besides—"
"Find a way to entertain yourself," he replied in exasperation. When Ashley didn't say anything, a terrible thought occurred to him. "You don't know how, do you?"
There was a small spark of emotion. Something resembling embarrassment and even shame.
"No."
Sheryl studied his adopted son. He began to feel a little bit of pity for the child. To have his memories erased as effectively as that…he wasn't so sure that Tyki had been merciful or not.
Sheryl stood up with a sigh. He carefully searched along the bookshelves. When he found the book he was looking for, he pulled it off the shelf. It was an old copy of A Christmas Carol. He held it to the boy reluctantly.
"Read this," he ordered, gently this time. Ashley took it and studied the cover for a moment.
"Sheryl?" he asked after a moment. The Noah was settling back into his chair.
"Yes Ashley?" He wrinkled his nose distastefully. He did not like that name.
"What if I don't understand it?"
"Then you can talk to me about it," he replied. Ashley glanced at the lightening outside of the library window.
"Is today a nice day?" he wondered aloud. Sheryl was surprised to hear the question and the…well, wonder in his voice. He followed the boy's gaze and considered the question.
"I suppose it is," he mused.
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When the girls came back to the mansion, Sheryl took his wife aside to speak in private.
"Tricia," he began. "I know you love Ashley very much…"
Her gaze was expectant as she waited for him to continue.
"But I can't take the boy seriously. Can we simply call him Ash?"
So ends another day of the Camelot Household.