AN: I'm honestly jealous of Drayce in this chapter :I His new guildhouse sounds awesome. I want it…Anyway, I'm going to try to keep these chapters under 4000 words because that's plenty long enough, right? Though, don't hold me to it. I've said that before and I've continued to ignore it, haha…

Chapter 2:

"Are we there yet?" Drayce asked for the umpteenth time.

Blayke lashed out a foot and got him right in the shin, causing Drayce to wince and glare at his friend that sat across from him in their carriage. All but immune to his glares and pouts of disgruntlement, Blayke levelled Drayce with a stern stare of his own.

"Aren't treasure hunter renowned for being patient?" he asked. "I know you're excited to finally see your grandfather's notorious guildhouse, but you're not a kid."

"But, come on, you're excited, too," Drayce playfully accused, earning himself a light flush of red to Blayke's cheeks. "We're finally going to see The Crescentia."

The Crescentia was the name of his grandfather's guildhouse. Even in the treasure hunting community, his grandfather was a rather famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) treasure hunter. He and his merry band of misfits as he called them were fearless, able to find any treasure, regardless of myth or legend.

Drayce had never seen the guildhouse, let alone been inside it, but he had heard all about it from his grandfather and his father when he was a kid. Roux, his grandfather, would tell him and Blakye as they've been friends since they were ten, all sorts of stories of his adventures and treasure hunts. Though many of his tales seemed far-fetched to an outsider, he claimed they were all true. And Drayce believed him, of course.

Blayke did, too, though he often denied it. But that didn't stop Drayce from dragging Blayke around with him to go on 'secret' adventures around their village.

He had always wanted to visit Iorys and The Crescentia, to see the treasures hidden inside, to feel what it would be like to stand inside a bustling, busy guildhouse. He never imagined that he would actually own it one day.

But then his grandfather cheerfully gave him the deed. Finally, finally he could follow in his father and grandfather's footstep and become a renowned treasure hunter and archaeologist, too.

It was all he wanted to be since he was a kid.

He was grateful that Blayke's parents were really quite relaxed and supportive as well. When they found out that Drayce had finally inherited the famous Crescentia, they all but kicked Blayke out of the house, telling Drayce that Blayke was his responsibility now, and to have a 'super fun time kiddos~!'

God, he loved his family and village.

The carriage slowing down to a halt alerted Drayce to look out his window once more to see someone he immediately recognised. A man with green hair, silver eyes and dressed in the simple garbs of an Earthlain approached the carriage. He then reached out to open the door, to allow Drayce to hop out and to pull the older and taller man into a hug.

"Ashton, man, how have you been?" Drayce asked.

Ashton chuckled as he patted Drayce on the back before he pulled away to quickly look Drayce up and down, something he did to 'subtly' check for injuries. "Good to see you again," he said with a friendly smile as he turned to offer Blayke a hand to help him out of the carriage. "You, too, Blayke."

Blayke took Ashton's hand as he hopped out of the carriage and instead of drawing him into a hug like Drayce had done, shook his hand instead. He wasn't an overly affectionate person in public.

"It's good to see you, too," Blayke said in earnest before he dropped his hold on Ashton's hand.

Taking a step back, Ashton propped his hand on his hip and arched his eyebrow at Blayke. "Not surprised to see you following Drayce here."

"For everyone's peace of mind, I assure you," Blayke said simply, to which Ashton laughed all but whole-heartedly.

Drayce didn't know what he meant by that, but he was fairly certain it was insulting him in some way.

"Whatever the reason, welcome to Iorys, boys," Ashton said before he turned slightly and indicated toward the large three story manor with a wave of his hand. "And welcome to Guildhouse Crescentia."

Both Drayce and Blayke immediately turned their full attentions onto the large building of white brick veneer and weathered roof slating. Tall walls of sandstone encircle the entire property. Though the front garden was in disarray from the lack of care, roses growing wildly, it was still easy to see how beautiful it once was. And could be again with tender care.

A long, stone paved pathway led to grand stone stair case, of which itself led to two large oak doors that were the front entrance. Above the majestic front doors, engraved with skilful care, was the name of the grand building.

Guildhouse Crescentia.

It really was his grandfather's beloved guildhouse.

Drayce was pulled from his awe-inspired staring when Ashton clamped his hand upon his shoulder. Though reluctant to turn his gaze from the building before him, he did turn his head to look at his father's protégé to find him smiling gently at him. As if he knew exactly what this moment, this building meant to him.

"Let's head inside," Ashton suggested.

Honestly, Drayce didn't need any encouragement.

Leaving his luggage with Ashton, Drayce eagerly pushed his way through the tall iron gates and into the front yard of the estate. His boots crunched against the stone pathway and tapped loudly against the steps as he paused in front of the front doors. He took a moment to inspect and admire the beautiful engravings within the woods, a pattern similar to that of vines and flowers.

His fingers twitched so slightly in excitement as he placed his hands upon the door.

The front doors creaked slightly but not at all ominously as he pushed them open.

Light flooded in around him as he stepped over the threshold and into the foyer. The first thing his gaze settled upon was a majestic wooden staircase.

The long and grand staircase curved its way up to all three floors, of which could be seen from the foyer. Doors that led to a magnitude of rooms lined the landings to each floor. The second floor was that of bedrooms, if he remembered correctly. An important detail as he grandfather would tell him how he could easily gain his guildmates' attention, or rudely awaken them from their sleep, by stopping at the bottom step of the staircase and simply shouting as loudly as he could.

His guildmates would in turn stagger out of their rooms and glare hatefully at him. Even if he had awoken them for good reason.

As he tilted his head back to look up he saw a beautiful skylight of coloured glass, the mosaic that of an angelic being with a flaming sword. The different colours filtered down to the foyer, bathing in in a magnitude of lights.

To the left of him was a seating room with a large fire place, the hearth of stone and set beautifully into the wall. White sheets were draped over the furniture in the room, keeping them thankfully clean. With them removed, he was certain that the amazing room would be a wonderful gathering place.

As he looked to his right, he could see an equally large dining room. An oval shaped dining table was situated in the very centre of the room and chairs, stacked upon each other, were in one corner. They, too, were all covered in white sheets.

Wordlessly walking into the room, Drayce could see that it was connected to a kitchen.

And much like the house itself, the kitchen was impressively large. It had to be, really. After all, it had to feed the hungry mouths of an entire guild. The counter tops appeared to be that of granite, an island bench in the middle with a wood stove taking up one wall.

Leaving the kitchen, Drayce just walked around and admired everything he saw. The architecture and interior embellishments gave the building a unique charm.

Though the place was a little dusty as it hadn't been lived in for years and was filled to the brim with bookcases of books and cabinets of trinkets, but it was perfectly intact.

It was beautiful.

As he stood at the bottom step of the grand staircase, Drayce found his mind drifting back to his grandfather as he stared at the rolls of doors that could be seen. He could so imagine his eccentric grandfather hanging out with his merry band of misfits. Joking and messing around. Boisterous conversations. Loud chatter. Laughing.

He…

He would have liked to have experienced that along with his grandfather. And his father. To have seen what they had. To laugh along with them. Maybe he could, one day. Despite being busy with their own work and all.

But he also had his chance to build his own guild. To create his own memories. To allow this beautiful guildhouse to hear the voices of guildmates chatting together once more. To have the beds filled, the halls nosy.

To be alive again.

What better way to introduce his family to his new guildmates, right?

A hand settling on his shoulder pulled Drayce from his thoughts and he turned his head to find Blayke gazing at him. He wasn't frowning his usual disgruntle frown that was perpetually on his lips. He was looking at him with that hint of understanding in his eyes.

"You ok?" he asked him softly.

Drayce nodded his head before he turned his gaze back to beautiful building that he could call his. Could call home. "I'll have this old girl filled with laughter and happiness once more soon enough."

Blayke simply squeezed his shoulder in response, silently agreeing with him, before dropping his hand to his side. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, only for his face to suddenly crease into an annoyed look. Then he sneezed.

"Your grandfather is such a hoarder," he muttered. "This place is filled with god knows what."

Drayce laughed. "Well, yeah. What treasure hunter isn't a hoarder?" he playfully argued. "Oh! I wonder if grandpa left some puzzles for me to find. He was always doing that when I was a kid. I totally bet you fifty-en that there are a few treasure maps in here somewhere, too."

"Before you dive straight into the treasure and myth hunting, concentrate on completing the first explorers' mission first," Ashton said as he grabbed the back of Drayce's jacket and with little effort on his part dragged him into the large kitchen area.

"Yeah, yeah," Drayce said as he perched himself upon a bar stool and leaned his elbow on the dusty counter.

Blayke chose to sit down on a stool next to him and rested his elbows on the bench and propped his chin in the palm of one of his hands. "What should our guild name be?" he asked. "We should probably figure it out before we visit the guildmaster."

"Angelward," Drayce immediately replied.

"That was quick," Blayke commented as he glanced over in Drayce's direction.

"When I was a kid, my dad and grandpa would tell me that when I start a guild I should call it Angelward," Drayce explained with a shrug.

Blayke was silent for a moment with an expression of contemplation on his face. However, he soon nodded his head in acceptance. "Our next step then is to find guild mates willing to tag along with a treasure hunter."

Yeah, that was the key. He needed trustworthy guild mates that weren't obsessed with being the first or fastest explorer to conquer the labyrinth.

"How about it, Ash?" Drayce asked as he turned his attention to the green-haired Earthlain.

"I'm not one for exploration, I'm afraid," Ashton said as he folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the counter. "How about I act as the guildhouse's caretaker? I know my way around the formalities of Iorys pretty well, even though I've only been here two months myself."

"In that case I'll leave all the paperwork to you, too!" Drayce said with a smile.

Strangely, Blayke seemed relieved to hear that. "Yes, good idea."

Oi, what did he mean by that? Ok, so, Drayce wasn't good with paperwork. What treasure hunter was, right?

"However, before any of that," Ashton spoke up again. "Can I suggest that you pick out your rooms and do a little bit of cleaning before settling in? This place is pretty dusty, after all."

Yeah, that made sense. Not much fun, but made sense. Suppose he had better be the responsible adult that he was and do some tedious domestic chores.

Ugh.

"Will you be moving in as well, Ash?" Drayce asked, remembering that he had been renting a small apartment in the heart of the city for the sake of his work of researching myths and tales regarding the times before the Legendary War.

A fruitless task, according to many of scholars, as so much documentations and tomes where stolen or destroyed in the carnage of said war. It was unlikely that anything of time before was spared. If but miracle some survived, they were more than likely unreadable due to their age.

"Well, since I'll be acting as house-keep, it makes sense for me to move in," Ashton replied before he shot Drayce a slight grin. "Truth be told, I already snagged myself a room. Hope you don't mind."

Honestly, that wouldn't surprise him. Ashton was his father's understudy, after all!

"Nah, that's fine," Drayce replied anyway. "As long as I get grandpa's old room. He wanted me to have it, anyway. Blayke, the rest of the bedrooms are yours to choose from."

Blayke nodded his head before a thoughtful expression appeared on his face and he furrowed his brow slightly. "How many bedrooms does this place have?"

That was a good question.

"There's about twelve bedrooms I think," Ashton answered. "But this is a guildhouse, after all, so it can bed about thirty people."

Thirty people?! Grandpa had always told him that he had a large band of explorers with him during his exploration, but could he have had thirty guildmates at some point?

It did lead to Drayce wonder about how many people he would meet during his exploration that would agree to be part of his guild.

Never mind that now. It was late in the afternoon now. Best to try to get their chosen bedrooms in working order and somewhat liveable for themselves to sleep in for the night. Tomorrow he could think about visiting the guildmaster and registering a guild. Tomorrow he could think about looking for new guildmates to help him with his royal mission. And tomorrow he could officially begin his life as a professional treasure hunter and archaeologist.

His grandmamma would be so proud of him.

"Right, let's start getting to work, boys," Drayce said as he moved toward the front entrance where his bag of belongings were placed.

He was thankfully energetic at the moment, so hopefully the cleaning chore of his room won't take too long. But he was getting hungry. They had better visit the market to get some food in this place. He couldn't entice explorers to join his guild on an empty stomach.

… … … … …

His grandfather's bedroom was located at the back of the second floor. And as Drayce stepped inside, his mouth dropped open by the sheer size of it. A four post bed rested against one wall and facing a balcony that was framed with thick red curtains. On the other side of the room where two smaller rooms, a walk in closet that was surprisingly empty and a small bathroom with sink, shower, and mirror.

Honestly, the room was larger than that of some apartments, he was sure.

Drayce dropped his bad by the door as he walked around the room, once more openly admiring everything. His gaze was soon drawn to a small bedside set of draws. Or more specifically, to a silver picture frame that sat atop of it.

He quickly cross the room and picked up the picture frame. He didn't immediately recognise the couple in the photo, but he did recognise the man's blue eyes as they stared back at him. They were the same as his. Also the plaque at the bottom held his grandparents' names and the date of their wedding anniversary. It was a photo from their younger days. When they were explorers together.

He couldn't help but smile, though it was still tinged with sadness.

They looked so happy. So much in love. So happy together.

Truly, it only enforced the idea that his grandfather had become lost in his grief and threw himself in an adventure. He hoped to see him again one day. But…he would understand if he didn't. Grief effected people in different.

He carefully cleaned the photo, dusting away the light layer of dust before he placed it back onto the bedside table. He wondered if he, too, would find someone he loved as much as his grandfather loved his grandmamma.

Drayce laughed to himself and turned away from the bedside table. No time to think of such nonsense. He had more cleaning to do.

As Drayce focused his attention upon cleaning the room enough for him to at least sleep in for the night, his mind wandered toward his father. When he was growing up, he was raised by his father and grandparents. He didn't know or remember his mother. No one spoke about her, even if he asked. They simply told him that she was gone.

And with her, something very important.

He had tried, in secret as he could see that asking about his mother caused his family some distress, to find out some information on his own. He was raised to be a treasure hunter and archaeologist, after all. He was born to search for information and find the hidden. But in regards to his mother, he found nothing. Absolutely nothing. No photos. No letters. Not a single mentioning of her.

It was like…she never really existed.

And yet, deep in his heart, he knew she did. And he unexpectedly felt a sense of…anger toward her. He didn't understand why. It wasn't from his family's influence; they never spoke of her, after all. There was just something in the back of his mind and in his chest that made him feel anger toward his mother.

Drayce sighed and shook his head to clear it. He didn't want to waste his time on that. Not now. He had other important things to mull over in his mind.

Ok, focus. Clean his room, have some dinner, get settled in and get ready for tomorrow.

He, after all, had a lot of work to do tomorrow.

Before any of that, though, he really needed to get something to eat.

"Hey, Ash!" Drayce called out as he stepped out of his newly acquired bedroom. "Any food in this place? I'm starving!"