Lady Sylvia's eyes looked to be seething with anger. The rest of her face still kept that calm and elegant demeanor that she always showed. Ozzus could tell how angry she was due to her recklessness in using Aurora's ability so out in the open.
Slap!!
Before Ozzus was even able to utter a greeting, he was met with yet another forceful slap. "I want you to tell me how you found him this instant. I won't tolerate a lie.", said Sylvia on the brink of breaking down. It had only been a few days since her talk with Lucian but that must've made her guilt linger even more.
***
Most of the rooms were the same as the one Lucian had found jade in. A select few were storage spaces, a large kitchen, and a dining room, but every single one was completely normal. The entire battle must've been very short and had only taken place in the upstairs left corridor.
Why would Eliot even assign me to a mission like this? My only half decent attributes right now are above average speed and adaptation, and my IQ is alright but it's not going to help us if I've been fed zero information on anything.
Running his hand along the wall while heading back to the main area Lucian wondered why they haven't found a room belonging to Mr. Kartour because if they wanted clear and profitable evidence, then it would be best if they checked there.
It appeared that Jade hadn't returned yet, so Lucian chose to go upstairs to check on her. She better not have fallen down again; she should have been done way faster than me so why hadn't she come back?
Each and every door was open, indicating that Jade had already searched each one, so she must've been at the one near the end. After making it to that final room Lucian was met with a horrifyingly disturbing scene.
Jade hadn't even entered the room fully; she was just standing in the frame, too traumatized to move. What lay in the room was a scene that was considerably less violent and bloody than they had previously seen, but the indicated that the events that transpired there were far more monstrous.
Laying propped up and lifeless was a woman seeming to be in her early 30's still tightly holding onto a young boy. Both were covered in blood, and a trail of the crimson liquid led from the middle of the room to where they were laying.
Lucian placed a hand on Jade's shoulder and pushed past her. He was scared to approach but that same feeling he'd felt before indicating danger indicated something else and was encouraging him to go up to the bodies.
The woman's eyes were still wide open, tear marks still a bit visible. Her hair was long and black messily laying strands on her nightgown. A stab wound clearly showed at her abdomen indicating someone did this at night.
The little boy was young, only about 11 years of age. His eyes were closed, he had the same black hair as the woman, but curly.
Lucian kneeled down and felt his hand moving towards the boy's neck without command. His two fingers were placed slightly below the side of his jaw. Before Lucian could pull it away, he felt pulsing.
Lucian moved the woman's hands with care and picked the boy up. "W-what are you doing?", Jade said clearly still recoverin from the sight.
"He's alive so I'm heading back to the coach, come with if you want.", stated Lucian with a stern tone. He'd never spoken to someone like this, much less a superior.
As Lucian passed Jade once again, she attempted to retort, "The mission's not over till we find out who killed Teressa."
"The mission can wait, this boy needs medical attention now.", What the hell am I saying? Normally I would have tried to reason with Jade and attempted to get her to go along with me, but now I'm just ordering her around!
It was as if that second instinct Lucian had felt before had totally switched and had known that the boy was alive. This unnatural ability had not only told Lucian where danger is and was but had also made him save a child.
He thought Jade would snap at him but surprisingly, she didn't, "You're right, we've checked almost every place in this house but have failed to find the cause of Teressa's death.". Jade knew Eliot would scold her if they failed to fully complete the mission. That was why she had said the mission wasn't over, and yet, the realization hit her that it might be better if they we're to save the child now rather than making him hurt any longer as they searched the manor.
They had enough evidence for who to pin the blame on and they had a rough idea on who killed Evan Vanders so the mission was mostly complete, though it wouldn't be marked as having been successful so Lucian would be forced to do another mission similar to it.
The coach was still waiting patiently outside, but many pedestrians now roamed the streets. It would have made a scene if Lucian and Jade emerged from an alley with the bloodied body of a boy, so Lucian propped him up on his shoulders and put his trench coat over him.
While in the carriage, Lucian cleared his throat and asked, "Aren't you able to heal? You could have brough the mother back to life and fixed the boy up, no?"
"You are partially correct. While I can definitely heal the boy, affecting him with my shackle as an after affect isn't worth it."
"What's you're shackle then?"
"When you're in the process of being healed, an excruciating pain will reverberate throughout the entirety of your being. It's far less scary than Priscilla's shackle yes but doing that to a child doesn't sit well with me. And for the mom, I only possess healing, I can't bring her back."
"Got it, should we bring the boy to a doctor then?"
"No, that'd put too many eyes on us, and we don't have enough information on who the boy is. We'll just stop at Lilith's. She should be quite familiar in the medical field to the boy will be fine in her hands.", said Jade as she gazed at the young child sleeping peacefully leaning on Lucian.
***
Arriving at Lilith's, Lucian and Jade hurriedly rushed inside. Jade knocked four times, two fast and two slow to indicate to the person inside who they were.
Answering the door, Lilith grumbled "I thought you guys were out on a mission?".
"You're advanced in medical aid, correct?", said Lucian a bit fast.
"Yes, though I wouldn't say I'm advanc-", Lilith stopped mid sentenced seeing the unconscious boy on Lucian's back. "Come right in, I'll do the best I can."
After telling Lilith what happened, Lucian rested the boy on the couch and stood close while Lilith examined him. Her place was the just about the same as Theo's but a lot more kept together, in fact, it looked to be as well-kept as Ozzus's ship. Sure, that man lives alone but how does it make this much of a difference in cleanliness?
Jade stood a bit further away looking as if she harbored some sort of guilt. That guilt was keeping her in place, away from the slumbering child as if she feared him.
Lilith stood up and said with a serious expression, "It seems that he's unconscious due to some sort of sedative drug or gas. He has no external injuries, and there are no signs of prior exhaustion meaning that it was something within the body that forced him into a long period of unconsciousness. A spirit wouldn't do this so that's out of the picture as well as diabetic issues and a brain infection due to the scenario that must've taken place, though the latter two aren't completely ruled out."
Lucian bowed slightly, "I understand, you have my utmost appreciation.".
"It's nothing really, I'm happy to help."
"Now that we know he's okay, where will he stay till he's fully awake?". The boy would obviously be confused and scared if he were to wake up in a poverty-stricken stranger's home rather than a hospital, but we still need to extract information from him on the events that happened. He most definitely will not believe that we are police detectives, and we absolutely cannot tell him that we are Ethereals.
"Take him to Ozzus's ship. He's the closest person with real authority that has a half decent home. Ozzus make's four times the amount of money we make providing for the boy there will be a walk in the park for him, and he'll know exactly just what to do with the boy once he's up."
Lucian picked the boy up and put him on his back once again. "Thank you again for your help.", said Lucian in passing exiting the room shortly after.
***
After making it all the way to the docks, Lucian and Jade boarded the ship where they were then met with utter silence. It was as if no one had woken up since this morning, but then the muffled yell of a woman came from inside the cabin.
carefully stepping closer the boards made rather loud creaking noises. The double doors to the hallway were already wide open showing the fully shut one at the end where Lucian had been sleeping.
Just what has been happening as we were away? It's only been a few hours and it's not even mid-day yet!
Lucian walked closer and closer to the wooden door at the hall's end. The muffled yells got louder and clearer. "You made him meet me without even letting me know! Did you really think I could face my son confidently after so many years!?"
Lucian hesitantly stopped his hand from opening the door, took in a deep breath, and slowly opened it abruptly putting a stop to the voices.
His eye's widened in surprise. Sitting at the table were Ozzus, Eliot, and Lucian's mother. The room stayed silent for a while with both parties staring at one another in astonishment. Priscilla was sitting on the couch with what looked to be tea gesturing to Lucian and Jade that now isn't a good time.
Eliot looked at Jade with a stern expression as if he was asking if the mission was completed, leading Jade to look down in shame.
Breaking the silence, Ozzus stood up and said with a cheery voice, "Welcome back Lucian, how did your first mission go? Also, why is there a random child on your back? You guys look like a family of three."
The other three in the room stayed quiet so Lucian decided to explain everything. From the piles of flesh to the corpse of a holy mandate member and to the boy and mother found at the end of the corridor, all of it was explained in detail.
"It's good that you have an idea of what happened there, but if you don't know the cause of both Ethereal's death, then you'll have to be given an auxiliary mission. It would have been more efficient if Jade had used her healing abilities instead of abandoning the task all together, that way you'd still be able to search for more clues. You can't let personal feelings get in the way of this kind of stuff. These missions are sometimes the difference between who dies and who lives.", stated Ozzus.
"Understood.", said Lucian in a half whisper.
Throughout the explanation Lucian gave Ozzus and his reply, he couldn't stop glancing at his mother looking downwards at the table, pretending like he didn't exist. It hurt Lucian, he didn't know what was going through his mother's head nor did he believe it was a good reason to avoid her son.
After setting the boy down on the couch next to Priscilla, Lady Slyvia sat up quickly from the table, "I have to be going now. My daughter will be getting back from the academy soon, so I bid you farewell."
She hurried her steps and passed by Lucian without a glance. Ozzus looked as though he was about to say something but then closed his lips. The room was silent yet again, for no one knew what to say.