Magnus was roused from the chime of the announcement speakers, a voice that spoke from nowhere and everywhere. “Good morning passengers! I hope you have enjoyed your trip with the A.U. Voyager, the cruise is set to arrive to England in 3 hours from now, passengers are recommended to organise their luggage and prepare to alight from the vessel as any spare luggage will be taken,” it had been an enjoyable trip for Magnus, he hadn’t dined so well in quite a while, and being with his friends made it all the more enjoyable, but the question marks that dwelled under the surface was giving him second thoughts. He rubbed his eyes with a yawn and opened the window, he could see a vague outline of the country through the window, it was a particularly misty day, so he had to squint to get a good view of the landscape. He allowed the outside light to fill the room, adjusting to the newfound brightness of the cabin. The compass sat on the edge of the bed, he scanned it before picking it up and placing it in his pockets. “Suppose I should get some breakfast before we arrive,” he muttered to himself, with weary eyes. It was still early and the only people he’d assume to be awake were the cabin crew. He made his way to the door, leaving the room.
As he walked down the empty quiet hallways of the cruise, he caught sight of Madeleine, who was also aimlessly walking down the hallway, her messy red hair ran down her face covering it like an inferno. She was in her pyjamas and yawning, like Magnus.
“Hey Madeleine!” He called out, she turned to him, rubbing her eyes with her wrists, “Ah, bonjour Magnus, I hope you slept well?” She said with prostration, stretching her arms out, “I was just going to get some...” She stopped, trying to find the word she was thinking of pointing in the direction of the restaurant with a blank mind. “Breakfast?” Magnus chimed, “Yeah, that was the word I was looking for, pardon me, I don’t think straight when I’m tired,”
“Who does?” Magnus chuckled,
“Haha, fair, I guess you’re right, you coming?” She beckoned Magnus, still yawning,
“Yeah sure,” Magnus and Madeleine made their way to the restaurant, he was correct, as they looked at the emptiness of the restaurant, Magnus was correct in assuming everyone was still fast asleep.
“What can I get for you two? Mademoiselle, monsieur,” A waiter approached them, with a notepad, “I’ll have a coffee and any Viennoiserie you might have, s’il vous plait!” Madeleine asked,
“Oui, and you?” The porter looked at Magnus, “Oh, could I get some hot chocolate and an omelette?” He asked, the waiter nodded and retreated to the kitchen.
“So, what did Urielle say about you tagging along for the ride?” Magnus started, Madeleine shrugged, “Ma mere... I am a responsible person, and she knows this, so she allowed me to go, though she was very hesitant,”
“Oh, that’s good news then,”
“It is very fortunate yes, it’s not every day when you see people your age travelling on this alone, especially ones who are this important to me, I had to seize the opportunity,”
“Smart move on your half then,” Magnus admitted, Madeleine kept their ambition to find Kieran grounded and realistic, she was strange, though, he had never met anyone – except himself- who was willing to be friends with a person like Jake, he could be a very deplorable individual sometimes. He was irredeemable to most, redeemable to a few, and forgivable to even fewer. Although Magnus appreciated him, even he doubted that Jake was capable of atonement, considering how little he cared about the damage he did to Lucia. Madeleine seemed the opposite, though; caring, kind and respectful, from what he could see. The waiter placed their orders on the table, “Merci beaucoup!” They said in unison. The waiter nodded with a smile and left once again. “So, why are you going to England?” Madeleine started, taking a sip of her coffee, “same reason as the rest of em,” Magnus sighed, picking on his omelette, “wouldn’t hurt to take a vacation either too, you think?”
“Vacations are a summer thing; you don’t usually see them in the winter,”
“What am I doing here then?” Magnus asked, in a mouthful of omelette, Madeleine placed her coffee mug down and picked up a pastry, “I don’t know, that’s a question for you to answer, not me,” Magnus thought about that for a moment, unsure of how to reply, “You should make your own reason to go places and not to be a plus one for someone else, Magnus, you have to be your own person sometimes,” She continued. “How’d I make my own reason?” Magnus asked, leaning in, Madeleine pointed to her head, “You just need to think about it, and if you can’t?” She pointed to Magnus’ chest with her fork, twirling it around, “follow that,” she said with a smile.
“Oh, hello guys!” A voice from behind them called, it was Cynthia who was approaching them, unlike Magnus and Madeleine, Cynthia looked wide awake and active. She always was. “You’re up quite early today? No?” She asked, they both nodded, “Where are the others?” Magnus asked, looking over Cynthia’s shoulder, “Ah, Lucia is still asleep, Aiden is getting ready to leave the ship, I think he’s packing up right now?”
“What about Jake?” Madeleine asked, “I don’t know, I think he’s on the upper deck again, he doesn’t usually sleep, you of all people should know that seeing as you spend all your time with him, which I must say I not a very wise thing to do,”
“Why is that?” Madeleine frowned, “It’s because he likes to manipulate people, and mess with their emotions and feelings, it’s a ‘hobby’ to him,” Magnus sighed,
“Why do you like him then?” She asked, “I believe everyone can change for the better, I want to trust the process here, I want to believe it, because he can be a nice person sometimes,”
“It's a shame, he won’t even apologise for what he did to Lucia either,” Cynthia shrugged, “Just look out around him, I trust that boy as far as I can throw him,”
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“Not very far...” Magnus whispered, Madeleine sighed as she took another sip of her coffee.
(...)
Urielle hugged Madeleine tightly, the boat was to arrive in England in half an hour, everyone was fully dressed and ready to go, even Cynthia got used to the weight of her suitcase, “You need to stay safe out there, ma chérie, you know mother loves you very much, and I want you to be safe,” She smiled, looking at her, “And as for you, please look after her, and look after her well,” Urielle looked at the rest of the group, “She is in safe hands,” Lucia assured, “I will still be calling occasionally to make sure that she is safe and well,” Her eyes were calm, but Lucia could sense a hint of concern in her voice.
“She will be fine. I will do everything in my power to make sure she is safe” Jake held a hand to his heart, Madeleine smiled at this. “I hope you can stick to that promise,” Urielle sighed, “do you have everything packed Madeleine?”
“Oui, I have everything I need here,” she pointed to her rucksack that sat on her back. “Don’t worry about me mother, I have faith in mes amis here”. Magnus and Cynthia were busy looking out of the window, looking at the landscape once more, “why are those cliffs white?” He asked, “Not sure, those are the White Cliffs of Dover though, it’s a popular landmark for some, and a prominent port for most ships, very well known,” Cynthia informed,
“They look really cool, I've never seen a white cliff before,”
“I know, it’s quite a nice view,”
All of their luggage was congregated in the centre of the private lounge, the bedrooms were checked thoroughly to make sure nothing was left behind, Aiden was sat on the couch half asleep, aimlessly flicking through channels on the TV.
“Look at you! My little explorer,” Alexander Monet walked into the room, giving his niece a great warm embrace, “You become more like your great grandmother every day, she’d be proud of you, very proud,” Madeleine blushed, adjusting her signature beret with a huge smile. “One day, you’ll be the captain of this fine vessel, and I can’t think of a better successor!” He continued, Urielle nodded, “You’ll become the greatest sailor to have ever touched the oceans,” she said rubbing her hair. They both retreated into the cockpit, leaving Madeleine with a jocose expression on her face.
Lucia beckoned everyone to the centre of the room once again to go over final discussions about the trip, they all sat around the circular rosewood table that sat in the middle of the room. “We all know about what happened to Cynthia’s computer a couple of days ago, I think that we’re dealing with something bigger than ourselves here, way bigger,” Lucia said, “What's the plan here?”
“I say we just wing it,” Magnus said with nonchalance, “we’re here for the present, I’m sure it’s linked to Kieran somehow, and even if it isn’t, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there,”
“I can get behind a plan like that,” Jake shrugged, Cynthia nodded, seeming to agree with the plan, Madeleine reached into her pocket and pulled out a map of the plaza that the shop stood in the corner of, “If we want to ask clues, maybe we could ask the locals if they know anything about him?”
“That sounds fair, yeah,” Lucia chimed, “So... do we have ourselves a plan?”
They all nodded with fiery excitement
(...)
After 7 days on the sea, the glorious A.U. Voyager had arrived at its destination, they each departed the boat once at a time, Urielle and Alexander giving Madeleine one last final hug before they made their way to the train station, the topography of the port was concealed by the fog that hindered their view, but they could make out the Cliffs of Dover in the distance. It was their lucky day, the V.I.P tickets they had been granted were also accounting for their trip to London, meaning that they could board the train for free, they sat at the train station for half an hour, taking in the eerie environment that surrounded them. The train arrived at noon, and the group boarded it, making sure to bring all of their luggage onboard and searching through the cabins for occupied seats. It was still fairly early so the train was vacant for the most part with the odd worker or two sitting in the corners tending to business or busy making phone calls. Even though the train was not as great as the Cruise they had taken for the past week, it still had some glory and hidden beauty to it behind the architectonics of the cabin, the interior was lined with seats of mauve and cerulean, the walls were a sleek dark grey and the windows were tinted to be dark, making the carriages darker than the outside. As soon as Lucia found a seat, she dropped asleep, she was more fatigued than usual, ever since she saw the vision of the city, she’d dream about it more and more, until her mind took her to the puzzling conurbation without her intention,” Madeleine was talking with Jake as usual, giggling at his snide remarks and corny jokes, and so was Magnus and Cynthia who both seemed to be sharing a book together, reading peacefully in each other's company. Aiden looked at his watch once more, he was remined of the peculiar situation at the observatory where time had appeared to... Glitch? He shook his head, his watch had been working fine ever since that, incident and he never gave it a second’s thought, but now he was unsure, whatever business he was diving into wasn’t normal at all and part of him begged him to leave it all and return back to the safety of his home, but he admitted, there was no going back from here, the train had left the station, he’d just have to grit his teeth and continue to take on whatever would be hurled at his way next. In an hour, they’d be in The Square mile, that’s where the adventure would truly kick off, and he knew that it would be for the better or for the worse, he looked at Lucia, who was soporose and was living in another universe, one that was in her mind. He always wondered what she dreamt about at night, what she feared and what motivated her, Aiden’s mind was a blank canvas, just waiting for an artist to paint a story, one worth more than a thousand words, maybe less, he wanted enough.
The train glided across the countryside with such pace that the scenery was reduced to a blur in Aiden’s vision. Though he could make out some houses and some animals in the distance, which sat in a seemingly endless pool of green and yellow. There was a ring on his phone, it was Mrs Wyatt, his mother. “Hey dear! I hope you’ve arrived safely! How’s Jake doing?” She asked,
“He is doing well! Actually, he’s made a new friend on the boat, they get on well, you should see them,” Aiden laughed, “That’s good to hear then, are you feeling well? Is there anything you need while you’re there?”
“No no, I’ll be fine, thank you for asking!”
“Oh well, okay! That’s good, take care then!”
“You too, Ma,” Aiden smiled, it was nice to hear her mother’s voice after so long, he missed her already, he appreciated the fact that he wouldn’t see her for a while either. The train had made another stop a couple of minutes after the last one and an announcement on the speakers was projected.
“NEXT STOP, THE SQUARE MILE TRAIN STATION”