Lucian barely felt the next few minutes as they passed by. Slowly everyone in the hall walked out whilst Lucian’s mother directed him towards Mr. Venshire. When Lucian approached him he gestured for him to show his bleeding hand, which still pained perpetually. He then held Lucian hand with both of his, he then closed his eyes and Lucian saw his hand give off a blue glow. Within moments, the pain disappeared and when Mr. Venshire let go of him, he saw that the wound had completely healed as well. He thanked Mr. Venshire, took his mask into his hands and went to the hallway where he could hear shouting echoing through the walls.

“Now remember, we’ll be leaving in thirty minutes! So everyone go to your rooms and change!” he heard Mrs. Morning yell as he entered. He managed to catch a glimpse of his father Henry disappearing into the hallway leading to the stairs ahead of everyone else with half the adults including Mrs. Morrow, Mr. Hatly, Mr. Bernstein, Mr. Angelmore and Mr. Venshire following closely behind. Lucian barely had time to stand still when suddenly his mother appeared from behind him with Lily and the twins in hand.

“Why are you standing there? You heard Mrs. Morning!” she said as she nudged Lucian into the crowd. Lucian barely had time to stop as the crowd of people slowly pushed him up the stairs, slowly getting smaller with each story they climbed. He tried his best to stay close to his family. It was only when they got to the third floor that Janice pulled him and his siblings out of the crowd.

“Now Lucian and Lid can go to their rooms and get their coats. Lily, you can help your sister,” she said before gesturing them to go. Lucian walked down the hallway to his room, and as he did, Lily came up walking from behind him.

“Did you tell everyone?” he asked hastily.

“More or less, we told them all to come to Luin’s room on the fourth floor; hopefully they’re all smart enough to come up with believable reasons to remove themselves from the adults,”

Lucian gave Lily a nod before he reached his bedroom door. Inside his room, Lucian swiftly removed his cloak and placed it on the bed along with his mask and his top hat. He then reached for his coat which hung by the door. He then took the top hat off the bed and put it on his head. But as he was about to leave his room he heard a knock on the door, the door then swung open and Janice peeked her head out from the door frame.

“All prepared?” she asked. Lucian nodded, “Yes, all prepared, mother.” he said in a subdued tone whilst looking in the distance. Janice paused; she then frowned and entered the room. It was clear that she could see that Lucian’s mind was somewhere else. She titled her head as Lucian kept looking on into the distance.

“Is everything alright?” she asked softly. Lucian did not answer. Janice then sat on the bed directly in front of Lucian’s face. “You know, for moment we were all worried when you fell to the floor and didn’t get up. I must admit, it was quite terrifying and it was certainly not normal,”

Lucian raised his eyebrows out of intrigue. “What do you mean? Lira said it’s normal to see visions during the ceremony,”

“Oh it is,” said Janice quickly. “But it usually lasts no more than fifteen minutes. Lira lasted ten if my memory is correct,”

Lucian was starting to get concerned. “Well then, how long did I last?” he asked hesitantly. Janice then held his arm with both of hers before looking at him directly in the eyes. “Well dear, you knelt at the foot of the stone for more than half an hour,”

Lucian’s eyes widened, “Half an hour?” he thought to himself. Janice kept talking, “Hence why we’re in such a hurry. Your father came very close to shaking you until you woke up, but your uncle and Mr. Bernstein convinced him not to,”

Lucian took a step back. His mind came close to bursting as all his fears and insecurities used this revelation as fuel to rise once more.

“Half an hour?”

“Did the Morrows know it would last this long?”

“Did I jeopardize the future?”

Janice saw Lucian breath heavily. She stood up from the bed and approached him. “Is there something that’s’ troubling you?” but before Lucian could say a word she let out a small gasp as she realized the answer to her own question. “Is it about what the Morrows said?”

Lucian stayed silent, but even that silence was a confirmation to Janice. He looked off to her side, seemingly disappointed in herself. “Damn it, I should never have told you that. I should’ve known it would worry you,”

“It’s fine, mother,” Lucian reassured. “I promise I’m not scared,” he said confidently despite knowing that Janice could see right through him. For in truth, he was scared, he was worried. Janice the came closer and smiled at him kindly. “You know, I too was once scared of something that seemed insurmountable at the time. But I had someone with me to help me along,”

“Really?” asked Lucian curiously. “What did you find so insurmountable?”

“That does not matter,” Janice said swiftly. “But what does is that I might not have conquered my worries of it wasn’t for that person. And that day I learned to never face things alone,”

Lucian thought about it. The more he thought, the more he realized the truth in his mother’s words. He thought about everything that had happened in the past two days, how he had broken into his father’s safe. He remembered his confession, the arguments that followed and how they all made amends. He remembered dinner, when his friends stood up to vouch for him. Indeed, it was true, he did feel less worried and less sacred when he knew his friends were by his side.

“I understand, mother,” he said with a smile. Janice looked at him with pride. “I can see you have many people standing beside you. The Hatlys, the Bernsteins, Lily,”

Lucian scoffed upon hearing Lily’s name. “Oh please, mother. You know Lily would gladly trade me more a box of oranges without hesitation,” Janice chuckled. “I suppose you do have a point,”

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They then embraced each other lightly. Lucian then heard a knock on the door, followed by someone muffled shouting. Lucian could tell immediately that it was Lily. “Well, speak of restless spirits and they shall come forth,” Lucian thought.

“That must be your sisters,” said Janice turning her head towards the door. She gently pushed Lucian aside in order to reach for it, but before she did, Lucian asked her one more question.

“Who was it?”

Janice turned around and blinked. “Who was what, dear?” Lucian took a deep breath. “Who was it that helped you?”

Janice’s face suddenly went dim. Like all the joy had simply vanished. Her smile wavered but stayed intact, yet her expression became somber. “Well…” she began before sighing. “Her name was Bea, and she was to me what Luin is to you,”

Lucian raised his eyebrow. “And…where is she now?” he asked rather hesitantly.

Janice’s face became gloomier. But she still kept her smile. “I wish you could’ve met her, dear. You all would’ve loved each other,”

Janice then swiftly turned around and headed to the door before Lucian could ask anything else. Janice opened the door and found Lily and Lucy standing on the other side with their coats and hats on. Lucy wore a boater hat with a few rose made of silk while Lily wore a simple brown cap.

“We’re ready,” Lily said with a feigned enthusiasm. “Good,” said Janice before turning to Lucian again. “The girls and I are going ahead whilst your father gets ready with Lidian; you should join them. Your father may have something to say to you,”

Lucian saw Lily raise her eyebrow at him. Lucian himself was confused and slightly nervous. He nodded at his mother. Janice then nodded back before she swiftly shoved Lily and Lucy into the hallway and disappeared. Lucian then waited for a few moments before he peeked his head out of the hallway to see whether they had left. Once he saw that they had, he straightened his collar and pressed his hat against the top of his head one more time before he stepped out onto the hallway and walked in the direction of the stairs. As he walked, he thought of ways he could get to the fourth floor without attracting Henry’s suspicion. He was also not very keen on hearing what Henry had to say to him. He hoped he could get to the stairs before his father and his brother came out yet unfortunately, before he could get to them. He saw the door closest to end of the hallway on his left side open. And from it walked out Henry with Lidian, who looked small compared to him, following closely behind.

“…and are we going to see the Moor too?” Lidian asked whilst grabbing the end of Henry’s coat. Henry sighed, it was clear that he was annoyed. He then looked down at Lidian with a halfhearted grin. “Yes, yes don’t worry, son. Where we’re going you’ll be able to see the Moor from your bedroom wind…” he began, but he paused before he finished. He then looked directly at Lucian, who simply stood there in silence. It was clear that had just noticed him.

“Oh…Lucian. I was just going come and get you,”

Lucian gulped. He was about to say something when Lidian came running up to him seeing his full attention. “Lu! Lu!” he said until Lucian looked at him. “What do you think?” he asked before tipping his small white boater hat with a black stripe. He then held the two ends of his black coat before looking at Lucian with a very wide grin. Lucian smiled at Lid and patted him on the shoulder.

“You look positively dashing, Lid. A real charmer!” he said. Lidian’s face lit up with joy. Henry then walked up to them both and held Lidian gently by the collar. “Why don’t you wait for me by the stairs, son? I have something to say to Lucian,”

Lidian raised his eyebrow out of intrigue. Then Henry gently shoved him aside. “Go along now, and no listening!” he said playful. Lidian seemed to suspect nothing, for he simply rolled his eyes, put on a childish frown and walked away with his arms crossed whilst grumbling rather loudly.

Henry watched his youngest son walk away and sighed rather sincerely. He then took a deep breath and turned to his eldest son, his expression now notably more serious. Lucian waited anxiously for him to speak. Luckily, Henry did not keep him waiting.

“I know you know what is really going on,” he said in a clam voice. “I assume Lira has instructed you on what you have to do if the time comes?”

Lucian nodded and kept his head down. Henry then took a deep breath and looked out into the distance. “The Morrows informed me that our window of time has narrowed rapidly, so I shall keep this brief while I have you alone,”

Lucian raised his eyebrow and looked directly at his father. To his surprise, he could tell that Henry was desperately trying not to sniffle.

“I saw the way you looked at me during dinner,” he said calm whilst maintaining his composure. “I know I haven’t been very close to you in recent times, despite the fact that you are my oldest. Perhaps it is something I inherited from you grandfather,”

Lucian widened his eyes in surprise, for this was far from what he was expecting. “What are you saying, father?”

Henry took a deep breath, “All I trying to say is, in this time of uncertainty, I just wanted you to know that what I said during dinner, I meant every word of it. And I do not want you doubting any of it,”

Lucian’s eyes lit up as he felt his heart race. He did not know what to say to that. It was truly something he had never expected to hear. Henry then placed his hand on Lucian’s shoulder. “I know I’ve made some mistakes I swore never to make. I may have gotten lost in resenting one man and trying to live up to another. But no matter how distant I may be, I will never stop regarding you as my son. I just hope you bare no resentment or anger towards me,”

Lucian paused. He did not know what to think about what he had just heard. Part of him knew that he was only hearing this due to the dire nature of their current situation. But the other part of him could tell that Henry was being sincere. And at that moment, it was all that mattered to him.

“I bare none, father. No resentment or anger,”

Henry stood still, he then looked at Lucian with eyes half soaked in trapped tears and grinned. “Thank you, son,”

He then sniffled before grabbing the ends of his coat and straightened it. His expression then changed to a worried and surprised look as he glanced around the room looking at the tops of the walls. He then reached into coat pockets and pulled out a golden pocket watch attached to a golden chain. He stared at it for a moment before putting it back into his coat.

“We do not have a lot of time to spare, best we get to the cars now. We can’t keep your brother waiting either,” he said as he turned around towards the stairs.

“Actually, father,” said Lucian as he took one-step forward before stopping. Henry stopped walking and turned his head back. Lucian gulped before deciding to take a risk, “I need to go upstairs… to see Luin,”

Henry raised his eyebrow, “Well you’ll see Luin before we board the cars,”

“Yes, but…” said Lucian, but he then ran out of words when he saw Henry look at him suspiciously. “I just need to see him upstairs at this very moment,” he said with a hint of desperation in his voice.

Henry narrowed his eyes at him. And Lucian couldn’t tell whether Henry was convinced. It was at times like these that envied the Hatly’s mindreading, “We don’t have the time, Lucian,” Henry said sternly before turning around and walking away. “I do say, you’ve been acting quite odd ever since I saw you outside my study,” he bantered is rather casual manner as though he didn’t think much of his son’s ‘odd’ behavior.

Lucian was starting to get impatient. “The others might already be there by now,” he thought. He knew Henry wasn’t going to excuse him and his inability to sway him with words made him frustrated. Finally, in a moment of restlessness and desperation, he let his frustration shine through, “How do you know how I usually act when you’re never here?” he said quite loudly. Henry froze, he then turned around and looked Lucian directly in the eye. “What… did you say?” he asked in disbelief.