The eventful day had passed, letting a fresh one to dawn upon the world.
Both Xavier and Eulene slept longer that night. An exhilarating battle, followed by a more-than-hearty meal, took their tolls even on immortal beings like them. Nevertheless, both of them woke up early according to mortal standards and began their daily routine.
The first thing Eulene did after waking up was sitting in a lotus position. She took in deep but rhythmic breaths while all the free Qi around began to March towards her.
Xavier- on the other hand, in another room- stayed lying on his bed- with his eyes wide open. The wooden ceiling seemed old but sturdy, with multiple beams to hold it on spot.
But he cared little about the architecture of the building. His mind was focused on something else.
Dreams.
He was processing the dream he dreamt last night- committing it to memory despite the visions trying to struggle out of his grasps, but alas- it failed.
Once done with that, Xavier began to analyse every details of the dream. It was quite a special dream- of him enjoying life. It was a rarity.
But he had a similar dream a few nights ago, after the events of that fateful night. Xavier instantly noticed a pattern. A thrilling duel, a superb meal, a bit of sleuthing, a 'worthy' partner- all of these were common on the days behind the two dreams.
However, Xavier was not surprised. Few things in the world were as enigmatic as dreams; it was a wonder of the world. He believed that unraveling its intricacies would bring forth unbelievable results.
Though many experts of mysticism believed in the dreams' abilities to foretell the future, Xavier's field of study was something else. Aside from its ability to dish out ideas and insights, if there was one thing he learned through his century and a half long research- it was that dream was a 'realm' capable of expanding time itself.
Once he discovered that it was possible to control oneself in dreams, he mastered the art of 'dreamwalking' overtime. Though he could still not influence all of his dreams, the chances of success was still high.
He used those 'controlled dreams' and their advantage of 'accelerated-time' to have several lifetimes worth of practice.
While others struggled to master one element in their lifetime, Xavier not only managed to master them all in a span of three mortal lives- he went beyond mastery. And four of these elements were elements Xavier was not compatible with. Hence he had to spend twice as much time on those- if not more.
Once Xavier was done contemplating, he discovered that tonight's uncontrollable dream- even if it was enjoyable- it did not provide any fresh insights.
He finally got up from the bed. He was wearing a nightie the matron had provided. He quickly changed to his usual black attire. He did not need any laundry. After all, dust and sweat were made of particles.
The room lacked any mirrors, but Xavier cared little. His eyes glinted gold. His own image appeared in his mind.
Perfectly placed hat. Tidy silver hair. Glinting silver eyes. Flawless attire. Perfection.
Xavier walked out of the room.
The clock tower belled 8 times. For the first time, all the four inhabitants of the Maisel house took breakfast together.
Life had returned to the mother-daughter duo's face. Both of them had smiles on their faces as the matron fed Sarah.
But the one with the brightest smile in the room was Eulene, who was joking with Sarah.
Xavier couldn't keep a straight face amongst them. His lips were slightly curved to a smile. Happiness was indeed contagious.
"How was the night?" Xavier asked Sarah.
"It was fine," Sarah answered.
"Any nightmares?" Xavier gulped down water from his glass.
Sarah shook her head. Suddenly, miss Maisel nudged her and gestured something with her eyes.
Sarah nodded and got up from her chair, grabbing Xavier and Eulene's attention.
"Thank you for everything." Sarah bowed her head. "Brother in law."
Xavier coughed out the water from his mouth. He reflexively used hydromancy, turning the water into mist before it could spoil the porridge and poached-egg before him.
"You imp!" Eulene yelled. Her cheeks were as red as tomatoes.
Sarah frowned. "Didn't you say brother- I mean the gentleman was staying with us because he was enamoured by yo- ouch!"
Miss Maisel grabbed Sarah by the hair and showed Xavier a apologetic smile. "Please pardon her. She's a naughty child."
Xavier coughed a couple of times and showed the woman his hand, assuring it was okay.
The Matron forced Sarah to apologise before beginning to feed her again.
Noticing the now gloomy atmosphere, Eulene tried to break the awkwardness.
"Auntie, do you know what 'crone' means?" She asked.
"Crone?" The teacher gave Eulene a look, before glancing at Xavier- who was gulping down the porridge spoon after spoon.
"Oh, I know, I know!" Sarah raised her hand. "It means a witc-"
The woman forced a spoon of porridge into the girl's mouth. "Bewitching," she 'corrected', "Crone means beautiful." She gave Sarah a glare, to which the girl nodded.
Eulene turned to Xavier and smiled. "Thank you."
The breakfast ended and everyone returned to their room. The mother and daughter were both on leaves from their school. So, they would stay at home all day.
But Xavier and Eulene had plans.
Hours passed. The Sun climbed all the way from the East to the top, and started to climb down the West.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The duo left the house and reached the main road, where awaited Wilbur with his carriage. They boarded the carriage and departed Northward.
After half an hour of travels, they arrived at their destination.
"It's a shame that the Gallery is closed," Wilbur said as Xavier and Eulene got off. "It's five minutes walk from here."
"Quite close indeed," Xavier commented. He remembered what the Electal Lord said that day- about the curse that befell on the city, and its connection with the stolen artefact.
The duo eyed their destination. Behind wooden fences, and a gate broken to the point of being on the verge of falling down- lay a handful of buildings. Amongst the wooden houses, the largest was made of bricks. Nevertheless, its dirty walls did not make it look much better than its wooden counterparts.
The unkempt field was silent- with not a single creature walking on it. Adding the silent streets and the empty surroundings, the whole place reeked of eeriness- that too, in the middle of the day.
The two looked up at the signboard above the gate. What it said belied everything they witnessed.
'Derbury Disabled Children's Home'
Coldness appeared surfaced on Xavier's eyes.
"Apparently, the director is back. Let's see what he has to say about the abductions."
***************** Author's Note****************
30! A small one- but a milestone indeed. Another milestone- 20!… 20 what? I am finally 20. RIP teenage years. Though this birthday- my first one as a writer- is not as fun since mother and little sister are away. Probably it's my first birthday without them- barring the first two of course (lil sis was not born yet). And honestly, it feels a bit lonely.
Anyways, thankfully I still have my friends in town to hang out with. And I have you guys, my dear readers to motivate me- to continue my craft of storytelling. Thank you so much for your support.
Keep me in your prayers! Stay tuned!