As the sun went up over the horizon Jacob stirred in bed. Rubbing his eyes and blinking a few times his eyes slowly adjusted to the light coming through his bedside window. He slowly rose out of bed and walked over to his closet, picking a white shirt paired with beige pants and a pair of simple white socks he dressed himself. Today he decided to also wear a tweed vest on top of his white shirt, with his gold pocket watch resting firmly in the vest's left pocket.
Now fully dressed, Jacob stretched and stepped out of his room. Making his way to the door leading into Emily's room he carefully opened the door and saw her lying fast asleep in her bed. Walking over to her, a mischievous grin slowly creeped onto his face.
Sleeping peacefully, Emily was having the most wonderful dream. She was having the time of her life riding through unending fields of grass on the back of a snow white mare. In the midst of this excitement she suddenly felt something crawling up her arm. Waking up with a start, she instinctively punched at the figure looming above her. Hearing a low "thud" and feeling her fist connect with something hard she felt her fear rise as there was something very real inside her bedroom!
Lying flat on his back, Jacob was laughing hysterically. Seeing his sister's face quickly turn from fear to confusion and then to annoyance.
"BROTHER!!! YOU JERK!"
Jacob was still on the floor laughing hysterically.
"You should have seen your face."
He wheezed out while a bright smile spread across his face. This earned him another punch, this time to the knee.
After being punched a second time Jacob slowly got up off the floor.
"Anyway, you should get dressed. Mom will probably be done making breakfast any minute now."
At the word breakfast, Emily seemed to forget everything about their previous altercation. Jumping out of bed with a serious expression, she started rummaging through her wardrobe trying to find something cute to wear for their day out.
Seeing her fully focused on getting ready for, Jacob gave a content nod before leaving the room.
Walking down the stairs Jacob could hear his mother making breakfast in the kitchen, while also smelling the delightful fragrance that wafted through the air.
Hearing footsteps in the stairway Eleanor turned her head and shouted:
"Jacob, would you be so kind as to help me stir the porridge!"
Jacob took the last few steps down the stairs.
"Sure, I'll be right with you."
Once in the kitchen Jacob spotted his mother preparing a fried few eggs. Walking over to the gas powered stove Jacob started stirring the porridge so that it doesn't stick to the saucepan.
Shooting a quick glance towards her son, Eleanor smiled.
"You know your sister has been very excited about spending a day out with her favorite brother."
Jacob raised an eyebrow.
"Has she now? Then I better go all out with our little excursion."
Eleanor chuckled lightly to herself.
"That is exactly what I wanted to talk about, since we both know you are not able to spend alot time with her. I want you to not think too much about the cost of anything while you're out with her, okay?"
Jacob shrugged.
"I suppose you're right. I promise I'll get her something nice."
A moment later hurried footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs and soon a pretty young girl came running into the kitchen wearing a neat light blue dress and a pair of white stockings.
"Mom! When is breakfast ready?"
Eleanor smiled.
"Soon Sunshine, it will just be a minute or two."
"Okay."
She said, before skipping over to the table and taking a seat in one of the chairs.
After they were done making breakfast the family ate in relative silence, just making a bit of smalltalk. When everyone was finished eating Jacob stood up with a smile.
"Well then Emily, we better get going. Otherwise we might not have enough time to check out the entire plaza."
Emily Squirmed out of her chair.
"Okay, I'll go put on my shoes."
She then quickly ran off into the hallway.
Getting up from her seat Eleanor walked up to Jacob embracing him with a tender hug.
"You know I love you Jacob."
"And you know I love you mom."
Jacob whispered while in her embrace.
As Eleanor released Jacob, she gave him a motherly smile.
"Be safe, okay?"
Jacob smiled.
"Of course I will. You be safe too, alright?"
She nodded slightly.
"I will, don't you worry about me."
They embraced each other one last time. After which Jacob went to find Emily in the hallway, while Eleanor cleared the table.
Stepping into the hallway, Jacob instantly notices Emily still trying to put on her pristine white shoes. He walked up to her smiling.
"Do you need my help?"
She looked up from her work with a frown.
"No, I can do this myself!"
Jacob chuckled lightly and got to work putting on his own brown button boots. Jacob then gave Emily a smile.
"Are you ready then?"
She looked at him with determination.
"Always!"
As they opened the door they heard Eleanor calling to them from the kitchen.
"Take care of yourselves and be home in time for dinner!"
Emily grinned.
"Bye-bye mommy!"
After saying their goodbyes they left, closing and locking the door behind them.
Jacob took Emily by the hand.
"First were headed over to Alchester St. to find a rental carriage."
Emily nodded vigorously.
On the way there, they talked to each other about the stores they would visit and as Emily heard more about the stores they were going to visit her excitement only grew.
When they arrived at Alchester St. the sun had fully risen. Walking up to an empty carriage Jacob approached the coachman.
"Good Morning sir, we would like a ride to Greenholt plaza."
The man scratched his bearded chin.
"Is it just the two of you?"
"Yeah, just the two of us."
The man beckoned with his hand.
"That will be one hundred and fifty dinarie."
Jacob smiled and took out a one hundred dinarie bill and a fifty dinarie coin.
"That should be enough."
The man gave Jacob a friendly smile.
"Hop on, the ride will only take around an hour or so."
Jacob gave the man a slight nod as he helped his sister up into the carriage before getting in himself. Traveling through the busy streets lined with oil powered street lamps and surrounded by gothic brick buildings.They soon arrived within the expected time and got off the carriage. Making sure to thank the driver before they left.
The plaza was a huge square surrounded by shops of all kinds. There were tailors, shoemakers, a milliner, cafes, a toy store and on the west side of the plaza stood Saint Luminaria cathedral. The grand structure gave off an aura of serenity and power, making anyone who gazed upon it feel at peace.
After taking in the view the siblings spent hours looking through different shops and trying a few cafes. At Emily's request, Jacob bought an intricately carved wooden horse as well as a beautiful dress in the color of purest white.
"Brother I'm starting to feel a bit tired, can we go home soon?"
"Yeah, I'll just make a prayer to dad in the cathedral. Do you want to come with me?"
Emily quickly nodded her head.
"Okay then, but you'll have to be quiet in there okay?"
She shuffled her feet while looking down.
"I promise."
Jacob smiled and took her by hand.
"Good, let's go inside then."
Walking through the massive gates made of some kind of dark wood, the pair entered the cathedral. There was no sound inside the cathedral and a pleasant feeling instantly spread throughout their bodies as they stepped inside. There were a handful of people inside the church, including a priest standing in front of the altar which seemed to absorb all light which shone upon it.
In the right corner of the cathedral stood a donation box. Walking up to the box together, Jacob took out a one thousand dinarie bill from his wallet and put it in the box. The pair then made their way to one of the empty prayer benches in the center of the cathedral. Sitting down Jacob closed his eyes and placed his right hand above his heart and the left over his eyes covering them completely.
After making a silent prayer Jacob took Emily's hand once more as they left the cathedral.
"So Emily, what did you think?"
"It was… Peaceful."
Jacob smiled.
"Anyway, let's head back home now."
Looking at Emily he noticed that she had a thoughtful look on her face.
"Didn't mom tell us to get something for her on the way back."
Jacob's eyes widened.
"Shit, we forgot about the lentils."
Taking his pocket watch out of his left pocket Jacob checked the time.
"We could still make it to Aurora's if we run and take a shortcut I know of. What do you think?"
Emily looked into her brother's eyes.
"I want to make mom happy, therefore we take the shortcut."
Jacob nodded seriously.
"Then we'll have to run fast."
Running as fast as they could through the streets of Major Leonia they soon arrived at an alley which lacked streetlamps.
"This is it, we just gotta run through here and we'll be there in three minutes."
Continuing onwards with renewed vigor the two of them sprinted through the alley. Jacob glanced towards Emily and smiled when he saw her struggling to keep up. He had used this alley hundreds of times whenever he was running late to the university, which in turn meant that he knew it like the back of his hand.
When they were only about two hundred meters away from the exit of the alley, Jacob suddenly noticed something moving towards him on his left. He tried to raise his arms in time to protect his face, but he was unable to react on time.
With a loud "CRACK!" Jacob was sent flying backwards, landing on the ground with a loud "Thud!". The impact from the landing pushed all the air out of his lungs and as he lay sprawled out on the ground he saw two large silhouettes grab onto Emily and gag her. He desperately tried to stand up, but his muscles wouldn't move an inch. Tears flowing down his broken face he tried in desperation to stand up, to protect his sister!
With fear, desperation and helplessness welling up inside him, Jacob could feel his consciousness leaving him. Right before everything faded to black he saw in the corner of his eye, no more than ten meters behind the silhouettes sat a tiny black cat staring at him.