"I think you can turn on the flashlight. I want to return the logs back onto the hatch.", Law spoke up. He was too confident for my liking in this situation. Wouldn't the light be visible from the outside? Nevertheless, I didn't want to argue around with him, so I put on the flashlight and helped him with the logs.
After that, Law took the flashlight, unlocked the door and turned off the light again. He waited a bit for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. After he confirmed I could see as well, he opened the door carefully and went outside. I followed closely behind him. It was much brighter outside compared to the inside of the hut and the tunnel. I could easily see the way and the roots on the ground. The cold air outside made me shiver.
We walked at a rather quick pace through the labyrinth. There didn't seem to be anyone looking out for us though. I tugged on Law's sleeve to gain his attention. As he turned around, I tapped on my wrist to ask for the time. He showed me his watch. It was just past eleven o'clock. I didn't know how long we were down at the portal site, but seeing as there were much fewer lights on inside the mansion, I guessed they weren't looking for us anymore. Carmilla might be asleep already.
We exited the labyrinth and went through the back door of the mansion without an incident. I was relieved it went that smoothly. As I was getting tired, I didn't feel like much adventure anymore. The cold air outside had kept me awake, but the mansion was well heated. I looked forward to the comfy bed. It was nice and warm and cozy.
Dreaming about my comfortable bed, I walked straight into Law, who had suddenly decided to stand still. Why did he stop so suddenly?
Curious, I peeked out from behind him when he didn't react to me running into him either. What was the matter?
I froze too when I saw the head of the house a few feet away, walking straight to us. What were we supposed to do now? We just came back through the back door of the mansion. It was obvious where we had been.
"My, what are you two doing here so late at night?", he asked with an innocent voice.
Taking a step forward from behind Law, so I stood next to him, I put my hands behind my back together and smiled at the lord.
"Oh I'm glad to meet you here, sir.", I said, trying to sound as relieved as I was actually nervous. It was easier thanks to my fatigue.
The lord raised his eyebrows in wonder. "Glad you met me? Are you lost?" I nodded.
"Yeah. You see, I just wanted something to drink, but didn't know the way to the kitchen. I hoped Law would know, since he had taken a stroll around the mansion before with Rose. We managed to find a small one eventually. There was a really nice tea pot. But since we just found the kitchen by chance, we got kinda lost looking for the way back.", I explained our little night stroll.
The lie must have been convincing enough for the lord to play along, as there was a little truth mixed inside with the tea pot.
"It seems you found the maids' kitchen. The tea pot you mentioned, what did it look like?", he asked. Was it to confirm I hadn't just made that up?
"Oh it was beautifully painted. I like that traditional asian art style that was used. The tea pot must be valuable. The colours used for the workers on the rice field worked quite well together.", I had thought about the colours on the spot. Since we didn't turn on the lights in the kitchen, I couldn't actually say anything about the colours, but it was true that I liked that art style, so I knew they were attentive of the colours to be complementary.
It seemed as though I had managed to convince the lord. Even if it was just that we had seen that tea pot.
"Yes, it is a very nice pot. It was a present from me to Carmilla once. Well, then, let me escourt you back to your rooms.", he finally said. Now standing next to me, he turned to the side and put a hand on my back while raising the other to show the way. I could feel the warmth of his hand even through the cardigan. It reminded me of my father, whose hands were always warm.
"Thank you very much.", I said while pressing my hands together to express my gratitude.
Waking up in my bed, I noticed my feet being cold. Assuming that was the reason I woke up, I rubbed them together and cuddled myself more into the blanket. While I waited for my feet to warm up again, my thoughts circled around the events of that evening. Man, that was so embarrassing!
Flashback
As we walked along the hallway, I hid a yawn with a hand. The warmth inside here made me sleepy after that much excitement of the day.
"You seem to be tired, young lady.", the lord smiled at me. His smile looked very friendly. His milky blue eyes shone in the dimmed lights of the corridor. I caught myself staring at them, mesmerized by the play of colours inside the iris.
"Young lady?", the lords voice pulled me back to reality.
"Ah, sorry. You're right. It seems I'm quite tired.", I finally answered his question, smiling shyly while looking to the other side out of embarrassment. I could see Law smirking slightly in the corner of my eye. "Yeah, I think I'd laugh at that too.", I thought. God, this was so embarrassing!
I kept looking at the ground ahead of me, while my thoughts swirled around that scene. Lord Trafalgar was still quite attractive. Was that how Law would look like in the future? Aside from their hair, Law was the spitting image of the lord. At least their facial features were extremely similar. Though I couldn't imagine the lord with unruly black hair like Law had. At the same time, I couldn't imagine Law with a hairstyle the lord had one. His hair was neatly combed to the sides and most likely fixated with hairspray.
"No, that wouldn't suit him.", I thought, while unconciously shaking my head slightly. As if Lord Trafalgar had waited for me to finish my thought, he then spoke again.
"Then, if you don't mind passing through a part of the mansion that isn't as well maintained as the rest, we could take a little shortcut.", the man suggested. His friendly smile still in place. Though I thought I saw a hint of the familiar smirk Law often wore when he teased someone.
"We don't mind.", Law answered for the both of us. I nodded, when I noticed the lord waiting for my agreement. He really was a nice man, I thought.
As we turned the corner into a rather narrow corridor, the lord noticed that the curtain was missing. It was supposed to hide this way, looking like a tapestry. It was obvious that this part was not taken care of. I wondered why that was the case, but felt like I shouldn't ask. Maybe I read too many stories, but those things were usually due to a personal reason and I didn't want to be nosy. But then why did he suggest to take this way? In the end I decided to just leave it be. I was too tired to ask anyways.
"So I heard you took a stroll around the mansion with Rose?", the lord asked Law. Law nodded in response.
"Where did you go? Did you visit your old room?", the lord kept asking. That was an interesting topic, I thought. I had problems keeping my eyes open, as my tiredness only seemed to increase with every step I took. It was strange to intensify that quickly, but I wanted to hear Law's answer too, so I tried to concentrate as much as I could.
"I just walked around aimlessly first. But Rose made sure we stopped by it. She was eager to revive memories.", the captain said. I hummed in response, interested that he talked about it so openly, though it was probably too quiet for anyone to hear.
"And did she succeed?", Lord Trafalgar's curiosity was mixed with expectation.
"Wake up!"
Law was just about to answer the lord's question, when I heard an echoing voice and tripped over a crease in the carpet. "What? Ah!"
"Oi!", Law caught me by my arm and helped me back up again. The lord was also quick to react and ready to catch me, but Law had beaten him to it.
"Thanks.", I appreciated him not letting me fall. "Don't walk around with your eyes closed.", he warned me. I had my eyes closed? I didn't even realize that. But what was that voice right now? It sounded unfamiliar. Did I mishear?
"I'm sorry. The carpet isn't straigthened out anymore. You need to be careful of your steps, young lady.", the lord said. But I told him it wasn't a big deal. I was just tired.
"We'll reach the guest rooms soon. It won't be long until you can rest.", he assured me. I only nodded in response.
Flashback end
Both men kept steadying me at some point. I tried telling them I was fine, but they wouldn't let go, because I tripped over the carpet another time and bumped into Law several times after the first incident. It was like I fell asleep for a second every time. I also kept hearing that voice telling me to wake up. "Seriously what was wrong with me? I was tired, yeah, but just what the hell was that?", I burried my face into the pillow. I needed to apologize to them the next day.
I remembered the time I sleepwalked once before. I fell asleep in my brother's bed and woke up on the toilet. That was funny. My brother said I was obviously sleepwalking. Apparently I kept mumbling things not making any sense. That imagination was quite funny. It let me forget the embarrassment. By the time I laughed about my past self, my feet had gotten warm and I fell asleep once again.
The moment I woke up the next morning memories of the previous evening flooded my mind, making me burry my face into the pillow again. I sighed, as I stood up. Just as I intented to change clothes, I noticed still wearing the dress from the previous day. "Did I not change it?", I asked myself. It was possible that I just fell into my bed and fell asleep, considering how tired I was. That was strange in itself. I mean, it wasn't like I pulled an allnighter before. And what were those voices I heard? They didn't sound familiar at all.
I kept thinking about the strange events from the evening before as I got ready for the day. I changed back into my own clothes and walked outside the room. Coincidentally, Law exited his room just that moment as well.
"Got enough sleep?", was his first thing to say.
"...Yes", I answered hesitantly. Did it really had to be the first thing he thought of when seeing me? I assumed my behaviour must have bothered him quite a bit. Looking at the floor again, I didn't notice his teasing smirk.
"Sorry.", I said quietly, while walking next to him. We were on our way to breakfast.
"What for?", Law asked. I noticed the confusion in his voice. He really didn't know what I meant.
"Well, for my behaviour yesterday. The trouble I caused you. I'm usually not that clumsy, even when I'm tired. I don't know what was wrong with me. I even hallucinated.", I mumbled the last sentence, while looking the other way. I was embarrassed, so I didn't really want him to hear that. Maybe I was just scared of it being anything serious. But most of all, I just wanted to apologize for the trouble. I didn't mean to consult him as a doctor.
"You were tired, not much you could do about that. It wasn't the first time I put you to bed either. It's fine. Just take care of yourself more in the future.", he calmly told me.
"Wait. What?", he put me to bed? So that's why I was still wearing the dress. I suddenly stopped when I noticed something important he had just mentioned as a sidenote.
"You put me to bed before?", I asked him surprised. When was that? Law turned around and told me about the time I looked for the second newspaper page. I pulled an allnighter that time due to keeping watch over Corel for him. He found me in the archive when he wanted to return a book. Not wanting to leave me there, he carried me back to my room and into my bed.
I wasn't even sure why I was so embarrassed about it. In an attempt to hide it, I continued down the stairs. "Thanks. I guess.", I said while passing Law. His teasing smirk returned to the pirate's face in response to my reaction. There was just one thing left bugging me. "Though, why did you never tell me?", I asked him while looking straight at him. I was curious, since I thought it was something he could have easily teased me with.
But Law just shrugged, while continuing walking towards the dining hall.
We were the first to enter the dining room. Lord Trafalgar and Mr. Sheffield weren't there yet. That was unusual. I wondered where they could be, considering everthing was already set up for breakfast. We sat down and waited for them. When I asked Carmilla about their missing presence, she just asked us to wait a little bit longer for them. "They should arrive shortly, milady.", she said.
Just like she said, it didn't take long for Lord Trafalgar, followed by Mr. Sheffield, to arrive at the table. They apologized for letting us wait as they sat down.
"It's alright. Usually it's you who's patiently waiting for us.", I assured him. He smiled at me in response. His kind smile reminded me of the last evening. It looked just as kind, but not as mesmerizing now. I guessed my reaction must have been that much influenced by my fatigue. Though that didn't make it any less embarrassing.
"Uhm, Sir?", I wanted to get it off my mind, so I addressed the lord right away.
"What is it, young lady?", his kind expression reminded me that the lord was a kind man. It probably wasn't a big deal to him. It was only me who was bothered by it that much. But that made sense, since Law and the lord gladly helped me. It's just my pride that was hurt a little. I wanted to apologize for it nevertheless. Even if it was just for my own peace of mind.
"About yesterday, I just wanted to apologize for the trouble I made you. That's not usually my nature.", I told him.
"Oh no, you don't need to apologize for that. Rather I should be apologizing to you. I shouldn't have led you there in the dark.", he replied. Just as I expected, it wasn't a big deal to him.
"Ah that was fine, really. I would have been totally fine if I hadn't been so tired."
Mr. Sheffield now took part in the conversation, asking what this was about. As I noticed his curious look, I realized the conversation could have been misinterpreted.
The lord started smirking teasingly. It reminded me of Law's smirk. "That's a secret, my dear James.", afterwards the lord even winked at me. Blinking in disbelief, I wondered what just happened. Why would he keep it a secret? What was so bad about guiding us back to our guest rooms? And why the hell did he wink at me?!
Mr. Sheffield's eyes switched between me and the lord with a surprised look. "No, no, no. I can't just leave it at that.", I thought.
"It's not anything special, really. He just-.", I tried to lift the misunderstanding, but seeing the smiling face of Lord Trafalgar silenced me. He smiled, but I got a bad vibe off it. Why did he not want me to explain what happened?
Now Mr. Sheffield held an even more suspicious expression. I just hoped he didn't understand it the way I feared he would. And here I thought the lord was a nice person. As the table went silent, I noticed Law restraining a smirk and laughter of his own. "God damn it! Why is everyone teasing me like this?!", my shoulders dropped as I silently continued with breakfast. "This is pointless."
I walked to my room without waiting for Law this time. I didn't want him to tease me any more. "What should I do today? There isn't really anything left to do." We found the portal already and we also went to the library before that. We couldn't say for sure if the crystal they have ready was the right one, but even if it wasn't, there wasn't really anything we could do about that, was there? We had no clue what kind of salt was needed either.
"Catherine-ya!", I had just reached my room, when I heard Law calling me from afar. Immediately, my mood dropped. "He won't tease me again, will he?", I thought whether I wanted to talk with him now or not. Then I remembered. I opened the door to my room and went inside without hesitation.
"He probably wanted to ask me about 'One Piece' again. There's no way he forgot about that.", I locked the door just in case. It wasn't that I expected him to just storm inside, but this way, I could make clear I didn't want to be bothered right now. Not long after, a knock on the door could be heard.
"Catherine-ya? I wanted to talk to you about tomorrow.", he said through the door. I knew it. I stood in my room, thinking about what to do. I needed him to change clothes tomorrow. But of course, I couldn't just expect him to do that without an explanation. And now that I've told him about 'One Piece', he wanted to read it. But, could I just let him read it? How would he react reading about himself? Would he still want to accompany me tomorrow?
I didn't like the thought of him not coming with me tomorrow. I admitted I had looked forward to it.
"Catherine-ya?", Law's voice cut through my thoughts. He was still waiting for an answer.
"I'm sorry I'm busy right now.", I answered him through the door. His lack of response probably meant he left.
Sighing, I let myself fall down onto the bed. What was I supposed to do now? I had no idea of how to deal with this. I'd rather not have him read the manga. But how could I convince him otherwise to change his appearance?
I tried thinking about it for a while, but I just couldn't get any ideas. The telephone caught my attention as I looked around in search of inspiration. I hadn't tried calling home a second time. I sat in front of it once, but just couldn't bring myself to make a call. Why was I so nervous?
In defiance to my anxiety, I stood up from the bed with determination. "I should at least try.", I told myself.181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1daxQqXsUA
I noticed my pulse rising as I sat in front of the telephone again. I took a deep breath to calm down. There was this uneasy feeling again. But I ignored it and dialed the number. Holding the receiver against my ear, I listened to the ringing with expectation.
"What should I even say? How should I start?", Just the usual greeting would be weird, wouldn't it? I mean I was away for nearly four months. "I'll manage somehow.", I thought. But to my disappointment and relief the call ended automatically again. Nobody home. "Again?", it was the weekend. They should be home, I thought. Why didn't they pick it up?
A wave of anxiety overcame me. I picked up the receiver and dialed the number one more time. The uneasy feeling intensified.
The call ended automatically once again. "Then their mobile phone.", I thought. But when pressing the 'Call'-button was all that was left to do, my finger wouldn't move.181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡofxVMgPPrq
"What if he won't pick up here as well? What if no one picks up? Do I want to know? They're probably just at my grandparents or something. He might not have a reception there too."
I was scared of the possibility of them not picking up the call on their mobile phones as well, so I tried to reason their lack of response away. They'll be home when I arrive tomorrow. For sure. And they'll be happy. For sure. Because why wouldn't they?
I decided to take a walk outside to ease my troubled mind. That always helped.181Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYnBE7W5mpy
