The bracelet in his hand was just one of two, he had always had the other one hanging round his neck, giving him a sense of comfort and reassurance.
To little Grey, the one hanging from his neck had meant the world to him. His uncle had mentioned that it was the only thing left of his father — words which had long since lost their credibility since he handed over his father's spear to him.
'We are gonna have to talk about this, he did say he was going to give me an explanation back then'
Grey thought back to when Nolan handed him the spear, he had been so lost in the feeling of seeing something with so much sentimental weight and the feeling of having failed his family name that those words of Nolan had lost all relevance to him.
Well, not anymore. At least not after a mysterious face showed up and started sowing seeds in his mind. But one thing was made certain and had been made certain since the moment the spear feel into his hands — His father left way more than he had been told.
Michelle's words were like a hand pulling at the edge of a veil placed right in front of his eyes, letting him a glimpse beyond what he knew about his father.
She had planted the seed of curiosity in him, and Grey was willing to nurture that seed and let it grow. It was related to something he had full interest in, after all.
His legs continued to push him with quickened steps to the one place in the Altharion manor where he could hope to find any answers — The west wing.
The west wing was a forbidden zone in the Altharion house and had been closed off.
"Wow."
His feet came to a quiet stop as he arrived at the closed double doors which led into the west wing.
Those doors had been closed for the last 8 years, ever since the tragedy struck the Altharion house. It used to be his father's part of the house, his study, work place and personal space, but his uncle had had it closed off.
Looking at the thick layer of dust on the wooden doors, it was clear that the recent renovations didn't reach here. It was a wonder how despite how much he sneaked around the house and slipped into cut off places, he had never once stepped foot into the west wing. Not once had he ever even thought of it.
Even now, his feet which had rushed him here felt heavy, anchored to the ground, unwilling to step into the past, but that was momentary.
He squeezed the bracelet in his hand tightly and steeled his heart.
'Sigh, I said I'd stop so I guess I should stop now.'
"Can't keep mourning my old man"
He placed his hands on the double doors, the creaking breaking through the silence that had lasted for the past 8 years in the west manor.
His arm wrapped around his face, doing little to protect him from the thick dust that had risen into the air.
"They really should have cleaned this place at least"
Cough!
Cough!
The rays of light shining from outside the doors did nothing to illuminate the dark space, but thankfully he had no problem seeing in the dark, no Theo did.
Still, the thought of searching through the dark wasn't pleasant, so he moved towards the side of the door and placed his hand on an orb floating just a few inches above an empty lantern.
CLICK!
"Haa, they work."
A small smile found it's way to his face seeing the space light up.
With the lights went the darkness that had buried the past, and Grey almost couldn't push forward after taking a few steps.
He hadn't even started searching and the first thing that came to his eye was a painting of his father in his formal attire.
"Haaa! It's nice seeing a such good painting, but I'm not here for you"
He tore his eyes away from the painting and reminded himself of his purpose here — to look for clues. Specifically those related to the two bracelets and his father's spear.
"Tsss..I have to find one with her in it!"
He kissed his teeth, walking forward while checking each painting hung on the wall.
The bracelet on his neck was his father's and that in his hand, his mother's. He knew that cause he had seen it in the picture, scratch that, the only picture he had of his family.
This time, he wasn't really searching in relation to his father, but his unknown mother. She was an absolute mystery to him.
His dad rarely spoke about her but when he did, the weight in his voice made clear how important she a person she was to him.
His uncle Nolan had always avoided the topic, so did the maids and other staff who had been serving long enough to have met her.
Even outside the household, all that was talked about was his father's demise and the topic of his mother had never, like a taboo being avoided at all costs.
'Just who the hell is this woman?'
He had never bothered about her, but now that she had somehow come into the spotlight, people's reaction and their avoidance of the topic that he had missed and not cared about felt weird.
The suspicions just kept piling up and he was keen to find out just what they had been hiding from him.
"Finally!"
Grey clapped his dust stained hands and took a step back.
After searching through the entire hall way and several rooms, he had finally found a small framed picture of a woman smiling happily with arms hung loosely around his father's neck.
The faded picture was laying face down in one of the several hidden drawers in his father's desk inside his study.
"To think I placed all my bets on finding this in his old room."
"Heh! Not much of a romantic, huh?"
Grey chuckled, bringing the picture closer.
It looked like he had been annoyed when it was taken, but Grey could feel something different when looking at his eyes.
'Yeah, he really was in for her!'
His rolled his eyes slightly and ignored the other details focusing on the bracelet hanging from her neck.
It was exactly the same as the one in his hand. And just like him, his father had one hanging from his neck, the very one on him right now.
Both weren't some fashionable peices of jewelry. In fact it was made from some kind of cloth string, but the eye catching part was the pendant hanging off the both of them.
Seeing them side by side in the picture, their similarities were revealed.
Both features the same black color, like burnt wood with something like a dim blue glint shining from the edges.
'This isn't getting me anywhere, I need something more!'
His eyes roamed around the study which like the rest of the west wing was coated in layers of dust.
He had no idea where to start from, just looking at the shelves of books in the room.
"Why does it look like he cleaned out before he died?"
Grey tugged at his hair lightly, the whole space was sparse and scattered, like someone had broken in and gone through it taking a whole lot along with them 8 years ago.
All that was left was the desk and the few rows of dust covered bookshelves and random books laying on the ground, not an appealing sight to take in.
'I really wasn't in the mood to read books.'
He ran his hand through his hair again, still holding the painting.
"Hmm?"
A faint sound caught his attention and he paused for a moment, only to realize that the sound came from his hand, or rather the painting he was holding.
Just to be sure, he shook it again....
CLACK!
The light sound of something shaking inside the frame
'And here I thought I was sharp!'
He set down the picture and walked around the room searching for something he could use to pry the frame open.
Sentimental it might sound, but he didn't want to break it apart and risk damaging the picture.
"Should've just brought the spear along. Tch!"
"I guess this would just have to do"
His reflection in the mirror he found all the way in the back, behind the book shelves said, and he did exactly what you might have been thinking of — smashed his fist into it.
'It was a nice mirror.'
A sigh carrying carrying a sombre feeling escaped from him as he bent down to pick a shard.
"No way..."
'Did no one mention how she died because dad had some weird kinks?'
Grey's eyebrows shot up at the ridiculous possibility that came up the moment his eyes landed on the key hole on the wall behind the mirror he had just smashed.
"Well, looks like I just found my lead."