[Yuri]: "Eyes open! We have arrived at Astoria Manor!"
Julius's head snaps up from its relaxed position, followed by Lisa eagerly crawling up to the front window, her eyes sparkling like a diamond hit by a ray of sunlight.
Lucille rubs her eye and yawns, stretching her arms up above her head as she slowly emerges from her slumber.
[Lisa]: "Julee! We're here!"
Julius slowly shifts over to the window, and she moves aside to make room for him, watching intently to gauge his reaction to her home.
His hand covers his eyes to block the intense light of the sunset as it shines through the window, but it only takes a short moment for his eyes to adjust, and the sunlight opens up to reveal a large mansion in the forest, secluded by a lively garden filled with tall, neatly trimmed hedges in every direction that glow as if the leaves themselves reflected the sunset.
The mansion itself is towering, easily four stories tall, and stretched wider than its height. Julius struggled to find words to describe its aura other than pure royalty and nobility.
[Julius]: "You live here!? This place is huge!"
[Lisa]: "Yep. Lawrence does such an amazing job at keeping it look like this."
[Julius]: "He keeps the garden like this? He really does do an amazing job."
[Lisa]: "You'd never guess it from how he looks, but Lawrence loves gardening, it's his favorite hobby. But that also means he gets pretty annoyed when I accidentally burn his flowers while training, heheh..."
Lisa lets out a nervous chuckle, and Julius's mind wanders to Lawrence again, adding yet another praise without having even met him yet.
The carriage proceeds through the mansion's towering gates, and stops at the foot of the stairs to the front door-- a large, ornate double door that towers taller than any person he's ever seen, something clearly made for aesthetic rather than function.
Lisa hops out from the back of the carriage the mere second it reaches a halt, followed by Julius. His feet hit the smooth stone path that feels far more comfortable to walk on than it looks.
[Julius]: "W-Woah..."
Now up close with the manor, he can look directly up and still cant see the top of its roof, and the sun reflects off the countless windows on its front down at him.
Lucille starts unloading the crates and placing them onto the stone courtyard just below the carriage as Yuri hops down, giving more than plenty of attention to Rauthen, speaking to it in a high pitched voice like you would to a pet.
Julius's attention is drawn to a loud latching noise from the front doors, followed by a short silence, and a sudden boom as the doors flies open.
[Julius]: "Gh-!"
Both large doors creak as they shoot outwards, and a high pitched clicking noise fills the air, the sound of high heels tapping along a tiled floor.
Julius and Lisa watch in awe as the sound finally reaches its peak, revealing the source to be a woman that stands tall and proud, emanating her own aura of royalty, as if the only thing the scene was missing was her own theme song.
[???]: "She's amazing! She's spectacular!! She's exceptional!!!... The great Muriel Astoria is here to welcome you home!"
Julius gasps softly as the woman's loud and over-enthusiastic shouts fill the air. The woman is tall, and tipped with long, blonde hair that cascades over her shoulders and down her back, adorned with several gold jewelry pieces.
Her brown eyes shine bright, only slightly obscured by her half sided bangs. She wears an over-the-top fur trimmed kimono of a deep red shade. Her features are proudly feminine and authoritative, accentuated by her large bust and confident stance.
Although there are other similarities, it's clear through hair and eye color alone that this woman is undoubtedly Lisa's mother, and she runs up the stairs quickly to hug onto her.
[Lisa]: "Mom!"
[Muriel]: "Lisa dear! Welcome back sweetie, how was your day? You enjoyed your visit to the kingdom?"
[Lisa]: "It was awesome! We got all the stuff you wanted and I got to see the sorcerer district again!"
Muriel holds up a folding hand fan to her mouth, one that matches the red of her kimono as she laughs behind it.
[Muriel]: "Fufufu~ Love to hear it! I'm so glad Lucille here kept you safe. I see you've brought someone back, who do we have here?"
Julius feels immediately intimidated by this eccentric woman due to her fiery attitude, like an older, more energetic Lisa, especially now that her focus is directly on him.
[Julius]: "Ah, um... Hi, I'm Julius, your daughter found me and said you could-"
[Muriel]: "A new friend of Lisa's?! Oh, I love it!"
Julius gulps nervously as she cuts him off, quickly running down the stairs towards him and taking his hand into a handshake.
[Julius]: "Ah- Woah!"
Muriel beams with a bright, toothy smile as she shakes his hand, allowing him to feel the black glove made of premium silk that covers her own hands.
[Muriel]: "It's so nice to meet you! What are you wearing? It's so unique, unlike anything I've ever seen, what is this made of, I must know! Come, come, let's get you inside. Lawrence dear! Please get this young man a room, a premium suite."
Julius lets out a small yelp of surprise as Muriel wraps her arm around his shoulder, calling out to her personal butler, leading to more footsteps echoing from inside, drawing Julius's attention.
[Julius]: "I've heard a lot about Lawrence."
Muriel's drops slightly as she looks at Julius closely, he eyes filled with concern.
[Muriel]: "Oh?... Please know this, Lawrence is just like the rest of us, whatever you heard elsewhere is false."
[Julius]: "W-What? I've only heard of him from Lisa."
Her eyes shoot back open with relief and joy, suddenly back to her usual loud and happy demeanor.
[Muriel]: "Oh! Goodie!"
The footsteps stop, and Julius turns his head back to the top of the stone steps, laying his eyes on possibly the most unique human individual he's seen so far.
The man is tall, and wears a black and white butler uniform, similar to how Lucille wears a maid dress. He has extremely long, dark green hair that flows down his back like silk, and short bangs that completely cover his right eye.
The butlers eyes were an equally as captivating green shade, yet unlike Muriel and Lisa, he did not bear a smile, he wore no expression at all. His skin complexion was pale, but surprisingly clean, and it was clear that he took care of himself well.
[Lawrence]: "Greeting. I am Lawrence Arphillion, Miss Astoria's personal assistant, and the caretaker of this manors exterior."
Lawrence follows up his introduction with a deep bow, one arm in front of him as a sign of deep respect, yet his eyes remain closely on Muriel, as was always the case.
[Muriel]: "Please follow us, let's get you comfortable. Lucille, darling, could you please kindly assist Yuri in unpacking all those crates, I get the feeling he might need help lifting them again."
[Yuri]: "Heh, maybe..."
He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck as Lucille bows and begins to carry the heavier crates, even taking one in each arm, observed by the awestruck Yuri.
Lisa accompanies the three as they lead Julius inside, Muriel finally letting go of him and disconnecting the uncomfortably close distance.
[Julius]: {She had her hand on my pockets just then, she felt the locket I have, was she checking me for something? Weapons? She must be cautious of me to have to do that.}
[Muriel]: "You can use the shower in your room once you've gotten settled in, make sure to wash your face, it's all dirtied. Did you fall or something?"
Julius doesn't speak for a moment, his attention taken by the tall ceilings and purely regal interior of the manor, and Muriel seems to take pride in his interest as they walk down one of its many halls.
[Julius]: "Sorry, um... I guess my face has taken quite a beating today, haha..."
Julius laughs and smiles awkwardly, and Lisa looks up at him from beside as she chuckles to her self.
[Lisa]: "Lucille hit him."
[Muriel]: "That's not an uncommon occurrence, that young girl can definitely be a bit rough sometimes, fufufu~"
Muriel laughs behind her hand fan again, a strange and unique sound, yet one that keeps her melodic voice's weight behind it.
[Julius]: "Somehow I'm not surprised by that. I did kind of deserve it though. But, before that, I got kicked in the face."
[Muriel]: "What?! Who would do that to such a charming young man?"
[Julius]: "U-Um... Her name is Tahlia, I think she said. Apparently you know her?"
Muriel's face drops with a knowing disgust, and she sticks her tongue out slightly. Lawrence remains at the head of the group, leading them down the halls of endless doors and pathways, almost like a maze rather than a house.
[Muriel]: "Ugh, that woman, I can't stand her. "
[Julius]: "I assume she's always mean like that then?"
[Muriel]: "Mean is too nice of a word for that devil spawn. She's been competing with me for years now, she's got an endless amount of energy for it, I have no clue where she gets all that hatred from."
[Julius]: "Mh, I'm sorry to hear that... Um, actually... I was brought here by Lisa because apparently you might be able to help me with my situation."
Muriel looks back at him with a curious gleam in her eye, smiling happily now that the conversation is reeling away from Tahlia.
[Muriel]: "Oh really? What kind of situation?"
[Julius]: "Ah, well..."
Muriel waits patiently as he trails off, unable to find the right words. Even Lawrence glances back as Julius averts his gaze down to his fidgeting hands.
[Julius]: "I'm definitely not from here, or anywhere near here."
[Muriel]: "And, 'here', being... Where?"
[Julius]: "This... Well... World, I guess. I'm from a country called America. Where I'm from, magic doesn't exist, and it looks nothing like this. I just need to find a way back home, so... I was hoping you could help me somehow."
A long moment of silence proceeds Julius's explanation, or at least, an attempt of an explanation, but what follows that is a sentence that makes his heart sink.
[Muriel]: "America? There's no country anywhere in the whole world by that name."
Julius's eyes slowly grow wider, his steps slowing down as her words hit him again and again.
The words he had deeply hoped not to hear.
"There's no country by that name."
He refused to believe what he heard, but his mind couldn't stop itself from racing faster and faster.
"This is the afterlife."
"It's true, I died."
"Or some kind of dream, am I really dreaming this all?"
[Muriel]: "Are you alright dear?"
[Julius]: "Is... Is there a map or something I could look at? Anything at all... Please."
[Muriel]: "Well, one of the rooms we could have you stay in used to be used for Lisa's home schooling, there should be a small map in there somewhere."
[Julius]: "Yes! Please, I need to see it."
Lawrence stops the group, the mood clearly dimmed down by Julius's distressed state that grows worse by the minute, his breathing heavy and slow, even causing Lisa to reach up and hold his sleeve to try and comfort him.
The butler opens the door, and it opens up to a large bedroom with some small boxes littered around it in the corners. The bed is far larger than he had ever seen, and the room was decorated like something straight out of a fantasy movie.
Muriel opens one of the cardboard boxes on the ground, squatting over it and pulling out a dusty, rolled up parchment.
[Muriel]: "Here we are! I apologize for its condition, this hasn't been used in quite a few years."
[Julius]: "T-That's okay... Can I?"
Muriel hums as she hands over the map to Julius's outstretched hand, and he quickly rolls it open, starring down at the dusty contents ink-pressed onto it.
His eyes rapidly flicker between its continents, trying to make sense of what he's looking at, until it finally hits him what's off about it.
[Julius]: {This map... This isn't of earth... Meriddia. Yuleucine. Antanhia... I've never heard of any of these countries before.}
several tears start to slowly wet Julius's cheeks as they fall down his face, the already heavy tremble of his hands growing shakier the longer he looks at the map.
[Julius]: "I... I can't... I-..."
[Lisa]: "Julius? What's wrong?"
Muriel takes the map back and guides him backwards to sit on the bed, clearly confused and concerned for his sudden distressed state.
Julius's voice breaks and cracks with emotion as he struggles to get his words out. The image of the map ingrained into his head, taking over his every thought.
[Julius]: "I don't recognize a single country. This isn't my world... This isn't-..."
His words trail off as he cries harder, holding his hands up to the sides of his head tightly as the room spins. Muriel brings her hand to her chin in thought as she observes him, trying her best to tie together the whole puzzle with what little pieces she has.
[Muriel]: "Julius, how did you get to Cataphrania?"
[Julius]: "I don't... I don't know..."
[Lawrence]: "May I interrupt?"
[Muriel]: "Definitely."
[Lawrence]: "I cannot add anymore information about the situation, but I can say for certainty that it has nothing to do with magic, at least not his anyway. I can't sense any mana coming from him at this range, so it must be very weak."
Julius glances over at Lawrence, still bearing his unexpressive face as he speaks, and Muriel enters another session of deep thought.
[Muriel]: "Could you check him? Maybe another sorcerer used a type of magic on him that affected his memory, if it was recent, their mana should still be on him, right?"
[Lawrence]: "It would have to have been within the last day or two depending on its level of precision, but yes, I can check for residue mana. May I, Julius?"
Julius sits back up, tears still rolling down his face that he tries his best to wipe away with his sleeve.
[Julius]: "Check me? What does that mean? Will it hurt?"
[Lawrence]: "I merely need to have physical contact with you to assess your mana, it wont hurt at all."
[Julius]: "I have-?... Um, sure, I guess... Anything that helps."
Lawrence nods and steps closer to Julius, both Lisa and her mother gathering around with rapidly growing interest. Julius watches anxiously as Lawrence places both of his hands on his back, glancing over his shoulder to watch as best as he can as he feels a slight heat, a tingly feeling from his back where Lawrence's hands are.
The butler's eyes widen ever so slightly with curiosity and surprise, yet his expression retains its usual emptiness. Muriel and Lisa watch closely, both nearing an uncomfortable distance from him as Lawrence removes his hands.
[Lawrence]: "How interesting."
[Muriel]: "What is it? You've got us dying in suspense here."
[Lawrence]: "His mana is not weak, it's non-existent."
Julius is surprised to hear that him having no mana is 'interesting', he's known that all his life. And yet, everyone else in the room is puzzled.
[Lisa]: "Hmm... Could it be that illness? What is it, uuhh... Sever? Severance?"
[Lawrence]: "There have only ever been 5 people in history that were born with the Severance, and only two of those people are currently alive. Although, we know next to nothing about it due to its rarity, so I suppose it's not out of the question that it could cause memory loss."
[Muriel]: "Even so, all 5 of those people still had mana, a hell of a lot of it. The Severance would have the opposite effect that we have here, memory loss or not... Gosh, it's times like this I wished I still lived in the palace, they've got a whole archive of stuff like this over there, not that the old bastard would let me in."
[Julius]: "Um... Who?"
Julius peaked up from his slumped over position, peering through his eye lashes at Muriel as he dares to ask more questions, his tears finally subsiding.
[Muriel]: "King Elric. The sole ruler of Cataphrania, and the most uptight and petty king in the world."
[Julius]: "Wait, what?! You know the King? He... Surely he would know how to help me, right?"
[Muriel]: "Sorry dear, I'm afraid that even if Elric did know something about it, he and I are currently on some pretty bad terms. That's why I always get Lucille or Yuri to get my orders from there instead of going myself, I swear the walking skeleton can sense me the second I step foot in the kingdom."
Any hope that Julius could muster was endlessly stomped out, and he finally stopped asking questions, slumping back down.
[Julius]: "So... What now?"
[Muriel]: "I suppose we can keep you here with us for a while until we get you figured out, but I can't give you a number of how long that will take."
Julius leans back on the bed, propped up by hands behind him on the plush mattress, covered in thick, red sheets.
[Muriel]: "I know it isn't what you wanted to hear, but... As long as Lisa cares about you, I do too. We'll find out what happened, it just might take some time."
[Lawrence]: "I believe I've heard about various individuals emerging without mana before, but it's usually the work of a Commandment, Julius obviously wouldn't be one of them. And like you said, all that information would likely be stored in the palace."
[Julius]: "A Commandment?"
[Lisa]: "Julee doesn't know what that is, he said there's no magic where he comes from."
Muriel rubs the bridge of her nose, the weight of what she now has under her care fully setting in, but focusing on her daughters well-being.
[Muriel]: "Right, well... If you're gonna be staying with us, I suppose we should educate you properly. It shouldn't be too much trouble to have you join Lisa in her training, right Lawrence dear?"
[Lawrence]: "Not a problem at all. Respectfully though, I doubt he'd last long in the sparring sessions."
Julius curls up a bit at the thought of what sparring against Lisa, or even worse, Lawrence could even look like, and gulps softly as he grows more concerned.
[Muriel]: "Obviously we won't put him into anything physical, just teach him about mana and stuff, who knows, maybe you'll spark a memory in him."
[Lawrence]: "Very well."
Julius takes a sigh of relief, finding himself surprisingly grateful to be excluded.
[Muriel]: "I suggest you shower, Lawrence will bring you some new clothes, that way you'll fit in and won't have to worry about being stared at, I can only assume how many looks you got in the kingdom. Gosh, I'm already imagining what kind of style would suit you, I'll definitely spend some time in the wardrobe for this one!"
She lets out a quiet squeal of excitement, a reaction unexpected by Julius as he laughs nervously, standing up on shaky legs as Lawrence guides him to a door on the opposite side of the room.
The door, equally as fancy as the rest in the manor, opens up to a shining bathroom, lit with mana catalysts and occupied mostly by a large shower. The sink counter is purely made of marble, and a dark, soft wood.
[Julius]: "Haahh~."
Julius steps into the room, drinking in the regal and fancy atmosphere. The room smells of mint and roses, likely emitted from the various plants hung from the ceiling and walls next to the magic lanterns-- Although, he finds it hard to tell if they're real or not due to how healthy they look.
[Muriel]: "Take as long as you want, I hope you find it comfortable."
[Julius]: "It's more than comfortable, thank you."
Muriel closes the door behind him, her voice slowly fading as she walks off.
[Muriel]: "Lawrence will leave some clothes at the door for you once I've chosen something out, I just know you'll look stunning in them!"
A quiet thud is heard, the sound of his new bedroom door closing, leaving him alone in the bathroom. He takes a deep sigh and looks directly into the mirror at his dirtied face and clothes, the only reminder of his old world.
With slow, weak movements, he unties the hospital gown, and slides it off. As more and more pale skin reveals itself, the more Julius is reminded of his own world, for reasons both good and bad.
His build lacks muscle, and his skin is scarred in various places with scratches and healed over abrasions-- old wounds that had built up over years of subtle abuse to his kind complexion.
He folds the gown up neatly, and places it on the marble sink top. His expression is saddened as he is left alone for the first time since waking up, leaving him to bask uncomfortable quiet.
The loud splattering of water fills the room as he turns the shower handle, a device that took an embarrassing amount of time to figure out.
For a while, Julius just stands under the water, a comfortable and familiar warmth-- anything that was familiar with his old world was worth experiencing as much as possible to him. Eventually, he sits down under the weight of the water, holding his knees to his chest as his wet, black hair clings to his face, muffling the sounds of his sobbing.
They weren't the kind of tears you'd produce when sad, but rather, the kind that felt good when they slid down your face, the tears that brought comfort despite being in a dire situation.
But this was it...
The water stops falling, and with a towel that had been placed on the rack before the group left just moment ago, Julius began to dry his body, starting with his face, and ending with his hair, ruffling it until it was light and soft.
The face that now reflected in the mirror was like a different person than to what had been shown to him prior to showering. His hair was a healthy, pitch black, and could only just reach his shoulders despite being longer than average. His bangs swept back, parting in the middle and cascading down the side of his face.
His grey eyes had a new shine to them, a fire that screamed 'I'm ready for what comes next'.
Just like Muriel said, there was indeed now a set of clothes lying on the ground just outside his door. The cloth was soft and silky, yet firm in some places where it was needed.
The piece of clothing he held in his hands was only clearly distinguishable once put on, a light grey yukata that was easy to move in, yet still covered him completely. Its sleeves were loose, but not too long, and it has a subtle vine-like pattern all over it just a few shades darker than the rest of the cloth.
[Julius]: "It's... Extremely comfy. Never thought I'd wear something like this before, but I like it. I think it looks... Really good."
The soft cloth reignited some confidence in him, and his feet pattered over the soft carpet of the room as he approached the door. He feels a resistance on the doorknob, as if someone else had their hand on it from the other side, followed by the creaking of the door as it swings open.
[Julius]: "Hn- Wyaah!"
Lawrence stood in the now open doorway as Julius steps back a few feet, letting out a sigh of relief that it's a familiar face.
[Lawrence]: "Did I scare you?"
[Julius]: "Hell yes."
[Lawrence]: "I apologize. I've come to inform you that dinner will be ready soon, Muriel has requested your presence in the dining room."
[Julius]: "Dinner... I haven't eaten all day, I could actually really use it, thank you."
Julius chuckles slightly as Lawrence moves out of the doorway, letting him walk out. The butler guide him down the halls once more, his neutral expression holding strong.
[Julius]: "So... What kind of stuff do you teach Lisa?"
[Lawrence]: "I've taught Lisa everything that is needed. Math, meriddian, geography, history, and mainly, magic. I teach her how to fight and use her fire attunement to its maximum potential. Miss Astoria hopes that Lisa will be a remarkable sorcerer one day, and given that her magic is as strong as it is, I have hope for that too."
[Julius]: "Wow. You must be pretty impressive yourself if you can teach all that."
Lawrence peers back, caught off guard by being complimented, and turns back forwards with a slight smile, an already rare sight that Julius feels proud to elicit from him.
[Lawrence]: "I am strong enough to do what is required from me by Miss Astoria."
[Julius]: "I see... You're much easier to talk to than Lucille."
[Lawrence]: "Lucille can be crude, but she's a remarkable person, she just takes a while to warm up to you. I'm proud to work with her, she has talents that I could never achieve even if I tried my whole life. Honestly, I am quite envious of her."
[Julius]: "Really? From what I've already heard, you're pretty amazing. I don't think you need anymore talents to be remarkable yourself."
Lawrence lets out a very small huff, something akin to a laugh, albeit his own version of one.
[Lawrence]: "You're too flattering."
Julius brings his hands up as he shrugs, showing off a proud smile as he laughs, the joy filled noise echoing through the long manor halls--
--The place Julius now called home.
---