Dark clouds filled the sky, followed by bright flashes of lightning. The sea was in a rage, with waves crashing and water churning. The wind was more violent than ever, howling in the air, enough to topple the mightiest of giants. All of that was followed by rain that pierced the heavens.
Crash
Lighting struck the sea, revealing an island in its light. On top of the island, gigantic trees as tall as mountains swayed about from the wind, their foliage hidden by the darkness of the thunderstorm. A circular sinkhole in the middle of the island revealed sparkling ores waiting to be exploited by humanity for riches. Separating the shore and the land were tall, stone pillars which weaved chaotically, revealing a deep cave that also sparkled.
On the shore of the island, two shadows are cloaked in darkness. One lay lifeless and devoid of heat. The other, kneeling beside them, wept at the loss of a soul. Rain droplets trickled down their porcelain skin.
Crash
Lighting struck again, brightening its surroundings once more. With the light, it made it clear that the shadow lying down on the sandy shore was a teenage male. His height was average, his body structure was slightly toned, and his jawline was definitive. He had exquisite golden hair and light blue eyes that shone like a diamond.
One could say that he had the looks of a noble, yet his clothes consisted of a simple white tunic with a black tie and beige trousers.
Crash
Even as lightning kept crackling above the skies, the figure kneeling beside the lifeless body had not stopped weeping with their hands covering their face. Taking a closer look, it was a girl who appeared to be younger than the boy, with hair so long that it flowed down to her chest. She was short and a skinnier build compared to the dead body.
It was as if the girl was a relative with how eerily similar they looked. She was dressed in her school uniform.
The girl decidedly pried her hands away from her face, and she took off her hairpin, an item most important to her, and held it. It seemed to glimmer as each tear crawled its way down her cheeks.
"D-do you remember w-what mother said that day?" The girl spoke, sobbing uncontrollably, "S-She said to p-protect those who you h-hold dear at all costs, b-but I couldn't e-even protect you!" She started tearing up even more, to the point where snot started running from her nose.
Her wails became more audible, and the hairpin in her hand started shining brightly. She placed the item on the male's forehead, forcing a light to expand from the object, eventually enveloping the whole island.
Crash…
…
…Ring Ring Ring
Luke Loftus groaned, subconsciously turning his body to smack the snooze button on his alarm clock. He muttered to himself, "Give me 10 more minutes." And went back to sleep.
The sun's rays peeked through a window and shone upon Luke, flaunting his porcelain skin and golden hair. Just then, the door to his bedroom was thrown open, and a loud thud could be heard as it hit the wall. A girl with a similar appearance to Luke stood in the doorway, with the most noticeable aspect of her being a pin clipped on the left side of her hair.
"It's time to get up you dimwit!" The girl shouted, bringing Luke out of his slumber.
He groaned again, then said in a murmur, "I said give me ten more minut–"
"No, you need to wake up now." The girl retorted.
Luke Loftus sat up, rubbing his eyes, then spoke in a morning voice, "Do I have to?"
"Yes, you do. You need to wake up and wash up now." the girl replied.
"Fine, just leave me alone for a bit then, Maria" Luke said as he turned in bed again, facing the wall with his pillow covering his exposed ear.
"Oh so you dare to sleep in?" Maria gave a wide grin as she brought herself closer to the bed. She extended her arms out, and started moving her fingers like a spider walking. The target of the tickle attack? Luke's underarm area.
Due to a sensitive area being stimulated, Luke let out a slight chuckle. "Stop it!" He yelled, suddenly getting off her bed and standing in a corner of his bedroom. "You mome! What was that for?" His eyebrows scrunched, giving an angry impression.
"Look! Now you're up!" Maria cheered.
Luke frowned, but in one smooth motion, got up on his feet and exited his bedroom into the hallway. On his way to the bathroom, Luke stopped at a nearby window and looked out at the garden.
An old cobblestone path ran down the middle towards the front door. Along the path, many shrubs had flowers that bloomed into various bright colors, an addition both Luke and Maria tended to as a tribute to their mother. Beyond the shrubs were fields of grass with a stone statue residing in each field. In the middle of the path stood a 3 layer fountain made out of marble that spewed water from out of the top, forcing the path to wrap around the fountain. At the end of the path was a stone wall encompassing the entire manor, with a black metal gate for its entrance.
After taking in some sunlight, Luke sighed and hurriedly rushed to the entrance of the bathroom, turned the handle, and entered. The sound of running water was heard emanating from behind the door. When Luke exited the bathroom, he turned towards the kitchen.
Now, the kitchen had a tile floor, stone wall, and stone roof with wooden beams creating a grid-like pattern. The entrance to the kitchen was narrow, as dark oak counters with marble tops were on each side of the entrance and the surrounding kitchen area.
However, the real prize was the intricately carved cabinets, which boasted details never seen in your average home. Looking around, there was a gas stove to the right of the kitchen and an icebox with an automatic ice machine to the left of the kitchen.
Luke walked into the kitchen, turned to one of the cabinets, and pulled out a cast iron frying pan. He put the frying pan atop the stove and turned the knob, causing blue flames to shoot outwards from beneath the pan.
While drizzling the pan with virgin olive oil. Luke turned towards a rack hanging from the ceiling beside him and took off a wooden cutting board with many years of wear embedded in it.
After setting the cutting board down, he pulled out two ripe eggplants from out of the icebox and placed them in the sink. Luke rinsed both of the eggplants and set the eggplants down on the cutting board.
With exceptional efficiency, Luke cubed the eggplants into small pieces with a width of 1-2 cm, using a sharp knife with great familiarity. With one hand, he picked up the cutting board, hovering it over the pan, and gently pushed the cubed eggplants off the cutting board with a knife, into the pan.
The pan sizzled, the aroma of the eggplant was spread throughout the manor, and eggplant juice seeped out onto the pan as it was heated continuously. Many grains of white salt fell from a salt grinder. The juice bubbled in the plan, causing the cubed eggplants to have a caramel coloring, Luke turned the knob once again and set the pan aside.
Luke pulled out a wok, one of the products he purchased from a foreign merchant, and drizzled it with olive oil. After having set the wok on the stove, he turned the knob slightly.
Luke returned to his workstation with 4 porcelain white eggs in hand from the icebox, setting the eggs on the counter.
He then found a cabinet that contained many silverwares such as bowls, plates, spoons, and forks. Picking a bowl up, Luke returned and set it beside the eggs.
Each egg was cracked one by one against the counter, making the contents of each egg fall collectively into the bowl. Luke briskly returned to the silverware cabinet and used a fork to break the yolks, and then mixed it until it became one whole yellow runny liquid.
Luke walked over to the pan and tipped the bowl, letting the viscous liquid flow into the pan. The pan sizzled as mixed eggs flowed toward the edges of the pan, causing an egg aroma to fill the air.
When the yellow liquid started solidifying, Luke grabbed a spatula and quickly began mixing counterclockwise. When most of the egg was solidified, the pan was taken off the stove, and the heat was turned off.
Luke started plating by taking half of the juicy eggplants, then putting the soft eggs on top, and decorated the dish with a drizzle of kewpie mayonnaise, a condiment that he bought out of interest from the foreign merchant mentioned earlier.
The finished dish looked very savory to say the least. The kewpie mayonnaise was drizzled on top in a zig-zag fashion, followed by golden runny eggs that started spreading down to the eggplants, with caramel-colored eggplants on the bottom. It gave off a sweet, but earthy aroma.
An audible door opening and door closing could be heard, then footsteps on wood slowly became louder. "Ooh, something smells delicious in here!" Maria walked into the kitchen, drooling from a corner of her lips.
Maria quickly made her way to the table and sat, setting down some letters she was holding. When her hands were free, she picked up the spoon beside her plate, scooped a chunk containing all three ingredients, and shoved the spoon into her mouth.
"Wow! It's delicious!" Maria complimented the dish, and food bits flew out as she spoke.
Luke gave a disappointed look, "Can you not speak while there's food in your mouth? It gets food everywhere! We're going to have ants and other critters invade our manor if I don't clean it up." He then closed his eyes and sighed, "What am I going to do with you Maria?"
Luke curiously peeked at the stack of letters that Maria placed on the table beside her. "What's with the black letter?"
Maria looked up with a mouthful of food, "I'm not quite sure myself, but it has an insignia in the wax.
"So what house is it from?" Luke asked.
Maria darted her eyes around, "Uhh, I'm not sure. It was an image of two spears in an x formation above a shield.
"Hmm, that's new, I haven't a clue to whom this belongs to." His chin resting on his fist.
"How come? I had the impression you had photographic memory."
"Did you not hear what I said? That description is brand new to me. It must be an upcoming noble. Perhaps he is inviting us to dinner."
However, Maria was covering her ears and pretending to look away.
Luke shrugged, turning his attention to that black letter. He took it out of the pile, flipping it to reveal the back side. Sure enough, a red wax stamp with the badge aforementioned sealed the flap.
Luke pulled out a lighter from the left pocket of his trousers, and lit the flame, hovering the letter with the stamp facing the fire. After a couple of seconds, he set down the lighter and peeled the wax stamp off.
Ignoring the remnant wax residue, Luke opened the flap, taking out the letter. He unfolded the contents of the inside of the letter, and scanned the document.
"8th of March, 1959
James Birghington
Plymouth PL2 3DG, United Kingdom
Duke Birghinton…"
Luke's mouth nervously filled with saliva in that instant, forcing him to swallow.
His mouth felt quite dry.
A letter from a Duke. Their power lies just below that of the king.