Oriana couldn’t rest even if she forced herself to. 

She tried to throw herself onto a couch in the lounge to crack open a meaty book. But, she found herself endlessly thinking about Altan’s kindly worded, yet threatening words. Running some tests on her? Not betraying his kindness? Not ‘exposing’ her situation to the children? All of these sharp words wanted her to step right up to Altan and spit angrily upon his well maintained shoes. He really thought he had her wrapped right around her finger, performing a favor in return for giving up her entire body for his so called ‘tests’. Perhaps even her entire existence.

But, a question still ached at her mind, in spite of how the man treated her like some scared child huddled up in a corner. Why…Why was she even brought back to life in the first place? And most importantly…how did he even find her?

It was clear that Altan randomly plucked her dead body in the middle of some godforsaken forest. Not to mention the estate she worked at was miles away from any sort of place that resembled a city. All of these unanswered questions made her feel uneasy. She didn’t know what was happening beneath the man’s sharp smile, nor what he could have been thinking beneath his equally pointed golden eyes. And she figured even if she did ask…she would receive the answer she was looking for. 

All of this only further convinced her that she needed to run away. After she got her daughter back, of course. 

But her attention soon turned to the small pile of clothes that Mazel threw on a chair, right before she dashed out of the room to find some sort of time to help her. It was only then she peered down to her current attire and…realized how filthy she appeared. Her shirt was torn to shreds, and was stained with some unmentionable fluids. Her heels were scuffed to the point where they were turning grey from how scratched up they were. And of course, her long, braided hair was eagerly falling out of her hair tie. Although taking clothes from a stranger was a bit of a discomfort to her, she couldn’t exactly complain. 

It was only a few minutes later she eagerly tossed her old clothes into the bin and carefully inspected herself in a mirror. Although she knew she was dead, she…didn’t expect to appear so pale. Her once rosy skin was akin to a piece of grey paper, not to mention her hair felt more wirey,  similar to the texture of dry sponge. Perhaps what shocked her the most, was her eyes. They looked…dead. She wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of her bright, lavender eyes, but what she found staring back at her were the eyes of a corpse. Grey, foggy, and unrelenting. No matter what expression she made, her eyes were devoid of any emotion, let alone life. 

She was only able to look at herself in the mirror for a few moments, before she jerked her head away from her reflection. Just like the orange haired toad…her reflection was something to be avoided. 

She needed to occupy her mind with some other task before she went insane. Again. 

Soon, she found herself drifting through the various rooms aboard the train. Although she didn’t have any sort of magical abilities, she was certain she could find some magically enchanted object or rune to aid in her plan to escape with her daughter. Maybe there was an object that could help her make a portal through the wall, or perhaps an object to cloak her and her daughter in invisibility. Then again, the line between actual magic and fantasy was highly blurred for Oriana. But, she then focused on a particular portion of the train: the antiquities shop. 

She figured that if Altan was willing to use magic freely to power his train, he was more than likely selling magical objects as well. She soon found herself sitting on the floor of the antiquities shop, as she haphazardly tore through a row of seemingless endless shelves. Much to her hopes however…the trinkets and knick knacks she plucked off the shelf were simple and ordinary antiques. What she thought could give her invisibility was simply a mere cloak. What she thought could cut portals through the fabric of reality was nothing more than a rusted knife. And what she thought could give her magical abilities beyond her wildest dreams, was only an old picture book of constellations.

Oriana curled her nose in disappointment as she carefully inspected yet another ‘magical’ object in her hand. What could have been a some magical wand, a device that could have whisked her off the train out of Altan’s prying hands was…just a baton used by conductors 

‘All of this is really just old crap’ she grumbled internally ‘There’s nothing here to help me…unless…’

Her prying eyes drifted to the side of the train carriage. A simple countertop seemed to divide the shop into two defined sections; with one side holding simple antiques and the other holding far more valuable artifacts. She assumed so anyways, from how much gold jewelry was being hung from the wall. 

‘Unless everything magical is locked behind the counter…’ she raised her brow in growing interest. All she needed to do was find a way into the counter…

“Ma’am, what are you doing?”

She was instantly yanked out of her thoughts. She was so taken aback in fact, that she audibly yelped, and tossed the baton high up into the air. She quickly snapped her head up to the source of the sound, her empty eyes as wide as dinner plates. Staring back at her was the young man with cream colored hair. His singular salmon colored eye seemed rather unamused; with his other former eye shrouded in thick layers of light colored scar tissue. He was, at least until Oriana tossed the baton up into the air. His eyes instantly grew panicked as the baton landed onto the floor with an unsettling thump. 

“Agh!” She yelped, slapping a hand over her chest “Y-You scared daylights out of me!”

“A-ah don’t drop that-be-be careful!” The young man immediately scrambled to the floor, and carefully caressed the delicate antique into his hand “Mr. Altan is gonna kill me if this gets damaged!”

“S-sorry about that….” Oriana then sighed, as she rose to her feet “You must be Lucian, right?”

Lucian nodded “That’s right-but-W-what are you doing here anyways? Shouldn’t you be resting or something?”

“Resting?

“Yeah…” Lucian then frowned “Mr. Altan said he found you wandering the forest with your stomach slashed…actually, how are you up anyways?”

’Ah, so that’s what he told them…’ Oriana thought, facing the young man with a conflicted smile ‘I could tell him about- No no, don’t get them involved in that, as much as I hate to agree with that…slimy orange snail...’

Oriana was at a loss for words. She didn’t know how to justify tearing the shop apart, let alone now to explain the so-called ’tear’ within her abdomen. 

“I uh…” She quickly snapped her head back to the shelf, desperately searching for anything to help her explain her situation. It was then she noticed an ever so thin layer of grey dust, coating the shelf. It was hardly noticeable from a distance but Oriana knew a dusty shelf when she saw one.

“Because this-this entire shop looks filthy!” Oriana exclaimed, smearing her finger across the middle shelf  “Look at this! I’ve never seen such a dirty surface in my life before! I might be a maid, but this is ridiculous! Especially in a high end antique shop! So I-I have to clean it, I can’t help it!”

She perhaps made too large of a spectacle regarding the shelf. She found herself growing more and more intense, to the point where she felt like she was reprimanding the young man for such a small issue. Even as she rammed her finger into Lucian’s face, he jerked backwards in shock. But she didn’t expect the young man’s response.

His uncertain expression was immediately washed away. Instead a thick frown was painted across his face. His soft pink eye also did little to hide the absolute anger in his mind. 

“Hey, Mazel tried her best,” he snapped back instantly “The only reason she stopped cleaning was because Mr. Altan asked her to help you,”

Oriana’s eyes immediately widened at his suddenly snap of annoyance “I-I didn’t mean it that way,”

“Then what way did you mean it?”

“I…”

It was only then Lucian pulled her out of her increasingly awkward situation, and turned around “Forget about it, just don’t touch anything that’s expensive,”

She seemed to breathe a small sigh of relief as the young man quickly ended the conversation. But, her relief soon turned back into anxiety as Lucian turned his attention to the counter space. Without so much as a thought, the young man carelessly tossed a notebook onto the countertop, and slowly began to thumb through various receipt books. As guilty as she was for essentially throwing Mazel under the bus, she found herself more concerned with the young man at the countertop. Seeing him take over the entire space with his various receipt books and pens caused her frown to hang lower than Lucian’s, cream colored hair. 

All she could do was wait. So she waited.

And waited.

But, unfortunately for the irritated mother, she found herself nearly tearing the entire antique shop apart as she waited for the young man to wrap up his work. As much as she attempted to slyly peek at Lucian as she attempted to ‘clean’, by the time she reached the last shelf, she found herself staring at the young man. She thought maybe her dagger-like stare would be enough to drive him away from the countertop (secretly, of course). But, as the young man began to briefly raise his eyes to turn his attention to her, Oriana was feeling defeated at this point. 

So as she began to clean the very last shelf of the shop and decipher even more useless antiquities for her plan, a certain artifact instantly caught her empty eyes. She carefully lifted a small, worn teddy bear from the shelf. A small coat sat upon its body, followed by scratchy black pants, which had a couple of holes. It was clear that the bear was loved quite affectionately, judging by the way the fur was clotted in chunks. Its black beaded eyes seem to stare back with its similarly empty eyes. She couldn’t help but release a tiny chuckle as she inspected the bear. 

Then, she saw the price tag.

“…That’s it?”

Lucian instantly snapped his head up from his work “Hm?”

“This bear, that’s all it costs?” A sour look crossed Oriana’s eyes “I thought it would be worth over 100 aurum not…10..”

Lucian wasn’t one to normally fear himself away from his work, but he found himself walking over to the seemingly annoyed woman. Unlike Oriana, the young man took little care to inspect the bear. His pink eyes carelessly glazed over the stuffed animal, and only focused on its most obvious features and defects. 

“It’s not in the best condition I guess. It has a few scuffs here and there….” Lucian then pointed to a clump of fur.

Oriana instantly shook her head “No no, but this used to be apart of a special collection! They were limited edition, they sold for hundreds of aurum back in the day! I remember this one selling for 150 aurum! Now it’s only 10?”

“I don’t set the prices here, Mr. Altan does….”

“Of course he would…”

Lucian’s eyes seem to shift from minimal curiosity, to a mild shock of realization. His reaction was akin to someone figuring out a word on a cross puzzle if anything, Oriana thought 

“Wait, how old are you anyways?” Lucian raised his brow.

All Oriana could do was blink. She was…confused, to say the least, at the man’s sudden (and perhaps random) inquiry. That was before she began to slowly piece the conversation together.

It was then a thick, red blush creeped up her face.

“I may have given you the impression that I’m well into my years but uh…” she cheated her throat awkwardly “I’m not that old…”

“You look like you could be my mother…”

“I-I’m only 32!”

“Only?

“A-agh-“ Oriana stopped herself firmly in her tracks, clenching her tongue to prevent…undesirable words from spilling from her mouth  “I-I think it’s about time you got back to your paperwork…”

In spite of her effort to gently tell the young man to scurry away, Lucian stayed firmly in place like a statue “I’ll go back to that when you stop dusting. I think it’s a good idea to keep an eye on you for now…”

A thick, concerned frown covered Oriana’s face “What is that supposed to mean?”

Lucian stuffed his hands firmly in his pocket, and leaned ever so threateningly towards the woman “I think you know exactly what that means. Mr. Altan and Mazel might be enamored by your act, but I can see right through it”

“I don’t know what you’re implying…”

“I’m just saying I find it strange that you’re able to clean the store thoroughly after having a supposed slash to your stomach,” The young man pointed out “Not to mention you know the value of some of the items Mr. Altan collected…”

“It was only the teddy bear,”

“Then why do I see you eyeing the counter? In fact, Mr. Altan said you were trying to run off the train earlier too. That doesn’t sound like something someone with an injury would do. Would you care to explain, miss?”