-Timless- (Nightingale and TWD)

[Nightingale]

Luci held the curtain back from the window as she watched her uncle depart once more. She'd only been here a week.. and she'd seen him maybe once.. now here he was leaving for the next week or two, leaving her to fend for herself. She groaned, let the curtain fall back over the window and turned to face the house. Since moving here from the city, she'd discovered that living in such a large house was not something she could get used to. The mansion glittered, and shone brightly on the outside, with it's columns and pillars, balconies and arches, but on the inside it was cold, lonely, and full of dread.

There was nothing good about this place. Or so she hadn't found anything yet. The courtyards were empty, the gardens withered and dead, the surrounding forest just beyond the west yard was eerily unbearable to even look at. She hadn't really gotten around to exploring the majority of the mansion, it just.. hadn't really called to her all that much, but now that she was alone, perhaps there was no better time. Moving towards the staircase she stood at the base and looked up, trying to think on where to begin, she needed something to keep her distracted, to keep her from becoming a mess over he death of her father. Tucking a strand of dark curls behind her ear, she let sapphire eyes study the first landing as she made her way up the stairs.

The old Library sounded like a good idea. There might be some kind of history in the library about the mansion. Perhaps something to tell her why it was so lifeless. She took the last few steps and started down the hallway towards the library. Bare feet padding lightly on the wood floor. Opening the door and turning on the light, she slipped further inside, the large, spacious library was roughly the size of her old apartment in it's entirety.. it was this sort of thing she would never get used to. She moved to the window and drew back the curtains, she could see the wrought iron gate that surrounded the estate in the distance, and the withering, dead garden that lead to it. With a sigh she turned to face the room and wondered where to begin.

She spotted an old study desk, nestled into a small nook on the other side of the room. Papers littered the desk, with her uncles slanted cursive littering those pages. A few names she recognized in the notes.. others not so much. curious she started to look through the drawers, in one she found a slender box, with the family crest on it... a crest she realized then, was no longer on the mansion. curious she opened it, inside was a curious looking skeleton key, it's top twisted, with intricate, delicate lines looking much like the face of a pocket watch. Curious she plucked it out of the box. It twitched, pulsed in her hand, and she let out a startled shriek and dropped it, only to find the room spinning, she was suddenly falling.

A scream tore from her lips, and with a loud thud she landed back on the floor, sprawling back a few paces. The key clattering to the floor. Brushing her hair from her face, she began to look around. Noticing things had changed. The lamps and the desk were no longer there, and the room seemed so much brighter. She grabbed the key and gathered herself to her feet. Her heart racing. " What in the hell.." Luci moved to the window, and glanced out to see a very green lawn, and a garden very much alive. "How.." She whispered beneath her breath, panic nearly sinking in, what had just happened?

 

[The Waiting Disaster]

Samuel Whitaker was not what one would expect from the owner of such an expansive estate as his own manor. He kept the place in almost immaculate condition, with a well-maintained garden, finely kept interior decorations, and whenever he had guests he made sure to gift them with the finest dining and spirits in his power. He also kept no "serveants", objecting to such a "vulgar" and "filthy" practice, and instead only staffed his estate with voluntarily present butlers and maids who attended to his needs whenever they arose. Yet one would think that such a handsome young man would happily take his pick from the flock of starry-eyed young ladies who swooned over him and seemed to worship the very ground upon which he walked. No, he preferred to live the life of a bachelor in his estate.

A bachelor with the wide world of magic at his finger-tips . . . and a whole army of damned spirits wanting his death.

One could excuse him for being a little . . . eccentric. However, recently his eccentricity and sunny personality hadn't been witnessed much by the staff of the estate. He had spent much time in his study, working on his newest invention: time. Well, not time, but rather a device which he planned to use in harnessing time's power. Why? Because he felt like it. In fact, at that moment he was in his library, leafing through one of his many books, and was starting to muse over the text when the room was suddenly filled with a bright light. This was followed by a rush of wind, which then ended with something standing in the library that hadn't been there before: a young girl . . . in the strangest of clothing.

Running one hand through his long, messy raven-black hair, Samuel's other hand was behind his back: a ball of fire on his finger-tips as he looked at the young girl, watching out the window.

"Pardon me, ma'am." He spoke up, his hand still behind his back as he emerged from between two book-shelves, cautiously eyeing her as he approached.

 

[Nightingale]

"This.. this is not happening.." She groaned, just as she pushed away from the window, she heard a voice, and it wasn't her uncle. She froze, and turned around. Sapphire eyes crossing over a man, whose appearance was way out of this time. He looked like something out of her history book. She shifted hands moving behind her back nervously, she tucked the key into her back pocket, and fidgeted with the hem of her tank top. Her jeans had tears and holes strategically placed at the knees and thighs. Very different compared to him. "Uhm.." The use of words escaped her for the moment, and though she felt entirely stupid, she knew there was no way this could really be happening.

She didn't exactly know how to respond, or what to do. She glanced to the door momentarily, but he was in the way, and with his hand behind his back, she was getting more and more nervous. "A dream.. that's it.. this is just a dream.. right?" Luciel asked, a hint of laughter in her voice. "I'm dreaming!" She exclaimed, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. She was going insane.. or dear lord she was going insane. She moved her hands from behind her back, and pinched herself, "Ouch!" she breathed grumpily.. so she wasn't dreaming.. oh god.

Looking up at the strange man in front of her she held up her hands. "Please, whatever you do don't hurt me! I don't know how I got here.. or if I'm even really somewhere... can you tell me where I am?" She asked nervously, those Sapphire hues watching him with a pleading gaze. Luci was helpless... and very confused. Everything had happened so fast she couldn't even begin to imagine what the key had done.. though taking in the look of him.. she thought she might have a clue.. bit it was nearly impossible.. "

"What year is it?" She asked quietly, fearing the possible answer.

 

[The Waiting Disaster]

Samuel quirked a brow at the young woman, his hazel-colored eyes examining her from beneath thin-lensed glasses. She seemed to be of little or no threat. If she was a minion of the darker realms, then she would have to be a very incompetent one. Basically, no threat to him. Her clothing was strange: most definitely not that of a woman of his own time . . . of his own time. Samuel's eyes widened and he extinguished the flame in his hand. Moments after he had been struck with that horrifying thought, she asked him what year it was. So she was from, when? Samuel stepped forward once more, his well-polished black shoes gliding across the varnished wooden floor of his estate library room. He eyed her cautiously as he approached.

"1879." He didn't tack on the tacky, unneccesary "in the year of our Lord" to the end.

He extended a single hand to take her's in a traditional greeting. His skin was well-tanned and the white sleeves of his dress shirt were rolled up to his sleeves. The fire, and any signs of it, were gone save for the light smell of ash on the tips of his fingers. Now there was a new spell coursing through his veins: one which would activate upon touching his hand. She would feel a light tingling through her body, and if she was a demon then it would cause her discomfort in her disguise. Not that many of the dark spirits he knew made such . . . odd clothing choices.

"May I ask your name, Miss?" He asked, the same brow still quirked.

 

[Nightingale]

1879 His words echoed in her mind, and she looked like a doe caught in the headlights. He stepped closer and she didn't budge, not really registering that he'd moved at all. She was in 1879. This... This can not be happening.. He extended his hand, and asked for her name. She reacted without thinking and gently took his hand. "..Luciel..Luciel Fae.." She spoke mindlessly. Still trying to wrap her brain around the fact it was 1879. "1879?" She questioned out loud. "How... how is that possible?" She asked him, looking at him curiously, was this some kind of joke her uncle was playing on her? She gently slid her hand from his as everything sank in. "You.. You're not a Fae are you?" She asked softly. Something was pulling at her, and she couldn't quite tell what. She felt a sudden twitch in her back pocket and she reached to pull the key out.

She toyed with it, ran her fingers over it as she looked at it. Maybe he knew what it was? She held it up. "This.. this brought me here.. I'm .. crazy as this sounds, I am from the future... 2011 actually, and when I found this.. it brought me here.." He was going to think her mad, she knew this.. she already believed she was crazy, her mind racing with thoughts both simple and complex.

The place.. felt so alive, if this estate, had been so alive.. at whatever point in time this was for this manor, why was it so dreadful in the future? It wasn't fair, something with this amount of life, needed to be preserved.. it had so much character.

 

[The Waiting Disaster]

"I'm most certainly not a Fae." Samuel replied, crossing his arms, "That family would have this place burned to the ground if it meant that I couldn't have it."

Then she brought up the key and Samuel's face turned pale. He looked over to his desk, where a similar key sat. The only difference was that the clock at the end of the key wasn't fully completed on his. On hers it looked just how he envisioned his to when he had first started to put it together. As she started to talk about how she was from the year 2011, he snatched the key from her hand, and held it in the palm of his own as he looked at it. How could she . . . . it wasn't possible, was it? She had said she was a Fae, hadn't she? Her family line, though drowning in it, was full of terrible practitioners.

He looked to her, the key still in his hand, "How did you use this, Ms. Fae?"

 

[Nightingale]

He spoke at first as if she had just insulted him, then the next few words caught her off guard. They hadn't burned it down.. it was still standing.. wasn't it? He snatched the Key and she grabbed for it unsuccessfully. "Hey!" She snapped. Not liking the fact he'd snatched it from her in such ill manners. "I don't know how I used it... I just touched it... and then all of sudden.. here I am." She said softly, a little freaked out still by the matter at hand. By simply touching the key, it had come to life.... Come to life.. " They key, it's alive.. or something of the sort, You see.. when I touched it, it twitched... and moved.. sputtered as if it was alive.." She took a few steps around the library, how different it was, how alive it felt, and not like the shadow of what it was in the future.

"Now... you said the Fae's would have this place burnt to the ground... why would we want to burn our own legacy to the ground? This estate is the only land we still have in our posession.." She stated simply, as if it was matter-o-fact that the estate was theirs. She tucked a few strands of hair from her face and plucked the key back out of his hand. " This.. belongs to me, thank you... it's likely my only way back home.. now.. how to use it?"

 

[The Waiting Disaster]

"Your own legacy?" Samuel literally laughed, a broad smile on his face as he threw his head back, "What are you talking about, girl? This has been in the Whitaker family since before Queen Victoria!"

He took the still incomplete key from off the desk, holding it lazily at his side as he walked over (nearly glided, almost, as he always seemed to when he was in a good mood . . . which he was always in when dealing with mysteries), and reached out with his other hand. He held up the hand she was holding the key in, while holding the other key up in his own hand. The two were almost identical, save for the fact that his looked for cleaner, and like brand new . . . and it was missing the clock at one end. With that wordless "statement" made, he took the key she was holding out of her hand once again, and placed both in a drawer of his desk. He then leaned against said desk with his arms crossed.

"Listen, Ms. Fae. What I'm about to tell you is going to be very shocking." He began, "My name is Samuel Whitaker. The year is 1879. You are currently in the United States of America. Queen Victoria rules over England. I'm a researcher and practicioner of magical arts. The key, which will stay in this desk until we have things sorted out, was made with the intention of mastering the passage of time. I've been working on it for the last seven months but so far my progress has been extremely slow." He uncrossed his arms now, using his hands as support now as he leaned back a little, "Now I want you to tell me, as best you can, exactly what happened just before the key brought you to where you are now." He glanced about, "After that, we'll see about getting you something to eat . . . " He eyed her briefly, " . . . and some proper clothes while we're at it."

 

[Nightingale]

Her face froze as he mentioned the Estate being in his family since before the Queen Victoria. That was something new, though as he held up the incomplete key, she finally understood. He made the key.. that was clear.. but then once again he snatched the key out of her hand and she gripped at the empty air. "I really wish you would stop doing that!" she mumbled. Crossing her arms at her middle and shifting her stance a little. Avoiding huffing and becoming irritated. She faced him as he leaned against the desk, and his words didn't quite make sense. "Magic?" She questioned, Magic Was he mental?

When he stated his name, it felt familiar.. as she thought about it, she remembered seeing it written on the papers laid out on her uncles desk.. "So you're telling me.. this Estate belongs to the Whitaker family... then how did it come into the possession of the Faes? that doesn't make sense, you would think your family would keep a tighter hold on it." Then he wanted to know exactly what happened before the key brought her here. She sighed softly and unfolded her arms, gesturing out wards the room. "My uncle left me in the house while he went off on business.. so I decided to explore, so I came up to the Library in hopes to find something on the houses history.." She explained, beginning to walk around the library some, fingertips trailing the binds of books. Admiring each on individually. "So I came into the library.. and when I looked around I spotted my uncles desk...I got curious and started looking around, and then I found this box." She stated. "it was a beautiful, antiqued box.. and inside of it was the key. Then what I said before.. I picked it up, it twitched.. and sputtered.. I dropped it, and the next thing I knew.. I was here."

She took a deep breath and looked back at him. " I didn't do anything special." She had tried to look past his comment about her clothes.. but he had a point.. she stuck out like a sore thumb, but she'd feel silly wearing anything victorian in any sense.

 

[The Waiting Disaster]

"To tell you the truth, Ms. Fae: my family can't keep any tighter a hold on it." He stepped away from the desk, "I'm the only member of my family left alive. Of course my staff harangue me to pick a woman and settle down, but my life is far too dangerous for something like that." With that, he glanced to the windows briefly, "You see, there are spirits in this world, who exist on the border between our realm and another. Whenever one uese magic, voluntarily or otherwise, you disturb the energy of that realm, and start angering spirits. So to sum it all up: I'm currently being hunted by more ghosts than there have been spotted in all of the United States up to now."

He started for the door of the library.

"Now if you would please come with me?" He asked with a motion of his hand.

He started to lead her through the brightly lit, well-decorated halls. There were various paintings of scenes of nature, members of the Whitaker family, and other things of that nature. Various pieces of pottery and other artwork were along the sides of the hallway as well, with vibrant red walls, and a varnished wood wall giving an air of life and energy to things. Little did Samuel know that years from now, those same beautiful things would be tarnished: the picture and art stashed away or sold, the paint faded, and the floor's varnish ruined from years of absolutely no maintenance or care. As they walked. a single maid past. She gave Luci a curious look but otherwise, she said nothing.

"Now tell me, Ms. Fae. My kitchen is very well stocked. What would you like to eat?" He asked over his shoulder.

 

[Nightingale]

"Spirits?" She asked quizzically still not quite catching what he was rambling on about this whole thing was sort of new, nothing she'd ever even imagined could come true. She followed him out quietly, her mind mulling over the words he'd spoken, trying to process everything. She took to the stairs slowly, admiring the furnishings and decorations as she went but not really processing that she had never seen most of it before. As they entered into the kitchen, she bypassed the curious look from the maid, and moved to lean against a counter top. Her mind still spinning. "Maybe..."

She mumbled softly, then when he spoke she glanced up with a blank expression. "Anything will do.." She said softly, still thinking. Her gaze drifting out the window.. magic... spirits.. none of them existed in the.. "Wait! That's it!" She exclaimed. It had finally sunk in. She stood upright and approached him, pointing to the ceiling, meaning to motion up stairs as she did so. "I think that's why it brought me here!" She said excitedly. "I had started exploring the house, wondering why it was so old.. so lifeless...and wanted to know it's history.. but you see, while the house is in my families possession, there are no spirits, no life... no magic feel to the place at all.. it's run down and torn.. perhaps it's not supposed to be that way... maybe I can help change it.." She glanced around some. "I would love to see this place in all its glory in my day.. you know?"