The Disappearance of Percy L.

[LithiumSedai 5750]

The Disappearance of Percy L.

 

---

 

It was on the morning of the 23rd of Sun's Smile, 1822 that the residents of the quaint Estate d'Artois, on 3 Little Ves Street, were alerted to the disappearance of their fellow resident and kinsman, Percival Lucien - otherwise known as Percy L.

 

 

Or perhaps it were not so - those socialites of Providence well-acquainted with the House of Halcourt knew that the elder Halcourt had seldom conversed with, or at all enjoyed the company of his family, to whom his involvement in Imperial affairs and that of the Capital were distant; indeed, Percy L. preferred to wander the streets, his dwellings in the estate ever denied and appropriated by the ever-expanding relations, and his meager belongings relocated from room to room without much care.

 

Whether any of his living brothers or their progeny cared to inquire about his whereabouts were unclear. The man, akin to some apparition which elder Orenians could recall to have plagued Helena once, was forgotten by his family and otherwise ignored by the denizens of Providence - which is not to say that he carried ire in his heart over it, or that he ever wished it to be different. Should anyone have cared to ask among those fine, archetypal specimens which from sunrise to sundown graced the streets of every town in history from the times of the Prophet Horen, the answers they would have received would have served only to deepen the mystery.

 

The laborers of Lucien Lane swore they saw a gaunt fellow, out of place, march out of Providence towards the Northern front with the newest batch of volunteers; he wore an ill-fitted cuirass over a silken shirt. The street urchin, at the corner of Swint and Selm, for a mina insisted that a green-coated fellow had boarded the coach to Eastfleet at midnight, the driver bribed to make haste for the Merryweather ferry towards Sutica. And the barkeep at the Novellen, with a smug grin, told that he knew Percy L. like his own brother; to Karosgrad he went, and he would never return to Oren as long as he lived.

 

Laid on some dusty, forgotten desk at d'Artois rested a simple note, however.

 

 

Spoiler

"Now I will reunite with A. and Y."

 

---

[Urahra 5781]

Truly, Percy L. had been an unassuming man. Not one to speak, he lingered on the edges of group conversations and tended to contribute little of his own. He kept to himself, preferring solitude to the company of others. The dark haired man in his little green coat had never commanded attention from his peers. Continually passed over for promotion, unable to find a spouse, and ignored by his family, Percy L. Could remember only two times in his life that he had ever felt truly seen.

 

The first time was when he was acknowledged by Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Anne.

 

And the second time? 

 

It had been a chance encounter on the street. The woman stood on the curb in front of the bank, where Percy had been going to deposit his meager paycheck from the Ministry of Civil Affairs. She had been talking with someone - Percy L. didn’t rightly recall who. His attention had been drawn straight to her. Not for the usual reasons a man might look upon a woman. No stunning beauty - rather its complete opposite. The woman had suffered some sort of disfiguring injury that left her scarred and one-eyed. Percy felt a flash of pity, a brief and ugly moment of disgust, before he tried to move past her into the bank.

 

She grabbed his sleeve.

 

“You,” she said, and her singular eye burned into him like the sun. “You’ll do.”

 

Before he could ask what she meant, she began dragging him through the street toward the La Fleur theater. All of a sudden, Percy L. found himself standing on stage with a script in hand. “Act 1, Siegmund’s last line.” 

 

Despite the fact that there was no audience in the stands, Percy L. still felt panic and stage fright overtake him. Yet at the same time, a thrill of excitement. He would never admit it aloud, but when he thought back on that moment, he couldn’t help but recognize some measure of enjoyment. Of finally standing in the spotlight, with just one person’s attention focused solely on him. Judging and critiquing attention, yes. But attention nonetheless. He read out the lines with as much confidence as he could muster (which admittedly wasn’t much). At the end of the reading, she smiled at him

 

“I can work with you,” she said before reaching into her purse and handing him a flyer. The piece of paper advertised play auditions for an upcoming theater show entitled Lorin + Siegmund. Produced by the La Fleur Production Company and directed by Yuliya Styrne. “I do hope you'll attend.”

 

Percy L. had thanked her and scurried away. He didn’t end up attending the audition (too nervous to actually take the stage in front of so many people), yet he thought of it - and her - frequently. Hoping in the deepest, darkest part of his heart that... maybe someday he would see that strange lady, Yuliya, again. Maybe she would pick him out of the crowd and put him in the spotlight just...

 

one

 

more

 

time.