After consoling Sotheby for a while, Vertin and her finally sobered up and decided to head back to the lobby together.
Walking side by side down the hallway, they gradually saw the lobby and entered, noticing the presence of food on the table.
"Timekeeper! Good morning, are you doing fine?" Setting down a freshly cooked breakfast, Sonetto quickly greeted Vertin.
At the same time, Druvis was also present and was setting down some plates on the table, getting ready for breakfast with others.
Looking at them for a moment, Vertin gave a mild nod before speaking. "I'm doing well now, thank you."
Looking at the breakfast that was prepared — a variety to choose from ranging from pancakes to a classic English breakfast — Vertin surveyed them for a moment before looking around more.
Then, noticing that three of their members were still not present, she inquired. "Regulus, Mr. APPLe, X, and Isaac aren't back yet?"
Just after she asked this question, however, someone suddenly barged into the lobby, their voice resounding throughout.
Regulus, together with her trusty companion Mr. APPLe, walked into the lobby, her clothes bearing leaves and twigs on them.
"Ugh, just what is up with that blasted forest outside?" She complained as she cleaned herself. Then, upon noticing Vertin, she continued. "Ah, Vertin! You're awake, that's good! Say, does your suitcase's forest suddenly become so energetic after a Storm?"
"What are you talking about?" Confused about Regulus' current predicament, Vertin tilted her head slightly.
Regulus huffed. "I'm talking about the wilderness outside! For some reason, the trees and bushes keep twisting around whenever I pass by them, tangling on my clothes! Not to mention the thin fog drifting around — it seriously creeped me out."
"The captain has a certain fear of the unknown, and as such does not particularly favor fogs which limits her vision." Beside Regulus, the erudite Mr. APPLe spoke, his voice measured and calm. "Albeit, It's worth noting that this apple felt no such creepy effect around the fog. The rest that the captain said, however, have all been the truth."
"Hm..." Upon hearing Regulus and Mr. APPLe's report of the suitcase's current status, Vertin pondered for a while, trying to analyze what was happening.
Indeed, she was also in the dark regarding certain matters in her suitcase. That was because she hasn't been with it for that long — and had only received it when she became the Timekeeper. As such, much of the suitcase's functionality, secrets, as well as purpose were still unknown to her.
Vertin never really ventured out that much outside of the building they were currently in right now, and have never noticed the wilderness' behavior after a Storm, as such, she could only speculate what had happened.
"Perhaps the Storm left some lingering effects inside the suitcase, causing those bizarre things to happen to you." She addressed Regulus' problem. "For now, my leading theory is that it's a byproduct of the Storm and should be resolved in due time."
"As for the fog..." Her voice then turned to a whisper, barely audible before the others to hear.
Again, since she had never ventured out the holding before, she had not seen a fog before unless it was from the mystical Lake where she first summoned Sonetto as well as Isaac.
'Isaac...' Upon remembering this name, Vertin suddenly recalled Isaac's arcanum as well as its effects. 'He mentions that his fog can cause certain effects on the mind of others... But it didn't work for me...'
Looking back, the emotions she felt for a brief second when she interacted with his fog were mostly confusion, suspicion, and skepticism — all denoting negative emotions.
'If that stands true, then the reason Regulus felt creeped out might have been because she interacted with it...' This was a reasonable development for her to think of. Turning to Regulus, she continued. "For now, it's best to stay clear from any fog you see. I believe that this ties to Isaac's arcanum."
"Ah, now that I remember it, he did use fogs when we fought yesterday, didn't he?" Upon hearing Vertin's speculation, Regulus hummed. "Well, if it's him, I can let it slide just this once. He's helped a lot, after all."
Then, turning over to the breakfast present on the dining table, an edacious smile formed on her face. "As for those... Well, it's about time for us to dig in, innit?"
Seeing how Regulus was now eager to indulge in breakfast, Vertin didn't stop her and nodded, agreeing with the notion.
Indeed, breakfast was quite important.
Turning to the others, Vertin declared quickly. "Alright, let's all have breakfast first."
And with that, they all say down for breakfast. Unlike last night, when the meals were prepared by Sotheby and her hallucinogen, the breakfast today was the real deal — eating what they were seeing, both tangible and delicious.
They ate peacefully, as if relishing this mundane morning — since they knew that, after this, their life with the Foundation would soon change.
---
Breakfast quickly passed, and now, Vertin was sitting in front of her work desk, jotting down a dossier for her latest mission. Sonetto was with her, while Regulus was organizing her records, as for Druvis, she was outside basking in nature.
Just then, while she was writing, Vertin suddenly sensed the entrance to the suitcase open. Shifting her gaze, she looked at the entrance and saw two familiar people descending down the stairs.
"Oh, everyone's already here." One of them, Isaac, quickly noticed the people in the lobby and pointed it out. "Well, except for Ms. Druvis, I guess..."
Walking behind him, X was also present, holding a series of files and documents in his hand. Together, the two of them walked over to the lobby.
Seeing the two of them approach, Vertin was the first to greet them back. "Welcome back. Did you get in touch with the Foundation?"
X was the one to reply. With his usual eccentric demeanor and soft smile, he spoke. "I did, and we'd most likely be retrieved today. Due to the Storm, the Foundation still needs to prepare before sending out personnel. Madam Z also told me to tell you to compile a report of the mission as well as the new arcanists you've gathered."
"I'm already jotting it down." Knowing that this would happen, Vertin tapped on the dossier she was working on.
She then lingered for a moment before quickly asking a question. "By the way, what era did the Storm reverse us in now? And where exactly are we at?"
Due to the Storm's ability to shift time and space, every time Vertin survives a reversal and gets sent to another era, she would always land in another location different from her prior one.
At this question, Isaac was the one to answer. "I walked out this morning, carrying the suitcase to a safe spot while surveying the place we landed in. While doing so, I managed to see where we were."
"I walked for a bit until I eventually saw a majestic gothic cathedral with many white marble spires. Coupled with the local newspaper I read, as well as how the people talked, it seems that we've landed somewhere in North-western Italy. As for the year..."
"We're currently in the year 1913."
"A gothic cathedral with many marble spires..." Sonetto, who was listening intently, murmured to herself. After a few moments of contemplation, she shared her thoughts. "I think we've landed in Milan, and the cathedral Mr. Isaac was the Duomo di Milano, famous for its forest of marble spires. It's one of the iconic symbols of the city."
"As expected of Sonetto. I just knew she had knowledge about this place as an Italian herself." Regulus commented with praise. She then turned to Isaac and curiously asked, "And you — do you speak Italian? How were you just able to stroll around and understand what the people are saying and reading the local paper?"
Isaac stared at Regulus for a while before shrugging, a small smirk playing on his face. "I do. In fact, I speak many languages. English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Russian, and a few more."
He didn't mean to brag — really, he didn't — but the way he said just made him sound condescending. And although everyone knew he wasn't, they just couldn't help but all feel that way.
Well, this can also be contributed to his arcanum, really.
"That's... a lot." Vertin, who was evidently unaffected by his arcanum, was the first to break the silence. Even she was taken aback by the amount of languages he knew.
"...One of the perks of traveling around a lot." He replied imperceptibly, his voice almost a murmur.
Seeing everyone still staring at him with odd looks, Isaac chuckled dryly before quickly making up an excuse to leave. "Well, since Ms. Vertin's awake, I guess my job's done here now. I'll... go out in the wilderness for a bit."
"Hm? And what're you gonna do out there?" Regulus inquired, curious about the self-proclaimed polyglot man. She then grimaced. "That place's full of trees and bushes just waiting to twist around your body."
"Even better." Isaac, not looking back, waved at Regulus as he left the lobby, a smirk playing on his face as he left those enigmatic words.
Regulus, meanwhile, stared at his departing figure with an odd expression.
"What do you mean better?!"
Surely he wasn't the kind of person to be attracted to animated plant life, right?