Looking around, Ted saw no seats inside the Knight Bus. Instead, a few copper-framed beds lined the base floor, standing near the curtained windows. Candles set near each bed cast a warm, steady glow over the wooden walls, creating a surprisingly cozy atmosphere.
On the bed closest to the entrance, an old man was sitting, peeking out from behind the curtain, muttering to himself in a voice too low for Ted to catch. The rest of the beds were empty, neatly made with crisp white sheets.
Ted moved forward, making his way to the front of the bus, where he sat down on a bed positioned just behind the driver's seat. Cedric soon passed him, pulling out a small leather sack and a steaming bottle of water that misted faintly in the cold night air.
"What color for the toothbrush?" Cedric asked, rummaging through the bag. "We've got light blue, blue, dark blue, indigo blue... and orange."
Ted gave him a side glance that said more than words before turning back toward the front. "Blue."
At the wheel sat an old man in very thick glasses.
"This here's Ernie, our driver. Ern, this is—" Cedric paused, realizing he hadn't asked.
"Ted," Ted finished for him, evenly. "Nice to meet you."
Ernie gave a small nod, turning back to the road — and then, with a deafening Bang, the bus shot forward like a slingshot down the dark streets of London.
Ted gripped the brass frame of the bed. He'd expected the speed — even braced for it — but the sheer force still threw him backwards, knocking the bottle from his hand.
Once the pace steadied, Ted turned to look outside. The scenery blurred past in streaks of colour and light, the bus weaving through crowded streets without slowing — phasing through cars, cutting corners and ignoring every rule of reality.
From the corner of his eye, Ted caught Cedric watching him — disappointed.
Most kids, thrown onto the Knight Bus for the first time, wore expressions of terror or wild shock. Ted, on the other hand... looked fascinated.
As he watched the road, he couldn't help but imagine the enchantments that might have been used to make the magical bus.
'Is it a spell that makes it invisible, or just hard to notice? And that speed, there must be a ton of speed charms and the like, maybe even safety charms in case of a crash...' He couldn't help but think of all the magic-related books he had ever read, trying to make sense of how what he was seeing was made into reality.
He considered asking Cedric. Or Ernie. But he didn't like Cedric. The man had been staring at him ever since he'd mentioned his address — and Ted had little patience for people like that.
As for Ernie — Ted wasn't about to interrupt the man while he was busy keeping a three-story magical missile from ploughing into a wall.
After a while, Cedric wandered off upstairs, leaving Ted to his thoughts. Which made him feel relieved, the stares had been getting quit disturbing. Through the window, the city had faded into a stretch of open fields. No roads in sight.
Then, without warning, the Knight Bus screeched to a stop in the middle of nowhere.
An old man in an emerald robe made his way down the stairs, with Cedric following close behind. He gave Ernie a brief wave on his way out — which the driver returned with a small lift of his right hand, never once taking his eyes off the road ahead.
Without a word, Cedric hefted a large trunk from beside the stairs and carried it after the man.
Ted, seeing his chance, quietly retrieved his dropped bottle of water.
Moments later, the bus rocketed off again — a new direction, a new destination — Just as advertised, it seemed they could really take one anywhere they wanted to go.
With the bottle at hand he now leaned back, finally pulling himself together. There was time now. Time to clean up, think, prepare.
He brushed his teeth, washed his face, straightened his clothes.
Then came the harder part.
Figuring out exactly what he was going to tell his father.
<================>
It was already hours later when the Knight Bus returned to London. Ted, who all this while was reading the potions book he bought earlier today, was awoken by Cedric's voice standing right next to him, reading a paper.
"Next stop is yours, kid," he said grumpily. He was already tired when the night had just begun, and now it was already nearing midnight. Over the last few hours, he had to carry tens of bags in and out.
Apparently, even during the night, the top floor was still made of seats and not beds, creating room for a lot more people. Most passengers were also not great fans of the squawking brass beds that weren't anchored to the floor, making the first floor the least popular.
Ted stood up. He had already figured out how to keep his balance on the Knight bus, even during the sharp turns and stops. Holding onto a nearby bedpost, he waited patiently as the bus passed unaffected through a heavily reinforced gate that stood at the entrance of the street.
Finally, it stopped in front of a tall Victorian-styled mansion surrounded by a silver fence. Looking at his house, Ted let out a sigh that he didn't know he held, realizing a lot of tension that was built on him over the last day.
Walking down, Ted gave one last look at the triple-decker bus and Cedric, who was standing at the bus entrance behind him, giving him a complicated, bewildered look filled with a touch of envy and contemplation.
Ted walked towards the gate, waving at the guard who in turn gave him a stunned look before saying something into the radio and opening the gate. At his back, Ted could hear the Bang as the Knight bus left once more, heading towards its next station.
Walking into the house, Ted looked at the familiar marble floor that decorated the main hall. He wasn't sure if he should be happy or sad, as this signaled the end of his magical adventure. For now, at least.
"Welcome back, Master Theodor. I'll inform Lord Cassius of your return," Nigel, the head butler, greeted with a slight formal bow.
Ted nodded at him courteously and turned to his side, spotting Lora, his personal maid.
"Please prepare me a bath; I shall be there shortly," he said to the young maid who, in turn, nodded and walked into the hallway leading towards the kitchen.
Looking at the curved marble stairs where Nigel disappeared, Ted's eyes stopped at a big portrait. In it, stood a couple, smiling. The man, with raven-black hair just like his, and sharp features, was dressed in a formal dark maroon suit. His eyes black, like his hair, stared forward with a noble glance.
Next to him, dressed in a crimson dress, stood a young woman. Her hair silvery white resembled glittering snow, and her eyes, gentle and warm, were silver with the slightest tinge of blue, identical to Ted's. Around her neck was a bright red ruby necklace that made her perfect pale skin pop in comparison.
'Mom...' Ted's eyes lingered at her and turned sharp, resembling his father. 'I finally know what happened; I shall make them suffer pain far more than they caused you...' The screams of his mother rose to his ears, recalling that day once more...
<================>
During dinner, Ted's father had actually shown himself, asking shortly of his whereabouts. Ted, who had already prepared for this, didn't bother to cover up for Jessie and explained how he got to be alone in the first place and how he spotted a suspicious-looking man who was following him by looking at the reflection on the storefronts' windows.
Eventually, he invented a story of how he took advantage of a passing bus and walked into a closing bookstore nearby, hiding behind the shelves at the back of the store until the shop was closed for the night.
Realizing that he was locked in, Ted chose to read and lost his sense of time, only noticing that it was already the next day in the afternoon when the shopkeeper announced closing the shop. When he left, he found that he didn't know how to get home, so he tried to find a way to call, but he had no spare change.
Taking advantage of his father's ignorance of his things, as he paid no attention to him, Ted made some stuff up. He had already destroyed his wallet while on the Knight bus by getting some help from Cedric in creating some fire for the cost of the rest of his sickles.
Finally, he continued narrating how when he asked around if anyone could switch his bill for coins, out of nowhere someone came and snatched his wallet, leaving him wandering the streets when a nice young woman who passed by gave him an underground train ticket, which she wouldn't be able to use.
He ended the story by how he got to Kensington using the underground and walked home from there.
It was past midnight, the window of the room hanged open, letting in a slightly cold breeze that brushed over Ted, who was now sitting near a reading desk in his room. He had already finished reading the potions book he bought today and had already taken a pile of books from his mother's library, starting with charms and potions.
He had passed over them before since he thought they were filled with 'fake' informative knowledge. Something like a book full of descriptions and exact statistics of something imaginary. At the time he found them boring; of course, that wasn't the case anymore.
Ted opened the window for the owls that might enter at any moment, sending his deliveries. He could only imagine the maids' reactions to a big owl flying through some random window, dropping a bunch of candies on the floor.
Taking a sip from his tea, Ted finally decided to head to bed. Many things happened that day, and he had to rest.
<================>
Meanwhile, at the study, Cassius was glaring at two people like a hawk, his black eyes as if staring into their souls. The ones in front of him were Jessie, the maid, and Aron, the bodyguard sent to follow Ted.
"Not only did you fail to follow him, but you also neglected to tell me he was alone." Cassius's voice wasn't loud, but it was piercing, like an unsheathed sword.
"You two will leave this mansion tonight, and you will never show your face to me again," he said slowly in a commanding tone as he turned towards the window behind him that showed the majestic view of Kensington Gardens. His back seemed like a mountain in the eyes of the two siblings. "And if I ever see you again..."
Cassius didn't finish the sentence, leaving their imagination to run wild. "Now leave!" he finally said, this time he raised his voice slightly, making the two jump slightly, clearly nervous.
Hearing them leave the room, Cassius turned to his left. "Find a replacement and do a background check on all the workers. I don't want any similar incidents in the future. Also, make our little guest comfortable."
"Understood, sir." Out of the shadows, almost invisible before, walked Nigel, the butler.
Leaving the room, Nigel went to the basement, where he stood in front of a woman in her mid-thirties tied to a chair, her mouth gagged and legs bound together. If Ted were here, he would have recognized her. It was the shopkeeper from the second-hand bookstore Ted was in before.
Taking off her gag, Nigel looked at her with disgust. "You will tell us who your employer is, even if it takes some time," he said as he punched her in the guts, getting only a slight whimper.
The woman was an assassin sent after Ted. Nigel found her sniping position when he went to search for Ted the night before. She was stationed at the top of a building just a few buildings from where he disappeared, though so far they could only get her to confess to her target, not her employer.
"I hope it hurts, even though you would never leave here. The price for threatening the lord's family isn't so cheap. All I can promise you is that you will eventually speak. Anything in between will just prolong your suffering."
He hit her a few more times before he left. Meanwhile, the woman only glared at his back full of hate. She still hasn't lost hope, but that was just a matter of time.
<==========================>
(a/n) Next chap will be a time skip, I have an important birthday party coming up so next chap will only be next week.
Hope you enjoy the story so far, If you do, please VOTE and give me some POWER STONES.