Carmen House

A/N: This is an AU Tales of the Abyss story that I started a long time ago. I don't think I'll ever get around to finishing it, but I'm going to put it on here so I don't lose it. It's about Luke, who gets a job as a caretaker of a mansion. You'll learn the rest within the first few chapters.I hope you all like it, but if not, please don't flame me. I spent a long time on this and really enjoyed writing (what I did of) it. Since it is AU, don't expect it to follow any IC guidelines. Just enjoy the ride, or get off. I'll warn you now of close-mindedness, OOCness, extreme thesaurus-like detail, stuff not making sense, plot getting on too fast, and the like. See you all in chapter 2! R & R please.

Chapter One "Listen not with your ears, but with your heart."

I stepped carefully off the carriage and tipped the driver before crossing the street to my meeting place. It was a cool autumn day, the leaves just beginning to change. However, the streets were busy and loud, and I nearly ran into quite a few bustling people. I was already late as things were.

But so was he, it appeared. I stood in front of a dark gray brick building in the middle of town. It was an inn, but it was just a place to meet. I suppose it was a good choice only because the building had been standing for over a century. It hadn't always been an inn, but the details are meaningless.

My name is Luke Fon Fabre. I work as a therapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, whatever you want to call it. Basically, I work with people as well as mental and emotional thought processes. Although I'm thought to be very good at my job, for I understand humans very well, business there had slowed and I was looking for a new job. The man I was supposed to be meeting would hopefully enlighten that prospect.

As I continued to wait, I heard something peculiar come from inside the inn. It couldn't be described, but I had never heard anything like it before. Shrill pitches and moving tones were very faint and I strained to listen closer, but I couldn't distinguish it before a voice called out to me.

"Are you...Luke Fon Fabre?" A man asked after looking at a piece of folded paper in his hand. I didn't get a good look at him as I nodded, and he didn't even introduce himself. He merely put the paper away in his pocket and beckoned for me to follow him. I had no choice but to comply if I was to find out what this job was.

We weaved between crowds and through masses of people, a strong wind pushing against us. Finally, we were in a quieter, more subdued area of town, and the man turned back to see if I had kept up. "The Princess has allowed for you to stay in her estate for one month and see how you like it. If you are well-liked and enjoy the place, you may have the job." The man's voice was smooth and low, but he sounded cold and angry as a person.

As a social worker, I could tell by looking at him that he was stern and strictly rule. His name he'd told me over the phone one day: Colonel Jade Curtiss. Even then he sounded standoffish, a composure about him that had little sense of humor. He wore a navy coat, so dark it was closer to black, with gray trim and dark colorless pants tucked into his military boots. His hair was shaded amber and straight, falling around his shoulders. He was tall and a little pale, and at first glance, his grave features render one speechless.

Turning my thoughts back to Jade's words, I nodded. "Well, I'm known to be good with people, so the residents will be no problem." Then I analyzed his words again and found myself frowing in puzzlement. "Though princess is a term I find a bit old-fashioned," I said quietly, but immediately understood as we approached the estate.

"Well," Jade started with a short sigh. "Here we are. Carmen House, Royal Estate of Princess Natalia Oakland."

The estate was monstrous; like a castle. I was so apalled by its size that Jade had to give me a couple of minutes to take it in. The wrought-iron gates hinged between brick pillars had the words Carmen House entwined in them. A bleak path of worn cobblestone led up to the front doors I could already tell were heavy wood. Enormous, ashen bricks and stones made up the walls and windows of every shape and size dotted the exterior in perfect alignment and spacing. The structure was even lined with a small string of ivy climbing up the north side. Lanterns and other elegant light fixtures could be seen both through the windows and beside the front door.

Jade waited patiently as I took in the distant sight, the chrome keys jangling delicately in his hand. I gave a nod and he unlocked the gates so smoothly I wouldn't have thought them to be locked at all. He had no doubt gotten the practice from opening those gates many times. We paced down the footpath slowly, for I was still staring in awe at the apple, cherry, redwood, oak, pine, and pear trees that dotted the yard. A fall cloud of fog grazed the greenery, making even the walkway slightly more gray.

Once we reached the door, Jade took his key to the lock again, but didn't turn it until I looked at him. "Once we step inside, I'll give you a tour. I'd like for you to stay with me for all of it so you don't get lost." I said I understood, for I knew it would not be hard to get lost in this mansion. Jade turned the key and pushed the great doors open, stepping inside and holding the door open for me. I was floored.

The entire placed was colored a deep, rich brown, and the first thing my eyes fell on was a grand, spiralling staircase the color of cocoa. It had a dark, wine-colored rug on it to soften the sound of each step, and the rail was shiny enough to be considered metallic. Polished wood floors reflected the sheen of the dazzling lights, designs of exquisite ivory and fragile porcelain. Pale yellows and orange from the lights swept from the walls and disappeared into the high ceiling.

The walls were painted soft beige and held portraits of people I'd never heard of and landscapes of places I'd never dreamt of seeing. Beauty was in every portion of that room, from the doorknobs to the paintings, and the door closing behind me snapped me back to reality. Jade gave me a careful look. "Where did you grow up, boy?" Jade asked of sheer curiousity, and I couldn't blame him. The way I marveled at the design would make anyone think I had been raised on a farm.

Smiling, I simply replied, "Nowhere like this," and he led me out of the foyer. To the right was a large room with many sculptures and paintings, musical instruments, and other knickknacks. The next room was filled wall-to-wall with shelves and shelves of books. Then another sculpture room, and Jade gave me a moment to admire as he stepped out to find the servant. Striking art was everywhere in this room, and I took a good look at every work. Curving, falling, flowing, streaming, rushing, rippling, or rolling, everything was absolutely gorgeous. I had never been this exposed to art before I came here. And I was hopefully in for a lot more.

Jade returned, not with the servant, but with a look that implied we were moving on. I was baffled by another library, and then a geography room, filled with maps on every wall and a huge central globe. Everything in this house was double or triple the size it need be. After a while, I noticed a pattern: Every single room we'd visited besides the foyer and geography room had either paintings, sculptures, books, or musical instruments. This made everything less thrilling, but the house was so expansive, the rooms had to be the same at one point.

"This way, please," Jade guided, and we were in a very large room with a long, cherry oak dining table. Of course, the dining room. Candles filled the walls and flowers formed the centerpiece, along with saltshakers and other bottles. Other than that, the table was empty. It had four matching chairs on each length side and one person sat at the head of the table, likely the Princess. The area smelled fresh and though it was dark, (for the curtains were drawn on the already scarce windows) it was still lovely.

Sitting rooms and guest rooms came next, followed by the bathrooms. Again, flowing whites and creams with matching towels and cloths in each room greeted my eyes. The baths were flawless, and the showers perfect. So perfect in fact, they made one not want to bathe for fear of ruining the beauty. I, however, would be pleased to, for I had never bathed in a finer atmosphere. Candles were again present, as well as scented soaps and bath salts. Who had time for all this?

That question stirred some thought in me: I hadn't seen a single person (besides Jade) since I'd come here. There were also no signs of life: noises, moved furniture, misplaced things, voices, or even notes. I asked Jade about this and he only chuckled and said, "We'll get to the residents later. You'd be surprised at the size of this place in relation with the number of people; some of these rooms go unused. We have yet to go upstairs also." I slumped at the sound of this.

We reached the last downstairs room and I must admit, it was the most beautiful of them all so far. It had the largest area, enough to be a house of its own. The marble floors were pure white, disrupted only by shadows. The entire back wall was completely window, sectioned by thin black lines only seldom. Fair alabaster curtains were pinned to the sides, very sleek and plain, but still elegant. White ceilings, but what surprised me at first was its emptiness. The largest room had the least amount of content, which puzzled me.

Our footfalls echoed through the bleak, deserted room, stark empty. No lights were on, but the window was the provider for that. Jade suddenly grew very reserved (well it's not as if he was even talking to begin with), and his expression fell to a look of pain almost. But he moved nearly to the back of the room, near the window but still by the center, and stopped. I approached him and gave him his silence.

"This," he started, his voice controlled, as he reached out to about elbow height. He gripped something, for perhaps it was invisible because I saw nothing, and pulled his arm across his chest and stepped back. A sound like wind strongly blowing cloth was heard at that very moment, so loud I, too, stepped back as it filled the echoing room. A sheet of white blinded my vision for a moment and I looked at Jade. Once the sound settled, I saw that he was holding a large white sheet, too big even for a king size bed. He still looked hurt, but I turned to what he was looking at.

"Is something of my own." There, right before my eyes, was the most stunning grand piano I had ever seen. I had only ever seen one before, and it was broken, but this one was in mint condition. It's surface was jet black, a lacquer-like sheen glossing over it with white reflected light. I would have thought it was smooth had I felt it, but just by looking I could tell it was finely polished and well taken care of. It stood in tranquil silence, the board over the keys, basking in the misty sunlight. It must sound magnificent in this room, a room reserved only for it to play.

When I turned to look at Jade again, he was gone, and I looked for him frantically until I saw him lifting the guard from the keys. I gasped aloud when I saw them: brilliant white rectangles with a satiny sheen, perfect, flawless, just like everything else in this building. The black keys had the same luster as the piano body. It looked brand-new, but it was Jade's, so he must've played it before. I gave this a thought and turned to him. "So you play piano?" He nodded solemnly, and I did too.

The sad thing was, I'd never heard a note of music before in my life. I only recognized instruments through study, though I had no idea what any of them sounded like. I knew the piano was pretty though, as my friends had told me before. Feeling excitement rise within me, I said, "So play something."

Jade gave me a look as if I had just slapped him across the face. "Why would I do that?" he asked dourly, a harsh glare in his red eyes. I was confused, and he let the board slam back down over the keys.

"Well, I've never heard music before, so I thought you would play me something." I sounded a little weird asking this, but from everything I'd heard about the beauty of music, I really yearned to hear something then. Jade raised a gloved hand to his silver frames though and sighed.

"I'm sorry, I just don't have the time. Perhaps another day." Back to his usual, emotionless self, he asked, "Shall we continue our tour?" I said yes and we left, the white sheet that had camoflauged the piano earlier still laying on the floor.

The top floor was more of less the same, only with less rooms. The final room we arrived in was the Princess's room. Jade entered directly after knocking, and for the first time, I saw someone else in the mansion. "Natalia," Jade began, and I immediately noticed they must've been good friends for him to address her so casually, "This is Luke Fon Fabre. He is the applicant for the job of caretaker."

Princess Natalia was a woman of perhaps nineteen, wearing a loose turquoise gown laced with whites and other pale blues. She wore silver jewelry and looked very much like a princess in a castle, though she was just an owner of an estate. She had short strawberry blonde curls and wore a silver headband. Her skin was pale, her eyes distant, and her voice weak. It appeared she was ill.

"Jade," she managed, sitting up slightly and looking at him. "I've told you a thousand times. I'm giving the estate to you." She was interrupted by a fit of coughing and she raised a delicate, white-gloved hand to her lips, closing her eyes in anguish. Waving her other hand, she said, "Send this boy away."

This evoked a small smile from Jade and he shifted his weight. "Your sickness is consuming you," he remarked with no sympathy or softness at all. "And I cannot accept the estate when a life of military awaits me." I flinched at his cruel words, for he seemed to have no problem turning down such a gracious offer. Natalia was used to it though and she gave him a serious look.

"He may look around as he likes and stay as long as you permit. I will take that time to consider it." Coughing again, she flicked her wrist and Jade hurriedly guided me out of the room.

Looking at his watch, Jade said, "Dinner will be at six o'clock. Feel free to walk around the garden or find the other residents. The servant should be around, and there's also a path that leads through the woods if you get really bored." Jade added the last part with such exasperation I figured he'd been on the trail himself before.

"Thanks," I said as he walked off. Heading back downstairs, I decided to take his first suggestion and went outside to find the garden. The mist was setting in as afternoon did, and the cool dampness of the air was soothing. Reading one gray sign in the yard, I found my way to the back, where a lush garden was.

Dirt pathways wound their way through the flowers and plants, bordered by small stones individually placed along each path outline. I found the starting place and took a tour through the fragrant jungle of plantlife. There was a great variety and quantity, flowers of every color at least once, if not twice. Heliotrope balanced well with the rose bushes, and smaller flowers dotted the fertile soil.

After pushing past a tree limb, I found the center of the garden, surrounded by dahlias and daisies. A tightly bricked circle in the path symbolized the very heart of the garden. To my surprise, placed in the circle was a chair of twisted straw painted white, and cushioned by floral pillows. Perhaps someone liked to spend time out here and think. After all, there wasn't much else to do around the estate judging from the interior.

It was still early, and I didn't know where to find the other residents, so I headed for the trail Jade had told me about. It led off the estate grounds and into a forest quite a ways down. I pulled my coat tighter and before I knew it, my breath was visible in the air. I simply stared down the trail, thinking to myself.

I had never imagined that Jade was a musician, but by the way he treated the piano I would assume it was one of his favorite hobbies. And the Princess was sick this whole time, so perhaps that's why I fell upon the help wanted ad in the paper. Jade said something about a servant, and that was all I knew about as far as residents. I didn't know anything about the estate as far as why Natalia owned it, or why she'd chosen to give it to Jade. Maybe I would bring those up at dinner.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt a hand on my shoulder. A smooth voice laughed kindly as I turned in surprise, and I saw a man I'd never seen before. "You must be the new estate owner," he said, but I found I was unable to speak because the man had such engaging eyes. They were a mystifying clear azure the color of the sky and sea. He had soft, short blonde hair and a charming smile. Taller than me, he was probably around twenty years old. I guess what surprised more were his clothes: simple black pants, a white shirt, and a black vest. I would've expected him to be dressed with more extravegance.

My response, or lack thereof, must've disappointed him because his smile faded and he furrowed his brow. Leaning closer to me as if to get a better look, he asked, "Aren't you?"

Discarding my bad manners with the shake of my head, I answered, "Well, Princess Natalia hasn't confirmed it yet, but I applied." As I gave him another brief look, his grin returned. "You must be the servant Jade told me about."

"My name's Guy." He extended a hand to me and I shook it. He was certainly winsome for a servant, but I was thankful for his company anyway.

"I'm Luke." I had a few things I wanted to ask the servant, but I figured it would be too forward of me to start such conversation with someone I just met.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Luke," he said, and I took his words to heart for a change. Perhaps his affable personality made his words of kindness easier to believe. "How do you like everything so far?"

I paused before answering, trying to think of how I really did like the place. "It's nice. Really spacious, and everything's so rich and refined." Guy nodded in agreement. "Do you like working here?"

"Yeah, I like it a lot! And it'd be nice to have another new face around here!" He flushed with happiness and took my arm, leading me back to the castle. I guess as a servant he was used to ushering people around. "Jade brought in a girl a couple of weeks ago that Natalia really likes. Have you met her?"

I shook my head; I hadn't seen a girl in the building at all besides the Princess herself, and I told him so. Guy shook his head with a smile and said, "Oh, you'll know her when you see her. She's amazing." Choosing to remain secretive about her, he changed the subject. "But there's also this woman I can't stand."

"Who?"

"You'll know her when you see her, too," he said, his eyes darkening in hate. "She takes away from the beauty of this estate, I think. She's also the sister of the man who owned it all before the Princess." I pulled away from Guy and turned to face him, startled.

"Tell me about that."

"What?"

"Tell me about this estate. Who owned it, and why does Natalia now? And why did she want to give it to Jade?" Guy made some indistinct motion with his hands, but I knew he wanted me to slow down. "Sorry. As the estate owner, I'll need to know a lot about it."

"Everything I know, I learned from Jade. He could tell you more than I could. But I'll get you started anyway." Clearing his throat, he began, "Badaq Oakland owned this estate some years ago. It's said he build it, but I find that hard to believe. He was a connoisseur of art and it was his virtu that really started all this. Surprisingly though, he wasn't an artist. He was a soldier."

We were walking around the estate, Guy leading me through the yard. "He had a wife, deceased, and a daughter, our own Princess Natalia." There was a pause. "Then he went to war and told Jade, a fellow soldier who wasn't going to that particular battle, that if anything happened to him in the war, he wanted the estate to go to his daughter. His sister wanted it badly, and still does, hoping to inherit all this land." His soft blue eyes grew distant and sad, and I felt something in me sink too.

"Badaq died in the war one night, and Jade heard of this. He told Natalia the estate was hers, but she never accepted it until a week later. During that first week, she had cried endlessly and mourned for her father." Another silence, as we approached the garden. "So Natalia owns the estate now, except for Jade's portion, granted to him by Badaq for being such a good friend."

"That's such a sad story," I commented, leaning slightly in the wind. Guy smiled weakly and shrugged, but I knew it hurt him to tell me that. "Thanks for letting me know."

"Well, there's more." He looked over at me and said, "There's another story about the Princess's relationship with Jade, but she could tell you that on her own sometime. Or maybe Jade will fill you in."

Bells sounded. Heavy, strong bells sent sound across the estate grounds, and I checked my watch. "Oh no, I'm late for dinner!" Guy laughed so calmly just then, I felt calm, too.

"Yeah, so am I. Come on." He took my arm again and led me back to the castle. "Then again, they wouldn't ring those bells if everyone was already in the dining room. Let's just say we're almost late." He held the door open for me and I stepped inside, though I was totally clueless as to where to go next. The servant guided me through a hallway and within seconds, I was standing in the dining room. The table that had been so empty earlier was now filled with lustrous dishes and platters.

Although the smell was tantalizing, Guy gave me a look and started setting out plates and silverware. "Don't forget to wash your hands." I nodded and left the room, but stopped as soon as I was out, unaware of where I was going. I could hear Guy laugh shortly again from the dining room. "I guess you don't know where to go, do you?" he chirped playfully, setting his work down. "I'll go with you."

"Thanks," I said. Guy was amiably cheerful and good-natured for a servant, and I was gracious for his advice.

Abrupt ending, I know. Well, tell me what you thought. I'll have ch. 2 up in no time.