Six years has passed since that day in the slum. I am 19 now, but the big difference from the 13 year old me and the currently 19 year old me is that I don’t live on the street anymore. Oh no, I am barely recognizable to myself, or to anybody else for that matter. I am now living and serving in the mansion of Lord Deus Laros the third. The man that saved me from Marcus and his gang, or well, he saved me from Micha, but whatever.
Lord Deus’s mansion is one of the biggest properties in the city, and for one like me who had lived on the street for as long as I could remember, this was like coming to heaven. And even thought I had to maintain most of it, it was still the best place I could ever imagine.

I was carrying a silver tray with some toast, meat (which I never could remember the name of) and a cup of steaming tea (with a teaspoon of sugar and some drops of lemon in it), it was for the master. I had learned the art of carrying trays like this rather early, since my only chance of staying with the lord – and repay my depth as I like to call it- was to serve in his mansion.
I opened a big double door and entered master’s private room. It was really dark in there; one year ago he had stopped turning the light on, he preferred to have his room dark, so I had learned to navigate in there without the help of light. I had stumbled and fallen a lot the first times though.
I now stood in the middle of the room, and my eyes had adapted to the lack of light. I could see the back of a big comfy chair, master was sitting in it.
“Master Laros, I have prepared and brought your breakfast.”
No answer. Well I did not shrug on it; he was probably hoping that I was one of his other servants. There was only one problem with that thought; I was the only one of his servant that was willing to enter his room anymore.
“Well, I will just place it on your table then.” I said and placed the tray on the barely visible table beside me. “Now, if you will excuse me, I will go down to the town and run some errands for you, I heard that your gloves are repaired and ready to be picked up.” I said, and with a bow I turned around and left the dark room.

There is a reason as of why the other servants do not wish to enter his room, why I had to maintain the mansion alone, why I had to go errands. They don’t even want to speak about the master and neither do they want to leave his mansion.
The reason is; Master Laros is dead.
Even so, I still serve him; I will not betray him like the other servants did, even if it means that I have to keep the whole mansion running by myself.
The others are traitors that can’t see the fact that it is appreciated that we still keep that mansion clean and tidy. Even if our master is dead, he is still in his room, and he is still our master.

I wandered down the marmot staircase and came to the entrance hall; the columns were shining gustily in the light of the rising sun outside, the sunrise was late this time of the year. I walked over the freshly polished floor of the hall, with every step I took, the jingling of bells sounded. I still had the Jester hat from so many years ago. It was one of my most prized belongings; my only belonging in fact, if you didn’t count the clothes that master Laros had given me. A puffy pair of pants, and a long jacket with wide sleeves and two buttons in the middle of it, exposing some of my chest and my stomach. I opened the double door and ventured out in the quiet morning air. The garden had grown wild as I had no clue in gardening. And the result of that was that the garden was just a shadow of its previous beauty. The only thing I did was cutting the grass, so that the path to the gate would be visible.  
Lord Laros’ mansion was not far from the city, and getting there meant a walk on mere minutes. It was always fun to see the city this time of year as they were preparing for the now annual carnival that had been taking place every year since I was thirteen. Unfortunately I had never had the opportunity to go and see the show, I had always been busy, but this time I had made sure that all my duties were done in time so that I could check it out. I would not stay long though; master Laros would become lonely without me there. I walked quickly though the streets, even if I now were a servant of Lord Laros, I could not help feeling anxiety every time I passed by an alley, those were the hallways to my past.
Since the carnival was closing up on everybody, there were all kinds of people in the city now, travelers from far away as well as some of the lords from the outskirts of the city. So everywhere you looked you could always see unique clothes, it was almost like the carnival had already started.            

I came out from the glove shop where masters old gloves had been repaired, carrying the now fixed gloves in a brown paper bag. The man at the counter had always been a nice fellow, but he seemed stressed now. It was probably because of the carnival, since there were so many people in town he always had work to do. I passed a lot of people, bumping into them, but nobody took notice of it. Suddenly I stopped, a man in a red traveling cape came walking towards me in quite a speed, it was like he was in a hurry. His eyes were hidden behind his hair, and he had his head turned towards the ground. He passed by me and I felt a familiar scent embrace me.
“Master!” I shouted as I turned around and grabbed the back of the man’s cape, I felt tears fill my eyes, my master had never died, he was alive! He was right here! I fell on my knees in one of my deepest bows, still holding the cape. Now I only needed to see his face again, and everything would be ok. But when he turned, there was a completely unknown face before me. “Who are you?” the man said, I was surprised for a moment as his voice sounded electronic, and belonged with a robot rather than a human. Then, the realization crashed over me. This wasn’t my master, I let go of the man’s cape and lowered my head, letting the tears run down my face.
“I apologize sir” I muttered “I mistook you for another.” How could I be so stupid? My master Laros was in the mansion, waiting for me. I could feel the man’s eyes studying me quickly, before; “What? Oh, no it’s ok. Everybody makes mistakes.” His voice buzzed, but there was another tone to the electronic voice, it was almost like he was smiling from the voice to judge.
“Y-Yes sir, I apologize” I said, my voice was quivering, and I felt my body shiver as I was trying not to break down completely. I heard a tiny Oh, from him, before he turned around. I could only see his feet though, he was not wearing shoes.
“You must really love your master…” his voice buzzed, this time I could definitively trace the feeling of his words. I took a deep breath “Yes s-sir, I r-really do…” I stuttered while half way lifting my head towards him. His left eye was covered by his hair, and he had a scar running across his face, just above the nose. His hair was dark brown, almost black and it seemed that he had a belt strapped in it, to keep the hair in place over his eye. A part of his lower face was covered by the traveling cape, and his eyes. He had brown eyes; they seemed to be able to kill a man despite the calm color. But now, they were filled with concern. He reached out a hand towards me, offering to help me up from the ground. “Come here,” he said, and despite the electronic voice, I heard the calming sound in it, “let me take you to a shop I know of, so that you can calm down” I took his hand and he pulled me up from the ground, his arms were really strong. I stood there looking at the ground, and I did not react to anything before he put his arm around my shoulder and leaded me through the street. He wasn’t wearing a shirt under his cape, so I could see that he had a really muscular stomach and strong arms.

He leaded me to a tiny coffee shop that I hadn’t noticed before; it seemed to be quite popular. I wiped away some of the tears as we entered the shop. A waitress in a skirt and an apron came and leaded us to a table. While she walked us though the shop she stole tiny glances at us, always with a sly looking smile. The table she gave us was a little circular table with one chair on each side; it seemed to be isolated from the rest of the shop. He let go of me and sat down, lifting an eyebrow that suggested that I did the same.
As I sat down I noticed that my feet were touching his as it wasn’t much space beneath the table. I quickly pulled my legs away, wrapping them around the feet of my chair.
“Ah, I am sorry that they placed us at such a tiny table, they must have thought that we were a couple of some sort.” His voice buzzed embarrassed.    
“No sir, it is my fault that we even got in this situation.” I said quietly.
“Hey,” he said, looking at me “call me Michael, the whole sir thing never worked for me” he smiled.
“Ah, of course si- Michael.” I said; it was funny how this man had evolved from the cold face that I had seen on the street into a nice; and seemingly well-mannered man.  
“So” he said, putting his elbows on the table, supporting himself as he leaned forward. I just sat there, and leaned back a bit on my chair, so that I wouldn’t end up sitting nose to nose with him. He quickly realized how it had to look for everybody else and leaned back in his chair again. “Sorry, it’s a habit I have,” He explained quickly “but back to the question I was about to ask.”  I looked at him, waiting for the question, but just as he opened his mouth to ask, the waitress that had shown us to our table came by. “So, what can I get for you two?” she asked while looking at both of us with excitement and expectation in her face.
“Uhhhm” I said, I had never been to a coffee shop, so I had no idea how this worked. I looked at Michael, who obviously understood what was going on in my head because he quickly said “Give us two regular coffees please.”, the waitress nodded short, gave both of us a sly smile and walked away.          
“Well,” Michael tried once again, “what is your name then? I mean, you know mine.” He said with a little laugh as he saw the expectation and insecurity in my face.
“Oh” I said, it was not something like that I had expected. “My name, well it’s Crow” I said quietly, I was not ashamed of my name; it was just that I was unique compared to Michael.
“Crow ehy?” He said with a grin, “what an awesome name.”
“Thank you, but I think you name is beautiful, my Master always loved that name.” I said, while a tiny smile played in the corner of my mouth.
“Ah yeah” Michael said as the waitress came back to our table and placed a cup of coffee in front of each of us. How weird it was to be served like this, normally I am the one serving.
“Crow, a mere traveler like me has no right to ask, but I will still do it. Who is your master if I may ask?” Michael was studying me, he was probably thinking about my reaction earlier. “I serve under Lord Deus Laros the third.” I said with all the dignity I could muster as I had just burned my tongue on the coffee, it had a harsh taste to it.
“Lord Deus” Michael said, it seemed like he was thinking extremely hard to remember something. “Ah yes!” he suddenly exclaimed “Isn’t he the guy living in the mansion above the city?”
“Why yes.”
“But… I had heard that he died.”
It felt like somebody had dropped an iceberg inside my stomach when Michael said that, and if there ever was a shadow of a smile in my face, it was gone now. How could he know? I took another sip of the coffee, to buy myself some time to think, it was still extremely hot, but I just had to endure it.
“Michael, where have you heard such foolish roomers?” I asked as I felt the coffee burn down my throat.  “Well, I am old friends with one of the people serving him; he said that Laros had died, and that some loony tick was still watching his duties on top of cleaning the whole mansion and serving him food, despite the fact that he wasn’t paid a single coin for it.” Michael said, before he took a sip of his coffee.
“….. Who… Who was that servant? Is he still living in the mansion?” I said stiffly, as the iceberg stared to grow and was now starting to block my airways.
“Well, he said he was still living there as there was nobody to throw him out. If I remember correctly his name was Mako” he said, looking at me again “…Crow, are you ok?”
“Yes… Yes, I am fine, thank you for the coffee Michael, I will pay you back as soon as I get my check, but I have to go now, my master is waiting for me to get back with his gloves.”  I had barely touched my coffee but that was nothing of concern right now. With that I got up from the table, but I stumbled. I don’t know if it was In Michaels legs or the chair, but I fell to the floor, and the bells on my hat jingled loudly. Michael was now on his feet, I could see that his hand was stretched half way out; he had tried to catch me before I hit the floor. He now stood over me with concern painted all over his face. Suddenly an extreme jolt of panic raced through my body as something in the back of my mind started to stir.
I had to get away from Michael, now! I did not care for standing up, I turned around so I was flat on my stomach, snatched the bag with the gloves in it, threw myself of the floor and ran out of the shop. In my flight out of there I could see the waitress from before, carrying a tray with empty plates and some half full glasses of water. She seemed concerned, but I did not grant her another thought. I had to get back to my master; I had been gone far too long.            
                                                                  *
“MAKO!”  My voice carried far though out the mansion. For every hurried step I had taken back to the mansion, the old Crow had awoken. The one that had been violent, the one who had a foul mouth. The one who had been growing inside for six years.  The mansions chef Fay came out from her room, wide eyed and wondering who made all the ruckus.
“Crow?” She said shocked, and I could see her already marble round eyes expand even more. Fay was a girl with bright blond hair, grey toned eyes, a pierced ear and a pierced lip. On top of that, ever since the master died she had used only her apron and a skirt, never anything underneath it. She had several times tried to seduce me into having sex with her, but damn I am not that stupid, but I would bet my life on the fact that she had seduced both Mako and Matt into it.
Me, Fay, Mako and Matt, we were the only ones left. Two plain servants, Myself and Mako, the chef Fay and the gardener Matt. The others had left the same day as master… Died. Now I remembered why I was so angry.
“Where the hell is Mako?” I growled to Fay. She took a careful step away from me, she had only met the well-mannered, childish and naïve Crow, never the violent and foul Crow.  
“Crow… What have happened? Why are you so… Different?” She said quietly, she obviously liked the calm and naïve Crow better.
“What have happened? Oh nothing, I just learned that in this mansion I am referred to as a loony tick and still serve a master that have gone away! Hah, Mako should be careful with whom he is taking with!” My voice had grown louder, and I now stood there shouting again.
“What is going on out there?” I heard a drowsy voice shout further down the hall. Soon after Matt came out of his room and walked over to us. He had been sleeping until now.  
“Matt, Crow has turned insane!” Fay said at once and hid behind him despite being much taller than him.
Matt stood there looking at me, I could see that he was concentrating.
“What a fascinating sight” I said, looking at Matt “I don’t think I have ever seen you think so hard before.” Matts jaw fell down and his eyes got just as wide as Fay’s.  “What the fuck Crow? Have you been drinking or something?” Matt asked shocked by what I had said.
“I have been drinking coffee, and that’s about it. Now would somebody PLEASE tell me where Mako is?”
“Mako? Why are you looking for him while you are in such a mood?”
“It doesn’t matter why I am looking for him, just tell me where he is!” I was getting really pissed off, and in the depths of my mind I swore to god that he had fun by not telling me.
“Well” Fay said, obviously scared out of her mind as I turned my gaze at her again. “He said something about meeting an old friend and went out shortly after you left” Her voice got thinner and thinner for every word.
“Great” I muttered before walking away.

I was looking at myself in the mirror, there was no hat on my head and my dark hair was a mess after me ruffling it while thinking. The childish Crow wanted to return, but I would not let him, I had to meet Mako before I could allow it. My eyes were gleaming in the light, one green and one blue eye. I turned around and looked out in the room, on the table before me was the masters collection of knifes. I had been maintaining them in secret, it was something calming about maintaining these sharp and deadly weapons. They now laid on a row from the smallest to the biggest all of them shining as I had just polished and sharpened them again. So Mako had gone out to look for Michael, but he hadn’t found him because of me. I bet that they in this very moment was having a good laugh talking about the loony tick that was serving Lord Deus even after his death.

Several days passed, but Mako did not return to the mansion, he was probably out with Michael, both of them drinking their brains out.
I still made breakfast to the Master, and I kept on with my duties. Fay and Matt did not dare to speak with me, it was probably to the best. When the other Crow returned I would make contact with them again.
The day of the carnival closed up and I let the other Crow come to and finished all of my duties so that I could go and watch the performances at the plaza.
I entered the master’s room for the second time that day, I wanted to ask him if it was ok that I went out to see the show.
“Master Laros” I said while I was on my knees in a deep bow. This time I had walked past the chair and stood in front of him, or what was left of him. Where my master had once been there was now only a skeleton in my masters clothes.        
“As you probably know, there is a carnival in the city today.” I felt my throat tighten as the question closed up on me. “I was wondering if you would allow me to go down and take a look since I have been unable to do so in previous years because of my duties.” I looked up and it was almost like the empty eye sockets were keeping an eye on me while saying ‘Yes, go on?’ I took a deep breath. “I have made sure that all of my duties are finished in time so that I have the spear time. So I am now asking you.”  I could hear my master laugh and say “Yes Crow, why wouldn’t I let you have some fun, it seems that you have been working hard. You deserve a break.”  I nodded my head and stood up “Thank you master.” And with one last bow I walked out of the dark room.

The plaza was filled with people, the locals with their kids, travelers and Lords from the outskirts of the city together with their servants. I arrived just in time to the opening performance. It was almost as if  I was a thirteen old boy again, spellbound by the performances and tricks that were acted out in the middle of the plaza. I could recognize some of the performers from when I was a kid while some were completely new faces, but I knew exactly who I was waiting for.   After the fifth performance there was a break while they were rigging up something in the middle of the crowd. I suddenly felt somebody take a tight grip around my upper arm and pull me through the crowd towards the front row of people. I looked up and saw a muscular arm and a flowing red cape. “Dear Crow, you won’t see anything if you stand I the back of the crowd” an electronic voice cut thought the buzz of voices, I looked at the man’s face, but I did not need to, I knew it was Michael pulling me thought the crowds of people. For a second I felt the old Crow growl within me, but he was gone as quickly as he had come. “Sir Michael, what are you doing here?” I asked as he had placed me in front of him at the front row of people. “Again with the Sir? Well, it will have to do.” Michaels buzzing voice sounded thoughtful “Why am I here you ask? Hehe, for the same reason as you. To see the show.” The thoughtful voice was replaced with laughter and a smile.
I wasn’t able to ask anything more, because just then another performer stepped into the plaza. We watched the rest of the show in silence, and then. The one thing I had been waiting for. The tall man. He now had a different hat… Well, I had his hat so it was understandable that he now had a different one, this one had no bells though. He performed the same tricks as the ones I had seen six years ago, but they were just as amazing as it had been back then. Michael must have noticed how exited I was to see that man, because I could hear him laugh a bit every time my head followed his movements.
I really wanted to talk to him after the show, so when the crowd eased out I stood there, still with Michael behind me, but I did not notice him. The tall man was talking with somebody; they seemed to irritate him with questions because I could see a wrinkle between his eyebrows while he was talking. Suddenly Michael put an arm around me, like he had done the day we met, and confidently walked me over to him. I looked up at Michael, but what I saw scared me. Those eyes that had been so soft, they were now hard as stone as he looked at the people speaking with the man. He waked me over to them, and placed himself and me between the man and the people taking with him. “Hello Boris” his voice buzzed to the tall man before he looked at the people standing there, they seemed to be reporters.
“It is people like you that make me sick” his electric voice growled, but despite his hard face and angry voice, the grip he had around my shoulder was careful and soft. “You think that you can fool me; or Boris for that matter by disguising as reporters? Nobody and I repeat NOBODY is going to steal him away from this beautiful arrangement. He had been here since I was a kid, and damn you if you try take him away from this city! ” his voice had grown really aggressive now, and it you were to only judge by his voice and face, it seemed that he was about to attack the people disguised as reporters. They backed away quickly and apologized several times, both to Michael and the performer with the name Boris, before they turned around and walked away in a haze.  
Michael closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he looked at me and smiled “I have known Boris here since his first show” he said nodding his head to the tall man. “I ran into him while wandering the city at night time. He was looking for a place to drink, so I showed him and he took me with him, despite me being underage.” Michael laughed and turned us around grinning to the tall man named Boris “Do you remember that?”. Boris laughed “Yes Michael, I remember that”
“Damn, you even remember my name, I did not expect that one”
“Well, we have gone out drinking every year since then, so how could I forget?”
“Ok, you might have a point there”
I now knew the name of the tall man that had given me his hat, the nice man that had given me my most valued belonging. Boris, I think he is Russian, judging from the name and the ascent that I now recognized.

Despite talking lively with Boris, Michael never removed his protective arm from me. Somehow I wanted him to let go of me, but it felt so safe, having his strong arm wrapped around my shoulders.
“But Michael, old times aside, who it is that you have with you?” Boris asked, looking curiously at me, I hadn’t looked at him once since we walked over to him.
“This little guy?” Michael grinned to me again, he couldn’t help but referring to being taller than me, I felt his hand tighten around my shoulder for a second.
“This is Crow, he seemed to be very excited when he saw you stepping into the ring.” For the first time I looked up at Boris, I had to curve my neck to the point of it almost being painful to look him in the eyes. Didn’t he remember me? The -at the time- thirteen year old boy that he had given his hat to? The hat he had used in his first performance in this town? Well of course he didn’t remember me, he had probably met a ton of other kids later on, so a lonely sappy street kid probably slipped away from his mind rather quickly.
“Crow..?” Boris was studying me, in the end he crouched down in front of us; even if he did he was at Michael’s height. He was insanely tall!
“God damn!” he was now looking at the hat on my head.
“Are you really the skinny little kid from that alley? The one I gave my hat to?” he seemed to be really amazed. Suddenly he stood up, laughing loudly.
“Damn Crow, sorry, I did not recognize you, I mean you have changed completely.” Boris smiled down at me. Michael on the other hand was now looking confused, he first looked at me, then at Boris and then back at me. “Crow, you never told me you knew Boris.” Michael said, I had no idea why, but he sounded insulted in a way. I looked scared up at Michael, but my voice wasn’t thin… ok it might be a bit wimpy, but not weak. “Sir Michael… I have barely gotten to know you…. And I didn’t even know Sir Boris’s name until today. I did not know that you knew him”
“Oh, so you barely know Michael?” Boris said puzzled. “From the way you are acting towards each other I thought you were a couple, you never know what Michael hooks up with. ” he laughed again. Now it was my turn to look confused, but Michael and Boris only laughed.

HOPPA! I shouted together with the crowd, my throat was sore after yelling it over and over again, but I still kept it up. Michael and Boris had taken me to a Russian themed bar where Boris obviously knew the people working there. I had not wanted to go, but as Michaels arm tightened around my shoulder again I could not say anything more. Boris had ordered us something to drink, speaking Russian, so I had no idea what he was ordering to us, but as a waitress in funny clothes had come over to us and placed our drinks in front of us it was blown away. Boris had ordered a really colorful drink to me, Michael had gotten a glass with something blue in it, while Boris had gotten a whole bottle of clear liquid. As we had gotten our drinks I looked clueless up at Michael and Boris. “What is all this?” I had asked referring to the drinks by our table. “Well” Michaels electronic voice buzzed to me “I have gotten my favorite; a glass of Absyth. Boris is drinking pure vodka, that crazy bastard, and you. You my dear Crow have gotten one of the finest cocktails this bar has to offer.” Michael explained in an experienced tone.  

                                                                  *

I got up from the bed I was placed in, and it took a second of looking confused into the room before I understood that it was my own room, the sun was standing in the middle of the sky, throwing rays of light onto the floor. I looked down at my now bare chest, the scar just below my ribcage was still there. I had gotten it while living in the streets.
My head was pounding and my mouth and throat was dry. What had happened last night? I closed my eyes and tried to think, but everything was in a fog. I remember that I tasted the drink, I drank all of it, it reeked with alcohol, but it was really good. After that, Michael had bided me a taste of his glass, it was much stronger than mine, and I had felt the mouthful of blue liquid burn all the way down to my stomach where it had given me a memory loss.    
The next I remembered was being carried by Michael, up a slack hill and though a familiar gate. In through two gigantic double doors. Michael’s electric voice, speaking quietly with a woman sounding worried. I could remember that I had been looking in the ceiling, wondering what was hiding in the darkness up there while other half formed thoughts were flying in through head. Maybe a vampire?
I remember that Michael had walked up a flight of stairs, we were alone again. Michael had whispered something to me, I could not remember what, but my answer had been no. That was all that was left of my memory, Michaels blue drink had stolen the rest of it.
I tried to get up from the bed, but as I did the whole room started to spin and it felt like my head was about to explode. I fell back into the pillows of what was a half double bed, and as I did I felt my arm brush by something warm. I lazily turned my head to the side, and I flew up of the bed as I saw what I had brushed by. It was a big mistake, the room spun worse than ever and my head hurt so much that I was close to throwing up. Beside me was Michael. His hair was a mess, and the hair normally covering his left eye was brushed aside. His eyes were closed, he was sleeping. I carefully slid down in the bed sheets again, praying that the headache would stop. I tried to lie as close to the wall as possible, so that I wouldn’t brush by Michael again, waking him up.
I laid there, trying to remember more of what had happened last night, but nothing more came by. Suddenly Michael moved, he turned to his stomach, placing his face in the pillow before his arms came up from the sea of messed sheets in the bed. He stretched his arms before placing them underneath him and lifting himself slowly up from the matrass.
He now placed his knees underneath him and lifted a hand to his head before looking at me. “Good morning Crow” his voice - despite being electronic- was dragged by sleep and the drinks he had taken yesterday. I looked at him, he was a bit blurry. The scar above his nose was nothing new, but I now noticed a scar cutting straight across his throat with the marks of stitches running vertically over it. He also had a scar on his arm, but it was his left eye that was the most surprising. Instead of an open brown and friendly eye, there was a closed eyelid that was scared straight down the middle.
“Sir Michael” I said, my voice was so tired and dragged that it did not sound like my own. I sat up in the bed, but that was obviously the last straw for my body. It seemed like stars were dancing before my eyes, slowly moving to the center of my view, dragging a curtain of black after it. And in the end Michael was gone behind it and my memory slipped once again.

It was dark, but I felt something warm holding around me before I heard somebody knocking on the door. I half opened one of my eyes and saw that Mako had walked through the door. “Crow, why-” he had stopped in the middle of what seemed like a question.
“Michael? What are you doing here?” I could see his gaze moving form Michael to me and back before he continued “Michael, what is going on? Why are you holding Crow like that?” there was something suspicious in his voice.  I felt Michael taking a deep breath and I could hear his heart pounding as my head was resting against something that seemed to be his chest. “Mako, that doesn’t matter at all right now. Could you be so sweet that you got a glass of water and some Aspirin for Crow?”  I could hear a trace of worry and annoyance in the buzzing.
I wanted to laugh, he had called Mako sweet. The sweetest thing about him would be when I could see his back as he left my room.
“Crow, can you hear me?” Michael was now looking worried at me. I could see that his hair was hanging like a shredded curtain across his face. I wanted to fix it, so that he would be the old Michael again. I wanted to wipe away that worried look, tell him that I was ok, but my body wouldn’t react to the messages that my brain sent out.
I could hear Mako coming into the room again, but I kept on looking at Michael with drowsy eyes. I heard Mako put a glass of water at the table standing beside the bed, followed by the sound of something tiny hitting and bouncing off hard wood several times before it became quiet.
“Thank you Mako” Michael looked at him and there was a shadow of a smile in his face. “You’re welcome, I want to talk to you.” There was something weird with Mako’s voice; it was like it was a plate of wood cracked down the middle… or a broken CD.  Michaels face turned hard, like yesterday when he had spoken with the people disguised as reporters. “We can take it later Mako, right now I need to care for Crow.” I heard Mako sigh, I had never heard that before. I then heard him walking out of the room, closing the door after him.
“Crow” Michael brushed a hand softly over my cheek, probably brushing away some of my hair “Can you hear me? I have water for you.” His voice was soft.
I wanted to cry, why was Michael so caring for me? He barely knew me. Why was he so worried about a person who was as good as a stranger? And a servant on top of that!
I managed to open my eyes completely after a couple of tries where they had slipped back to being half open.
“Sir Michael” Only saying his name made the pressure in my throat build up and I felt my eyes growing warm with what soon would be tears. I felt Michael’s arms grip tighter around me as he carefully pressed me against his chest. His heart was pounding in a double beat. He had seen the tears than now came running down my face.
“Sir Michael, why is my body so numb and heavy?” I felt like a child, a baby. I did not understanding anything despite being a 19 year old boy… a man. And still, I did not know why my body was like this. Why my head felt so heavy, why my throat was so dry.
“Relax Crow, I will explain it, but now the first think you have to do is calm down, move slowly and drink some water.” Michael, his whole being, it was like a bubble of safety and warmth. He loosened his grip around me so that I could move, but I did not want to. I did not want to separate from his warm body. But now my throat was screaming for water. I slowly moved away from Michael’s arms and sat in the middle of the bed supported by my knees, a tear ran down from my eyes now and then. He reached a glass of water to me, I took a sip and the dryness disappeared and I felt that my body calmed down. The head ache was still there and I slowly lifted a hand to my head. “Sir Michael, could you give me an Aspirin?” it was weird asking somebody to do something for me, almost scary. But I did not dare to perform the tiny movement that was getting one of those small pills from the table. I did not want to see that back curtain again. Michael nodded, got one of the pills and handed it to me. But just as I was going to lead it my mouth I stopped. “Uhm, Michael, what are these pills for?” I felt like a fool, I had seen Mako and Matt take them before, but I never knew what they were for. I had never taken a pill in my whole life. And in my foolishness I had forgotten to address him with Sir. He did not seem to notice it.
“They are for your head ache. The dizziness will do away too.” he explained.
I put the pill into my mouth and then took a sip of water like I had seen Mako and Matt do countless times, then I swallowed. It was weird, and somehow it felt like the pill was stuck in my throat. I tried to drink more water to get it to go down into my stomach, but it still felt like it was stuck. I looked clueless up at Michael who had been studying me. He smiled. “It feels like it is stuck, right?” he asked friendly, but without waiting for an answer he continued “It will go away after some minutes” I laid down in the bed again, watching as Michael slowly got out of the bed and walked carefully overt to where he had placed his clothes. He had to stop once as it looked like he was about to fall out of nothing. Like an invisible hand had pushed him playfully. I could see him brushing his hair in front of the scarred eye and place the belt around his head to make the hair stay there. He pulled on his pants and threw the red traveling cape around his shoulders. He was now the old Michael again. He turned to me “Crow, I have to go and speak with Mako, you stay here and rest. Your body is feeling like that because you drank too much. It is my fault, I should have guessed that you had never been drinking before.” There was a trace of guilt in his calm and caring voice. He then walked out of the room and I was alone.  
                                                       *
I was hazing through the hallways of the mansion, half running half walking. I had to get to Master Laros. I had not made breakfast to him this morning because of my numb body. I had to explain to him why he had been alone since yesterday when I went out.  I did not know how much time had passed since Michael had left my room to speak with Mako, or what time it was. I stopped in front of the double doors that were the entrance to Master Lasos’s private room. I felt a sting of guilt and fear as I opened the door. Would Master be angry with me? Would he throw me out on the streets again? Would he stop speaking to me in that calm and caring voice that only Master had? The room was dark as always, and my body moved on auto though it. “Master Laros?” My voice was thin. “Yes Crow.” I heard my master’s voice echo. He did not sound happy. “I thought you had abandoned me like all the other servants in this mansion.” There was something with Masters echoing voice that scared me. “Master Laros, I apologize on the deepest” I said, my voice was shivering. “I somehow ended up drinking with a man I met as a child and a man that seems to know Mako.” I explained. I did not want to tell Master Laros than I had mistaken Michael for him.
“Drinking? Crow, if that is what you do when you leave my mansion I might not allow you to do it again. You are the only one that is left of my servants that still do his job, you even do the job of the other servants. How can I loose somebody as valuable as you?” Masters voice echoed thought the dark room. “I apologize Master” I said again. I felt the shame fill me to the brim. I should have ripped away from Michaels arm and gone back to the mansion straight away, but something had held me back.

                                                        *

The sunlight that traveled through the windows was like knifes in my eyes after the darkness in masters room. Master had forgiven me and told me to take some days off as I was probably still affected by the alcohol. Since I had been working so hard the previous days there was probably nothing that needed my immediate attention he had said. I was now wandering clueless though the halls of the mansion. I had never had a day off, and now I had several days with nothingness to fill. I had always had something to do. So having my master telling me that I wasn’t allowed to do any work was weird.  
I stopped as I heard loud voices traveling out from Mako’s room. The door wasn’t closed properly. I was just going to walk on thought the mansion to see what I could fill an empty day with when the sound of my name made me stop dead in my tracks.
“Damn Michael, why can’t you just take him away from here? Crow is sick!” Mako’s voice shouted.
“I can’t take him away from Deus” Michael’s voice buzzed calmly.
“Deus Laros the third is dead!” Mako was really angry.
“Not for Crow. The poor kid is putting his whole being into that man! Wasn’t it you that told me that he is the only one doing the chores here now?”
“He is working for a skeleton in Deus’s clothes!”
“Listen Mako, I am not the person that wants to break Crows bubble!”
“Fine, I’ll do it! As long as you can take him away from this god damn place! I have walked by Deus’s Chamber more than once when he had been in there. He is talking to a freaking skeleton!”
It was silent in there for a second. How was Michael involved in what was going on in the mansion? And Mako... Why did he want me to leave? I did not understand anything, but I stood my ground, I wanted to hear more.
“Mako, you know better than anybody how much I care for Crow” Michael sighed.
“Well you have a weird way of showing it! When I walked in on you two earlier today it seemed like I walked in on a crime scene. Your face was white as a sheet when you saw me!” Mako growled.
“Damn Mako, I have told you that it’s not what you think! I haven’t touched Crow!”  The calm sound in Michael’s voice was gone.
“HAH! Don’t make me laugh! I know what you want to do with him!”
What were they speaking about? What did Michael want to do with me?
“Damn, I just want him to get away from here… Get away from Deus. The kid thinks he has to work for him until he dies himself.” I heard the scraping of a chair against the floor. It seemed that Mako sat down.
“Listen Mako, can we take this sometime when Crow is not having a hangover? I have no idea how he is doing right now? For all I know he is in his room fretting completely because he doesn’t know what is going on with his body.” I heard the scraping of a chair again, this time it sounded like somebody stood up. It was probably Michael.
“Or he is fretting about the fact that he hasn’t done any of his daily chores for Deus” Mako said before making his voice going up an octave or two and continued. “Master Laros, I have brought your breakfast. Master Laros, I have washed the entrance hall like you asked. Yes Master Laros. Thank you Master Laros” he coughed before finishing “The kid doesn’t even know that I am the one removing the food and the drink he brings him!” I heard Mako hit the table with is fist.
“I know it takes its toll watching over Crow as you do, but this isn’t easy for me either. What if he suddenly remembers who I am? What am I going to do then?”
“The hell if I know. He is nineteen for god’s sake! Isn’t he capable of taking care of himself!?”
“No Mako he isn’t! He doesn’t even know how to order a coffee… He would die of the stress if he didn’t have anybody to tell him what to do. The instincts from when he was thirteen are long gone now! ”
Silence again. I was in total confusion. It seemed like their conversation was coming to an end. If Michael was going to check on me he wouldn’t be happy to find me outside of Mako’s door.                              
I had ran towards my room, just as I had gotten around the corner that separated the hallway where Mako’s room was from mine I heard the creaking of Mako’s door when it was opened. Michael was on his way. I raced into my room, threw off my clothes, the hat jingled loudly as it hit the top of the heap. I had just gotten into the bed and closed my eyes when I heard a careful knock on the door. “Crow? Are you ok in there?” Michael’s voice buzzed through the door. I did not answer, I just laid there keeping my eyes closed and pretended to sleep. I heard the door open and close. Michael was walking across the floor, his steps were light. “Crow?”  His voice whisper before I felt his hand brush softly by my cheek. I slowly opened my eyes, making it seem like I had been sleeping since he left. I looked up at him, and just as I did it was like my whole body going cold, it was almost like it was screaming for Michaels warmth.  “Hello Sir Michael” I said quietly, trying to remove the cold feeling from my body. What was this?
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“I am feeling well enough” I replied flat.  
“That is good, I was worried. The conversation with Mako took longer than expected. So I could not check on you before now.” He explained, not knowing that I had heard the last bit of their conversation. He sat down beside me on the bed just as I sat up supported by my hands. “You should still take it easy, you can feel a bit wobbly today, so I recommend you to not walk around too much.”  He said, studying my face.
“Yes Sir Michael, Master have given me some days off, so I don’t have anything to do in the mansion.” I said, this was the first time since our first encounter that I had spoken about the Master when I was with Michael. The discussion he had had with Mako still echoed through my mind.

Damn Mako, I have told you that it’s not what you think! I haven’t touched Crow!

HAH! Don’t make me laugh! I know what you want to do with him!

“Sir Michael” I started carefully, I had no idea where this would end up, but I was too curious to stop myself. I looked up at him, I noticed that I had his full attention, it was scary somehow.  “What…. What do you want to do with me?”
I saw Michaels face go into something that resembled shock. He did not say anything. Or, he was moving his lips, but there was no sound. We sat quietly, but in the end Michael’s voice returned. “What are you talking about Crow?” he asked in something that was well disguised fear. “Ah, no. I heard voices. One of them sounding like you and the other one like Mako… Mako’s voice said something about you wanting to do something to me…” I explained, my tone was still flat, I hadn’t managed to chase away the cold feeling.  Without any warning Michael leaned over me, forcing me to lay down again before placing a hand at each side of me, supporting himself. What? Why was he doing that? I could see the reflection of my face in Michael’s eye, the face reflecting was light in surprise.  “Sir Michael?” his face was expressionless as he hovered over me.
I heard the door to my room open again. “Crow now that-” It was Mako, he stopped in the middle of the sentence like the last time he had walked in. Did that guy ever knock?  Michael turned his head to look at Mako, I kept on staring at Michael. Like the last time Mako had walked in his face turned hard.
“Michael!” Mako’s voice was close to a shout.
“Get out of here Mako.” Michael said calmly, but his eyes were like ice and what he had said was more like an order than a request.
“Like hell I will get out of here! I can’t even leave Crow alone with you for as much as a minute! Would you please put a leash on yourself!?” Mako’s voice was like thunder.
I saw a muscle twitch by Michaels jaw line. His eyes were colder than ever when he now was looking at Mako.
“Get off him Michael.” Mako had lowered his voice, but there was something really threatening in it. Michael didn’t move a muscle, he kept on hovering over me, his gaze locked at Mako.
“Sir Michael… Mako. What is going on?” as I heard my own voice I realized that I was scared, the cold feeling in my body was now replaced by confusion and fear. None of them took notice of me, they just kept on challenging each other with their gaze. Why was Mako so protective about me when it came to Michael? Normally he hated me. And wasn’t he and Michael friends? The questions built up inside my brain and I felt the head ache return, pounding at my forehead.
“Michael, I will say it one last time. Get. Off. Him.” The last words were said through clenched teeth. Mako was really angry. No. He wasn’t angry, he was furious about Michael right now, but why? That was the question that was strongest right now. Michaels face revealed nothing, but he slowly removed his hands from the bed and got up, stepping over to the window, his back to the room. He was now in the area of the room that was furthest away from both Mako and me.
Mako sent Michael a look so full of anger that it seemed that his eyes were shooting lightning bolts, then he walked over to me. He leaned close to me “Are you ok Crow? He didn’t do anything to you?” his voice was nothing more than a whisper, but I could hear all of the emotions hidden in it. A trace of anger, guilt and worry.  I shook my head, still looking at Michael. I could see his back lined against the light coming from outside, right now he was nothing more than a shadow.