A Distant Memory - A MPHFPC Ending

~Chapter 2: Looking Uphill~

Miss Peregrine stopped to greet Sharon on her way in. She was in an awful hurry, but as her brother Myron used to say, "The day there's no time for manners, the world's lost to us anyway.".

A white crescent gleamed from the dark interior of her compatriot's hood as he smiled, a snow-white hand extended toward her as they shook hands.

His head slightly turned toward the two Bentham brothers, but, sensing Miss Peregrine's discomfort, refrained from paying heed to the situation. Instead, he silently stepped away from the towering doorway to let the three siblings into Myron's house.

They hadn't quite entered the varnished insides of the house, when a distraction came darting up to them.

In this case, the aforementioned distraction was in the form of a little man in mismatched clothes, smears of soot and grime on his strange outfit. He seemed to be a man of halves, and upon closer inspection, had been crying. As soon as he'd spotted the trio, he made a beeline for the tallest of them, his arms flinging around a man outfitted with a torn, brown suit.

Myron blinked uncertainly, his arms hanging limp at his sides. While the little man seemed both distraught and elated at the same time, he didn't know what to think. He felt the situation threaten to overwhelm him, and looked to Miss Peregrine for help.

Miss Peregrine sighed, trying to think of the best course of action. She decided to firmly, but gently, inform Nim that they had to go see a figure of authority about their current plight.

'Nim,' she began slowly. 'We've got an extremely important pressing engagement elsewhere, and are in an awful hurry.'

Nim looked up from the folds of Myron's tattered suit, his eyes landing on Miss Peregrine, then someone else who was standing behind her.

Caul was trailing his eyes over the various curiosities fixed on the wall. He noticed Nim's eyes on him, and turned to grin at him, raising a hand in greeting.

A flicker of fear flashed across Nim's face, and just as quickly as his arrival, he turned and disappeared into one of the many rooms in Myron's house.

Confused, Caul slowly lowered his arm.

The three Bentham siblings stood in silence for a moment, until Miss Peregrine clapped her hands to get their attention.

She'd quietly decided to find Miss Avocet for further instructions, and turned to seek her out. Even before the war, her former teacher had been quite busy, and Miss Peregrine wasn't sure if Miss Avocet would find the time to decide what to do with her brothers' situation.

However, as she spotted Miss Blackbird passing through the room, she decided to inquire about Miss Avocet's current location anyway, and see to let her know of their plight at the latest.

She approached Miss Blackbird, trailed by her brothers, just before she'd left the room. The two Ymbrynes kissed each other on both cheeks in greeting before continuing.

'If I may ask, where is Miss Avocet? We've got quite the problem on our hands.'

Miss Blackbird briefly glanced at her brothers, before nodding.

'She's occupied Myron Bentham's office. She's managing an armful of work, but I think she might find it best to put it aside for your complication.' She informed, before smiling and walking away.

Miss Peregrine started toward a set of stairs, making sure that her brothers were following her before she started to climb them. They set off, limping up floor after floor of grimy staircases. After they'd finally reached their destination, Miss Peregrine felt relieved. She wasn't going to have to handle all of this by herself.

Things were finally looking uphill.

She rushed to an Ymbryne-in-training standing outside the office Miss Avocet was presumably occupying, and asked for an appointment. The girl nodded nervously, opened the door a crack so that she could slip inside, then closed it once more.

Miss Peregrine turned once more to check on her brothers, and found them looking out a window, their eyes on the ruins that lay below. Noticing their curiosity, she walked over to join them.

'There was a war.' She said.

Caul turned to her, for Myron was in a daze, then nodded. It was slowly dawning on her that her brothers had no idea of the carnage and destruction they'd caused. It made her pity them, too, for they'll most likely never recall all their achievements as well.

Before she could say something else, the door flew open, and the Ymbryne-in-training came racing out of it, her dress flowing behind her. She beckoned them in hastily.

'Miss Avocet will see you now.'