Worse Than His Bite

Chapter 1: Odd Companions

Why did he agree to this?

It was beyond stupidity, he'd gone completely mad to agree to their job. But, bills didn't pay themselves and god knew that Phineas' certainly didn't.

It seemed too good to be true when that email had rolled in the exact same time the final notice on his electricity bill did. The money they offered was simply too perfectly timed and too much to resist, even if he did have to go back to that place. No rest for the wicked, he supposed.

He was sure he could've come to terms with it. The circumstances weren't so bad when he thought about it. A lot of money to do the job he loved, wasn't so bad. He sounded spoilt to complain and he wasn't in much of a position to as he desperately needed the money. How hard could it be?

His thoughts drifted back to the rumours he'd heard about the last archeological excavation on the Isle of Cernunn. Those poor people. At the least, he would have protection where they didn't.

Although, he wasn't sure how the two men in front of him were supposed to protect him. The one on the left had hardly spoken two words since they got on the train and the one on the right spoke far too much.

"You ever been to Scotland before?" The talkative one, who Phineas had learned was fine being called either Mr Leopold or Sir Leopold the mighty.

"Only when I was young, Mr Leopold." Phineas replied.

"Fair do's, fair do's." He scratched his grey stubbled chin and hummed in thought. "I ain't been up there myself, but Seb has." He pointed a thumb at his much larger companion.

Where Mr Leopold was broad and wide, Seb was muscled and tall. Mr Leopold was colourfully dressed with a jacket that was a hideous amalgamation of other jackets. A patchwork of different colours and patterns and fabrics. Did he think it looked cool? The clothes he wore under that matched Seb's. Perhaps it was a uniform of black army trousers and tight vests they shared between them. They were polar opposites in every possible way and not likely friends at first glance.

They must've been a similar age. Actually, weren't they all the same age? Phineas didn't believe he seemed that much older than the two men in front of him. If he had to guess, he'd probably say Mr Leopold seemed the youngest of them all. So why was he the only one being addressed as Mister?

If anything, they should all be addressing Phineas as Dr Wang. Maybe his PHD would actually come in use for once. What even was Mr Leopold's first name? He hadn't mentioned it.

"What did you think of the island, Sebastian?" Phineas asked the brooding man.

Sebastian had been staring out of the window for the past few minutes, far more interested in the rapidly changing scenery than anything I and his boss(?) had to say. Whether he turned to look at Phineas when he answered, he wasn't sure. Sebastian's entire face was hidden behind long black hair that fell to his waist. It hardly seemed practical for a self-proclaimed hunter of all things dangerous and life threatening.

"I don't like it." Sebastian said quite simply.

Phineas waited for a moment to see if the man would speak again, he did not. Never in his life had Phineas heard a voice so deep yet tender. For his height and build, Sebastian appeared as an intimidating man whose voice would strike fear into those who listened. That idea was probably just Phineas' imagination running away with him, he was probably reading one too many romance novels with dark and brooding leads. Sebastian's voice, though deep, had no edge to it. No hint of threat or malice. There was no over confidence in his voice like there was in Mr Leopold's. It was hard to liken it to anything. The closest thing he could think of was general murmuring of the sea. Not the sound it makes when it crashes against a cliffs face, but the all more gentle sound of the sea about its own business of lapping against the sand and staying within its own confines.