The Phantom Man 2 - The Book of the Dead

I - The Future

While the teacher and the students continued their visitation to the museum, and observed every piece with great interest; somewhere else where there was an ancient collection, in Phillip's mind, the young man was trying to figure out a way to escape from the mess he had gotten into.

Phillip was having a hard time trying to understand what had happened to him. However, he decided that the best for now was to let the officers take him, and avoid getting anyone hurt. This time he would get things done by using a sense of wisdom. He couldn't let anyone know his true identity before he knew who his enemies were.

Once inside the police car, sadness got the best of Phillip. He sank into a feeling of solitude for being away from his family and friends.

"Verena, my love. You lost your life because of me... and of that bastard Klaus! Master Juan... You were so nice! You didn't deserve to die. My dear father and mother, I will never see you again, thanks to that scum of a warlock," he thought.

Even though Phillip had the opportunity to meet his real parents one night at the royal library, he had doubts concerning being their son, so he still considered King Albert and Queen Mariele as his genuine parents. Phillip missed them so much!

He focused his thoughts on the present moment, and heard the officers talking in Italian. Since a very early age, Phillip had been trained to speak various European languages, such as Latin, French, and English. As a monarch, he was supposed to negotiate with many nations. The royal family had at their disposal a team of idiom teachers. However, at the current situation, besides the fact that Phillip could not be considered a Germanic prince anymore, he wasn't aware of where he was or what era Juan had sent him to.

"Pardon me, could you please let me know what year are we now?"

"What a stupid question! Aren't you aware of the current year? What do you think, Giuseppe? Is he some kind of loony? Oh, I think we should beware of him, maybe he is a magician... Did you notice that he was a different man when we arrested him? White hair, golden eyes... Did you notice that?"

"Enrico, that was nothing but an illusion. The lights above him made the trick. Take a good look at the boy. He is nothing but ordinary. Maybe he had a museum's mask on his face and got rid of it as soon as we got him busted." The police officer turned himself towards the young man. "This is 2025. You look a little confused and lost. What were you doing inside the museum?"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Then I'm afraid you'll have to tell your story to the detectives. Otherwise, you'll have to sleep behind the bars for a few nights. Trespassing is felony. The museum is state property."

"Where did you get those medieval clothes?" Enrico asked with curiosity.

"Of course, he took them from the museum. No one wears that kind of clothes nowadays," Giuseppe said, full of certainty. "You'll have to give them back, but first we'll take you to the inspector of Florence's Police Department."

"It's no use trying to answer your questions, anyway. I'd rather keep my mouth shut as you ordered me to do when I was arrested."

"Wise decision, young man," Enrico said, and wrapped up the conversation.

Ignoring what those words meant exactly, Phillip decided to be quiet and think about the things he had left behind.

Even though Phillip was clueless about what was going on, he allowed the officers to take him to a precinct. As soon as they arrived, Phillip's fingerprints were scanned and his picture taken, both front and profile. Finally, the officers left him in the inspector's room. The inspector introduced himself and then started to ask some warm-up questions.