Dai: I own nothing.

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A few days had past since Cici arrived at Castle Bleck, and one issue was getting her in shape, as she hadn't exactly needed to fight much in her old world. Of course, one issue was her poor sense of direction, which in such a big castle, complete with highly intricate maze, was bound to rear it's ugly head.

Such as now.

"Give it up, L. We don't have teleportation abilities." She and L had been hiding from Nastasia after accidentally blowing a hole in the main room. So maybe fooling around with L's Thunderhand near the radiator hadn't been such a good idea. And it was even worse to encourage him. You guessed it. They were lost.

L shook his head. "If we stay here for long, we have to spend the night in the hallways. If we find our way back too soon, Nastasia kills us."

"L, she isn't that bad. Well, maybe." She and L had become friends from the beginning, mostly because everyone else had a best friend, or was brainwashed. Really. Count Bleck's first four minions were all really tight, and despite sharing a hallway, there weren't that many oppurtunities to chat, since most of the time spent with Mimi was reobtaining her diary from Dimentio. And she was the one they spoke to the most.

Yeah. This is what happens when you join an evil organisation right at the last minute. Okay, so neither of them had a real choice, but still...

"So, how long until someone finds us?"

"Depends. You want it to be a brainwashed minion, or one with the mind to actually help us?"

And, of course, defying all logic, they continued to wander.

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Another hour or so passed. Cici had lost track of time after a bit. It had also grown all the more confusing. It would probably help if the place wasn't all monochrome. Great design choice, Blumiere.

Looking up, she saw L run into an open door, with absolutely no regard for what might actually be behind that door. She just hoped it wasn't a Magiblot training center. They could be quite volatile if disturbed.

It was not. Instead was what seemed to be a storage room for machine parts. She tried not to laugh as L seemed to be in raptures.

"You know, I may be able to work with this."

Cici sighed. "We just got in trouble for messing around with electricity, and you want to do it again?"

"There you are!" They turned at the sound of Nastasia's voice, to see her looking relieved. Cici smiled.

"Hey, Mimi."

Nastasia pouted, before the shapeshifter returned to her normal form. "How did you know it was me?"

"Nastasia doesn't show emotion. And just so you know, pouting doesn't really work on her face."

"Golly, you have no sense of direction, do you? Our rooms are all the way on the other side of the castle."

Normally Cici would have replied, but something caught her eye. There was an old musty book under a table. Picking it up, she turned to Mimi.

"Okay, let's get out of here. L, we can always come back later. Or just grab the stuff."

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Mimi opened the book Cici had brought back with her. "Gee, there's nothing here."

Cici looked at the page. "Really? I see words."

"Well, you're the only one who does," L chimed in, "So maybe only you can read it."

"Interesting..." She mused, before putting the book away. "So, has Nastasia calmed down yet?"

"We were lost for four hours."

"Okay, good point."

When Cici went to bed that night, she couldn't keep her mind off of the book. Eventually, she gave up and opened it.

What she saw changed her life forever.

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Dai: And this is when Cici starts being useful. Despite getting lost repeatedly in her own house.