Chapter 2: Despair

Something is not right… How could they get into our house and take Otaru without any of us noticing? They must be professional criminals. Bloodberry thought as she chased the man, from roof top to roof top not loosing sight of him. But as soon as those thoughts crossed her mind, the man trips on a rock, falls flat on the ground and stays there moaning. Or maybe not…

Soon, the man on the ground heard squeaking sounds in the distance getting clearer in his ears until they stopped loudly close to his head where he saw a pair of yellow shoes. Lime reached for the tall bald man and lifted him off the ground and up in the air by the neck with one arm.

"Where's Otaru?" She asked firmly, her voice a determined tone, her face contracted in a glare. Bloodberry jumped to the ground as Cherry reached for them too.

"I don't know I swear!" The man gasped while Lime tightened her hand around his neck.

"But you know something!" Bloodberry growled at him.

"Lime, the man can't breathe!" Cherry exclaimed as she looked at the man's hairless head which was now turning blue. But what was worrying Cherry was Lime's attitude towards the man. She didn't care what he felt, he had to pay for what he did to Otaru, was or wasn't him the guilty one. Her eyes looked blankly at him, her lips pressed in a motionless line. Only her hand moved to close on his neck.

"I…" The man gasped again moving his legs frenetically while fighting for air.

"LIME!" Cherry yelled again. Lime blinked as if waking up to what she was doing and opened her hand, letting lose the man who fell onto the floor heavily, lifting his hands to his neck and gasping for air.

"Now tell us!" Bloodberry yelled.

"Last I saw him…" The man paused sucking in some air. "Was yesterday when I went to talk to him about the rent."

"You wanted to throw us out!" Lime replied.

"I told him that but I was never going to do it!" The man looked up at them from the floor. "I just said that because I needed the money urgently. Times are tough you know, and I owe some dangerous people the money. Maybe if I said that, Otaru would pay me."

"Money doesn't grow on trees you know!" Cherry said in disbelief. "If Otaru didn't pay you was because he couldn't!"

"If you don't know where he is why did you run away when you saw us?" Bloodberry asked, crossing her arms to her chest.

"I panicked. I thought you had come to punish me for telling those things to your master. Please don't hurt me, anymore." The man shook in fear, looking at Lime.

"I don't think this is the man we're looking for." Cherry said in a sad tone. "He's too scared, too sissy to kidnap someone. And he knows what we would do to him if he had."

"Can I go please?" They heard the man say from the ground. Bloodberry motioned for him to leave waving her hand and in a split second the man got up and ran away, never looking back.

"Lime… what happened to you?" Cherry turned to the blue haired marionette.

"It's Otaru Cherry…" She replied seriously. "I miss him and I can't stand not knowing what happened to him or if he's not fine. We need to find him."

"What are we going to do now?" Bloodberry asked looking at the two.

"I think we should go see Lorelei." Cherry suggested, they all agreed.

Lime… Cherry… Bloodberry…

Otaru slowly opened his eyes and saw darkness, he blinked a couple of times to make his eyes get used to the dark. He felt his lips taped and his eyes tied behind his back. He moaned trying to sit up and noticed his abdominals hurt. Looking around, he noticed he was being kept on a small room with a wooden square table and chairs in the middle. The floor was full of dust and one single window had been covered with wood boards screwed on the wall, letting some daylight in between the cracks. He tried to move his hands but the knot was so strong that soon enough the rope started rubbing his skin, burning his wrists. He tried screaming a muffled noise from his throat but it was useless. No one came and he heard nothing.

Where am I? How are Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry without me? He thought worried, thinking about the three with images of them smiling in his head. He missed them and it had only been a couple of hours. He, himself wasn't quite sure what had happened to him. He was sleeping when a strong hand covered his mouth not to scream while others held his arms and legs to take him away through the window and then he woke up there. I need to get out of here.

"LoreleiOtaruwaskidnappedweneedyourhelp"

"PleaseyouhavetohelpusLorelei!"

"Please can you all have a sit and tell me what happened! One at the time!" Lorelei had to raise her voice at the three marionettes that kept talking and shrieking at the same time making her not understand a word they were saying.

"Someone took Otaru!" Bloodberry cried.

"What?" Lorelei blinked.

"We woke up this morning and his bedroom was in a mess, he wasn't there and he didn't go to work. No one knows where Otaru is!" Cherry informed, her eyes watering at the cold truth.

"We thought you could help us, maybe you knew something or have a clue where Otaru is! We are so worried about Otaru!" Lime pleaded.

"Well…" Lorelei looked around at the three. "I have no idea where he could be…" Lorelei paused for a moment, head down thinking. "But I can ask Faust to put his men on the search and I can ask the saber dolls to help you as well."

"We would be so thankful to you." Cherry bowed.

"Lorelei…" Lime started. "Do you think… Do you think Otaru is fine?"

"Otaru is a strong boy. I'm sure wherever he is, he's trying hard to get back to you. He'll be alright. And I'm sure we'll find him soon. You four are inseparable. The love he has for you all will keep him going."

"Where do you think we should go next?" Bloodberry cut off the silence that had formed between the woman and marionettes.

"I suggest you go home for now." Lorelei got up. "I'm going to inform Faust of what happened and ask for his help, once I have some news I'll inform you. It has been a long day I can see, you should go rest."

"I can't rest!" Bloodberry punched the wooden table the three marionettes sat around once at home. Shaking, the red-haired marionette gritted her teeth.

"The house is so empty without Otaru here." Lime whispered, resting her forehead on the same table.

"Because if he was here, we would all be fighting for his attention. The house isn't lively anymore." Cherry let out a blank smile as she remember the long fights the girls always had to grasp a piece of clothing from Otaru.

Outside the streets were calm, the cold night breeze kept people inside their houses covered in slim blankets watching television while the three marionettes worried about their loved-one.

"Who… do you think Otaru cares for the most?" Bloodberry asked all of suddon, looking around at the two.

"Me of course!" Cherry rapidly answered without thinking.

"HA!" Bloodberry let out a loud gasp. "Please don't make me laugh. It's obvious he likes me the most I just asked so I could tell you that! Have you seen the way he looks at me?"

"Otaru only looks at you because of those huge things you have on your chest! But it's clear he has romantic feelings for me!" Cherry replied back, placing her fists on the table and leaning forward to the red-haired.

"The reason Otaru hasn't abandoned you yet is because you clean the house and cook!" Bloodberry returned the gesture.

"Oh that's not true! You little-" Cherry grabbed Bloodberry's hair and pulled while Bloodberry got a grip of her neck.

"Stop! STOP!" Lime cried pulling them apart with her arms, making each one go flying across the room opposite sides hitting the wall.

"Lime!" Cherry stood up fixing her clothes.

"Otaru needs us in one piece!" Lime let some tears roll down her cheeks. "It doesn't matter who he likes best! Right now he needs us all the same. I can't stay here, I'm going to find Otaru." And with that Lime left to the night outside, leaving the other two behind.

You helped me complete my heart and be fully developed. You showed me the different feelings a human could have even though I am just a marionette. You treated me like I was one of you. Now it's my time to do the same for you. I'm going to find you Otaru if it's the last thing I do.

"OTAAAAAAARUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!" Lime called at the top of her lungs in the middle of the night, making the people inside the house startle and turn on the lights coming outside to see what was happening.