"Hmmhmm, yes, mom, I know, I know, I'll make sure to get it all done. Yeah, yeah, love you too, bye." Feliks hung up on the phone with his mother, and set it down on the granite counter, smooth with the black and white designs. Toris had previously gotten himself water with ice to clear his mind, and refresh him. If he was his mom, where would he hide something important? First of all, he wouldn't hide it in the basement, but since that was his only option, he had to think of the separate areas in there. Toris tapped his fingers on the three-legged table next to him, one of which had the design of a rue flower under a glass top.

"Tori, mom said it was fine." Feliks chimed happily, making his way over to him while holding up the ruffley skirt of his dress.

"Ah, that's good, then. I have some spare blankets, and I have a sleeping bag, so I can sleep on the floor while you sleep in my bed." Toris motioned him toward the stairwell. It was time to go back down.

"Toris, you're too dedicated, y'know? Why can't we just relax?" Feliks complained, but nonetheless, he went and took Toris' hand, pulling them down the stairs.

". . . Because . . . I'm not just cleaning out my closet."

"You're not?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"My mother . . . she left me something." Toris fished the key out of his pocket and placed it in Feliks' right hand.

Feliks allowed himself to read the fancy, slanted scrawl, his eyebrows raised so high they threatened to come off his face. "Oh my God, Tori, do you know what this means!?"

"Er . . . what does it mean?"

"Your mom is like, supernatural or some shit! She knew she was going to die, and she left you some magic gift! This is like, really, really cool, I wish my mom was half as awesome!" Feliks paused after saying that, then contradicted himself by saying, "Never mind, my mom's still really great, but Toris, even you have to admit this is really awesome!"

"I never thought of it in that way, I've just always wanted to know what she was leaving me. She died and left me with so many questions, and . . . maybe if I find her 'mysterious gift,' I'll get something answered. And because she wanted me to. I miss her, so, so much . . . I still can't believe she's gone." Toris' lip quivered a little, but he clapped his hands together to snap himself out of it and said promptly, "So let's get cleaning!" His voice rang out with determination.

Feliks insisted that the item must be under the floorboards constantly, but Toris always replied, "Feliks, we're not in a story. That's way too romantic to be reality."

They picked up cushions from couches. They looked among the toys to see if anything was out of the ordinary. They shoved their hands down the pockets of the costumes, trying to find anything, a clue, something to hint at where it could be. Toris realized how much more efficient it was with two people. They had the whole weekend, since Feliks had considerably nice parents that let him forge his own path and do what he wanted, so long as he notified them prior to the action. Toris kind of longed for that amount of freedom. Feliks was so lucky.

Toris shook his head. He had a fair amount of leeway, since his father wasn't around much in the first place. Besides, being envious didn't lead to anything good. There's a reason why it's one of the seven deadly sins. "Why have we been avoiding the drawers? Is there any good reason?" Feliks glanced at the drawers longingly, thinking it would be there.

"Wouldn't that be too obvious?" Toris pointed out.

"It doesn't hurt to try!" Feliks ran over to the drawers in a desk, nearly tripping over his attire, pulled them open, his eyes frisking the insides. "Well . . . I guess that hurt my pride. Just a bit. They're almost completely empty. Nothing but little pieces of paper. Why is she making this so hard!?"

"So that my dad couldn't find it?"

"When is your dad ever home to find it? He doesn't even know about it-"

"But he might find it on accident."

"Hmm, that's true. It's hot down here, ugh . . ." Feliks sat in front of an air vent, letting it blow his blond locks.

Toris paced around, checking all the likely places. Where could it be!? "You've already checked all those places." Feliks pointed out in a bored voice.

"Soon, I think we're going to need to think about some more places. I'll do research on good hiding spots. Let's get back up, this place still creeps me out." Feliks rushed up the stairs, not waiting for a response. It's not like Feliks was scared of the basement.

"Ugh, Toris, you're such a scaredy-cat." Feliks exited the basement door calmly, following Toris to their room.

"Let's hope that the Internet helps me, for once." Toris groaned, powering on his computer.

/So, where do you think the 'treasure' is hidden? Thank you for reading this chapter! I'm so happy that you came by. I'm sorry there's even less than last time, we have exams coming up, and I haven't had much time to work on this! I promise I'll improve the length and quality of future chapters. If you are willing to support this story, please follow or favorite, it's greatly appreciated. Reviews are definitely appreciated for my mistakes, for what I can improve and work on, for suggestions,(which I will credit you for if I use it) or whatever you want to say. Updates will most likely be every Friday, in the United States, and if there will be a delay, I will mention it. Once again, thank you for reading this! ~Azul