Sloth: Oh dear. I realized I forgot to add something to the ending a/n from the last chapter. For any of the interested parties, the torture device that Rua was in is the scavenger's daughter. It's a contorting medieval device that victims would stay locked inside for weeks until their bones would crush completely, causing their death.

Anyways, I bring you chapter six! No blood or violence in this one, however, I apologize if the beginning part is confusing. Hopefully it won't be towards the end of the first half.

Title: House of 9

Chapter six: Fate

Il était une fois une fleur

Il était une fois une fleur

Elle s'ouvre un peu, beaucoup

Un papillon arrive, il se pose sur la fleur

Hum! que ça sent bon

Le papillon s'envole et il disparait

la fleur se referme, se fane et elle disparait

All she could see was blackness that shrouded the vast, endless area. Reclining on the invisible ground, Akiza observed the darkness in hopes of getting a hint to where she was, but her hope lessened when she realized that she was the only soul within the spacious region of whatever part of the chateau. Akiza, unsure where she was exactly, raised herself from the ground and walked around cautiously the unknown abyss.

Her footsteps echoed with hollowness throughout her walk, and every small detailed noise from the folding of her dress filled the void of silence as well. The farther she walked, the more Akiza began to feel wary of her location. This is so unlike anything Crow and I have crossed before. Am I being watched? Is someone at the end of the room? Where is Crow anyway?

As such thoughts ran through her head, behind her shed a lustrous, blinding light. Catching sight of her own shadow on the floor, Akiza turned back and shielded her eyes from the intensity of the lights. Her eyes squinting, she could make out the wooden frames of the opened door which illuminated the unknown abyss. Akiza frowned and thought over the decisions that she could make. She could either: 1.) continue to walk aimlessly in the darkness and run into something either good or bad or 2.) enter the light and hope that she isn't led into any sort of a trap. Both had a downfall, but in the end, Akiza chose to turn around and give the light a chance. After all, light in the darkness meant good or so she thought.

However, as she walked towards the light, the region she was in suddenly seemed to... grow? Akiza couldn't explain it to herself. The more steps she took, the room expanded that it made it look like Akiza wasn't going anywhere but instead walked in one single spot. Disturbed that she had yet to reach the door, she picked up her speed and ran. The room stopped expanding which cause her to sigh in relief. It's only my imagination, she told herself.

Not expecting the next twist, the floor started to shatter behind her. Akiza gasped when she heard the numbers of crack on the floor grow, and without hesitating, she dashed forward into the bright, running faster than she ever had in her life. Floor breaking under her at last, she took the chance of fate and threw herself to the ledge of the door's floor. Akiza hang tightly onto the only surface of the now bottomless pit and pulled herself into the doorway. The second she stood up, the door with a great force slammed itself. She laughed nervously while staring back at the closed door.

Oh great- now doors are after me? She shook her head. I can't get paranoid. I won't let paranoia affect my escape to this place. Distracting her mind, Akiza looked forward and saw a long, dining table, large enough for twenty-seated guests, at the far distance. This time, assured that neither the room was going to expand or the floor was going to fall apart, she walked towards and seated herself into one of the empty seats.

She frowned as she fiddled with the eating utensils that were set on her section of the table. Why am I here? There's no one but me here. She picked up the soup spoon and studied her reflection. Bored, she moved it in different angles to catch all sides of her face until she saw a blurred reflection of Kiryu walking away. At once, Akiza spun her head around and saw him walk through the same door she had entered.

Akiza tried to call out his name to ask him where they were and to know where he was going, but to her surprise, she could not produce any words from her throat. The only sound that escaped her throat was the sound of her breaths. Having lost hope to communicate with the silverette, she looked back to her utensils, but instead of returning her focus onto the pointless objects, Akiza turned her attention to the seated guests at the table.

Somehow, when she wasn't looking, the other remaining guests were sitting in the seats, and chattered among themselves without noticing the psychic's presence. Not bothering to catch their attention, Akiza watched their actions closely. She saw the twins, who were sharing a single chair together, tightly embracing each other and tears streaming down their cheeks. A warmth of happiness sprouted inside her as she thought of a pleasing hope that the two were reunited and Rua had hopefully been found.

In the next five empty seats from the twins, she saw both Jack and Yusei stare at the empty plates before them. Neither of the two boys vocally interacted with each but instead would give each other glances before returning back to staring at their silver plates. What could be wrong with Yusei? she thought. Yusei was despairing, Akiza could tell, and every now and then he would mutter an inaudible conversation with Jack who would only respond with head motions. Akiza scowled. If Yusei was conversing with her, she wouldn't reply wordlessly. She would reply back with a proper response. Akiza bit her tongue. What am I saying? I can't even talk.

Next she turned her gaze over to the each ends of the table. On the far right end, Crow was tapping his fork against the nearest wine goblet, and on the other end, Sherry was re-arranging her utensil while muttering something under her breath. Each time Crow's fork would make the harsh, solid noise, Sherry's patience was weakened as Akiza could tell by her scowls and eyebrows' constant twitching. The French girl, when it seemed like her patience was gone, stopped her arranging and mouthed the word "stop", but Crow wouldn't and continued to clank his fork to the goblet. Red as a beet, Sherry stood up and inaudibly yelled at him. Forming a lour, Crow dropped his fork and slouched into his seat while Sherry returned back to her arrangements.

Both Ruka and Rua rose from the chair they were sharing. They looked over to Yusei, who wasn't acting like his normal self, and looked over to Jack, who also acted nothing like his usual self. The two remained standing. Akiza stood up as well, finally attracting everyone's attention, and started to walk away from the table when all of a sudden, her vision faded into darkness.

In a distance, she could hear a voice call her name. "Akiza. Akiza. You will need to eventually wake up. I need your help, Akiza."

Gasping loudly, the burgundy girl sat upward from her sleep and looked around her surroundings. Sitting on a lilac, queen-sized bed, Akiza recognized her location as a bedroom based on the bed, the large hairdresser, and the tall vanity mirror which reflected her. She wondered if Crow had anything to do with the choice of location, but as she looked around, she failed to find him in the bedroom. Akiza rubbed her along her lack of consciousness, she guessed, Akiza's mind must have created an alternative world of the same chateau while she slept.

"I fell asleep..." she groaned.

"Yes. You did fell asleep."

Startled by the same voice which had called her out earlier, Akiza demanded, "Who's there?!"

Out from the corner of her eye, Sherry stepped forward and sat next to Akiza. "It's very pleasing to know that you're fully awake now, Akiza."

"We need to get out of here as soon as possible," Yusei declared while climbing down the stairs hastily, Jack and the twins following behind him. "We don't know what we're really up against, and that frightens me."

"It doesn't help that somewhere there's a murder in the house," Jack added, recovering slightly from the earlier impact back in the small room.

After Rua had asked about Bruno, Yusei painfully had to explain that their beloved friend was dead. Rua at first didn't want to believe it and laughed, asking if they were all joking with him. None of the three laughed along with him which made Rua's hopes drop. Like the others, he mourned for their loss. While her brother cried, Ruka asked again why Yusei and Jack were shaking and terrified. Yusei and Jack debated among themselves whether or not to tell them the real reason after refusing to tell was not much of an option, and in agreement, they explained that they had found the corpse of the host in the same room only they had left out his decapitation. Both agreed that that part would be too much for the twins to handle, and instead of mentioning that part, Jack offered to rip part of his coat to cover Rua's cuts on his arms to help him avoid getting an infection.

They had, however, explained to them that there must have been someone who had brought the host's end, but they couldn't explain whether the person was an ally or not. Whatever side it was on, Yusei had urged them that it would be best if they all moved out of the room and make haste to the first floor. Now that they know that there must be someone they have no knowledge of whom can be dangerous, they for sure had to get out.

Hoping to decrease the anxiety between the adults, Rua suggested, "What if it's not really a murderer? I mean, it must be a good guy if he got rid of the host, right? He didn't hurt me."

Yusei differed, "I don't think that's the case, Rua. For one thing, killing isn't a comforting sign that we have an ally, and second, who knows if he's not after us."

"If anything, he might be after you," Jack included to Yusei's reasons against Rua's words.

Rua bit his bottom lip. "Why would he? He hasn't proven us that he is another bad guy."

"He hasn't proven us that he isn't," Ruka joined with the adult's side in their theory. "He could have killed Bruno instead of the host killing him."

"What?! Nuh-uh! I don't think so," her twin scowled. "He said that he only invited nine guests. If he really meant that then there wouldn't be an extra person. So that person might be on our side. One of us did it."

Standing in the hallway of the fourth floor, Yusei sighed almost sadly. "In worst case scenario, that person might have been on the host's side."

Jack crossed his arms. "And killed him afterwards?" he asked. "Why would he do that?"

"I don't know. We can only hope that it's someone who we don't know," the raven replied as he looked over to the twins. "What should be our top priority, however, should be protecting the twins. As much as I hate to say this, they are the most vulnerable out of all us."

Upset by Yusei's statement, Rua growled, "Why would we be the most vulnerable? Is it because I was kidnapped or something like that? Or is it because I could've have seen the person?!"

"I'm sorry, Rua. It could be that unless you didn't see the person for sure," Yusei reasoned. "It's because the person knows that you were with the host at the time when he killed him. He might recognize you from a distance and think you did see him or heard him."

"But Yusei! I was blindfolded, and I lost conscious!"

Jack cut in, "It was dark in there too, Rua. That person might not have seen the blindfold or known that you were unconscious. Because of that, he might be after you, targeting all of us as well."

Yusei shot a glare at Jack. "Don't say it like it's all his fault!"

"I didn't say it was."

Rua said nothing but instead ran off to the farthest room to the right and closed the door behind him, leaving the others shell-shocked.

Sympathizing with her brother, Ruka ran after, "Rua! It's not your fault that they're worried about us! Rua!"

She ran into the room without thinking of the other two and searched for her brother through the numerous box-like objects in the room. Many of the large objects stacked on each other and almost made a small maze within the room. Ruka noted to herself that the objects almost looked like wooden caskets (which wouldn't surprise her anymore considering from what she so far had seen or heard in the chateau). "I need to find Rua," she muttered to herself. "RUA! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Ruka? Are you the only one here with me, or did Jack and Yusei come too?" Rua called behind a large stack of caskets.

Ruka made her way over to her twin's location. "No. I came by myself." When she reached him, she saw that her brother was staring at an opening large enough to fit a casket in it. "What is it?"

Rua scratched his head, "I think... I don't know what they're called. The thing where people can drop laundry or trash in?"

"A chute?"

"Yeah! I think it's a chute."

Ruka frowned. "A chute for the caskets?"

"I guess... but Ruka?" her brother asked sadly.

"What is it?"

He reached for her hand and tightened his hand around it. "I think we should go down in it."

"I don't know if it's safe. Besides, we need to ask Yusei if we can go-"

"No!" Rua shrieked, causing his twin to jump. "No... I... I think we should just go. They probably think I'm just bringing bad luck to them since I broke the rules with Bruno and look what happened to him..."

Ruka sighed, "Dear brother, that's not how they feel. They're just scared that you might get really hurt." She pulled her brother's arm to her face. Her eyes watering at the sight of his bandaged arm. "See? If they really thought that way towards you, do you think Jack, of all people, would've bandaged your arms?"

Rua shook his head, "I guess not."

"Also, I don't think Yusei would have felt that way when we know he only means for the best for us, so it's okay, Rua. They don't believe you are trouble to them. They care about you," she assured her brother.

Sniffling, Rua wiped away his oncoming tears, "I don't want to cause them trouble-"

"And you don't," Yusei, who had found them with Jack, inserted. "We're just worried about both of your safety."

The younger boy whimpered, "I'm sorry I doubted you, Yusei."

"It's alright."

Jack glanced around the area and faltered, "You would think this place was like Goust (1) with its caskets and that chute."

Remembering about his own earlier suggestion, Rua asked Yusei, "I know this sounds crazy, but can Ruka and I go down that chute? The chute must lead to outside the house, right?"

Yusei's face paled. "How do you know it's safe?"

"I don't know, but I can try to take the chance," Rua tried to reason.

The raven looked over to Ruka who replied, "I'm pretty sure it's safe. We might land into a bush or a garbage can, but I can take the risk too."

He then turned to Jack. "Will you go with them? I want to make sure that there's no one else in the chateau before I go out myself..."

Before Jack could reply, Rua spoke, "No. He can stay. You need someone to be with you for the mean time, Yusei. I have my sister."

"Yeah. I have my brother too," Ruka agreed.

As much as he wished he could protest against them, Yusei yield in, "Just be careful. Make sure you stick to each other. Don't let anything separate you two. Nothing at all."

The twins nodded, and holding hands, they slipped themselves into the chute. Sliding down the chute at a fast speed, they were out of the chateau in no time. They pulled themselves out of a large garbage bin and smiled contemptuously when they saw that up ahead of them was the gates they had entered earlier in the night. Hand in hand, they walked out of the land and into the fields.

Sloth: "There Once was a Flower" is a nursery rhyme that involves with hand motions, and I have news for you. The Sloth is going to teach you the hand motions. Okay, so when it says fleur on the first line, have your palm up and fingers together. Next, spread your fingers open slowly until you read the word beaucoup. Your hand should be open. Are you so far with me? At the end of the third line, take your other hand and act like it's a butterfly and land it onto your open hand. To disiparait, hide your "butterfly" behind the "flower" that is your other hand. Lastly, join your fingers back together, face your palm down, and slowly hide your closed hand as you read the last sentence. And there you have it! The Sloth taught you something!

(1) - Goust is a hamlet in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, southwest of France. It was famous for its strange burial customs where the people would send coffins carrying the dead down into a specially-made chute along the mountain side to where the coffins would land into the Laruns cemetery. Fun fact of the chapter!

I'm satisfied with the ending to this chapter. Both twins are officially safe. I really didn't want to hurt Rua more than I had already, so I thought this was a fitting ending. As for Akiza's part, I hoped it was clear that she was dreaming a vision. I apologize again if it was confusing. Oh Sherry... what are you going to do with her? Where did Crow go too? I can't wait for the next chapters now since we're near the climax of the story.

Well, here I go with the last three chapters. This should be fun.

-Sloth