Over 50 reviews? 8D *jumps up and down like a crazy person*
I started writing this story thinking that no one would like it, but now... now... *goofy grin*
Anyways, ignore my spaz out and enjoy this next chapter.
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"You're sure this is their room?" Eugene asked.
Levi looked slightly offended, but nodded. "Yes, I'm positive."
"Now make sure you don't put it out too quickly," Eugene warned.
"Right," Levi nodded.
"You have the grease?"
"Right here." Levi held up a bucket.
"Alright, let's get to work."
Levi handed Eugene a rag and he dipped it into the thick, dark liquid in the bucket. Levi did the same with his own rag. The two men began smearing the muck across the carpet and walls. They even put some on the nearby furniture. Soon, everything in the hallway was coated in a dark mess.
Eugene stared at it for a moment. He felt bad for having to burn down part of Rapunzel's home, but it deemed necessary. He was glad he was already dead, because if he were caught alive doing this... he didn't really want to think about what would have happened. Eugene glanced at the young, dark-haired guard. He wondered if Levi had fully recovered from his shock that afternoon.
They had been plotting how to ensure that Sir Radcliffe and his wife would stay out of their room. It was Levi's idea to use fire, but then he put it down saying that neither of them would be able to withstand the smoke and flames long enough to find anything. It was then that Eugene revealed to the lad that he could do it because he could not be harmed. He told him who his alter ego was, Flynn Rider. Eugene replayed the entire scene in his mind.
'The thief?' Levi had asked with a laugh, 'But he's dead. The princess said so herself.'
'And so I am,' Eugene had replied.
'How could you be dead if I'm talking to you right now?' Levi had wondered, obviously thinking Eugene was going crazy.
'I'm not real. I'm dead. Only certain people can see me and you are one of them.'
'Right.' Levi had remained unconvinced.
Eugene then saw that he would have to demonstrate. He gestured to Levi's sword on his belt and said, 'Go ahead. Run me through.'
Levi laughed at him, 'You're not serious.'
'I am. Go ahead, try it and you'll see that I'm not alive.'
It took some further convincing before Levi finally raised his sword and lunged forward. He went straight through Eugene, sword and all.
Eugene chuckled to himself, remembering the look on Levi's face. He had never seen someone turn so pale within a few seconds before. The next thing Eugene knew, Levi was flat on his face, unconscious. Eugene had to recruit Pascal to wake him up with his tongue.
Once awake, Levi had... a bit of a freak out. 'A bit' was sort of an understatement. Let's just say that it took a lot of coaxing to get the boy out of the closet that he had barricaded himself in, but it finally happened.
After calming down, Levi agreed that they would use the fire and that Eugene would be the one to search the room. Eugene took a deep breath, "Ready?"
Levi nodded. He walked over to one of the nearby tables that had a candelabra sitting on it. He piled some crumpled pieces of paper beside the table and then threw the grease-stained rags on top. With a quick flick of his hand, he sent the candles toppling over off the table. The papers and rags instantly caught fire and soon, the flames were spreading across the greasy floor, igniting other pieces of furniture.
Smoke began billowing around them as the fire grew. "You'd better go before you suffocate," Eugene said to Levi.
Levi nodded in agreement and after giving Eugene a confident expression, he turned and left. Eugene stepped forward into the flames. He couldn't feel them and they lopped around and through him like he wasn't there, which he technically wasn't. He took another step, still the same result.
The door to the visitors' room had not yet caught fire so Eugene easily opened it and stepped inside without it crumbling or something. He closed the door behind him and looked around the dark room. Being a former thief and all, Eugene was pretty good at guessing where valuables might be hidden.
He checked all the usual spots first. Under the pillows, in the woman's jewelry box, under the mattress, but there was nothing in any of those places. So, Eugene began to scan the floors and walls, looking to see if there might have been some sort of secret compartment.
He found nothing. He went over to a trunk by the window and opened it. It was obviously Lady Vivian's because it was filled with dresses, corsets, skirts, and other womanly clothing. He quickly rummaged through the contents and still found nothing. He shut the trunk and went back over to the bed. He jiggled the bed posts, but none of them were loose.
Screams were suddenly heard from outside the door. Several more joined in. "Fire! Fire! Get help! Fire!"
Eugene glanced back and saw that the door to the bedroom was a reddish color and was cracking at the corners, revealing the orange flames on the other side. The fire must have been extremely large by now. More footsteps began to approach. He was running out of time.
He rummaged through the bed sheets and still found nothing. Where else could he look? He spotted another trunk by the door.
"Our room!" Lady Vivian's shrill voice cut through the air. Eugene cringed at the sound of it. "Do something! All our belongings are in there!"
Eugene hastily opened the trunk and pulled out some of the clothing. This one was was clearly Sir Radcliffe's. He searched through the clothing's pockets, emptied out the shoes. He picked up a pair of black trousers and held them in front of him in order to examine them.
He heard the sound of water being dumped onto the ground. Smoke was now billowing into the room, clouding Eugene's vision. Soon the fire would be out and those who occupied the room would come bursting through the door. If they saw a pair of trousers seemingly floating in the air and their things flung across the floor... Eugene had no idea how the king of Faldonia would take it if his brother's things had been rummaged through while visiting a foreign kingdom. Also the fact that there were trousers floating in the air... yeah, that would roll over smoothly.
"Put it out! Put it out!" Lady Vivian was still shouting outside, "My things are in there!"
Eugene had to do something. Soon, Sir Radcliffe and Lady Vivian would coming bursting through the door and immediately check to make sure their belongings were unharmed. Then, he got an idea. They would probably check on their valuables, which meant... He quickly, but neatly stuffed the clothes back into the trunks and hurried to the corner. All he had to do was wait.
Not long after he had finished putting the things away, the door was opened and soldiers filed inside, holding large buckets that had probably held the water they used to extinguish the fire.
Lady Vivian pushed her way past the soldiers are looked frantically around the room, her eyes flaming with vexation and desperation. Her husband followed close behind her, looking almost equally frantic. Levi stood amongst the soldiers, holding his own bucket. He spotted Eugene in the corner and gave him a questioning look. Eugene gave him a thumbs up and Levi nodded subtly before looking back at the furious visitors.
"How did this happen?" Sir Radcliffe demanded.
"It seems some candles were knocked over, sir," a soldier said, coming into the room, holding a charred candelabra in his gloved hand.
Lady Vivian flew to her trunk and threw open the lid, She ran her hands over the dresses before racing to her oversized jewelry box and thrusting that open as well. Nothing seemed to be harmed except for the things right by the door, which included Sir Radcliffe's trunk.
She shot her husband a horrified glance. Sir Radcliffe rushed forward and opened his trunk. He examined his things. The only part that seemed to be ruined was the exterior of the trunk, nothing inside appeared to be damaged. He glanced at his wife again before turning to the crowd of soldiers.
"It appears everything is in order," he said stiffly, "You may go."
"But, sir," one of the soldiers protested, "You cannot stay in this room-"
"Then go tell your king what happened and maybe he will move us," Radcliffe snapped, "Now leave us."
The soldiers obediently began to file out the door. Levi shot Eugene a look and Eugene gestured for him to go. Levi looked slightly confused but he followed after his fellow soldiers.
As soon as the last soldier was gone, Lady Vivian slammed the door shut. Despite the fact that it had just been burning, the door remained in tact. Eugene looked at Vivian. He had never seen such ferocity on someone's face before. She scowled at Radcliffe, her breathing was coming in quick spurts of mild hyperventilation. She jabbed a shaking finger at her husband. "Where... are... the papers?" she huffed.
"There's no need to worry, my dear," Sir Radcliffe said, "They are unharmed."
"I don't trust you with them anymore," Vivian said through pursed lips, venom flashing in her eyes, "Where are they?"
Eugene was almost afraid of the woman himself, but Radcliffe appeared to be unfazed by her menacing tone. Radcliffe reopened his trunk and pulled out a vest. It was significantly simpler and cheaper-looking than everything else was in the trunk. Eugene wondered why he didn't notice that when he was going through the trunk. Radcliffe also removed a dagger from the trunk. Was it common for visiting royalty to carry weapons with them? It seemed a little suspicious.
Before Eugene could think any more of the dagger, Radcliffe slit a seam on the vest and a bound stack of papers fell out of the material. Vivian and Eugene stared at the papers in Sir Radcliffe's hand. Eugene was shocked while Vivian looked covetous. "Give them to me," Vivian said, "I will take care of them. Do you see how close they were to getting burned? Don't you see that your brilliant plan would have been completely undermined if we lost those-"
"Relax, my dear. They are unharmed, that is what matters," Radcliffe said calmly.
"Relax? You want me to relax? Then give me those blasted papers before I run you through with your own dagger!"
"Oh and I suppose you will be able to follow through with the rest of the plan without me then? I doubt it. It is hardly a lady's work. We wouldn't want you to get your little white hands dirty would we?"
Vivian glowered at her husband, seething with rage. Her hands were clenched into tight fists at her sides and she was still in the midst of her mild hyperventilation. "Put those papers somewhere safe and somewhere that I will be able to access," she grumbled through clenched teeth.
"Very well. Where do you suggest?"
"I will keep them on my person."
"How is that any safer than my trunk? They could easily fall out and someone could find them."
"Not if I keep them somewhere where they will be secure as well as perfectly unaccessible." She gestured to one of her corsets that was lying on top of her trunk.
Eugene suddenly felt his stomach drop. If she kept the papers in her bodice... how was he supposed to get them? He watched in horror as Sir Radcliffe handed the pile of papers to his wife. Eugene heard himself squeak. What was he going to do?
Vivian set the papers down on her trunk and began to unbutton the back of her dress. Eugene had never been more horrified. He had to think of something and fast.
He quickly moved over to Vivian's jewelry box. Vivian was halfway down the buttons on her dress. Eugene pressed gently on the box the size of a small horse until it toppled over with a loud crash. The top opened and all manners of jewelry were strewn across the floor. Vivian gave a cry of surprise then of vexation. "What did you do?" she accused Radcliffe, halting her unbuttoning and beginning to scoop up her precious jewels.
"Me? I was way over here!"
"Well don't just stand there, you imbecile! Come help me pick this up!"
Taking advantage of the moment, Eugene rushed over to the trunk and slipped a single paper out from under the tie around the stack. He looked up and saw that the couple were still busy gathering up Vivian's jewelry. Eugene slipped the paper through the crack between the window panes so that it was outside, but still wedged between the windows so that it did not fall.
He completed his task just in time. Sir Radcliffe and Lady Vivian stood up again, replacing the last of the jewelry. Eugene moved away from the window. Now how was he going to get out before Vivian began removing her clothes again? He stared at the wall by the door. It's worth a shot.
He charged forward at top speed towards the wall. If he were alive, the impact would most definitely hurt. He closed his eyes as the wall drew near, but there was no impact. He opened his eyes and found himself in the burnt hallway. He had gone through the wall it seemed.
Then he remembered the paper he had wedged in the window. He rushed into the next room and opened the window in there. He climbed out onto the edge without hesitation. Even if he were alive, the height would not have frightened him. He had scaled the walls of the castle before during his thieving days.
He edged his way along the small edge below the window, towards Radcliffe and Vivian's room. He reached up to the window to grab the paper, but felt nothing. He looked at the window and saw that there was nothing there. The paper was gone!
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The paper's gone? *gasp*
Another chapter down. Tell me what you think. My day gets so much brighter when I see that I got a review!