Hey everyone! Okay...sooooo I know that this chapter might be shorter than normal. The reason why is because this chapter was originally over 9,000 words long! (ha it's over 9000!, had to say it XD) It would have been the longest chapter for this story ever! However, this would have been longer than my Full Metal Alchemist story and that's a oneshot. So I felt that I should cut it down a little and then save the craziness for next time. Closer to my birthday and trust me, I want this to come out around that time. The next one...is...oh my...just take my word for it that it'll be crazy and amazing haha
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Especially after the ending in the last one. Romance is appearing...a whole new perspective for Eliza. Also, could something be happening between our favorite Hero and the humorous soldier? Well...you'll have to find out! ;)
Thank you for all the reviews, favorites, follows, and alerts everyone! The reviews were amusing to read with some of your theories about the future of this story and what do you think is going to happen for our heroes. Please review or message me about the story! I love reading them and I always reply to them. Don't be afraid to send me one. I'm almost to 50 reviews and I'm shocked that I'm almost there! 2 years later and this story is going beyond what I was expecting! Thank you everyone!
I hope you all enjoy this chapter and the next one as well! Trust me, they'll be shocking! Also...they will be out of my comfort zone definitely. Reaver is unlike any character I've worked with...so I hope I do him justice! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Fable. If I did then you could have married Reaver or Ben Finn in the game! lol
Review Responses: Thank you for everyone's kind and funny words. You guys always make me smile with your opinions and responses to the latest chapters! The theories you had were pretty interesting to read. Who knows, maybe you're all right ;) But only time will tell. Keep the theories coming. I like discussing them. Thank you again you guys! You're amazing!
Whyamiupsolate- Yay! You're playing it! Catch up because it's such an amazing game! haha overthinking happens a lot!
LuciferLovesMehh- Thank you so much! Really? Wow, I'm surprised by that. But I'm happy to hear that I'm getting Reaver close and that Eliza has development. Character development is a little bit of a struggle at times and I'm always worried about making them a Mary Sue or a boring OC, but I'm glad that I'm doing something right! Thank you again!
Fox1212- Ohhh good theory! It's possible, but...it could be more than that...maaaaybe. ;)
BloodAssassin04- lol you'll just have to wait and see! Aww thank you sweetie! I'm surprised how far it's come in the past two years. This story was orginally supposed to be fast and over in a couple chapters, but things expanded into bigger things and I just ran away with the story. I love how far it's come and all of the love and support for it! And yes, I had fun writing that. Had to put something cute in there.
Ishouldbesleepingrightnow- Yay! Love hearing that! ^_^
Back at the celebration, several families were dancing around, laughing with each other, and eating various foods. It was a welcoming sight to see despite everything that had happened with the hobbe attack.
In the midst of the large crowd of dancers, we could see Ben twirling a little girl with long black braids in her hair around in circles while the other children danced along with them.
Emma giggled at the sight and I smiled.
"He's definitely something else, isn't he?" I laughed, watching as Ben picked her up and spun around.
"Yeah, Ben isn't like anyone else and that's just how I...I mean we like him." She said quickly, brushing her hair behind her ear. "Just like that…"
I saw the look in her eyes and nudged her arm. "I see how you look at him. I know what you think."
She sighed heavily, shaking her head. "What do you think?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about."
She sighed in exasperation. "Eliza, we've been over this."
"I know, but I hate seeing things like this." I said before looking at Ben. "I can see the look in both of your eyes. You're both wanting more than what you already have."
She folded her arms over her chest, shaking her head. "And you know why we can't."
"Yeah, I know your side of things." I assured her. "But…I don't know why you have to obey those rules. I'm sure you two can work things out and…live together in happiness."
She rolled her eyes. "There always isn't happiness in this world."
She had a point. We lived in a world of monsters and danger.
"True, but…because of you and the revolution, we made things safer for everyone around us. Because of your ruling, people are able to live without much fear as they used to. I know that there are things out there that can kill and do much worse, but you were able to destroy that one evil thing that was in their way of happiness." I tried to tell her. "You stopped your brother and saved everyone."
She didn't reply as I continued.
"And look at you now; you are improving Albion as it is. You're building and repairing parts of the town that needed to be fixed. You're helping the poor and cutting back crime by so much."
This time, a small smile appeared on her lips. "You've done so much for the kingdom, why don't you do something for yourself?"
Her head lowered. "I…I don't know…"
"Well you don't have to act on that now." I told her. "Just take baby steps."
Her head turned to face me. "Like what?"
"Well…you can start things off, by asking him for a dance." I suggested when Ben looked over at us, setting down the little girl. "Just go ask him."
Emma stood there for a moment and scuffed the ground with her boot.
"Just go." I urged, pushing her shoulder gently. "Then work on things from there."
She spared a glance at me before she slowly made her way towards Ben. He smiled at her and said a few words that were drowned out by the music. Then she held out her hand and the next thing I saw was the two of them dancing to the music.
I smiled as well as I watched the two of them dance the night away together. Deep down, I would hope the moment would last.
Sadly, the night did come to an end when people started getting ready for bed. They thanked us again for saving them and told us that we could come and visit any time.
When the villagers were cleaning up, the five of us stood away from everyone, discussing our next move.
"Well? What do we do now?" Ben questioned, biting into a nice red apple.
I kept my gaze down at my boots, not wanting to lock gazes with Reaver. I was still not sure what to think of what happened earlier tonight and I wasn't really wanting to talk to him about this in front of Ben and Emma.
"Well…I think it would be a bit dangerous to travel back to the castle tonight. Especially since we can't see in the dark." Emma informed us. "There are dozens of dangers out there and we're not ready to go back into battle again."
We all shook our heads in agreement. It was a bad idea.
"So where are we going to go? I mean, I'm sure Driftwood wouldn't mind us sleeping under the stars here. I'd hate to kick them out of their caravans tonight." Ben said, looking around at the villagers.
"We're not going to do anything like that." Emma assured him. "But…we need to go somewhere."
Reaver hummed softly. "Well…I did mention something to dear Lizzie awhile ago." He spoke, making my heart jump. "I suggested that we take shelter in my mansion tonight."
"Why would we stay there?" Ben sneered.
"Well, if you would like to sleep in a grave tonight, then I suggest that you take the way home through the Millfields cemetery." Reaver suggested, making Ben growl under his breath. "The point is, we need a place to spend the night. My mansion isn't that far from here and I have several rooms to spend the night in. I haven't had many guests lately and I get so lonely." He pouted mockingly.
"Yeah, like we want to spend a night in that nightmare of a place." Ben replied sarcastically.
"Dear Benjamin, must you always assume that my place of living is full of death. I'm not always a nightmare as people call me."
I could predict Ben rolling his eyes at him like normal.
"Enough." Emma commanded, halting their fight. "As much as I don't want to stay in the place, we need to rest for the night. Then we can travel again in the morning. Can you both handle this?"
Ben grumbled under his breath but agreed to spend the night there.
I could feel everyone's gaze on me.
"Eliza?" Emma questioned calmly, making me lift my head.
I managed to keep my gaze away from Reaver before nodding to Emma. "Yeah…we can."
"Excellent! Then it's settled. Come along, there's not a moment to lose!" Reaver announced excitedly as he started making his way towards Millfields.
As we followed behind him, I could feel someone touch my shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?" Emma asked concerned.
I nodded quickly, trying to stay calm. "Yeah, fine. Just a bit exhausted."
"Well hopefully, we can sleep tonight in a place where so many people and balvarines died." Ben commented before my elbow hit his side.
"Shut up, Ben." I laughed softly. "Or I'm going to be the one who gives you nightmares."
About an hour later, we were inside of Reaver's mansion, being shown to our rooms by several of Reaver's servants. They greeted us with painted on smiles, probably trying not to anger the Queen and the military general, who could kill them in single moment. Then they led us upstairs to our rooms.
Naturally, we were all given a room to ourselves. Emma and Ben said their goodnights and even a good luck that I wouldn't be killed and left me alone to my room.
When I opened the door, I was surprised to see a very large room before me. The walls and carpets matched with a bloody crimson hue. The floors were checkered with black and white tiles that looked like a chessboard and large red paper lanterns hung from the ceiling, giving the room the tinted glow of blood.
I walked further into the room, surprised at the sight before me. My eyes trained over to the bed with a large bed frame with a canopy suspending above it. The silky sheets were red as well with a few gold emblems on them. The larger emblem that graced the curtain above the headboard was a letter R with a few gears surrounding it.
"Of course, everything has to have Reaver's name on it." I mumbled under my breath as I set my pack on a nearby chair.
I managed to change into something a little more comfortable; well I wouldn't really say that it was since it wasn't something I was used to wearing. Reaver's maids provided me with a long white nightgown that fell above my ankles by a few inches and had lacy elbow length sleeves. It had several ribbons and lace that tied up the small bodice, hugging my figure so nicely.
Most of the time, I would sleep in a baggy shirt or some of my old and ratty clothes from before when I went to sleep. It felt very odd. However, the gown felt cool against my skin as I gazed at myself in the long mirror nearby. I had removed my boots as well, letting my sweaty and tired feet rest against the cold floor below.
Also, this definitely felt weird staying here, but it was better than sleeping outside again. Plus, I had a bed to sleep in.
As I made my way over to the bed, I heard a knock at the door. Grumbling softly, I went to the door, hoping it wasn't anything important. Perhaps it was just a servant asking if everything was to my liking and if I needed anything else. That's what most of the servants back home would ask me.
But when I opened the door, my heart sunk when I found myself staring into the dark eyes of the last person I wanted to see.
"Ohhh my…well look what we have here." Reaver purred as his eyes glanced over my figure. "It seems that my maids found something that fit you perfectly. How delightful."
I quickly folded my arms across my chest, trying to shield him from looking at me. "Wh-what do you want?"
He scoffed. "Well then, is that any way to treat the host who graciously let you into my home? Hm?"
"Oh shut up, Reaver. This was your plan all along."
"And how did you come to that notion?"
"Oh don't play coy with me. I know those gears inside of your head were forming a plot to get us all here. So what, do you have the Wheel of Misfortune inside of Emma's room to kill her in her sleep? Or do you have a balvarine hiding in the closet in Ben's room?"
He tsked lightly. "Must you always imagine me as the sadist? I don't always murder my guests for sport." Then he paused, rubbing his chin. "Then again…there was that one night."
I glared at him. "What do you want, Reaver? Can't you leave me in peace for once tonight? I'm rather tired after everything I've endured."
Reaver shrugged. "Well…first of all, I wanted to wish you a good evening and I hope you have pleasant dreams."
"Fine, good, now go away." I said as I tried shutting the door, only to have him place his arm against the door to hold it open.
"Secondly, I needed to find a change of clothing before I could go to bed myself." He said, pushing himself into the room without my permission.
"Oy! Can't you find clothes elsewhere?" I growled as I watched him waltz into my room. "Like your own room?"
Reaver stopped and turned around, shrugging off his suit jacket. "Ohhh…it seems that you've forgetten a small little detail in your suggestion."
"And what's that?" I questioned, placing my hands on my hips.
A devilish smirk appeared on his lips. "This is my room."
My heart plummeted into my stomach and a shiver ran down my spine. His?!
Reaver's smirk grew as if he could see the shock on my face. "Oh yes, you didn't think that I would give you just any old room to sleep in, hm? I wanted you to have the best room in my whole mansion." He explained as he began stripping out of his clothes in the middle of the room.
Blushing immensely, I avoided looking. "Well I don't want this room then! I-I'll just go find somewhere else to sleep!"
Reaver chuckled. "Nonsense. This is the only room available for the night anyways. I have a few guests staying in the other rooms besides the Queen and Major Finn. Besides, you'll have someone to keep you company during the night."
"I-I thought you didn't have any guests staying tonight." I managed to say, making him laugh again.
"Oh dear, did I forget that part? Silly me. They're just some old friends from a nearby village. And don't worry, they're not of the beastly type. That is…outside of the bedroom."
My eyes found a portrait of Reaver holding a pistol on the wall and shut my eyes. I didn't want to see him at all. "Then go find somewhere else to sleep tonight! I don't want to share a bed again with you."
His warm and slender hands touched my shoulder and the side of my face so he could turn me back towards him again. He had removed his filthy and blood covered clothes and had donned a deep crimson silk robe that was, hopefully, tied tightly around his waist. "Now now, don't get your nightie in a twist, dear Lizzie. If that is how you think, then I shall sleep in my private room tonight."
My heart rose out of my stomach and caught in my throat. "Private room?"
"Oh yes, it's hidden in this very room. Would you like to see?" he asked me.
Before I could say a word, Reaver gently took my arm and led me over to a bookcase. He pulled a book from the shelf and we watched as the bookshelf slowly began to move out of the way, revealing a secret passage staircase.
"Come along then, let me show you one of my greatest secrets."
I tried to pull away from Reaver, but his strong grip on my arm said otherwise. "Now now, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to show you." He cooed, trying to calm me down.
"I don't want to see anything that belongs to you, Reaver." I sneered. "Especially some private room, which I assume it holds some sort of torture device."
"Oh come now, you don't mean that." He said as he descended down the long staircase together. "Besides, I'm not locking you down here with me. What sort of host would I be?"
The staircase was dark and it seemed to go on forever. How far down was this secret room? Did Reaver sleep in the basement?
When we reached a certain landing on the stairs, I could see a dim red lighting in the room down below. "Ahh, here we are." Reaver announced when we arrived.
My eyes widened in shock at the room before me.
There was an exact replica of the bed upstairs except it was in the center of the room. Around it, there were various objects that made my blood run cold. A rack table for torturing people, a cream colored chaise, a few dark cabinets, and of course a birdcage that was enormous…big enough for a person to fit inside of.
"Ahh…home sweet home." He sighed, placing his hand on my back. "This is my private quarters or shall I say, my playroom for when my guests are feeling a little naughty."
I felt slightly sick as my eyes gazed at the room ahead. "I…I…how could you live in a place like this? Seriously?"
He laughed at my outburst. "Dear Lizzie, have you forgotten whom you are speaking to?"
"True…but still, I don't know how you…" I trailed off for a moment.
"How I…what?" he questioned.
"How could you get a cage that big down here?" I asked, looking at the massive cage that suspended from the ceiling.
Reaver paused for a moment. "You know, I have absolutely no idea."
Instead of rolling my eyes, I felt myself laughing a little. "I mean, did someone just roll it down the stairs or something?"
Reaver smiled and chuckled a little as well. "Well I would assume that it magically appeared here or I mentioned it to one of the builders and I simply forgot."
"How could you forget ordering…that?" I asked, slowly moving over to the cage. "I mean, don't you think that the builder stared at you strangely that you ordered to have a massive cage in your secret bedroom?"
"As I've said before, I don't really care what anyone thinks of me." He replied nonchalantly. "Besides, I think it really ties the room together."
That made me snort. "Oh yeah, just have a big human sized cage in here. Capture your guests and force them to watch you sleep."
"Annnd, other things." He purred, making me roll my eyes.
This made me gag. "Ugh…you're revolting."
"And yet, I somehow amuse you." He mused, leaning against the cage a little.
"Yeah, right." I replied sarcastically, shaking my head. "The great Reaver amuses me."
"Well you didn't think so badly of me back on Driftwood." He mentioned with a sly smirk. "I have to say, dancing with you was very invigorating. I thoroughly enjoyed myself."
My heart jumped once again, but I tried to remain cool, calm, and collected. "Well…it wasn't awful."
"Really now? That's all you have to say?" he questioned, standing up straight to stand merely inches from me. "Nothing about how much fun we had and the laughter we shared?"
I waited, fearing that he would bring up the moment that happened between us before I left him on the island. When he didn't say anything, I managed to find the words to speak.
"Well…I will admit it wasn't as bad as I thought."
"And was I such a terrible dancer?"
I frowned at the answer that I feared to say.
Reaver folded his arms across his chest and smirked. "Well?"
Biting onto my lower lip, I finally confessed. "No…"
"Good." He said cheerfully. "Now then, how about we do something fun before we turn in for the night?"
My eyes fell on the bed and a cold chill ran through me. He saw what I was looking at and slid a finger under my chin, turning me back towards him. "I know what you're thinking and I would hope that's what you would suggest. But…I actually had something else in mind."
With that, he took my hand and led me back up the stairs.
"What exactly are you wanting, Reaver?" I asked, pulling my hand away when we reached his other bedroom.
He turned to face me and stared into my eyes. "Would you care for a nightcap with me? I have some of the finest wine in Albion and I thought I should share a glass or two with you."
My brows knit together in confusion. "You want me to have a drink with you?"
He shrugged, sliding his hand through his dark locks, smoothing his hair. "Of course. I thought it could be our own celebration for defeating several beasts and then bringing Emma and Ben a little closer. I saw them dancing together at the party tonight." He sighed as he tightened the knot on his silky robe. "Sooo what do you say? Care for that drink?" he asked, offering me his hand.
I stared at his hand, contemplating over what to do. Could I really sit down with him? Alone in the mansion while everyone else slept?
Before I could really stop myself, I found myself replying. "Why not?"
Well? What do you think is going to happen now? Eliza got to see what is really hiding behind the bookcase haha that was a funny scene to write (laughed my head off during that mission in the game). What do you think is going to go down while they're having that drink? I'm so excited for the next chapter! Trust me, it's gonna be a doozy! I will try to finish editing it and hopefully have it out before the end of the month.
I hope you guys enjoyed this one and let me know what you think. Love reading through the theories that you all have and who knows, you might be right. I will try to finish the next one as soon as I can. Please leave a review or message me! Thanks everyone!