A/N: Hi guys, term has ended, so hopefully I can go back to more regular updates! A little more happens in this chapter and I hope that you guys enjoy this.

On a more serious note: I'm dedicating this chapter to a friend (Amu). She's having a bit of a rough time right now, so lets send her all of the good vibes!

There was something wrong in this house.

They should have realised this much sooner, but in all honesty, they really hadn't spent all that much time here. From the first day, there had always been one thing or another to make them feel that their presence was better needed elsewhere. Considering the villa was the home of their Sky, they most definitely should have noticed something wrong with that. Unfortunately, it was only now that they were staring down at their exhausted Sun and near comatose Sky, that they really took note. That was unacceptable.

When Reborn had first asked them to check on the Civilian, they hadn't really thought much of it. They had, of course, checked the Stuntman for anything that could be causing problems, but the boy's Flames multiplied so quickly that, by the time they had started looking, all traces had already been destroyed. The same could be said now that they were checking over the Hitman himself, but then, Sun Flames were second only to Storm when it came to sheer destructive power. Their Sky however, was a completely different matter.

Curled up in Skull's arms, the child looked even smaller than usual, but it was what they were getting from the boy's Flames that was making the Mist really seethe. Lingering around the edges of the happy amber strands was something that they couldn't quite place, it was moving far too quickly for them to identify, but whatever was causing it was making them feel sick. They didn't want it anywhere near Harry, that was for sure.

"You're pulling a face. Aren't they just tired?"

The Cloud's voice, uncharacteristically quiet in deference to their sleeping companions, was grating all the same, and with their instincts already on high alert, it was all they could do not to lunge at him. As it was, the only sign of their distress was the fact that their tone wasn't quite as flat as they usually preferred to make it, their words taking the place of knives to be flung at the undeserving civilian.

"Can't you feel it? There is something eating their Flames. That is not normal!"

Well, 'eating' was perhaps too strong of a word, but there were definite traces of their Flames being pulled from their bodies. From Reborn's retelling of events, they had both flared the minute they had reached the centre of the room, and to him it had felt like a natural reaction, but something must have caused it. They didn't know what, and it was driving them insane.

"EATING?! WHA-"

It was only quick thinking on the Mist's part that stopped the Cloud's shrieks from waking the Hitman beside them. Viper had first-hand experience of Reborn's temper when the man was woken up before he was ready, and it was not something they ever wanted to repeat.

"Unless you want a bullet lodged somewhere extremely unpleasant, I'd stop talking. Now!"

It was only once they had received a nod from the suddenly pale Stuntman that they released the cobra they had created as a gag. Or, at least, that had been the plan. The minute they attempted to release their hold on the construct, the muted Sky Flames had surged forward, keeping the illusion solid even without their help. What?

The two of them could only watch in stunned silence as the snake, purposely small so that it wouldn't suffocate their target, slowly unravelled and made its way down the teen's arms and down to the toddler resting in them. When it pressed its face close to their Sky's, the two of them tensed, but thankfully, it soon lost interest, moving away to coil on his chest like a scaled blanket.

Losing control of a construct was not something they had ever experienced before, but after checking to make sure that there was nothing going on that would threaten their Sky, they ultimately dismissed it as unimportant, the presence chewing on the child's Flames was a far more immediate problem.

"Yes. There is something in that room that is drawing out Flames. I need you to tell me just what exactly you noticed while you were down there."

The Cloud blinked at them in shock for a moment before shaking his head like a dog and refocusing. At least that was one think in Skull's favour.

"I don't remember much. I just know that there's something weird down there and Chibi-chan was determined to go in. Reborn was trying to get us to move away, but when he got close to the door, I think he got caught up in it too 'cause he just took the kid right in."

That was certainly worrying. Prior experience with this particular Harmony had proven that the Sun was the most protective of them towards the child, something Viper theorised was due to the strength of their Flames aligning with their susceptible to Sky Attraction. If there was anything they would have deemed completely impossible from the Chaos magnet, it was purposefully taking their Sky into a potentially dangerous situation. The implications of that were… unsettling to say the least.

"And once you went into the room?"

"I don't know, I couldn't follow them in. The minute I tried it was like an invisible barrier came up and then the door slammed closed. It wouldn't open again until Reborn came out with Harry.I did feel their Flames flaring inside, though it wasn't as strong as he described it, I thought maybe it had something to do with the walls? Can stone do that?"

Technically, yes. Create a wall thick enough out of a porous stone and you would be able to completely dampen any Flame signature. This was actually the principal behind some of the panic rooms they had discovered in some of the older Famiglia compounds, but those walls would have to be at least a meter thick for even the average Flame user. Reborn was far from average, and that door was nowhere near up to the task. More likely:

"Not this stone. The room must be draining the Flames for a reason, it's using them for something. Did you notice anything change while you were down there?"

There was a light of realisation in Skull's eyes and Viper felt a sinking feeling in their stomach, they were pretty sure that they didn't want to hear what was coming.

"Now that you mention it, I thought I was imagining things, but the door looks cleaner now than it did before. Does that count?"

So the room was using their Flames to restore itself, though that brought up the question of what it was repairing itself for. They were going to have to go and look at this for themself weren't they?

"Possibly. Stay here and I will go and investigate."

Order given, they didn't really see any reason to wait for a response, the certainly weren't expecting the gloved hand that landed on their shoulder, causing the muscles to freeze up all at once.

"Viper…"

The hand didn't move from their shoulder and the feral beast of their instincts was snarling. If there was one thing they would not tolerate, even from a fellow Element, it was contact. That was not likely to change any time soon.

"Skull. Either remove that hand from my person or I will."

Less than a second later, the offending appendage was gone and they were able to relax again. Despite the Cloud's contrite expression, they still drifted closer to the door, it was better to eliminate the possibility entirely than to risk it happening again.

"Okay, no touching. But Viper, please be careful down there. If there really is something going on in that room, you really shouldn't go in alone. Take someone with you… please?"

Viper's instincts snarled at the perceived order, but once they met that concerned violet gaze, their ire died away. How long had it been since someone had looked at them like that? Skull really was not suited for their world. Still, taking back up was probably the more intelligent choice.

"Acceptable. I will take Fon."

This time when they went to leave the room, the Cloud didn't try to stop them.

Was it strange that there was something in the Mist that was disappointed by that?

Fon had been carefully working through his katas when Viper had found him. Although normally he would have done this at dawn when he was able to revel in the peace of nature waking for the day, and indeed he had already done them once, but sometimes it was more difficult to find his 'eye' than others and in those cases, the mindless activity helped. He was just imaging how satisfying it would be to feel the ribcage of his Sky's former guardian collapse beneath his palm, when a slight shift in the air alerted him to the Mist's presence.

"Viper."

He didn't turn round, simply relaxing out of his final stance and allowing his breathing to even out. Yes it may have been slightly petty, but he was sure that his eyes would still be scarlet beacons and his Flames were surging beneath his skin. He wasn't sure he would be able to look at his fellow Element without losing control and forcing the Information Broker to just. Give. Him. An. Address.

"Fon. I need your help."

Well that was new. While Viper wasn't as prideful as some of the others in this set, it was still something he had never expected to hear from any of them. The shock of the statement was almost enough to make him face the other, but instead he turned his attention to stretching out his muscles.

"I'm listening."

He could practically taste the spike of irritation from the illusionist, but he managed to suppress the smirk that wanted to make its way onto his face. He had a reputation to uphold after all.

"Mou… There is a room in the basement that is causing problems."

"What a strange way to address Verde's obsession. Are you wanting to stage an intervention?"

He could tell that the Esper had finally lost patience when a tree root reached up to wrap itself around his wrist, dragging him round to face the Mist. Hmm, and here he'd thought it would take longer.

"No, the other room."

Other room? As far as Fon was aware, there was nothing other than Verde's lab in the basement of the Villa. He had been there enough times to deliver food or force the Lightning into acknowledging his limits as a living being. Had Skull put Viper up to this?

Obviously reading the confusion from his non-expression, the Mist clicked their tongue. A part of Fon was ridiculously smug about that.

"A few days ago, Skull found a hidden room in the basement. We don't know where it came from, but it appears to be draining Flames to fix itself."

Were they trying to convince him that they had found a sentient room? The Storm was fairly sure that he had hidden the key to the liquor cabinet in a spot where it wouldn't be found, but perhaps it could be worth checking, just in case.

"He's a civilian, he probably scared himself and is now attempting to rationalise it. Give him some space and he'll calm down."

If the Mist was going to continue spouting nonsense, then he had no reason to stay and listen. It only took a thought for his ever ready flames to do away with the restraining root. He was turning to make his way deeper into the forest where the others wouldn't be able to disturb his meditation. He never got the chance as the next words out of Viper's mouth made his blood turn to ice.

"It's not just Skull, the room got Reborn and Harry too. There's something chewing at their Flames to the point that they're both unconscious upstairs and it came from that room!"

Well that was a completely different matter, although the Sun was liable to pull something like this, he wouldn't include their little bird and Viper probably wouldn't play along, meaning that this was real. If that was the case, then the decision was simple.

"Then what are we waiting for."

Surprisingly, there was another door that Fon had never noticed before which, considering his numerous visits, was suspicious. All the same, the two of them continued down the steps in silence, both of them too high strung to force a conversation. About half way down the staircase, the Mist froze.

"Do you feel that?"

Honestly, no. Fon couldn't feel anything other than the agitated Flames of the other bleeding out in the air around them. That being said, he had been surrounding himself with a thin layer of his own Storm since they had found the door. If there was any sort of Mist suggestion trying to influence them, it would be disintegrated before it ever reached him.

"What is it?"

The other only stared at him for a second before their hand twitched and he got the distinct impression that the other was scowling at him.

"There is something here that is trying to stop us from continuing. Both physically and by suggesting that there is something else we would be better off doing."

"Interesting. Let's ignore it."

Before the Mist could pout at him again, he allowed his Flames to reach out and cloak the other. It was not something he had ever thought to do before, but shielding his fellow Element was almost instinctual.

It was only now that the illusionist straightened up that he realised how much they had been bent by whatever was attacking them. The hooded figure nodded their thanks, and the two of them quickly made their way to the bottom of the steps, only to find that they were not the only ones getting curious.

"Verde, did Viper call you down here as well?"

The scientist was crouched down, examining something at the bottom of the stone door, though what he could find interesting with the polished copper swirls, Fon couldn't fathom. At his greeting however, the Lightning soon straightened up, glasses flashing ominously in the half light.

"Viper? No. Blondie mentioned discovering an interesting room down here and after my equipment detected power surges from this location, I decided to investigate."

"So Colonnello found it too. With us this makes a complete Sky set of Flames."

The Mist's words sent a chill down his spine, but now he was really beginning to wonder what all of the fuss was about concerning this specific room. If it was, as the Illusionist had proclaimed, stealing their Flames, was it possible that it was calling them all down here to complete the set? But that only raised the questions of how and why? When he felt his fingers begin to twitch, the Storm purposefully deepened his breathing. Now was not the time to be reckless.

"What do we do now then?"

His quiet question seemed to snap the other two out of their thoughts, but did little to break the tension. Verde had backed away, moving closer to the door and further away from them, but Fon couldn't blame him. The man still wasn't over their decision to go behind his back when sealing their Sky and, while he was consenting to work with them for the sake of their promised funding, it was obvious that he did not trust them anymore. That was a problem that would have to be dealt with eventually, but now was neither the time nor the place.

After ten minutes passed of the others just glaring at each other, Fon gave the whole thing up as a bad job, if there really was something causing problems in that room, then standing around outside the door wasn't going to help anyone.

His sudden movement seemed to startle the others, but they made no move to stop him as he approached the ancient looking door, Verde even going so far as to flinch away from the hand he had raised to push it open. Curiously enough, the stone actually felt warm and smooth beneath his fingers, but he didn't dwell on it. Most likely Verde had been doing something to 'test' the door which had inadvertently warmed it. The next second, he crossed the threshold, only to be greeted by complete darkness.

No, not quite.

At the far side of the chamber, just to the left of where he was facing, there was something that looked like a stone tablet, but it was too far away from him to read. That was a problem that was easily solved however, there weren't even any obstacles in his path.

He was so focused on the tablet that he failed to notice the other Elements following him in, or the door slamming shut behind them.

The chamber was small enough that it didn't take too many steps in order to reach the source of his intrigue. Unfortunately, it appeared that the tablet had been overgrown with moss at some point, but when he reached out to clear it with a red tinged hand, he was stopped by a sharp tugging on his sleeve.

"This room eats Flames remember? Don't use yours unless you have to."

And with those hissed words, something in Fon snapped and he realised just what he had been doing. Why was he so focused on something like an old stone tablet that he probably wouldn't even be able to read? Abruptly, his focus broadened once again and he was able to take in the room as a whole. What first caught his attention was the fact that the only things he could clearly see were the tablet and the other people in the room with him.

The one who had stopped him was obviously Viper, while Verde was back to examining the closed door. The two of them were practically silhouetted by the darkness which was not natural.

"A mistake, my friend. It won't happen again."

And it wouldn't. In his surprise at seeing the Scientist , he had dropped his cloak of Flames, but that was not something that he was going to forget again. Now however, he focused on keeping them as a layer just beneath his skin. If this room was trying to draw out their Flames, then he was not going to play into its hands any more.

Rather unsurprisingly, there really wasn't anything else of interest in the room. Well, not that he could see anyway.

"Verde, is there any way to get that door back open?"

He was starting to feel twitch again, and a twitch Storm was not good for anyone. The sooner they were able to get out of here, the better. That being said, the stone tablet was pulling his gaze back every few seconds and he was beginning to feel the strong desire to just destroy it. Whatever it was, it was trying to draw him in and Fon hated being controlled. Alas, burning the thing would once again require his Flames… what an irritating conundrum.

"No, from what I can tell, it's sealed shut."

"Sealed how? The door doesn't even have a lock?"

"It isn't even a door anymore. It's just another part of the wall!"

Ah, well, that would explain it.

"Viper, is there anything you can do?"

He waited a moment, but when there was no response, he turned back to the Mist who had lingered by the tablet. In the end, it was only the speed gained through years of gruelling training that saw him move across the room in time to prevent the hooded figure from touching the stone with a Flame wreathed hand.

"Viper, stop. You told me not to do that remember?"

For a second, the smaller figure struggled in his grip before seemingly coming to their senses and falling slack. Once that happened, Fon immediately dropped his hold, laughing lowly.

"Looks like I'm not the only one it's trying to trick."

Actually, now would probably be a good time to restore the cloak he had placed around the Illusionist, and place one around the Scientist too. There had been quite enough mind tricks for one day. Once the cloak was firmly in place, a far more difficult procedure now that he was attempting to keep the Flame leakage to a minimum, he felt Viper relax and could almost imagine a wry smile drifting across their face as they turned to face him.

"What is going on here? There are no Mist Flames present, the Abomination isn't here either. There is nothing in this room that could possibly be controlling us and yet…"

"And yet we are still being played. Curious thing, isn't it?"

Ah, there was the scowl he had learned to appreciate over the last few months of infrequent contact.

"Mou, I should charge you for getting us into this you hot-headed Storm!"

"If we survive this, then I might let you, you vindictive Mist."

Well, if he was going to be stuck in here for the foreseeable future, at least he had company to anno- talk to! Who knows what he might have done on his own, especially as melting the door down was beginning to look like an appealing option.

At the very least, now would be the perfect opportunity to get some specific information out of the Broker, and if he was reading the smirk on Verde's face right, he wasn't the only one to think so.