What is up you awesome guys! It's ButterHunter here, back with another epic chapter to OBaaT!
Onward to story!
Chapter 35: Can Trust be Earned?
The hall seemed even longer than it was just a minute ago. Maybe because the tension from Silk pinning me to the wall was still fresh in the air. I could see her slightly glance over at me every five seconds or something, watching me, and by extension that bow, closely.
It was a relief once we finally made it back to the starting point of where Snowy and Diana was. Without words, we walked inside.
Snowy and Diana were there, but… something was off. Diana… she still looked a little afraid, but… Snowy was right next to her, practically shoulder to shoulder, yet Diana wasn't shaking anywhere close as bad as she was before.
"S-so… that's why I felt…" Diana was saying, before she looked up at us. "O-oh, hey you two. You done already?"
"Master!" Snowy called out to me again, pouncing. I caught her just in time to not land ass first.
But just as soon as the hug started, it stop. "Master?" Snowy asked, feeling something on my back. "What's this?"
She gently grasped and tugged at my new bow, to the shock of her and Diana.
"Wh-where did you get this?!" Diana exclaimed, coming over to me.
"A skeleton gave it to me." I answered simply.
Diana looked ludicrous. "W-what?"
"I said a skeleton just gave it to me while Silk was away. She didn't believe me at first." I said plainly, gesturing to Silk.
Diana looked at the bow in Snowy's hands with… was that longing? Jealously? I couldn't tell. In any event, she pushed away that thought and turned around to sit at the table again.
I took the bow back from Snowy, but before we could sit back down, Silk spoke up. "Alright. You're turn." she spoke to Snowy.
"Wait… what?" Snowy asked, confused.
"It's your turn to show me what you can do." Silk explained. "Come on."
"Ummm… Silk…?" I started softly. "Please tell me you aren't taking her to that same place we were at."
"Relax, I'm not stupid." Silk brushed off. "I'm taking her to another room, far away from that training ground."
'Thank Notch…' I said in my head, relaxing a bit.
"Umm… what would I be showing you, exactly…?" Snowy asked carefully.
"You'll find out. Now let's roll." Silk replied, stepping out the door.
Snowy glanced at me, but when I gave her a nod, she followed Silk out. Clearly I could tell that she was getting really annoyed about being apart from me for so long, but I knew she'd be fine. It's only a little while, after all.
Anyway, now it was my turn to wonder what the hell I should be doing. After all, I didn't really have anything I could do or look at, other than the bow around my back.
With not many other options, I sat down at the table and sighed, resting my head on my arms. Diana saw that, because I heard her move around to the other side of the table.
"Hey… something wrong?" she asked, rubbing my back.
I stayed quiet for a minute. Slowly, I responded, "I… I just want to go home."
Diana paused. I heard her light breathing… change a bit.
Slowly, as if waiting for a reaction, I felt her arms wrap around my torso again, holding me tenderly. I didn't offer any resistance.
Slowly, her grip kept tightening around me, and I slowly relaxed myself. She hummed a little after a while, a soft, comforting melody that put me at ease.
Then, I felt her arms let go of me. "Do you feel better now?" she asked.
I looked up at her, and nodded gently.
"Good…" Diana said softly, glancing around the room. "...*sigh*..."
Suddenly, I felt her grab my shoulders and heave herself forward. And before I knew it, suddenly she was sitting on my lap.
I almost panicked, but Diana silenced me. "Shhh… it's okay." she said, patting my shoulder. "I just wanted a better angle."
'A… a better angle?' I asked myself.
Without much else of a warning, she clamps around me again, holding me tightly, yet tenderly. She practically glued herself to me, she was hugging that tightly.
I would've pushed her off, and I probably should've, but once I remembered how cold she was I had no choice but to embrace the poor skeleton girl to try and warm her up again. My mind absolutely refused to push her off of me.
My touch sent gentle shivers through her body, but she only gripped me tighter. I heard her gently murmuring things under her breath, but I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Her gentle breath tickled my ear as we hugged once more…
And then she gently pulled away, seeming satisfied.
"Mmm…" she quietly hummed, smiling faintly. "Thank you… you're so warm…"
I didn't say anything, I just looked at the skeleton girl in my lap. It was really, REALLY hard for me to not stare at… anywhere other than her face. And I think she might've realized that.
She… slightly giggled, in a cute, embarrassed way. "Wha-?" I started, but was interrupted by another giggle. A light blush made it's way onto my face.
"You know… you look cute when you get flustered." Diana said gently, still smiling at me. My face blushed a little heavier.
"I… I'm not cute…" I said shyly, breaking my eye contact as my face slowly heated up more and more.
"See?" Diana said, giggling more. "It's talk like that that makes you cute."
"I don't like using words like cute to… describe me." I said softly, blushing profusely. "I mean… look at Snowy. Now SHE'S cute. Me? Not even close…"
Diana laughed a little bit. It was a soft, adorable laugh that echoed gently in the room. Tension that I didn't even know was in my shoulders disappeared.
She gently poked my nose. "I think you just don't feel like you should be spoiled like that."
Then her hand gently pulled at my chin, until I was kinda forced to look at her again. Her gray eyes were so… nice to look at, actually. They seemed to shine almost, with a hidden light that wouldn't go away.
We said nothing to each other. We just stared into each other's eyes for a few moments
Then I realized how close she was to me. Uncontrollably, I squirmed. This… this isn't right.
Diana seemed to sense my discomfort, because she quickly scooted off of me and found her seat, blushing a bit herself. "S-sorry… I, uh… g-got carried away again." she said quietly.
We stayed in an uncomfortable silence for quite some time. I eventually got bored and pulled out the only thing I had on me: the bow.
I looked it over from side to side, top to bottom. The bow, minus the purple glow, looked normal as could be. But even so… I could feel something. Almost like… a faint rhythm.
I heard a sigh besides me. I looked up to see Diana staring at the bow, with… was that jealousy?
"Umm… something on your mind?" I asked innocently enough.
Diana looked back to me, startled. "O-oh, no! I'm just… thinking…"
"About this bow?" I guessed. "Here."
I handed her the bow, much to her surprise. "N-no no, I don't-"
"What? I can see you want to look at it, so here." I said again, setting the bow in her lap. "I don't need to use it right now anyway."
Diana stared at the bow for a few more seconds, before taking a hold of it. I guess because she's a skeleton and all, but somehow, the bow looks like… it fits her, I guess.
She looks at the bow all over, watching the purple aura pulse over the bow again and again. "So… this is what a bow of high rank looks like…" I heard her say, almost in awe.
"I honestly don't know why that skeleton gave me it's bow, but I guess there were good intentions buried in there." I said quietly. Diana didn't respond.
She turned around and pulled an arrow out, seemingly from nowhere, and tried firing it. The arrow flew through the air and hit the wall, sinking halfway into the block. Pretty impressive considering it was a stone wall.
She placed the bow back on the table, and sighed gently. "..."
"...um…" I said, reaching to take the bow back.
Her hand stopped mine in place. I looked back to her to see… a slight fire in her eyes. "Um… something wrong?" I asked.
"N-no… there's nothing wrong." Diana said, turning away from me. "...well, that's not entirely true…"
"Then… what's up?" I asked, curious.
"I… I just wonder why you managed to get that bow. I believe that one of our ranks gave it to you, that much I can believe. What I want to know is… why?"
"Believe me, that was one of my questions as well." I answered, taking the bow and looking at the purple aura racing up and down it. "They said something along the lines of, 'Something tells me he's gonna do something none of us can imagine. But you know, even he will need the right tools for the job.' I have no idea what that could mean, but…"
Diana stared at me as I recounted what that skeleton had said. "So… the one that gave you this bow… said they could tell you would do something big? Something incredible?"
"Sounds about right… but I'm not sure what it really expects from me." I responded quietly. "After all, I lost everything when… when…"
I quickly stopped where I was, but Diana caught that. "When… what?"
"...it's nothing." I denied quickly, turning away.
"It definitely looks like something to me. What's wrong?" she asked.
"I'm… not feeling well. Maybe I should go lay down for a bit…" I responded.
"Cameron…" Diana softly complained.
"I'm being honest. Can… can I just go lay down now?" I asked, hoping that would sway her.
"What is wrong?" Diana asked.
"I told you, I… I don't feel very well. I want to go lay down…" I answered, my head hanging.
Diana watched me for a few more seconds. Then, she sighed.
"Okay… don't tell me." she said, sounding defeated. "I understand."
I sighed gratefully, but she wasn't done. "Yep. Just leave me in the dark here. No idea on how to make you feel better or anything. Just let me grab at straws. I want to help, but if you don't want it, that's fine. I understand."
Her words echoed in my mind, and guilt started settling in. But I couldn't tell her, even if I really wanted to. I doubt she'd be able to understand it, anyway. How would she react if I told her about my dead parents? She wouldn't be able to do anything with that…
Would she?
"*sigh*..." she sighed loudly. Her hand rested on my shoulder lightly. "Okay… let's go."
"Wait what?" I asked.
"You said you weren't feeling good, right? I'm taking you to a bed. Come on." Diana answered, standing up and holding her hand out to me. A moment of hesitation later and I take it.
Carefully, she once again leads me down the many halls of this place. Finally, we open a door, and step into…
"This… definitely isn't where I slept last night." I said, surprised. This was a proper bedroom, with a comfy bed, nightstand, even a little lamp. The room was quite large, and it actually felt like a decent bedroom, not just a room in this facility.
"Well, I figured you'd feel more comfortable sleeping in here than in that dark cell." Diana replied, her hand on my shoulder once again. "Just try not to trash the place, okay?"
I nodded slowly, and walked over to the bed. Suddenly, I had felt very tired, as the thought of sleeping in an actual bed appealed very well to me.
I passed out almost instantly after my head touched the pillow. I'm not sure of much, but I think I faintly remember someone, probably Diana, pulling the covers over me.
But that was the least of my concerns as I drifted off into the world of dreams…
Some time later…
"Nggh…"
"Cameron…"
"Mmmm…"
"Cameron, open your eyes!"
"Mm… hm?"
I slowly opened my eyes. I couldn't see anything for a second as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.
"Cameron… are you okay?"
'That voice…' I thought.
"Vivianna?" I called out
"Yes! Okay, you CAN hear me." Vivianna's voice said. I looked around, but… while this was the same blank space I had grown used to when I first wake up in the dream world… I couldn't see Vivianna.
"Where are you?" I asked. "And, more importantly, are you okay?"
"I… I don't know. We're still perfectly fine. We're still in your mind, that much I know. But… me and Aira are stuck somewhere." Vivianna said worriedly.
"What do you mean, stuck? How do you get stuck in my head?" I asked, confused.
"Well, I'm not too sure myself. Best I can think of is… it's another layer of your mind. We're forced into this new area, and have no idea on how to get out."
"Then wait, how can I hear you?" I asked.
"Because, while it is another layer, I can still converse with you if you can concentrate long enough. Because your body is resting, you naturally come here, which is like a sort of top layer to your mind, I guess."
"What caused this?" I asked.
"You tell us." another voice, belonging to Aira, spoke up. "Back when you were asleep in the house, after a while we… we felt something. Like… like we were getting pulled backwards or something. I don't fully understand it, but whatever happened, that same force is keeping us from staying on the top layer."
"The only time I can remember of something even closely like this happening was way back when you had that nightmare. Remember?" Vivianna asked me.
"You mean that one with the sandstorm?" I asked. "Yeah, I remember that."
"It lead us straight to Aira here, who was being told at the time to kill you. And now, you get kidnapped, and we suddenly get stuck deeper in your mind. Think about it. These things don't seem to be happening naturally. Something, or someone, is causing this." Vivianna said.
I stayed quiet. I wasn't sure what to say.
"Well… at the very least, we can still help you when you're awake." Vivianna said softly, as if noticing my silence. "Granted, it'll take a lot more concentration, but you can still use our powers to an extent."
"Yeah, but… don't even think about flying. A breeze strong enough to lift things up is okay, but I can't make you fly. That would put too much strain on me and you." Aira said. "I'm sorry…"
"No… it's not your fault." I said, sitting down on the ground. "I'll find a way to get you guys back to me, don't you worry."
For a second, I could almost see them standing right in front of me, watching me in a concerned way. I wanted to reach out to them. I wanted to hold them. I wanted to do SOMETHING. But they disappeared before I could even think of anything.
"There's nothing you can do here right now." Vivianna said quietly. "For now, I think your best course of action is to wake up. We will be here, looking for any way to help you."
"Thank you both…" I said, closing my eyes and sighing. "I really wish I could've seen you both."
"We do too." they both said at the same time, a sad tone in their voices.
"I'll see you girls later. I promise." I say, before closing my eyes fully and lying down on the ground.
And just as I was about to leave, they said, "We love you, Cameron."
'And I love you both as well…' I thought quietly.
Some more time later…
I slowly stirred, then my eyes opened. Someone had taken my glasses off my face, and placed them on the nightstand next to me.
Once I put them on, I looked over and saw something that slightly startled me. Silk, watching me.
"Oh, you're up." she said, not sounding very happy. "Diana told me that you weren't feeling well, so she took you here to have a nap. Is that right?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I suddenly wasn't feeling my best, so…" I started.
"I don't need to know that." Silk interrupted roughly, standing up and walking over to me unhappily. "But I do want to know something."
"Ye-e-e-e-es?" I asked slowly, not sure what she wanted.
"Why are you in MY bed?" Silk asked.
That question took a moment to process in my head. When it did, suddenly my face… I'm not sure if it paled, blushed, or both. I really couldn't tell.
"I… I didn't even know it was your bed." I responded softly, surprise leaking into my tone. "Diana didn't say that she was-"
"Yeah yeah yeah, whatever." Silk again interrupted, putting her hand on my chest and roughly pushing me down. Once again, I had an angry spider lady over me, holding me in place while she waited for me to say something.
"L-look." I tried to say, stammering against my will. "If I knew it was your bed, I would've stayed away. But…"
"But WHAT?" Silk asked, getting in my face.
"But… but…" I stammered, unsure what I could say without getting her even angrier. Looks like trying to get my thoughts out isn't gonna be an option here.
'Well… there's always plan B.' I thought, bracing myself. 'Good old fashioned smooth talk.'
"I guess I should've known it was your bed to begin with." I said, hoping my tone was selling what I was saying. "I mean, it was a really comfy bed. What else should I have expected from someone like you?"
Silk, once calm and controlled, suddenly lost her train of thought as I hijacked where this conversation was going, and… I think I saw a light blush come to her cheeks.
"What's… what's that supposed to mean?" she asked, suddenly confused.
"Well, isn't it obvious?" I said, almost laughing. Slowly, the words became a bit more natural. "You deserve only the best. You work really hard here. Harder than ANYONE I've seen. Why wouldn't you get the best things?"
'It's working… I think.' I thought, because Silk was… actually becoming nervous. And… slightly embarrassed. Though only slightly.
"My bed is the exact same as Diana's over there…" she said, almost defensively. "Its nothing special…"
"Then how come my mind chose to fall into this one, eh?" I asked.
Silk tried to come up with a response to this, but ultimately gave up. She got off me and stood up, straightening her clothes. Her face was turned away from me, but I could still see a small amount of blush on her cheeks.
"Get up once you're ready." she said briskly. "I'll be outside the room."
With that, she hastily left me alone. 'Huh. Didn't think that would actually work that well.' I thought quietly. 'Guess she gets rather flustered around actual compliments, huh? I could use that…'
A minute or so later, and I got out the bed, (After which I made it neat again, of course. I'm not gonna be a slob in someone else's house, even in a place like this.) and started to head onward to the door.
But just before I got there, I saw something. At the foot of Diana's bed, there was a chest that was left wide open. And I just so happened to see…
My bag. And my tool belt. All of my things, and more importantly, my weapons, were literally a few steps away.
I almost made a move to get them, then book it out the door and find Snowy, then get out of this place.
But I hesitated. This place was massive, from what I understood. Too easy to get cornered in a long hallway or the like. And since there were so many skeletons and spiders here, the idea of trying to escape like that seemed second to none, especially once Silk knew I would be making a break for it.
And then… Snowy. Even if I could find her somehow, what would we do then? Keep running? What if I couldn't make it to her in time? What if they did something to her? I… I can't make that call.
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, I never heard the door reopening behind me. "What is taking you so-" I heard an angry voice say, before it quickly became quiet.
I turned to see Silk, looking right at where I had been staring at. I knew instantly I better start talking.
"N-now Silk…" I started weakly. "I-I know this looks bad, but… I really wasn't going to use that stuff to make a break for it. I-I really wasn't! I-"
But then, she spoke up.
"Shut it." Silk said, effectively silencing me. How she did that when she barely came up to my neck, I'd never know. "I know you well enough to know what you're going to say."
She went over to the chest, and held her hand on the lid. "Get outside. I'll be right there."
I obediently followed orders, and headed out the door with my head down, leaning against the wall. She thought that I was about to grab my things and run for the hills. And I almost was going to. But… I wasn't going to, honest! I was far too worried about Snowy's safety.
I heard the door close next to me. I expected her to say something berating to me, or something similar.
Which is why when the sound and the force of something hitting me in the chest happened, I was totally unprepared. Once the initial shock subsided, I looked down to see…
My bag and tool belt, with all my things. And Silk… holding it out to my chest.
"Not a single word about this." Silk stated threateningly, before I could get anything out of my mouth. "I'm doing this because you were nice to me. But mark my words: share what you said to anyone else in this world, and Hell will be a sweet relief to what I have in store for you. Do you understand me, human?"
I hesitated, then nodded. I carefully took my bag, holding it as if it had twenty stacks of diamonds inside.
Once everything was back on, suddenly everything felt normal again. With my bag and belt missing, there had been a constant itch, of a sort, that had been bothering me to no end.
Silk watched me carefully, and turned to start leading the way again once everything was was carefully put on again. But just before she started walking.
"Hey." I started gently.
"What?" she said, turning around.
I couldn't say anything to voice my gratitude. So, I let my actions speak for me.
And hugged her.
Looking back on that, it was probably an insane move. Silk almost seemed to recoil from my touch, and squirmed for a moment, yelling, "Hey! Let me go!"
But soon, the squirming stopped. Whether she wanted to or not, she was slowing down.
"Thank you, Silk. This… this means more to me than you realize." I whispered softly.
"D-don't… don't mention it." Silk stuttered, patting my back nervously. I quickly pulled away from her before things could have a chance to get worse.
"R-right. Let's head back now… Snowy's been worried about you." Silk said, jolting me from my thoughts about the bag.
"Oh shit, Snowy!" I yelled. "Get me to her, now."
Silk started speed walking, but a few seconds later, I couldn't help but yell out, "A little faster, please!"
"Fine, have it your way." Silk said, grinning in a 'you asked for it' way. She suddenly started sprinting, faster than I thought. I could just barely keep up with her.
"I said a little faster!" I called out, just barely managing to see her as she passed another turn.
"I can't hear you!" she called out behind her, tauntingly. "Try running a little faster!"
"Grrr…" I growled slightly, and tried to pick up the pace. Slowly, I started to gain ground on Silk, bit by bit.
Until suddenly, she stopped. I nearly tripped trying to apply the brakes, but I thankfully came to a stop just in front of Silk.
The worst part, though, was that I felt drained after pushing myself that hard to run, whereas Silk here looked like it hardly fazed her. "Don't you do any running at all?" she asked.
"I… *gasp*... try… not to." I got out, trying to catch my breath as best I can.
Silk sighed and rolled her eyes, but gave me a minute to recollect myself. Once I was breathing normally again, she went straight through the door next to us. I followed suit.
Almost immediately, I saw a bright, white blur heading for me, and then I was on the ground, with a pair of arms wrapped around me. Three guesses as to who it was.
"Master! I was so worried!" Snowy said, holding me like a teddy bear.
"Woah, Snowy, easy there!" I replied, patting her back gently. "Didn't one of those two tell you where I was?"
"Well, yeah, but… you were asleep for a whole hour." Snowy said, looking into my eyes with tears in the corners of hers. "I… I was getting nervous that… you weren't gonna be back soon… and that…"
"Shhh…" I said gently, patting her back gently. "I'm here now. Everything is fine, don't you worry about it."
Then, Silk cleared her throat. "Touching reunion and all, but we have business to talk about, and we need to do it quickly." she said, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Oh, give her a minute." I complained. "She was worried."
"Yeah, but I'm also worried about what will happen to that crown if we don't get up and get going, so come on." Silk said, heading behind that same table. I just now noticed Diana was behind the table as well, and had been watching us the whole time with… a large smile tugging at her lips.
Anyway, once Snowy finally pried herself off me, we once again took our seats across from Diana and Silk, who immediately began talking.
"So, while you were sleeping, Cameron, we had a recon spider team search around the base where the crown is most likely being held." Diana said. "They found this."
She took out a piece of paper and handed it to me. On it was a poorly drawn picture of some people gathered around a large cube of some sort, with something in the middle of it.
"Granted, it's not the best drawing we could get…" Silk admitted. "But nonetheless, the fact that these humans were gathered around this cube is something to me. Look at the object in that cube again."
I did, and something stuck out to me. "There's, like, little spikes poking out of it."
"Exactly. The crown in question is made with bones, like you'd expect, and according to our records, this is what the crown is most likely to look like." Silk said.
She showed me another piece of paper, this time with a much better drawing on it. The 'crown' was rather small, or maybe that was just the drawing. The interesting thing about it, though, was that there were four longer bones, possibly femurs, on it, that sort of made somewhat four corners on the otherwise round crown. That and what appeared to be a large gemstone of some kind right in the center.
"See? There's a connection between these two pictures." Diana said once I looked up.
"Yeah, but…" I said, looking back to the crudely drawn picture. "I don't know, something about this doesn't seem right to me. I mean, how do we know for sure this is even a crown? It could be the latest piece of modern art for all we know."
"We already have another recon team out there now, and they'll hopefully make us a better picture." Silk responded. "And once they come back, then we can hopefully make sense of what this object is. Though if we had it our way, we'd come up with a plan right now."
"Okay… so… how long will the recon team take?" Snowy asked.
"Rest of today, to first thing tomorrow, give or take." Diana answered firmly. "Any longer and we'd start assuming the worst. Anyway, now we just have to wait. If we wait just a little while longer, then we can get solid information on the crowns location, and be able to form a plan."
Snowy and I stayed quiet as we took in this whole set up. 'All just to get a simple crown too…' I thought slowly.
Then, I remembered that old skeleton's words.
"The crown would bring our races together, yes. But not without sacrifice, of one's own rational."
What would happen once someone put on that crown, should it be real?
What would happen if Diana or Silk put on that crown, should it exist?
Something… something was stirring within me. Something that told me something wasn't right. I… I had to do something to change this. But… but what?
"Well… that's all we have time for today." Diana said, wrapping up her notes. "Thank you both for… agreeing to help us. It really means-"
It was only then that Silk finally noticed my bag over my shoulder, and my toolbelt around my waist. She paled slightly.
"Wh-when did you get that?" she asked, pointing.
"Silk gave it to me." I replied simply.
Diana looked at Silk, surprised. I guess it is kinda warranted, though. I mean, in Diana's eyes, what have I truly done for Silk that would spark this kind of… acceptance, I guess is the word?
In any event, Silk looked down at the ground… wait, is she blushing? "I… I did it because I think he has a right to his own things. Besides, he already knows that trying to get out by force is not gonna be good for his health, so what's the harm?"
Diana seemed to get herself under control once Silk explained herself. "O-oh… of-of course. Right. Yeah… I guess that's fine."
Soon after, Diana and Silk escorted me and Snowy to what we had assumed would be the cell we had spent last night in.
But we were surprised, in more ways than one, when they suddenly detoured into what I remembered to be their shared room. Only this time, there were two cots on the ground next to the beds.
Before I could even wonder what was going on, Diana answered my unspoken question. "Well, since we're going to be doing this job together, we decided that it would be… beneficial to stay together for some time, until we do the job. It's good to be comfortable around who you're working with, you know?"
"Pick a cot you two." Silk said, nudging us both towards them.
Snowy and I were, with good reason, nervous and confused about this sudden change of pace. However, we both eventually made our moves, and quickly chose a cot each.
I suddenly realized that I picked the one next to Diana's bed, meaning Snowy had gotten Silk's. I guess it works out in the end. Diana would probably be much more comfortable sleeping near me than Snowy, even if the two were getting along better.
"Alright, that's settled. Now… Diana, where's the sheets?" Silk asked, looking to her friend.
Diana looked around a bit. "I swore I put them right here…" she said, looking at a small shelf near the door. "Did someone take them?"
"You gotta be-" Silk started to moan, before composing herself. "I'll be right back. When I find out who took those damn sheets…"
She angrily left the room, leaving Diana shaking her head gently. "*sigh*... poor Silk. She always gets worked up over the little things…"
I glanced over at Snowy, who was just as confused as I was. She gently sat down next to me, not saying anything, just sitting there.
Diana seemed to see and understand our confusion. She sat down on the cot across from us, and slowly started talking. "I… I know you both must be very confused. I get that much. But… well, sleeping in that cell could only be so comfortable. It is a cell after all."
We said nothing as she continued, "But you have to understand… well, we need you two to trust us. This whole thing relies on trust. If we don't have trust… then what else do we have?"
Snowy and I looked at each other, trying to judge if she was being honest with us. "You do realize you set the bar incredibly high for that, right?" I asked Diana.
"I know we did…" Diana responded sadly, looking down at the ground. "But… we intend to change that."
"H...how?" Snowy asked.
"Well, we just have to get along enough, and sooner or later, you'll both start to understand and trust us, at least to some extent." Diana explained. "And the job is done, we let you go, and we all part our separate ways."
"You make it sound so easy…" I muttered.
"It's not supposed to be easy." Diana agreed softly, moving forward to sit down on the other side of me. "It never WAS going to be easy."
The three of us stayed in a sort of quiet for some time, until Diana got sick of the quiet. "I'm gonna go see how Silk is doing with those sheets. Be right back."
She left the room, leaving me and Snowy to our confused thoughts.
Third person POV…
Diana exited the room and quickly ran for wherever they held the laundry in this place. Granted, Silk and Diana were pretty the only ones who ever even needed to use it, but that's besides the point.
Once she reached the room in question, however, she noticed that Silk was in here… just watching her feet. Diana wasn't sure what to make of this. Silk never really… well, let's just say, gave a whole lot of thought about things. She was very impulsive, which you'd think wouldn't work out well, but since she was also very orderly, it balanced things out, for the most part.
Anyway, as Diana entered, Silk looked up in mild surprise. "Silk? What're you doing here? And where's-"
"They're still in the other room." Diana replied. "You were taking a long time, so I came here to see what was going on."
"Oh… oh yeah, sheets…" Silk muttered halfheartedly. She slowly started looking through the cabinets and such for the sheets, though very slowly, as if her heart wasn't in it.
"Is… is something wrong?" Diana asked simply, leaning against the closed door behind her.
"Hm? Oh, nothing, nothing…" Silk muttered under her breath.
"Something's clearly bothering you. What's up?" Diana pressed.
"I… I don't know what you're talking about." Silk denied, looking slightly faster. "Where are those damn-"
"Silk." Diana interrupted calmly. "What's wrong?"
Silk was still for the count of five, before she tried to answer, stopped, sighed, and then gave up. "I… I'm having doubts now."
"Doubts? About what?" Diana asked, surprised.
"About those two." Silk admitted, sitting on the counter behind her. "They… they're too cautious. Too undertrusting. And we put that on ourselves. And I doubt them spending the next few nights with us will change anything."
"And the job. If we didn't need him, I'd want Cameron out of here the first chance I got. But we need him, so I have to put up with his unpredictable nonsense. It's driving me insane. And the worst part… we don't even know how we need to use him."
Diana was quiet.
"I… I keep thinking about that day, the day we took them. We… we just left a note. A NOTE. That's all we cared about whomever else lived there. We TAUNTED them with the fact that we stole Cameron and Snowy."
Diana continued to stay quiet, watching as her friend slowly broke down.
"And now, we have this huge burden on our shoulders, two people that we need to get help from that don't even trust us, and we don't even know if everything will work right, and… and…"
Silk's sudden tirade of worries slowly fizzled out, and she seemed close to the breaking point. "We… we formed this group… to not be called monsters anymore… but how can we say that now?"
"Silk…" Diana softly spoke, sitting down next to her friend and rubbing her back.
Silk sniffled, but stayed strong otherwise. The last thing she wanted to do was look weak next to her best friend. "How… how are we supposed to do this?"
"...I don't know." Diana admitted. "But what I do know, is that if we don't at least TRY, then we'll be no better off than anyone else."
"Who knows if those two will ever trust us. Maybe they will. Maybe they won't. But what matters, is that as long as we can convince them to help us, then we can get that crown back. And as soon as we can do that, we can let those two go without a second thought."
Silk listened to all her friend had to say. When Diana finished, Silk weakly muttered, "Y-you… you make it sound so easy."
"It's not supposed to be easy." Diana countered. "Trust isn't easily won. And that crown, we already can guess it's gonna be a pain in the ass to get. But that's what makes it so rewarding, no?"
Silk took it all in for about ten seconds. When it all settled in her mind, she sighed, and got up. "Well… at least I feel somewhat better about this…"
"That's better than nothing." Diana agreed with a smile.
"Thank you…" Silk muttered under her breath, just barely audible.
After a few more seconds of searching, the two found the sheets, freshly folded for bed duty. "Come on. Let's get back to them before they worry."
"Doubt that'll be the case." Silk bantered. "If anything, they probably think it's a breath of fresh air now that we're not breathin' down their necks.
"True. Very true." Diana agreed. "But still, they at least know we won't hurt them, unlike some other members I know…"
They talked back and forth for a little while, until they reached the door to their room, and opened the door without knocking.
"Hey, you two. Got the-" Silk started to say, but was silenced by what she saw.
Cameron and Snowy were on the same cot, gently kissing each other with Cameron's back to the door. Clearly they didn't hear the door open, or Silk talk, because they still looked like they were in their own little world.
Diana started to blush profusely. "U-u-um… wh-what…?"
And it was then that Snowy happened to glance behind Cameron, and saw those two staring at her. With a start, she pulled away from Cameron and blushed furiously. Cameron looked behind him, to see those two watching him wide eyed.
The color drained from his cheeks slightly, as he asked, "How… how much of that did you see?"
"Not very much." Silk answered, her cheeks gently tinged a shade pinker.
Snowy didn't say anything, she just retreated further behind Cameron. "I-If you dare tell anyone about that-" Cameron started.
"Cool your jets, we had no intention of that." Silk instantly countered, to which Diana gently nodded, trying hard not to make eye contact with anyone. "Here's the sheets."
Silk tossed two bundles of sheets to each cot, and then stepped out with the excuse of 'needing to powder her nose.' Diana left just behind her with about the same level of excuse.
Cameron and Snowy were blushing at what just happened. They had been hoping that Silk or Diana wouldn't see that, but no dice.
"M-M-Master…" Snowy finally spoke up, shaking slightly out of embarrassment. "I… I…"
"I know exactly what you're trying to say." Cameron agreed, looking down at his sheet bundle. "Come on, let's just try to get some shut eye and this will hopefully blow over by tomorrow."
"Y-yeah… let's… do that." Snowy agreed, fumbling with her sheets.
Outside the room, Silk and Diana were understandably shocked about what they had just witnessed, with varying degrees of blush.
"Well." Silk finally said, breaking the quiet. "That happened."
"I… I knew they were close, but…" Diana spoke quietly. "That… that was…"
"Maybe we should just leave it." Silk said, listening to the sounds of those two shifting sheets around. "I'm sure come next morning, we'll have forgotten about this."
They both knew it was very unlikely, but it was the best they could do at the moment. So, once the sound of moving died down in there, they reentered, seeing Cameron and Snowy already tucked in, trying to sleep. Without a word, Silk and Diana followed suit.
Everyone slowly fell asleep, but Cameron took the longest. He kept thinking about how Diana and Silk took the new revelation.
If Silk hadn't had that slight blush, she probably could've fooled Cameron that she'd already see that before. Whereas Diana… she looked beyond embarrassed to have barged in and saw that.
'To each their own… but couldn't they have at least knocked?' Cameron said in his mind.
Slowly, sleep won over, and he fell into an uneasy sleep…
Somewhere, deep inside the facility…
"So. You are the one who will take the crown." a male voice said.
"Yes, my lord." another voice, this one sounding skeleton-isque.
"Hmm. And, you are in the process of getting said crown, yes?" the voice asked, almost amused.
"Y-yes, my lord." the skeleton voice responded, albeit slightly hesitantly. "We have two of our best members on it as we speak."
"Have you no shame?" the male voice asked in a deep, threatening voice.
"Wh-whatever could you-"
"You are relying on humans AND monster-humans to get you that crown."
"Be-believe me, my lord, if there was another way than to use humans, we'd take it, but-"
"I don't want excuses."
The male voice sighed, then continued. "I only have one thing to ask of you."
"Y-yes, my lord?"
"Once the job is done, and you retrieve that crown… I want all of them dead."
"D-dead?!"
"Dead."
"B-but, my lord, sir! Y-you must understand! Th-the 'human-monsters' you speak of are our hardest workers! Almost half of our operation relies on them, and that's no understatement! To get rid of them-"
"You DARE try to argue with me?" the male voice asked.
"N-no! No, my lord! I-I wasn't arguing, I was just… um… offering other ideas!"
"I said that I want everyone of them, the human and the human-monsters, dead once you receive the crown. If you don't comply…"
The male voice laughed. "Well, let's just say there's Hell, and then there's MY hell. You chose where you want to be one day."
The male voice didn't even wait for a response before exiting through another door.
"Hmph. Impotence." the man muttered. "Oh well. Once he is out of the picture… then no one can stand before me."
The man started to chuckle, then laugh, then it became a full guttural bellowing of laughter. Dark, evil laughter.
And his stark, white eyes glowed the longer he laughed.
"Hahaha… and now, I shall leave." the man muttered to himself.
His eyes glowed again, and he suddenly vanished into thin air, only a thin wisp of smoke signifying he was even there to begin.
His laugh still echoed through the building…
Huh. Well that's a thing now.
Well, how about that? ANOTHER chapter up at the same time of my HDN chapters are coming! How awesome is that?
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It took some time to get out, but I hope it was worth it!
As always if you guys want to play MC with me, PM me with your in-game username, what server, and when. And please don't forget about my personal survival server!
As always guys, until next time, stay awesome.
