CyberDeletion: 3rd chapter is FINALLY up! I'd like to thank Star Shadow, Sam Baku, and tears for reviewing! BTW, Happy Easter everybody! ^____^

Rune: *wearing bunny ears* Do I really have to wear these? It's quite humiliating, you know.

Rath: *poking a pair of ex-bunny ears with his sword to make sure it's not alive after he attacked it*

Thatz: *also wearing bunny ears* Shut up, Rune. You're not the only person who has to deal with them. Anyway, they're pink. Girly. Most people would think that you'd like them.

Rune: I do NOT like pink girly things! *suddenly has one of those giant mallets and starts chasing Thatz*

CD: *ignores Rune and Thatz* Hey Rath, wanna say the disclaimer?

Rath: Not really.

CD: Hey Rath, wanna wear a pink 'n fluffy bunny suit?

Rath: Er… CD does not own Dragon Knights.

~*~

"Yes," Thatz says, "Wonderful things."

Rath is impatient. "Well, take what you want so we can get out of here and I can go fight the demon!"

I not-so-lightly whack Rath in the back of the head with the flat side of my sword. I want to know what these 'wonderful things' are! "Could you tell us what you see? There's not enough light --" I stop in mid-sentence to shield my eyes from the sudden flash that floods the room with the last word I had spoken. I blink in the brightness as my eyes adjust. The light has revealed a room sparkling with precious metals and jewels of all sorts. They aren't single jewels sitting on display or gold and silver in piles, but rather something quite unexpected…

"Instruments," I breathe, "The room is full of musical instruments." I had always had a fondness for anything to do with music and have been told that I'm quite talented with it, but it's a talent that I'd rather not have most people know. I had to dress in drag twice before (It was not my idea! I was forced to do it both times!), and one time was because I had to pretend to be a princess that I happened to look exactly like (Don't ask; it's a long story). Apparently people think I look like a girl. It would just crack Rath and Thatz up if they knew I was good at something "girly". I'd never be able to live it down.

Still, I can't help wanting to play a few keys of one of the pianos, or to let myself hear the sounds of a violin again…

Wait, what's that? There's a small case, probably belonging to a wind instrument, in the center of the room. The way the case is decorated, the thing inside must be really special. I make my way slowly up to it. Thatz is closer to the case than I am. I think he's trying to see what he can carry. I sigh. I guess his amazement has worn off.

There's a loud thump as something slams itself against the door, roaring. Rath is smiling and holding onto his sword.

"It found us?" I say, and immediately feel stupid. Of course it found us; it wouldn't be pounding against the door otherwise. Thatz has his bag of treasure out and is trying to find something that can fit inside it. He had grabbed a violin and was trying to get it in his bag when the door bursts open and the gray demon from before stomps inside. A few more just like it accompany it, along with many other kinds. They don't attack wildly, but rather cautiously, as though they are afraid of damaging the room… the instruments! They don't want to hurt the instruments! There's no time to wonder why. I run behind a piano and try to get close to the demons while using the instruments as shields in order to attack or yell at Thatz and try to get Rath to run, which ever is the better idea at the time. The demons are having a hard time trying to tiptoe around the room and attack at the same time. There are a lot of them, though… scratch that, there's an army. Even Rath can't fight an army of them unless he wants to bring down the mansion and kill everyone, including himself.

Otherworldly moaning starts coming from what sounds like all directions at once. A chill runs up my spine and the room feels more than a few degrees cooler. There are opaque people coming through the walls… one of these ghosts flies through Thatz, who drops his entire bag of treasure and gapes at it. The light flickers and dims as the specters appear in the room, glowing slightly and moaning as though the world was coming to an end.

I shudder and dodge between harps to get away from the door and up to a higher part of the room near the window. There are too many demons to get away through the door. I see that Thatz has gathered his treasure again and is running from a demon, trying to fend it off with his sword in one hand and holding onto his bag of treasure with the other. Fortunately, this is a demon that seems to be affected by swords. I help out Thatz by slashing the demon and stabbing it with my sword. Thatz grabs the nearest small object to him that looks valuable and shoves it into his bag. I glance around the room. Even Rath is in trouble now; the demons are crowding in on him. He's using his fire at close-range but there are still the gray demons to worry about. Thatz is once again trying to stave off more demons. A few more come for me as well. I'm looking for a way out of this place and fighting at the same time. Thatz seems to be looking for the same thing, and it looks like he's found something. I follow his gaze and freeze, earning myself a few demon attacks that are right on target. I land in a pile of percussion instruments, but I don't care. I'm staring at Thatz and realize what he's planning.

He's looking at the window.

That baka is going to jump out the third-floor window.

We're probably the third floor anyway. I couldn't keep track of all the stairways and passages we've gone through. If this is not the third floor, we're definitely higher. The aforementioned idiot gets a firm grip on his bag of treasure and sprints towards the window. He takes a running leap and shields himself as he crashes through the glass. I run over to the window to see if he's all right. I don't see him, which would probably be a good thing normally, but I can barely see the ground because of the storm. I start turning around (I don't want to leave my back exposed for a moment while with those demons here!) and the next thing I know, I've been pushed out of the window by one of the demons. I try to twist around completely and grab the window ledge. Time seems to freeze for a moment as my fingertips brush against it, but I'm too far away to get a hold on it and time resumes its normal pace as the earth comes rushing up to meet me. I hit the ground and feel a split-second of pain before I black out.

~*~

Rune: That was really short.

CD: Yes, I know I'm cruel. But hey, it's Easter!

Rath: Aaaaand…

CD: … and, I'm supposed to be working right now. I've got projects and papers due very, very soon. .

Thatz: HA! I'm not the only person shirking around here!

Rune: Uh, Thatz? I wouldn't make that comparison out loud…

CD: *glares at Thatz* What I do is called P R O C R A S T I N A T I N G, not shirking. *pulls out a bunny suit* Come here. Now.

Thatz: *runs away like any other sane person would do*

Rune: *frowns* That might be considered cruel and unusual punishment.

Rath: So? It's funny! *goes to help CD*

Rune: … right. Should CD make Thatz wear the bunny suit, or is it too cruel? Oh, and what do you think of the fic so far?

CD: *stops chasing Thatz for a moment* Read and Review, PLEASE!