Reo: Curse you computer!
Jason: What's wrong with it now?
Reo: Media isn't working. It won't go into Library mode.
Jason: Oh, poor you. I bet the starving kids in Africa don't have to deal with such problems.
Reo: Dang straight!
Jason: (Sigh)
(Lexie walks into the room)
Lexie: Hello all!
Reo: Lexie!
Lexie: Reo!
Reo: Lexie!
(They continuously say each other's names for five minutes)
Reo: Good to have you here Lexie!
Lexie: It's good to be here Reo!
Reo: So let us begin!
Lexie: Lets!
Chapter 5- The Conspiracy
(Daisuke's POV)
The golden ceiling greeted me. As I felt my surroundings I realised I was back in bed, in the room which I had tried so desperately to escape.
"How are you feeling?"
To my left stood Satoshi. He was still in a navy robe, and didn't appear to have any glasses.
"Fine," I responded, even though answering his question left so many of mine untouched.
"You have no idea how fortunate you are," he said whilst walking over to the dresser, "You realise you fell from that window you tried to climb out of, don't you?"
I sat, open eyed, in the bed. I thought back to the rash escape and how stupid it all was. I could have died. I guess I didn't think I was going to fall. As I thought back Satoshi presented me with a glass vile filled with a thick black liquid. As he held it in front of me I could smell disgusting odor seeping from it. The stench was overpowering.
"Drink it."
I looked back at the vile with uncertainty.
"Don't worry. It's just some medicine Master Padre made for you." Satoshi said comfortingly.
Master Padre? I tried not to ask too many questions. Satoshi handed me the vile and I reluctantly sipped some of the contents. The taste was identical to the putrid smell. Only a few drops had reached my tongue and already I felt as if I was going to be sick.
"I know it doesn't taste very nice, but it's good for you." I took the full vile away from my mouth.
"There's no way I can drink it. It burns my mouth," I said, handing the vile back to him.
"Fine," he said softly, "I'm not forcing you to drink it." He placed the vile back on dresser and moved towards the door. I was about to open my mouth and ask him where we were and what was going on, but his suddenly glare back at me caused me to forget what I was about to say. "Don't try jumping out any more windows if you want to stay in one piece," he said before the door swung shut.
"This room's nice." My eyes fluctuated from the door to the balcony where the voice had come from. From out of the blue Dark walked into the room.
"Dark!" He gave me his customary smile which surprisingly didn't annoy me as it used to. "How on earth did you get out of my body?"
"I have a life outside of you Daisuke," he said with good humour. He walked over to the dresser swiped his finger on top of its surface. "Does this have anything valuable in it?"
"Dark!" I shouted, feeling my regular annoyance with him return. He let out a laugh.
"I was just joking! Can't you ever take a joke?"
"Yes… usually I can. But this is different! Aren't you worried about how this happened?"
"Not really," he muttered checking the contents of the dresser. "I already know how this happened." I let out a sigh.
"Let me guess… we're inside that painting you tried to steal right? I told you it was a bad idea to take it!"
"No, no, no… you've got it all wrong…" The questions which I had wanted to ask Satoshi were soon piling up. "You think that we touched the painting, and now we're inside an alternate world…"
"And we're not?" I asked. Dark looked at me with a more serious expression in his eyes.
"No, not quite…"
How did Dark know all this? We haven't been here too long, and yet he already seems to know far more about this place than me.
"Do you believe in reincarnation?"
I stared at him blankly. "Not really…"
"I know this is going to sound hard to believe, but this place… castle, if you want to call it that… it's the museum…"
"You mean the art museum… but how's that possible?"
Dark wandered over to the corner of the room and sank into a timber chair. "That painting we tried to steal-"
"You mean 'you' tried to steal…" I cut in.
"Yes, well… I'm afraid it acted like a time portal… and when we touched it it brought you back to your past life."
"M-my past life?"
Dark nodded and stared at a trinket box which he had taken from the dresser.
"Surprisingly, you don't seem too concerned about all of this," I noted, watching him open and close the box.
"Yeah, well, it doesn't really affect me that much, does it?" he chuckled.
"Doesn't affect you! You're trapped here as well don't forget!"
"But I'm not the one who's gonna die soon-"
He suddenly covered his mouth, realising he just said something he shouldn't have.
"Die soon? What are you on about?" I asked.
"When I first woke up here I was in the nearby forest," he said, pointing near the balcony. "I was like you. I had absolutely no idea about what was going on. Then I stopped at a small village nearby. I questioned the people there, asking them where I was. I had never heard of most of the names they gave me, except one…"
"Which was?"
"Elinbe Castle."
"Wait," I said, "Wasn't the name of the art exhibit I went to called 'Fine Arts of Elinbe'?"
Dark nodded. "It was also a name I'd heard before that. This castle contains lots of conspiracy. I heard a long time ago that a lord was executed here for treason. Apparently he was attempting to overthrow the king."
"There's a king in here?"
"Of course dummy, it's a castle. What did you think it was built for? Anyway… there was a lot of history behind the conspiracy. The lord planned to remove the king's children and replace his own son on the throne."
"And this has to do with us how?"
"I'm getting to that… anyway; the lord was caught before he could complete his plan. But the worst isn't over yet. Before the lord was executed the king's son, Prince Leon died from a fatal illness. The crown was then handed to the Princess Antine."
"So where's the bad bit?" I asked. It didn't seem like Dark was ever going to finish the story. But then,as I sat up in the bed a cold realisation occurred to me. I squeezed the cream covers tightly, just before Dark was about to speak. I said his words before they could leave his mouth.
"I'm Prince Leon."
Jason: This looks like it's turning into an angst!
Reo: It does not!
Lexie: I gotta admit Reo, the situation looks pretty bleak for young Daisuke…"
Reo: Listen! Both of you! Who's the writer here?
Lexie and Jason: You are.
Reo: That's right! And I don't kill off characters until they need to be killed off!
Jason: Which could be in a few chapters by the look of things.
Reo: THAT"S IT! BOTH OF YOU OUT!
Thank you all for being so patient while my computer was being fixed. I don't blame you if you've forgotten the story by now, but I have tried. I swear.
Till next time!