They had teleported to a dungeon ("Okay, what? Let's get out of here now.") and soon began exploring everywhere in the lodge, from the umbrella stands ("I've seen it on a TV show!" Ann said in protest when they look at her strangely), to behind paintings ("A murderer was hiding behind them," said Angel, raising an eyebrow, "I don't want to overlook it next time).
Once, when they were searching the basement ("You never know.") Rin had purposely bumped into the Hag and let her claws rip through her arm with the black roses so nobody will be suspicious of the blood.
Ann wasn't very happy about that ("I can't believe you were stupid enough to throw your arm in front of your face! Your arm isn't invulnerable!" "Sorry if I don't want her claws to slice open my throat!" Rin said, stung).
Her reaction was very understandable, especially since she didn't know what's going on. Rin knew how Ann was, she hated seeing her friends hurt. She was horrified at what happened to Adrian and had quietly gone on and on to Rin about how worried she was for Ariza and how she was going to tell Toni (Ariza's boyfriend) if they failed.
She's a loyal Hufflepuff who always wanted to keep her friends, her family, safe and unharmed.
"You are arguing over the semantics of eating children!" Angel's voice, sounding exasperated and amused, snapped Rin out of her thoughts.
Rin was, of course, confused, but soon sighed from resignation when she remembered what was going on.
Mason had randomly asked why fairytale witches want to fatten up children before they eat them (because in his words, fat is the grossest part of meat) and Rin had jumped into a very, very, sarcastic dialogue ("Why hello there, little children~. Please follow me to my magical… FITNESS ROOM. NO PANSIES ALLOWED BEYOND THIS POINT. LEAVE YOUR WHINING AT THE DOOR BECAUSE IT'S LEG DAY AND WE'RE ABOUT TO GET R-R-R-RIPPE D.") that made Angel choke with laughter (Rin wasn't expecting that 一 she was expecting her to look at her in disapproval).
Then Ann jumped into a weird explanation ("Because they're always cooking said kids in cauldrons and ovens - aka long cooking times at lowish heat. If you do that to fatty meat, the fat melts completely and the meat gets tear-it-apart-with-a-fork soft. If you do it to lean meat, you get tiny little sad meat bits that bring no joy to anyone."), and they went back and forth while Rin got lost in her thoughts trying to ignore them.
Ann snorted and nodded to Mason, "Wasn't my fault. Mason was the one who started the discussion. Not me."
"And it was Rin who did the hilarious dialogue," Mason said, huffing.
"I can't believe you, Rin," Ann said, mockingly stern, though it was ruined by the huge grin on her face. "With all your sarcastic wit, I'm surprised you didn't drive Raven up the wall."
Rin just rolled her eyes, but as Mason turned to continue searching, her grin turned into a disapproving frown at Mason's back.
Rin knew why. She always thought Mason was a really nice guy and he was always there for Ann to rant when Rin wasn't available. But after what Mason said to Ariza, Rin wasn't sure about that. Ann was mad at him for upsetting Ariza so much but didn't want to choose sides due to the fear of losing both of them as friends.
It's her weakness. If you help her out in bad times, she'll be forever loyal to you. She'll help you out, she'll let you cry on her shoulder, she'll even help you with murder if she didn't know murder was wrong. She'll never go against you unless you hurt another friend. If that happens, she is aware that you did something wrong and will look at you in disapproval, but will never say anything because she doesn't want to lose you as a friend.
Ange sighed, which snapped Rin out of her thoughts again, and threw aside a diadem. "Please stop discussing it. It's making me sick thinking about it."
Ann's disapproving frown disappeared as her lips twitched, "You know, I can see why Gill calls you mom. You are extremely naggy and 一 hey!"
Angel, from where she was halfway up a pile of stuff, had chucked an old dusty wig at the brunette and landed on her head in surprising accuracy, which made Rin hastily stifle her snorts.
"Nice," Rin said, chuckling at the sight of Ann in an old wig. "Nice wig, Ann. Looks great on you."
Ann did the mature thing and made a horrible face at Rin, which only made the sight even more hilarious.
Angel was watching with interest. Rin had to bet that she was still surprised at how childish Ann was since she was so professional earlier, and at how the quietest assistant (Rin cringed at how pathetic it sounded) was snarky with a sense of humor.
Mason was still muttering under his breath as he searched through a pile of stuff ("This is like The Room of Requirement," Angel mused).
"If only we can use a Summoning Charm," Angel said, sighing as she tosses aside another wig (Rin had to wonder if she had to catch her if she falls). "It'll make things so much easier."
"True, but we can't use magic, remember?" Rin pointed out. "She'll kill you if you use magic."
"It's better than having Ariza dead," Angel said, frowning.
Rin had to internally sigh because Angel was yet another honorable Hufflepuff. Not that it was a bad thing, but Rin had to hear Ann worrying over Ariza. She had tried desperately to convince Ann not to use magic or else The Black Musical will kill her. Ann didn't care, of course, which made Rin remind her she won't be able to save her if she was dead. That made her shut up.
Dying for your friends isn't worth it in Rin's opinion. If you die, so do your friends because a death of a friend will affect anyone. It'll destroy them if you die for them. Rin had seen it. Is it really worth it to die for your friends when they're getting destroyed in the aftermath? Rin still remembered Sera's wails of despair and didn't want to see anyone suffering like that.
Ann sighed and took off the wig, "Yes, but we won't be able to save her if you're dead," she said, frowning.
Rin snorted. "Hypocrite," she said. "That wasn't what you said when you were trying to use your aura magic to track down Jesse's sword."
Ann gave her the stink eye. Rin was unaffected as she continued on, "Besides, even if we can use magic, you need to be specific about what you want to summon. You don't want a billion swords charging at you."
It was true. Rin has seen tons of swords in this room.
Angel's lips twitched. "Obviously I won't be stupid enough to do-" she froze in mid-sentence. Rin knew what that meant and straightened up. Angel heard something. Something that wasn't them.
Frowning slightly, Rin took off her headphones and listened carefully for any sounds and voices.
"Where is it…?"
Aiden… he was on the second floor. It wasn't him.
"It's gonna be somewhere…"
Annabelle's voice… she was in a room across the lodge from where they are. Wasn't her either.
"Goddammit! Where is it?!"
Jace… basement… it wasn't him either. Rin's head was starting to hurt from the voices and screaming coming from all over the place.
"Watch out! Wraith on your left!"
It was Petra… she's near… just in a hallway ten feet away…
"Don't go in there! Huntress is in there!"
Lukas… same place as Petra… does that mean…?
That's when she heard it. A soft humming echoed in her ears… and it was right in this room, growing louder and louder.
"Huntress," Angel hissed. "We need to go. She can throw axes and her aim is very accurate if you don't get out of the way in time."
They raced off immediately and ran the opposite direction of the humming. Rin put on her headphones ("Put them on! Your head is hurting!") while Angel gestured to a different direction every time the humming grows even slightly louder.
Rin thought it was very strange because the humming grew louder even faster than even Angel thought. She ducked near a pile of chests ("We need to split up! It's easier for Huntress to find us if we're together!") and hid, breathing heavily. She didn't like being alone while being chased by a Killer. It made her scared and exposed.
The humming grew louder 一 she could hear footsteps now一
Rin's heart nearly stopped when she saw a sword between a chest and a suitcase a few feet away, looking exactly like Jesse's sword. It was only a few feet away. She can just run up and grab it…
But she was no Gryffindor. She wasn't brave and reckless. She was cunning, sly, snarky, and resourceful. Rin spotted a large gem from on top a chest. She could grab it and throw it away to create a distraction…
'But that gem looks very stuck.' A voice in her head said. 'How will you distract Huntress when she's right on top of you?'
That's right. Angel said Huntress has a very accurate aim. She was named Huntress for a reason. She probably has good reflexes and senses. Breaking off the gem will cause too much noise and it will take time to break it off. Rin couldn't help but remember Aaron's advice.
Don't get cocky. He used to say. Don't forget your inner weaknesses and don't underestimate your enemies. Go through every possibly; what could go wrong, what could go right, etc…
Yes, Rin remembered what he said quite well, but Aaron also said to never toss aside her own strengths and underestimate herself.
Use your strengths to your advantage.
One of her strengths is that, due to her werewolf status, she has super strength and can tear apart a whole building very easily. She can turn back into a werewolf and break off the gem easier.
But will she dare use her strength for something like this? Her father cursed her so that she couldn't use her werewolf abilities. Her ears and tail were just for show until Annabella lifted the curse. Rin had not dared to use them in fear her father can detect it, and she was also afraid of losing control and attacking someone. She had not dared.
Risking it doesn't help her at all. She isn't stupid enough to rush forward, grab the sword in front of Huntress and get injured, no matter what Ann said.
Rin isn't honorable nor a Hufflepuff. Rin isn't brave and reckless nor a Gryffindor. Rin doesn't belong to Ravenclaw because, despite her intelligence, she hates showing off how smart she is. It makes her stand out, and Rin prefers to stay in the shadows.
Rin was snapped out of her thoughts when a single drop of blood dropped to the ground from her injured arm.
She followed it and blanched.
There was a trail of blood leading straight to her.
Rin unknowingly made a trail to her.
Rin was actually stupid enough to make a bloody trail to her.
That's why the Huntress managed to get to them quicker than they thought.
Shit.
Rin didn't dare voice that she was stupid because Aaron told her firmly that she isn't a perfect person so many times, he has taken to smacking her every time she bitterly complained about a mistake and called herself stupid.
He probably says that she was far too used to pain to notice the blood trailing down her arm, or that she was too focused on running away from Huntress to notice anything else.
Rin started to think over her options as the footsteps slowly approached and decided to:
Distract Then Get The Sword
Run for the Sword
Choose wisely~
