Normally, I'd consider a museum trip to be boring, or something middle school kids would have for a field trip. The only difference is that teachers only have a group of school kids to handle. I, on the other hand, have Cerys and Ortensia. At least Cerys has gone places with me before, so I have at least some idea how to get her to behave. Hunger is apparently a good motivator. This is Ortensia's first outing though. Combine that with her lack of talking, at least to me, combined with her only being around for a day, it could mean trouble for everyone. Especially me. This isn't going to end well. I can feel it…

The museum looked like any other from the outside. However, any other observations had to wait since Cerys was on my back chattering in my ear and I had to keep Ortensia from getting lost among the crowd gathering around.

"Look at them!" "The small one is so cute!" "Look at the chest on that plant!" Between the crowd's excitement and picture taking, I was surprised we made it inside before the museum closed.

"We made it." I panted, after having to navigate the sea of humans. "It's too bad we only have a few minutes to look around."

Cerys stopped talking and looked at me in shock. "Wait, what? What do you mean 'only a few minutes'? I thought we'd have all day!"

I put her down next to Ortensia, who still won't look me in the eye. "I didn't expect such a crowd. Everyone wanted pictures of the two of you, and you posing for them didn't exactly help."

"Well, it's not my fault that other people have realized my cuteness." She stated, once again striking a pose for an imaginary camera. I heard Ortensia say something softly. I barely understood her.

"It's o.k., Ortensia. You're plenty cute too." All I got in response was a blush, but at least it was something, right?

It was then that I heard someone call out to us.

"Ah, you must be the special guests we were told to expect. Welcome to our newly opened museum. I'm the Curator."

I looked at the Curator, who was a grizzled older man who had a gentlemanly aura to him. "Umm…I don't know what you mean by 'special guests.' We were just given these passes-"

"Ah, yes. The exclusive 'Night Lock-in' passes." He stated, smiling. "Very many people wanted to experience our displays after hours. You three are the lucky first guests."

Ok, the longer he smiles at us, the creepier he starts to seem… "What's the point of locking the people in? That doesn't seem like the best idea."

Cerys tugged on the leg of my jeans, impatiently. "Who cares? The point is we have all night to look at everything. I wonder if there's an arachne exhibit."

I sighed. Cerys seemed way too excited about this. Ortensia just looks kind of scared, but that's not our of the ordinary. I handed the Curator the passes, although something didn't feel right about this whole situation.

"Wonderful. I'll get these filed away real quickly. Once again, welcome to the museum and enjoy your night." With that, he was gone. I didn't even see him leave. Weird…

I looked over at the girls who were chatting away, and by that, I mean Cerys was talking while Ortensia just nodded at what she said. "Well, I guess we're here all night, so we should get this tour started, right?"

Sorry for the short, late chapter. Writer's block is a wicked mistress. On a more pleasant note, this is part one of an extended chapter arc. Look forward to whenever I get that out (hopefully in less than a month.)

CymrianDragul