A/N: Sorry about this being a short chapter. I've been kind of out of it (I think it's writer's block, or being overall uninspired for some reason. I need something to INSPIRE me. o u o ) But...Thanks for reading~ -Nira
Lilli thought it was about time to try and fight back. With Emma taking a blow for her, she needed to return the favour. She wasn't as weak as she said she was, that was for sure. Maybe listening to her brother was a good idea in the end. He was kind, but harsh with his words sometimes when he got a bit more passionate about things like Lilli's safety. Vash had taught her things like self defence in the bigger cities, a little bit about knives and some things about gun safety. No, she wasn't a weakling. She was just as strong as she thought she was.
Her long braided hair on her shoulders bounced as she walked along, looking for at least someone she knew. She had been hiding in the kitchen of all places, watching from under the table as Emma was dragged off by the man who called this place 'home'. With her, there was a steak knife, a couple band-aids that had found their way to her pockets, and a bottle labelled 'Health Tonic'. She was sure it was poison. It was too sweet smelling to be any good. Her good pink dress was ruined thanks to being in the cellar for so long—there were holes in the bottom and her socks were blackened, shoes worn down. It was pitiful the way she looked now. Slowly wandering out of the kitchen, Lilli held her little steak knife close and ready to strike, looking back and forth, up and down to make sure she wasn't in danger at any point.
"You can do this, Lilli...your big brother would be proud of you for being so brave..." He would be so proud of her, but as soon as she got home, he would baby her and try to keep her in the house as much as possible. Did she really want that? No, it was best not to think of that right then and there. Focusing more on who she needed to find. Emma, Feliks, Alistair, and a way out. From the kitchen, there was the dining room and what looked like a study with the door wide open.
Still nobody...she couldn't see anyone around, she couldn't hear anyone...It was a bit worrysome. "Are you lost, mon ami?" That voice. Lilli turned around and was face to chest with Francis, her eyes wide with terror. "Oh, why the face? I thought you'd be happy to see moi~" The young girl swung her little knife hastily, slashing through white fabric and causing the Frenchman to reel back, the illusion of the man being human was shattered in one fell swoop. A spider's abdomen and legs ripped through clothing, showing his other half was more monster than human anyways.
"Monster!" She hissed, backing away quickly, looking back only once to remember where the study was. Maybe if she locked the door in time, she could shut herself in there. Francis was bleeding in the stomach from the gash she left, and his eight beady eyes were dark.
"You have no idea, child..." Francis cooed in a sickeningly sweet tone, his legs thumping on the ground as he grew closer. "Run, petite choux..." Lilli turned tail as soon as his pace grew quicker, trying to flip chairs over as she ran, not looking behind her long enough to realize he had taken to the ceiling and was pursuing from there. She was so close, too! Just a few more feet, and she'd be safe!
Trying to make a home run slide for the door, Lilli managed to land a bit hard on her hip and slid the rest of the way on the hardwood floor, snagging the door and locked it quickly. It locked from the inside, thank God...but where was the key? Hopefully it was in the study. The door knob wiggled and jiggled, and eventually Francis started pounding on the door. Frustrated cries and annoyed growls started to come through the closed door, but as long as it was shut, Lilli was safe. "You'll have to come out sometime, little one...when you do, your eyes will be mine, and I'll take every ounce of life out of that little body of yours~ Your friends will be just as lifeless as you by the time I've finished with them."
The taunting didn't stop for another five minutes, ranging from 'I'll get your brother, too' to something along the lines of 'I'll get you soon'. Lilli found herself sitting in one of the chairs in the corner, falling asleep slowly to the sound of Francis's bickering and clawing at the door. Lucklily, Arthur and Matthew were nowhere near them. It was a wide strike of luck if anything.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
Now, Matthew and Arthur on the other hand had ventured to the basement, lighting the way to the room that held the cellar door, only to find that it was seeping water through the cracks in the door. "What's going on here...?" Arthur huffed, taking the axe to the lock on the door, only to have the door fly open and water gushed out of the open hole in the floor.
"The basement's flooded—I didn't know there was any water down there..." Matthew said quietly, stepping back when the water hit his feet. "I'm not going down there...I can't swim, and I don't want to get all sopping wet..."
"Is there any way to explore it?" Arthur questioned, trying to look down into the murky water. It didn't seem too deep...but there was something at the bottom of the basement. Something glinted blue, and another little bit glinted red in the dark.
"You could swim down there, but I'm not sure how it would work...You might run out of air before you get to the bottom, and then..." Matthew seemed to be a bit of a downer when it came to things, but that was normal, Arthur guessed. He had spent so much time in the house, so why wouldn't he be a bit on the dark side?
"...I was a good swimmer. I think I can manage a short swim to the bottom..." Arthur said, putting down his axe and started to lower himself down into the water. It was cold at first, milking out a few curses from Arthur as he lowered himself more and more until he was treading water. "Alright...if I don't come up, what'll happen to me?"
"You'll die. That's the simplest explanation I can give you. You'll die, and your body will rot here, and your eyes will turn into gems. My papa will then find those, and probably kill the rest of us in the house, myself included. You'll come back up, though. You will." Matthew nodded, holding his bear close.
"Alright. I will come back up." Arthur mirrored Matthew's nodding, taking a deep breath before sinking himself in the water. It was a bit deeper than he expected, finding that there was about ten feet of water above him where the faint glow of the door was overhead. Through the murky darkness, Arthur couldn't see much. Using the ring that he had on his finger, he illuminated the room, trying to find what was down there. There wine bottles down here, a small canteen, soggy tea biscuits...and a heap in the corner.
He was curious as to what it was, Arthur tried to step closer to it, holding his breath as long as he could before he got there, pulling a blanket from under chords of rope that held the mass in place. He nearly lost all his air as he found what it was...or rather, who. A blond man with a pale and near lifeless face with two rings on his fingers. One ruby, one sapphire. Arthur quickly retreated, thrashing through the water to get a fresh breath of air. Breaking the surface like a madman, Matthew skittered back, his eyes wide. "Th-there's a man down there, and he's got rings! I don't know if he's still alive, but he needs some help—!"
"What rings were they?" The child's eyes were huge, he must have been not expecting Arthur to come up so abruptly. "Tell me what colours they were."
"U-Uhm...One red one, one blue one—I think...If he's been down there for God knows how long, he might not make it when he comes up." Arthur panted, taking a couple breaths before going back under the water again. This time, the water seemed to be even colder as he swam this time, searching again for the body at the bottom of the flooded basement. There was nothing to stop Arthur from rescuing him besides the ropes, which were loose enough from the water damage. The man seemed to be alive, surprisingly. He breathed short shallow breaths under the water, and his skin was so pale. Arthur brought him up, causing the man to breathe sharply. Coughing vigourously, the rescued man was limp, unable to move his legs. "Matthew, pat his back for me, I'll move him to his side so that he can cough all the water out."
"N-No need—I-I'm f-fine." The man said, moving the smaller boy's hand away from him. "Ah...Thank you..." He pried the rings from his fingers, almost tossing them into the water until Arthur caught his hands. "What are you doing?"
"I need these, actually. I also need your name and a few answers." Arthur said sternly, taking the gems from him. "What's your name?"
"Feliks...I haven't seen you here before. I've seen the kid over here, but never you. When did you get here? Is the house spider coming after you, too?"
"'Fraid so. Have you seen a man around here with red hair a—"
"Alistair? Do you know where he is? We got sepperated, and Spider-Dude came in and dragged him off. I don't know where he went, but I know that he put up a good fight. He got Emma and Lilli all upset, too. Spider guy came back and tried to float me in the basement, but you can't like...die here. It's nearly impossible. I tried to jump from the top of this house, and all I got was a broken back and a few broken ribs. I can't walk now. But...I still believe that I'm gonna get out of here."
"That's...a bit more than I needed, but thank you." Arthur nodded, trying to help Feliks onto his back so the Briton could carry the other to the safe room. "There's a little study that seems pretty safe...you mind if we take you in there so you can rest and dry off?"
"Of course, I think I ruined my pants from being down there too long. And we know I'm like, hella clean, so I'll be alright." Feliks smiled a bit, trying to pull himself up enough for Arthur to walk comfortably. "Oh well."
"Not oh well. I can hear someone coming." Matthew stared at the door, his eyes wide. "I can't tell if it's him or not."
Staring at the door, it was really hard to tell. So...He did the thing that he thought was best. "Get in the water. Shut the door and we'll hide under the water." Arthur demanded, trudging back in the water with no protest from Feliks.
"Good idea, then whoever it is can't get us." The Polish agreed, looking to Matthew. "What about you, come on kid."
"I-I can't swim—I never learned how, and I don't think I'll make it in there!" Matthew protested, shaking his head quickly. His bear was still bloodied, and it wouldn't hurt to get him in the water. Arthur was already halfway down the stairs, sloshing around in the water.
"Come on!" Arthur snapped, grabbing Matthew up and then plunged into the water, taking one last breath before shutting the cellar door. The tapping on the floor was definitely Francis. Matthew tried his best to tread water, trying to keep his head above the sloshing water. Since the rings had been taken off, the water had stopped pouring through the basement, and now it was going down. In a matter of hours, they'd be able to walk on the floor. Feliks floated along with Arthur, holding on as tight as he could while looking between the boards at what was above them.
There was no sound through those minutes. Not a single breath, not any bit of water moving. Only the sound of tapping on the wood floors. The sounds eventually stopped. The three of them finally got out of the cellar and sprinted for the safe area only to find it was locked. "Shit! You didn't lock the door, did you?" Arthur pounded on the door, trying to get someone to answer.
"I didn't lock it, Arthur. Someone must be inside or something!" Matthew looked out while Feliks and Arthur stood at the door, shivering slightly. "Just hurry and get the door open—I'm afraid he's close..."
"Please! Open the door, whoever's in there! We're not monsters!" Arthur said, trying to possibly jiggle the knob so the door would swing open.
"He's right! We're not! We just need the safe area!" Feliks yelled, getting more of an instant response. The door swung open, and there was a small girl, her eyes wide. "Lilli! Let us in, like double time!" All three of them piled in, then the door was locked again, and they were all safe. Feliks slid off of Arthru's back, hitting the floor hard as he caught Lilli up in his arms. "Lilli, O mój Boże, I'm so happy to see your little face." The smaller girl clung to Feliks, muttering things in German to him with tears in her eyes.
"E-Emma, she's...I don't know where she is. Francis hit her because I was acting up and he dragged her away with Alistair." She whimpered, trying to stay calm as she could. "I could have saved her, I know I could have—Francis chased me into here and I locked the door. I'm sorry I didn't let you in sooner..."
"How many more are left out there?" Arthur asked, kneeling down to the two of them. Lilli told him that there were two left, but then again, time was running out. "We've got two rings...so we need a few more, then we'll—"
"Rings? I have one. I don't know what it does, but I wore it a bit earlier. I didn't see anything happen." Lilli held out the aquamarine gemstone ring, looking up at Arthur. "You try it. Maybe it'll work for you." Arthur looked over the ring again before slipping it onto his finger. "Where'd he go?!"
"I'm right here—I didn't leave. Why, can you not see me or something?"
"Not at all, you're like...transparent. We can't see any bit of you." Feliks said, propping himself up on the side of the desk. "That...could be very helpful." Arthur could see himself, but nobody else could. Taking off the ring, Arthur came back into view, wide eyed and grinning. "I could find everyone else using this, and I could easily sneak past Francis."
"Just be careful, though. He might know you're using that ring. And if you just want to use one thing, use only one ring at a time, or put your rings on sepperate hands. That's how he got the water in the basement. Ice and Fire makes water." Feliks warned, pursing his lips. "You go find your brother, Lilli and I will stay here."
"What about me? I'm not invisible." Matthew frowned, holding onto the back of Arthur's shirt. "I don't want to get hurt by mon Papa."
"I think it's best Matthew stay here since I can do this on my own now. Since I've got this, I'll be able to sneak as much as I need to." Arthur left the study shortly after, leaving Matthew, Lilli and Feliks to safely rest.