Author's Note: Hello everyone! I present to you some good, old fashioned, tooth rotting (in my opinion) fluff with a small serving of angst!
As a reminder, my story is rated M, there will be content that mentions mature, graphic, or upsetting topics just like how the game (RE8) is for mature audience because of gore and violence. I delve into lore and content found in the game and flesh it out to give it its own personality in an attempt to show the hardships side characters had to go through (even if they were only briefly mentioned in game) and how it affects my OC.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Resident Evil Franchise, all rights belong to Capcom! Any grammatical errors or inconsistencies that you find I do hope you can forgive me. I did try and catch all the obvious ones. Happy reading everyone!
"Lord Heisenberg, always a pleasure to see you. Must be quite a large project you're working on for you to come and see my wares once more." The Duke let out a jolly laugh, and when the man had calmed down he shook his head from side to side. "I'm afraid I don't have anything new to show you."
"It's not for me, but for the little lady." Karl said, gesturing behind him with his thumb just as Selena peaked out from behind Karl and gave the large man a small wave in greeting.
"Miss Sinclair! I was wondering where you were, you hid behind Lord Heisenberg quite well on account of you being so small." The Duke lightheartedly teased before bowing ever so slightly. "I may not have anything new, but feel free to have a look around. Take as much time as you need."
"We're just here to pick up a few things for her greenhouse. There were some…unforeseen complications, things that didn't quite go as planned so Selena asked me to be her eyes when it comes to this type of thing." Karl said.
"I will not pry on what new project you're working on." The Duke replied as the two Lords began to shuffle through the piles of the Duke's belongings before Karl guided Selena over to a different part of the Duke's shop.
"This should be good for what we need." Karl suggested.
"I'll defer to your judgment." Selena said, smiling at Karl as she went over to where she had seen some worn-out vinyl records before being dragged back by Karl to the spot he was looking at.
"Just because I'm helping doesn't mean that you get to kick back, relax, and leisurely shop for something else." Karl complained as Selena sulked at his side. Karl stared down at Selena with indifference, hands on his hips before reaching up and pinching both of Selena's cheeks and pulling on them. "I didn't have to help you today."
Selena tried to talk, but when her voice came out in a garbled mess, she shook her head to shake off Karl's hands and rubbed her reddened cheeks to ease the pain before looking apologetically back at Karl. "I'll pay attention."
"You better, because one day you may need my help on a day that I have my hands full." The two best friends began to thoroughly sift through the Duke's wares, and when there was some equipment or materials that weren't accessible to them they made a list so that they could place an express order with the Duke to get it into their hands as soon as it became available.
While the Duke waited patiently as the two Lords were taking note of what they would need to order, the large man took out an antique silver pocket lighter, reached over to his finely crafted humidor box, and bought out one of his cigars. But just before the Duke was about to light the end of the stick, from the corner of his eyes the large man saw that he had caught the attention of one of the Lords.
"Yes, Lord Heisenberg?" The Duke asked as he lowered the hand that was holding the cigar stick. "What can I help you with?"
"I always see you smoking that." Karl stated, motioning toward the unlit object with his eyes. "What purpose does it serve?"
"This?" The Duke hummed. "Why, for the simple pleasure it provides of course. People across the world savor its exquisite taste and most delightful aroma."
Karl was curious about the thing that the Duke was always holding in his hands or to his lip since he'd never seen the man without it. Karl pointed toward the decorated box that held the cigars. "Selena said I can get something for my troubles so I'll take one of those back with me to the factory."
"I understand your curiosity, Lord Heisenberg, but without proper guidance, one such as yourself wouldn't know how to truly appreciate such a commodity." The Duke tried to dissuade the young man who simply continued to stare up at the Duke, clearly unimpressed by the large man's attempt to talk him down from buying and trying something he wanted. This unyielding determination caused the Duke to relent. "I'll offer you a deal. I will allow you to try one, free of charge, I will even teach you how to properly enjoy it."
"And the catch?" Karl skeptically asked which made the Duke shake his head.
"Nothing unreasonable, but this deal is only limited to today, which means if you do take this offer then it must be redeemed now." The Duke held firm before smirking. "And if you like it, then you're free to purchase as much as you want, I'll even make sure to order multiple different flavors for you to try just to see which would suit your fancy. All at a fair price of course, after all, I am a cigar connoisseur if I do say so myself." But then all mirth vanished as the Duke's expression turned serious. "But should you dislike it, should you not do it properly, then you will never ask me about it again."
"I'm not one to back down from a challenge." Karl answered without needing a second to think about the deal. Karl flashed a wicked smile at the Duke, pearly whites showing as he met the Duke's challenge head-on. "Though, for taking up my time, I expect more of a discount than a fair price for underestimating me."
"A fair deal." The Duke laughed, clapping his hands together before reaching over to his wooden box, producing a single cigar, and handing it over to Karl.
"Aren't you worried about what this would do for business should I decide that I greatly enjoy such a commodity?" Karl taunted as he held the stick in his left hand between his pointer finger and thumb while using his middle finger as a resting spot for the cigar.
"I put this deal on the table betting that you wouldn't enjoy such leisures." The Duke said as he began to instruct Karl how exactly to enjoy the cigar to its fullest by demonstrating on the one he held in his hand before offering the metal lighter to Karl. "I'm also counting on you proving me wrong, Lord Heisenberg." As the Duke spoke, rings of smoke escaped his lips as if taunting the young Lord.
The metal pocket lighter floated out of the Duke's hands and toward Karl as he brought the cigar up to his lips, the pocket lighter flicked up as Karl took a swipe at the flint wheel causing a reaction for the wick to ignite. Karl brought the flame up to the end of the cigar, toasted the end, gave it a little puff before blowing out the old smoke and then savoring the second smoke when he brought it back to his lips. Karl took the advice the Duke gave to heart, carefully studied the Duke's demonstration, and of course…the man was a natural at it and did indeed find it quite enjoyable.
Karl sent a triumphant smirk in the Duke's direction, floating the lighter back into the Duke's hands before expectantly holding out his gloved ones. "I'll take all that you have so far."
"To this day, I still hate that the Duke sold him his very first cigar." I said as I looked up toward the wagon after hearing a hearty laugh in response, the Duke clearly remembering the day that he had introduced the 'classy' product to the metal Lord. "Sneaky merchant. You wanted Karl to continue buying from you so you could continue to fund your business."
"You can deny it till you're blue in the face, Miss Sinclair, but I can tell that you quite enjoyed the after smell it left on Lord Heisenberg." I heard the Duke say which caused my face to heat up in embarrassment as I tried to deny such a fact just as Ethan began to chuckle at the comment.
"Really now?" Ethan did his own teasing from the tone of his voice.
"Really." The Duke rolled out to the front of his wagon where the two of us were seated. "Taking a trip down memory lane I see."
"Ethan doesn't believe that, at one point in our life, Karl and I were quite close." I revealed. "Karl thought that it was in Ethan's best interest to not trust me and went out of his way to warn him."
The Duke leaned forward, close to the both of us as he spoke down to Ethan. "Don't take what Lord Heisenberg says to heart, out of everyone in this village, Miss Sinclair is the most trustworthy face you can find, aside from myself of course."
"Sure…" Ethan drawled.
"But I can say for sure, after watching the two grow, that they were as close as two people could be." The Duke vouched for me. "The two got into some hilarious situations back in their youth." Before dramatically sighing. "Oh…to be young again."
Today was the day!
Today, Selena would give Karl the scare of his life! While Karl was preoccupied with his work, Selena figured he would never see her coming. Selena knew the layout of the factory inside and out like the back of her hand. She was able to get inside without Karl needing to open his gate, first success. And now that she was inside all she needed to do was make sure she didn't make any noise…which she was failing miserably because the closer she got to Karl's room she would burst into fits of giggles imagining the fright she would give the poor man.
One could argue that she was being silly, childish even, and should act her age, but Selena didn't care. They were free to act however they wanted because of the walls of safety the factory provided, free from judgment and scrutiny from Mother Miranda and their siblings.
Selena had forced the Duke to promise not to make any announcement of her arrival when she took the elevator lift to the top. And when Selena finally made it to Karl's room, she found that the door was left open with just enough room for her to sneakily squeeze her way through.
There, in the corner of the room was Karl and, as she predicted, he was working at his workbench with his back toward the door.
Slowly, Selena crept her way into the room, stopping whenever Karl would move to grab for another tool, and once Selena was just behind Karl she had thrown her arms around the man's neck. But instead of the reaction Selena hoped for, expecting Karl to flail at the sudden added weight, the man simply grunted and greeted the woman while his hands continued working.
"There is no way you could have possibly known that I was here." Selena pouted, dejectedly releasing her hold on Karl as she went to her designated seat, rolling it over so that she was seated just beside Karl.
"This is my factory, buttercup, and nothing happens in my factory without me knowing about it." Karl pointed out as he sent Selena a cheeky grin. "Also, you're not as quiet as you think you are."
Selena let out an indignant huff, another of her plans foiled because Karl had to be a little know it all causing Selena to simply want to change the subject instead of brooding over her failed attempt. "What are you working on today, oh Lord of Metal?"
"For your information, Lord of Plants," Karl teased back. "nothing. I just finished." Karl took what he was working on and extended his hand out to Selena. "Hold out your hand."
"For what?" Selena asked even though she obediently obliged to Karl's request by cupping her hands and holding them out in front of her.
"Remember the day you gave me flowers from your garden?" Karl asked as he dropped something metal into Selena's hands before bashfully averting his gaze back to his work table.
"I remember. I gave you flowers because you're my best friend. And because I thought your factory was dull and that you needed some color in your life." Selena hummed. "I said that I saw it in a movie Sal and I had watched. The man had given a girl who was his best friend flowers and you said 'I feel like we have this whole situation backwards, buttercup'." Selena mockingly lowered her voice toward the end, her feeble attempt at imitating Karl's voice before bursting out laughing as she couldn't hold a serious expression while mimicking Karl. "That was a long time ago, Karl."
"Yes…that. So!" Karl chuckled at Selena's antics as he motioned back to what was in her hands, still thinking that their situation at that time was, indeed, backwards. "I wanted to return the favor."
Fitting just in the center of Selena's hands was a metallic silver vintage blooming rose brooch…or Karl's attempt at one.
"I can't create life, not as you can. But I can manipulate metal." Karl's cheeks took on a red tinge as he continued to avoid looking at Selena. "Considering I'm no expert in elegance, I had some outside advice on how something as delicate as this should look, or what would match a person like you without getting in the way of your everyday chores. It's not perfect, but…" Karl's voice trailed off, getting tongue-tied and growing irritated that he couldn't quite express what he wanted to say to Selena as he continued to feel his face heat up in embarrassment. "Anyway, I wasn't sure how to repay you so this is the best I could do. Wear it or don't I don't care."
"Greetings Miss Sinclair." The Duke greeted, typical of the man to do whenever he saw the blonde woman.
"Hello, Duke." Selena greeted as she got onto the elevator lift and pressed the button for the top floor. "I was wondering where you've been the whole day, and here I find that you've holed yourself up in Karl's factory."
"Not by choice." The Duke sighed just as the elevator came to a screeching halt. "If you see Lord Heisenberg, please tell him that I'm waiting for my payment."
"Payment?" Selena stopped just as she stepped off the elevator, backtracking to inquire more about what the Duke meant. "That's so unlike Karl, he's usually punctual when it comes to making his payments. How much does he owe you?"
"A lot." The Duke took a puff from his cigar. "It was very out of character for the man. I came to the factory due to previous arrangements we made. Then, one minute we were talking, he was giving me another list of what he wanted, and then the next? Lord Heisenberg starts muttering to himself some nonsense I couldn't quite catch and quickly scurried away." The Duke shrugged his shoulders. "I assumed he remembered something else that he needed so I waited, thinking that he would come back."
"…how long have you been waiting here?" Selena hesitantly asked, feeling that the Duke was still vexed even while he recalled the interaction.
"Four hours." The Duke replied with a blank expression. "Four hours that could've been spent doing business in your village."
Selena sighed, placing a hand over her eyes after realizing what might have happened. "Karl probably had a sudden burst of inspiration for a new project. His mind is always busy so I wouldn't be surprised if, as he was talking to you, came up with a new invention and needed to immediately write it down or create it into existence so he wouldn't forget." Selena attempted to placate the large man. "I'll go find him and drag him back here."
"See that you do." Selena heard the man mumble just as she started to walk away. "As much as you two are my best-paying customers, time is money as they say."
When Selena took one step into Karl's room, what greeted her came as quite a shock as she gaped at the scene in front of her before exploding.
"What the hell happened here?" Selena yelled in complete and utter shock as she walked further into Karl's room and saw that his mattress was now on the ground instead of being supported by the old rigidity support frame. "What did you do to your bed frame!"
"I needed parts. My bed frame had the missing parts." Karl simply pointed out, his whole body sprawled lazily across the whole mattress. Staring up at the ceiling as he brought up his lit cigar to his lips, inhaling before a stem of white smoke escaped past his lips.
"Needed parts for what!" Selena stomped over to where the mattress was, both hands on her hips as she stood above the man, staring down into Karl's eyes that were covered up by his sunglasses.
"A new project of mine." Karl smiled in excitement. "You see, I had a sudden bout of inspiration and I needed to make it a reality. Now imagine a giant hammer-" "Why do you need a giant hammer?!" "I know, it sounds stupid, but imagine how incredibly cool I'd look wielding a giant, metal hammer."
"You need a new hobby…" Selena let out an exasperated sigh as Karl continued his explanation.
"No, but just picture it buttercup! I can only move metal, but what if there comes a time when there's nothing around me that's metal that I can manipulate? What if I can't protect myself or you because of that? Now, imagine a weapon made of metal that I can carry and use freely!" Karl snapped his finger. "So, while I was coming up with the schematics I realized there was one part I was missing, so I…" But before Karl could carry on with his explanation as he always did when he was excited to show off to Selena, the exasperated blonde woman stuttered as she tried to wrap her head around his answer.
"The Duke is right outside your ROOM!" Selena dramatically threw her hands up and pointed back the way she came. "He is literally in the elevator waiting to complete a transaction with you! He even asked me to ask you where his payment is because you asked him for certain parts and then just…walked away!"
"I did?" Karl asked as through his shades Selena could see Karl's blank expression staring back at her, blinking as his eyes widened, before bashfully smiling up at the woman. "Ah, I did."
Selena practically slapped her hand over her eyes as she let out a long-winded sigh before reaching down and struggling to pull Karl up to his feet. "Get up, we're getting you a new frame and mattress."
"What's wrong with the mattress I have now?" Karl asked as he urged Selena to give him a minute to follow her movement or else she would pull out her back in her vain attempt to pull up his full weight. Karl got up to his feet and immediately Selena latched onto his hand and started to drag him out of his room.
"It's OLD!" Selena argued, growling as hand in hand the two made their way back to the Duke. On their brief walk back, Selena continued to nag and scold Karl, telling Karl that he should first apologize to the Duke before they make any more requests from the merchant. Karl simply brushed Selena off and allowed the blonde woman to lead him back toward the lift.
"That did not happen." Ethan laughed, for the first time completely at ease since stepping foot in this village a few days ago.
"But it did!" I argued, still experiencing my own fits of laughter. "Instead of going outside to ask the Duke for the necessary parts, the man took apart his bed frame."
"Heisenberg, the one with the scraggly beard, unkempt hair, and oil-stained clothes doing something as silly as that." Ethan skeptically questioned.
"We weren't always grumpy and old." I defended as I smiled longingly at the memory of when it was just the two of us spending countless hours in his factory. "We were young and spry at one point in our lives, believe it or not. We were just like you and your wife."
"Yeah…me and Mia." Ethan mumbled, and I heard the sorrow in his voice when he spoke the woman's, who I assumed was his wife's, name. "I can't believe she's gone…"
"I'm sorry Ethan, I had no idea that she was gone. I simply assumed that, much like Rose, she was kidnapped." I apologized. "So, Mia was her name? It's a lovely name."
"She was an amazing woman." Ethan nodded his head. "We had our ups and downs like all relationships do, and after all that we experienced back in Louisiana…we were always there for each other, relied on each other to get through our nightmares. And I thought we would always be there to support each other when we had Rose." Ethan's voice wavered. "More so why I need to get Rose back. I need to fix my daughter and bring her home."
"And you'll get her back." I assured. "Once you've collected all of your daughter's flask, destroy Mother Miranda…this nightmare can end." I said as I taped on the edges of my bowl before whispering under my breath. "For all of us…"
"It must not have been easy for you." Ethan pointed out. "I mean, Mia and I, we've been through some shit, but to live through decades of this?" Ethan motioned toward our surroundings. "I can't imagine what you've seen."
"Every day was incredibly stressful. Countless expectations to meet, villagers to govern over, the feeling of constantly being watched…monitored by Mother Miranda." I agreed. "But together we made the passing days just a bit more bearable. Both of our homes were a safe house for us. I think that without Karl, my mentality would've cracked a long time ago." I shrugged my shoulders. "And I think the same could be said for Karl…at least I hope he felt the same way."
"Alright, I'm done with this." Karl huffed as he spun around in his rolling chair to face Selena, the joints sounding in desperate need of some oil. Karl crossed his arms over his chest as one leg lay horizontally over the knee of his other leg, leaning back and staring at Selena through his dark shades. "What's on your mind, buttercup."
"Nothing's on my mind." Selena, who was sitting upon the only comfy, cushioned, lounge couch that was slightly too big for just one person but too small for two, said. She turned her red eyes to stare at the man who clicked his tongue against the back of his teeth in irritation.
"Your corner of woe just oozes damp and dark to a point that it's suffocating me. Rain or shine, you're always welcomed to my factory, but you're much better company when you're bothering the shit out of me than whatever this-" Karl motioned to Selena's body. "is." The sunglasses slid down the bridge of Karl's nose as his mysterious colored eyes that seemed blue in the light pinned Selena down, holding her in place as she found she couldn't look away from the frustrated man. "Selena Sinclair. Tell me what happened."
Selena felt a shiver run up her spine, Karl never used her full name in a sentence before and he never stared at her the way he did at that very moment. He mostly called her by her first name or the typical pet name that he had given her since they were children. Selena knew he was being serious, knew that the only thing he wanted to hear when she opened her mouth was what was bothering her at this very moment.
Selena immediately gave in to his command without a fight because she knew if she did try, Karl would get it out of her one way or another…or worse! He would give her the silent treatment. No play-by-play of what he was doing, Karl had said that it would help him complete his projects when he was talking to Selena. No talking, no idle chit chat, and if Selena even tried to force a response? It was like talking to a brick wall…and she absolutely hated it!
"I saw something…at Alcina's castle." Selena mumbled as she clasped her hands together in her lap, eyes down as she twiddled with her thumb.
"What the bitch do?" Karl snarled and when Selena didn't instantly respond to the man's question, Karl let out a sigh. Karl had unhooked his leg that was resting on his knee, letting out a strangled groan after being hunched over for hours at his desk as he got to his feet and walked over to where Selena sat. "Move over." Karl ordered Selena, motioning to the cushioned chair she was seated upon that could barely fit two people. Selena wasn't sure how or where she should move as she looked at the chair and the small empty spaces on either side of her. "Move or I'll sit on you. You know I will."
Selena quickly scrambled to the side, putting her body as close to one of the ends of the small couch, and just in time too because Karl had forcefully squeezed himself into the space that she provided. They weren't children anymore, Selena had thought as she realized just how large Karl had become when she tried to get as comfortable as she could be stuck between the arm of the chair and Karl's body. When the two settled, Karl's body at ease as Selena had tucked her legs under her body, angling sideways with her head resting on Karl's shoulder, a silence fell over the two friends.
Karl was itching to get to work, to make his hands busy, just even a minute of sitting to rest and Karl was already thinking of what he could do to keep himself busy. But he wasn't going to satisfy that itch and wasn't planning on moving from his spot for he was dead set on making sure that Selena couldn't escape from him without telling him what was on her mind.
You see, the moment the woman had set foot in his factory Karl noticed that something was wrong with the blonde woman. Sure, she had greeted him per usual, asked him what he was working on, and for a while, things seemed normal and natural…nothing out of the ordinary. The same routine that they always did and it would normally end with Selena falling asleep on the chair while Karl continued to work while still talking to Selena as if she was still conscious. Selena loved listening to Karl talk, so much so that she would fall asleep to his voice, and Karl was happy to have someone to talk to even if she had nothing to contribute to his projects or experiments. But today, aside from the strange feeling he got when he knew Selena entered his factory and by studying her when she entered his room he saw that she was forcing her responses and actions.
Karl wasn't going to stand for that as he lifted the arm Selena was leaning on up and over the back of the couch to make himself comfortable as he straightened out his legs and crossed them at his ankles. "I'm waiting, Selena."
When Karl had moved his arm, Selena's body had fallen into Karl's side, and she only began to speak when she got more comfortable and felt safe enough to relay to Karl what she had seen. "…I had gone to stay the night at Alcina's castle, and during the night I had heard something roaming the empty hallways…"
There was something strange going on, more so today than ever, Selena noticed when she first stepped foot into her sister's castle. Selena couldn't put her finger on what it could be, but she did notice a few things that were different inside the castle…the obvious being the lack of physical presence. Usually, when walking into the castle you can almost feel that occupants were wandering the halls, but today the castle felt empty even with Alcina and her daughters actively and anxiously moving about the castle.
Selena had asked the Duke about the strange occurrences going on in Castle Dimitrescu, but even the large man didn't have an answer aside from saying that the ladies of the castle seemed to grow more irritable and volatile as of late. Tempers flying, and more instances of the hired help going missing.
And Selena felt that at dinner that night, she could feel the tension between the four women. Selena felt like she had to be extremely careful when speaking to Alcina as the tall woman responded with only one-worded responses or when the girls would speak about their day.
Something was indeed strange going on in this castle, and when Selena inquired about the lack of help, Alcina simply brushed it off as the hired help weren't of any use to her anymore and left it at that before moving on to another subject that one of her daughters had bought up.
After supper, Alcina had insisted that Selena stay the night at their castle, and normally Selena would've countered her offer and said that she had to get back to her village and her villagers…but Selena wanted to see what was wrong within the walls of this castle. Curiosity got the better of the blonde woman, unbeknownst to Selena that what she would witness would haunt her nightmares for the next few years and change the way she felt toward her older sibling and her nieces…toward all her siblings.
That night, Selena had heard it, while she slept in one of the guest bedrooms she heard the distant and muffled wails coming from the hallway, wails that shook you to your very core as if ghosts truly roamed the hallways. It was just as Natasha had described. On the very first night that Natasha had settled into Selena's village, the young lady had woken up screaming, drenched in sweat, and heart beating a mile a minute. Natasha was haunted by the nightmares that she had to endure in the castle, haunted by all that she had witnessed. By Selena's urging, Natasha described all that she heard when nightfall set in, that there were things that roamed the halls when all was presumed asleep. The countless maids that were rumored to have done something insignificant but got punished severely or went missing, finding out it were not just one incident…but one of many.
Unable to sleep due to the noise of the castle, Selena had quietly snuck out of her room to investigate the noise holding a single candlestick to light her way, and at first, all that greeted Selena was darkness the more she wandered away from her room. Blindly, Selena fumbled through the dark before being caught by surprise when she came face to face with an older woman whose eyes were devoid of mirth. Black hair pulled taut into a high bun, straight nose, hollowed cheeks, incredibly high cheekbones, and thin lips pulled down in a frown as she silently stared back at Selena. The woman wore the typical attire of a maid that served the castle, but this woman stood tall. Exuding a certain authority that differed from the typical maid that Selena had seen roaming the halls back in the day.
"Oh goodness, you gave me quite a fright." Selena breathed a sigh of relief, her wispy breath disturbing the flame of her candle just a bit but not enough to snuff it out.
"Forgive me, Lady Sinclair." The woman apologized, her voice prim and proper as if accustomed to handling countless nobility with the utmost respect. "It was not my intention to scare you, but you should not be wandering the halls at this hour."
Selena heard the warning, but she also heard something more as the woman's voice seemed to shake ever so slightly at the mention of Selena walking around at night. "Sorry, I just heard a noise and decided to investigate where it was coming from."
The older woman said nothing more, seeming to contemplate something as she had bit the bottom of her lip before turning around and motioning for Selena to follow.
The woman gave Selena no reason to doubt her, after all, if she was employed by Alcina then they were duty bound to serve and respect all guests of the lady of the house. Every so often the woman would stop walking as she seemed to listen to her surroundings before continuing on to wherever she was leading Selena.
"Where are you taking me?" Selena asked, this caused the woman to turn on her heels and immediately hold a finger up to her lips to silence Selena before motioning with her hand for Selena to lower her voice. "Where are you taking me?" Selena asked once again, this time barely above a whisper as the two walked through the kitchen in the direction of the cellar.
"The Chamber of Solace." The woman responded before settling into silence once more.
This place was darker than the castle foyer, Selena could barely see her hand in front of her face unless illuminated by her candlestick. But Selena didn't need to see to know what was inside the Chamber of Solace, all Selena needed to do was listen and she could hear it…could hear them. The ghostly wails that she had heard when she was occupying the guest room.
When Selena got close to where the noise was coming from, the light of her candle bounced against the cell bars, and when Selena moved her candle to take a glimpse inside the cell she was horrified at what she saw. So much so that she had twisted around to check if the others held something similar to what she had seen. The flame of her candlestick flickered when Selena would rush back and forth to investigate each cell to make sure that what she was seeing wasn't a trick of the eye.
Some cells were empty, some held decaying bodies of what Selena could tell were female bodies. Some had women who were still barely breathing, but they were just skin and bones…gnawing on the carcasses of rats for sustenance. And when Selena turned to another cell she was met by the gaping mouth screaming into her face and a hand that reached through the bars to grab for Selena. Such a fright almost caused Selena to trip over her own feet when she had attempted to jump away.
The creatures inside were much like the lycans Selena was accustomed to seeing, same ash-like skin, elongated nails, and gnashing teeth, but these creatures were more thin and lanky compared to the bulky physique the lycans had.
"We call them moroaică. Those that have rejected the treatments and die turn into them." The woman answered. "Their numbers are many…buried and out of sight unless coaxed out. They roam the castle when night blankets the sky." The woman turned and began to walk back the way they came. "Follow me, my Lady. There is one more thing I must show you."
"Why are you showing me this?" Selena shakily asked as she followed the woman, but the woman said nothing and continued to walk.
Selena was shaken by what she had just witnessed as she silently followed the woman, now it was clear where all the maids had gone and confirmed the story that Natasha had told her. About those being sent to the cellar to be drained of their blood and cursed to wander the halls. All of it was true, as well as those that came to the castle and never returned to the village. This was happening all along, and Selena knew that something like this was bound to come to light after the many failed experiments that she had seen resulting in the creation of the lycans, but to know that this much was done in the castle? The amount could rival that of Mother Miranda's.
How many failures did Alcina go through just to gain the daughters she always wanted? How much did Alcina go through to try and replicate the procedure to try and give herself more daughters?
…How much damage have they all done before she and Karl arrived? She's seen the few that Mother Miranda had done but never saw what occurred before she woke up in that cell. And the more Selena's mind wandered, the more erratic her heart became.
Selena couldn't remain blinded any longer, seeing now with new sets of eyes, as if the curtains were finally pulled completely away. Selena knew that with this knowledge, this unsightly image burned into her memories…no matter how hard she tried to imagine being cordial with her siblings, things would never be the same again. The image of her family shattering, leaving only her and Karl standing alone.
The woman then led Selena back toward the entrance of the castle, past the mural portrait of the three daughters that Selena had momentarily stopped in front of, before heading to the elevator lift. Selena had never needed to go on it but continued to trust the woman that was leading her as they both got on and pressed the button that pointed up.
The elevator took them up to the castle rooftops, a place that Selena had never been to, and it was quite a spectacle to see, but she had no time to admire the scenery as the woman seemed to be intent on taking Selena to a certain area on the rooftops.
When the woman finally reached her destination, she leaned forward against the wall that protected people from falling over to the other side. Selena had gone to stand beside the woman as she took a peek over the edge of the barrier to see the sheer drop of the cliff the castle sat upon and couldn't see an end in sight.
"No one comes up here," The woman finally spoke after the two stared into the dark abyss on the other side of the barrier they leaned upon. "in the light, winged creatures we call samcă rule these skies. Features similar to that of the moroaică."
"Who are you? What's your name?" Selena asked as she turned to look at the woman standing beside her. "Why have you brought me here?"
"My name isn't important, all you need to know is that I am the Grand Chambermaid of this castle, a title given to me by Lady Dimitrescu that I've had the misfortune of retaining for so very long. At one point I carried myself with pride, but now…" The woman revealed. "such a job has taken a toll on my body and my conscience."
"What do you mean by that?" Selena inquired.
"Do you know what my true job was, Lady Sinclair?" The Grand Chambermaid asked, causing Selena to shake her head 'no'. "While it was my job to dictate what all the maids did in the castle, I was also tasked with finding healthy, young maidens for Lady Dimitrescu." The Grand Chambermaid continued. "At first, I thought nothing of it…even when I knew what Lady Dimitrescu was doing to these young women, but at the time it was either my life…or theirs." The Grand Chambermaid smiled a sad, regretful smile. "At that time, I valued my life over theirs. I wanted to survive…I wanted to live." The Grand Chambermaid choked on her words, whimpering as her body shook from both the cold and the guilt she carried as she placed both her hands over her eyes as she began to tear up. "But I can't do it anymore…all those lives I've sacrificed." Selena could see the Grand Chambermaid's eyes peek through the space of her fingers, eyes wide and bloodshot from what Selena could see with the help of the light of the moon. "I close my eyes and I see them staring at me, calling for me, begging for me to help…holding me responsible for their demise."
Selena listened as the Grand Chambermaid cried and confessed all the wrong that she had done both by recruiting the men to make the meals and the young maidens that worked in the castle. The Grand Chambermaid was racked with guilt, and this guilt she kept buried deep within had consumed her over time before finally bubbling over.
"That…their deaths weren't your fault. You were just doing what you must to survive like so many before you have. Like I am doing." Selena said as she looked back to the Grand Chambermaid before panicking as she saw the woman lift her body over the barrier to attempt to stand on the other side.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Selena panicked as she took a step toward the woman in an attempt to pull her back over, only stopping when the Grand Chambermaid took her hands off the barrier wall and wobbled, almost losing her balance. Selena carefully held her hand out toward the woman. "You don't have to do this!" Selena begged as she tried to coax the woman back onto the other side of the barrier. "We can go back to my village, you'll be safe there. I promise. You won't have to do what my sister says anymore."
"There's no saving me, Lady Sinclair." The Grand Chambermaid shook her head. "Those young maidens still had family in the village, in your village, there is no room for forgiveness nor redemption! Not for me…" The Grand Chambermaid looked over the edge. "I've done so many awful things, Lady Sinclair. But the only thing that I take comfort in, that I can thank you for, is that some were able to escape this nightmare." The Grand Chambermaid's foot was now close to the edge of the ledge. "I know they're in your village, safely tucked away to live out the rest of their days." The Grand Chambermaid maneuvered her body so that she was now facing Selena, streaks of tears falling from her eyes. "I never told her. I…I never said a word…about anything."
"Please, just…come back over." Selena begged. "You've done so much wrong, but none of it was your fault. You were forced to do it, anyone in your shoes would've done the same-"
"But not you, Lady Sinclair." The Grand Chambermaid cut Selena off. "Their blood is still on my hands. I made my bed, Lady Sinclair, and now it's time I lie in it." The Grand Chambermaid did something that Selena never expected, through the tears the woman smiled. "Please. Please tell them how sorry I am."
The Grand Chambermaid lifted her arms, fully extending them out to her side, head tilted up to the sky as she arched her back before her body plummeted over the side.
"That's what you're upset about?" Karl turned his head to look down at the woman nestled into his side through his glasses. "Buttercup…"
"Don't take that tone with me." Selena struggled out of the seat to move away from Karl and sat up straight. In shock that instead of understanding her pain and how much it had disturbed her, Karl remained unaffected by it, almost like what she was feeling was a waste of time judging by the tone of his voice. "She died, Karl, many were still suffering in Alcina's castle. I couldn't do anything to save her even when I was just within arms reach of her."
"A mortal who led so many others to their death died, boo-hoo." Karl sarcastically said, causing Selena to let out a gasp at the callous her best friend had as she forcefully shoved Karl away and got up to her feet to walk away from the man. "You can't save everyone, buttercup!" Karl called out as he quickly got to his feet and with a flick of his wrist shut his door and bolted it shut to prevent the woman from walking away before she heard what he had to say. "Listen to me buttercup, say you could have saved this mortal, your habit of taking in strays, meddling in other Lord's affairs!" Karl scolded. "Dontcha think, at some point, Mother Miranda would start to wonder why your village keeps growing? That our siblings will not realize that people from their region are going missing and not by their own hands? Their own test subjects?"
"My home is a safe haven and anyone is allowed in if they so choose." Selena argued. "I don't understand why you don't understand why this whole thing is upsetting to me!"
"And I don't understand why you can't understand the dangerous line you're treading on!" Karl argued back. "We're supposed to keep Mother Miranda's suspicion off you, remember? Or have you forgotten? You'll draw too much attention acting as everyone's savior and putting your nose in places where it doesn't belong." Karl walked up to Selena. When he reached out to grab Selena's wrist, at first Selena had violently reacted and shook the man off, but that didn't matter to Karl for he once again grabbed Selena's wrist and kept her from running away. "Your village is safe, isn't that enough?" Selena bit her bottom lip as her eyes remained focused on the space between them. "You can't save everyone-"
"I can at least try!" Selena protested as she tried to yank her arm out of Karl's grip. "What our siblings are doing to these people, what they have been doing for longer than we've been here? They are suffering, Karl. They are dying. And if they want safety, if they seek it. If I can provide it, shouldn't I give it to them? Shouldn't I at least try?"
"They're mortals, Selena." Karl responded and that caused Selena to cease her struggle. "They'll die even if you don't save them."
"We're mortals too, Karl…" Selena's voice wavered, lowering by a few decimals as her hand fell from Karl's loose grasp.
"But we're not, Selena…not anymore." Karl, though taking the chance of being viewed as the villain needed to be the voice of reason for his friend. Because the sooner she accepted this, the easier it would be if something like this were to happen again. "Even if we didn't choose this life, we can't keep deluding ourselves that we're just like everyone else."
Karl stepped closer to Selena when he saw her arms reaching out for him, Selena's arm sliding inside of his coat and circling his midsection before squeezing him, seeking comfort in his embrace. Karl let out a sigh as he craned his neck down, his chin resting on the top of Selena's head, one of his hands reached up to caress the back of Selena's head, gently tangling in Selena's blonde hair while the other remained clenched at his side. "I'm sorry, buttercup, but the sooner you realize this…the less it'll hurt the next time you can't save someone…"
"I know that, I do. It's just…" Selena relaxed into Karl's embrace, exhausted from reliving the nightmare of seeing someone fall to their death and from her outburst. "it's becoming so hard…so hard to accept our reality."
Karl felt Selena's grip around his waist tighten, burying her face further into his chest, and Karl felt a bunch of emotions bubbling up in the center of his chest. Feeling intense rage as well as a need to protect the vulnerable woman in his arms, he flexed his free hand and brought it up to wrap around Selena's shoulders. His blue-gray eyes behind his glasses seemed to glow the more enraged he grew at the thought of what Selena had to witness simply because Alcina insisted that Selena stay at her castle.
"…Karl?" Selena was at a loss for words when she saw the man standing just outside of her door, drenched from head to toe from the rainy weather that had rolled into the village outside the greenhouse. His expression was pained, biting the bottom of his lip, eyes ablaze as he stormed into Selena's house without a word. "Karl, what's wrong?"
Karl stopped just in the middle of Selena's foyer, his shoulders shaking as he attempted to take deep breaths, but he remained with his back toward Selena. "She lied to us, Selena."
"Who lied?" Selena went around Karl's body to stand in front of the man. "Karl, who lied to us?"
"Who do you think! Mother Miranda of course!" Karl yelled, causing Selena to frantically look around her home when she heard the rattling of metal objects clattering around her house. Karl's anger seeped out while his gift seemed to react to his growing emotional state. "She lied to us, Selena! For years! Right to our faces!"
"Karl, you need to calm down. Breathe." Selena advised, taking deep breaths herself in hopes that Karl would copy her.
"I will not fucking calm down!" Karl's anger exploded, startling Selena, even more, when she heard something in her kitchen crash to the floor. The man saw her eyes widen in fear for he had never spoken to her in that way before and realized his mistake. Karl's temper tapered as he instantly lowered his voice. "Fuck." Karl placed a gloved hand over his eyes and averted his gaze to the ground, his face scrunching up with remorse. "I'm sorry, Selena."
Selena reached up to remove Karl's hand from his face, offering a patient smile before taking his hand and leading him into the living room. Selena forced Karl to sit on her couch, unbothered by how drenched he was or that he was going to ruin her couch. Her only concern was the emotional well-being of her friend who was distraught about what he had just learned.
"Do you want me to fetch a towel?" Selena offered. "Dry yourself off so you don't get sick?"
"If I get sick, I get sick. I don't fucking care." Karl said, struggling to keep his anger in check as Selena saw his hands clenched into fists on the couch. "Selena, our lives were a lie."
Selena went over to sit beside Karl who, at the same time, leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees before burying his face in his hands. "What happened Karl?"
"Mother Miranda happened." Karl growled. "I thought my parents simply died…deserted me, whatever…but I was wrong." Karl let out a sardonic chuckle. "My mother's death was Mother Miranda's doing. Just another number…just another failed experiment."
Selena, allowing a few seconds for the information to set in, opened and closed her mouth, carefully thinking about how to best phrase her question without sounding insensitive or doubtful of Karl's statement. "How did you come about such information?"
"A book I found in this…old, abandoned laboratory beneath the village cemetery. It was a ledger containing names, dates, cause of death, and the subject's reaction to the parasite. In it, I found familiar names that I recognized." Karl's breathing became erratic. "This woman spent years experimenting on not just those in the village, but those of the Four Houses that ruled over this region, my ancestors, who controlled the surrounding areas of this village. She lured the adults and the children away, and after running them through her deranged experimentations, kept those who were successful under her thumb for convenience so that she could continue to remain in power." Karl ground his teeth together. "We're just kept around because it's convenient. Because it benefited her! Not because she considers us her children as she continues to remind us to guilt us into doing her every bidding without question."
Karl was riling himself up, Selena could hear it in the strain of his voice, and from this newly found information, Selena thought it best that Karl gets it all out of his system. They knew to what extent Mother Miranda had gone to since she had expected the two of them to follow in her footsteps. They had seen all the horrors she had done and knew what type of monster she was, but a small part of them had truly wanted to believe that their existence meant something more. That being called children of the Black God meant something. That this messed up family was truly all they had and needed to depend on to live…for both sides.
"All those years, obediently fulfilling that stupid woman who conceitedly called herself our mother. Years of humiliation and groveling! Years living in fear because of her power. Degrading and lowering ourselves to such levels! I was digging up graves, Selena, just to produce something for that woman!" Karl stood to his feet as he began to pace in front of where Selena sat. "We're not even considered family, Selena! We're just another stepping stone for that bitch and disposable once she obtains her true child."
"Her true child?" Selena questioned only for Karl to let out a frustrated yell as he went to kick her coffee table, flipping it over in the process.
"I found our medical reports!" Karl sneered. "On the last page of every book 'an unfit vessel for Eva' and upon further investigation? Eva was her goddamn child! She was only using us to bring back her dead child, in hopes to be reunited with her. We're nothing more than a bunch of failed Cadou experiments to her!"
Selena got to her feet, went to stand in Karl's way as he continued pacing, and when the man who was consumed by wrath bumped into Selena, the blonde woman reached out and placed a hand on Karl's cheek to snap him back to the present. A silent conversation passed between the two as Karl's shoulders sagged, nodding his head, and enveloped Selena in a hug. Karl was using Selena to keep him grounded and Selena gladly returned the gesture.
The two Lords stood in silence before Karl finally spoke up.
"We're not truly free, Selena, not like how we thought. We're just Mother Miranda's little puppets, pawns that are easily expendable when our use runs out. We've seen it with Moreau, it'll happen to us too. That cold-hearted bitch." Karl pulled away, hands on Selena's shoulder as he held her at arm's length. "We did all she asked us to do, but not anymore. I'm done. I want out."
"What can we do?" Selena asked, brows furrowed, disheartened eyes staring everywhere but at Karl. "We're not powerful enough against Mother Miranda."
"Together we'll amass enough power to take back our freedom. I will create an army if I must, and we will fight back when the time is right." Karl proclaimed. "Any problems or concerns, we'll tackle them together." At Selena's hesitance, Karl reached out and lifted Selena's chin so that she was now looking back into Karl's eyes. "I…I can't do it without you by my side, Selena."
Karl wrongly mistook Selena's silence, he had thought her hesitance was because she wasn't sure about turning on Mother Miranda since that woman was all Selena knew, but Karl couldn't have been completely off. Selena's silence was more out of concern and worry about what would happen to them should they fail, she couldn't bear the thought of Karl being killed if Mother Miranda were to catch on to their plan.
"Karl, I will always be on your side, always have been, and always will." Selena assured as she reached for the chain that was around her neck, unnoticeable unless Selena brought it out since it was always hidden under the collar of her dress. Attached to the end of the chain was a dull, old, metal key. Selena took Karl's hand and placed the key into the center of his palm before closing his fingers over it. "Let's take back our freedom together then."
"This…" Karl took a peek at the skeleton key that was in his hand before looking back at Selena. "is this the key to our old cell?" The desperation and frustration diminished as he only stared at her in amusement. "When did you even get the chance to steal the key without Miranda knowing. Why exactly did you steal it in the first place?"
"I took it before we left. I thought it was symbolic and I was trying to be nice." Selena countered as she tried to snatch the key back. "If you don't want it, give it back."
"Why do you find it symbolic?" Karl asked in amusement, clearly wanting some type of answer as to why the key that kept them in cages was supposed to mean something more to the two of them than what he thought it meant.
"We used the key to take back our freedom." Selena said, bringing up memories of the times they'd open their cells and at least feel like they were free to be who they wanted to be before locking their cells when Mother Miranda would return. "So, we'll do the same this time as well. Take back our freedom, together."
Karl smiled, happy that Selena was on the same page as him before pocketing the key and strutting his way to her kitchen, a slight pep in his step as he went. "I'm stealing one of your towels."
"If you both realized that you've been lied to," Ethan suddenly cut in. "why didn't you two simply just…leave? Why stick around?"
"There would be no place to run to. If we tried, Mother Miranda would easily find us…and terminate us." I asked. "We needed to be meticulous when planning our escape, biding our time till the perfect opportunity arose." I pointed out. "We realized that we need to be rid of Mother Miranda to truly be free. If we acted too soon, then we could truly kiss our freedom goodbye. So…we waited and grew in power."
"So, all this time, you've just been putting on an act." Ethan said as I simply nodded.
"Some days it was hard. Acting as the loyal, obedient, children she wanted us to be after finding out what that woman had done to ruin our lives. For me, it was hard to continue the facade of a loving younger sister. We saw with eyes unclouded how Mother Miranda would fake the image of a good woman who took us in out of the goodness of her heart. That revelation pushed Karl over the edge." My body slouched, grabbing the bowl of cold soup and returning it to the Duke's wagon. "That man would work long hours till he collapsed while still begrudgingly doing as Mother Miranda commanded. His time centered around his newest hobby. I wish I could've helped more, but I was limited in what I could provide…so offering Karl support was all I could do."
"Karl! I bought food!" Selena called out as she walked through the factory, making her way to the foundry room. The man had been spending long hours there after uncovering the truth about Mother Miranda. Conducting experiments on the bodies of the dead to create a metal army, as he dubbed it, and that had the factory working overtime. Before, the factory was silent, but now Selena would hear the creaks and groans of metal and machinery constantly at work and she had to be careful where she stepped nowadays.
Karl was so focused on his plans and taking down Mother Miranda that Selena realized that he would forgo the basic needs his body craved. And in hopes to lessen his load, she made it her mission to remind him that he should take some time to take care of himself.
And of course, when Selena made it to the foundry, there was Karl, leaning back on his rolling chair, legs kicked up on his metal desk with the brim of his floppy hat covering the top half of his face to keep the light out of his eyes. When Selena drew closer she heard the light snores coming from Karl which caused Selena to silently giggle. Selena placed the food she had brought to the factory down on one of the metal tables and went over to Karl, taking off his hat and causing the man's face to scrunch up at the sudden brightness.
"Karl, I can't tell you how many times I've found you in this exact position. You can't keep doing this to yourself. You need sleep, food, liquids…and when was the last time you took a bath." Selena scolded even when her voice was soft and gentle. Karl let out an inaudible grunt before taking his feet off the metal table, taking to then resting his upper body on the table and burying his face in his arms. "Covering your face won't make me go away, Karl."
Karl was out like a light once more as she heard more snores coming from the man, amplified by the little cave he made himself by covering his face with his arms.
Selena shook her head, still smiling, as she went over and gently started rubbing soothing circles on Karl's back to coax the man out of the chair. "You can eat later. Come on, at least get to bed to sleep."
Karl complained, slurring his words as he got up from his chair and began dragging his feet as he slowly made his way toward the elevator and Selena would've been content to let him be…except that he was mindlessly wandering in the wrong direction. Selena watched the man attempt to find the elevator in the wrong direction, taking note to tease the man about this when he was fully conscious, before rushing over to saddle up at his side. Selena placed her hand on Karl's back and led him in the right direction so that he could at least get a full night's rest in a comfortable bed.
One more chapter to go and we can completely (I think) stay away from jumping from past to present! These were little scenario's I came up with while brainstorming this story (before I even started posting chapters) in order to show how deep the bond Karl and Selena share and basically them being just pillars of support for each other in their difficult times as well as what pushed them over the edge that they decided, no more! They will not stand anymore of Mother Miranda's BS and will take back what was taken from them. Next Chapter? "Broken (Pinky) Promises"
If you are enjoying my story and looking forward for more to come then leave a nice little review, favorite, and follow to let me know =D though it's not mandatory. Just you reading and giving my story a chance was greatly appreciated and makes me so incredibly happy. Thank you everyone for reading! Sending lots of love, positive vibes and big hugs your way! See you in the next chapter!
-SO