"—Oh! But she's—"
A feminine voice made it's way into Ethan's dreams. It was vaguely familiar. As if he'd heard it in passing enough times to itch his brain.
"Daniela, you can hold—"
The name was less so, despite the inkling in the back of his mind that he should be aware of it. It made him scrunch his face up, body being lifted from his cozy slumber. Couldn't they keep the noise down? He was so tired…
"You had your turn!"
He wanted to groan. Why are they so loud? Who even were they anyways? God, the bed was so comfortable…when did they get such nice sheets? So warm…
"—nna hold Rose!"
Ethan's eyes shot open. Before he even registered where he was or why he was there he was bolting upright. He quickly registered the sight of the cradle and the three black clad women circled around it. "Hey!" He yelled, throwing the covers off of himself and standing up. "What the hell are you doing!?"
The women look to him, all smiling softly as Cassandra in particular giggled at his demeanour. It was Daniela who spoke up as he came closer. "Playing with the baby, duh? - Ow!" Cassandra playfully smacked her arm.
"Oh, shut up. You can't get hurt." Bela rolled her eyes and Daniela stuck her tongue out at her like a child.
Ethan had a firm frown and baggy eyes, exasperated by the display. "You better not hurt her."
"Of course we're not gonna hurt her!" Cassandra was the first to reply.
"I think Mother would blow a casket if we did." Bela added. All three of them looking at Ethan as if he'd grown a second head. Despite appearing as grown woman they all reminded him of teenagers. It made him wonder what Rose will be like at such an age. Such imagination didn't stop him from sighing at the, in his mind, frivolous attitudes.
He pinched his nose, eyes squeezed. The woman had no problem ignoring him and going back to cooing and fawning over the baby. The doors opened, adding to the not-quite peaceful atmosphere. Through them emerged Lady Dimitrescu, lipstick smile along her face.
"Ah, Ethan! I see you're awake. Good"
Completely disregarding her welcoming approach, he blurted out in barely contained worry. "Can you keep your crazy daughters away from mine?"
"Ethan, I am taking great risk in keeping you here and even protecting your Rose from Heisenberg's plan." Her friendliness sank down into a stern chastise, not afraid to let her annoyance be displayed. "Do not insult my children in return."
"Right…" He deflated like a scorned child. "Sorry."
"Ooooh~ He got in troooouble." Daniela sang, quiet but not nearly whispered enough. She made a half-hiss as Cassandra smacked her upside the head. Both women glaring at each other.
"Girls, behave."
"Yes, Mother."
The display really reminded him of teenagers as he watched. The days of high school were long past but the faint memories of class shenanigans were still there. The scene reminded him of them all too well. Back at the Baker's home he hadn't had such a pleasant time around such horrors, even if the hosts were kind before the infections. He shook his head. He shouldn't get attached to them, not that time and not this time.
"Come with me." Lady Dimitrescu's voice caught his attention. "We have matters to discuss."
Ethan immediately looked back to Rose. His first instinct was to grab her, but the first move he made to do so was met by Lady Dimitrescu's voice again.
"Leave Rose, my daughters will look after her."
With great hesitation he looked to the woman confidently leaving to the women surrounding his child. He'd already pissed her off once. He pursed his lips, deep breath through his noise before following after her. He jogged a moment to catch up with her long strides. Despite having a chance to see the details of the towering halls the night before, he couldn't help but admire them once more.
"I confirmed Heisenberg's words."
"So this…Mother Miranda sees you as failed experiments?" He asked, eyes resting on the environment still.
"Unfortunately…yes." He couldn't see how her face scrunched up. "As much as I loathe to admit it. That repulsive man was right."
He finally looked to her, "So what now?"
"Now, we're meeting with Heisenberg in two hours to discuss our plan of attack."
"As much as I'd like to help. Well, that's a lie." He began as they walked through a doorway. He watched as she ducked under first before continuing to follow after her. "But as important as this all is. Why do I have to be involved?"
She abruptly stopped, turning to face him. "Are you being obtuse on purpose?"
"…No?"
There was a long stretch of silence as Lady Dimitrescu simply stared at him. He pulled his lips into a thin line. A deep feeling of being judged sat on him until she eventually turned around with a shake of her head. "She was right, you are ridiculously dense."
"She?" He rose a brow as they began walking again. He recognized the route as the one to the main hall.
"Donna. She's…a curious woman. I'd say she's the one who knows the most about you."
Ethan paused as they approached another door. His face contorted. "…Should I be concerned?"
"Relax, she's harmless…physically, at least."
"That's not helping me relax." He followed her through the door, seeing the main hallway sprawled out on the floor beneath them. Both of them stop at the top of the stairs.
"But to answer your earlier question: Mother Miranda will not stop until she has your little Rose. So either you help us defeat her…or you'll forever live your life on the run." Lady Dimitrescu explained, resting a hand on the stairwell's railing. It glided gracefully along once she started descending them.
"…fair enough point." He followed after her, not thinking to look anywhere beyond the back of her head. "Wait, why shouldn't I let Chris handle this?"
"Your little informant friend?" She turned to look at him as they neared the bottom.
"Yes, he's the one who's supposed to protect us!" He shouted, pausing on a stair with a huff.
A familiar yet unexpected voice joined the conversation.
"You're right, we are."
Ethan's head swivelled to look towards the couches seated by the fireplace. There on the dated cushions he saw Jill Valentine, who gave a soft wave in his direction. He stood there in shock while Lady Dimitrescu continued on and found her own comfortable spot.
"You're here?" He pulled his feet from the ground. "What the hell is going on? Where is Chris?"
"Take a seat, I'll explain everything."
"You better." He grumbled. His footsteps echoed in the vast space as did the crinkles of the fire. It was a cozy little area, one that made him feel far more at ease. Almost enough to make him forget everything that had transpired yesterday. Almost. The couch groaned as he sat down, looking to Jill expectantly.
"Chris is with the rest of the team researching what has happened in the village. I, on the other hand, came here to make sure you were alright."
"Researching? What is he researching?" He crossed his arms, leaning forward. "Those…things?"
Jill nodded as Lady Dimitrescu added her own knowledge. "The Lychans. Rejected experiments; Normally they're held up in the ruined fortress and hunt the livestock. It wasn't until…very recently that they began to overtake the village."
"If we know that, why is he researching them? Shouldn't we just kill them?"
The light of the fire danced faintly along Jill's face. "They're only a small portion of our research. The main focus is the Cadou and Mother Miranda herself."
"What's stopping you from killing her?"
"You saw our last attempt."
Memories of that night rested in the back of his mind. Vivid imagery of 'Mia' laying dead, riddled with bullet holes and laying in a pool of her own blood. It felt so surreal looking back on it. To think he'd been under the impression that had been his wife laying suddenly dead before him, murdered by the very person trying to protect them. His blood boiled remembering it.
"Why did none of you warn me ahead of time? Is the real Mia even still alive?"
Guilt washed over her, or rather the guilt that already sat behind her eyes grew stronger as he stoked the feeling. "I'm sorry, Ethan. Truly. If we had contacted you then she would have been tipped off. She was monitoring every movement around you and Rose, thoroughly. We knew it would have been heartbreaking but we couldn't risk it. There was no telling what she would have done to either you or Rose if we had been made."
He sat with the information. He wasn't happy about it, but he was happy they considered Rose's safety a priority. "That doesn't answer my question about Mia. Is she safe?"
Jill sat in the silence for longer than he would have liked. His gut twisted in anticipation.
"I'm sorry, Ethan."
It was the answer he was coming but it didn't make it hurt any less. He rested his forehead against his hands. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. His heart felt like it had been shattered but he pushed it back. He had to. He needed to deal with the current situation before he could mourn. Sure, his therapist would say it wasn't healthy but it was needed in that moment.
"Right…so now what?" He switched the subject, needing a plan of action and a distraction.
"For now you'll hide away here. Right under her nose."
"Is that really safe?"
"It's our best chance. Miranda thinks we still have her and she's aware of our presence on the outskirts of the village. We fear if we try to sneak you out she'll take notice."
With that knowledge he slapped his knees and stood. "So, we have to kill her before we can leave and to do that we need more power."
"Precisely, I've heard from Lady Dimitrescu that your own group is mobilizing as well." Jill spoke, eyes shifting from Ethan to the woman in question.
"Heisenberg is a nuisance, but he's been preparing for this longer than we have." She confirmed, slowly coming to terms with her begrudging alliance. With that Jill looked back to Ethan with a smile of warmth and reassurance. One that helped him feel better about the whole situation, despite a growing suspicion in the back of his mind.
Back in the room, the women were still crowded around the cradle with excitement. Rose was no longer peacefully sleeping within it, instead she was staring up at the blonde woman. The sight was memorizing, her little hands held up and grasping for the strands. Soft noises of baby speak babbling god knows what as Bela rocked her.
"I still think black would look nicer on her." Cassandra said, gently pulling on the girl's clothing.
"Oh, who cares about that!" Daniela waved the woman off before getting closer to Rose and playfully pinching her cheeks. The baby's hands wrapping or trying to wrap around her hand.
"How long do you think until we can start teaching her how to cut up bodies?" Cassandra pondered.
"I doubt Ethan would let us," Bela rolled her eyes.
"He doesn't have to know though, does he?"
"We could claim we're helping her become a surgeon."
Bela held a look of displeasure at her sisters' antics. "Yeah, I don't think that's going to work."
"Why not?" Daniela practically pouted. The only response she got was a pointed look before Bela returned her attention to Rose.
"I bet she hasn't even had her first knife yet…" Daniela tilted her head to the side before being struck by a thought. One that made her light up. Her eyes went wide and her mouth hung open before she spoke. "That should be our gift to her!"
"Sometimes you have amazing ideas." Cassandra grinned, making a beeline straight for the nearby dresser. Conveniently each drawer had a carefully crafted display of knifes.
"Sometimes?" Daniela glared, making her way over to shove Cassandra out of the way only to get elbowed back. "Hey!"
"If we're going to do this," She leaned into Daniela's space, pulling out a very decorative looking knife. "It has to be ornate."
"Oh, that is perfect!"
Back at the fireplace Ethan found that niggling sense of something wrong too loud to be ignored. He looked between the women, raising a single finger up.
"Would you excuse me for a moment?"