Whispering in Yamato's ear, Yuki leaned back, keeping an eye on the Great Bambini.
"Boo, we can't leave this place… Honestly, I don't even know where we are right now…"
"Hm… That sounds serious."
"It might be worth it to use Sole Supremacy on that guy."
"No, we don't know if he has accomplices, so he might not be the one responsible for this. For now, we have to stay calm."
"What about Phoebe?"
"We will have to ask him… Hey, Bambini, what did you just do and what happened to those outside this room?"
"Everyone, please, there is no need to worry! Everyone is free to leave this room as they see fit, and everyone in the building is perfectly fine!"
"What is it you want? Is it money? If so, I can arrange—…"
But Mr. Luminara was interrupted by a dramatic flash of light, coming from Banbini's hand. Its only purpose seemed to be to silence him, as he was not injured by it whatsoever.
"No! The Great Bambini, the one, the only, does not need the cheapest form of appreciation! He craves something genuine, something true and absolute!"
"You're about to get a genuine and absolute death if you don't get lost and lift that barrier around the mansion right now.", Yuki said seriously on her not so serious Yamato seat.
"Well, he did say we were free to leave. I do wonder how true that statement was. Especially since I have to find my niece and nephew. So someone should probably try and open the door."
"Someone who isn't you, I presume?"
Yamato asked, not expecting an answer from Sir Zonar who had remained seated without the slightest sign of planning to stand up. He himself did not plan to test out what would happen if one tried to leave the room, not that Yuki would let him in the first place. So she instead used a telekinesis spell to throw Masami's body into the door, through the Great Bambini, but as expected he just passed through him like her sword did. As the door was thrown open, the ground of the floor behind it, previously white marble, had turned into tiles of black and white, with no light in the hallway whatsoever, and the only light source being the spotlight on the Great Bambini, slightly shining light into the otherwise dark hallway. As Yuki sent a weak fireball spell in to light it up, it simply extinguished as soon as it reached the darkness, without revealing anything. The body of Masami however remained in the dark corridor, as unharmed as a dead body can be.
"Like I said, the door is open and allows your exit at any given time. The Great Bambini, the one, the only, will now leave, and wait for you to find his next stage!"
"Get lost already!"
Yuki threw another sword at him, knowing full well it would not harm him, at which his body completely disappeared into thin air.
"Okay, boo, thoughts?"
"…He most likely had trouble with receiving attention from his parents in his childhood. So avoid mentioning his parents if you don't want to annoy him."
"Okay! And about this creepy hallway?"
"Oh, right. Doesn't seem like we have a choice. Let's get going."
"Okay!"
Yuki grabbed his hand and began skipping toward the hallway, pulling him along.
"Hold on just a moment, where do you think you are going?"
"Ah, Sir Zonar, is something the matter?"
"This Bambizili or whatever his name is, he is clearly crazy. It would be wise to stick together, instead of separating if we all wish to survive."
"I see… Well, good luck sticking together then."
"That includes you, of course."
"Well, that's too bad… Because my goal is not our all survival. If say, one of you were to pledge your allegiance to me and give over all land and recourses, I'd consider letting you tag along and have you manage the land you provide me with."
"What an outrageous and arrogant proposal. No one here would agree to these terms."
"That's quite alright by me. If you die here without my protection, I will probably get everything anyway. But who knows, we will just have to wait and see."
"Common, boo, let's go!"
"Well, if we do cross paths again, my offer stands until we leave the mansion. Some of you really should think about it, save yourself a spot in paradise, or remain inside the buildings I have to demolish along the way."
With that Yamato and Yuki went inside the darkness hand in hand, and although Yuki was worried by their inability to leave whenever they wanted, she found that it was not that bad yet, and could definitely be worse. Eating her last cracker, of the ones she had snuck into the meeting and had been eating the entire time without anyone noticing, she made herself ready to crush whatever appeared in front of them.
Meanwhile, Phoebe and Violetta had been brought to another room on the third floor, alongside the other children and Petrisha. The behavioral change happened suddenly while Violetta was reading Phoebe out of a book, while Henry and James continued arguing as usual. Petrisha was of course immediately alarmed, pulling Phoebe, and subsequently Violetta, behind her before carefully opening the door from which previously suspicious noise came from. However, much to their confusion, the entire corridor was completely dark now, with the floor having changed into black and white tiles. The silence coming from it being uncomfortably loud, as they stared into the endless dark space.
"Misses maid, Phoebe doesn't like this…"
"You have nothing to worry about, Lady Phoebe, I'm going to stay right next to you at all times."
"Y-yes, don't worry Phoebe, I'm sure help is on its way…"
"But until then, please remain behind me at all times."
"Okay…"
The boys had also stopped fighting after the earthquake, Henry moving in front of his sister, and Petrisha as well.
"Don't worry, sister! It's the duty of a future ruler to protect his own. As such, I will not let you down!"
"What are you doing, Henry? Get back here now!"
"Listen to your sister boy, I can't protect you from there!"
"B-but I must…"
Suddenly, a faint laughter came out of the darkness, like a mischievous giggle, that of a familiar feminine voice. Slow steps began approaching their room, quickening with each step until it was outright sprinting. Petrisha pulled Henry back by his collar and slammed the door shut with her foot. Throwing over a bookshelf to blockade it before moving against the wall with everyone else.
"W-what is it!? Did you hear that?", Violetta asked clinging Phoebe to herself.
"Phoebe heard scary laughter… She doesn't like scary things…"
As the steps grew louder, they suddenly stopped, right outside the door, before a gentle knock came in their stead. Accompanying it, was a beautiful, angelic voice.
"Hello? Is anyone in there? Please open the door if there is anyone."
Petrisha froze, the voice she eas hearing being the one she was most familiar with out of any voice out of all she had ever heard. Not because she had heard it the most, but because it was the one belonging to the person who had the most influence on her life.
"That voice is…"
"Mommy…? Mommy Phoebe's in here, please help her! She's scared…! She wants you and daddy…! She hates it here…!"
"Mommy's right here darling, and daddy's on his way as well. Just come out and I will give you a big hug so you can calm down first, okay?"
"Sniff… Okay… Misses Maid just needs to clear the door, and then we can—"
"—Wait just a moment, Lady Phoebe!"
"H-huh…? But why? Mommy's right there… Phoebe wants to go see her…"
"Aren't we saved now that the Head of the Absolute Church is here? I heard she is really strong!", Henry asked.
"Phoebe, I don't think that's your mother… Even if it sounds like her, something doesn't add up… There's no way she would let your father alone right now… But even if she came to look for you, despite that, the real Mistress Yuki would just kick any door in whenever she felt like it. There's no way she would talk first and ask to be let in like this."
"S-so it's not mommy…?"
"No, Phoebe… Whoever this is, they are an imposter!"
"…Come now, stop the games and let your mother in before she gets angry. And what does a mere maid think she's doing right now, turning my own daughter against me!?"
"There it is… You only use information our conversation gave you. The real Mistress sounds completely different, and would have addressed us differently as well!"
"Nonsense, I don't know what you are talking about! Last chance to open this door before I do break it open!"
"If you truly are Mistress Yuki, then how many words have you and Master Yamato exchanged today up until we arrived at the mansion!?"
"…How would I know something as trivial as that, dear? I think you are trying to trick me right now, and I don't find it very funny, I must admit."
"Now there is no doubt about it… Because the real Mistress Yuki keeps perfect count of every single word they share, and talks about the exact amount multiple times a day! Calling it trivial information is the only proof I need!"
"Uhm, sounds like your parents love each other a lot, Phoebe…", Violetta noted.
"That's right, Phoebe's mommy and daddy love each other super much! Phoebe's very lucky!"
The voice outside had gone silent, and steps walking away were the only sound coming from outside for a while. But as the steps grew completely silent as well, something bashed against the door, again and again. It was a rapid attack, with no clear pattern or breaks between them, as if something just desperately tried braking in by ramming against the door as quickly and heavily as possible, with no tactic or thought behind it. However, the door was more durable than it looked, and was able to withstand the attack. Many small and quick steps then moved away from the door, this time actually leaving. However, the door remained closed, and no one wanted to open it to look if it had truly disappeared, whatever it was.
"P-Phoebe's maid, do you know what is going on?"
"You can call me Petrisha, and I don't know anything for sure… But it appears we are safe in here for now. There was some sort of barrier cast around the mansion itself, trapping us inside the space within it even if we were able to leave the building, or this room... For now, I suggest we wait and see how it develops. If we are lucky, Mistress Yuki or Master Yamato finds us. But we need to be careful about who we let in."
"T-that seems reasonable… What do you say, Phoebe? Doesn't sound too bad, rig—…"
But Phoebe was asleep, and not listening.