"The hallway seems to be going on for quite a bit more, boo. Don't let go of my hand no matter what."
"I wasn't going to… But can't you usually see in the dark?"
"Weird right? But being blind has its own charms, so I'm not worried!"
"Like?"
"All my other senses are super heightened! Even more than usual!"
"Aren't you adaptive…"
"Yup! Super adaptive! Like a— Ouch!"
"What happened?"
"I hit my head on something… I think I ran into a wall…"
"Well you kinda sped up when you talked about your adaptability…"
"Because I was excited…"
"Aw… There, there…"
After finding her head in the darkness and giving it a kiss, it suddenly did not hurt as much after all. Or at all. Maybe she just wanted a kiss.
"Anyway, looks like we have to follow the wall into one direction now. Left or right?"
"Hm… I like left! But I also like right…? We should toss a coin!"
"How are we going to know which side it landed on?"
"By feeling the engravings, duh."
"Feels like a hastle. Let's just go left."
"Aww, but what if right is better!?"
"The coin toss could just as well have said left. And the coin I flipped in my head said left, so unless you have a reason to go right, we go left."
"Alright… But if it turns out to be right, I will say I told you so!"
"Knock yourself out..."
Just then, they spotted a faint light coming from an open door a bit further down the hallway. Whether it just appeared, or was always there and it simply being too dark to see before was hard to tell. As they approached it, various noises came out of it. Applause, carnival music and some kind of roar were the main things Yamato could identify. As they opened the door, the room itself was basically empty. Only a small miniature circus tent was placed at the ground, and all the noises disappeared.
"That's a bummer… Oh well, I would have probably killed whatever was in here anyway. Let's get going, boo."
"Aren't you curious what's up with this suspicious tiny circus on the ground?"
"Yay, I was hoping we'd stay!"
"Then why did you just suggest leaving…"
But Yuki already sat down next to the little tent and lifted the peeked into the entrance. The immediate flash of light coming out of it making her stumble back in irritation after being in the dark for what felt like at least half an hour.
"Argh! Dumbass circus…! Boo, the circus is mean!"
"Sounded like a camera, but that's not even invented yet…"
"Boo…!"
"Right… There, there…"
After Yamato gave her head pats, she was fine again. She was however still considering stepping on the tent as petty revenge, but was held back by the music that started playing, along with the tiny people coming out of the tent playing drums and trumpets. Like ants, they formed a line as they came out of the tent, while the ones further back carried a small rolled up piece of paper. Yuki took it without hesitation, only for it to be a not so flattering picture of her squinting her face at the earlier flash. Though, she remained beautiful even then, she refused to have a moment of lesser beauty be eternalized on a piece of papper given by some "dumbass gnomes", as she chose to call them. Even though other then size, they had no other physical features of a gnome. As she burned the picture, even though Yamato would have liked to keep it, the little people started laughing and threw there instruments away, running around in circles around them. Seeing no reason not to, Yuki stepped on one of them, their body immediately being crushed by the force and leaving nothing but a red puddle behind. The others seeing that, tried running back into the tent, but Yuki already crushed it next, all still playing music stopping and animals crying out one last time before no more noise came from it. The remaining people began scattering across the room, at which Yuki summoned a golden sword and swatted each of them to death like flies. After the floor was covered in red dots, she noticed a small group of five hiding behind Yamato's foot.
"There, boo, get them!"
"Aren't they harmless though…"
"They are evil, I can tell!"
"You already decimated their population into near extinction…"
"So you pick them over me!?"
"Obviously not… But don't you think you could show being the bigger person by letting them live? You already got revenge for their little prank, if that's what you want to call it, anyway, right?"
"Hm… And have the survivors suffer with guilt for the rest of their lives, good thinking, boo!"
"Sure… That works, I guess…"
Leaving a total of five survivors from what where at least forty, along with however many still were in the tent, they left the room again and continued following the dark hallway. The five remaining little people following Yamato by climbing on his shoe and traveling with them. He was unsure if Yuki had noticed, but he figured she was fine with it.
After initially staying left behind, Sir Zonar and the rest of the group remained inside the conference room, though tension inevitably rose.
"Are we sure it was wise letting the two leave just like that? If they are as strong as they say, maybe sticking with them would have been the better choice…"
"You are free to run after them."
"S-Sir Zonar…?"
"You heard me. No one is keeping you here. It is like that masked lunatic said, the door is open and ready for your departure."
"I wish I had your confidence…"
"It is simple, really… The two will either solve this mess, or they won't. Do you really think your presence would have any effect on whichever it will be? If we stay here, and the problem is solved by them, we will be saved, without being indebted to them, unlike if we followed them, in which case you would have to agree to his previous stated demands."
A silver haired man interrupted their conversation, wearing a blue uniform and carrying a black cane with him.
"If I recall correctly, did you not mention your niece and nephew being somewhere in the building? Should you not be more worried about their well being, Sir Zonar?"
"Ahaha, please, don't use me to hide your own worries, Bronelli. Your son is here as are they. Their fates are linked as are ours in this situation."
"My son is well trained for a situation like this. I trust he will be able to protect himself and those around him."
"So is my nephew, but with your son by his side, truly I've got nothing to worry about. Although… My niece is not very skilled in self defense, and might prove to be more of a burden in this scenario… I wonder if your James can deal with that."
"And why wouldn't he?"
"Well… Word has it, their is a one sided interest, or something like that…"
"Bastard… Are you saying he won't be able to protect himself and everyone around him!?"
"I'm sure he is trained well in fencing and what not. But he remains a child, and children are known to not function well under pressure. Especially in a high stakes situation such as this…"
Zonar's calm and almost amused voice were amongst the things Bronelli hated the most, especially since he had to hear it so very often.
"Damn it…!"
Faced with Zonar's suggestive words, he stormed out of the room and after Yamato and Yuki, in hopes of catching up to them and look for his son. But not without hearing Zonar's irritating voice one last time call after him.
"Be sure to bring all the children back safe and sound, I'm counting on you, Bronelli. Ha, ha, ha, ha."
Since he was sprinting rather then walking carefully like Yamato and Yuki, it took not too long before he ran into the same wall Yuki did. Though his collision was actually painful, and he did not get any comfort afterwards. Choosing to go right, he continued down the hallway and eventually reached a barricaded door, after running into it as well. A female voice answered him, her tone suspicious and threatening.
"Who's there!?"
"Urgh, my head… Is anyone in there? My name is Philip Bronelli, and I'm looking for my son James Bronelli, is he in there?"
"Stay back, we can't let you in."
"What? Why not? Is he in there or not?"
After a short pause, James answered, still suspicious of the one on the other side of the door.
"Father, is it really you?"
"James? Hurry up, we need to get out of here at once!"
"I'm sorry father… We need prove that it is really you, or we can't let you enter."
"I don't understand, isn't my voice enough?"
"No."
"Then… What do you want?"
"Tell me something only you would know."
"Something only I would know… You were born on June 11th."
"That's not enough."
"…It is also the day, your mother died. Even though nothing went wrong with the delivery, she was killed by a trusted maid in her sleep the night after. You almost were as well… And it was my fault, for not being there that night…"
"…Petrisha, please open the door..."
"Are you certain every detail in that story checks out?"
"Please just open the door…"
Just then slow steps echoed in the distance of the hallway again.
"Hurry up, please!"
"Fine…"
As Petrisha lifted the heavy bookshelf out of the way, Philip pulled a blade out of his cane, facing whatever seemed to approach him.
"Don't worry, son. I am here to protect you."
"Save it, idiot."
Petrisha, much like earlier with Henry, grabbed Philips collar and pulled him inside the room, pushing the bookshelf over again just before something bashed against the door once. No noise or movement could be heard after.
"W-what was that… Are you alright James?"
"Yes, father. And we don't know. But it can mimic the voice and maybe also the appearance of people we know. I'm sorry we did not trust you right away because of that…"
"It's… It's alright… I'm proud of you, I would not expect anything less from a Bronelli. And everyone else is unharmed as well, I hope? Violetta, Henry, you boys and… I don't know the little miss sleeping over there… I do hope she is fine…?"
"Lady Phoebe is perfectly fine, thank you for your concern. But more importantly, do you have any information of the whereabouts of Mistress Yuki and Master Yamato? Or any other useful information of what is happening outside?"
"I'm afraid not… All I know is that they went in the same direction I went. But if they did not pass here, we must have taken a different turn at an earlier fork in the hallway…"
"Was that the only other way they could have went? And do you believe you could find your way back to that branch?"
"I believe so, why?"
"Okay then, change of plans. We go out there and follow the path of the Mistress and Master."
"What!? Are you crazy? Didn't you just say that there's something out there mimicking us? And that it's safe here?"
"I cannot guarantee for the safety of this room if the entity chooses to return or attack repeatedly. Our safest option is finding the Mistress and Master. And I will move Lady Phoebe to the safest location I can determine. If you wish to stay here, I have no objections to that."
"I-I will go wherever Phoebe goes!"
"I will take whoever wants to come along with me, don't worry, Violetta."
"I will go with my sister, of course!"
Philip sighed, looking over at James and the other remaining two boys.
"You've had more contact with the creature than I… What do you want to do, James?"
"I… Want to go with them…"
"And we will go with James!"
"Yes!"
"Very well then… Maid Petrisha, we follow your lead."