Chapter 36: Returning To The Hollow's Castle (2)
[ Slight Violence ]
"Can you take me there?" Ivery asked
"Take you there...?" The maid looked at Ivery with confusion,
Why does this little girl want to go down to the basement to where she just said was where the misbehaved kids are taken....nothing good could possibly be down there for her.
"You're not going without me.." Luther said
"You both want to go..?! After knowing the basement obviously isn't a good place?" The maid didn't understand these kids
"Tell the other maids we yelled and threw objects at you and you're taking us to the basement" Ivery told the maid
"Okay.." The maid nodded...obeying Ivery because of Luther's terrifying presence...she had a strong feeling she'd die by his hands immediately...if she didn't do as they said
She wouldn't dare to mess with the boy...she didn't recognize him and he obviously wasn't a child of the Emperor...yet the dreadful aura he carried...is something a normal child shouldn't have..
"Follow me.." The maid said
"Make it believable.." Ivery held out her arm for grabs
The maid understood what Ivery meant and lightly grabbed her arm. She looked over at Luther and reached her hand out.
"Touch me and you'll lose it" Just as Luther's words entered her ears, her quivering hand stopped as a long cut appeared around her wrist. She flinched in pain.
The door flew open.
"Go, don't waste my time" Luther pointed to the opened door
"Yes.." The maid nodded while taking Ivery out of the room and Luther followed
....
The maid took Ivery and Luther down the stairs from Ivery's room.
Ivery spotted 4 maids downstairs.
"It's not time for the children to be out of their rooms, where are you taking those two?" A dark green haired maid asked as she stood up from her chair
"T-They were yelling and started throwing objects at me...so I decided that I will be taking them down to the basement," She told the other maid
"Take them to the basement? What authority do you have to decide to take them to the basement? Your only job is to give these worthless children their dirty clothes, so what if they disrespect you?" The maid smirked
"I...." The maid was out of words
"Take them back to their rooms" The same maid with dark orange-colored hair from yesterday sat in the same rocking chair spoke as she read a book
"Yes.." The maid took Ivery back up the stairs
Before Luther walked up the stairs, he turned around and deeply glared at the 4 maids.
They felt strange chills run across their skin.
The calm looking maid in the rocking chair suddenly dropped her book...her hand was shaking...and she didn't understand why...
They all looked over and saw Luther's back as he was walking up the stairs.
They just realized that they've never seen that little boy before....his appearance differed from the rest of the children in the Hollow's Castle...
None of the emperor's concubines or consorts had black hair....nor did any of them have purple eyes...those genetic traits....only belonged to one family in this world...they all trembled in fear at the realization.
....
"I"m..sorry! I couldn't do anything..." The maid bowed to Luther
"Leave, just leave.." Luther waved her away
"Thank you!" The maid bowed 3 times before she walked out of the door
...
"Hm..." Ivery started pacing back and forth
"What are you thinking so hard about?" Luther stopped her from pacing and gently rubbed her shoulders
"For some reason...the maids created a ranking system for themselves...there's probably lower-maids, mid-maids, and upper-maids, that maid just now was obviously a lower-maid," Ivery said in deep thought
"Maids are just maids, no matter what ranks they think they may be" Luther wanted to burst out laughing
"Since we can't be taken there...let's just sneak in.." Ivery told him her idea
"Sneak in?" Luther looked at her
"The maids have too much authority in this place, they shouldn't be able to lay any hands on these kids" Ivery said
"I agree" Luther nodded
"So, when do you suppose we sneak in this basement?" Luther asked
"In order to do this....I need you to do something for me" Ivery told him
"...?" Luther wondered what she wanted
.....
6 maids all wandered downstairs on the middle floor in the Hollow's Castle.
...
The dark orange-haired maid lazily washed dishes in the sink, leaving food stains still left behind on the plates and cups.
"Play with me?" A voice said behind her
She quickly turned around and didn't see anyone behind her...
"Who...?" The maid looked all around her and didn't see anyone
"Play..?" The voice said again
"....?!" She looked down and saw a little boy...that looked no older than 4
His black hair touched his shoulders, his beautiful big purple eyes looked up at her with the innocence of a child.
"How did you get here child...?" She did not recognize this kid...and there was no child around this age in the Hollow's Castle..
"Play?" He cutely smiled at her and held up a small doll that had familiar features...
The doll's hair was long and its light blonde color was appealing to the eyes...the doll's ruby glass eyes seemed as if they were looking straight at her. The doll had a small black dress that was decorated with the tiniest purple gems...
"I don't have time to play with you, go back to wherever you came from" The maid bent down and lightly pushed him out of the kitchen
"Mean" He pointed his finger at her and smiled
She looked up at the light that was strangely flickering above her...and it suddenly exploded.
The glass shards fell down and sliced small cuts on her face..
"Ah!" She cupped her face in her hands and yelled in pain
...
Four maids on the first floor all noticed a small boy run past them.
"Stop!" They all chased him as he ran away
He went down the stairs and they hastily followed. He snapped his small fingers as soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
Suddenly all 4 maids lost their footing and tumbled down the stairs.
They all groaned as they rolled around in aching pain.
..
He looked around and saw another flight of stairs...that led down...
He walked down the dark stairway and he finally reached an old big door...
The door had a few large locks above the doorknob.
He pressed his hand on the door and lightly pushed it forward. The door's hinges broke off and collapsed inwards. Before the door could make an impact on the floor, it was covered with a black mist.
He sat the doll in his hands on the floor.
He snapped his small fingers and suddenly....
A black mist swirled around the doll and it slowly grew.
...
..
.
"Ah...my back.." Ivery stretched and popped all of her stiff joints...
Ivery blinked and saw Luther looking up at her..
"You're so small...." Ivery smiled and reached down for him
"Don't..." His small hands slapped her hands away
"Aw, please?" Ivery frowned
"Only once..." He looked away and blushed
Ivery picked Luther up and hugged him tightly.
"Ivery, too tight.." He lightly blushed and tried to push her away
"Sorry..." She got carried away and put him down
She always loved children, when she was in her original world she worked at a daycare center for a few months before her adoptive family found out about it and made her quit...
Ivery continued to stretch her arms out....being a doll was so uncomfortable...
She had requested Luther put a temporary curse on her to make her a doll in order to easily bring her with him to the basement as he incapacitated the obstacles that were the maids..
"Was this method really necessary?" Luther's body changed back into his 8-year-old appearance
"No, but it was the most interesting one I thought of" She laughed
"Of course you'd try to make fun out of this situation" Luther chuckled with a slight sigh
..
"Now...what is this place...?" Ivery looked around and couldn't really see farther down as the hallway stretched out into the darkness
"My guess is that this is the basement..." Luther said
"Hmm..." Ivery's hands brightly glowed with a golden light and illuminated the area brighter than the dim lights on some parts of the moldy concrete walls
"Let's go..." Ivery walked forward
Luther followed her as they progressed down into the basement.
..
Ivery and Luther could hear noises as they continued to walk further down.
"You hear that...?" Ivery asked
"Yes" Luther nodded
The sounds became louder when Ivery and Luther were met with a door with 8 different locks.
"Totally not suspicious..." Ivery looked at the locks
"Let's do this more inconspicuously..." Ivery's body disappeared into a pink mist
"Great idea" Luther smiled and his body vanished into a black mist
...
Ivery and Luther teleported on the other side of the locked door..
"...." Ivery's eyes widened at the sight
"Help! Somebody! Help us!"
"Save us..!"
"Help! Help!"
The sounds of desperate crying children shouted from each and every cell.
"....." Ivery was at a loss for words as she looked around
She could clearly see every one of her siblings in cells, covered in cuts, whiplashing marks, scars from previous wounds, some of them were heavily yet poorly bandaged.
The glowing light that emitted from her hands flickered from her wavering emotions
Each and every one of them had their hair cut off, some of them were curled in balls after being stripped of all of their clothes.
"Awful...these maids..they're all disgusting.." Ivery narrowed her eyes and all she felt was rising frustration
"They all are...every single one of them.." Luther looked all around him and saw all of the crying children chained up
"They shouldn't be allowed to do this..." Ivery looked at Luther
"Then what shall we do about this?" Luther waited for her to speak
"....." Ivery looked at him
.
.
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