Act II. Part IV.

Toshiko and Ryu pushed through the museum against the current of the crowd all heading for the main entrance. It was such a strange occurrence because just a minute ago everyone was calmly sitting or standing and conversing with each other. But now, it was a sea of people filling the room, screeching in panic as they fought amongst themselves.

Ryu and Toshiko headed in the opposite direction of the crowd and finally reached the staff exit. They exited out into an alley by the museum. Toshiko, with a furious expression, turned to look at Ryu.

"Bloody hell Ryu! Why are you covered in blood? Again. You all had one job. One job! Even Mila went off to do the gods knows what. Remember those guys who kidnapped us and our families, and how easily Lars fought them off? If we don't find Lars we're screwed." Toshiko scolded.

Ryu slowly stood to his feet and turned to face Toshiko, but didn't look him in the eyes. Toshiko was taller than Ryu so all he had to do to avoid his furious gaze was to look down as he responded.

"I do- don't k-know what happened. I was by the fountain, I-saw that man, and I froze. . ." Ryu stuttered as he explained himself.

"You saw Lars?" Toshiko asked. "Wait, was it the dark-skinned man, with the silver looking hair?"

"Yeah… Him." Ryu responded in a low tone, "Before he could turn to face me, the woman, she grabbed me, the church, glass, we fought—"

"Ryu, you're not making any sense." Toshiko butted in with a confused expression on his face as he grabbed Ryu's shoulders to bring him to some sort of clarity and looked him in the eyes. All that was on Ryu's face was a sobbing look of regret.

"I killed her, Toshiko. I killed her. I slit her throat. I had no other choice... Right?" Ryu asked him with his eyes wide open looking for consolation.

Toshiko looked at him in shock from what he had just heard and slowly opened his mouth to form a response. But before he could put anything into words, Mila ran into the alley completely winded and held onto her knees to catch her breath,

"I've been looking for you guys everywhere. The school bus has already left, but I called back Toshiko's valet; he's parked across the museum. We need to go now."

The three began running while Mila guided them. She took a glance at Ryu, but only for a second and continued running, paying no attention to Toshiko glaring at her. They finally reached the car and started moving.

"Where are we headed, young master?" Asked the driver.

"We need to go somewhere close. How far is your house from here, Mila?"

"School. It seems you've forgotten that I currently live in the church's dormitories." Mila responded with a tone filled with a slight sign of annoyance.

"We can go to mine. It's actually close to this part of central." Ryu said to diffuse an argument that was brewing.

"Your place it is." Toshiko responded.

"I'll go tell hi-" As soon as Ryu got up to give the driver the directions he staggered. It was like his legs didn't have any strength.

"Don't worry, I'll do it." Toshiko said after looking at Ryu and walked up to the driver's window to give him directions.

Mila turned to look at Ryu's clothes and asked him, "Where did all that blood come from Ryu? Is it yours?"

"No…" Ryu paused. "It might be, everything just happened too fast. There was this woma--"

"ASK...HER. . . WHERE. . . SHE. . . WAS." Ar said slowly In a dry, fading voice.

"Where were you Mila?" Ryu asked her in a scornful tone as his sheepish expression quickly disappeared.

"She was outside keeping watch of the cars that came in." Toshiko immediately came to her defense. "What I really find strange is how the school left without us, surely they must have noticed that we weren't in the bus."

"You see, we did notice, but your permission slips weren't turned in. So for us, you were never part of the trip." Answered a smiling purple haired man. He wore a black shirt with a red collar, as well as a black waistcoat and tie over it. He sat with his legs crossed across from the three.

"Mr. Laveda?"

. . .

Lars, with his back in full view and kneeling on one knee, had one hand to his heart. His face facing the floor in the large, almost completely, red-colored hall. Several painted murals lined with gold frames covered its walls entirely, with long gold pillars at every edge of the hall.

Atop the pillars sat odd statues: a shiny, golden-winged baby suspended in the air and a foggy, brass-like statue of a man in unsightly torn rags that seemed to be pulling down the baby with one hand. At the same time, he was reaching out with the other hand towards the completely glass ceiling, decorated by a black floral print spread across it.

Large crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling beautifully lit up the hall, making it look otherworldly-celestial, even.

In front of lars were steps leading to what seems to be a throne with someone sitting in it.

"What happened at the museum?" Asked the figure sitting on the throne, whose face isn't seen because Lars isn't looking upwards.

"We moved as planned. As soon as the area was secured, the queen and the first prince arrived and were escorted inside safely. But, another man arrived, and it stirred up trouble inside the museum." Lars responded as he began to slightly raise his head to see a deep rouge robe with black lining at each of its openings.

"What kind of trouble?"

"Nothing major. It seems there was a woman in one of the exhibits who had a heart attack. She had a terrible history with her health for someone of her age. The only shock is that she died earlier than was expected, she had about two years left to live." Promptly answered Lars.

"How many oddities were present?"

"Two. Me and that woman's puppy." Lars snickered as he replied.

"I heard the church had their school trip to the museum today. Did you see the children?"

"You have nothing to worry about. I saw them and they were fine." Lars began to raise his head up and replied with a reassuring smile as he said these words. In an instant, his entire body tensed up. A feeling of complete paralysis came over him and he let out muffled screams of agony.

"AUrghhhhhhghyfuuiyurhghghhhhhhykfuhh." He cried out.

He began to feel all the moisture In his body dry up and his muscles constricting, leaving him to feel the harsh friction of his muscles.

"You see, Lars, if the children were there, how could there only be two of you? Comfort will be the death of you. Your strength amounts to nothing before me. If you want to be useful to me, use your head."

Lars, now grunting quietly grunting, nodded obediently.

"Good.Now, Breathe."

In an instant, Lars recovered and resumed kneeling before the throne as he breathed heavily.

"Check the church, and then head south. Now leave"

end