Conna'Cel powered back up from his standby mode as the others returned from the kitchen, along with a new guest as well. "It appears it is now time to move," Conna'Cel stated, following Marianne into a room in which the outside of the door had a few black feathers scattered nearby. Wondering what sort of danger was inside this room, Conna'Cel readied his energy blade on his right arm as he followed Marianne inside. Truth be told, though, he was not expecting a crucified girl with the floor completely littered with black feathers. Picking one of them up with his left hand, Conna'Cel gave it a quick scan, the results revealing it to be from a Common raven. As for the girl that Marianne was now antagonizing, Conna'Cel walked over to her and said, "Well, you are certainly not in a good predicament, are you?"

Conna'Cel put his left hand to his chin as he began weighing the risks and rewards of freeing the girl. There was always the chance that she could be a threat, though it didn't seem like it. The girl certainly didn't have the build to pose a threat in physical combat, though he was aware that appearances were not everything, especially not in this labyrinth of a mansion. Naturally, his decision was to leave the girl alone. To Conna'Cel, he had nothing to gain from freeing the girl, and he wasn't willing to take the risk in case she was a threat. So, he left the decision to free Lusso for another person.

---

Shawn just kept running as he was dragged along by one of the two twins, not even turning back to unleash a blast of demonfire or two. Survival was his top priority, and Shawn felt that by running fast enough, he would most likely do just that. Soon he and the others arrived at the location the main group was, and after reaching a somewhat safe place, Shawn helped Scarlet hold the door back as he took a look at everyone around him. There were quite a number of oddballs here, too. There was what seemed to be a robot, a girl with a mysterious dark aura, another rather cute dark-haired girl, yet another cute girl bound to a cross with silver chains... it was clear that there were a lot of girls here.

Gorgonzolla was wary of everyone here. To him, all of them were a threat, particularly Marianne. He wasn't sure how powerful she was, but he did get the feeling that she was not one to be trifled with. Shawn, you better be taking this seriously. Keep an eye on everyone here, especially that one, Gorgonzolla said in Shawn's mind, directing his attention to Marianne. "Don't worry, Gorgy, I've always been taking this seriously," Shawn said out loud, forgetting that only he could hear Gorgonzolla's voice in his mind. Gorgonzolla was unconvinced by Shawn's answer, but let it slide, considering the situation they were now in.

Rosaline turned to look towards the kitchen door as her comrades fled, only for her eyes to go wide in slight shock at what she saw. A swarm of what appeared to be spiders clambered out of one room into theirs. They would be upon them shortly, and there was no telling what horrors would follow them. Knowing that they had little time to spare she looked over at Faira and then Walter.

“Faira! Follow the others, I shall be right behind you.” She barked, worry evident in her voice. “Walter, help me to my feet.”

The man blinked in confusion, looking frozen from the shock of what was occurring. His gaze shifted down to her legs which had yet to fully heal. “You’re legs are…. How do you expect to stand, let alone walk?” he inquired, his voice shaking.

“I will be fine, now help a lady to her feet will you?” the woman sighed, reaching an arm towards him.

Walter looked over at the oncoming wave of spiders and then to the woman he had just met. He nodded quickly before dashing forward and grabbing her hand. The young man was shocked at the cold feeling that met his skin, but he was just as surprised by how easily he pulled her up.

“Don’t dwell on it too much child.” Rosealine chuckled softly. She stumbled slightly on her feet, but her legs held up without cracking further. “Now, be a dear and help me carry the little girl…and hurry, we seem to be quickly running out of time.”

Without any other word he picked up the unconscious child. He started to move towards the door, only to look back at Rose. With her legs injured, how was she going to be able to get to the door in time? Even so, she caught up to him as if she was not injured.
“Keep going, both of you!” The woman snapped, looking at Faira and Walter as she ran for the door.

Walter reached the room, followed by Rosaline who promptly collapsed onto the carpet when she got there. She would have to fix her legs before she did anything else, after that stunt they would not hold her weight until she did. For now, however, she was more focused on the oncoming creatures and the woman crucified to the wall.

Alex wasted no time, after realizing what was happening, to rush Mr.T and herself into the room. She hoped they would be safe there.

Not needing Scarlet’s order, the twins followed Marianne’s lead.
Soren cast a quick glance to the bubblespiders. “Now those would make an interesting pet if you train them up right!” he said, grinning.
Nikolai just gave an irritated sigh. His gaze lingered on a few black feathers as they passed, his eyes narrowing as he spotted a raven watching the group as they went by.
Keep an eye open, Nikolai warned as they emerged into the room with the others. At least they had numbers on their side… though, he still did not know what each of them had done to land themselves in that place, or if any of them worked for the Collector. Unpredictable variables in an already unpredictable, dangerous mansion.
“You worry too much.” Soren released the boy and scanned the rather cozy reading room. Cozy, save for the platinum-haired girl tethered to the wall. “I swear. This place just keeps getting more and more interesting!” He glanced to the boy as he spoke aloud. “Talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity, you know,” he said lightly.


Faira inhaled and stepped to the side when Marianne’s voice sounded in her ear, but the woman had not moved. She eyed Marianne for a second that felt like an eternity, and gave a shake of her head. Somewhere, she knew it was true, that she could turn the bubblespiders to ash easily. And the voiceless whisper of the flames begged her to release that destructive power like it never had before.
She turned as Rosaline called her name, glad for the distraction, then Walter’s, the space between them and the bubblespiders closing rapidly.
Faira shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere.” She turned back to the spiders.
If nothing else, she would protect Rosaline. She took a deep breath. Control. Restraint. You can do this, she assured herself, the excitement of the element pushing for her to use it and the emotions it fed on.
Keeping one eye on the two behind her as Rosaline requested Walter’s help up the second time, Faira raised a hand in front of her. Determination and fear in her eyes, she swept her hand in front of her. Flames ignited at her fingertips and sped in a half-moon shape toward the first of the oncoming spiders.
With a popping hiss, the flames turned those on the front lines to soot as Walter picked up the child, but those behind them scampered over the powdery remains, unfazed.
Faira ran after Rosaline. She sent another wave of flame, its intensity uneven as she fought to keep her will stronger than it, to not give in to the exhilaration using the power brought with it, then raced into the room filled with people. With everyone inside, she slammed the door behind her and leaned her weight against it, hoping it would keep the things out.
Faira gasped at the girl hanging on the wall. The girl no one had apparently yet bothered to try getting down. Was she a part of the mansion, or another victim? Faira gave a frustrated sigh. Either way, she hated seeing someone like that. And even if she was apart of the house, she would be outnumbered if she tried to attack.
Clinging to that reasoning, Faira glanced at Rosaline to make sure she was okay, then cautiously stepped to the trapped girl.
“Are you alright?” She warily went to the girl’s side to get a better look at the chains binding one of her wrists. “Hold on.” Using the sword, she tried to pry the chain from the wall without hurting the girl, her shadow quivering at her feet at the ready in case the girl decided to try something.

The chattering of the bubble spiders slowly became white noise and a mere distraction to the sight they were witnessing now. At the moment, it seemed everyone was staring at the crucified girl on the wall. Scarlet helped in keeping the door back, eyes flicking from Marianne speaking to the new girl and the door that kept them safe from the danger outside.

“You can’t free yourself from these chains? No…of course you can’t. You’re a long way from home, aren’t you Lusso,” Marianne said with a growing smirk. Her hand stroked the bound girl’s cheek just a little more, leaving behind a small patch of ice on her skin before she moved away. After all, she was only here to observe and act if need be. Whether Lusso was to be freed was not up for her to decide.

The dark girl moved off to the side and crossed her arms, eyes scanning for the other’s reactions. As she did so, her gaze flitted over to one of the newcomers. Shawn and his little pet over there. She stared at them with a knowing smile before turning her attention back to the others.

Lusso coughed hard upon being freed. The clear red mark of where the chains bit her skin was noticeable on her neck, wrists and ankles as she vied for support on all our fours, trying to get back to her feet. Ultimately, Lusso's muscles where too sore to allow her to stand, instead she propped her back against the wooden wall and let her limbs hang limp for a little while, to allow blood circulation to work its magic.

"I'm grateful for the help, but who might you all be?" Lusso asked with slightly hoarse voice as she eyed the whole group before her. Strange individuals, for sure, "I get it that all of you are prisoners of this mansion as well, at least it's good to know that we aren't the only ones." As Lusso said so, the raven that was perched over the fireplace flew and landed on her lap, cawing nonchalantly as Lusso raised a hand to pet it.

Only now that the light hit it from the right angle, one could noticed that the bird of ill omen had not one, but two pairs of beady rubies for eyes, feathers as dark and lustrous as polished jet and a beak that was more akin to a pair of serrated shears. Clearly, that wasn't a normal bird.

Scarlet glared at their new party member, the raven perched on Lusso’s hand obviously not any normal sort of bird. The way its eyes blinked in an unnatural state gave her the chills though she noticed Marianne wasn’t all that affected. If anything, the dark girl was probably annoyed.

It was at that moment that Scarlet realized that the scratching and gnawing on the door behind her had stopped altogether. While the others talked it out, she carefully peaked open the door and saw that the mass of bubbles had all but moved away. Or rather, they were gone as if they were never there to begin with. How odd.

“We’re safe for now everyone. Does anyone have any idea where to go from this point?” she asked, looking directly at Rose. If they wanted to interrogate the new girl, now would be the time to do so.

With the girl freed, Faira stepped back, watching for any sign she might attack. Lusso, she had heard Marianne call her.
Pity flashed through Faira’s eyes at the painful-looking marks on Lusso’s skin. When she went to lean against the wall, Faira took a good look at her. She appeared around her age, her crimson gaze a bit unnerving, but not in the same way as Marianne’s single visible one. She subconsciously took a half step to place a bit more distance between her and Marianne.
“I’m Faira,” she answered Lusso’s question, lowering the tip of the sword to the floor. She shouted and cringed away when the bird flew from the fireplace beside her to Lusso. She inhaled at the four eyes on the bird’s face that matched Lusso’s, not just two.
“Well,” Soren said, sauntering over to the girl. Or, rather, the bird. “Aren’t you a pretty bird!” He bent, hinged at the waist with one hand on his back, and reached out to stroke the raven’s inky feathers with the other.
Nikolai followed after him, his lips tight and eyes narrowed in irritation at his twin. He looked over when Scarlet peaked out the door, his face twisting in a disapproving scowl as he readied to fight off the army of bubbly bugs. But none came.
Faira gave a relieved sigh at Scarlet’s declaration, and went to one of the armchairs. She looked it over first, debating on whether or not she wanted to risk sitting in any furniture in this place. With the way the day had been going, its cushions might try to consume her. Instead, she opted for the floor beside it and leaned against the chair’s side, resting her head on the bulge of the arm.

With some difficulty Rosaline pulled herself upright, her body shaking slightly from her earlier stunt. Every motion gave off the sound of cracking porcelain, a sound that only increased when the woman began to move her legs in an attempt to assess the damage. Several pieces had fallen inside the hollow cavity of her legs, each shifting and grating about as she moved.

Walter watched Rosaline with a look of wonder and fear, only glancing elsewhere when he forced himself to stop staring. Instead he fixed his gaze on Lusso and her bird. He wasn’t sure releasing her was such a good idea. Maybe she was like that for a reason. Maybe it was a trap. He had a feeling it wasn’t though. “I-I-I’m W-W-Walter…N-n-nice to m-meet you.” He stuttered in reply to her question.

Rosaline muttered a few ancient words under her breath, bringing about a soft light from the inside of her legs. Only after making sure that she was healing did she look up at everyone else. Her glassy gaze stopped momentarily on the new woman and her raven, not looking phased by her or her pet. She did not respond though, instead looking to Scarlet. “Well… we need to find the key out. If I know him like I thought I did then…he probably put it somewhere well protected. I’m not sure exactly where though.”

Alexandra was staring up at the ceiling as if intrigued in something she was seeing. There was nothing there however, just an average ceiling.

Conna'Cel stared at Lusso and the raven for a moment before he lost interest and began to search for something else. Looking out the door, he could plainly see that Scarlet was right, and no bubble spiders were in sight. Nodding in approval, Conna'Cel moved away from the door and squatted down next to Rosaline, staring at her glowing shattered legs while listening to her at the same time. "Well then, we seem to have our next goal," Conna'Cel began, staring out the door again. "We should get going. We don't exactly have time to waste, after all."

---

As the excitement finally died down, Shawn sighed in relief. It was good to have a moment where nothing was trying to eat him, kill him, or eat him and then kill him. Gorgonzolla, however, was still uneasy, especially with Marianne. He didn't like the way she stared at Shawn, feeling like she was staring more at him than Shawn.

Shawn, I will say this again: be on your guard. This peace will not last forever, Gorgonzolla said to Shawn mentally.

Shawn, meanwhile, had his attention on the girl that had been recently freed. Already there were others introducing themselves to her. She's... kinda pretty, Shawn thought to himself.

SHAWN!!! Gorgonzola yelled in Shawn's mind, startling him from his thoughts. Je- what, what? Shawn thought. We're in a prison filled with dangerous creatures all around us! Start thinking with your brain and not with your-

Alright, Gorgy, I got it, I got it, Shawn reassured Gorgonzolla. She's not really my type, anyway.

With the mental drama out of the way, Shawn then walked over to the food that had been collected and picked up a can. "Man, why is it always beans in these cans?" Shawn muttered to himself as he saw the read the label on the can.

Shawn, what did I just say? Gorgonzolla said to Shawn. "I need brain food first," Shawn said out loud, turning the can around in an attempt to figure out how to open it. Gorgonzolla, exasperated, decided to give up on the issue and let Shawn do his thing.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Marianne said with an unnerving grin directed at Soren. “Just a hint personal experience, but I hear that if you pluck a bird long enough, they’ll eventually eat out your eyes and dig into your skin. Now wouldn’t that be F.A.S.C.I.N.A.T.I.N.G? Oh and for you Faira dear, there’s no telling what kind of skin that chair is made of, eheh.”

Scarlet ignored the ramblings of that girl because it was obvious Marianne was having too much fun in all this. Though her lingering appearance meant either something was going to happen or worse. In any case, Lusso had a question and Scarlet would be happy to answer her.

“My name is Scarlet,” she said before turning to Rose and following her gaze upwards. Indeed, there was nothing to note of interest up above except…there was a picture of a white horse plastered above them. A white horse that seemed to be treading water in a small lake of some sort. Her pondering was interrupted though by Shawn’s loud outburst and she turned to glare at him.

“Yes, eat your brain food so you can help figure out what that picture is doing there,” Scarlet said with a roll of her eyes. “By now we can all assume that items and objects of interest like that needs to be examined very closely.”

After a short rest in a more comfortable position, Lusso seemed to have recovered some of her stamina. She got back to her feet, still a bit unsteady, nodding to those who had answered her question. "My name's Lusso... I think." She said, patting the dust off her skirt and straightening it when she noticed that Shawn was eyeing her with 'hungry' eyes.

Listening to Marianne's teases and her cold voice, made Lusso shudder, the girl's hairs standing tall from head to toes. "You are different. We don 't know why, but we feel something strange about you." Lusso said,strangely referring to herself in the plural, before turning to the others, "We don't know for how long we've been locked here but, there were times when we were certain that there was someone else here with us, staring while we slept. Maybe... should we leave this place, before they come back again?"

Meanwhile, the raven flew to the small table beside the armchair. It stood there, idly cawing while beaking what looked like a a box of fine cigars.

“Fascinating indeed!” Soren said, unfazed by Marianne’s words, but Nikolai noticed, to his relief, that Soren gripped the hand he had extended behind his back with the other, nonetheless. The outgoing twin straightened. “It’s kind of like the Tootsie Pop. How many feathers do you have to pluck to get to that point?” He tapped his chin, a look of profound contemplation settling over his face as he stared at the raven.
Nikolai rolled his eyes as he sat his jacket-turned-pack on the floor and pulled out a pack of Neapolitan wafers. He opened it and started munching. If you get us killed because you had to find out, he thought to Soren, I'll bring both of us back to life just so I can kill you myself.
"Don't be such a party pooper!" Soren whined, making a face at Nikolai.
Nikolai glanced to Shawn with a raised eyebrow as the boy grabbed a can of beans, and gave a complaint. He reached over and brushed his fingers against the label. At his touch, the decorations on the label shifted to show an animated corn-on-the-cob with a farming background, though the contents of the can would still remain the same. The corn character began to do a tap dance over the paper as Nikolai pulled out another couple wafers.
Soren absently grabbed a few of the wafers as he watched the raven fly to the table by the armchair. “I hear birds that smoke don’t live as long as those that don’t.” Soren glanced to Lusso, chewing on his stack of wafers and sending a rain of crumbs to the carpet. “You might want to tell your pet that. It’s bad for his health.”
What’s she talking about? Nikolai thought at Scarlet’s comment, trying to redirect Soren’s attention to something of greater importance than the bird. He looked up as he stepped toward Alexandra to get a better look at whatever the girl was fixated on, Soren following him.
“Well, that’s an odd place to put a picture,” Soren mused. “It’d look far better more that way,” he pointed to the ceiling a couple feet to the right. Despite his relaxed tone, his eyes did not move from the picture.

---

Faira had just closed her eyes, her tired body begging for the rest. However, the sound of Marianne’s voice made her tense, and she opened her eyes when she heard her name. Her brows furrowed for a moment at the woman's comment, then her eyes widened when she understood what Marianne meant. She jerked her head from the leather armchair with a gasp and scooted away from it, staring at it with a horrified expression, hating Marianne that much more.
Noticing Rosaline standing unstably, Faira forced herself to her feet and stepped toward the living doll. She gave the missing pieces in Rosaline’s legs a worried look. “Are you going to be okay?” she asked as the woman’s legs began to glow.
When Rosaline spoke, Faira let out a long breath and nodded. “Right. And we have a limited time to find it in.” She ran a hand through her mousy hair, her voice shaking slightly as she finished, paying Alexandra little more than a quick glance as she stared at the ceiling. Only when Scarlet pointed it out, did Faira actually bother to look up. She looked at the artwork as well as she could from where she stood, careful to avoid standing under it.
She glanced to Lusso, momentarily wondering who the "we" she was referring to might be, and shuddering at the thought that someone undesirable might barge in at any moment. She returned her attention to the picture.
“Any idea if that means anything?” she asked no one in particular, then cast a glance around the room, looking for anything that might lead to an answer on its own.

Conna'Cel looked up at the mention of the painting, seeing the white horse on the lake. Conna'Cel spent a moment going through various thoughts on what clues the painting was meant to give. Perhaps the next area was going to involve using horses or water, or even both? Perhaps they would have to swim? Perhaps they would have to avoid the horses and water? It was difficult to say, really. Conna'Cel lacked the ability to determine what the piece of art was trying to reveal, and so it was meaningless to him. Instead, he focused on what he could do, remaining vigilant for incoming threats, scanning the area for signs of such threats.

---

While others had their attention on the painting on the ceiling, Shawn was still working on getting the can open. There was no pin on the can he could use to rip a lid off, so that meant Shawn had to use.... other methods. What those methods would be, however, Shawn had no clue. "Hmm...." Shawn thought out loud. He stared at the can for a few more seconds, as if trying to unlock the secret to opening it. Then, Shawn had an idea, summoning his sword in his hand.

Gorgonzolla was immediately aware of it, and immediately began to object to it. Now that the sword was out, everyone was now capable of hearing Gorgonzolla's words emanating from the blade. "Shawn, don't you DARE-" Gorgonzolla yelled before Shawn placed the can on a nearby table and swung his blade at it, slicing the top of the can off and striking the wall. As Shawn pulled his sword free from the wall, the wall also regenerating the damage done to it, Gorgonzolla said furiously, "Shawn, you have done a lot of stupid things in the past, but this is BY FAR! THE WORST!"

Shawn simply smiled at his sword as he held it up while replying, "Hey, at least you're faster than a can opener." Gorgonzolla yelled loudly in rage, causing Shawn to instinctively dissipate his sword, silencing the room, though the yell continued in Shawn's mind. Doing his best to tune it out, Shawn looked towards his can of beans and examined the contents. Shawn then paused, realizing that he didn't have any spoons or other utensils to scoop out the beans. This made Shawn a very sad boy.

“Someone who refers to themselves in the plural. That’s interesting,” Scarlet muttered from her position by the door. She didn’t know if they should trust Lusso all that much, especially when the witch had some kind of correlation to Marianne. Then again, Marianne seemed to know every one of them so they couldn’t be picky in their choice of allies.

At least her attention could be put elsewhere, specifically on the portrait above them. As if responding to the mixed reactions, the water seen in the portrait began to manifest in physical shape, pouring out large streams of it. Well that was concerning, but Scarlet doubted the room would be able to flood with the rate of the water and the size of the room.

“Oh my. It’d be best to avoid that, wouldn’t it Conna'Cel” said Marianne with slight boredom. Obviously running water might not be the best for a robot, and Scarlet half-suspected the dark girl was just speaking to cause more mischief between them. That seemed to be verified with Marianne’s next set of words.

“And what about you? You say you have no memory of this place, but how do they know you’re not just lying?” she asked, turning to Lusso. “You could very well have already been turned into one of this manor’s monsters and you’re just waiting for a counter C.O.M.M.A.N.D.”

Rosaline’s eyes widened a little as water began to stream down from the painting above them, pooling around the woman. She pulled herself up slowly, the cold water seeping into her clothes and shoes from where she was seated on the floor. “Great…” she huffed. The woman pressed a hand against the wall for a moment, trying to get her balance back as her legs finally finished patching themselves up.

Her gaze shifted over the room, stopping back at the door they came through. “We need to leave before the water gets too high.” She said. She knew that if they had to leave through the door they’d have to do it soon, or the door would be difficult to open with the water pressing on it.

Walter looked at the water with mild fear in his eyes. It was pouring in at a much faster pace than he’d like, it would be better if it wasn’t streaming at all but he couldn’t stop it. His heart thudded in his chest, panic setting in and making him start to hyperventilate. “Calm down Walter, calm down…” he muttered, keeping his voice down as much as possible. He couldn’t let himself get too worked up, not in a situation involving water.

“I only see the one door, but there might still be-“ Alexandria made a motion like spider legs.

"We don't understand what you may be saying." Lusso replied to Marianne's enigmatic words, turning her attention away from the painting for a moment to take another look at the raven black haired girl, taking in the sight of her mismatched eyes of purple and gold.

Lusso gave one steps on Marianne's direction before reached forth to touch the her shoulder as if trying to confirm that Marianne really did exist. The tombstone cold sensation Lusso felt trough her gloved hands, surprisingly, didn't even made Lusso flinch. Perhaps she didn't even knew how a normal human was supposed to feel?

Either way, Lusso seemed satisfied after feeling the fact that Marianne was not a fabrication of her mind and withdrew her hand, for a few moments Lusso stared at her empty palm, opening and closing it slowly. At the same time, if Marianne cared to check, she would find a translucent, almost spectral raven feather resting on her shoulder, thought it would disappear at the least of disturbances. Or perhaps not, given Marianne's strange connection with Lusso's mystery.

"How can we not know you aren't what you claim us to be?" So enthralled was she with Marianne, that Lusso didn't even noticed that the water running down from the painting until her shoes were practically soaked. At which point Lusso looked bellow her to see that the carpet had already turned into little more than a shallow puddle whose level rose slowly but surely.

A few of the feathers that seem to follow Lusso drifted in the water, going toward one of the corners of the room's corners as if guided by a current. Perhaps, there was something hidden behind one of those bookshelves?


Meanwhile, the loose raven's attention was turned away from the cigar box by the wafting smell of the freshly open can of beans. It flew from it's perch, trying to landing right on Shawn's forearm to scoop away some one the can's contents.

The bird cawed loud while beating its wings, which would unavoidably hit Shawn's face, if he didn't anything to avoid them. Its sinister four-eyed gaze crossed that of the boy as the beast tried to wrestle for the food.

Faira’s attention turned to Shawn when a sword appeared in his hand, and began yelling. But she had little time to think on his choice of a can opener before the water in the portrait began pouring out. Faira inhaled and bit her lip as it drenched the carpet, turning it into a sloshing mush before rising enough to cover the toes of her shoes.
“Oh, come on!” she groaned with a mix of exasperation and fear. “Not again!” When she heard the familiar sounds of hyperventilation, she glanced over to Walter. That someone else seemed to share her fear to some extent was somehow mildly reassuring.
She swallowed and glanced to Alexandria as she spoke. She shuddered at the thought of the spiders. “Well, we have to... do...” She let the statement trail off as she noticed one of the raven feathers float by her feet as if caught in a current leading away from the door they had gone through. If there was a second current, there must be another way out.
As quickly as she could, she sloshed through the water, the chill of it soaking through her shoes and socks, following the feather toward one of the bookcases where it stuck in the crack between it and the wall.
Ignoring Marianne as well as she could, she looked back to where a majority of the group was still gathered. “Conna’Cel!” she called, a franticness in her voice.

---

“I knew a guy with a talking sword, once,” Soren began, looking around the room, apparently unfazed by the water pouring from the picture as his twin scowled. “He was actually rather annoying.” He snorted irritably. “Deserved his sword getting cursed.” He stepped toward a tall standing lamp and gripped it mid-shaft. “The thing wouldn’t shut up. Even when it was sheathed. It just kept talking.”
Beneath Soren’s touch, the lamp bent and stretched until it formed into a stepladder that still faintly resembled the lamp, Soren holding it by its handle. He picked up a brass bookend from one of the shelves beside him. The bookend, in the shape of a bust of Hemingway, stretched out into a painfully short crowbar. However, part of the bust’s face remained near the bent claw, now pulled into what looked like a pained scream.
Soren looked at it with a frown as his stomach grumbled. “I’m telling you. This place has nothing but bad juju.” He weaseled his way through the crowd back to the picture and set up his stepladder just outside the cascading water. “I say,” he eyed the portrait as Nikolai moved the pack of food onto the fireplace mantel, “we give the portrait to the spiders. Let them deal with--Hey!” He spun around when Nikolai snatched the crowbar from him.
You’re liable to get us killed, he thought to Soren, pulling the stepladder further to the side rather than nearly directly beneath. I’ll do it.
Soren crossed his arms broodingly as Nikolai, who left no room for him to argue and stepped up on the ladder.
Whatever you do, don’t touch it, Soren warned as he stepped closer and placed a hand on the top bar of the stepladder as if to keep it steady, his watchful gaze on his brother as Nikolai carefully extended the crowbar toward the edge of the painting to try pulling it from whatever fixtures kept it in place.

"This flood would be bad for me if I wasn't waterproof," Conna'Cel admitted to Marianne, pointing a finger gun at her. "Fortunately, I am. The last flood I was in proves it, too." Marianne had already gone to interact with someone else, though, leaving Conna'Cel by himself. Looking down at the water around his legs, though, Conna'Cel deduced that perhaps it might be a problem in the near future. Maybe not for him, but definitely for the others around him. The water was definitely still flowing, after all, and it didn't show any sign of stopping. Conna'Cel quickly made some calculations on how quickly the water would flood the place, and the results were... not optimal. With that in mind, Conna'Cel's logical conclusion was to evacuate and find someplace high to avoid potential damages the water would cause.

Conna'Cel then jerked his head upward, alerted by his name being called out. Turning his head to determine the source, he quickly spotted Faira, who had separated from the group for some reason. A number of possible routes to Faira popped up, and Conna'Cel wasted no time selecting the one that took the least amount of time. He activated his wings and began to hover a short distance from the water's surface, then propelled himself towards Faira. "What seems to be the problem?" Conna'Cel said, extending a hand towards her.

---

Just as Shawn began to contemplate how he would eat his newly opened meal, chaos began to erupt. Water began to stream downwards from a painting, and it was beginning to flood the room fast. To make matters worse, one of the crows started to pick a fight with Shawn. "Gah! Hey, what the-" Shawn exclaimed as the crow's wings hit his face, waving his arm in an attempt to drive it off of him. "Go away, you dumb bird!"

Shawn, the room is flooding! Now is not the time to be fighting that bird! Gorgonzolla said to Shawn.

"It won't leave me alone! Shoo! Beat it!" Shawn said, still trying to wave away the crow.

Worry about it later! Focus on surviving! Gorgonzolla continued to argue.

"But my beans!" Shawn whined.

Forget the beans! If you drown, you won't eat anything anymore!

"Fine, jeez!" Shawn yelled, throwing the can to the side, spilling the contents all over a wall and into the water, which the crow responded to by flying over to the can's crash site. Rubbing his still empty stomach, Shawn grumpily made his way to the door the group had entered and began to pull on the handle, attempting to open the door to get out of the flooding room.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Scarlet grumbled, trying to find any dry spots in this small room. Sadly the water was moving to a point where it would drown them all first before any salvation could be found. “I don’t think they’re still there Rose. The chattering’s died down and I think even they realize they can’t fight the tide when this thing overflows,” she said in regards to their earlier foes. And the portrait still stared down impassively with no notion of letting up.

It almost felt like this was a lost cause and she turned to glare at Marianne. If anyone had even a faint clue of what was going on, it was going to be her. But it looked like someone had beaten her to the interrogation and Lusso actively questioned the dark-haired girl. To her response, Marianne merely shrugged with that same light smirk on her face.

“That’s not my jurisdiction to answer dear Lusso. I am what you perceive me to be and what Scarlet over there perceives is that I have an idea of what’s going on,” she said aloud, making the other woman jump. “I do, but I think I’ll leave you lot to figure it out on your own~”

To that Scarlet rolled her eyes but so far the group seemed to be doing just that. While Faira had found some sort of secret passage-way, the twins were attempting to dislodge the portrait from the ceiling. Attempting to help, she threw a knife straight into the heart of the portrait, causing the water flow not to stop, but slow down a little.

As for the human and the robot, they would find their efforts worthwhile as the door managed to be open. Yet the air current was much stronger than that of the water and both would soon find their bodies slowly tugging forward. As if some massive maw was inhaling them inwards.

---

As the water continued to trickle in Water continued to hyperventilate. Don’t lose it Walter, keep yourself grounded… just keep yourself grounded. He was shaking slightly but it wasn’t from the chilly slush rising around him. His gaze suddenly shifted to the newly discovered passage when it was opened.

“Maybe that’s a way out?” he muttered, slowly stepping towards it in order to get a better look. There was something about the unknown possibilities though that made him skeptical.

Glass eyes look from one door to the other, one open and dark whilst the other was still tightly shut. “There’s no telling… and we really don’t have time to think about it too much. We just need to make a decision, one door or the other?” Rosaline piped up, wading through the water. As she passed Walter she could almost hear a soft humming noise coming from his direction. The woman looked over at him, taking note of the panic in his features. Her lips part momentarily, about to assure him that everything will be alright, but she knows she can’t promise that.

Alexandria looks around at everything happening, her mind reeling as she tries to come up with some sort of helpful advice. She honestly did not remember this room though, so she had nothing to say.