Chapter Text
Dinner that night was light, and afterwards, Finny, Psycho, and the visible servants were occupied in talking and telling stories.
Finny smiled, quickly learning they each had such distinct styles for their stories. Ford wasn’t one to mince words, though every word he did choose was gentle and had a purpose in drawing those around him closer. His stories were warm and comfortable, not unlike Oz, though the watery brother’s stories had an elderly edge to them. It was clear Oz had spent time with people in the town he had lived in before, taking on more of the human-like mannerisms of the time than any of his brothers.
Breeze’s stories had no real structure to them, feeling like the fairytales that Finny had grown up with. Their words were heavy with meaning, even as they floated over the party.
As for Blaze, Finny found himself leaning into Psycho’s side, smiling at how the outlandish tales reminded him of Pluto, though the strange man that appeared in his tales set him on edge. Something about the man that set Blaze’s eyes alight made Finny’s skin crawl in a way that wasn’t completely unpleasant.
It felt like hardly any time had passed before the clock struck 11.
“Oh!” Breeze exclaimed, jumping to his feet. “Busy day tomorrow! You should be heading to bed!”
Finny felt like he was caught in a tornado as Breeze whisked him off to his room, rapidly preparing him for bed. Almost as suddenly, he was left alone in the dark. It seemed like Breeze was trying to get him out of the way before something happened, but what?
Somewhere deep in the castle, in a room that had been closed off long ago, two small figures moved. One, free to move as it pleased, was looking up at the other, that was suspended from the tangled maze of strings that covered the top half of the room like spiderwebs. No bigger than common dolls, the figures moved as if they were pulled along by strings, though the one was free of any such attachments.
“It’s almost time,” A voice came from the freed Doll. “Another soul to test.” He sounded irritated, doubtful.
The corner of the hanging doll’s mouth quirked up in a wry smile. “A soul to test? When did you get so jaded?” Her long hair slipped over her shoulder as she tilted her head, body stiffening as the strings tightened around her limbs, a hiss escaping her.
He moved, reaching out toward her, stopping as his own wrist was caught in the strings, the porcelain scratching, cracking. “The day you got all tangled up, babydoll.” He gave her a wry smile in return.
“Hm. I never took you for a worrier.” She winced as her limbs creaked with the pressure of the strings. “It’s getting worse. I don’t know how much longer I have until I break.”
“Tonight then. After the others retire for the night.”
She nodded slowly, her breathing becoming labored as the strings around her chest tightened. “Tonight.”
Finny shifted, unable to sleep. Storms had never really been an issue for Finny, the sound reminding him of the outdoors and the freedom he could feel outside of four walls.
But there was something moving in the room.
It didn’t sound like a rat or a mouse, though he doubted something like that could even get into the castle with Breeze looking after everything. So what on earth could it be?
Suddenly, there was a sharp tug on his blanket and he shot up, heart pounding. His eyes searched the dark room desperately, searching for the skittering figure that he could hear. Then, across the room, he saw a tapestry move, fluttering slightly. Slowly, he crawled over to the bed, sliding to his feet, hand reaching out to grab Psycho’s cloak from where it was lying on a chair, wrapping it around his body to block against the chill of the room.
The tapestry fluttered again, almost as if it were being pulled aside as someone peeked around it. He moved closer, tugging it to the side to reveal a long corridor, catching a glimpse of something disappearing around a corner.
Curiosity edged him on, moving into the secret space, feeling the darkness close around him as the tapestry fell back into place, leaving the room empty behind him.
For the first time in a long time, Psycho felt like he could relax, settling down into a chair, eyes growing heavy as he began to lose himself to sleep.
It was a lovely nap, up until the door crashed open, Breeze and the shape of Jokester blowing in, panic surrounding them like a swarm of bees.
“Psycho, Finny is gone!”
He shot up, heart racing. “What? Did he leave? Was it-“
“No, no, it wasn’t him. Blaze says he’s still in the castle, but…” Breeze hesitated.
“We think it was Doll,” Jokester said, voice low, almost as though he were afraid of being heard.
“What? But I thought he was… I thought Mary shattered already?”
Breeze’s face was solemn. “They’re the only ones who could have done it…”
He shoved past them, running toward the room that Finny had been placed it, opening the door. He hoped, no prayed, that they were wrong, that the boy would be curled up in the bed, fast asleep. But he was met with a dead silent room, the bed cold from disuse.
“Search the castle. Tear it apart for all I care. Find him,” he growled, already beginning his own search of the room. Breeze nodded, leaving the room to notify the others while Jokester joined Psycho in the search, taking in a sharp breath as he pulled aside the tapestry.
“Fuck, Psycho…”
He turned, eyes narrowing. “Did no one think to search this room before placing him in it?” He growled out, storming past him into the hallway.
“We did! I don’t know how he did it! I personally searched and made sure all of the walls and windows were secure!”
Psycho wheeled around, snarling in Jokester’s direction. “Clearly not secure enough! Do you want him to end up like the others?”
The shape of the man shied away from the anger, tone falling with hurt. “You don’t have to remind me how I failed Wit. I have to relive that every single day.”
Psycho turned back around, continuing down the hall, trying to ignore the twinge in his chest at the sound of his friend’s pain. “Just… help me find him. We’ll figure this out later once he’s safe…”