ᴅᴇᴅᴜᴄᴛɪᴏɴꜱ - ɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪᴛʏ ᴠ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ [ONGOING!]

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 13 | ᴛʜᴇ ᴅɪꜱᴄᴏɴɴᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ᴛʀᴜᴛʜ

He found himself helplessly pounding against the confines of his prison. The iron bars were cold and the walls were suffocating, trapping him in the dark, damp room within the twisting underground labyrinth he so despised.

He had seen everything. Y/N was right there. He had been waiting for them in almost eager anticipation, contemplating and overthinking what he might say to them when the seance commenced.
It made him nervous to his stomach-- the first time the siblings would have spoken to each other in years. How would they have greeted each other? With a charmingly awkward joke? With a tearful embrace?

B/N L/N could only bring himself to wonder. He would probably never know-- not now, and possibly never again. Not when he had suddenly been ensnared in a trap of the Nightengale's design.
He had yet to see his warden, though he knew it was her-- only she and the owner of the manor could restrain him in this way.

"There is no use in struggling, B/N L/N." She said, suddenly appearing behind him from nowhere.

"Speak of the devil and he will appear," B/N wanted to say, though he knew he was in no position to make such remarks. Like so many times before, the Nightengale had him trapped-- mentally and otherwise. She seemed to sense his obvious unrest.

"Do not fret," She mused, as if anything she would say could instantly make B/N feel better. "You will be allowed to leave your cell once Y/N reawakens on the mortal plane."

B/N didn't turn around fully, partially turning his head to give the Nightengale a withering glare that could turn skin to stone.

"At least tell me how much he's going to tell them," He demanded, voice edged in desperation. "I need to know how much they're going to see!"

The Nightengale paused in thought, almost as if actually considering the idea. "The young O/P will come to learn of your involvement with the memory alteration if that is what you're worried about."

They were both silent for a very long time. B/N continued to glare at her, and she held his gaze, her poker-faced expression making it clear that the two were in an intense stalemate. They both knew that she wasn't telling the whole truth and that one of them would eventually have to concede... fortunately for B/N, his glower of steel was soon preceded by another one of her sighs of defeat.  

"Your younger sibling will also come to learn the true nature of this manor..." She spoke, voice ringing in his ears. "How space here was altered and how the time was stopped."

B/N paled, suddenly breathless. "You don't mean--"

"Yes," The Nightengale finished, nodding her head gravely. "Y/N is going to find out about the ritual. And the fire. And your... efforts to atone for everything that happened here. Though I am certain that some effort will be made to make you out to be a selfish and self-serving monster to your sibling."

B/N couldn't bring himself to respond to her almost sarcastic quips. He was absolutely speechless. Shocked. Even more so, enraged. There was a wave of dark, bitter anger bubbling in his chest now, one he couldn't conceal-- first, Y/N had been plagued with horrible memories that weren't even real. Then, they had been drawn into this hellish game. Now, when the two had been so close to bridging the gap and finally meeting after all of this time, his former friend had found some way to betray him again. 

It was all so unfair, he didn't deserve this-- no one in Oletus Manor deserved any of this! All of the suffering... the consequences of his actions taken in the manor... they were all so unforeseen. So tragic. An accident. If he had had any idea, none of this would have ever come to pass!

Unfortunately for him, Miss Nightengale did not seem to share in his resentments or grief. Or, if she did, B/N wasn't able to see it on her neutral, placid face as she turned away from him and disappeared into a wisp of smoke.
B/N scowled. She was gone for now, but there was no telling when the Nightengale would be back to psychologically torment him. As he stood there, pounding uselessly against his prison door, all he could do was pray for a way to communicate with his former fellow survivors-- to tell them what was really going on. More than anything, though, he prayed that once Y/N discovered the truth, they wouldn't hate him forever.