Lost Melody

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"As I should also be," said Kiara. "But Arthur isn't stupid." She paused and then looked at the direction they had left. "On second thoughts, I hope a mansion war doesn't break out."

Camellia sat in the empty drawing room that evening, playing with the chess board someone had left out for some reason, when Mozart burst in, his face furiously red. "Where are Arthur and Dazai?"

The door to the drawing room shut with a thud and Mozart ran to it, trying to pull it open to no avail. They'd been locked in.

Camellia sighed.

"Did you have something to do with them ruining my sheet music?"

'They did what?'

He gave Camellia a hard glance. "No, I suppose you didn't." He took a seat across from her. "We're trapped in here until they decide to let us out."

'That's right. Now then, why don't we have a chat?' He raised both his eyebrows in concern. 'Why have you been avoiding me?'

Mozart snuck a glance at the door, as though he was considering breaking it down, and then he sighed. "I did something... reckless to you in a moment of bad judgement. There's no one who would like being bitten by someone they don't like."

'Arthur's girls would say differently.'

"You're not 'Arthur's girls,'" he said with a withering glance.

'You,' Camellia signed, losing her patience, 'Are not the only idiot in love.'

He blinked a few times, apparently trying to process what she said, before bursting out, "You didn't make it obvious! How was I supposed to know?"

'What kind of dummy makes it obvious?'

"Didn't I?"

'Not until you bit me!'

They both paused, and then laughed together. The door opened and they turned to see Arthur leaning against the doorframe. "Well, at least that's settled."

"So you did have something to do with this," said Mozart, looking at Camellia with a look of betrayal.

'I wanted to talk to you because you were avoiding me, but I never asked him to lock you in with me or mess up your music score!' she signed almost frantically.

"My sheet music!" said Mozart, as though it had slipped his mind while Camellia had been talking to him.

"What a way to pay me back," mumbled Arthur, giving Camellia a look of mock disdain. He smiled and disappeared through the door.

✮✮✮

Kiara and Camellia went shopping, and Camellia was conversing with her in sign, asking her about her love life. She laughed and said she didn't have one, and then paused when she saw a stray kitten lying in the shade of a shop. It seemed to be injured. She walked to it, checking if it was alright, and Camellia hung a little behind her, when someone covered her mouth with something. And she couldn't even scream.

Camellia woke up a little later in a cage, bound with rope. The first thought she had was that the rope was a pointless effort, considering she was already in a cage. There wasn't anyone else in there with her, but she knew that didn't mean anything. This was likely to be a trafficking ring. Two men were conversing outside the bars.

"Why did you go and get a mute?" the younger one asked. A whiff of smoke reached her and she scrunched her nose up.

"Some people like their women quiet," the older one shrugged. He gave the cage a quick glance, and then looked again, his eyes widening, before he smirked. "And she wakes up."