A Nightmare's Honor

Something's off...

{M} M/Red Apprentice POV:

It had been four days now since the Yellow Apprentice had shown up at my door, knocking and talking to me as though he had every reason to be forgiven. I'm not letting you off that easily, Quill.

Someone knocked loudly and rapidly at the door, causing me to almost knock my chair over and spill my ink as I stood up in surprise. Slowly, I approached the door. It wasn't a knocking sequence I recognized; it couldn't be the Red Leader or the Red Professor, and it certainly couldn't be Quill.

"Who's there?" I called out as I continued stepping cautiously towards the door. I was given no response.

I slowly opened the door just a crack, peeping to see who it was. I gasped aloud when I came face to face with the other two Yellow Elites; the two non-Steves, I'm sure.

"Red Apprentice? We'd like to ask you a few questions..." a soft, higher voice said, clearly the woman with the long hair and differently colored eyes.

"A few questions? About what?"

"Well," a lower voice began, clearly the man with the blindfold, "it's about the Yellow Apprentice..."

I immediately stiffened at the sound of his title. "I have no information to give you."

"But- surely you know where he is, right?" the higher voice asked me.

I raised an eyebrow at this. "Well of course I do. He should've gone straight back to the Yellow Kingdom when he left my house."

The two Elites looked at each other, then shifted their gaze back to me. It was the lower voice that spoke this time. "The Yellow Apprentice... is missing."

My heart missed a beat for a moment as my breath caught. Quill is missing? Surely this is a joke, a prank... "I'd advise against lying to me."

"But we aren't lying! He's really missing! Please, you have to know where he is! This is the last place we know he was!" the higher voice pleaded desperately. "If you don't know where he is..." Her voice trailed off ominously, though I knew what she refused to say.

If I don't know where he is, then something terrible might have happened to him. Something like the Darkness. I racked my brain, trying to recall what I heard just after closing the door and leaving the Yellow Apprentice outside. "I think... I think the Red Leader might have talked to him. The Leader should be in his house, not too far from the Professor's lab. I-... I can take you there."

The two Elites seemed to relax slightly, grateful they were getting some sort of lead to follow. I hope he isn't hurt, I worried, despite myself.

The lower voice spoke this time. "Then lead the way."

Deciding I didn't want the curious eyes of Red Steve civilians watching us, I took the back way to the Red Leader's house. When we made it to the hidden back door, I knocked twice. Paranoia surged through me for a moment when the Red Leader seemed to take slightly longer than normal. It must have just been my stress and adrenaline, however, because he soon answered the door. His expression softened when he saw me, but it soon changed to a perplexed one when he noticed the two Yellow Elites.

"I'm glad to see you're finally done hiding in that house of yours, Red Apprentice. But what do I owe the pleasure of being visited by Yellow Elites? Is something the matter?"

"We have a few questions we'd like to ask, sir," the higher voice spoke formally, bowing her head ever so slightly, as though by habit.

"Oh? Then do come in." The Red Leader stepped aside, allowing us to enter his house.

He led us to the couches where I and the Yellow Elites sat down. There was an extra empty chair, but the Red Leader decided to stand anyway. He had a habit of pacing when conversing with people.

"So then, what did you want to ask me?"

The lower voice spoke first this time. "Four days ago, the Yellow Apprentice came to the Red Kingdom for reasons we don't know. We do know that he ended up visiting the Red Apprentice,"—he gestured to me—"and we believe he may have come here to talk to you. Is this true?"

"Yes, it's true. Might I inquire why you're asking me this?"

The higher voice spoke; the two of them seemed to alternate between who spoke, but it seemed natural, as though by habit. "...We haven't seen or heard from the Yellow Apprentice since he came here. We were hoping we could figure out what happened or where he went. Do you know where he might have gone after he spoke with you?"

The Red Leader's eyebrows shot straight up in astonishment. "He's missing? Well that certainly is worrying... The last I saw, the Professor brought him to his lab to ask some questions about energy. He said that the Yellow Apprentice went home before sunset, though..." The Red Leader's expression suddenly seemed to flicker with realization, and then hardened in anger.

He's angry about something?! My inkling of panic suddenly skyrocketed. The Red Leader rarely got angry. Sure, he could be passionate, but I'd almost never seen fury like this.

"Yellow Elites, Red Apprentice, come with me. There's someone we need to talk to."

~<>~

And we're back!! >:D

I hope you guys like the new cover :3