Archer x Lancer_I DARE YOU

Chapter 5: Exclusive

He heard her sniff him again, closer to his exposed skin but he stubbornly refused to give her more attention that she wanted. It was until he felt a hand mess his hair that he turned to complain, burning scarlet. "Hey!"

Stars shone from the concealment of her turban and she squeezed her cheeks more, once again squealing. "Uwah! So ADORABLE!"

"ADORABLE?" He repeated, astonished.

Her smile was wide and toothy as her time with them prolonged. Clearly, she liked what she was seeing and Lancer couldn't help but think that she was staring at them like valuable products of some sort...

And the strange woman walked away, at least distancing herself a meter from the two of them, without turning to face them again. Her fingers fiddled around each other as she rested them on her back until her shoulders began to tremble. Lancer wondered what was going on with her now as he took in his surroundings to find out where they were exactly.

All of a sudden, his focus of the background broke when loud laughs leave her insanely, shaking the room as crumbs fell from the abyssal ceiling, harboring faint light. Lancer's lips are tugged down as he saw her hugging herself before turning to them, a stream of drool forming from a corner of her lips. She raised her hands up, as if ready to bow down to a sort of lord or before them.

"Finally! I was getting bored!"

Her voice was different, heavier and darker, heaving a mass of craze. They watch her lose herself back to her mad laughs. Lancer wonders why she didn't seem to run out of oxygen. Hot sweat rolled from his temple as he took his chance to stare at Archer. The man was staring at the witch dubiously, with dust piling from the shaking room. The man in red felt Lancer's eyes, and so, rolled his pair of silver to Archer, who didn't tear his away upon landing on Archer's cool gaze. They shared questioning looks and for the first time, they were in equal in thought, at the woman who might as well be the catalyst of cancerous madness.

When she whirled around, her cloak whipping with her as she turned endlessly, she exclaimed like a screeching harpie.

"And I thought haunting this place was no more than a wreck! And ah! Yes! The world is turning again under my favor!"

Finally, she stopped rotating herself and her audience were no more than creeped out, but none if them wanted to clearly show it. Lancer knew Archer was merely keeping patience because they were trapped her under her mercy. No doubt, it was her magic circulating about to suspend the place and currently, she was oozing immense mana, like she was a relic of power herself. She faced them again, this time, regaining some humanity to speak with them properly without her losing again to her train of madness. The room stopped shaking. Lancer wasn't quite sure if she was still sane, but she didn't seem evil and he regarded her as a neutral party.

"Do you know how long it took me to create this place? And do you know how long I waited?! One month of wait, since that boring couple." She tossed her hand back in disgust, as if she held rotting fruit, as she was reminded of the last pair that dropped above into her comfortable place underground. "They weren't cute but they made it."

"Couple?" Archer questioned, and Lancer was sure he was scraping out information for an exit, he might as well take the lead for now.

"Ah, you don't know the curse of this place? Well, of course, none of the outside world do, except for the ones who found themselves here. Would you care for momma to explain for you?"

The two of them felt pots fall on their head, figuratively. And quicker than they were aware of, their measure of patience was thinning out quickly. She hid her laughs before she waved her hands again, as if beckoning them.

"For now, you have to earn your dose of lessons but I'll spare you a hint because you look so cute together."

Try as he might, Lancer couldn't ignore her last words, but he risked a little peek for Archer's reaction. The man remained disinterested, or at least his facade is, as Lancer was unknowingly hoping for.

"I am bored and I need figurines to play with, exclusive ones."

Archer and Lancer chose to seal away their words until she reaches her point, but Lancer couldn't help but feel nervous. He eyes the woman suspiciously, the very woman holding them down to a humiliating state of vulnerability. How powerful is a woman who can power up a huge magical place and hold down the powers of Servants, breaking the power of the Holy Grail itself. And what did she mean by...exclusive?

"And my job is to bring you, together."

"Together?" Archer responded, revelling in surprise.

"Would you care for a demonstration?"

The witch smiled at them, a simple and genuine smile, unexpectedly bringing down their defenses. Finding pleasure in their reactions, her smiles stretched as her fantasies drove her deeper. She awaited not for their answers as she slammed her hands together in front of her, further revealing a craziness to the way she acts and hint to how she will play them. On the other hand, Lancer spurts blood from his nose.

"Like so."

As she pulled away her hands, the eyes of the two follow her act closely. Archer looked indifferent but Lancer was obviously affected.

She's going to play with them, just like toys, she can break them, or even worse...

Lance didn't dare think what he was thinking next.

She continued talking, lifting herself on her heels and down again. "But don't worry hotties, you're so adorable that I just could eat you up...."

Lancer certainly can see that she looks like she's going to literally do that. There was a shift to her tone, serious and serene.

"Anyway, I take good care of my figurines, especially exclusive specials like you. You see, it's easy to break you and etcetera, but there's a reason I want my figurines in pairs."

What she made another effect on the two, their dread and growing anxiety fills the room and she could smell it, love it. The Lancer class Servant seems to be more worried than the Archer class Servant. He was making it easier for her.

The last smile she flashed them was different, resting in all mixtures of bad, akin to lust or just wild fantastical desire. She turned around and waved at them from behind.

"Good luck and enjoy my labyrinth of trials!"