Paint it Another Colour

Chapter 44

Apologies in advance for this chapter guys. It's really bad. I started writing it a bit ago, and then came back to it and sort of died... oops.

Joao was itching to move. He'd been sat in the same place for at least the last half an hour while he watched everyone else run forwards to do the thing they'd come for. He felt bad for wanting to go, but at this point in time, he was prepared to leave Matthew where he was and go find someone to fight. His sword lay at his feet. It hadn't moved for at least a century, probably more. He hadn't been near it for at least a century. The suspense was killing him, but all he could do at the present was sit against the wall next to Matthew and try to calm him down. Matthew didn't exactly look good. He was drawing in huge, shaky breaths that rattled in his chest and his eyes were wide, staring at the floor as though it was something to be scared of. Maybe it was. Arthur had passed them on his way in and had a short conversation with Joao in which he'd diagnosed Matthew's situation as Post Traumatic Stress, or a panic attack, or something of the sort, and instructed Joao to look after him. Joao had felt a little abandoned and distressed at that.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked Matthew for at least the tenth time.

Matthew nodded weakly and put his head in his hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get like this. I thought I'd be alright, or that I wouldn't freak out. I'll... I'll be fine."

"You sure?" he certainly didn't look it.

Matthew nodded again and stood up slowly.

"It's fine" Joao got him to sit down again. "There's no point in moving if we're going to go slowly. We may as well sit here and be less of a target, with less chance of being spotted, than get up and move about. It'd be easier too."

That was another reason why he wanted to move. Anyone could find them here, and with Matthew's current state, they'd be in trouble. He didn't want it to come to that at all.

But they still sat against the wall, in the exact same place as they had been in before. It could have been worse - they could have been sat in the middle of a main corridor or something, and he didn't suppose that any of the counterparts would end up fleeing from the building through the door which was to their right, but it was still a possibility.

Joao was still thinking about the possible consequences and watching the door when it slid open. He inhaled quickly and pressed himself back against the wall as though hoping to reduce being seen, pulling Matthew back too. Part of him was hoping it was simply late reinforcements, one of whom could look after Matthew while he went off, but he knew it wasn't. The two that walked through the door were vaguely familiar, but not so that he could instantly recognise them. One was dressed in a purple shirt with light coloured hair and a square shaped curl. The other was dressed in a black robe with orange hair and a crossed curl.

"Serafino's a dick" the one in black shouted down the corridors, her face completely blank and emotionless.

"Luisa's cursed by hell" the one in purple, Serafino, snickered, rolling his eyes and then frowning at the quietness. "Where is everyone?"

"I don't know?" the other, Luisa, snapped. "Why should I know?"

They went around the corner, somehow missing Joao and Matthew, their voices echoing down the hall until they disappeared.

"Should we move?" Matthew whispered. "I don't think this is the best place at the moment."

"Neither" Joao slowly stood and turned around the give Matthew a hand up. "Come on. It's probably less safe to walk around, but at least then we can react to things I guess." He strapped his sword to his belt and peered around the corner, seeing nothing. "Okay."