Of Kings & Queens

"You Broke Our Spirit," Says The Note We Pass

Pete soon came to the conclusion that the fuse box had to be hidden out of the way, where normal people wouldn't come across it. That left either Phonicamy Tower or the Unknown Kingdom section, as the brochure said both were off-limits to visitors, and seeing as the tower was closer, that's where the bassist went (he wasn't about to go back to the Unknown Kingdom section alone, it was fucking creepy). He followed the map to the tower and began climbing the stairs, shivering as he passed the windows, where cold air blew in and he could see how high he was going. Eventually he got to the top, which was the sheet-covered room. Spotting the fuse box on the other side, Pete raced to check it out and winced when he saw how badly it was damaged.

"There's no way this thing will be back in action any time soon..." he muttered, closing it after seeing the torn wires and lack of fuses, "I wonder what's under all this, though." Curious, he looked around the room and pulled some sheets off of items as he did so. He didn't find anything interesting, just extra furniture and such, until he looked up. That was when he saw the padlocked trapdoor and he frowned in confusion. What could be on the next level that was so important that they had to lock it up? The padlock was also old and rusty, looking like it could come off at any minute, so Pete went and grabbed a crowbar that he had previously spotted and used it to bash the lock off. The trapdoor was then free and he pulled it open, allowing a ladder to drop down. Keeping the crowbar in hand (just in case, you know?), the dyed blond then began going up to the second level.

The space above was barely that of an attic, if anything. It was too small for Pete to stand and only held a golden birdcage with a cloth covering it. The edges of the cloth at the bottom were burnt and the man could see ashes spilling over the edges of the cage and onto the ground. Pete gasped as he realized that this could mean only one thing, if it were true.

"Solis? Solis the Phoenix? You still there?" To his surprise, he was answered with a large caw, as if the bird had been waiting forever just to hear another voice. Pete reached over and pulled off the cloth, revealing the orange-gold feathers of the eagle-sized bird he had seen before, in the memory in the library. Solis gave a small trill and tried to push her beak between the bars, as if wanting Pete to pet her or let her go. The musician wanted to do that so much, but he couldn't find a door on the cage.

"Easy." he stuck a hand between the bars and ran it through her feathers, finding her to be comfortably warm despite the cold temperature of the attic, "I can't find a way to get you loose right now, so I'm going to take you with me downstairs." Solis gave a small sound of agreement, so Pete tugged the cage over and started the challenge of getting the cage downstairs without dropping it and hurting the phoenix.

Patrick shivered as he held himself, curled into a ball and trying to conserve heat. His whole body was growing colder the longer he stayed in the icy prison and, though he had tried to escape earlier, it was no use. The door was shut tight, probably locked, and the only one who knew he was in here was now running for his life somewhere in the castle. He also had no idea how long he had been out. It could have been only a few minutes to even an hour or more. And his throat hurt, he probably had bruises starting to form there already. Despite the pain, though, he had tried singing to attract attention. There was a small vent at the top of the room that was too small for him to fit and he was sure his voice managed to carry through it somewhere, so he hoped his friends could hear it in time. He didn't think he was going to last much longer in here.

"Sometimes before it gets better the darkness gets bigger, the person that you'd take a bullet for is behind the trigger..."

"My my my, you really are pathetic, are you not?"

"Shut the fuck up, you bastard!"

"I would not talk like that if I were you, as I am not the one trapped under a suit of armor." Gervasius was leaning against the wall, watching as Gerard struggled to get out of one of the traps the mad king had set up while the living man had still been in his control. It wasn't so much as the armor was heavy (because it definitely was), but more of the point that Gerard was having trouble untangling himself from the armor. The mad king snickered at Gerard's struggling while glancing around, trying to spot something. And when he saw it, so far away from his puppet, he grinned.