Pandemonium

Stage Seven Part I

I opened my eyes and felt something was immediately off. I looked towards my side and Faust was there, sleeping soundly. Why were they sleeping next to me? And when did we get to the next floor? Did everyone really sleep through that movement? Or did something else take place? I couldn't process it very well, there was a throbbing in my head keeping me from thinking too hard about it. This is the same feeling I got when I tried to think about my memories before getting to this place. 

"Ah," Faust wakes up and stares at me. They look to the door and then down at their wrist. "Well, well, looks like we have gotten quite intimate," they lift their arm and show me their wrist. A handcuff? I look at where it's connected to and then see my wrist is cuffed as well. There is a comfortable chain between us but the fact that we are attached is still there. I stand up and look around. Everyone else has one too, except Hyde, who is standing by the door looking out. They look towards me and frown. 

"I want to be handcuffed to Fausty," they huff, crossing their arms. They pulled back their long hair into a pony tail and huffed again. "Why do you get to have all the fun?" 

"Why aren't you cuffed to anyone?" Claude snaps. Great. When did he wake up? 

"Because I'm not a part of your game, silly," Hyde snickers lightly and walks out onto the floor. They're walking backwards but nothing seems to be an issue. Claude moves to follow them but the floor starts to shake and he steps back onto the elevator. 

Hyde didn't cause any reactions on this floor and wasn't with us at the start. Does that mean Hyde is technically a piece of these next few puzzles? What if we left Hyde behind? How would we have gotten this far? Things aren't exactly adding up. Unless the floors change to accommodate us...or are just expecting us to fail from the start. The latter seems more likely. 

Hyde looks around at the edge of the room and stomps on the floor. They jump up and down and stomp a few more times. All of the pieces of the ground that would've shaken, fall. We already had a falling floor. Does that mean the next few stages will be something we have seen before? 

Pandora clings to Odette. Even without the handcuff Pandora would've clung to someone. Pandora stares at the ground that fell and hugs her harder. "F...Fon..." 

"Shhh, hush now," Odette holds him and pats his head. "There is a set path for us this time. See? There is a beam for us to walk on. No one is going to fall." Pandora nods and those two are the first to start the path. 

"Hendrix," Hector looks at me and then to Claude. "I'm attached to him," he points to his handcuff. Oh no. That's bad. That's really really bad. 

I follow behind Claude, who is pushing Hector forward, and Faust follows me without saying anything. Rose and Gilbert are the last to step onto the bar and then the elevator shuts. We're stuck with one way across or a long way down. 

"Uhm, Rose," Gilbert looks at their hands. Rose grabbed his to keep him from standing on the edge of the closed elevator door. 

"What?" 

"Nothing..." he stares at their hands but doesn't want to ruin the moment. I chuckle slightly and turn my head to continue watching my step-father. He better not try anything with Hector--

Of course, as soon as I think that he grabs Hector's neck in a chokehold and glares down at me, slowly spinning the two around on the beam. "What are you doing?" I snap at him, clenching my hand into a fist. 

"I've thought about what you said but there is really no way of knowing for sure, is there?" he sneers. "Jump." 

"What?" 

"Jump." He uses his spare hand to point at the pitfall. "Jump or your precious toy over here will die instead." 

"Hector isn't a toy!" 

Faust grabs my shoulder and grins. "All we have to do is jump, right?" 

"Jump!" 

"What are you talking about?" I stare at Faust but there aren't any hints as to what they mean. 

"All we have to do is jump, right?" their grin continues to spread across their face but I'm even more lost. They lean down and whisper into my ear. "Do you trust me? I mean really, do you trust me?" 

"Yes," I reply. Even though Faust sometimes confuses me and gives off terrible danger signs. I can't stop trusting them. It doesn't make any sense but I trust my judgement. So, in turn, I trust them. 

"Well, that's too bad," Faust snickers and pushes me off the ledge. I stare up at their grinning face and hear the sounds of yelling. I turn to stare at Hector but I can't see him very well so I close my eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Maybe I should've been the Traitor after all. I would've turned myself in and died. I hope Hector can make it on without me. There are a lot of things running through my mind right now but I'm not sure what to believe or what not to believe. I just let it all happen. Closing my eyes to the truth or to the lies. I'll know in a few moments. But, if this is the end, I just want Hector to know that I-