How Long is Forever [COMPLETED]

Trial and Error

TIME LIMIT FOR THE THIRD ROOM: 10 MINUTES.

"Oh, great. How much time will it be for the last room? 10 seconds?" One of the twins mutters while all of you examine the room as soon as the light has turned on.

The atmosphere has once more returned to the dark and medieval style from the entrance: wooden floors and cold stone walls covered in faded tapestry, candlesticks everywhere. Just that the candles aren't real this time; the electric lights flicker softly, and only from a distance could they be mistaken with fire.

Some parts of the furniture don't seem to fit the old and mysterious aura though: On the left wall is a huge fuse panel, and on the right you can see a hutch that keeps a key inside. A warning sign for high voltage is printed above the hutch, and the message is obvious.

Your eyes wander to the next door, and it seems to require a normal key to open just like the first room. But is the key inside the hatch the right one, or will the answer be a bit more twisted?

One way or another, ten minutes isn't much time to find out. You feel a streak of panic rise up, and you try to take a few deep breaths to calm it down. The heavy weight of the collar around your neck is painfully apparent to you, and it doesn't help against the anxiety. But it isn't their purpose to suffocate you, you're still able to breathe. In and out. In and out.

Just as you have managed to swallow down the panic, someone rudely barges into your side and as you look up, you stare right into the big guy's grin. "Now look who's scared! Our tiny mouse here wants their mommy, eh? How about you join the sewer rat here!" He shoves Hibiki towards you with so much force that the poor boy loses balance and stumbles to the ground, and you offer your hand to help him up.

"If only he would have been the one to get killed by the acid," Hibiki hisses towards the other guy, and your eyes widen in surprise at the burning hate in his voice and eyes. It doesn't fit the usually scared and insecure boy, but who is there to blame him after all the threats and hints of violence he had to face because of the big guy?

You pull him into a short hug, and you do recognize the frown on Chishiya's face as he watches you. "Hibiki! Don't say that," you whisper to the boy, but do you really disagree? The mute woman has done no harm to anyone at least during the game, while Mr. Muscle just doesn't seem to stop harassing other people. He wouldn't be missed if he was the one lying on the ground, his face eaten away by the acid and the blood he has drawn from you...

Hibiki heads to the fuse panel, and you take a step forward and almost stumble over the deep-pile carpet that covers a huge part of the room. It's kept in different nuances of brown, with a weird pattern that would only be labeled beautiful in a weird museum.

While Hibiki fruitlessly tries to open the panel, you walk past the big guy who is examining the hatch from a safe distance and softly touch Chishiya's shoulder. "I wish he'd touch it and die from an electric shock."

Chishiya snorts, hands shifting inside his pocket. "I know he has hurt you, but this is not the time to be angry. Focus on the important things for now."

The blonde in front of you has never been the caring person, but you have still hoped for at least a few words of comfort. Why is he not even doing anything to keep the big guy away from you?

You search his face for an emotion telling you that he cares, but there is nothing. It's as blank as when he has watched the silent woman suffer and die in agony.

"Did... did you know she had chosen the acid?"

"I had a feeling about it."

You swallow down the bitter taste in your mouth. "Why didn't you tell her she was wrong?" She could have been saved. She didn't have to die.