(I made another blunder on the last chapter. I put it as accidentally put it as Chapter 54 because that was the number of chapters INCLUDING the Author's Note and Summary. It should have said 52, I've gone back and fixed it.)
Y/N POV
Upon our return, the Duke greeted us with a smile before asking "How was it? Did either of you learn anything?" Ethan explained regarding the metal feathers. "I found these feathers. Now tell us how to fix this like you said you would."
The Duke gently raised a hand "Settle down. First you must use that key and collect all of your little Rose's flasks." I raised an eyebrow, asking "And where can we find the rest of them?" The Duke responded "There are four in total. You have the one. And the other lords have the rest."
That brought up the question of who, these 'lords' were. I had a hunch when Ethan asked "Lords?" There was a pause for a moment before the Duke went on to explain, confirming my theory.
"Mother Miranda is the cold, calculating ruler of this village. Four Lords serve under her. The first you've already met, the Lady Dimitrescu." I growled at the mention of Dimitrescu as anger filled me, however I kept listening.
"The second lives deep in a valley of mist, the doll maker Donna Beneviento." I nodded muttering "Nice name." The Duke shifted to look at me saying "None of her 'playmates' have ever come back from that dank, old estate." That made me add "I see."
Turning back to look at both of us together, the Duke proceeded "The third is Moreau, a being of twisted flesh that lives in the reservoir past the windmills. It is said that he is not the only monster that lives in those waters." I remembered Moreau's description from the meeting. I assumed he was the strange babbling mutant.
A stern expression appeared on the Duke's face as he finished "The fourth and most dangerous is Heisenberg. He works in his factory on the village outskirts. And the project? Let's just say parts of the human imagination are better left alone."
Once he was done, I nodded that I understood. The Duke spoke "If you truly wish to save your daughter, you must first gather the four flasks. I'll do you a personal favour, I've marked the Lord's locations on your map."
He took the paper map, with a pencil, he scrawled something on it before passing it back to us. I took it and noted three differences. The name 'Dimitrescu' was written on it but was crossed out, signifying we'd already dealt with her. And now the names 'Beneviento' and Moreau were also written down.
I looked up to him, asking "What about Heisenberg?" The Duke answered "You'd be best dealing with him last. Just trust me on that." Ethan asked "Why are you doing all this?" That was a great question, the Duke was a complete stranger. What motivation did he have?
To this, the Duke just replied "Why, it's all part of our first class customer service." With that I said, "By the way. Can we sell items we find to you?" The Duke nodded "Of course, everything has its price. What have you got?"
Reaching around, I revealed the crystal torso from Bela Dimitrescu. The Duke's eyes widened and said "Ah, the torso of one of Dimitrescu's daughters. I can give you 5,000 Lei for that, if you're interested in selling."
Nodding, I said "Sure, here you go." The Duke took the torso, putting it on display and forking over the Lei in exchange. He then stated "You should have the torso of Dimitrescu herself, should you not? Would you be willing to part with that?"
This time, I shook my head. "No, at least not yet." I was still needing the largest samples I could find to study this crystal-like state Dimitrescu and her daughters went into after their deaths. Perhaps, if the other Lords had something like this, it would be best to collect each one. It's quite possible they could be the answer to creating the serum if my theory regarding this place's connection to the Mold was true.
The Duke took my decline well as he just said "Fair enough, you know what to do if you change your mind." With that out of the way, me and Ethan made a few purchases with our Lei horde, we bought a stockpile of rifle and shotgun ammo along with some two bottles of first-aid medicine, one each.
As business came to a close, my attention shifted just to the side of the Duke's trailer. A wooden gate just like the ones we'd encountered frequently to get to this point, the ones unlocked with this winged key we'd found.
I asked the Duke "What's beyond that gate?" The Duke peered round, to see what I was looking at before he explained. "That, is the way to House Beneviento. Where no doubt, you'll find a piece of your beloved niece."
In a determined tone, I stated "Then that's the way we shall go." Turning to Ethan I asked "You ready?" Ethan nodded saying "Ready as I'll ever be." We both made sure we had everything we'd need before making our way in the direction of the gate.
Behind us, the Duke called out "Good luck in your travels!" Reaching the gate, I held out the key, placing it in the lock and giving it a firm twist, the latch came free and the door was now unlocked.
Turning to Ethan, we nodded to each other once again before I pushed the door open to reveal a narrow passage completely shrouded in mist, just as the Duke had described. We both stepped through it.
Instantly we both became uneasy when we noticed a skeleton on the floor just near the gate. Who it was or how they'd died was unknown, but out here, anything was possible. We stepped past the skeleton and continued on into the mist.
The name 'Doll maker' soon earned its meaning as from the trees we spotted several dolls, each one hanging from a rope from the dead branches. I was glad the paths were narrow, otherwise we would have likely gotten lost.
The only present sound was that of birds squawking as we crossed an unstable wooden rope bridge. We both had to tread light as one false step made it seem like we could fall down into the unknown below.
To the sides of us, I could make out other bridges however they seemed to be completely destroyed. As creepy as the atmosphere here was, nothing compared to what was about to happen. Shortly after crossing the bridge, a figure emerged from the fog ahead of us. As they got closer to us, their features became more clear. Both me and Ethan now had shocked expressions as I exclaimed.
"Mia?!"
Author's Note: And that's it for this chapter. In the next one we'll finally arrive at House Beneviento, which if all goes well, should be interesting. I really hope you enjoy what I have planned, I also hope you liked this chapter as well and as always, thank you for reading.
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The Mold in Winter (Resident Evil x Male Reader)
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