P.I.E - A Limey Rivalry

Part 15 - A Hidden Controller

Since the billiard room had been a substantial waste of time, Toast no longer had any guide to work with. Sophia had said that the only marks that seemed out of place were in the two rooms they had previously check. Now, with nowhere specific to go, Toast felt quite aimless.

Sophia was thinking along the same lines. "Do you have a plan now, then?" she asked Toast as they gently meandered through the plain, samey corridors.

After taking a quick moment to consider a course of action, Toast sighed, "Not really. Unless you have any more information?"

Sophia shrugged and looked away, signifying that she did not know anything more than what she had already told him. Toast wasn't really surprised by this at all.

Sophia added, "So we're waiting for your partner and Bryn to get back, then?"

Having no other option close to mind, Toast mutely nodded. Then, he looked over to Sophia in thought. "Unless," he said, examining Sophia's old, tired figure, "we investigate all the rooms we come across."

Toast knew that idea was absurd. That opinion was doubled when Sophia gave him a blank look. The mansion was ginormous and it would take all night to even check half of the rooms. Not to mention, Toast doubted Sophia could handle that much work.

"Actually, Miss– um, Sophia," Toast said, stopping Sophia's sluggish walking, "if you think it will be too exhausting for you to walk with me, you can leave me now."

"And let you get lost again?" Sophia rhetorically asked jokingly.

"Well, no. I just assumed you'd be getting tired by now," Toast defended himself.

"Johnny," Sophia said, "I may be tired. I won't deny that I am. However, I'm just as enveloped in this as you are. Besides, I would like to make sure you don't do anything too brash whilst in my home."

Toast grinned at Sophia's response. She was so different to him, yet shockingly alike. She decided to keep a stiff upper lip to all of this, much like him, even when the stakes get worse.

"So be it," he said playfully.

"So... we're checking every room, then," Sophia asked as she tried to comprehend the thought.

"I guess..." Toast said, his mind pondering different routes of action. He spoke up, after a moment, "Of course, we can't wander around blindly. We'll have to start somewhere rational..." He continued thinking.

Sophia hummed and gently bit the inside of her cheek. "How about we go back to the front room and work up from there?" she asked Toast.

"I suppose that is as good of a plan as any," he said plainly.

The pair changed their aimless objective and turned their attention to the manor's entrance. Of course, Sophia led the way. Toast wasn't sure if he could ever map out the area.

As a force of habit, Toast checked his pocket watch. He and Ghost had spent a considerable length of time there. If he was correct that they had set off to the Gumball Estate at around eight o'clock, then the two of them had been hear throughout the entire day.

It was beginning to get late. This was further proven when Toast – made aware of the quantity of time that had past – peered out of one of the windows in passing. It was becoming glaringly dark outside.

On top of the passing hours, the weather was beginning to look aggressive as well. The clouds had formed a thick concrete barrier, surveying the whole district with an unyielding stare. Minute hazes of fog descended down to the earth. The surrounding shrubbery were moist and the outside air was bone-shatteringly cool. Toast was certain that it was going to rain at any moment. He pinned over that thought. He hoped there wouldn't be another tornado that they had to deal with.