A House Filled With Night
Our Hearts Still Beat the Same

“And here you will see one of our luxurious bathrooms. You may wash up here whenever you like. However, please refrain from taking a bath, because we only have three left, and I would hate to live with a thief.”

Runa stared disbelievingly at Sylvain, trying to figure out whether he had really just made a joke or whether she had completely misunderstood him. Nothing in his serenely beautiful face betrayed a hint of mirth.

When the other brothers encouraged her to take a tour of the House with him, the last thing she expected was to become victim to this bizarre display of what appeared to be Sylvain. She had imagined him to be even more silent and brooding when he was separate from his crazy brothers. Instead, she found the separation brought out his own special brand of strange. It also brought out his talkative side.

“Ah! Look, here is one of my favorite rooms in the entire house: the kitchen. Shall we take a peek in? Of course we will. On your right we have a sink, on your left, a cabinet, ahead of you, a pantry. Now here’s a question for you. Who cooks the most in the House? I’m afraid I may have given away the answer already.”

“Is it you?”

“Precisely. You’re more clever than you let on, aren’t you?”

Runa nodded absently, pretended to still be listening. Something else had caught her attention. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a rack of kitchen knives hanging along the wall. She could feel her pulse increasing as the idea formulated in her mind. I could pry open a window with one of those.

“Oh, um, I was wondering...”

She looked around the room.

“I was wondering what that’s for.” Runa pointed at a strange contraption on a far kitchen counter. “I’ve never seen one before.”

“This?” Sylvain walked over and patted it proudly, like a father showing off his son. “Oh, this is a real delight. It makes the most excellent pastry. How it works is...”

Runa did her best to look entranced with what he was saying while edging closer to the knife rack. But every sound had been drowned out by the ringing of her ears and the mad pumping of her heart. She had never attempted something like this in her life. She had never even stolen a piece of fruit from the marketplace.

“And then you turn it, like so,” Sylvain had his back to her to demonstrate.

This was her chance.

In a second, Runa had slipped a knife off the rack and tucked it down the back of her bodice. When Sylvain turned around again, she pretended to be occupied with fixing her hair. Inwardly, she was trying to figure out how to move without accidentally stabbing herself.

“Are you paying attention?” He looked a little offended.

“Yes! Sorry, I—my hair was falling. It’s very interesting. Maybe I could try it out one day, if you’d let me.”

Had he not noticed?

“Of course,” he replied. “Anytime.”

They wandered out of the dining room and into a familiar chamber filled with statues and paintings. She had only been there once before, but something immediately felt strange to her.

“Isn’t it different from before?” asked Runa.

“You noticed, did you?”

He moved farther into the room, motioning to the walls with outstretched arms.

“The House is constantly changing. It barely spends a day the same as the one before it. I enjoy studying this room in particular, though. It speaks the most.”

“Wait, this house changes?”

“All the time. Except some rooms. Even those may change location, or disappear for a time.”

Runa shivered. That would explain some things about last night.

“How is it possible?”

He smirked. “Are you still asking that question by now?”

She blinked. He was right. She followed Sylvain as he made his way throughout the room.

“You said the House talks...”

He nodded. “Only to us. Mostly in murmurs and whispers. There are some things anyone can see if they look hard enough. Still, that doesn’t mean they’ll understand what they see. Look over here.”

They stood before a tall painting encased in a golden frame. On its canvas, a dramatic streak of gray cloud stretched over a black valley. At the very pit of the valley, tiny, bare, and lonely, a single daisy had sprouted from the ground. A thin beam of light broke through the heavens and fell upon its petals, giving it some small means of survival. Sylvain smiled as he stared up at it.

“Today the House is telling us there is hope. And hope is exactly what we need.”

Before Runa could ask what he meant, he turned from the painting, saying, “I want to show you something else.”

They walked through another corridor, which opened into a broader room. As soon as they entered, a strange feeling washed over Runa. Everything glowed, although there was no source of light except at the very center. There, massive, looming, pulsing with an eerie radiance, was a great globe of light. As they approached, Runa heard the sound of sloshing and looked down. The floor ran with something like water, coursing from the center of the room, flowing to its edges and disappearing at the edge of the wall. Looking back at the globe, she realized something was inside it, swirling around and around and around, eternally flowing. It was a shimmering fluid, alive and bright.

She felt her blood go cold as she remembered the night before. She took a step back.

“This is the heart of the House,” Sylvain was saying. “It’s been here forever. Even before the House itself came to be.”

He took a step closer and stretched out to touch it. She took another step back.

“This one talks the most. It’s what connects all of us brothers. When I’m here I can feel every hurt, every joy, every fear; excitement, hate, love. It always tells me.” He turned and looked at her pointedly. “I can even feel you, Runa.”

It was a warning. Had he noticed the missing knife after all? She tried her best to look naïve, but maybe she just ended up looking terrified.

Suddenly, Sylvain took a step back, almost as if he had just heard something. Then, his expression changed completely. A small grin broke out on his face. An almost devilish grin.

“One last thing I need to show you,” he declared, grabbing her arm. “Come on, come on!”

He dragged her to a pair of doors on the other side of the room and pushed them open. She gasped. They stood on a balcony, overlooking a beautiful spring landscape far below. The air was bright, although no sun could be seen in the sky, and the grass bowed and flowed without any hint of a breeze.

“We have several rooms like this. They’re illusions. Look, you can jump right off, it’s not as high as it seems.”

Runa found herself being shoved onto the railing and thinking it seemed very high indeed.

“Wait!” she squeaked. “I believe you! I believe you! You don’t have to show—!”

With a scream, she tumbled over the edge. Just a second before she fell, she could’ve sworn she heard the sound of someone calling out her name. Maybe it was heaven welcoming her home.

“Runa, I’ve got you!”

Not heaven?

She felt her body land upon sturdy arms a moment before the two tumbled down together. First it was quiet. Then, she heard a snicker.

“You can open your eyes now.”

They opened, and found themselves looking down directly into Torin’s. He was laughing so hard she felt herself bobbing up and down from where she had landed—on his stomach.

“Heh-heh!”

His laughter was contagious. She couldn’t help but join him. In the back of her mind, she was desperately trying to figure out whether there was a knife poking between her ribs as a result of her fall.

“Hey!” The shout from drew their attention to the balcony above them. Sylvain’s head poked over the edge of the railing. He smirked. “You know the House tells me everything. Did you think I’d leave you alone while you spied on Runa and me like that?”

At this, Torin sat up rapidly, causing Runa to slide backwards toward the floor. His hand shot out to catch her by the back, and she sucked in her breath. She could practically feel his fingers splaying over the hidden knife. Wide-eyed, she scrambled off his legs and looked down at him, terrified to see the realization on his face. Instead, all she saw on his face was a furious blush.

“I wasn’t spying...” he mumbled, averting his gaze to the ground.

Sylvain laughed once more before disappearing from the balcony.

“I—I’m sorry,” she fumbled, trying to feel around her bodice without looking suspicious. “A-and thank you for catching me.” There. It was still tucked safely away. If she had fallen just slightly differently, there might be a pool of blood at her feet by now.

Torin was too occupied with brushing his pants off and avoiding her eyes to notice anything. “It was my fault. Sylvain wouldn’t have played a trick like that if I hadn’t come here looking for you.”

“Oh, you were looking for me? Did you want to see me?”

“I...” He finally looked up at her, his demeanor changing. The red on his face evened out to a softer pink, and he smiled a little. “Yeah, I always want to see you.”

Runa felt her heart thump.

“Torinnnn!”

The two turned. Fiske was running toward them, Casimir and Niko trailing a little distance behind.

Fiske grabbed Torin and shook him frantically.

“Sylvain told us you and Runa were kissing, is it true, is it, is it?!”

Torin’s bright red blush returned.

"Sylvain!”

Torin started to run out of the room, but Casimir (who was completely failing at hiding his smirk), caught him by the arm.

“Don’t bother. We’re about to head out anyway. We should have left for Eidar a while ago.”

“Eidar?” asked Runa. “You go into town?”

All the brothers turned to her.

“Even we need to shop for some things,” said Casimir.

“Oh. Oh, right.”

“You can’t come,” said Niko flatly.

“Niko!” Fiske shrilled.

“But it’s true.”

“Still, you shouldn’t say things that way!”

Niko crossed his arms and said nothing.

Torin turned back to Runa. “I’m sorry. We can’t take you with us right now. It’s for the best.”

She just nodded. There was no use in arguing.

As they turned to leave, one last thought entered her head.

“Wait! Um...” She swallowed, doing her best to keep her voice from shaking. “What...what time do you think you’ll come back? Will I be here by myself for a long time?”

She hoped that last part would lessen their suspicions.

“We’ll probably be back really late,” said Niko. “You’ll be by yourself for a long time.”

Fiske elbowed him.

“But hey, don’t worry,” added Torin. “You won’t be in any danger if you stay in your room. In fact, I’ll walk you there myself.”

“Thank you. That sounds nice. I’m tired anyway, so I’ll probably just go to bed.”

Runa swallowed the thick saliva in her throat.

Back really late? This was her chance.

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~ A/N ~

I will be taking bets on Runa’s chances of escape until approximately 3:37 A.M. on Thursday of next week. Place your bets!

Also, I want to say thank you to @Me and @Wealthy for leaving reviews on this story. I appreciate you both so much!

Thank you to @Karene911, @Me, and @StellaEdel for leaving comments. I LOVE reading them!

And thank you to everyone who reads/follows this story!!!

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