Chapter 404: Arc 6, - 20: Fragment
On the tips of their toes, they made it as quickly as they could towards the sound. "You’re sure there’s nothing?" Fumeko asked again as they climbed up a secluded stone stairwell.
"Uncertainty alludes me. The scattering vermin are certain to be within these desecrated walls. Beyond any such disturbances lied no other form to mine awareness."
"How reliable is your echolocation?" Jotou queried at the top of the stairs.
Tiffany from below looked up, "Do not lay doubt upon mine steadfast ability," she exclaimed in a hush.
"Whatever the case," Jotou glanced down both sides of the castle’s second floor hallway. "Stay on your guard," she unsheathed her sword and did not light it up in sparks.
They followed, not pausing to check the other rooms or examine the torn tapestries and pried apart sideboards. No sudden movements, lest they alarm the sound to stop.
The sound grew louder and louder; it was no creaking pipe or squeaking rat, but a sob. It was the sound of whimpering child. The five noted this fact as they all witnessed it before them, through an open archway with no door.
The archway led into some sort of library? That would explain the rows of old books on high shelves and the torn pages all over the brick floors. But then how would one explain the alchemical equipment across the stone desk that was built along the wall?
By that desk, arms around his knees and face against it, was a little boy who was sobbing. "Are you lost?" Hotaru stepped in first, followed by the others.
"Why are you crying, are you hurt?" Asobi walked next to the redhead as the two approached the weeping child. Jotou crossed her arms and gave a squint, while Fumeko examined the room and the child all together, prompting Tiffany to stay back as well.
The little boy glanced up. Dark hair, fair skinned and brownish eyes—he looked no older than five or six. He wore a white shirt with ruffles all over and short trousers with knee-high socks—the only other notable thing he wore being a brooch with a red gem.
Asobi brought the light closer and dimmed it a little. "Are you alright?" Hotaru asked again.