Six stared at the room with the suspiciously convenient item taunting them to grab it. She looked above, trying to spot where the light came from, but it seemed to come from nowhere. If it was so high up she couldn't see it, then it shouldn't be possible for the light to reach all the way down here.

So something wanted them to see this thing. Emphasized its importance with light. She couldn't help but feel like she was a dog being led by a leash. And the worst part was, she likely didn't have a choice but to follow the commands.

Whatever that medallion looking thing was, it was likely important. She was certain they would need it for something or other. What that was, she couldn't say. It was impossible to do so.

But they needed it, of that she was all but certain. It didn't appear like there were any traps in the room, none that seemed so obvious at any rate. Naturally, those tended to be the worst ones. Unknown danger was almost always worse, even if for the sole reason of your own imagination.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Harry. She thought about it for a moment. While there were no obvious signs of traps, that didn't mean there weren't any. The threat of safety was a potent lure, one she was loath to fall for.

She remembered some kids, whose names she either couldn't remember or was never told, walking through a hallway with a confident swagger. Time had made them overconfident, and dulled their natural paranoia.

They never made it out of the hall. The traps were obvious, and because of that, they never expected that they were layered. The ones able to be seen hid the ones that weren't. And thus, they perished.

The how wasn't what she wanted to remember, only recalling it was gruesome, it was the why she lingered on. Their cocky, self-assured natures lead them to ruin. But their loss was her gain, and she learned a powerful lesson from their deaths, as morbid as it was.

Never underestimate the world.

"I'll go in first, make sure nothing is wrong. I should be able to jump onto the pillar and get whatever that thing is. If something happens, back me up with your magic," she said.

Harry didn't like the sound of that, but he couldn't think of an alternative besides going in himself. There wasn't anything around they could use as a bridge, and there was no rope either, or anything they could use to snatch it from a distance.

No, their only option was for one of them to enter. And as much as Harry wanted to go himself, to keep his friend from danger, he knew that was an impossibility, especially in this place. All he could reasonably do was try and mitigate the threat as much as he could.

And this time, that meant letting her go inside herself. She did have far more experience in this place, so if anything did happen, she was the most able to deal with it without any powers. And if something did happen, he could provide some kind of aid.

Hopefully.

He did feel a warmth in his chest at the trust she was showing him in this moment. Enough that she was willing to place her life in his hands. He was determined to show her it was not misplaced.

"Alright, but be careful," he said, and she rolled her eyes. Who did he think she was? She was always careful. But she was still happy he cared.

"Of course," she responded. With the plan set, Six entered the small hidden room. The floor beneath her was tiled into squares, all seemingly the same color, size and shape. It was strange how uniform it was, considering the rest of the house.

What was even more shocking was its cleanliness. Not a single speck of dust covered even an inch of it, unlike the room behind her, which was covered in a thin layer of it. Something she was now tracking inside, as small dirty footprints followed in her wake.

She carefully placed one foot in front of the other, making sure the floor would hold and there weren't any invisible traps beneath her as well. That was all she needed, for the floor to collapse.

But so far, nothing happened, and before long, she stood in front of the pillar. With a glance back at Harry, she saw him give her a thumbs up, nearly making her snort in amusement.

She turned back around, and jumped up, grabbing the side of the pillar and hauling herself up. Standing there, she could now see the shiny thing that caught her attention. The second shiny thing, that is, the remote being the other.

It was indeed shaped like a medallion, thick and round, with the image of an eye proudly carved in the center. No shocker there. Several lines jutted out from the eye, or perhaps towards it, she couldn't tell.

But the strangest thing was the spiked points jutting out from the sides, each one connecting to a line. She wondered what their purpose could be. If this was a medallion meant to be worn, that seems like it would pose quite the hazard.

There also seemed to be no space for a chain to slide into. So that means this thing, whatever it was, wasn't meant to be worn. But if that was the case, then what was its purpose?

Looking up from the medallion beneath her, Six could now get a much better look at the painting as well. The sculpture, or rather, the machine depicted was a marvel of crisscrossing metal and wood. She could see what looked like gears assembled beneath it, meaning that whatever it was contained moving parts.

Just as she was about to look away, deeming the strange thing as unimportant, a small crevice drew her eye. It was shaped very similarly to the shiny thing below her. Was it meant to be inserted onto this machine, wherever it was? So, that would make the medallion a key then.

Harry would be thrilled to learn of it. He was oh so disappointed to learn this room didn't contain a key, so she couldn't wait to share the happy news with him.

Seeing as there was nothing else of interest in the room, Six decided it was time to make her escape. All that was left to do was grab the object beneath her and high tail it out of here.

But of course, that singular action is where things took a turn for the worst. As soon as Six removed the medallion, a hidden mechanism underneath it rose up, and a horrible rumbling shook the area.

"Six!" Harry shouted in alarm, watching as his friend tried to keep her balance as the pedestal she stood on trembled violently. Thankfully, she has excellent balance, so she wasn't in immediate danger.

However, things soon went from bad to worse, as the tiles surrounding the pedestal began to fall, one by one, into a void that appeared out of nowhere. Looking at the seemingly endless chasm that trapped his friend, Harry wasn't sure how she was able to walk across the tiles.

Magic, perhaps? Or maybe there used to be a floor beneath the tiles that collapsed when the trap activated? Either way, it was gone now, and that was a problem. Six had no way across, and Harry doubted she could jump far enough.

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He might be able to find something to use as a bridge, down below in the mausoleum, but he was concerned that the pedestal itself may be the next thing to go.

Before he could make up his mind or ask Six, the decision was taken from him as the door he discovered by accident began to close, attempting to trap Six within. He couldn't let that happen. There had to be something he could do!

Thinking fast, he had an idea. A crazy, yet simple idea that should just work. All Six would have to do was time it correctly, and she should be able to escape.

"Hey Six, I have a plan," he said, trying to slow the door down using brute force. Unfortunately for him, he was little more than a twig, and the door continued to close, ignoring him completely.

"I'm all ears," she responded, arms outstretched to keep her balance. It wasn't nearly as bad as the room with the birds, but that was no reason to get complacent. One wrong move and she would fall for who knows how long.

"I'll try and slow the door down with my magic. Then you can jump on it and use it as a springboard to get out," he said. Six thought about it for a moment, for that was all she could spare. If the door closed, she would have no choice but to see where the fall would take her.

But as far as plans went, it wasn't bad, and it was easy enough to execute. The shaking might make it a bit more difficult, but as long as she didn't mess anything up and nothing unexpected happened again, she should make it out in one piece.

"Sounds good," she agreed. She didn't have any better ideas, and stepping on the raised slab of marble that appeared when she removed the medallion did absolutely nothing, so there was no way to stop what was happening.

Harry nodded his head and took a few steps back from the door. He closed his eyes and held his hands out, facing the door. Concentrating on the well of power that existed deep within himself, he grabbed hold of it, bending it to his will.

The door slowed noticeably, and they could hear the grinding of the gears as it tried to continue on its path. But Harry wouldn't let it, even as he struggled to hold it back. He needed to do this, he refused to lose his only friend.

"Alright, whenever you're ready!" he shouted. He didn't mean to, but he couldn't hold it back. Six could hear the strain in his voice, and knew she didn't have long to perform her part of the plan.

But she also knew she couldn't perform her part haphazardly either. She had one shot, like so many times before, to get this right. And she didn't plan to fail, not when she could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how small it may seem.

When the door became perpendicular to the pedestal, she made her move. But not before pacing the medallion in her pocket. It wouldn't do to lose the thing that caused this whole mess in the first place.

Six made her jump, easily grabbing onto the top of the door. She looked over to Harry, and frowned as she noticed his burdened face. Using his magic like this took a lot out of him, and he's been forced to use his magic fairly often since they met. He hasn't had much chance to recover his energy.

She needed to be quick, if for no other reason than to spare him the suffering of holding back a mechanical contraption. Unlike him, it would never tire, continuing to try and close to the end of time.

She supposed it could break, but this room seems awfully well kept, so she doubted the pieces holding the door together and making it move were in such rough condition that breaking it would be a plausible strategy.

She carefully but quickly shimmied her way across the top of the door. Dangling herself over a black void did make her nervous, but thankfully, she's developed a fairly good grip.

She kind of had to with all the parkour she's been forced to do. While she wasn't grateful for the reason she needed to develop these skills, that reason being survival mostly, she is nonetheless happy to have them.

The door gave a sudden and violent lurch, causing Six to nearly lose her grip. She looked down at Harry, seeing him struggle to hold it back, with sweat now dripping down his brow. She had to hurry, there was no time left to dawdle.

The door itself was nearly a quarter of the way closed at this point, meaning she should be able to easily jump into the projector room and escape. She braced her dirty feet against the door and lined up her jump. This was it, do or die.

Taking one last, deep breath, she jumped, a ripping sound ringing out.

Harry watched this through half open eyes. The sweat dripping into them stung, and as much as he wanted to wipe his forehead, he didn't have that luxury at the moment. Holding the door open was taking all of his concentration.

Which means he was unable to realize Six's flight path. You see, Harry was standing in the middle of the doorway, and though she intended to land next to him, that plan didn't pan out the way she believed it would.

Before Harry knew what was going on, his friend slammed into him, breaking his concentration, allowing the door to slam shut. The pair of them breathed heavily, trying to catch their breath once more.

"You ok?" Six asked as stared down at him from her perch on top of him.

"Yeah, you?" he returned, giving her a look, trying to spot any injuries.

She snorted at his concern, before rolling off of him. "Peachy."

The two lay there in relative silence, save for their breathing and the sound of the projector going.

"That was a close one," mumbled Harry as he sat up, staring at his friend, who gave him a blank look from her spot lying on the floor.

"Yeah. That seems to happen a lot lately," she muttered as well, not wanting to get up yet. The floor, while slightly dirty, felt cool, and she was comfortable at the moment.

Harry himself was fine with taking a bit of a break from that harrowing experience. Not as bad as getting eaten, but any time he nearly loses a friend is discomforting. Plus, he was feeling pretty tired after that, and wouldn't mind a bit of a pow-wow.

"So, what exactly was in that room?" he asked. Six sighed at the question, before forcing herself to sit up as well. She dug around in her pocket, pulling out the medallion she just acquired, and tossing it to him.

Harry fumbled a bit with it, not expecting her to just throw it at him. He gave her a small glare, which she returned with a look of amusement. He gave the object now in his hands a once over, marveling at the smooth, polished texture.

Though he did frown at noticing the eye. They really needed a new motif.

"So, any idea what this is?" he asked. Six rolled her eyes from his bland tone, knowing he wanted to find the key for the chest behind them. Wouldn't he be shocked?

"Yeah. I think it's a key used to operate the contraption from the painting," she explained. Harry looked confused for a moment, before remembering the painting from the now closed off secret room.

"Not the key I was hoping for. Do you know what that thing is, or where it is?" he asked. His voice held a bit of a grumble to it as he asked, which amused Six. She gave him a shrug in response, making him sigh. Things could never be simple, could they?

"Well, it's better to have it if we need it I guess," he said, and Six hummed in agreement. She finally decided she had lazed around enough for the moment, and stood up, stretching her arms out. They had things to do, and not nearly enough time to do them.

But Harry noticed something as she stood up. Her shirt was ripped open on her left side. "Um, Six?" Harry said, making her look at him. "Yeah?" she asked.

He pointed to her side, and she groaned in irritation at realizing what he was pointing at. "Great, just what I needed…" she muttered.

Harry himself didn't see what the big deal was, his shirt was pretty holey as it was. And while he didn't particularly like that, it didn't really hinder him in any way. His main problem with his clothes was the size. They were made for a boy twice as big as Harry, at least. Probably more. Maybe it was just different with girls?

And the hole in her shirt wasn't the only problem with her attire. The main issue was all the dried blood on it from the bird corpse she prepared last night. That was a health hazard just waiting to happen.

But it wasn't as if there were clothes just sitting in a pile waiting for someone to come along and claim them. But wait… actually, there were clothes just sitting around. They may not have been in a pile, but they were there.

And it's not like their owners would have much to say about them taking them. They couldn't speak at all. But even so, knowing they needed new clothes, did not lessen the knot forming at the pit of his stomach at the thought of taking them.

It was a barbaric thing to do in a civilized world, but then again, they weren't in a civilized world, were they? No, they currently resided in a world where survival of the fittest took on a brand new meaning.

Knowing this, and knowing what they needed, removed Harry's hesitation. Not all of it, but enough to suggest it to Six. If she opposed the idea, then that would be that. But considering who she was, he doubted it would be much of a problem.

She's more likely to be upset that she didn't think of it first.

"Hey, Six?" he questioned tentatively.

"Yeah?" she responded without looking at him. Too busy staring at the hole in her shirt.

"I know where we can get some new clothes," he said. Now that garnered her attention, as she turned to look at him with a curious glint in her ruby red eyes.

"Oh?"