[Y/n] hadn't slept last night — sleeping was difficult when all she could think about was the map, the shoebox and everything else. She'd used a spare piece of paper that she'd taken from Draka's room to redraw what she could see of the map from her place in the bedroom, just in case the magical object was revealed to be missing and taken away from her. The box was now under her bed (only temporarily) and she leaned down to reach for it, pulling it up with her. Rooting through the box, she found several items she hadn't noticed before — a few bobby pins, two small balls of yarn, clothing glue, five hairbands, some card and another blank piece of paper. [Y/n] thought for a while before an idea popped into her mind.

Picking up the bobby pins, she walked over to her door. Had she seen videos of people lock picking in movies? Yes. Had she ever seen a guide on how to actually do it? No. But had she played video games in which lock picking was a feature? Kind of. Well, if she didn't try she'd never know.

She fiddled about with the lock for a while, trying to get to grips with lock picking with a bobby pin.

A sharp noise sounded from the door, but sadly not the click she wanted. [Y/n] removed the bobby pin from the lock which had snapped in half, the other half falling to the floor. So maybe lock picking wasn't the best idea she'd ever had. She picked up the other half of the bobby pin and walked back over to the shoebox. Letting it drop back inside, she rooted through it again.

Another idea popped into her mind. She glanced over to the door, then back at the box.

She removed the clothing glue, yarn, card and one of the pins from the pincushion. She folded the card so she could tear a clean rectangle off of if, before snapping the yarn and using the clothing glue to make it double back on itself (for stability). She then pushed the pin through the card a few times before looping the doubled yarn through the new hole. By the end of it, she had a piece of card on the end of a string of yarn.

[Y/n] walked over to the mosaic door. There was a small gap above the lock in the crack of the door. So, [Y/n] pushed the card in the door, sitting it on the lock, and used the clothing glue to stick the yarn to the doorframe with some give so the card could drop down a little.

She returned to her bed and placed all the other items back in the shoebox, before quickly making her way over to her wardrobe to hide it again.

Once said box was hidden, all she had to do was wait.

* * *

"[Y/n], I'm coming in," Seishin's voice called from the other side of the door. [Y/n] glanced up from her bed (where she'd decided she would get another hour or so of sleep), watching her door creak open. Seishin held a plate of something in his hand. He shut the door behind him. "Good morning," he greeted, which was an odd thing for Seishin to do. [Y/n] wondered what had gotten him in such a good mood.

"Morning," [Y/n] responded quietly, mostly out of obligation and old habit.

"I hope you like this because to me it smells disgusting," he huffed, looking down at the food, before passing it to [Y/n]. It was quite the breakfast - scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, a couple of sausages and some baked beans. Very British, [Y/n] thought.

"I think you find most things disgusting," [Y/n] responded, a comment on Seishin's contemptuous nature. He rolled his eyes.

"Just eat it would you?" he muttered, before walking over to her bedside table and picking up the necklace Aytsa made her. "I presume Aytsa made this for you," he hummed, his eyes then drifting over to the music box and quill. [Y/n] hesitated before nodding her head, and he placed the necklace down. "So materialistic..." Seishin sighed.

"You're also materialistic," [Y/n] responded, which earned her a glare from Seishin.

"What makes you say that?" he questioned, though his voice was demanding.

"I thought you'd know," [Y/n] returned. Seishin took a couple of steps closer to her, before sitting on the end of her bed, his eyes fixed on hers. He leaned back a bit, his arms behind him as to prop him up on the bed.

"You're not eating," he observed. [Y/n] furrowed her brow.

"You're going to watch me eat?" she mumbled, her brows furrowing in a look of distaste.

"Yes; to make sure you don't throw it away or something stupid. Now eat."

And thus commenced the longest and most terribly awkward breakfast [Y/n] had ever endured.

* * *

After Seishin left, the first thing [Y/n] could think to do was check her door. And, as she had hoped, it was good news. Seishin hadn't spotted the piece of card trapped in the lock, and it poked out just enough for her to get a grip on it and pull it (and the lock) from their place. And it seemed that the odds were in her favour as they had decided to let her have a day to herself, which meant less chance of someone spotting the interfering device on the door.

At some point in the afternoon the house went entirely quiet. [Y/n] could only assume everyone was training or working, and thank god for that, because it meant she could take the next step in her plan.

[Y/n] pulled on the piece of card, eventually pushing the lock back into the door. She wore a grin of victory on her face as she pushed down on the door handle and felt the satisfying silent creak of it opening. Mission impossible style, she tiptoed over to the front door, which was fortunately not far from her room at all.

She repeated the steps she had taken to unlock her door on the front door (which fortunately had a gap big enough for her to do so), before tiptoeing back to her room and making another drop-down piece of card so if anyone entered her room she could still get out.

And once again, she waited, the moving map now in her pocket and the box hidden in the wardrobe once more. She didn't have to wait for too long this time as she'd carried out said actions in the early evening, and it was late evening by the time she heard the front door click open. A sigh could be heard from Aytsa as he paused by her door, though he eventually walked past. Another five minute wait ensued. Then it was time.

She opened her door just a crack to begin with, as quiet as she possibly could be, and when she knew it was all clear she did the same with the front door.

Before she knew it, she was out. Out and free, in a mess of halls that made little sense to her. She pulled the map from her pocket and stared at it again, her brow furrowed; the map seemed too different now she was out of that place, but she didn't dwell on it. Instead she began to walk in the direction of Nyais' apartment, or at least the direction they'd headed when they went there the first time.

'Why? No, I shouldn't go to Nyais' apartment. They'll know I'm there...' she thought worriedly to herself, but she couldn't stop her feet from retracing their earlier steps. Occasionally she'd dart behind a corner or split-off corridor when footsteps sounded in the distance, but she was doing well at not being caught. She was also doing well at getting lost.

Before she knew it, the [h/c] haired girl hadn't a clue where she was, and the reality of her escape being impossible began to dawn on her.

If only to make things worse, a group of people - maybe four or five - were chatting in the distance and heading her way. With no split off corridors to hide in, [Y/n] backed into the nearest door, holding her breath and opening it before slipping inside. She waited with an ear on the door, not wanting to turn around in case she was greeted with something unsightly.

"Do you smell that?" one of the people on the other side of the door questioned.

"What? Human?" another returned. "It's probably just Rayne."

They all laughed and wandered off. [Y/n] let out a sigh of relief, before pushing down on the door handle again. She was stopped by a snort of laughter from somewhere behind her. 'Shit.'

"Leaving so soon? I thought you'd be looking for this place," a familiar voice chimed. Not one she wanted to hear. She slowly turned around.

Nyais' apartment. But... how? And the man in the middle of it. She narrowed her eyes.

"Why are you here?" [Y/n] muttered. Rayne raised a brow and shrugged off his lab coat, draping it over the sofa on the left wall. He walked over to her calmly, though said calmness brought terrible unease to [Y/n].

"I could ask the same of you," he said plainly, before turning around, "though admittedly I couldn't care less." 'Wow, what an asshole,' [Y/n] thought to herself in annoyance. "Running away is probably not the best idea you've ever had, I must admit," he said, shaking his head as he picked up a large black bag. "And coming here? Even stupider."

"Thanks," [Y/n] rolled her eyes sarcastically.

"I don't see what Nyais saw in you," he sighed, placing a few of his objects in the bag, which made [Y/n]'s brows furrow.

"Why are you taking his stuff? What are you doing here?" [Y/n] asked, her voice dull though slightly cross. Rayne turned to look at her with a gaze that radiated 'shut up and mind your own business' vibes, but the girl didn't seem to want to listen. She walked over to him and pulled the bag out of his hands. "This isn't yours."

"Nyais is dead," Rayne said plainly.

"It still doesn't belong to you!" [Y/n] hissed, taking a step back with the bag in her arms. Rayne shook his head.

"You're lucky I'm not taking you back with me. Treat my kindness with a bit of respect, would you?" he muttered, pulling the bag from her arms with ease. Despite being such a lithe man, he was seriously strong. "Let me get on with my business and you get on with yours. Alright?"

Despite the malice that always emanated from Rayne, there was a look of sentiment deep in his gaze. Finally, [Y/n] lowered her head. She had no idea how this place worked and she wasn't going to get anywhere on her own. Her pride would have to be set aside for now.

"Look, I need your help," [Y/n] sighed, looking away. She didn't want to see what expression Rayne gave her in response to her plea. Though he took some steps to the side so he was in her line of vision and [Y/n] realised he wasn't going to tolerate her ignoring him. She slowly met his gaze and was surprised to see no emotion there whatsoever.

"Nyais would be sad to hear you asking me for help," he said, raising a brow. "And why do you think I'd want to help you after how rude you were to me just then? Maybe you should try to act a little nicer." He walked back over to the bag and continued doing whatever it was he'd come here to do.

"Please... I'm sorry about being rude, but I'm not going to get anywhere like this," [Y/n] sighed, looking down.

"You're right, you're not," Rayne nodded. "Also that please was terrible. So forced. Want to try again?" he questioned, though he didn't so much as look at her. [Y/n] furrowed her brows in annoyance, and only then did Rayne turn around. A small laugh let him.

"You really do have the intelligence of an amoeba. One last chance? If you impress me I might be inclined to help you," Rayne grinned, before his expression neutralised in an almost robotic way and he went back to choosing which of Nyais' belongings to put in the bag. He then placed the bag on the sofa, seemingly done with the entrance hall. His gaze returned to [Y/n].

"Please," [Y/n] muttered, though she couldn't keep the scornfulness out of her tone. Rayne walked over to her with his usual slow and meticulous pace, before inspecting her expression. His eyes were completely dull. He looked... dead, almost.

"You really hate me. I haven't even done anything to you yet," he sighed, shaking his head.

"Yet?" [Y/n] echoed, her brow furrowing.

"Yes. I talked to Aytsa about you the other day... I told him that if you ever become too much to handle, they can send you over to me for a couple of days." He spoke so matter-of-factly that it was easy to forget all the terrible things she knew Rayne was capable of. When she remembered, her face paled. Rayne picked up on this and turned around. "I'm sure we'll be meeting again soon," he chuckled, heading in the direction of Nyais' kitchen. [Y/n]'s eyes narrowed.

"I did what you said," [Y/n] said quietly, deciding a less confrontation attitude might be safer.

"Yes, you did. And you didn't impress me, so no help for you," he called back from the kitchen. The occasional rattle of things in cupboards could be heard and [Y/n] couldn't stay where she was. She followed after Rayne, standing in the kitchen doorframe. Her eyes shot wide when a sharp object came hurtling towards her at an unavoidable speed, before lodging itself in the wall right beside her head. Did he miss or was it a warning?

"Oops. Slip of the hand," Rayne drawled, ambling his way towards the door. He stopped right in front of [Y/n] and pulled the kitchen knife from beside her head. He stared at her for a moment prior to clearing his throat. "Why are you still here?"

"Please. Just some information... anything," [Y/n] pleaded again. Though she hated that she was still talking to the raven haired sadist, she needed his help, and he was probably the only person who wouldn't simply 'take her back' because he valued his own amusement too.

"Find Olli," he said simply. [Y/n]'s eyes widened.

"The king? But he'll just kill me!" [Y/n] protested.

"Fine then, don't take my advice. Though you'll find yourself regretting it," he shrugged. [Y/n] narrowed her eyes. He just wanted to get her killed! She walked away from the kitchen, through the entrance hall and out of the door. Emptiness and silence greeted her; she was back in the maze of corridors.