"Let's play a video game!" Horus exclaims, ignoring the comment.
"What?" Elmo raises an eyebrow.
"Come on! If I win, you, stay away from Hilde."
"Fine! I concede." Elmo chuckles.
Horus smiles victoriously. "Come on, let's set the game."
"Sure." Elmo shrugs.
"I can't believe it will be worth it if we finally defeat you and destroy you." Horus mumbles.
"Oh yeah?" Elmo smirks at him.
"Yes!" Horus grins excitedly as he prepares the console.
Annie is walking down the hallway, trying to keep calm. Her heart is beating faster than she would like to admit. She feels extremely hot, and her skin is sweating. She feels dizzy. She stops dead in her tracks.
She knows she shouldn't be here but can't help herself.
She walks towards the room where Hilde is. She sees that she's packing her things. She's putting them into a suitcase. She picks up a picture frame and scrutinizes it. A smile appears on her lips.
"Annie, are you are coming or what? I'm waiting for you outside." Horus calls out.
"Coming!" Annie yells back.
She walks to Hilde inside the room. She wants to say many things but can't utter a single word. Tears are falling down her face.
Hilde looks up and raises her eyebrows. "Why are you crying?" she asks concernedly as Annie walks towards her and wraps her arms around her.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you. I... Thank you." Annie chokes out between sobs.
"It's no problem," Hilde mumbles, hugging Annie tight.
They both remain silent for a while.
"Do you want to tell me something?" she asks.
Annie shakes her head, refusing to speak.
"Then it's better if I don't ask anything else. Let's get going. We have a long way to go and still have much to do."
******
The four of them stuff themselves in Elmo's car as they drive towards their destination: Reims.
Annie is sitting next to Hilde, who's driving, with Elmo and Horus behind her. They haven't spoken in a while; they haven't even looked at each other, though it doesn't stop Annie from stealing glances now and again.
Elmo and Horus are at the back, playing one of those video games with loud explosions and voices. It sounds like they're in a very intense situation.
Annie glances at Hilde and realizes that her hand is tightly holding onto the steering wheel.
Her knuckles turn white as she clenches her teeth together. She then exhales profoundly and tries to relax her muscles.
"Everything okay?" Annie whispers to Hilde, hoping that she doesn't hear it.
Hilde looks sideways at Annie before looking forward again. The tense atmosphere surrounding them makes it difficult to breathe.
The silence lasts until Hilde speaks again. "No. Not really," she mumbles.
"What is it?"
"Bock's trail is in France; we must get there first," she explains.
"Right."
Annie replies.
The two of them fall silent again. Neither one of them wants to break the awkwardness. It will take a few hours before they arrive at their destination.
While driving in the autobahn, they notice that a car has been tailing them for a while now. They try not to look back but still catch glimpses of it.
"Is that another person following us?" Annie asks.
"Yeah." Hilde answers.
"Who could that possibly be?" Hilde's voice sounds panicked, her left leg shaking up and down.
The person in the car speeds up to keep up with them. The car passes right by them, making it impossible to catch a glimpse of the driver.
"Should we pull over?" Hilde asks nervously.
"No," Annie answers, shaking her head.
"How far is it until we reach our destination?"
They are brought out of their thoughts when the back of their car is dented.
******
"What the hell was that?" the passenger on the tailing car groans. "This is all I can do, ok!" the driver puts his hand on the steering wheel. "There's no way I can properly use it on someone in such crappy conditions."
"You have the most useless magic out of all of us, Rik..." the woman riding shotgun looks down and stammers.
"Shut up! Just shut up and drive," he shouts, looking ahead to find them.
"Sorry." she stammers.
"Don't be like that, old man, just drive." the man in the passenger seat traces the hem of his dress, a bit nervous. He pushes his rectangular glasses up the bridge of his nose and bites his thumb.
He looks over to the shotgun seat. The young woman is looking out the window. She seems to be concentrating hard on finding something or someone.
"Cor, what are you doing?" he asks.
"I am worried!" he adds quickly.
She doesn't answer. There is a faint smile on her lips. "Nothing...just thinking," she mumbles and turns her gaze away.
"The lady will be mad."
"And who cares? I'd rather die than see her angry." Rik says, looking intently at the car they're following.
Sjaak sighs as he adjusts the black wig on top of his head.
"Don't do anything stupid. And don't get yourself killed."
"Don't worry, old man. My magic won't get me killed."
The two cars continue driving in the same direction, following the road.
"I suggest we contact them..." Cor says after a long pause.
"Aren't we going to quickly?" Annie asks, her head leaning against the window, closing her eyes.
"I'm not getting any younger! I need to marry a good man and settle down!" Hilde says, her voice filled with annoyance.
"I don't know; you're acting a little~."
Annie shuts her mouth after receiving a glare from Hilde, who stays focused on the road.
The road suddenly ends, and the group arrives at a large mansion. The house is enormous and almost looks like it belongs in a Disney movie. There are flowers planted everywhere, and trees surround the estate too.
Annie looks around in awe. The mansion has this weird feeling to it.
"Let's go." Elmo closes his game and exits the car after it's stopped, his feet touching the pulsing grass that grows on the ground around the estate.
Everyone follows suit after exiting the vehicle.
"Wow..." Annie trails off.
"Don't make too much noise. My car diverts here when I mention a city from France; Since I never want to visit that country anyway." Elmo walks in front of the group.
He slowly walks up the stairs until he reaches a door with the number 999 engraved. He knocks softly on the door.
He waits impatiently until someone finally opens the door and looks at the group curiously.
"Can I help you?" she asks, confused.
She's tinkering with a machine in her hands, focusing entirely on it.
"If your name is Elmo, come in with your group," she says, slamming the door shut.
"So, what now?" Horus asks.
Elmo opens the door and leads them in.
When they enter the house, they see the clutter around the place. The luxurious residence is strewn about with quirks and other tinkers, some shelves with little robots that do random tasks, cleaning a single tile or punching another robot until it's incapacitated.
They walk through the rooms and pass by a large room with an empty pool, in which robots like those they've seen earlier are either sunk under the swimming pool or are made as ships, chugging along the surface. Other robots are standing quietly at the side, watching them, some of which look have expressions that look bored to death, and others have an indication of excitement.
Elmo continues walking until he enters a room at the end of a hallway. An empty desk sits at the end.
On the table is a woman working on a little machine that looks peculiar, the room is just as cluttered as the rest of the house, and it's as if the heap is pulsing like it's alive. But what gives the room its unique feel is the massive amount of photos covering the walls. Most photos are pictures of people, either in wedding dresses or alone. Some people have a haircut, or their features have changed a bit. Some have grey hair.
The woman continues working away, welding metals together; the two parts seem to be pulsing in her hands. When they approach the desk, the girl looks up and raises her eyebrows slightly.
"Erm. Is it all right if we come closer? We're friends with your mother."
The girl nods and goes back to work. She keeps hammering down the steel; her arms move so quickly that the hammering sounds echo through the room.
She starts speaking. Yes, yes, I know who you are. Mother told me everything."
She never looks at them as she works, the light from the sparks illuminating the face shield she's wearing over her diamond face and the ponytail tied neatly behind her head. Her eyes are focused on the metal pieces n the table, not daring to let her eyes travel across the faces of strangers.
"We wanted to ask her to join us. But she didn't have much time." Hilde replies carefully, trying to sound convincing.
The girl pauses for a moment before saying.
"My mother never visits me, so I'm used to it."