A/N: Madame Victoria's Rose Garden

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"He's gone," Darcy's voice pulled her from her trance. He turned to face her, giving Zoe time to search his face. Somehow, the tension settled like the sickness in her stomach.

Then she struck with her lava lamp, only to fall victim of his clutches.

"Where have you been? I didn't give you any permission to leave!"

"I don't need to ask for your permission, I am simply looking after you. I was hired by your brother, meaning, I work for him and not you."

"Even so!"

She passed the lamp to her free hand and attempted another attack. However, Darcy was faster. He snatched her weapon before she could even tighten her grasp and used it to hit her forehead with a soft thud.

"Hey!" Zoe tried to retrieve her lamp, grabbing nothing but air. Darcy simply raised it, that even with the help of tip-toeing, it was impossible to reach.

"That's so brave of you," he said, his expression slowly shifted to its default setting. "But you're still moons away from hitting me with your amateur skills."

Zoe pulled her hand and stepped away, giving him her signature smug smile.

"I may be an amateur compared to your skills, but the key to success is perseverance! One of these days, I will definitely hit you!" She pointed her index finger at him, craning her neck just to meet his gaze, "Remember that, because a Beauprè never goes back on their words."

"I would love to see you try," her bodyguard chuckled. "And if you die, the last phrase you would hear is 'nice try'."

"We'll see about that," she smirked, crossing her arms. "Anyway, I didn't know people from your world are also afraid of mascots."

"Mascots?" his expression was completely puzzled that she was tempted to bully him, nonetheless, curiosity went first.

"Yeah, that one a while ago is called Cookie Monster, one of the characters from Sesame Street," she said. "But there shouldn't be mascots in today's party. They were long banned from entering this mansion."

"I see," he nodded, placing the lava on the window sill. "So these creatures from the realm of Sesame Street are your foes. Then we should follow it."

He turned on his heels and started walking when Zoe suddenly pulled his coat, making him frown at the small girl.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! First of all, Sesame Street isn't a realm, it's a T.V. show. And second, that mascot is a human wearing costume."

His face appeared more puzzled.

"Never mind," she said. "We should follow it."

The two continued down the hallway, with Zoe ranting about human technologies, T.V. shows, and a bunch of interesting stuff, but Darcy wasn't listening.

"And now, we have mobile phones where-"

"Why were they banned from this place?" the young man interjected.

"Excuse me?"

"Why are those mascots banned from this place?"

"Well... it's an incident during my seventh birthday," she explained, slightly running to catch up with his pace. "But I can't remember what happened. The doctors said I went through a huge shock, causing memory loss. I tried asking my parents and siblings, but their stories keep changing. They're definitely hiding something from me, right?"

Zoe waited for his response, but they continued walking in silence.

"Well," she added. "After that, every time I see Cookie Monster I feel like puking."

"Where does this hallway lead?" he asked as they went farther into the east wing of the mansion.

"There's the library, bedrooms, and..." she halted, her brows slowly tugged closer to each other. "This hallway leads to my grandma's room."

Darcy stopped in his tracks and spun, regarding her confused expression.

"Grandma was the one who ordered to ban the mascots from this mansion," she paused, her eyes wandered on the red carpet. "That was... before she fell into a coma."

"That only gives us more reason to follow it."

Zoe agreed and they continued down the hall.

"She's been in a coma for as long as I can remember. Even our family doctors could not explain how. They've conducted a lot of tests, but the results were all the same, her body was completely healthy." Zoe shook her head and focused her attention on the view outside. "Since then, Doctor Hughe and Nurse Marie were the ones looking after her. It all happened when I was five, but I can't recall any of it. Maybe because I was too young."

Again, she found herself waiting for Darcy's response, but her bodyguard didn't utter a word. In that moment, only then she realized that she had said a lot, mostly feelings she never told even to her previous bodyguards.

She looked up at his broad shoulders, wondering what he was thinking. She wanted to know and it felt so strange. Could it be because he was the first ever bodyguard who completely disregarded her authority? Or was this the kind of feeling you had towards a person you called a friend?

That was wrong. He was more mysterious than a stranger. And he even told her not to trust him, yet her intuition was telling her otherwise. It was so confusing and irritating.

Darcy made a right turn and Zoe followed his footsteps, suddenly slumping onto his back.

"Oof!" she muttered, feeling the well-built muscles beneath his suit.

Ooh la la, she thought.

And mentally slapped herself. She quickly stepped back and wiped her hands on her shirt, looking up at the stunned figure of Darcy.

"What's the matt-"

Her eyes caught two unconscious bodyguards lying on the ground. It had been a while since she last visited this place, but she knew her grandmother's room because it was the only door engraved with their family crest.

Were they too late? She would never allow it.

Adrenaline spread inside faster than a wildfire, activating her ninja instincts. Zoe grabbed the nearby flower base and dashed towards her grandmother's room.

"You monster!" she bellowed and kicked the door, but it didn't budge. She tried again only to fail miserably. "Damn it!"

She seized the doorknob and turned it, filling her lungs with the mixed scent of books and aromatic oils. The pulsing excitement and fear seemed to improve her vision, for she easily spotted the blue mascot among the antiques and pile of old books.

"You!" she shouted and immediately regretted it.

Cookie Monster whirled, meeting her azure eyes with beady black ones. With the full view of his face, Zoe's stomach automatically revolted, causing her to throw up her precious breakfast. Chill ran beneath her skin as sourness exploded in her mouth. Her vision blurred from tears and the vase in her hand slipped when her knees buckled up.

"Zoe!"

The red haired girl turned to the young man's direction and watched as he ran towards her. He was like floating in the air, as though the time was playing with them. Their eyes met in a span of a moment, but his attention shifted, freezing his feet while wearing a face struck by fear.

Zoe followed his gaze and found her greatest nightmare standing before her. It grabbed and lifted her with its cold-fluffy hands. The mascot opened its mouth so wide; she thought it shouldn't be possible. Her eyes widened when a dark void revealed itself, whirling with unknown depths that jogged her memory.

She remembered now, why she felt so sick every time her eyes landed on the blue mascot. During her seventh birthday, ten years ago, she witnessed as Cookie Monster devoured every kid in her birthday party--almost eating her in the process. But unlike that time, his hands were cold and not drenched in warm blood.

The door clicked and she glanced to see Nurse Marie stepped out from the office. Their eyes met and Zoe saw different emotions flashed across her face, but it was stuck with one expression-fear.

"L-Lady Hanielet?" she croaked. "Y-you're floati--"

Marie swallowed her words and stared in horror as a young bodyguard grabbed Zoe's foot, and together, they disappeared into thin air. With the nurse's piercing scream, the once silent morning in the mansion of Beauprès' broke into chaos.

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Dedicated to PenzilCaze 

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