Y/N POV

Two crests, that's all it seemed we would need to hopefully enter the castle. We headed back the way we came, in the direction of the chapel when we once again came face-to-face with the elderly woman from before. The 'hag' as the villagers had put it.

As we approached she murmured "Death. Yes, death has visited them all." This was followed up with a laugh that made a chill run down my spine. Other than that though she said nothing more, we didn't attempt an interaction this time and instead made our way back to the stone door with the two engravings.

Using the crests, we inserted each crest into its respective place, each one needed to be twisted before eventually clicking into place and just like that the doors opened revealing a path leading right up towards the castle.

As we walked down the path, Ethan quoted what Elena told us "Nothing but blood and death huh?" We crossed a bridge, went through a stone archway and finally arrived at a cave entrance at the base of the castle, presumably our best chance at an entrance.

Going into the cave we found a staircase barely lit with torches on the walls. Ascending these stairs we arrived at a room that seemed quite interesting. Old wooden barrels were all over the place. There was a wooden door which I tried to open however it was locked from the other side.

Ethan said "There's a lever, must unlock this gate." Opposite the wooden door was a large metal gate that seemed to be our only path onwards. I commented "Good, lets go." We both approached the lever, Ethan reached out to pull it when an unfamiliar voice could be heard addressing us. "Well well."

Both of us turned around to see a man approach us, I immediately recognized him as one of the portraits in the village's chapel. The man with the hat, scraggly grey hair, small glasses and a hammer that looked like it had been forged by sticking together chunks of metal.

The man approached us saying "Didn't think anyone was left! You both must be pretty tough, huh." Me and Ethan just looked at him confused, Ethan asking "Who the hell are you?" Bits of metal began floating up around the man as he said "Oh, neither of you are local! Even better."

With a swift movement of his hand, a metal rod shot out and impaled Ethan in his abdomen! I exclaimed "Ethan!" Before turning to the man, I opened fire. In a strange turn of events, the man seemed to actually push my bullet off to the side, instead of hitting him in the forehead, it simply skimmed his cheek leaving a petty cut that would heal in about a day.

Even so, the man wiped it with his gloved hand, looked at the blood before looking up at me and saying "Wow! That sure took some guts. I may actually be starting to like you a bit." I snapped "Now answer! Who are you?! What did you do to Ethan!"

The man gave a faint bow introducing "Karl Heisenberg." Standing upright he added "You know, for a stunt like that, I could have fitted you with some great modifications at my factory. A pity Mother Miranda already wants to see you both."

Image of Karl Heisenberg:

I narrowed my eyes as he made another faint gesture with his hand. Several chunks of metal began cascading towards both me and Ethan. We could do little as the metal completely covered our body, one slammed into my head which caused me to black out. 

The last thing I heard before doing so was 'Heisenberg' letting out a laugh before saying "Mother Miranda's gonna love you two." After that it was darkness...

Timeskip...

I don't know how long I was out, honestly it felt like I was back at the Baker house again, a prospect I certainly didn't want to think about. All I know is that I was woken up to the sound of a posh female voice saying "The men are of no real use to anyone else. And my daughters do so love entertaining foreigners. Furthermore, I can assure you if you entrust the mortals to House Dimitrescu my daughters and I shall deliver you the finest cups of their slaughtered blood."

I tried to move however I soon learned that my hands had been restrained, opening my eyes they instantly narrowed when my focus landed on a little doll in a brides dress. It seemed to move all by itself as it watched us with interest. Ethan was next to me in a similar state.

My vision was blocked though as a large figure stepped in front of me, much like Heisenberg, I recognized the mutant as one of the portraits in the chapel. The mutant laughed to himself as the doll snapped in a high pitched voice "Out of the way ugly! I want to see-!"

Image of the mutant (Salvatore Moreau):

The mutant stepped out of the way causing the doll to look at us again before laughing psychotically saying "HEHEHEHE! They're awake!" Heisenberg snapped quickly "BOTH OF YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Ethan murmured "What-? Where-?" I noticed the doll run off to the back of the crowd, hopping up into the arms of the third familiar face here, the mysterious woman in black. Now that I noticed it seemed all the people who's portraits were in the chapel were here. Unlike the others though, this woman kept quiet seemingly content to just observe her surroundings.

Image of the woman in black and her doll (Donna Beneviento and Angie):

My attention was brought back to the conversation at hand. Heisenberg faced the person opposite and said "You mean you'll screw around with them in private and where's the fun in that? Give him to me, and I'll put on a show everybody can enjoy."

The woman opposite was pale, dressed in an aristocratic attire, a long white dress, she was clearly very tall. She replied to Heisenberg with a tone that could only be described as distain. "So gauche. What do we care for bread and circuses? The menthing's suffering is assured."

Image of the pale, tall woman (Alcina Dimitrescu):

(I don't know what plural for 'manthing' would be.)

Heisenberg countered "Yack yack. And if the men's dicks are cut off in the castle blah blah blah!" Everyone's attention turned to the woman at the far-end of the room. My eyes widened a bit, it was the woman from the portraits I'd seen dotted around the village, the one who killed Iulian in the field. If my assumption was correct then this had to be Mother Miranda.

Image of Mother Miranda:

Mother Miranda spoke in a cold yet authoritative tone. "I have heard all your arguments. Some of you were less persuasive than others. But-." She paused for a moment before saying "I've made my decision. Heisenberg, the men's fates are in your hands."

The posh woman stood up, revealing her true height as she objected "Mother Miranda, I must protest! Heisenberg is but a child and his devotion to you is questionable!" Approaching us, she looked down with a grin adding "Give the mortals to me and I will ensure they're ready."

Heisenberg got up as well and snapped "Shut your damn hole! Don't be a sore loser! Go find your food somewhere else!" He raised his hand and his hammer suddenly was pulled to it. The tall woman commented "Quiet now child! Adults are talking."

Heisenberg angrily retorted "I'm the child? You're the one who's arguing with Miranda's decision!" The woman pointed "You wouldn't know responsibility if it was wielded to that hammer!" Heisenberg yelled "Oh keep growing! One day your head might actually fit your EGO!"

The doll started laughing at this and chanted "FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT! HAHAHA!" Next to me Ethan asked "Hey, don't I get a say in this?" I muttered to him "Don't agitate them." Suddenly Mother Miranda spread a set of wings and yelled "SILENCE!"

This startled everyone as she calmed down, continuing "My decision is final. There will be no further argument. Remember from whence you came!" Heisenberg bowed as the tall woman rolled her eyes and went back to stand near her chair.

I began to notice several of those creatures fill the room as Heisenberg announced "Lycans and gentlemen, we thank you for waiting! Now let the games begin!" He kneeled in front of us, the cut on his cheek still visible as he said "Let's see what you're both really made of. Ethan Winters, Y/N L/N. Get ready."

He stood back upright and raised his hammer above Ethan who yelled "NO WAIT!" Heisenberg brought the hammer down on the ground and began counting "Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!" More of those 'Lycans' as Heisenberg had called them began dropping in.

I looked around and noticed a narrow hole in the floor, getting Ethan's attention I gestured to it. We both ran towards it. Heisenberg could still be heard counting, giving them all one last look, we dropped down it. As we did so, we heard Heisenberg yell "SHOWTIME!"

We both ran down the narrow cave, Lycans reached through the wooden wall trying to claw at us, Ethan screamed and shouted profanities. Given my experience three years before Ethan even arrived at the Baker home, I'd become more driven on surviving and not letting fear dictate me.

Over a speaker we heard Heisenberg saying "That's right! Run for your life!" We reached a part of the path blocked by wooden boards, both of us gave it a firm kick and they broke away. We dropped down onto a small walkway and continued running.

Heisenberg praised "Very nice you two!" Unfortunately, things weren't smooth sailing. Ahead of us, that giant Lycan that ambushed us in the village dropped down, I snapped "Crap! You again!" The big Lycan raised its hammer and swung, we barely able to avoid it however it struck the walkway causing it to break out from under us.

We fell into a circular hole, it began sloping so later on it felt like a slide. After that little journey, we dropped into a square cell-like room. Lycans clawing at the barred door to get in. Heisenberg once again spoke "You're both still alive? Impressive."

It turns out the cell was a trap, the ceiling was lived with spikes and with a jolt, it began to lower towards us. It was only a matter of time before we would be crushed under it so we desperately looked for an escape.

We found it in the form of a small hole in the wall hidden by wood, kicking that down we continued running past several Lycan growling I snapped "How many damn games are we going to have to get through?"

Heisenberg laughed before saying "HAHA! My word, you both truly are as strong as they say!" Running some more brought us to a long room with what appeared to be the exit on the other side. I knew it was a trap but with the exit right there, we had no choice.

Sure enough, a large rotating blade appeared, spanning the entire room and approaching. Being hit by it meant being turned into mince meat. Heisenberg laughed "Oh, you didn't think I'd let you get away did you? Gotta keep Donna and Moreau entertained! So now it's time for the beautiful blood-soaked finale! HAHAHAHA!"

The rotating blades continued to approach however I noticed two little alcoves at the back of the tunnel, if my hunch was correct, simply going into there would be enough for us to be safe. And since there were two-. Well. That's convenient.

We both ducked into the alcoves, the blades continued their approach and just as I'd thought, they couldn't reach us. I did however hear Ethan call out "Y/N! Put the restraints to the blades, it'll cut right through them!" 

Nodding I did just that, it was difficult to keep them in place but I persevered and sure enough, it worked. Heisenberg seemed to think we were dead as he yelled "Nothing like fresh American ground beef!"

The blades stopped, just like that. I managed to crawl under it, out of the alcove with Ethan doing the same. Ethan muttered "Too close." I agreed and said "Yeah, but on the plus side, I believe they think we're dead now. Our element of surprise is back."

Ethan pointed out "Wait, do those freaks have Rose?" I shrugged and said "I don't know. But I guess the best idea is to head back up into the castle." From there it was settled. We'd grown acquainted with the governing power of this place.

I had a feeling we'd be seeing much more of them in the future...

Author's Note: That's it for this chapter, and I'll say this, it felt like it just wrote itself. Like I've said before, I've been looking forward to this one for a while, I was excited to introduce the four lords since they were my favourite part of Village, especially Donna and Heisenberg. I really hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it and as always, thank you for reading.