clouds came and covered the sun

[hairpining]

[You find yourself in a small, quaint little town. The architecture has a notably late-1800s bent to it, in contrast to the clean, crisp air you breathe – combined with a faint, flowery scent – it's almost as though it is not industrialized at all.

Which would be easy enough to believe. After all, there do not seem to be any people out other than you and your fellow spelunkers – in spite of the occasional whisper you might hear. Hushed and impossible to actually make out.

Far in the distance lies a towering building, similar in shape to a fairytale castle.]

(Castle Town | Atelier | Smithy | Castle Town Revisited |
Painting the Roses Red | The Golden Afternoon | Castle Corridor |
The Library of Babel | The Girl Without Hands | The Garden of Paradise | The White Bride and the Black One |
The Princess Sleeping in the Glass Coffin)

((BGM entirely for ~atmospheric~ and ~stylistic~ purposes and personal reference, feel free to listen if you want to!))

Comments

[kalahiki]

...Sorry, I don't see so well, I wasn't sure where you were.

[Sei lies real pretty, dontcha know.] I can't seem to see your face at all, in fact.

[hairpining]

How unfortunate...

[OH WELL sucks for you.]

Could I possibly ask a favor of you, kind foreigner?

[kalahiki]

Hmm? What would that be?

[hairpining]

As befits a prince, there is a princess that I love. Today is her birthday -- and so, it is my wish to present her with those flowers that she so adores.

Should you gather them for me, I shall gladly return you to your home.

[kalahiki]

I see...I'll see if I can find them.

[Flowers, huh...Gosh he doesn't really even know what kind of flowers she likes.

Welp let's see what we can find.]

[hairpining]

It seems to me that she is the fondest of blue roses -- the town's dollmaker and blacksmith both grow them.

[Makes sense, doesn't it? Think back ten or so years.

If you look, the dollmaker's shop and the smithy are on opposite sides of the town. So which do you go to first?]

[kalahiki]

[...Blacksmith...Yuu's a mechanic, isn't he?

But then what the hell is a dollmaker?

....Ffffuck.]

...Dollmaker and blacksmith, huh?

[Well let's head for the dollmaker and we'll see what's up there.]