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

[guardofsteel]

[ Elijah is just going to be. watching the doll a bit warily. He really doesn't want to get jumped on again. ]

[hairpine]

White boy! Your hair, why is it white?

Are you related to the Gray Prince?

[guardofsteel]

How should I know? It's always been this way. [ That first part is... sort of a lie. But he isn't sure how to explain genetics and mutations and albinism to a tiny dollchild. ]

Who the f-- [ He's also a bit uncomfortable with cursing in front of the tiny dollchild. ] Who is the Gray Prince?

[hairpining]

He is the Gray Prince! I've been told he has hair and eyes like yours!

[guardofsteel]

[ ...huh. ] Do you know anything else about him?

[hairpining]

... He is... the White Prince's father?

[guardofsteel]

I'm guessing the White Prince is the guy who wanted the flowers.

[hairpining]

... Yes.

I don't like him.

[guardofsteel]

Any reason why, or does he just rub you the wrong way?

[hairpine]

... I don't know.

[She does seem to be sincere, but her expression is probably adorably moody considering she looks like a tiny girl.]

[guardofsteel]

[ He nods a bit and her response, then is silent for a time, looking thoughtful. ]

...I guess he was a bit... I mean. Was that guy for real? [ Yes, he knows he is saying this to a doll. No, the irony is not lost on him. ]

[hairpine]

I don't know.

I don't like him.

[guardofsteel]

I'm not sure if I like him either. Damned impossible thing with demon skin...

[kalahiki]

...Really? [...Michi what is wrong with you

if I turn up in here as some sort of evil person who's captured the Grey Prince I will choke a bitch.]

[hairpining]

Really! Several whispers call him rude, but others say he's a nice person!

I don't know.

[kalahiki]

...I think he's a nice person who doesn't know how to be, probably.

Think he's probably in love with someone, though.

[hairpining]

I don't know! I once heard a rumor of a torrid love affair between him and Monsieur Blacksmith... but I have never heard of his feelings for the princess!

[kalahiki]

...[Eyetwitch. Must remember we're inside michi's head.] Doesn't the princess love the blacksmith?

[hairpining]

I don't know!

He loves her, but he's also really good friends with the Grey Prince. The White Prince loves Monsieur Blacksmith!

... I have never seen the princess. I don't know anything about her.

[kalahiki]

The White Prince?

[...Alright, now I'm confused.]

Which one's your favorite?

[hairpining]

... My favorite is Papa!

[kalahiki]

...[Pffft.] I meant of the princes.

[hairpine]

The whispers tell me that the Black Prince is the nicest. But I also like the Gray Prince.

[kalahiki]

The whispers?

[hairpine]

The visitors of my house! The people that come to buy my sisters.

[So, not the whispering you've been hearing this whole time, or the whispering you heard in the doll shop.]