As Nina or Nicole - as she was now apparently known - awoke inside her Castle Town apartment for the first time, she was understandably.... nothing but confused. Usually it would take quite a bit to confuse her but, being in an unfamiliar body, a unfamiliar home, hell even an unfamilar world it would seem — That would all qualify for quite a bit. She remembered the chapel, stealing her sisters wedding dress, 'saving' her sisters husband-to-be from a life of hell, the confrontation with Anna, even her first at length conversation with that annoying son of hers Steve. . . . . . But . . . Then what? Did she ever leave? ——For a moment Nicole considered the thought that maybe Anna, by some miracle or slim chance, had actually won their seemingly endless rivalry in that chapel in Italy. She wondered "Am I. . . Dead?" accidentally outloud yet under her breath as she left what appeared to be her apartment building and walked on to the sidewalk. Subtly glancing at the people and buildings around her, for anything or anyone that seemed even remotely familiar.

 ❝    no. this isn’t heaven -- maybe purgatory, but i don’t think dead.  are you ... okay ?? ❞

so now she finds herself stepping inside what feels like the twentieth establishment of the day, breathing a deep sigh as she makes her way towards the first employee she can find. “ good afternoon! ” her bag is heavy with fliers and her feet ache from all the walking she’s done, but she doesn’t let her smile falter. in this business, image is everything. “ could i ask something of you? ” 

back   straightens   up   as   she   hears   a   customer   approaching,        chapstick   covered   lips   pulling   into   a   cruel   imitation   of   a   smile   as   she   readied   the can-do attitude   she   was   often   lectured   about not having.  ❝ hi   welcome   to   amy’s   what   can   i   do   for   you   today?  ❞   asked surprisingly   in   a   non-monotonous   voice,   but   a   sugar   sweet   that   felt   like   it   was rotting dawns’   teeth.

          ❝ Hey, there you are – and looking              gorgeous as usual. Hope you’re              ready   to  make  all   the   lonely,              pathetic  guys  jealous  of  me –              none  of  them  can  say  they’re              taking  the  prettiest  girl  in town              on a date, after all. ❞

an   awkward   laugh   as   the   sweet   talks   make   her   lips   fumble   ;   light   heat   blooming   over   pale   cheeks, ❝ h-hey,   sorry   to   keep   you   waiting,  ❞ she   replied,   trying   to   keep   her cool   &   composure together   despite   everything. ❝ had   to   beat   off   all   your   suitors,   pathetic   guys   and   all,   away   with   a   stick.     it’s   ...   when   will   they   ever   get   the hint ?  ❞

ma'am please

Lucas doesn’t think twice at first as he passes by a young woman as he walks down the street, but as he continues walking the other way he can’t shake the feeling that he’s seen her before or the sudden odd throbbing in his head. So he ends up turning on his heel and running back towards her. “Ma’am,” he called after her as he caught back up with her. “I’m sorry, but have we met before?”

        ❝            --     yes   ? ❞        dawn   replied,     turning   around   --   a   wince   hidden   in   grey   eyes   &   awkward   half   hearted   smile,❝   i   don’t   know   maybe. ❞    false   pretence,   she   knows   better   than   to   tell   the truth. ❝   how   old   are   you   --   -   maybe   we   went   to high   school together   -- luke something, right    ? ❞

i recently finished pokemon platinum and had hoped for 10000% more sleuthing with looker

         ❝  —  DO YOU THINK  there are cameras inside ?  ❞  a pause ,  lips pursing as the girl found herself lost in thought once again .  ever since receiving a copy of mysterious files during the storm  ( which she had not dared to investigate just yet ) ,  then seeing that mysterious manor show up out of nowhere ,  yukika hadn’t really been able to think of much else .  hell ,  even focusing on beating the  high scores  of the games at the arcade required a certain amount of thought now ,  when it was usually a breeze !  with her arms crossed ,  she leaned back while continuing to speak ,  ❝  i’m talking about that  big mansion  that showed up out of nowhere .  there has to be at least a few cameras inside ,  right ?  maybe a dozen or close to it ,  at least .  ❞ 

❝        why   would   you   want   to   know   if   their   were   cameras   --   i   mean probably not   ...   i’d   hazard   to   guess.    but   i   don’t   suggest   investigating.     ❞  

   —  ❝ I’M SUPRISED. The newscaster’s made it sound a little more dreadful and a little less … unnatural , ❞ the witch comments , picking through a vase of roses she received as a gift from a regular customer. Black fingernails run over the blood red petals as she turns to the other and shrugs. ❝ I’m more so as well surprised that nobody’s actually commenting on the fact a landmark popped out of quite literally nowhere. Of course that only opens the door for more unwanted guests , but of course … ❞ She shrugs. ❝ Might be worth checking out , at least - for aesthetic purposes. I’ve been meaning to go house hunting. ❞   

❝    i   think   most   people   in   this   town   hold   some   level   of preservation ..     ❞    she   offered,    ❝   don’t   ask   too   many   questions,   don’t   be   the   cat   that   curiosity   killed,   and   all   that.   ❞ of   course, dawn   was   still   interested   but   perhaps   broadcasting   that   so publicly wouldn’t   be   a   strategic   decision.

♫    /    the theatre’s west wing is seemingly unoccupied, at least not yet. sure, there are folks scattered about, some giggling in the corner, but one can close their eyes and practically feel the rain drumming outside, the thunder crackling. vicente takes shelter away from the crowd as he studies the engravings etched into the walls. it was supposed to be a quick look, something that was only supposed to take thirty minutes, before he got caught up in the storm. now that he’s here, he might as well take it all in. “ the walls in these buildings tell part of the creation story of castle town, ” vicente says, thinking the person behind him is to ask him something. “ the question is. have they forewarned us of a storm this whole time? ” it’s only by interpretation, and he can’t help but lean into his conspiracy theories, but he wonders if there’s something larger at stake here.

      ❝  or  perhaps  some  understudies  just  got  awfully  creative  with  their  graffiti  ❞  dawn  remarked  casually  --   walking  up  to  the  wall  herself,  somewhat  sidetracked  as  to  what  drew  her  towards  this  corner  of  the  damp  hall.        ❝  it  wouldn’t  be  too  surprising -- - well,  it  would  mean  whatever  forces   are  at  work  are  also  in  town,   like those hikers  who  made  the  claims  in  the  forest ...    ❞ 

Aleksander had taken to explore the theater. When he rounded a hall and with a flashlight in hand, now shone it at the person that he had come in contact with, a toothy smile appeared on his face – NOTHING short of wicked. “You think there’s someone poisoning people ? ‘Cause of the actors not feeling well, I mean.” He actually thought they were faking it so they didn’t have to attend, but he was stuck here so he hoped to get a little spooky fun going.

*:･ﾟ ❝ is  that  smile  an  admission  of  guilt  ? ❞  dawn  questioned // casually  putting  down the  bag  of  snacks  she  had  been nibbling  on -- suddenly,  funnily  enough,  her  appetite  leaving  her  altogether.  ❝ huh ?!    you  know  something ,  right ?  ❞   and  for  all  the  wisdom  the  young  trainer held ;  she  fell  hook  line  &  sinker  every time -- without fail. 

❝ peachy. ❞ came a monotone reply / that would usually signal someone being anything but peachy.  deciding on an opening question, dawn moved closer, crouching down beside the blonde ❝ -- is your phone not working either ?  . ❞