act7mini

Come, meet my darling granddaughter.

This?

A doll? About as tall as me, and so finely detailed.

This is my granddaughter. Her name, you know, is Annie, an adorable Caprinae.

Just like you.

You see, I've always been looking for something, and today I finally found it in you, little lamb.

You've already helped so much. Granny is so very thankful.

Now, could you help me with one final thing?

Anything, Granny.

Oh, thank you, you darling little lamb.

Well, then, please, close your eyes.

Little lamb, now.

Take your delectable, kindly soul—

—and hand it out.

They say there's been cases of orphan abduction like that all over Victoria.

Occasionally, someone sees the old woman taking away an orphan, and all say after that night, they never see the orphan again.

As one might imagine, the policemen never found anything much. They'd go knocking, and find either there were no old people at that house, or it would just be empty.

Though, one wrinkle is that every home had a doll named Annie.

I-Is that the end?

Yes, the end.

What do you think, Miss Kirara?

I-It's pretty good.

It's an old yarn in Victoria at this point. I hear the cities have several variations on it, like—

That's okay! Thank you!

If you're not fond of it, I won't tell.

But, you know, no matter how the story changes, there's one thing that always stays the same.

Y-You can stop—I-I'm really not good with this sort of thing.

But you're fine with it in a game?

Playing a game is another thing!

That does make sense, I suppose.

In that case—

Annie, come say hello.

Hello, Miss Kirara.

I am Annie.

Hee-hee, that never stops being fun.

What do you think? I'd say I was quite the performer.

What is it?

You went too far, Bena.

Oh, relax, you. I'll give Miss Kirara a proper apology later.

Also.

What else could there be?

You forgot to tell her.

Your name.

My word!

Ugh, no need to get pernickety over that. I'll introduce myself when the time comes.

You made that up, just now?

That I did. I've got far better storytelling chops than Iris does, you know.

Granny will be upset, telling stories like that.

You didn't make her evil enough.

Excuse meee—? Was that not evil enough? I think I've already made Grandmother out to be plenty rotten.

Oh... now that you say it, I suppose I can see it lacking a little.

Grandmother told me at first, if I'd run off with that basket that day, those five apples would've been my very last meals.

And that wicked trap after she led me into the dining hall, then went to take a bath and change. If I so much as took a bite of the feast in there, I'd be sent right back out onto that stormy street before I could blink.

Now that was certainly real. I remember it even now.

That left some very murky shadows on my young heart!

What Granny says is the truth.

I wouldn't say she's rotten, otherwise!

I haven't even a clue how Granny first entered the Castle of Dreams.

Perhaps because she was a bad good person.

Just like me.

You're not bad.

Hrmph. What makes you think to try and grovel to me now?

Be good and confess, Annie. Did you or did you not play this game beforehand?

I did.

Then what was on your mind, dragging me here too?

I played it before. It was fun.

I wanted you to play it too.

I see, I see. So that's why the game controls felt so familiar to me.

How many hours did you spend on it?

Three nights, twenty-four hours.

Twenty-four?! Did you sneak out at bedtime? Grandmother really will be mad!

I have you. I'm not scared.

Hm...

Come over, Annie.

Mm.

Here, sit by my side.

We may have just passed this level, but we haven't touched the previous one at all.

Teach me very carefully, one-on-one, okay?

Mm.

And another thing. What did Miss Kirara mean with the 'set piece' she kept going on about?

Boss.

Oh, so that's all it was. And here I thought it was some strange new thing.

It's started.

Oh, yes. Let's focus on the gaming, now.

What would you say? Do you think our scaring of Miss Kirara might really take root in her country, sprout forth into a new 'ghost story,' perhaps?

Focus, Bena.

O-Oh, very well. Sorry.

It's a push of this button, isn't it.

Game, start.

2:18 P.M. \ Clear

Deserted Coastal Town, North of Iberia

We've arrived at the specified coordinates.

The target building's outside appearance matches the description outlined in the preliminary survey report.

Our team will now proceed into the building for an inspection. We may need to cut the transmission. Watch for flares, in case anything happens.

Blue Poison, over and out.

There's an entrance here. Hm, it doesn't look like the builders intended for this to be here.

The edges are pretty rough, like it was hacked open with an axe. Perhaps the bounty hunters did this? I heard some of them like to come 'treasure hunting' here.

That's probably because they aren't Iberians...

Right, ruins like this one are more than 'toxic' to those who got out of that alive.

As for the ones that stayed behind... The Church, the Inquisition... They have no way to make it here.