⊹ || sudden yellow roses. (open)
It wasn’t everyday that she would hear of an art museum. Actually, Vanille has never really been to one before. Museums never really existed in the Gran Pulse that she knew, and they weren’t in her range of interest when she was wandering in Cocoon alone… and this was way before she was on the run with the others. But curiosity got the better of the Pulse l’Cie when she had heard of this… Weiss Guertena and his gallery.
It was quite a gathering, she had found. Naturally, Vanille was careful to not reveal herself as a l’Cie, even though her brand was well-hidden. Fang would surely worry about her more than she needed… and the others would be a bit concerned, so Vanille promised herself a quick run through of the gallery before going on her way. They wouldn’t even notice that she was gone!
But, for a moment, her identity didn’t matter, for Vanille was taken in awe of the paintings in display.
“Wow… all of this is amazing! I’ve never seen something like this… and these are all paintings?” she wondered aloud to herself, hands laced behind her back as she skimmed the paintings as her walking became more relaxed and playful. They weren’t the grand sights of her wild homeland of Gran Pulse, but Vanille was pretty intrigued. She skimmed through the first floor and made her way to the second floor.
Strange that not many people are on this floor. They were other good paintings here too! Vanille continued to browse the paintings in the second floor until she reached a room in which no one was in. “Looks like no one’s in here… uh-oh, looks like I’m at the end of the rope.” she said to herself, her hand covering her mouth as if she just made a mistake. But a painting had caught her eye. Vanille moved closer to it to get a closer look. “Let’s see… ‘Fabricated World’. That’s quite a name for something like that!” Vanille commented as she observed. Though… she had to admit, something didn’t feel quite right about this painting.
The light were flickering on and off. Maybe that’s why no one was here, the lights were acting funny. “Maybe that’s my cue to go.” Vanille said, her tone becoming a little nervous as she glanced at the painting before exiting the room. And… wait… where was everybody? She knew people were on this floor last time she checked. Confused, Vanille started to look for people and went down to the first floor. Suddenly the lights went out. One window became black and another started spewing red liquid. Okay… now she was getting freaked out. Let’s move back
Before she could move forward, Vanille thought that she had saw someone there outside from the window near her. “Huh? Who was that? Was that Fang or Sazh finally catching up to me?” she started before glancing at the window. She was hoping that it was, but… no one in sight. “That’s weird… I could’ve sworn that I saw someone there…”
“Whoa!” Vanille cried, jumping at the sound of the sudden bang on the window. “What’s going on here? Everything’s all crazy! It wasn’t like this before, not before I…”
Before she saw ‘Fabricated World’.
Vanille’s instinct told her to go back to that room and find out what was going on, and it was exactly what she did. She went back into that room, that painting was still there and… dripping blue ink. “Ahaha… yeah, time to go!” she said nervously, and then she saw something being written in red.
Wait a minute. How do walls know her name? “What do you want from me?” Vanille questioned. She turned around, back to the painting, where blue liquid was now being written.
come down below vanille
i’ll show you someplace secret
“What if I don’t want to know?” she questioned the painting. That’s it, she’s overstayed her welcome. If this was some kind of trap that PSICOM’s pulled on her then it sure as hell worked. Vanille started to run, run as if she was being chased. She ran down the stairs to the first floor, darting towards the exit. But one of the painting caught her attention again. It was one of the first she’s seen, except she was sure that those footprints weren’t here before. “Is this some kind of trick that someone’s trying to pull?” Vanille wondered aloud, green eyes eyeing the painting cautiously.
She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she was pushed inside the painting before she could react.
Vanille screamed as she fell, and she didn’t know how long she was falling over, abstract surroundings quickly turned into all that she saw. She was happy when she finally felt the ground under her feet again. “Ow…” she mumbled, brushing off her knees as she recovered. “Well… at least I’m alive. It’ll be okay, right?” Vanille briefly looked up from where she fell, trying to find where exactly she fell from and who pushed her.
She noticed a bunch of the word “COME” on the walls, traveling as if guiding her somewhere. Having no other basis to go on, Vanille followed the words cautiously. After walking for a while, she noticed a yellow rose almost completely wilted. “Aww… poor thing, some water will do you some good!” she said, some of her cheerfulness returning to her as she put the flower in a vase and took it with her. Noticing a table blocking a door, Vanille promptly moved it out of the way. “This place just gets curiouser and curiouser… this is a strange place.” she muttered, opening the door.
Inside, she saw another painting of a smiling young woman, which Vanille found kind of eerie in a way. With what she’s been seeing so far, who could blame her? “What’s this? A key?” she questioned as she saw a blue key on the ground. As she bent down to grab it, Vanille saw the description under the painting.
When the rose wilts, so will you too wilt away.
“So this rose… is like a brand.” Vanille said solemnly, eyes wandering to her thigh where her brand was hidden. So she was running on borrowed time again, that wasn’t what she wanted at all. How was she going to explain all this to the others? ”Anyway, I guess I have to find a way out of here. Somewhere…” she said, nodding to herself as she picked up the key. And… wait, did the lady in the painting just smile at her?
“Hey! I’m not a thief! Rude!” Vanille snapped at the painting, hands on her hips as she stomped her foot in a huff. But she’s been seeing that the “COME” has turned into ”THIEF”. And the figures in the paintings that she passed had came out, and they were coming right at her. Her fear coming back, Vanille took tight hold of the rose and key and ran as fast as she could. There were too many out there for her to fight by herself.
She kept running, which was not all different from what she’s been doing before, except she was alone. Alone in a topsy-turvy world. “I don’t think this is PSICOM’s doing!” she cried as she ran. This looked way too elaborate and wild to be a mere trap to capture l’Cie. And she hasn’t seen any person around this place.
Vanille ran a long distance, until exhaustion had gotten the better of her. She slowed down, panting heavily as she tried to catch her breath. Her rose looked more wilted than before, and the redhead was worn out. Her eyes became heavy as she clutched the vase. Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming near her. Crap, and she couldn’t run anymore either. A look of worry had spread across Vanille’s face as she heard them come closer.
“Who’s there?” she asked.
Please, let it be a friend rather than foe.
