Yu Sheng and Little Red Riding Hood spoke at length about Squirrel and the enigmatic “Descent” that had taken place eighty-six years ago—an event no one rembered.
In return, Little Red Riding Hood shared many tales of the Orphanage’s past, along with snippets of daily life within the Fairy Tale Organization.
“See that goofy boy with the curly hair? The one chatting with the Long Haired Girl? That’s the Red Dragon who fell earlier. His case is similar to the ‘King’ in that he also represents a ‘classic tale archetype’ without a clearly defined story origin. His codena is ‘Dragon Slayer’… Not a real dragon, of course, not that powerful.
“Why is the ‘Dragon Slayer’ a dragon himself? Because of that old saying: ‘The dragon slayer eventually becos the dragon.’ Sotis when he enters a Nightmare, he just skips ahead to becoming the evil dragon… Not even one that can fly. All he can do in Red Dragon form is crash from the sky in various poses—his only move is falling on people. Sotis, he also plays his pre-transformation self—a dragon slayer who summons the defeated Red Dragon from the sky. Still falling. Still smashing.
“Sleeping Beauty doesn’t talk much. She just loves sleeping—morning and night. I’ve always envied her quality of rest, but she says it feels like she’s always half-awake even in her dreams. Tired and drowsy every day. Her biggest wish? The perfect pillow to sleep on forever.
“Dorothy can communicate with all kinds of machines. Even those without a Machine Spirit will act like they have one when she talks to them… Yeah, ‘The Tin Man grows a heart,’ that’s her symbolism. Dorothy can give steel temporary will. She often uses this to trick vending machines into dropping extra drinks or make phone calls on dead service. I’m jealous of that.
“But the one I envy most is the Little rmaid—she didn’t co today. Her voice is beautiful. No missions for her, just streaming with a virtual avatar, singing for hours and earning more than I do in a week… ? I’m tone-deaf.
“But even she has her problems… Her scales shed mysteriously during baths, clogging drains constantly, even in human form. Oh, and she can’t swim. Bet you didn’t expect that?
“Oh, and that one over there—the ‘Little Match Girl.’ Longest codena. A pyromancer. A true master. In winter, the Orphanage’s heating depends on her. Though they say the city’s installing new pipes next year, so no more boiler duty for her… Just don’t piss her off. She gets real aggressive when lighting fires.”
So Little Red Riding Hood went on and on, sitting beside Yu Sheng atop a high earthen mound, watching their companions in the distance. Her face bore a gentle smile, like the Big Sister of a large family, proudly and affectionately introducing her mischievous younger siblings.
A little while later, a grand bonfire blazed in the wilderness.
The fuel was a cluster of thorned rose bushes summoned by Sleeping Beauty—burning fiercely, illuminating the grim, monochro Sheltering Wasteland with vivid firelight. Just as Yu Sheng had predicted, this desolate and deathly realm had never been so alive.
The Cursed Children gathered at the refuge shouted and sang and danced around the flas. Most were horribly off-key, shouting rather than singing—with the King’s ows interspersed.
Then Foxy and Irene joined in. The little doll floated in circles over the flas, looking ready to ignite her oil painting fra at any mont. Foxy, anwhile, shot bursts of Fox Fire into the sky like fireworks. Yu Sheng got dragged into the chaos too, serving as the bonfire’s mascot.
It felt like so bizarre, noisy sacrificial ritual. He stood surrounded by squealing, jubilant “believers,” or perhaps a reluctant Guardian pressed into a wild school festival. Around him danced an unruly horde of children. All he could do was maintain an awkward but polite smile.
Not the worst feeling, all things considered.
And thus concluded the first assembly of the Cursed Children on the Sheltering Wasteland.
The next morning, Yu Sheng arrived at the Orphanage. As planned, today they would perform Blood Bestowal inoculations for the younger Cursed Children.
He sat in the Orphanage canteen kitchen, watching Snow White sternly stir a large pot of oddly-colored “nutritious vegetable soup.” He couldn’t help but ask, “…Is this really going to work? It doesn’t even look edible…”
“Trust my cooking—it doesn’t look great, but the little ones love it,” Snow White replied, stirring as she glanced at Yu Sheng. “Hold on. We have to let it cool before ‘adding the ingredients,’ or the blood will cook.”
Yu Sheng nodded. “Oh, right.”
Beside her, another Long Haired Girl with flowing locks and a gentle, serene deanor, looking about sixteen or seventeen, muttered quietly, “I still think it would be better to mix it into the strawberry slush—low temperatures help mask the sll of blood, and the color wouldn’t look too odd.”
“It’s winter, Sister. You really want to hand these little ones a cup of slush in below-freezing temperatures first thing in the morning? Sure, they’ll be happy, but do we have enough toilets?” Snow White rolled her eyes, glancing up from her task. “Admit it—you just want to eat it.”
The Long Haired Girl chuckled awkwardly, her warm and gentle expression making Yu Sheng glance at her again. She looked strangely familiar, but he couldn’t quite place her. After a long mont of study, he finally blurted, “Who are you again?”
“We t last night,” the Young Lady said with a shy smile, raising her hand and pointing to herself. “By the bonfire in the Sheltering Wasteland—I was standing behind the Long Haired Princess. Before that, I was on the beanstalk.”
Yu Sheng squinted as the image of a girl cackling amidst flas on Jack’s burning beanstalk leapt into his mind.
He clapped his hands in realization. “Oh, oh, right! The one who wanted everyone to see their great-grandmother in the fire—”
But before he could finish, the girl’s face flushed red. She waved her hands quickly. “I-I’m not usually like that. It’s just… when I set things on fire, I lose control…”
Yu Sheng’s mouth twitched. “Codena Matchstick, right? Abilities: Pyrokinesis and Illusions.”
“That na’s way too long. Most of them just call ‘Matchstick,'” the Young Lady said sheepishly, her shy smile utterly at odds with the wild pyromaniac Yu Sheng rembered. “Little Red Riding Hood must’ve added a ton of stuff when she introduced .”
“…She added plenty for everyone,” Yu Sheng recalled the way Little Red Riding Hood had described each mber of the Fairy Tale Organization the night before. He couldn’t help but smile. “But you can tell she really likes you all.”
The Long Haired Girl laughed, her smile radiant and warm.
Snow White finally set her ladle down, testing the temperature of the vegetable soup before turning with a grin that was almost a smirk. “Brother, it’s ti to bleed.”
Yu Sheng blinked. “Brother?”
“Long Haired Girl and I were going to call you ‘Uncle,’ but Little Red Riding Hood said you’re not much older than us, so ‘Brother’ it is,” Snow White said cheerily, already lifting a gleaming kitchen knife. “You want to cut yourself, or should I help?”
Yu Sheng glanced from her smiling face to the blade glittering in her hand and broke into a cold sweat. “I-I’ll do it! I’ll do it myself…”
anwhile, beneath the western wing of the Orphanage, deep in its ancient substructure, Little Red Riding Hood stood frowning faintly at the decayed underground corridor, glancing from the aged passage to the weathered docunts in her hands.
Beside her stood a heavily armored rcenary, his broad, dark-toned body encased in plating, his face hidden behind a weighty helt. Etched on his chestplate was the emblem of a Kitty Cat head, upon whose shoulder sat King—swaggering and curious, peering around intently.
“Is this the place?” King suddenly asked.
“Hard to say,” Little Red Riding Hood shook her head. “Squirrel’s clue was vague—she said the impact site was at the center of the courtyard. But the Orphanage’s layout has changed over the past eighty-six years. Back then, the ‘courtyard’ partially overlapped with what is now the west wing. We don’t know how much overlap there was, or where the exact center and borders were.”
As she spoke, she held up the old diagram for King to see.
“This is the blueprint from when the west wing was first built. It’s the most reliable docunt we could find in the archives. We should be standing around here now. If my calculations are right, this should match Squirrel’s mory of the courtyard—right above us.”
“Also, this point here is where I last saw the Thorned Shadow—just northeast of our current position, along the outer wall of the west wing.”
King squinted at the old diagram, then tapped it with a paw. “Why show this? I’m just a Cat. I can’t read.”
“…Don’t act dumb. I saw you do Snow White’s physics howork.”
King turned away in embarrassnt. “…She bribed with Cat Treats.”
Little Red Riding Hood shot the tabby a look of disdain, then waved it off.
“Feel anything with that so-called ‘ow ow intuition’ you always brag about?”
“Feel? Not much really,” King yawned, stretching languidly on the rcenary’s shoulder. “But isn’t it weird? Not a single rat in sight down here…”
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