The room was rather run-down, quite the contrast from the fancy bedroom she had been imprisoned in. The floor was littered with cracks and a thin layer of dust seemed to be present on just about everything. It had even clung to Camilla's dress, the tiny princess dusting herself off as she surveyed the room. A lone window provided a view of only the brick wall of the house next door.
A dingy alleyway between the two buildings. Camilla thought. Voids were present in the dust, shaped like footprints. An encouraging sign to the tiny Camilla. It looked as though at least one person had been in here recently.
A rather large table dominated the room. Camilla shuddered, recalling her last ordeal with a tabletop, but there were no guards this time. She wandered underneath, staring up at the table-legs. Far too tall for her to climb. Spiders had taken up residence between the legs. Though Camilla didn't care about spiders, she thought they could be dangerous at her current size. Would they be able to catch her? At least she was still somewhat bigger than them.
Walking across to the other side of the table, the princess found a tall bookcase mounted to the wall. Many volumes lined its shelves, various subjects forming a rather impressive collection.
Such a waste. Camilla thought. Every tome seemed to be covered in the same dust that plagued the rest of the room. Camilla wondered why the woman didn't just get rid of the books if she wasn't going to read them.
A boy like Leo would relish the chance to access such a collection.
There was a scratching sound from behind the bookcase. Camilla jumped back.
A mouse? It had sounded just like the noises made by the rodents that plagued the Nohrian castles, but amplified many times louder.
Meeting a mouse now would be rather interesting. Camilla thought. She would probably just about match it in size. She hoped it wasn't a rat, that would be more of a challenge...
Deciding her strategy in the previous room was sound, Camilla decided to look for a way up. She had started eying potential hiding spots, not keen to get caught again. If someone came in, she would merely scurry to one of these safe locations. Such a thing seemed improbable in here, however. She found a huge sack, many times her height, next to a large chest. From where she was standing, jumping from the bag up to the box didn't seem too unreasonable. Deciding to give it a go, Camilla gripped the material and started to climb.
Though she wasn't in any immediate danger, Camilla felt a need to hurry. Her darling retainers were still in trouble, and the elderly woman may return to find Corrin free. She cursed her carelessness as she felt a bit giddy again, dwindling slightly smaller in size. To distract herself, she decided to think on the woman more. Her daughter had been one of the king's concubines. The feud between Garon's many women had been a bloody one, with only four of his children surviving. Camilla sighed. She thought the nasty business had been put behind them so long ago, yet it seemed there were still some out for revenge. She didn't recognize the woman, though their connection was rather distant.
Camilla was distracted when she felt herself start to move downwards. Near the top of the bag, her weight had caused the cloth to start to sag. Tutting in annoyance, Camilla sped up her climb. But the higher she got, the more the sack started to sag. In mere moments she was clinging to a cliff, the surface over her head. The cloth started to peel back. Camilla worried that the sack's contents might be spilled over her tiny body. Her feet slipped as she became too far from the wall she once climbed. Now she was hanging on with just her arms, getting lower by the second. How could she get out of this one? Camilla considered shrinking herself for a moment. A lower weight may tip the balance in her favor. She decided against it, thinking a smaller size may bring problems of its own later. Instead she headed for the edge of the sack, falling faster the closer she got. The shrunken royal only needed to get over before the bag folded down on itself, then gravity would be in her favor. She quickly pulled herself up, getting to her feet. She dashed into the bag. Inside was a large stack of clothes, almost tall enough to protrude out of the sack, and covered in dust. Camilla dived on top of them, just in time to save herself from falling to the floor. A cloud of dust erupted from her tiny body as she landed.
The princess coughed, getting to her feet. She seemed to be standing on a pink dress. She might have thought of it as pretty, were it not in such a bad condition. Looking up, she could see the edge of the chest, not too far from where she stood. Now that she was up here, it seemed a bit far for her to jump. But she had an idea. She hopped, bouncing on the clothes. A smaller cloud of dust was kicked up, but the result of her test was encouraging.
I must look rather cute like this. She thought. A shame none of my dear siblings are here to see this. If I returned to the castle without my height, perhaps I could recreate this display.
Focusing herself, she decided to use the bounciness of the clothes to propel her body to the top of the chest. She shuffled away from the chest, preparing a running start. She dashed, then jumped as high as she could. Her landing sent her lower down than she expected, but the recoil was swift and sharp, the shrunken princess was launched into the air. She felt a bit nervous soaring through the sky, but she had come up with the perfect solution to her problem, landing comfortably towards the middle of the wooden box. Getting to her feet, she took a moment to admire her cunning, hands on her hips. Leo would certainly be proud of his big, yet currently very little sister.
No sign of a key up here, and rather far from the table. She couldn't quite see what was up there, but she knew that was the best place to look next. Atop the chest was a variety of objects, many Camilla didn't know the function of. Obviously the chest hadn't been opened for quite some time. One in particular was of interest to the downsized woman. Camilla pulled a long, wooden object free from the mess. It was many times longer than she was, and a fair bit wider, but it seemed rather thin. Looking to the table, Camilla decided that this implement was longer than the gap to the table. Examining it some more, she noticed notches along the side of it, indicating distance. Camilla wondered if she could use it to measure her current height, though she would need someone else to read it. Camilla was tiny, but she was strong. Mustering all of her strength, she lifted the ruler up. She kept going until it was over her head, then walked underneath, lifting more and more of it as she went. It wobbled as she neared the half-way point, so she gave it a kick, orienting it towards the table. She then walked to the end, carrying nearly the entire object, before pushing it over. The distant end of the bridge clattered down onto the table, forming her path forward.
From here Camilla's journey was rather simple. The bridge was narrow, but Camilla's time riding wyverns had given her good balance. As she neared the table she smiled, spying a key lying on the vast wooden surface. Results at last! She picked up the key, which was a bit bigger than she was. Camilla decided to take the quickest option, dropping the key onto the floor.
Suddenly there was a very loud scrabbling noise. Camilla could feel the sound resonating through the table, as though something was scratching at it. She looked towards the noise to see a mouse scurrying up onto the table. Camilla stood her ground as it cautiously approached her, hesitation coupled with bursts of speed. It stopped when it was face-to-face with her, curiously waving its whiskers and sniffing at the tiny purple-haired girl.
"My, aren't you a cute one," Camilla cooed at its big black eyes, "but you'd better be careful! I bite."
The mouse paused for a moment, before scuttling past her, descending another table leg. Camilla felt as though it was mocking her. Much more adept than she was at their shared size, it seemed to be showing off how quickly it could scale the table. Camilla giggled, setting off for the bridge to the chest.
Getting down was much easier than going up. Camilla reached the floor in no time, collecting the key. She knew what she was going to do next...
