After collecting the monster menagerie, I led myself and Fresca to Martel and Ferne's new house and showed her the options. Of course, Martel wasn't a fan of the Torta nor the Mamadoodle, but she did look interested in the Weagle and the Buffamoo. Of the duo, she insisted on the Weagle because of it being able to fly, which the Weagle was surprisingly okay with, considering Martel was light as a feather, only 30 pounds at the most.
"So how can you weigh so little? Are you even a human, Martel?" I asked, her smiling at me.
"My race of human is different than the others, yes. I come from the continent of Lolita, where everyone is born to look like me, just super small, about the size of a jellybean. It takes a long time for us to grow to even this size," Martel smiled happily. "Anyways, I was visited by this little ghost girl in a purple jester outfit. She said to meet you at the castle gate for an important mission to rescue her dolly... whatever that meant," Martel smiled.
"A ghost? Um... okay?" Fresca said in concern as we then went to the castle gates and, afterwards, we then saw that Pico was there and she looked at me with seriousness.
"Did you finish stalling, yet?" Pico asked.
"Sorry, Pico, I had to get a ride for Martel, since she can't walk," I frowned at her.
"How can a toddler of 19 be incapable of walking?" she pouted.
"Look, we got the Rune Stone and we were told you wanted to rescue Dolly. We going to do this, or what?" I asked, her nodding.
"Yes! Go to the mansion to the west of the plains. Instead of going down to the Autumn Road, we need to go due west and we'll reach the mansion. It used to be a... um... very important place. For both me and Dolly," she said.
"I think I know what you mean, Pico. It used to be where you lived, huh?" Fresca asked, which Pico frowned at, before sighing.
"Yes, it was... but it got cursed shortly after Dolly turned into a guardian and started to supply Runes. We need to get her darker side, Marionetta, to give her back, or the place will still be cursed. If you don't have a strong enough will, you'll be stuck there forever," Pico frowned.
"Sounds creepy... maybe we should ask for some assistance to do this?" Fresca asked, me nodding as we proceeded to get some help from Doug, who was more than happy to do so.
"I'll do my best to assist you!... By the way, are we being visited by a king? I saw that there was a little boy with a fancy outfit and crown earlier," he asked with a smile.
"Actually, he's becoming a resident, same with his many wives," I smirked.
"Um... wives as in plural? Should I be listening to this?" asked Sally, me smiling at that.
"Don't worry, he's too young, same with most of his wives. And so are you," I smirked at her.
"Yeah, I'm still a little iffy about the whole Ventuswill thing. I know she isn't the one who killed my family and village, but I still feel weird at how we're placing the Rune Stones to keep her alive. I heard she's been alive for almost 3 thousand years, longer than any dragon should be capable of living... so why should we allow her to keep going?" Doug asked.
"I think that, on the way, we should test something out. I want you to let Sally out of your body as her spirit form and, when you do so, have her touch the Rune Stone I have. I want to test if we can make her like me," I said, Doug nodding as we then proceeded to get on the road... and lo and behold, when we tested it out, Sally gasped as she suddenly became solid and no longer a spirit, which she looked around in surprise before then realizing one problem that she had.
"EEK! D-Don't look!" she shouted. And I understood as to why. Unlike me, who had clothes on when I was revived, Sally was in the nude. So, to help her out, I gave her a piece of armor I'd gotten from my trip to the lava ruins in the form of some chain mail, it being quite light and being able to cover her entire body, down to right above her ankles. "T-Thanks... it's a little heavy, but it works..." she smiled.
"I didn't need to see that today... I think I'll let her go back and-" Doug was about to say before something freaky happened. Sally suddenly had her skin ignite into flames.
"U-Uh..." I gulped, which Sally looked at her hands and then freaked out, only for her skin to then turn to rock, and then, when she noticed this, she turned into electricity, and finally, she started to cry and turned into a form of water.
"I think she's become an empath of the elements... any emotion she feels too strongly in, she ends up turning into the element that it matches," Pico frowned as she then handed her a charm, which made her skin back to normal. "If she wears that charm, she can prevent the transformations, but taking it off will allow her to change her form based on emotion. Embarrassment was flames, scared is rock, panic is electricity, and sadness/despair is water... if she gets into fury, though? Explosive," Pico said.
"I... I might blow up?" she asked in concern, tears in her eyes.
"No, you wouldn't blow up... but whoever you touch with your body would basically explode, but only if they're who you feel that fury to. It wouldn't be anger, as anger would be lava, so it has to be someone who makes you so angry and furious, you just want them to no longer be around in the world," Pico said, me smirking at that.
"So it'd probably be our best bet to defeat the Sechs army, but only if she got her emotions under control and got angry enough at the emperor, right?" I asked.
"I don't know if I could do that, though... I don't know how to control my emotions..." Sally admitted as we finally reached the bridge to the western side of Selphia.
"Dolly could teach you! She's an expert at controlling her thoughts and emotions!" Pico smiled.
"Really?... I'll help out, then... but I'm going to try it without the charm, see how it works," Sally said, me nodding as I then took the tag and she stayed normal, but half her body turned to be a rocky version. We then finally reached the exterior of the mansion, which Doug looked at in concern.
"S-So... this is the place, huh?" he asked.
"Is there a reason for the concern?" Fresca asked.
"This mansion is said to be cursed... if someone enters, it's unlikely they come back out," Doug said with concern.
"That's because Dolly's guardian form is trying to prevent people from finding her. We need to stick together at all times," Pico said, us then going inside and trying the door at the top of the staircase and finding it was locked. "Dang! I know where the key is," Pico smirked as she went to the picture frame and found said key, her then putting the red colored key into the doorframe... and when we went through, I was... utterly confused. We weren't in a mansion. We were in some weird and creepy hallway filled with moving red walls.
"U-Um... this wasn't here before... what's going on?" Pico asked in concern before we then heard a voice.
"Balance is the key to keeping your mind free and sane," said a very weird female voice in our heads... and I could've sworn I saw the form of a small cat ahead of us near the end of the door, us going forward and to the door, us then seeing that we weren't in the Obsidian Mansion... we were in a creepy room with a giant clock in the center and with three different doors, each on our different sides of north, east, and west. And in the center of the room? A little white cat who had a very creepy look to her. And then?
"Well, hello there. Are you lost, little ones?" the cat SPOKE! But not with her mouth! She was speaking with her mind!
"WAH! T-Talking cat?! What is going on here?!" Doug asked in concern as he hid behind Fresca, but I was remembering something buried deep in my head. A scary world that took place in a giant mansion... and this cat was a part of one of the different monsters that roamed said mansion.
"Um... is this the Obsidian Mansion?... or the Jumpscare Mansion?" I asked, which the cat nodded at.
"This place can prepare those who aren't ready... most of you are, but two are not... Doug and Sally, please go through the three doors with your friends," the cat said, which made the duo shocked, which made Sally scared to the point her whole body was stone now, but still able to move.
"H-How do you know my name?!" Sally asked in fear.
"She's able to speak with her mind, it's no surprise she can know our names or something... a-anyways, is there a way out?" Doug asked as he tried to leave through the door we came through... but said door was no longer there! "We... we have no choice..." Doug gulped as we went to the door due east first, where we saw we were in a room with two different sides, one pink, and one yellow, with weird red tendrils schlurping along the floor. And the cat was in here too, along with a compass that was always pointed at us.
"Two sides of the same coin. Knowing your projections can help you achieve your freedom," the cat said, Doug looking at the red stuff and being concerned.
"I don't think those red things are normal, though... what are they?" he asked, me then remembering something.
"I think that's trauma manifested..." I said, which Sally frowned at.
"I see them, too... but it's only one... how many do you guys see?" she asked.
"I see... almost 15..." Doug admitted.
"I see... 4," Fresca said.
"Same as Fresca... Pico?" I asked, her gulping.
"30... I remember a lot of my trauma..." Pico gulped.
"It seems I was wrong. You also need assistance, young Picorina," she said, Pico gasping.
"That's... that's my name when I was alive..." she gawked as we then exited the room and went to the one on the west side, where we saw that we were in a bedroom, with a chalkboard on the side that had different messages in chalk appearing at random... red chalk.
"The masks you wear serve their purposes well, but be careful not to lose yourself in them," the cat said, me looking at Pico and her sighing.
"I had a lot of problems when I was killed... I remember that I got killed because I was seen as a witch... then, before I went to the other side, I met my Dolly... she wanted me to stay, because she wanted a friend... she was as lonely as I was and she was the one who was the real witch... so I kept the act up, claiming I was a witch that was now a ghost... just to protect Dolly... it worked, but I did get a lot of issues from it... only when we moved to Selphia did we finally get a place to call home..." Pico said with a sigh as Doug sighed.
"I saw my own family's charred bodies when I was just 7 years old... and I was told that Ventuswill was the killer... I was lied to, just so I could be a pawn on the chess board... I need to stop them, but I can't do it alone," Doug said.
"And that's why we're here, Doug. To help you out and make them pay for their crimes," I said, him nodding as we then exited the room and we then went to the next room, where it was a giant void of darkness, with the cat appearing by the exit.
"Knowing your shadow will greatly help you... but be ready to see what you'd rather not be... if you succeed, Dolly will be alive once more... and we will protect this side of the mansion from further intrusion," the cat said, me nodding before I then asked her a question.
"Before we do this, I must know... what's your name?" I asked, the cat smiling.
"I have no name, I just have a number and a letter. 7-B is my title... Upon going through this door, you must escape through 10 rooms to escape 7-A. Do not lose yourself to your trauma and keep moving. Otherwise, you will just be another spirit lost in the mansion," she said, me nodding as we then moved through the door... and when we did, we then proceeded to run fast as a whole unit. Why? Upon going through the room, we saw that there were freaky pictures appearing on the wall, demanding us to stop and lose ourselves, and for a giant, smelly wall of bloody corpses to slowly move towards us from behind. We rushed as fast as possible to do this, Doug being scared the whole time, same with Pico, her being terrified the whole time... but I held onto her and she gasped at this.
"W-What?! You can touch me, too?!" she asked, me smiling.
"We need to get through this together, Pico. You need to believe! Not only in yourself, but in your friends!" I said, her nodding as she rushed forward via levitation, being the one to lead the rest of us through the maze of freaky visuals as we could feel the wall of flesh coming after us. After getting through the 10th room, we FINALLY arrived in the final room, it being the one right before we'd encounter Marionetta, with the mansion finally looking like it used to once again!
"Whew... that was an ordeal... I'm going to have nightmares for weeks..." Sally admitted with her knees being very shaky... and then we heard a voice.
"Congratulations. You have defeated your trauma, so now you will no longer be affected by 7-A. Dolce already completed her trial and is awaiting your arrival ahead. You may now traverse the mansion normally, along with any friends you wish to bring. So long as your friends are given the warning that, if they want to enter this place, they'll need to have one of your group to go with them. Otherwise, they'll need to face 7-A on their own," the cat said, me nodding at that.
"We'll get to spreading word... can I call you Catrina?" Fresca asked.
"If you want, you can call me anything you wish... as for 7-A, they wish to stay silent. They can't control themselves, you see," Catrina said... and that kind of made the hairs on my skin stand up. The fact that 7-A was unable to control themselves when someone was near it that had yet to be challenged by it? It kind of made me frightened, so I knew I had to give the memo to everyone in town. That the mansion was now a danger zone from the entryway of Selphia to the entryway to the Autumn Plains.
"I leave Dolly in your care, miss Fresca and Lenette. I need to spread word to the others in town!" Pico said, me nodding as we then proceeded forward and we saw that Dolce was in the next room and she looked at Pico in surprise, as she zoomed past her very fast.
"Whoa, Pico, wait!" she said in surprise before looking at my group, her being confused, but not showing it. "What's got her in a tizzy? I hope she doesn't go too far," Dolce frowned.
"We needed to warn everyone in Selphia about the mansion and spread word further about how the place has a very powerful entity that's in charge of it. You know who I'm talking about," Doug said, Dolce nodding.
"Indeed... it was tough for me to get through, but I managed with help from the spirits of my parents... I was also told by the white cat that you have someone who needs to control her empath powers," she said, which Sally nodded and went forward, her being stressed, and for steam to be emitting from her body. "I see it's both empath and elemental skills... okay, I'll take you under wing and train you... but before then, I was also told that you have a Rune Stone to place here... I can feel overflowing might just being near it," Dolce said, me nodding as I brought it out and then placed it in the Rune Spot, which made the mansion overflow with Runeys. "Finnally... now the spirits haunting the mansion can be put to rest... except for Specimen 7... the cat claimed they came from the Rune Stone meant for Amber's location, but that there's another monster guarding it that's able to control your thoughts more than 7 can," Dolce frowned.
"And... who would that be?" I asked, wondering what world it could possibly be.
"Her name is Annabella, and she's partially a ghost and partially a demon," said the voice of Catrina in our heads, me still feeling a chill whenever that happened. "She was in the mansion far longer than myself and 7-A. She's very scared and very sweet. If you aren't prepared, she'll give you an insane migraine or even a popped melon... so don't get her too worked up, please? She just wants to be safe."
"We'll get to saving her come tomorrow, then. But question. Where is she?" I asked.
"She's supposedly guarding the Rune Stone that 7 came from. It's the one meant to go into Amber's Rune Spot... let's get going, we need to warn the others," Dolce said, me nodding as we then exited the place alongside Dolce and we saw that Pico was arriving back and literally tackled Dolce to the ground.
"DOLLY!" she said in excitement, which made me smile.
"Pico, what's going on with you?"
"It was so scary! I thought I was going to die, despite being dead already! I needed to warn the town not to go to the mansion anymore! It's too dangerous!" Pico cried. She was literally crying into Dolce's chest, me smiling at the cuteness, which I then picked her off of Dolce, which I could tell made the necromancer surprised.
"Easy, Pico. We're safe now. We just need to make sure that Shizuka also gets the memo, since she wanted to assist in protecting the mansion," I said with a smile.
"Shizuka? Who may that be?" Dolce asked.
"We have a lot to explain to you, Dolly... but we also need to ask Venti to keep your memories suppressed... it's mainly because of a big threat that could hurt us a lot if they found out we were Earthmates," Fresca said, saying the word Earthmates at a hushed whisper, which Dolly nodded at.
"I'll accept the memory tampering, if it's that dangerous... just so long as I remember my parents and Pico..." she smiled softly.
"I don't want you to forget anything, Dolly," Pico frowned as she tried to fight my grasp.
"Pico, it'll be fine. I trust Venti won't tamper my mind too heavily... please, lead the way, friends," Dolce said as Doug simply looked at us with concern.
"Uh, yeah... I think I need to go back to granny Blossom... and ask for a big hug..." he admitted as he then went down the newly built stairs that were finished by Volkanon right before our arrival... and it was not only raining as of now, but it was also nearing 7 in the evening. We had to get ready for bed. And we deserved it after having to deal with what we found in that mansion.