Silent Night (Open to Everyone ^^)

[Harri-chan]

Muffi's fingers spread out from the spot they had been rubbing, and pressed to her forehead. Fenestra's cryptic words seemed to be causing her a great deal of stress. Her wide blue eyes stared at the girl as she calmly spoke, and the teenager's cheeks turned increasingly red.

"Why... ?", she asked, her voice barely a whisper, sounding short of breath. "You brought us here... to do this to us all?". The conversation seemed to be draining something from her, taxing her in a way that she was unused to, and she closed her eyes, rubbing her palms across her entire face with a weary groan.

She could feel a pressure upon herself, as if her answers to the young woman's questions were of a great importance, and that responsibility, like most others, made her increasingly worried. She began to feel like a disappointment, wishing that someone else had been chosen for this meeting with the mysterious girl instead.

[Blaze]

Nova gives Penny an encouraging smile as the girl leads them up to the hall of paintings. She winces and covers her eyes, as they were still adjusted to the darkness of the library proper and suddenly going into a bright room made them water a bit. Once they adjusted, she looked around the room and giggles softly.

"T-Thanks Miss Penny..." she says, smiling at her guide before looking around at the paintings. Soon, one in particular catches her eye... a meadow, full of flowers, but the trees around it are burning, yet not harming the flowers. She squints, moving forward and back to try and see the second image!

[Restless Lucidity]

Muffi's fingers spread out from the spot they had been rubbing, and pressed to her forehead. Fenestra's cryptic words seemed to be causing her a great deal of stress. Her wide blue eyes stared at the girl as she calmly spoke, and the teenager's cheeks turned increasingly red.

"Why... ?", she asked, her voice barely a whisper, sounding short of breath. "You brought us here... to do this to us all?". The conversation seemed to be draining something from her, taxing her in a way that she was unused to, and she closed her eyes, rubbing her palms across her entire face with a weary groan.

She could feel a pressure upon herself, as if her answers to the young woman's questions were of a great importance, and that responsibility, like most others, made her increasingly worried. She began to feel like a disappointment, wishing that someone else had been chosen for this meeting with the mysterious girl instead.

Fenestra nods, however tentatively. "It was not just to make you all miserable, however; it was to teach you something... and to teach myself something as well. You, too, Muffi... there's something I wanted to teach you." Fenestra gazes deeply in to Muffi's eyes. "Stop trying to hide it from yourself. You can't tell me that a part of you didn't like what happened before... but really, Muffi, there's no shame in that. There's no shame in wanting to be cute." She giggles, making a frilly, pink bow appear in front of her, and putting it in her own hair. "We all do sometimes."

Fenestra slowly rises from her seat and walks over to Muffi, gently taking her hand. "I know you're afraid, Muffi. I know that all of this is unsettling... but be brave. You might learn something, if you want to. And all that really means is being honest with yourself. If you want to be cute..." Fenestra takes the frilly bow out of her hair and puts it in to Muffi's. "... then don't be afraid."

The boy smiles a bit as he reads about the sisters, imagining what they must have looked like with their icy blue hair and eyes. He leans up against the bookshelf, getting a little more comfy so he can read more. He has never been so happy to have ducked out of a tour group.

The story continues, finally transitioning from background information to the actual story, including dialogue:

"Stiria!" Caliga called to her twin sister. "I know where we can go to explore today!"

"You do?" Stiria smiled at the eager countenance that her sister wore. "So, where will we be going today?" Caliga took a pamphlet out of her pocket and showed it to her. "Here! A new museum opened up downtown! They're supposed to have paintings that bring people to other worlds!" Stiria shot Caliga a skeptical gaze. "Oh, come on, Caliga. You know all that is is them talking about how 'art takes you to different worlds' and such. They're just pretty pictures." Caliga frowned. "But Stiria, what if they really are portals to other worlds? We could be missing out on something big!" Stiria rolled her eyes, but after looking Caliga in her pleading blue eyes again, she caved. "Oh, okay, okay... we can check out this museum. But if we can't jump in to the paintings, you have to do my homework, okay?" Caliga pondered her options a minute, giving a few thoughtful taps to her head with her index finger. "Okay. Deal!"

With that, the two of them got their adventuring supplies together; an icy blue and white pair of backpacks, some snacks, a rope, a lighter, and a few other useful goodies. After everything was all set, the two of them told their mom where they would be going.

"Okay. But be careful, you two! And stay away from any creepy people you see!" The girls giggled in unison.

"Yeah, mom... we'll be fine!"

~+~

It was hard for the boy to notice as caught up in the book as he was, but he had begun to change as he read. His hair had changed from its brown color to a vibrant blue, and that blue was gradually getting lighter. It was also growing longer, becoming softer, more neatly trimmed, and otherwise as if it had been better cared for. His black shirt had also begun to change, growing somewhat lighter and changing in texture. A collar of sorts began to form, and his jeans were getting somewhat shorter, becoming lighter in both color and weight. He had also lost a few inches of height; where he was 5'9 or so before, he was 5'6 now. Every moment he reads, it seems that he changes more and more... but he is too fixated on the book, as mundane as it might be, to notice any of the alterations to his body.

[Ookalf]

Is startled in to awareness, almost literally spinning backward to face Nova.

"Oh! N-no, of course not!" Penny's cheeks turn a bright red, and yet again, she seems to be at a loss for words. "I just... I just got lost in a little daydream, that's all!" With that, Penny turns around again and, with shaky steps, leads the group up the staircase. Before long, they come to the top of them, and are greeted by a pair of ornate double doors that resemble works of Pablo Picasso.

"O-okay! Sorry for the wait, but here we are! This is the hall of paintings!" Penny walks up to the doors and opens them up, revealing a brightly lit room full of, not quite surprisingly, paintings! On the floor is an intricate sun pattern made of multicolored tiles that is surrounded by a pattern of blue and white wavy lines that resemble an ocean. No book cases appear to be in this room, but upwards of forty paintings line the walls. With that many paintings, there just has to be something for everyone in here. But before anyone can go and look around, Penny starts to speak again...

"Remember everybody! There are two images in each picture that are hidden. It can be really fun to look for the hidden images, but they can be a little hard to find, so we'll stop here for a while to look." Penny smiles, but a few seconds after she finished her thought, she seemed to get nervous again. "I-If that's okay with everyone!"

Hey, fine by me. *Ookalf shrugs and starts going around the room to check out all the paintings. Yoko, however, lingers a bit closer to the room's entrance. After taking a moment to look at some of the nearer paintings, she turns to ask Penny a question.*

The art on all these is remarkable... Do you have any idea who made them?

[Cleio]

The young man, cracks a smile...not something that he does in public very often. He continues to be enthralled by the book, reading each word as if it's very existence was something that would alter the world at large. The young man had always love the museum and enjoyed wasting whole days there. As caught up as he was in reading the book it would be impossible to notice any change.

[Harri-chan]

Muffi's lips part slightly, and her blue eyes seem to swell in size just a tiny bit as the other girl starts encouraging her to admit she enjoyed what Laeti had done. After gazing into Fenestra's eyes for a long moment, she looked down in shame, her hands busying themselves with adjusting her skirt even though it was clearly fine.

"It's not about... being cute", she muttered, looking back up as she felt the bow being placed in her hair. "Okay, I might have enjoyed parts of it... but I don't really know why. I mean... it was utterly humiliating", she blushed. "And... today of all days... I have to produce a report for Ms. Jones at the TV station. It's REALLY important", she added, panic creeping into her voice.

The thought of the work waiting to be done caused her to grow agitated. It was ironic, all those years of being turbed down for jobs, feeling useless, without talent, yet now she had one and she was struggling to deal with the pressure of it all. "You don't understand. I can't mess it up this time. It's the first time anyone had given me a chance to show I'm not useless in ages...".

[Restless Lucidity]

Fenestra smiles, still looking Muffi in the eyes. "Well, think about it. You still have a wonderful story to share." Fenestra takes a step back from Muffi, releasing her hand. "I know that transformations aren't a rarity in this place, but not everyone can say that they've been to a library and had all of this happen... now can they? And..." Fenestra looked off to the side with her eyes, and a mischievous look came across her face as she folded her hands behind her back. "All of those secret things I told you about the library could make a good story, too." Fenestra giggles. "And if that doesn't work out, the library could always use some extra helpers. That might be nice, actually... I could really do with more company around here."

Fenestra's expression became a bit more serious again. "Though... of course it isn't just about being cute. With all I've seen..." Fenestra shot Muffi a quick but meaningful glance. "... and all that you've said, I have enough to assume that you hate feeling like you have no worth more than anything." Fenestra stopped for a moment, seemingly analyzing Muffi for a clue as to whether she was right or wrong. Fenestra's gaze narrowed. "I'm right, aren't I?"

[Harri-chan]

Muffi leaned forward slightly in her chair as Fenestra stepped back, and the teenager continued to gaze up at the girl, even when she looked off into the nothingness again. The more she listened, the more she started to feel... sorry for her. It seemed to Muffi that Fenestra was lonely, something which the girl seemed to confirm when she spoke about recruiting extra helpers.

Muffi climbed to her feet, and stepping closer to Fenestra, she gently laid a hand upon the girl's shoulder, and then blushed when she suddenly found the library owner's gaze on her once more, studying her intently before narrowing. "You're right... ", she said with a nod of her head. "But what about you? You have all these books, filled with wonderful stories... but nobody to share them with. This... isn't the way you go about making friends, Fenestra".

[Restless Lucidity]

Fenestra giggles and nods slowly as the faintest aura of sadness washed over her presence. Or perhaps it wasn't even sadness, but... as Muffi might have expected, longing. With what she had already discovered, it was becoming easier to piece together: as articulate and well studied as she appeared to be, Fenestra probably had not had very much interaction with people before. That might help to explain this entire predicament; it might be a form of... misconception. It seemed less and less likely to Muffi as they continued to talk that Fenestra could possibly have solely malicious intentions. Looking at her, it seemed she was able to pick up on these thoughts through what Muffi had already said. A moment later, she spoke again.

"In a way... yes, Muffi, you would be right." Fenestra sighs, as if a weight had been lifted from her as she spoke those words. "I am lonely, and I'm also rather inept at... making friends. This was the best idea I could imagine; my thought was that this library of mine would inspire people to look into themselves, and give me a chance to talk to them. It could help my friends-to-be learn something, and help me learn about them. But apparently..." She paused a moment. "But apparently this idea won't work as well as I thought. The beings that I'm trying to understand are more... delicate than I'd expected. I can't put them in these situations and expect them to find their way unscathed. But that said..." [i]She began to smile again. "This idea wasn't a total failure, and I think I'm still going to let it go on as planned. It could end up being fun after all. And, well..." She turned to face Muffi, smiling a bit more widely. "I did get to know you this way, didn't I?"

[Feng]

Atoq, having spent that last few moments gazing up at the splendor of the library (He's that kind of chibi, spacier than a Cosmonaut) suddenly remembers his mission and enters the Silent Night, humming the opening theme from Gold Finger.

"Right then, Atoq, you can do this," he mutters under his breath as he looks around for sign of Picks. "This shouldn't be any problem at all" >.>

[Harri-chan]

Muffi blushed at Fenestra's smile, her eyebrows arching upwards. "Well... I guess you did", she murmured in a hesitant tone, "... but there are other ways to get to know people". She lifted a hand to rub the back of her neck and then sucked in a deep breath. "We could be friends, if you'd like that. We could meet up at the milkshake bar for a chat, or... go clothes shopping together. That's how people normally get to know eachother", she said, before adding in a much quieter mutter, "... I think".

Leaning into Fenestra, she slipped her skinny arms around the other girl, hugging her awkwardly. One of her hands gently patted Fenestra's lower back, and she blushed, realising this girl probably knew that Muffi was not all that she seemed. With a worried expression, she met the gaze of the library owner. "I really should work on my report now. Ms. Jones is expecting it today... your library will be on the evening news"

[Restless Lucidity]

The young man, cracks a smile...not something that he does in public very often. He continues to be enthralled by the book, reading each word as if it's very existence was something that would alter the world at large. The young man had always love the museum and enjoyed wasting whole days there. As caught up as he was in reading the book it would be impossible to notice any change.

The boy reads further, and at this point, it's as if he really is incapable of stopping; he's completely immersed in the world in the book and, at times, it's hard for him to tell that the world described in the book isn't the real world, the world he was standing in already.

"See, Stiria? Here it is!" Caliga did a small twirl in front of the building, and turned to face her sister. "And doesn't it look magical? Just look at those gargoyles near the entrance! There has to be something special about this place!" Stiria laughed.

"Caliga, lots of libraries have something like that out front. That doesn't mean that there are paintings inside that we can jump into."Caliga frowned, but her pouting didn't last long before her enthusiasm got the better of her again.

"Well, there's only one way to find out! Let's go!" Stiria nodded, a small smile on her own face thanks to Caliga's attitude.

It's often said that words could jump off the pages when you're really involved in a book, but the boy didn't think that could mean something so literal! With everything he read, he could swear that he heard the sisters voicing over their parts in his head. And it was all so vivid... he could see the scene so well that it was like everything was unfolding right in front of him. It was so lifelike that it was almost... eerie. But the boy couldn't pay attention to that when the sisters might be going to jump in a painting soon!

As he read on, he found himself mouthing Caliga's lines involuntarily. He noticed this after a while, but didn't think much of it; he just thought it was another part of being excited about what he was reading. What he didn't notice, though, was the changes that continued to happen as he read. He was rapidly shrinking now, going from 5'6, to 5'5, to 5'3 in five minutes. If he could find some way to take his eyes off the book, it would seem like the entire library was getting bigger around him. That wasn't all, though; his hair had become a lighter blue now, resembling the color that the boy imagined the sister's hair was. It wasn't very long, but it was still quite cute. A heart hair clip made of one large gold heart connected to a smaller red heart had somehow found its way into his hair, and as if that wasn't strange enough already, his arms had become slender... and his legs. His figure, too, was becoming softer as his shoulders narrowed and his torso became more soft and slim.

"Here it is, Stiria! One of the pictures that's supposed to be a portal to another world!"

The boy couldn't even really explain why, but reading this book was just... so much fun! It was incredible! The lines of the characters, those of Caliga in particular, seemed to jump off the page, and inspire him to read more and more. And the more he read, the more he changed; as he read that last line, he was about 5'2 at most, and his once dark black shirt had become a cream colored school uniform with red borders... a uniform with a huge yellow ribbon on its chest and frills at the bottom. His jeans had become a matching red plaid skirt, and perhaps the strangest fact of all was that he didn't look strange in it at all. Changes continued, his hands became soft and petite, as did his feet. His now feminine form had only a few more changes happen after that: a slight pressure seemed to push his chest out gently, leaving two subtle bumps that gave his form slight feminine curvature. His thighs became somewhat wider, just enough to give his legs a feminine appearance as well. And last... as he would soon realize, an organ that would define the boy as male didn't seem to be there anymore. The girl seems compelled to lift her eyes from the book she's reading... and when she does, she's greeted by an unexpected yet familiar face, and words that shock her even more.

"Okay, Caliga." A blue-haired girl not unlike the girl who was reading the book, just with longer hair, looked directly at her. "Wanna try jumping in to the painting now?"

Hey, fine by me. *Ookalf shrugs and starts going around the room to check out all the paintings. Yoko, however, lingers a bit closer to the room's entrance. After taking a moment to look at some of the nearer paintings, she turns to ask Penny a question.*

The art on all these is remarkable... Do you have any idea who made them?

Penny nods and smiles, looking quite confident and perky for... well, the first time since the tour began.

"Yep! I sure do! They were all done by different artists, mostly, but I can name a few. Guertena, Finachi, Amedeli, and Blizarro." Penny still wore a triumphant smile. She must've been proud of herself for being able to answer the question. "Oh, and some of them were done by Fenestra herself. You know, the owner of the library?"

Arisu looked away from the painting as the group came in. She found it odd that none of them pointed out that she was there before them, it was almost creepy. Seeing a lone miko in a library wasn't that common, was it? Arisu began walking towards the back of the group....

As she shuffles to the back of the group, still no one seems to notice her. No one acknowledges her presence by saying hello or even giving her a lingering glance. It already felt like Arisu was being treated as if she were some sort of ghost.

... and as she thought that, something else haunting caught Arisu's eye: the woman in the red dress from the painting she had just scene was there, at the other end of the room, staring right at her. And as if that wasn't horrifying enough, when she next looked to the tour group, they were all replaced by black shadows that now seemed to stare at her. Within seconds, the entire room seemed to turn hostile... the lights dimmed, and the atmosphere became cold... bone chillingly so. Some of the paintings now hung in awkward ways on the walls, some crooked, and others completely upside down. And then, after Arisu had finished noticing all of the changes, she looks to her side, and there, right beside her, she sees the woman in red.

"Hello, Arisu. Welcome to the painting gallery." The woman smiled at her. It was not a smile that seemed evil or even scary, and the woman in red was actually quite beautiful... but she couldn't help but feel as if there was something... wrong here. The entire situation seemed ominous...

[Ryan5011]

Arisu was scared, but she didn't show it, at least on her face. She looked at the woman beside her, and the smile made her feel...calmer, though there was still some fear. "W-What's going on? What happened to the rest of the tour group?" Her attempt at hiding her fear failed, as she ended up stuttering.

[Cleio]

The pretty young blued hair girl, still feeling quite absorbed by the book she read, looks up at her big sis with a big smile on her face. She looks at the painting, then back to her sister...a happy smile unable to leave her pretty little face.

"Of course, that's why we're here, isn't it? Let's go!"

The pretty young blued hair girl lets out a little giggle as she gazes once more at the painting on the wall.

[Ookalf]

Penny nods and smiles, looking quite confident and perky for... well, the first time since the tour began.

"Yep! I sure do! They were all done by different artists, mostly, but I can name a few. Guertena, Finachi, Amedeli, and Blizarro." Penny still wore a triumphant smile. She must've been proud of herself for being able to answer the question. "Oh, and some of them were done by Fenestra herself. You know, the owner of the library?"

*Yoko nods.* Yes, you mentioned her before... Where is this Fenestra, anyway? You would think the owner would want to oversee a big event like this...