Shiori Novella One-shots

Princess in Chains

A/N: This time, I made this a bit of a teaser for a project I'm working on with a bunch of other Novelites. Look forward to it!

The shackled princess looks at you with a gentle smile gracing her lips. Her ethereal beauty contrasts starkly with the cold, damp, dungeon that has been her prison. With her delicate hands clasped in a prayer, she beams at you innocently - or so she appears.

"Lost lamb, you need not continue such a trifle quest," she begins, her voice carrying a somber melody that echoes through the confines of the dank chamber. A hollow twinkle resides in her amber eyes, revealing depths of sorrow hidden behind the facade of serenity. "Just be happy and free. Your visits are enough," she softly murmurs.

~~~~~

As she speaks, you feel an itching in your mind, and you start to lose focus, swaying where you stand. You can't refuse her, but you can't oblige her either.

"What quest?" you mutter under your breath, your memory foggy and your vision blurry. In the corner of your vision, you swear you can see eyes blinking slowly, watching you.

When you glance over to look at it, a shadow falls over the princess' face, and a wide, dark grin spreads across her face. Thinking you imagined it, you turn back to look at her, but see the same innocent smile she had before. Seeing you watch her, she tilts her head.

"Is something wrong?" she asks, the concern in her voice feeling... wrong, somehow.

"No, nothing..." you shake your head, wondering what this feeling is. "You mentioned a quest. What quest?"

"Ah... You poor little lamb... Don't worry, just do as you have been," she smiles, sadly...? That doesn't feel right...

"If you say so..."

"I do! Now, off with you, lamb..."

You're compelled to heed her words, and you leave the basement prison.

When you return to where the basement prison a week later, the prison is gone. It's as if it was never there. There's no building, no door, no nothing. You can feel the itching in your mind again, and feel yourself draw your blade and raise it in front of you.

In the corner of your vision, you can see the eyes watching you, but they feel much less friendly than they did before. Before you notice, everything goes dark, and your legs collapse underneath you.

The eyes turn their focus to a figure hiding in the shadows behind your body.

"We have to find her... She was here... With her, we can finally summon our Lord..."

In another space, with rows and rows and stacks and stacks of books, the princess watches what just happened through a bowl of ink in front of her.

"What a shame... They didn't have the potential to become a Novelite either... If those weird jacket-wearing people would leave me alone, I wouldn't have to watch this happen, over and over... I hope I find someone soon..."

With a wave of her hand, the ink returns to just being ink. Sighing, she moves to a chair, opens the book resting on the arm, and continues reading her stories.