Dark in the Dollhouse Chapter 27: Chapter 27: Stone Tree

Read chapter 27 of Dark in the Dollhouse by Haspberry on NovelPedia.

Yuliana walked behind Blaine through the yellowed corridors of the Stone Tree. Flickering lanterns lit up their path as the sound of their steps rang out amidst the quiet crackles. “So, where are heading Bl- Ahem, I mean, Ms. Starfish?” Yuliana asked as she corrected herself. Her red rabbit mask turned as it looked at Blaine. “Looks like you’re already getting the hang of things, Ms. Rabbit,” Blaine giggled from behind her azure starfish mask. She added, “For now, let’s head to the dining hall. That’s where the most people usually are. It’s either that or the game room. But I don't like the game room as most of the people there are usually noisy men.” Yuliana nodded as she followed her behind. After a while of turning through the corridors, a question raised inside Yuliana as she asked, “Uh, don’t you need to take off the mask to eat? Doesn’t that make a dining hall contradictory?” Blaine laughed. “You’d be right, if not for the fact that the mask you’re wearing is a Cora. What you recognise as food will pass through like the mask isn’t even there. Utensils as well.” Yuliana was taken aback in impress. I am not very familiar with Coras so I’m always surprised at how useful they can be. I wonder, just how many does Evan have? The two of them walked till they reached an open entrance. In front of them was a large dining hall with a number of people inside it. It was a wide squarish room with two long tables at the sides and a blazing hearth at the very end. In front of it, was a long table with multiple chafing dishes and platters of food. The people here adorned various types of attire, highlighting their coming from different regions. Some of them wore the masks of many animals with odd colours while others preferred to keep their faces open. Blaine looked around for a moment till she saw a woman with shoulder length blonde hair and a grey leopard mask. “Ah! Ms. Leopard! You’re here!” Blaine said as she approached Ms. Leopard. She wore a casual green pleated dress with sleeves and a red flower ribbon on her hair. A gold necklace with an upside down maple leaf dangled from her neck. “Ms. Starfish!!” Ms. Leopard waved and jogged towards her. They clasped hands together. “It’s been so long since I last saw you! Just where were you?” Blaine asked. “Ah, sorry I left without telling you. I was just away on an urgent mission assigned by the leader herself,” Ms. Leopard said as she thumped her chest with pride. “Oh? That’s so awesome! What was it about?” Ms. Leopard giggled and put a finger atop the lips of her mask. “It’s a secret~” she said in a melodic voice. “Ah come on!! You can tell me! We’ve been friends for so long,” Blaine urged as she grabbed her shoulders and shook her vigorously. “Alright fine,” her voice juddered. Blaine let go as she replied, “All I can say is that it had something to do with finding traces of rituals that involved burning silver. If you want more info, you’ll have to ask the leader.” Burning silver? Rituals? I think Evan mentioned it once. More Artisan stuff... Yuliana thought as she listened in to their conversation. After finishing their greetings, Ms. Leopard tilted her head and peeked behind Blaine, her eyes landing on Yuliana. Ms. Leopard looked back at Blaine and asked, “Who is that? A new member?” Blaine nodded. “Yup! She’s a friend of mine who I brought here! Let me introduce you to Ms. Rabbit,” Blaine said and moved out of the way as she let out her hands towards Yuliana. “A friend of yours?” Ms. Leopard tilted her head with a finger on the chin of her mask. Yuliana gave her a slight bow. She said, “Yes, I’m a friend of Ms. Starfish. Nice to meet you, Ms. Leopard.” Ms. Leopard walked up to her and shook her hand. “Hehe, any friend of Ms. Starfish is a friend of mine as well! Nice to meet you too Ms. Rabbit!” Yuliana chuckled. However, her face behind her mask was impassive. Ms. Leopard was away on a mission assigned by the leader. In that case, she should know her to some extent. Maybe I can tr