by Diana Winchester 16th March 2022, 1:33 am
-Outside Haunted Castle, midnight-
Wearing her usual casual outfit of purple t-shirt, black skirt, white thigh-high stockings, and black tennis shoes, Diana carried both a backpack of supplies and Saint Sinner Valentine slung over her right shoulder. She was standing less than six meters outside of Haunted Castle, a place she had been to many times before. It had been less than two days ago that she had come here with Stella Herschel on a job for Simon Wright and now she was already back for another job. This time she was looking for a young woman named Juliet Fontaine.
According to Juliet's mother Judith, Juliet had went missing less than four days ago. The young woman had apparently grown bored of the life of a wealthy heiress and wanted to go out on an adventure beyond the confines of Capital Crocus, so she took a silver sword from the family armory and chose to go to Haunted Castle. Unfortunately for her mother Juliet had chosen one of the worst possible places in Fiore to visit. Now it was up to Diana to save the young woman before it was too late, then take her back to Capital Crocus.
Diana felt the wind blow her hair about and looked at the wooden double doors that led into Haunted Castle. She recalled how uneventful the job with Stella was until it came time to leave the castle. On the way out the pair spotted a strange man wearing a black three-piece tuxedo who kept his distance from them and appeared to watch their every move. Diana wondered who the mystery man was and what connection he had to Haunted Castle. She was somewhat interested in solving the mystery, but she was much more interested in finding Juliet Fontaine and taking her back to Capital Crocus.
Before setting out for Haunted Castle Diana had asked Judith Fontaine if there was anything she needed to know about Juliet and learned a couple of things. First, the young woman liked to read about the supernatural in her abundant spare time, suggesting that she had entered the castle with some knowledge of what she was likely to face. Second, Juliet had grabbed a silver sword that had belonged to one of her aunts, suggesting that she had the training to effectively employ said weapon against whatever she encountered in the castle. Those two things meant that Diana was likely not dealing with a helpless damsel in distress but someone who had some idea of what they were getting into.
However, Haunted Castle was no place for amateurs.
With little time left to lose Diana walked up to the double doors and opened the right one, then stepped inside Haunted Castle.
-Inside Haunted Castle, the first floor-
Diana closed the door behind her and faced forward. The foyer was still lit by beautiful brass chandeliers and the light still danced off of beautiful oil paintings. Beneath her feet was the same beautiful red carpet that had been under her feet the last few times she had been here. The huntress raised her right hand to prepare a spell and looked around for a welcoming committee but did not see anything. Not entirely convinced that she was alone, Diana cycled through her vision modes and looked around using night vision, infrared vision, and spirit vision.
Nothing appeared to her in any of those modes, so Diana knew that she was in the clear... at least on this floor, anyway. Diana proceeded down the right hallway towards the staircase that would take her to the second floor. She ignored the paintings hanging from the walls and kept walking until she reached the staircase, where she paused and looked around her to make sure that she was not being followed by zombies, ghosts, or the well-dressed mystery man she and Stella had seen on their previous trip here.
Diana looked down the hall to her left and did not see anything. She looked to the right and did not see anything there either. She even checked behind her and nothing was there, so she had reason to believe that she was safe from harm. Diana turned to face the stairs and began to climb them slowly and carefully so that if something was waiting for her upstairs she would have enough time to react to it.
-On the second floor-
Diana arrived on the second floor without incident and paused to look around her for danger. She looked left and right and did not see any danger, so she cycled through her vision modes just like she had done on the first floor. Nothing had come up on any of them, so once again Diana was in the clear for the time being.
Diana had just started walking forward when she heard a CRUNCH sound from beneath her right foot. The huntress took a step back and looked down to find a silver necklace of some sort. She bent down and scooped it up with her left hand, then raised it to her chest to take a closer look at it.
The necklace was a silver necklace to which was attached a small circular pendant. In the middle of the pendant was embedded a topaz crafted in the shape of a teardrop that gleamed in the light. Diana surmised that the necklace belonged to Juliet Fontaine, but she would not know for certain until she found the young woman.
[Post Word Count: 910]
[Total Word Count: 910/11,000]