Dolly trudged up the marble stairs of the inn, her light footfalls muffled by the sound of chatter coming from below. The glow of pink lanterns washed over the stainless walls, bathing each step with intimate light, and the buttery smell of popcorn-scented perfume lingered in the air. Dolly would be lying if she said the atmosphere never calmed her down. But there was something unsavoury about the peace it brought. Instead of lightening the weight on her heart, it made her feel numb and hollow. Like she was missing a part of her soul. And of course, that was partially true.

It had been ages since she'd spent so long without Etoile by her side. Dolly thought she'd welcome that day.

You'd better still be alive... Idiot sister...

After reaching the top, she took several tentative paces towards her destination: a mahogany-red door with strange symbols engraved and raised a small fist to knock.

"Dar," Dolly called out "It's time to eat."

"Coming. Just a sec."

The door didn't seem very soundproof, as she could hear the creaking of a chair followed by rustling paper, then finally, a loud crash as something heavy dropped onto the floor. A deep voice suddenly rang out, cursing under its breath.

"Why's Malfried's guide so bloody massive!? Damn it... Should've brought my lighter... Then I could've shown him a recording of me burn--"

Within moments, the door swung open, revealing the man she'd found so intimidating since they'd first met. It wasn't due to his height or piercing red gaze or anything else along those lines. But there was something off-putting—maybe 'superficial' was the word she was looking for?—about him. His smile was too perfect. His looks of feigned interest were also too 'natural' (whatever that was supposed to mean). In short, Dolly found his ability to mimic behaviours at the flip of a switch, extremely uncanny. Especially when she could somehow sense his conflicting emotions at the same time.

Right now, he faced her with a small comforting smile, masking pent-up frustration and a strong dose of what Dolly made to be self-hatred. She knew the latter very well.

"Aren't you going to eat as well?" he asked in an awkward attempt to hide his sadistic intentions "I have more than enough money for a second serving if you want. Ignore the fact that it's from your sister's enslavement,"

His smile turned a little bitter at his last couple of words, but then returned to normal almost immediately.

Creepy...

Meanwhile, Dolly fought down the urge to break eye contact. Every time she spoke with him, her stupid mind threatened to go blank. It would be like this with most men, but with Dar, the uncomfortable feeling felt slightly worse. And of course, she didn't want things to turn out like this. In her past life, Dolly had made every effort to train herself to act naturally. She wanted to be able to interact with everyone normally. Perhaps Dar could help her with that? He did have one saving grace, after all.

I must imagine him to be 'Dar'. Dar the Doggy... Dar the Doggy...

The girl immersed herself in whatever fond memories she had that didn't include her sister. At last, she'd found something suitable in her recollection. They were in the back garden of their father's mansion. She remembered sitting under a vast cherry tree in mid-bloom. Curled up in her lap was a lump of reddish-brown fur, snoring away peacefully. Then Etoile had called him a blood-stained mop and Dolly had gotten mad at her for it.

"He looks like someone used him to cover up a murder,"

"No he doesn't! You're just jealous that he never sleeps on you!"

"What!? T-That's not true! It's... It's... It's nottt fairrr!"

As Etoile ran away, Dolly brushed 'Dar's' red fur gently, her face in utter bliss.

 

Red fur...

 

Red fur...

 

"Good boy..."

She found herself petting human Dar's head on her tiptoes, and it was only through him clearing his throat, that her senses were able to return. Dolly quickly retracted her arms, realizing that it had been the first time she'd ever made physical contact with him. In fact, it might've been the first time she'd touched a guy this whole year. Did that give her bragging rights over her sister now?

Dolly remembered seeing Etoile resting on his shoulder and shook her head.

Of course not. I should be thinking of how I can rescue her...

"Um..." Dar began, now weirded out by her behaviour "Was there something on my head?"

"No..." Dolly replied with a touch of hostility. She could feel herself going red. "You just looked like you needed it. That's all,"

That wasn't a complete lie. His eyes had bags beneath them, and his red hair was a complete mess as though constantly ruffled by frustrated hands. Most notable of all, were the red claw marks on his face, some of which even drew blood. They were too large to belong to a small animal, and they were certainly not there before. Had he done this to himself?

"Dar... are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine,"

"Are you sure? Because you--"

" I said I'm fine,"

The sudden edge that crept into his voice caused Dolly to momentarily freeze on the spot.

"Sorry. I lost my cool for a bit," Dar said apologetically "You must be going through a lot since because of me your sister..."

Dar paused briefly and gave a long drawn-out sigh.

"I-It's not y-your fault," Dolly hastily said. "Honestly,"

"Yeah... but you're okay right?"

Dolly nodded apprehensively.

"I see..." Dar said, returning to his usual smile "That's good. See you then."

As he was about to walk past her, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Thanks for the head pat." he muttered "I think you were right. I really did need one,"

She watched him walk away, his hands still tightly clenched. Dolly wasn't sure what came over her in that moment, but she was suddenly seized by the urge to call him once more.

"Dar,"

"Yes?" he replied, about to descend the marble steps leading to the inn's ground floor.

"Be careful of the 'stairs'. The ones on me were pretty lustful."

He stared at her in bewilderment and Dolly's ears turned red once again. There was no way he'd understood the meaning of what she'd said. Etoile had once told her that puns could lighten the mood of a burdened man. Curse her for taking such stupid advice to heart. Still, Dolly had to admit that the ones she'd personally thought of were pretty lame.

Gyaah... I should just kill myself...

However, before she could run away in embarrassment, Dar called back to her, a bemused smile playing on his lips. 

"Thanks for the warning, Dolly. I'll stop 'stairing' at you now."

Then he disappeared.

God, that was awful.

Dolly couldn't contain her happiness anymore and instantly broke into a cringing smile of her own. He'd purposely used a pun as equally lame as hers to spare her feelings whilst simultaneously letting her know that he acknowledged and understood it. She wasn't sure why that brought her so much joy, but she knew that last smirk he'd given was completely genuine. At least Dolly managed to achieve what she was aiming for.

Still covering her face with her hands, she walked into Dar's room, her eyes suddenly wandering to an unfurled piece of paper at his desk.

"What's this?"

As she leaned in for a closer look, she was able to make out blocks of untidy English writing on some sort of diagram.

A map?

The girl's eyes widened as she began to read a couple of notes under her breath.

"'Etoiles predicted location. Split up assault at tunnel junction C. Hire some sellswords. Buy weapons and stock up on life force vials with Etoile's funds,' What is all of this?" Her attention suddenly shifted to a small footnote that had been doubly circled in pen. "'Use identical twin plan to divide and infiltrate. Merge bodies?'"

The last sentence she read had been roughly crossed out.

All the time she'd spent agonizing downstairs, Dar had already been planning her sister's rescue. Despite barely even knowing them, Dar seemed to be taking full responsibility for the situation. And Dolly had done nothing to contribute.

She recalled his frustrated expression when leaving his room and she pursed her lips tightly. He'd been suffering for their sake, already taking the necessary steps to solve their predicament. And what about her?

Dolly sank to her knees, her brown skirt blossoming from her pitiful position.

I've been completely useless.

Part of her blamed Dar for being so secretive about it, but she knew very well that she was the one at fault. Dolly clapped her face a few times and stood back up, ignoring the urge to smash her head alongside the marble walls. She needed to do something to help. Etoile was her sister after all, and she had promised their mother to keep her safe despite being the youngest.

Picking up the pen from the floor, Dolly sat herself at the desk and began reading through each note with renewed vigor.

 

***

 

Dar returned to his room feeling extremely bloated from the multiple-course meal Malfried had ordered. As an actor, he'd normally try and control his diet, but the beast in his belly had grown ten times larger after being starved for so long.

Then he noticed something off. The wooden door to Malfried's room was slightly ajar, allowing a shaft of pink light to stream out from within. Had someone broken in?

Damn it. I should've locked it myself.

He braced himself and pushed it open slowly, ready to start throwing hands if the need arose. But what he saw momentarily surprised him, causing him to stand awkwardly by with his fingers still wrapped around the door handle. Slumped over his plans was a sleeping Dolly, whose right hand was still clutching onto the pen Fiel had given him.

As he walked in, shutting the door behind him, he stole a glance at the map he'd spent all day poring over. It had changed significantly, large clumps of fine writing branching around his own messy notes. There were even small doodles of stick figures that either nodded in agreement or shook their heads as a sort of summarised opinion of some of his ideas. One of his written ideas had also managed to earn itself a hand-drawn medal that said 'Terrible Idea' in bold black.  At closer inspection, he could see that they were mostly suggestions, improving on some of the ideas he had and even solving some of the bigger issues that had stumped him.

"Dolly... You're a genius..."

However, his eyes were suddenly drawn to the massive letters scrawled at the bottom of the map.

 

...

 

'WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO SHOULDER EVERYTHING?'

 

...

 

She's pissed...

 

Dar looked at her sleeping form as it rose and fell with every breath, wondering whether or not he should carry her to her room. But after a minute of silent contemplation, he settled for placing his coat over her slim shoulders.

"I'm sorry,"