batb part two: electric boogaloo

[fearlessly]

[ alisaie is not afraid of the woods.

truthfully, alisaie is not afraid of much at all - not the things that most are afraid of, at least. she does not fear the dark, or wolves, or bandits. she does not fear loud storms or knives in the dark of faerie tale monsters stalking haunted forests. what she fears is being along. grieving. losing those she loves.

and that is why she is here. alisaie has ridden tirelessly through the night, driving baptiste hard over the hard, wintry earth, her breath frozen in her lungs, the frigid wind stinging her cheeks and ears and eyes. alphinaud is her entire world. he is all that she has, all of her family that remains, and the thought of living her life without him, moving forward alone..

she would rather not move forward at all.

and so she will find him, regardless of he consequence, heedless of the potential danger, for without him, she has no life at all.

baptiste remembers the way, and though she can feel the tension and fear in the body of the horse beneath her, still they press on, hooves slamming hard into the earth, empty branches pulling at her hair, whipping over their heads. the forest seems to go on and on, deeper and deeper into darkness and mist, until at long, long last the space opens up, and a dark castle looms ahead, its twisted spires climbing into the gray sky, its gloomy edifice frowning down as she approaches the wrought iron gates choked with decayed vines.

alisaie is not afraid of much, yet still the sight of it sends a chill down her spine.

what is this place? she's heard of no such estate as this - a castle, so close to the village? how have there been no stories? no history? she has ridden less than a day to find her brother, not far from home at all, and yet.. there is nothing in their books about this great castle, no tall tales, nothing at all. it is a phantom. still, somehow it feels familiar to her.. like a memory of a dream's dream.

exhaling a shudder, alisaie slides from baptiste's back, leading him to an icy, overgrown brook for a drink, looping the reins over a strong, bare branch before at last she approaches the castle. it's silent, sinister, but she.. she has no choice. if this is where alphinaud is, then she must press forward. the rusted gates groan, splitting the silence, and alisaie approaches the great doors, the old rotten oak swinging beneath her weight as she slips carefully into the great, dark foyer. ]

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[fearlessly]

[ SHE DOESN'T CARE!!!!

his gruff annoyance cannot faze her, however - if he meant her harm, it would have befallen her by now. she has no idea why he is here, what his intentions truly are, but she does not feel in particularly imminent danger.

of course, that does not mean that she should press her luck by shooting off her mouth, and yet. ]

There must be something to read in this enormous place. Have you no library?

[punshots]

[ Ah...well, if she's looking for something to read, then she isn't too far off from the right place. Long ago, Prompto wasn't one who made much use of the library himself, but as he became isolated in this castle, he became intimately familiar with all its corners, the library included. It's no small collection, and even for as long as he has been here, he has barely scratched the surface in reading all of them.

Perhaps it will be something that will keep her busy, too. If it will keep her from roaming around as much and make it easier for him to avoid her... ]

...Follow.

[ He steps past Alisaie to turn down a nearby corridor, not waiting to see if she does, in fact, follow. ]

[fearlessly]

[ she had not expected a positive answer.

the idea of a library is something she does not want, but needs in order to keep her sanity. with the winter blowing in, freezing the land and limiting her interaction with the outdoors, this is what she needs to make it through the winter, to keep her mind occupied. so to know that there is not only a library, but that he will allow her access to it..

well, she cannot necessarily be grateful, for a generous jailer is still, in fact, a jailer, but still, her expression and stature both soften as she falls into step behind him. glancing over her shoulder, alisaie surveys the corridor. ]

What else is here?

[ she's not had opportunity to explore much of the west areas of the castle. ]

[punshots]

[ This too is ultimately a harmless question, and reluctant though he might be to speak with her, there is a pull to the conversation that he just can't seem to ignore. After all, he was once quite the chatterbox. Not that anyone would believe it with how reticent he is now. ]

The tower near the library holds an observatory. You will also find the armory down a level, near the servants' quarters. There is also a study.

[ Though he spends time there in the evenings and he doesn't necessarily want her encroaching on that time, either. ]

There is...much of the castle for you to still see.

[ Not that that helps how trapped she must feel. ]

[fearlessly]

An observatory..

[ that sounds lovely, even in the chilly winter. the skies are still clear, and there are plenty of constellations visible only during this time of year, and the armory..

he would allow her access to weapons?

well, no doubt like every other person she meets, he would not expect that a soft elezen young woman like her to know how to handle herself in a fight. it is a blessing and curse both, for it certainly gets frustrating to be underestimated all the time, but it also gives her a great advantage. ]

I suppose I shall not want for activity.

[punshots]

Aye.

[ That she seems encouraged by what she hears is strangely...satisfying. He should have no reason to want her to be entertained here, to want her to find any fulfillment at all, and yet...not even his heart is so far gone that he cannot be sympathetic to her situation. A situation he put her in.

But he cannot risk this castle being discovered by the masses, and that's that. Even if she gave him his word, he isn't sure he can trust it, and even then, what if she let it slip? Even her brother still worries him, even if her safety was the terms for his silence. ]

You may occupy any area of the castle that you wish...aside from the western wing.

[ It's all he can offer.

They arrive at the doors of the library, and he pushes them open, leading her into a massive room, where the walls are lined with books. ]

This might keep you busy for awhile.

[fearlessly]

[ whatever she had been expecting, it is certainly not.. this.

of course she had thought it might be large and grand, as befitting the size of a castle, but it is so very much more. there are levels upon levels, shining star globes and yawning atlases spanning the lengths of entire tables, thousands - mayhaps hundreds of thousands of books lining the myriad shelves. she could live a hundred lifetimes and never finish them all.

of course it is dusty and dim, in need of some cleaning and organization, but that does not keep her from feeling entirely overwhelmed, her lips parting in a sharp gasp, her eyes wide as they climb up and up and up toward the vaulted ceilings that the shelves scale all the way toward. ]

This is..

[ incredible. magnificent. breathtaking. ]

[punshots]

[ At her reaction, a low, rasp of breath escapes him. It's not quite a laugh, but neither is it a sigh of exasperation. It's not surprising that her eyes have never taken in a sight such as this, because there is no library of this magnitude in all the land. There is not castle of this magnitude in all the land, and in its prime, there was no better place to come and learn and read. If she did nothing but read for the rest of her days, she would surely only scratch the tip of the iceberg.

Stepping forward into the room, Prompto rests a gnarled, steel hand against a large astrolabe, dust lifting into the slanted light from the high windows above. ]

It's the heart of the castle. [ A beat. ] Just don't ask me to find you something specific to read.

[ That was a joke. Almost. ]

[fearlessly]

[ that sound was not a laugh, but he certainly seems more.. at ease than he once had, and alisaie is not sure what to think about that. she supposes that it is far better than the alternative, than brooding silences and sharp snapping and generally worrying for her safety, but she's nevertheless at a loss as to how to interpret it.

for now, she can swipe those thoughts away; how can she think about anything now, in this place? it isn't even right to call it a library. ]

I'm sure I needn't. It will hardly take me any time at all to find something suitable.

[ there are thousands of books to choose from, after all, and for all that she has been all but starving for stimulation, alisaie is sure that even a dusty old dictionary would keep her attention right now. stepping toward the nearest shelf, she drags her fingertip along the spine of a faded green tome. ]

I've never seen anything like this before..

[punshots]

[ She certainly seems taken with the library, and that's...good. It will keep her busy, and it might even bring her some sense of fulfillment. If nothing else, it might keep her out of his way, even if that means he avoids this place more. It isn't that her company is unpleasant, he's just so...unused to having any company at all, beyond the servants, and they had learned to give him a wide berth, falling into a lull of inactivity before she had arrived. Now they too engage him more often, and it's foreign. It's uncomfortable. Something he should stay away from, lest his heart rise out of the deep, dark place he has locked it away in.

And with her, any time he spends with her is only a reminder that she is only here because of him. He did this to her. He imprisoned her, but there's nothing else for it.

Sighing, he turns back towards the door. ]

I'll leave you to it, then.

[ He shouldn't overstay his time here with her. ]

[fearlessly]

[ she hardly knows where to begin. the bottom? the top? should she toss a hairpin somewhere in the middle and start with whatever it hits? there must be troves of knowledge hidden here, the town's - even the closest city's libraries are tiny in comparison to this, she can learn so much.

for the first time since her brother went missing, alisaie is smiling.

gliding down the shelf (it could certainly use a good dusting.. all of this could), her thoughts are interrupted by the cold steel of his voice again. her smile fades, and she turns. ]

All right.

[ a beat. ]

Thank you.

[punshots]

[ ...She's thanking him?

But...why? He hasn't shown her any kindness. All he did was show her where a room in the castle was, and that was only to keep her from stumbling into somewhere he didn't want her to see. She owes him no gratitude. Could she really mean that...?

From under his dark hood, he watches her for a moment in confusion, before shaking his head to himself and continuing on his way out of the library.

But before he disappears through the door, he mutters: ]

You are welcome.

[ And then he is gone. ]