#first non cain card story tl and it's for one of my yume comrades [salutes]

[cainluvr69]

"Willfully Playful" Owen SSR Card Story - The Flowerfall Game Hall, With You ~ Invitation for Owen

the recordings for this were provided by known owen yume dante!

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Cain: Oh, here you are.

Akira: Owen!

Owen: Munch munch…

Mithra: Owen, those people have something they need from you.

Owen: What do you want…? In case you can't tell, I'm in the middle of something right now.

Cain: Are you two eating dinner together? It's definitely that time of night when you start getting hungry.

Owen: This is my tart. I'm not giving you any.

Mithra: I don't want anything but meat, anyway.

Akira: No, we're not here to eat… Owen, it's going to be your birthday soon, so I wanted to invite you to the Flowerfall Game Hall.

Owen: The Flowerfall Game Hall… Oh, that mini playground thing. An old friend of Shylock's made it a fancy place to play around in. I think.

Cain: If you already know about it, that'll make this faster. Akira wants to escort you there to celebrate your birthday. You can get there through this miniature of a door.

Akira: Will you accept my invitation, Owen? I'll escort you properly, so you can have a fun time and stuff…!

Owen: Hmmm. If I get to have fun there, does that mean I can mess it up as much as I want?

Akira: Huh?! Um, it's not mine, so I'd prefer if you didn't go wild in it…

Mithra: Munch. You might as well go.

Owen: Hey. You just took some of my fruit.

Mithra: There's not enough meat and I'm hungry. That little playground wasn't too bad of a place, you know. There was a place that I thought you might enjoy too, maybe. I only saw it while I was riding on horseback through the sky, though…

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According to Mithra, he'd seen what sounded like a European-style house standing in a dark corner of the grounds. It sounded a whole lot like some kind of scary haunted house-like attraction.

Cain: Now that you mention it, I think I saw a place like that too when we were high enough up. I remember thinking that just that one part of the park looked creepy and weird…

Owen: Oh? And here I was thinking it'd be nothing but kid's toys all lined up together.

Akira: (That's the kind of thing Owen's interested in…?!) Um… If you want to go there, I'd be happy to take you there! I'm a little scared of things like that, but I can ask Shylock about it and get ready for it…

Owen: You don't need to do that. Hey, how do we go to this Game Hall?

Akira: Oh, um, write your name on the invitation and then recite your spell, and the door will open. I do have an invitation already prepared…

I presented the invitation, and with a flourish of magic, Owen pulled a pen out from thin air and smoothly wrote his name down on it.

Akira: Huh?

Cain: What, you want to go there right now?

Owen: Might as well.

Owen grinned broadly at me and Cain, both of us wide-eyed.

Owen: There's nothing I love more than people's faces twisted in fear, screams ripped from their throats. <Cure Memini>

The invitation began to flicker with light, and the door to the Game Hall began to open. The entire area was draped in mist.

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When the mist cleared up, we were standing in a place that looked a lot like an amusement park, with rides all around us.

Akira: We're really just here now… But I'm glad you accepted my invitation, Owen. Thank you so much. That outfit suits you wonderfully.

Owen: I guess this outfit isn't horrible or anything. Even if it did put itself on me without permission.

One aspect of the Flowerfall Game Hall's hospitality was giving the person invited into it an outit that suited them perfectly.

Owen: More importantly. We don't need anything from the fluffy, frilly place. Where's that haunted house?

Akira: Ah, hold on…!

Owen was on his broom before I knew it, and I was left chasing after him. Before long, however, we arrived at the house we'd been told about.

Owen: So this is it.

Just as we'd heard, this was the only part of the park that the sun didn't reach, shrouding it in a sinister, unearthly air. There were even strange animal cries from something just out of sight.

Akira: This feels really…real… This is the only part of all the fancy scenery that feels out of place…

Owen: Why are you just standing there? Didn't you say you were going to escort me? I'm looking forward it. Come on, let's go in already.

Akira: O-okay…!

Owen pushed me forward, a faint smile dancing on his lips, and I tamped down all my fears and opened the door. The inside of the manor was even darker than it was outside, and there was an unpleasant chill in the air. My eyes darted back and forth over things I couldn't quite see as I took a single, fearful step forward.

Akira: It's pretty dark… Owen, be sure to watch your feet… …Huh? I feel like I just stepped on something soft…

Owen: It's just a bunch of fabric. Maybe someone's scattered clothing?

Akira: Oh, you're right. But whose clothes are these…?

As those words were coming out of my mouth, something wrapped around my ankle.

Akira: ?!

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I started to panic and looked down--and immediately met the eyes of a face staring at me from within the fabric confines of the fallen clothing. Its eye sockets were sunken and hollow, and its bones rasped hollowly against one another as it opened it mouth.

Skull: Wel…come…

Akira: Waugh!!

Owen: Ahaha. Aren't you so happy? It's welcoming you. Come on, we're still standing in the door. Don't just stand there looking stupid, get yourself in already.

Akira: D-don't push on me like that…wahh, those paintings are laughing!

I was surrounded on all sides by frightening phenomena, but I still pressed forward, timidly though it was. There was a blood-red door laying in wait for us at the end of this dark and decrepit hallway. Even its very form, the curves of its handle, the carvings in the wood, was ominous. I was on edge. More on edge than I'd ever been before.

Akira: Ahh… There's definitely something lurking behind this…

Owen: Are you scared?

Owen tilted his head, watching me carefully. His mismatched eyes gleamed with a dark light, one that threatened to swallow me up.

Owen: I'm having a lot of fun right now, you know. If you say you hate it here, are we going to turn back?

Akira: …N-no…it's fine…

And then I heard a sound from above us--and when I looked up, something was falling from the ceiling.

Akira: …Watch out!

Owen: !

The second after I grabbed Owen's hand and pulled him out of the way, several skeletons swung down from above us, hanging suspended in the air.

Akira: …Huh? I thought they were going to hit us…

Owen: …Ahaha! You were the one who told me to watch out. Should someone as cowardly as you be saying the one saying that here? …But that's a lovely expression on you. Pale, desperate, and completely pathetic.

Owen's face drew close to mine, like a snake scenting its prey. His voice was as sweet and heavy as honey as he slowly, slowly reached his hand towards me.

Owen: Let me see that face as much as I want today, okay?

With a smile as seductive as an anglerfish's lure, Owen pushed the bloody door at my back open.

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Akira: Haah… Haah… We're finally out…

Owen: Oh, that was odd. What was that last scream? I haven't even heard anything like that from a crazed hen.

Akira: But, but, a severed head rolled down the stairs, and it startled me…!

Owen: You're such a wimp. If you get so scared by everything that comes at you like that, you'll need an extra heart for when your first one gives out. Oh, what a laugh. Just remembering it is getting to me.

I could see tears in the corners of his eyes. It felt like his laughter was more…open and genuine than it usually was. All his defenses were down.

Akira: (I don't think I've ever seen Owen laughing like this before.) (It was a heck of an adrenaline rush, but I'm glad I committed to doing this…)

It was pretty scary, but I was still happy to see Owen enjoying himself from the bottom of his heart. It made me want to say it to him one more time.

Akira: …Happy birthday, Owen. I hope this year is a wonderful one for you.

Owen: …

When Owen turned his gaze to me, something white started falling from the sky.

Akira: Ah…

Owen: What is this. Flower petals?

When the Flowerfall Game Hall had satisfied the heart of the person who'd been invited into it, the exit door would open, and this rain of flower petals was the cue. We were wrapped in a pale mist, our vision fading to white.

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Mithra: Oh, they're back.

Cain: Woah, they are! Welcome home, you two.

It took hearing Mithra's voice for me to realize we were back in the dining hall. Cain rushed over to us, looking worried.

Cain: I was starting to get worried you'd never come back. Um…did everything go okay?

Akira: Ahaha. It did, somehow…

Owen: Hm?

Owen tilted his head to one side and looked me over.

Owen: They didn't come back with us. And they suited you so well.

Akira: What do you mean by "them"…?

Owen: You had so many hands gripping onto you. On your shoulders and your arms. Hands of bone, and hands of flesh and blood.

Akira: …What?! Y-you're kidding, right…?!

I felt the blood drain from my face as I swatted at my arms and shoulders to make sure nothing was there, but Owen just grinned at me, looking as satisfied as he would stuffing an extra helping of dessert into his mouth.

Owen: Well now. Who knows?

Sub Story: The Whereabouts of the Stolen Meat

Akira: Oh, good evening, Owen. I see you're eating alone tonight.

Owen: What do you mean, "tonight".

Akira: When I came to give you the invitation to the Flowerfall Game Hall a while ago, you were eating with Mithra… I feel like I see the two of you together a lot.

Owen: That's just coincidence. That time he was only there because he was trying to steal the fruits off my fruit tart. So the next day I stole the meat he was going to have for dinner as payback and we almost killed each other about it. It's not like I'm ever around him because I want to be.

Akira: You two do tend to try to kill each other if you're around each other for too long…

Owen: Well, you know how it is. But about when we tore a hole in the roof, the twins suddenly popped out. They said whoever started it was the one in the wrong, so Mithra was the only one who got lectured about it. And he made that face he always does when he's like, "Hahh?" It was so funny.

Akira: Ahaha… That sounds like a very lively dinner. By the way, did you eat the meat that you stole, Owen? Although I honestly can't really picture you eating that kind of thing…

Owen: I would have, but the idea of eating something Mithra had been rubbing his grubby hands all over is disgusting. Who knows where he's been and what he's been touching. So I gave it to Sir Knight.

Akira: You gave it to Cain?

Owen: Yep. It's more like I forced it on him, actually. Like how you throw stuff into the trash? Like that. It's what he's there for. He gave me some sweets from a new shop in the capital as thanks. He acts all upright and proper about the weirdest things.

Akira: (He says that, but he looks pretty happy about it…) (Knowing he enjoyed himself at the Game Hall and that he had another good day right after makes me happy too, though.)

#.mhyktl #.cardtl #owen (mhyk) #first non cain card story tl and it's for one of my yume comrades [salutes]