taocc-bakery

[taocc-bakery]

Within a temple in Egypt, a room is soaked in rain...

The flood slightly pours out into the hallway underneath the sliding doors, the fabric and walls not doing much to stop the flooding. She sits on her bed, kicking her bare feet idly into the pool beneath her, splashing the wall across from her repeatedly.

Her room is small, but grand, covered in beads, jewels, and colorful paint, the golden walls engraved with hieroglyphs of her childhood stories and her brother.

It has been taking her a while to get used to her new place, shocked and winded by waking up in an entirely new place... an entirely new place, where her brother lived happily, with his boyfriend (????) as a great king of Egypt.

The wall is soaked now, with tiny droplets caught in each engraving and dripping below them. She leans down and cups some water in her hands, throwing it at an engraving that she hadn't noticed before.

A single hieroglyph of a roaring fire, next to writing that roughly notes: "She will save us."

Umbra is getting deja vu, somewhere deep down.

[taocc-bakery]

I... I am happy that you enjoy them. Even if they are not in the... Best shape, hmhmhmh...

...I love you, Umbra. I truly do. You... I...

Sarah stammers and gestures vaguely, trying to figure out how to properly articulate how she feels, but fails to find the words, instead just looking down at the floor and blushing like a teenager experiencing her first ever crush.

...happy Valentine's day. She murmurs.

Umbra stammers similarly, but instead of looking down she just lays her head in Sarah's neck and quietly wraps around her.

h.ap y valentjnes dday t.to you,, too....<3

[taocc-bakery]

Sarah is taken aback by Umbra's extremely positive reaction, but is overjoyed nonetheless.

I presume that means you like them, then! She says, chuckling slightly before reaching out to Umbra to kiss her in return.

Umbra smiles and clutches the flowers close to herself, moving to sit with Sarah.

i do... i r-really., d-do...

[taocc-bakery]

Thank you, I am aware that I always look gorgeous... ...Not as gorgeous as you, however... A-Anywhom--

She shakily pulls the roses out from behind her back and offers them to Umbra. They've all very clearly been torn up from Sarah clawing them and petals have fallen off of quite a few. ...I apologize for their state, I have never been... ...She trails off, seeming genuinely ashamed of the bouquet's state.

Umbra flusters more, gently taking the bouquet from her fingers, shaking quietly.

t-th.. they're b-beautiful...

She brushes a handful of the petals with her fingertips, then cups one flower head with one hand.

i... i...

Umbra bursts into tears, though she's smiling and beaming and kissing the flowers and nervously (but excitedly) reaching out to kiss Sarah.

[taocc-bakery]

She walks inside, very poorly trying to hide a bouquet of roses that, from what is visible, are... Certainly not in the best condition, to say the least.

...Oh my, you look wonderful, darling.

a-and you as well... Umbra blushes seeing both Sarah and the flowers, as well as at the compliment... she was practically- or, well, literally- melting already.

[taocc-bakery]

May I come in, dearest? I've, ehm... Got something... For you... Sarah says, looking back at Umbra but unable to fully see her through the small opening just yet.

Sarah, for once in her life, sounds genuinely nervous, even a bit... ashamed.

o-oh- um, yes, of course, d-dear...

Umbra gently slides open the door, taking a nervous step back to let Sarah inside.

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Someone is, very hesitantly, knocking at Umbra's door.

Umbra...?

oh- oh, oh dear, um- um-

Frantic footsteps can be heard from the other side of the door. It peeks open slightly, the crack revealing Umbra just barely in a gorgeous gold and pink outfit.

y-yes?

[taocc-bakery]

...

(She pulls out a jar and begins scooping her up.)

Umbra, my dearest, my beloved, I love you, but how does this keep occurring?

This is beginning to become a pattern of sorts... What it is a pattern of is... not fully known to me, however it is a pattern nonetheless.

i dunnoooo... :(( hack.... sob...

[taocc-bakery]

...Oh dear... What has occurred this time...?? (Sarah asks, looking down at the puddle.)

j.just. b.blllleeehhhh... ;(

[taocc-bakery]

(Knock knock...)

Sweetheaaaarrrrrt?

u.um, um,, yes d-dear?...

Umbra is in a puddle on the floor.

[taocc-bakery]

Memory of SCREAMING - When Memory of SCREAMING is equipped, your Healer and your Rogue will have +10 Defense.

Do you think they'll be done soon?

I guess. But not for long.

It never is.

[taocc-bakery]

Umbra is huddled up with her umbrella. It's pouring, and her eyes are unfocused, her mouth turned into a grimace.

The bakery is flooding, with the moss etched into the tiles in the floors only able to drink some before it overflows. The vines sparkle with droplets as the regularly-cozy ceiling thunders as rain flies through the cracks in the rotten wood and broken stone.

Umbra can see a single face in front of her; one that makes her recoil. The umbrella hurts to hold, with her knuckles turning white as she grips its slick handle, her sweat just as staining as the water rushing to her sides.

Petrified, an amalgamation of fabric gauze and scribble skin stands in front of her.

Umbra squeaks hearing the creature's grating voice. She almost splits in two out of fear, but manages to breathe... breathe.

UUUMMMBBBRRRAAA. I HEAR THAT IS WHAT THEY CALL YOU HERE. I SIMPLY FIND IT STUPID TO CHANGE YOUR NAME AFTER YOU GET HERE. WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO HIDE FROM?

i-i don't know what- p-please-

UMBRA. DEAR, MISS, UMBRA. YOU ARE A FOOL. NOBODY CAN HIDE FROM SOMEONE WHO SEES EVERYTHING.

y-you're not supposed to- p-please leave my bedroom...

YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, DON'T YOU, ROGUE?

Unfortunately, she does. She shakes her head slowly, trying to fake it, knowing she will be seen through clearer than glass.

I KNOW YOU KNOW WHERE HE IS.

i- i don't know who you're talking about. p-please don't-

TELL ME WHERE HE IS!!

ʷʰᵒ ᶦˢ "ʰᵉ"ˀ

YOU KNOW. YOU KNOW. YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHO HE IS.

i- i really don't. please. please let me- let me- get- i- i need to, um-

I'VE SEARCHED EVERYWHERE. BUT ONE SINGLE PLACE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCOMPANY ME FOR MY SECOND VISIT?

n-no. i don't... i really don't know who or what or-

STELLA CHIONE THARWAT. IT WAS NOT A QUESTION.

Umbra squeals as she is grabbed by the collar of her raincoat, clutching onto the umbrella for dear life. She closes it for a moment to swing at Ilas's face, making contact with his papery skin before opening it to pull him back towards him with the sharp skeleton wiring.

She fell to the floor with a screech from Ilas and a slosh, disappearing into the cracks for a moment just to land on Ilas's head and grab his own collar, pulling it back tightly as she gripped onto one of his ram's horns and tugged the other way, trying to make him choke.

A scorpion tail aimed for her arm, to which she swiftly dodged, wailing as she sunk into his skin for a moment just to appear out the other side and dive under the bed into the sloshing floodwater. By now, it seemed more like a monsoon.

She quivered under the bed for a while, watching as Ilas slowly looked for her, just to muster the courage to dive up and smack him down into the water, grabbing his horn again to hold him still as she struggled to hold his head under. She grinded her knee into his hand, begging in her head, pleading, praying, just for her to go flying back into a wall with one quick buck from Ilas and to see him draw a dagger that had been sheathed under one of the thick scales of his tail.

Her adrenaline-fueled strength was ebbing as much as it was flowing, but as she saw the glint of that knife against the shaking sea around her, she dipped down into the waters, scattering her consciousness around the bakery home. She felt Ilas try to grab at her, to find her seperate clones, but nothing stayed in his hands long enough to keep from evaporating.

Ilas storms out in frustration, and it is so, so, very warm.

[taocc-bakery]

*puts a tray beneth her so shr doesnt fall through the floor*

tha...nk yoyu.....

[taocc-bakery]

we luv u umbra qvq

just. Melting. Going through it. Splitting apart again

[taocc-bakery]

hug

weeping noises

t.th..ank y,yo u...

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i-i don't know!! i just slipped and... aaahh.... :(

Her puddle, now split into many different tiny droplets, shakes, and Umbra flops onto the floor, formed again, seeming a bit... Smaller than usual?...

...There's another Umbra. There's 2. There's a clone of Umbra right there, mimicking her every move.

@taocc-bakery

...Oh dear, this is a mess...

Umbra, my darling, how do you feel at the moment...? Er... How do either of you feel at the moment?

[taocc-bakery]

*puts her in a bottle*

*zelda item get sfx*

aaaaaaaaa.... :(