The librarian and the Tin Man head back to the Great Stone to complete what must be done. With eyes certain and doubt alleviated, their goal is to reach out to everyone who hasn't been falling into the charm of a prince. But unfortunately, they were too late.

Right after the librarian came with a new companion, the feast ended and the prince's maniacal plan had come to share. But instead of disappointment and urging fear, many were moved and convinced to follow. They have left, scattered across the town, searching for something across the woods and stones. Or their homes.

*Crowd passing*

"Whoa, look at all of that people watching something interesting inside that theatre. And here you are looking at me instead..." Charger ridicules her.

"And yet they've missed the better show than I do. Now, where do Cyrus go...?" Eve searches.

"Who's that guy?"

"The guy I needed the most when I always in a problem. He's the best man, too."

Only one man stood with his feet and mind together—the cleric. Watching the people completing his quest sickens his stomach. His eyes and ears were fighting a battle that the librarian couldn't describe with words. But he was happy when he saw her alone.

Eve hides Charger inside her bag, trying to prevent Cyrus from catching a gaze on him.

"Cyrus. Cyrus?" She asked.

Cyrus shivered and stood alone on the street while mumbling incoherently at a wall.

"Cyrus? Cyrus, can you help me?"

"*mumbling continues*"

Eve slaps him by the face, and Cyrus snaps forward to look after the slapper.

"Oh, Eve? Is that you?" Cyrus puts up a face on her, "Where have you been? You've left the entire show without me!"

"Yes, it was me. How's the show?" Eve awaits with her arms crossed.

"The show? Oh, you've missed a lot! That man is no man, you hear me?"

"Aside from his lousy and dirty puppets, he is also a bad performer who relies a lot upon his wood friends. A lot of people were expecting a man!" The cleric boos at the sky.

The cleric struggles with something, but the librarian has no idea what he could have been hurting with. He couldn't concentrate and kept himself from grunting with pain, and he believed the prince had set him a trap. For him, the sun was fading from his eyes and his breath was short.

But hearing the librarian gives him hope, allowing him to keep his senses straight. Her voice seemingly cured him of his pain, and the cleric saw another light, but not from the sun. What the cleric felt was equal to poison. But this poison is strong because this poison came as an obsession.

Cyrus couldn't stop coughing and shivering despite the warm temperature around him.

"The Carven said this land belonged to them a few decades ago, and they were reclaiming it this year! Can you believe it?" Cyrus crashes out.

"That man is going to be here forever! This is madness!"

"Uhm...okay?" Eve stares awkwardly, "Wait, did you said he own this land? The entire Gold Creek?"

"Yes! And they are trying to restore the deed that would change everything here! Starting from Great Stone! Ugh, he's going to make everyone believe he's a hero!"

"Who do he think he is? He's no prince to me!"

"And what are you doing out here? Where have you been?"

The cleric felt like his gaze was locked to him, but he resisted and became a sole mind again. A little of him changes gradually like a poison turning in his veins, but the librarian believes it was simply himself debating. Hence, she wanted him to focus on something more important.

Eve opens a pack of gum to share with Cyrus. Cyrus willingly takes it.

"I've went around town while the show started. But now I'm thinking about building a raft on the Great Stone and I need you to help me."

"What? Why?" Cyrus was shocked.

"Duh! We're travelling out of this town together! Come on, Cyrus. Don't be a lazy guy and help me out..."

"But, isn't that dangerous? What comes into your mind when you think of that?"

"Determination. It's going to be a long journey into the unknown, and we can come home when we're an experienced adventurer and I'm a novelist with my own story."

Eve boasted around with her book lifted above her head.

"I can't tell if you're joking, Eve. And this is the first time I've seen you so eager for that."

"I'm not. And I can assure you, this isn't going to be a failure!"

Like every day, the librarian and the cleric always worked together to find their solution. But today, there was a difference—the librarian had to do it alone without the cleric. The cleric was not very happy, but he willingly accepted the deal for her.

He keeps warning her about the prince, yet the librarian leaves her without looking back. Her eyes were locked on the theatre, leaving the cleric alone as he recovered from his poison in an empty afternoon.

"Cyrus, can you help me? I need a cart quickly."

"What? Why? You just missed the theatre and now you're asking for a cart?" Cyrus pauses.

"I have a business to do in the library. I need to...uh...deliver a bunch of book."

"Okay, maybe you could look after the theatre? There should be one for his wood friends down the stage..."

"Not sure how do I know about this. But if that helps you, I guess you should be able to get a spare IF the prince would let you." Cyrus smugs.

"But be careful! Don't get caught with Dion! I have a bad feeling about him!"

"I swear I've never had a weird feeling about this before."

There were so many things to prepare before darkness was ahead. Yet in her mind, there was a tunnel of curiosity leading her into a place of all-woods and strings, which all came by the prince's domain. She and the Tin Man relish every piece of wealth they can collect so that it doesn't fall into waste.

"Thank you. Take care of yourself..."

"Okay, take care of yourself, too. Today was a terrible day for both of us as a sane person, am I right?"

Charger shook himself faintly at Eve's bag, releasing a faint clanking sound.

"Huh...?" Cyrus pokes his head out.

"Yeah, you're right. But you're as insane as those people right now. So I think it would be better if you take care of yourself first."

"What? Oh, don't bluff at me, Eve! I'll be right here—watching the stars..."

Cyrus returns to his awkward stance at the pole, murmuring at himself.

The last time the Tin Man was here, it was a mess turned into a path for the librarian. The theatre is sullen after the audiences have grown lazy and fooled by the royal treat. Yet there are many treasures that haven't been claimed at the stage where the three wooden men are keeping them from out of their clenches.

But the woodmen weren't there for a long time, as they immediately left and cleaned everything, including the gold and tinfoil treasure into a hatch leading below. The Tin Man was rushing to keep up his rest, ignoring the gold and plundering the shineless metal on the floor away from the librarian's grasp.

Dion gathered the puppets with a man into the hatch, leaving the two for the scraps. Charger began to salvage on his own before Eve.

"I knew this was a perfect place to get some scraps! The boy didn't even realize how much he wasted on the floor!"

"Yeah! But It's not enough." Eve said.

"Well, I don't think we have anything more here?"

"Oh, but we do, actually."

Eve pointed at the open hatch on the stage.

But It still wasn't enough. So they had to follow the men down, where they were met with a dark tunnel ahead. Cowardice grew into the Tin Man by the fear of nagging darkness as he gripped tightly on the librarian's arm at their descent. Yet to their surprise, they arrive elsewhere but the theatre.

It wasn't snow, but it was cold. It wasn't dark, but it was outside. It was lushful, but it was still dead. The tunnel led them far into a forest in the East, where the prince and his men were staying in a wooden house she had never seen before.

"Where are we?" Charger looks around.

Eve wandered around and realized the familiarity of the trees.

"East Wood. How did that long tunnel brought us here??"

"Whoa, that man must have built them long before you knew he was here."

"Definitely. But I'm afraid to ask what kinds of reason he needed an emergency hatch for?"

"Maybe for a wooden house so he can warm comfortably from the storm?"

Charger pointed out to the distance—a cabin was seen from a distance between the trees.

And as she expected, the prince was down with her, holding the portion of his wealth alongside his men. He stands here with a leap of heart, awe for the fame and pampers he has for the people. From what the librarian could remember, he was more of a man than this. But what they needed was right there—the remnants of his memory, and gold.

"Are you sure you wanted to stay here for an entire night, Mr. Carven? This job is too busy for you to handle. Let us do the favour instead!" A man whispers to him.

"I dictate what I couldn't handle, James. And these puppets are all my seven years of hard work with intensive art class and one hundred and fifty-six weeks of sculpting lessons."

"The only thing I couldn't handle here is your tone trying to wear me off from my dream job. Now get off home and do your wife a favour! It's an order!"

"Yes, sir!" The man left hurriedly to the backdoor of a parking lot.

"All of those words...I couldn't believe it..." Eve mumbled in a whisper.

"How many times do I have to tell them? My job, my business!"

The librarian thought, while scrapping off his lesser wealth behind his back with a wide eye—why would the prince keep himself busy with gold when fate would tear everything away from him in this very place? The busy Tin Man, on the other hand, looked forward at his treasures.

*Whisper* "It's working. He hasn't noticed yet!"

*Whisper* "Quiet! He will if you keep mumbling! This cart better does the deed."

*Whisper* "Oh, it does. Always more than enough to have something to carry your item away with ease."

Charger went outside through the backdoor leading to the parking lot at the theatre with the cart.

"Welp, time to work hard grinding tins and copper wires now! You're going to love it, Eve." Charger left safely with his cart.

"Eve?"

So the librarian looked back and perched at the prince out of curiosity, losing her sight of the goal for a lesser answer. She finds the man and the other woodmen discussing something, which she can only hear as a wisp in the wind. But rather than dancing for the gold as she had previously thought, the prince was lamenting by the lantern with a bored eye.

Dion holds a bill containing his planned funds. All were still unfinished but the theatre.

"Augh, why...? This is so messy..." Dion grunted.

"Why can't they just make it easy for me!?"

"I didn't even know who and what is this town! I'm stuck here!"

"By a rightful choice! Augh...huhuhu..."

Dion sat with a heavy head, arching down with a frown, and shed a tear of fear.

Maybe the prince was hopeless—Hopeless at the reckoning days over his supposed reign in this town. But his words and tones kept him sane, following the warmth of the fireplace beside him. He cheered as if he had no fear of the unknown—A foolish laugh.

Dion raises his head with determination.

"But I can do this. I have to..."

He glances at his woodmen and begins speaking in a word the librarian couldn't hear.

But there is something comforting about him. Something that only the librarian could feel just by looking at how free and happy he was, that it doesn't seem like madness. It appears like—delight. Seeing him makes her want to join.

Eve leans on the window, keeping her eyes on him.

"Should I look for him? He seems hopeless than I remember..."

"So dirty, disgusting, and even ragged like a beggar than I'll ever be with my college's debt."

"Maybe I should get closer and see what's the ruckus with this."

Eve went closer to the door, gently holding the knob loose without making a noise. Without her realization, a thin ice leaks from the water on the ground.

Ignoring the Tin Man, the librarian went closer to the house, trying to hear the lively sound of the conversation. The comforting warmth of the fire from his window reminds the librarian of the cleric and draws her closer like a moth. Unaware that she was stepping closer and closer, it was too late for her to step back.

"Closer—"

Eve slipped by her shoes as the ice was leaking down her foot.

"W-woah! Woah!!"

The door was opened by a barge, with her slipping inside unprompted.

"No, Mr. Brine! You—Huh?" Dion pauses.

The table went sullen in an immediate wind, and the guests looked awry with such a disdain not one face had ever seen from the prince. Yet what the prince saw was nothing but a truthless face seeking his peace desecration.

"Oww! Why did I have to be so clumsy??" Eve yelled.

"You—I know you." Dion approaches her.

"Uhm, hi." Eve calmly waves.

"What are you doing here? This isn't part of the show, and you've already overstayed your ticket."

"M-me? Don't mind me! I was just—"

Eve pauses with an idea.

"This is my home! I can go anywhere I want!" She defies.

The librarian stands remorseless, unable to contain the irresistible atmosphere inside and stands at the prince's stare. To her surprise, her bravery brought a welcome to the prince's eyes, prepared with a wooden cup filled with mashed berries on the table and a slice of cheese on the plate. It was as if she had become a special guest.

Dion stares with a tired eye as Eve adds a pinch of salt to his trouble.

"What are you talking about? Are you—live here?"

"Of course! I mean, somewhere around here. I think my house was somewhere around here and—"

"You followed me to the tunnel, didn't you?"

Dion's face went blank. Something was replacing it, but not happiness or sadness.

"You're the girl that said you didn't know me. You really don't?"

"You do realize you weren't supposed to, right?"

Yet something was off with the prince's gaze as if his eyes were seemingly off with the librarian. His sadness faded into dust, and he became drawn by the librarian.

"Y-yeah, I was just thinking around and I thought that maybe I could get home using that tunnel since I saw you heading east. So, I decided to follow you up the tunnel and—"

Eve pauses. Unable to handle the lie anymore, she goes straight for the truth.

"I'll be honest. I've missed your entire party and I came here hoping to get the rest of the treat. Am I still get a chance to use the ticket?" She pulls over her ticket.

"Didn't you just use it on the booth?"

"Can I? You seems alone."

A few minutes later.

The prince gave her water, food, and even a play she had never touched throughout her life. He tempted her to stay, offering his treats that the librarian couldn't refuse by the smell. She had never realized how hungry she was after longing for wisdom, but that was all the prince needed to let her stay.

"Thank you. I never thought you've been here longer than I imagined a man would in this town."

"Unlike them, I saw an opportunity to change this town for good. But I'll be honest that I don't like the way these people lived their life everyday." Dion serves her a wine.

"Much of them didn't seems to pay much to my performance and goes straight for admirance. Which isn't a bad thing if it didn't ruin my stage with their buzzing screams."

The savoury taste of cheese in her mouth changes everything. From just a pompous man, even the prince serves a proper dish only a wealthy man could have. She could eat as much as she could inside, lavishing over and over again while he was keeping her as a puppet. His smile, tempting like always, was the only thing she saw before she fell asleep.

"I must say, you and that boy was a best break I've had with someone than my servants. Hard to believe you didn't know me well around here..."

"Uh-huh. I can see that..." Eve starts to feel tipsy.

"Honestly, I'm more concerned how people that didn't know me would be sane. This must be a joke, isn't it?"

"All the people in this town seemingly pays little for the performance and more of the treat. But you know how I feel about that?"

"Terrible. All terrible..."

Eve continues eating his treat while ignoring her quest with Charger.

"But I must ask, Ms. Ainsley..."

"Mhm?" Eve drank the wine.

The wine following the woodmen's humming makes her tipsy. As she prepares for sleep, the prince pulls a needle from his pocket. A good needle sharpened and edged into nearly invisible to her eyes. The prince slowly reached behind her head with that needle tightly in his grip.

Dion grasped a cork with a nail attached to his hands and kneeled to see Eve straight by her face.

"There's something interesting about you when I first saw your face. Almost like seeing somebody long from a time lost in my grip."

"And for what I know, I do not recognize a fan. You were indeed, special..."

The cork reaches out to Eve's fingers, following a drip of wine leaking out to Eve's fingers.

Pak! The needle softly went in and out in a second before the librarian could notice. Blood pours out of her head like a sap from a tree. The smirk in the prince's face turned into a malicious intention as he drew closer to her head and sipped through the blood like a beast. Like a thirsty animal waiting for a droplet on a leaf, he finishes off every drop until her skull no longer bleeds.

Dion presses the cork up on Eve's head, assuring that he hasn't yet died from the alcohol.

"I could have just left you now. Kicked you out like any other girls. But I'm curious how that plays out with you..."

Dion checked over her wrist, but he found nothing odd.

Dion checked her neck, but he found nothing odd.

Dion checked over her hair, but he found nothing odd.

"Huh. I guess you're not a disguised paparazzi. Although your sweater makes a perfect hiding spot to hide a camera."

"Alright, you pass. Wake up!" Dion slaps her face.

When the librarian wakes from her sleep, she wakes as if nothing has happened and sees the prince waiting for her to leave. She didn't feel any pain, and blood didn't come out of her head anymore, yet she felt a sense of nagging that couldn't be described with words.

The librarian felt tired and weakened at the prince's door right before she left him. Her head itches, but she can't rub it out of her. Her eyes felt dazed as she couldn't focus directly on his face. But the prince helps her to the way out of the door with a smile before licking off the blood from his tongue and thinking of what he was doing.

"Uhm? Huh? Where am I? What am I?" Eve looks around with panic.

"You're in my cabin, sleeping beauty. Looks like you overjoyed your stay here..."

"Aren't you a greedy one?" Dion teases.

"Oh, right. I got to go now—I have something to do in the library."

"I know. You've overstayed yourself. Now get out before I kick you out,"

Dion opens the door for her.

That was the last time she had seen him after, and the only thing left in her head was that unfamiliar taste of the wine that grew spiky around her tongue. Her eyes stared into the sun to see that it was not as bright as she remembered.

"What's wrong with him?"

"After everything I've done to him? She thinks I'm a paparazzi?"

"I regret drinking wines from a wealthy man now."

But what matters is that the Tin Man caught up to her, and she was as alive as they had to. Somehow, it makes the librarian more invigorated to complete what she should have done before. Maybe it was the wine, but it felt seemingly strong. And now, the only thing left in her head was the determination to leave the place.

"Where have you been, Eve?" Charger confronted her in the forest.

"Huh? What? Who's Eve? Oh, right..." Eve snaps from the daze.

"I smelled wine. You've been drinking with him? That's bad for you!"

"What? I've got my treat well there. Just talking with him and now I feel even better! He's so amazing. Parts of me wonder if he wants to join our adventure..."

"Nope! We never agreed to that, Eve! We've only agreed with two people, okay? No more!" Charger yelled.

"Aw, come on! Not like anyone could compromise our mission here!"

"They do, actually. And someone here could caught up to us and aborted our mission."

Charger drags the cart away into the tunnel, followed by Eve from behind.

"Actually, I think Dion's starting to make more sense to me than you. At least he isn't some beggar on the street..." Eve mumbled tauntingly.

"Wow, and here I thought you would've been considerate, Eve. Maybe tins were my truest friend all along."

Out of nowhere, Cyrus appears between their conversation through trees as he spots Eve by the hair.

"Hey, Eve! There you are. I've been looking for you! Where have you been this morning? What am I supposed to do with this whole day—" Cyrus appears from the back road with concern.

"—alone?" He pauses. What he saw before him was his friend in an untimely event.

*Cricket noises*

"I have a lot of questions." He raises his fingers.

Perhaps now, the librarian paid more attention.