Old Smiles burst into flames. More accurately, the dresser on which the man was sitting burst into flames. Old Smiles himself, however, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a mannequin with a burning paper nailed to its forehead sat in the same position he had been, now unmoving.
"He's made of wood!?" Linnie shouted in disbelief.
He looked back at the three of them, but noticed that Liora had moved from the entrance. He turned back and saw her standing behind what used to be Old Smiles, a curious expression on her face.
"Guys, it's just a trick!" Liora called out. "Look!"
She pointed to the paper, which had on it some obviously magical symbols.
"An illusion...?" Marielle asked to no one in particular.
Linnie carefully crept forwards, inching closer and closer to the wooden figure. "Huuuuh!?"
"Ow!" Liora cried.
"I knew it, he's real! Get back!"
"No, it's the fire. It burned me."
"Oh."
Marielle finally walked over to the burning dresser—albeit, very reluctantly. By this point, though, the complete lack of reaction from the mannequin pretty much confirmed it.
Whatever it was, it was dead.
That didn't stop the young lady from summoning her sword from the air—a spectacle that still impressed Linnie—and cleaving the thing's head off.
"A... trick. Is it magic?" she asked, turning to Linnie.
"How am I supposed to know?"
"Can't you sense mana?"
He frowned. "I guess I can, yeah."
Linnie focused very hard, squinting his eyes with extreme force.
"Uh, I think it's magic?"
"You think?"
"I don't know. I'm not an expert. And that paper's already all burned up now."
The lady wasn't satisfied with the answer, but really, what could you expect from the boy? He barely knew a single spell... two, actually, if you count a useless mana ball.
"Is it s-s-s-safe to c-come near?" Prince asked.
Linnie just rolled his eyes and continued past the illusion of Old Smiles.
"You think this skeleton's an illusion, too?" Liora asked.
"Why's everyone asking me questions!? Stop!"
"...Um, okay. I was just making conversation."
The Siaryn skipped over to the large skeleton. Trying to touch it revealed that it too was an illusion. Instead of a large wooden dragon, there was simply nothing there. It was safe to say that there was probably another piece of magical paper, but there was no real way of finding it.
'Of course this whole thing's an illusion. How could one man eat an entire dragon? It'd spoil way before anyone would be able to do that. Unless...'
"The door! It's over here, guys!" Liora called out to the three of them.
They walked through the exit with haste, arriving at another room. This time, it was Ol' Dorthy and her 'pups'—a three-headed hellhound the size of a house. But, this too wasn't real.
In this room, Marielle discovered the woman (and her dog's) classic foil known by all—a pot (that you must fill with water), and a well (to fill the pot with).
There, the four of them realized that they were supposed to be defeating these folklore creatures with the items left hidden around the rooms.
Of course, Linnie's trusty fireball was a lot more efficient.
After that was Nellie Longarms. She had... long arms. But she wasn't real, either, and a fireball quickly turned her back into wood.
After that was another one, and another one, and another one, and a few more until they finally reached what seemed to be the end.
"This horror house is shit," Linnie finally said. "Are all horror houses like this?"
"We're not even doing it right!" Liora whined. "I bet it'd be fun if we solved the puzzles and stuff!"
"N-n-no... I like this way..." Prince said. "Get out as s-s-soon as possible."
"Hmmm, I feel like it's too scary for most of the kids I saw entering," Marielle said with a frown. "Imagine everyone else who didn't have a convenient fire spell to burn the ritual paper. They're probably being scared to death..."
"Naw, I doubt it," Linnie said nonchalantly.
"You doubt it? Any reason for that, or do you just like disagreeing with people?"
"Damn. I just meant, everyone knows it's fake, so why would they be scared?"
"It's not that simple."
"Are you sure you aren't just saying that because you thought it was real for a second, like an idiot?"
"That's literally exactly why I'm saying it, dumbass! And I'm not an idiot!"
"Who cares about any of this," Liora groaned. "I wanna know how we went through so many different rooms and didn't run into anyone else? How's this place got so many rooms!?"
"Uh, magic, duh? The owner's probably a wizard or something. Or they hired a wizard." Linnie scoffed.
"Wizards can do that sort of thing!?"
Marielle sighed and shook her head, speeding ahead. Liora was right in front of Linnie, and Prince was behind him. The hall they were walking through was getting narrower as they, hopefully, approached the exit.
The floor beneath them was old, dusty, and wobbly wood. Linnie thought he could see a dark abyss between the cracks, but believed it was just the light playing tricks.
"The exit! Finally!" Marielle said from up ahead.
Liora ran ahead of them to catch up. Marielle opened the door, allowing the cool evening air and setting sun's light to rush in.
'I feel like we're missing something..."
"Lady! Where'd Lady go!?"
From the doorway, Liora turned around with a smile.
"Don't worry, she's been with me! Since the Old Smiles room, I've kept her in my robes, see?"
Liora pulled the breast of her robes away from her body, causing a violent and panicked rustling to come from her chest.
"Ow! Bad Lady—I was protecting you!"
"Hiss!"
Lady jumped from Liora's arms and at Linnie. She unceremoniously smashed into his face, causing him to stumble backwards into The Prince. They both fell to the floor, causing a crack in the creaky hardwood. Strangely, though, it felt as if he was falling a lot farther than he should have been.
Prince's screams were drowned out by the sound of wind in his ears, and he realized that the 'crack' wasn't a crack at all, but a break.
The floorboards collapsed beneath their weight.