Author Note: -drags body out from the depths- I’M SO SORRY EVERYONE I HAVEN’T UPDATED IN WEEKS I HAD NO INTERNET OH GAD THE AGONY @_@ I hope you guys are still with me and if not well…..okay I might be a bit sad lol How have you guys been? What have I missed? Tell me anything~ Last update (but I’m pretty sure I double updated hahaha) the Dolls went over to Master Jaebeom’s for help, The Mistress’ Doll Katalena was sent to spy on Chrys, if she can remember to do so, and Mark is still not in one piece. Chrys? Chrys what are you going to do about this mess hmmmm?? Please enjoy this week’s update of Playhouse m(_ _)m Do you want to play?
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He thought she wouldn’t notice but she did. For the week she’s stayed here in this small little cottage in the more country side outside of Seoul Chrysalis noticed that Chanyeol always wandered off as night came.

She would keep her eyes closed as he awkwardly tip toed towards the bed and knelt by her side quietly.

He’d wave his hand in front of her, what he thought, was a sleeping face then he would slip out of his sliding door and not be home until a few hours before the sun came up.

Once the sun came up and they were both awake you would never suspect he’d only sleep a couple of hours a night, he was such a ball of energy.

That wasn’t the only thing she found odd. He would have random visitors throughout the day. It could be early in the morning when they were having breakfast or the dead of night after he just returns from where he’s been.

They were mostly small children or the elderly. She would watch from inside as he knelt to the height of the group of small kids and listen intently to what they have to say.

Some had worried faces and some would be excited to see him as if he were their most favorite person in the world.

Their clothing was basic, Earth colored tones that fit loosely and Chrys couldn’t help but smile at the cute little hats they would wear that reminded her of the Dwarfs from Snow White.

When elderly visited he would immediately help them to the wooden bench he keeps on the edge of his garden and they would smile and shake their heads as he offered them a taste of the various berries he proudly grew.

As bright as his smile was his expression could also grow very dark and it would send a shiver down her spine. As he’d listen to them his jaw would clench, his eyes would grow dark and serious and it would be as if that playful ball of energy was just an illusion or something. But she would never ask him about the visitors or what made him so upset, it wasn’t her business.

Today she crouched next to Chanyeol as he wore his gardening gloves and clipped off the dead branches of his fruit bushes, which she‘s never done before.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to him, he’s proven himself to be a nice person but the black vortex feeling inside of her from being away from Mark was away her energy and ability to speak.

It took a few days for her body to stop shivering, for her stomach to stop trying to escape through , and for her to stop crying. She had to reassure Chanyeol that she wasn’t a drug user going through withdrawal because that’s what it looked like to him at first and he didn‘t like liars, he‘s made this very clear.

But that was what she was. A person going through withdrawal from being cut off from the most powerful drug known on Heaven and Earth, love.

What were the girls doing right now? Has Miss Mona found a way to help Mark?…..Was Mark okay?

She was about to frown from the thought but she looked up curiously as Chanyeol took off his straw hat and placed it on her head with a smile.

“Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing you know Hahaha!…..I was talking about the sun?…..You know what never mind you looked like you were thinking about something I’m sorry! I’m just going to be quiet now……”

He stutters his words as his face glows pink and he returns his attention to his task at hand.

“Can I help?”

She whispers quietly and he lifts his head up and looks all around curiously with arched brows. He turns to her and his face lights up dramatically.

“Oh! You said that! I thought I was just hearing things! It wouldn’t be the first time~ Not that I hear things a lot! I mean I do that’s what ears are for!……Crap……”

He hands her the gardening clips and tells her to cut off the darker branches that are beginning to wilt so that new ones can grow in their place.

She frowns. All the branches looked the same to her. After a moment of watching her completely lost Chanyeol points to a branch and tells her to clip it and he laughs that it takes her two hands to cut through it.

“You have to get rid of the dark in your life so something bright can take it’s place you know? If you don’t do it no one else will and nothing will change. Take these branches for example, they’ve served their purpose and like all things they come to their end and get clipped away, making way for something new.”

Chrys picked up the dead branch and examines it then peers up at him with rounded empty eyes.

“Can’t you save it?”
“Sometimes things can’t be saved but a lot of times they can if you really try.”
“Even when people say there‘s nothing you can do? That you can’t?”
“I’m a firm believer in if you try hard enough you can do anything but something tells me we’re not talking about my plants hahaha.”

Chanyeol peers up at the sun and whistles.

“I’m gonna go get us some lemonade then we can talk more. This is so exciting this is the most you’ve talked all week! Not that I noticed you not talking! It’s not like I was hoping for you to talk or anything!……Gonna go now…..Oh Crap!”

He gets flustered and stands, heading for the house but he yelps and falls to the floor, rolling a few feet and sprawls out in the dirt. This wasn’t the first time this week that it’s happened, in fact it was beginning to get strange.

“Coooooool Chanyeol very coooooool”

He laughs it off then grows silent as Chrys crawls over and sprawls out on the ground as well with her head next to his.

“You’re very…free spirited…you remind me of someone”
“It’s the way I roll Hahaha Get it? Cause I’m always rolling??…..Uh-huh shut up Chanyeol…..”

They basked in the sun, watching the birds as they flew over head in complete silence and for that moment Chrys felt something she hadn’t since she left the manor, peace.

“Someone close to me…..he’s in a trouble…..”
“Oooh La La El Amore~ hehehe…..Oh wait you’re being serious right now! I’m sorry! I’m listening!”
“I was told the only way I could help him was by staying away from him, but I didn’t want to leave him……”
“Then why did you?”
“Because I wanted to save him…..It’s complicated…..”
“There’s nothing complicated about that at all Chrys. You can’t help by running away from the problem. You gotta face it head on and if you didn’t want to leave him then you didn’t have to. No one can dictate your life, it’s yours and yours alone.”

Chrys sits up and peers down at Chanyeol curiously. That was the most serious she’s ever heard him be and it felt as though he were a totally different person.

He opens his eyes realizing himself and he chuckles and hits himself in the head making a bonk sound.

“But what do I know? Hahaha I’m just a lone gardener~”
“Why do I feel like you’re lying?”

Chanyeol hums curiously as Chrys’ true thoughts become known. The going out at night, the random visitors, the mood swings, she knew deep down he wasn’t just a lone gardener.

His eyes narrow and he smiles.

“I feel the same way about you Chrys and you know how much I hate liars but for you I think I can make an exception just this once.”

He stands and dusts himself off and she cringes as he once again trips over air but this time they both look towards the rustling leaves on the tree. Did they hear giggles?

“Did you hear that?”
“Yes.”
“Oh great now we’re both hearing things, trees can’t giggle am I right? Maybe it’s the heat getting to us, I’ll go get that lemonade now.”

He disappears into the house and Chrys crawls over and leans her back against the rough bark of the mighty tree.

She looks up at the branches, the sunlight twinkling in the empty spaces and leaving pretty designs on her skin. Trees can’t giggle can they? It wouldn’t be the strangest thing she’s encountered.

She closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath. He’s right. She can’t fix a problem by running away from it. She was Mark’s Deity, she loved him, she shouldn’t have left him to battle some evil Puppeteer by himself even if she would only be a hazard.

He needed her and she needed him and so do her family. She’s been alone for most of her life and to suddenly start taking orders from someone, especially some evil Demon lady who tried to kill her and pushed her out of a window, Gunny would be disappointed in her for giving up so easily.

The vortex inside her grows stronger as she thinks of Mark. The way he smiled at her, held her, made her laugh, made her miss him and the sinking feeling made her want to crawl into a hole and die but the more she thought of going back to him no matter what she had to do the stronger she felt, the lighter she felt and she manages the biggest smile she has all week.

She opens her eyes with a new found determination and her breath hitches. Someone’s hanging upside and staring right in her face with dark empty eyes that flash silver.

Before Chrys can scream the person places a finger in front of her lips and a wave of recognition washes over her instantly.

“Chima…….”

Katalena smiles and drops to the ground and before impact she turns into a shadow and phases through the ground making Chrys’ eyes grow wide.

Chima and Chrysalis went to the same orphanage together. The small girl was only four at the time, left abandoned in front of the church.

She had a pixie cut, honey copper hair with dark eyes too big for her head. She was so small and people often mistook her for a boy.

The orphanage was such a terrible place they never noticed Chima because she never spoke and always hid. But there was one way Chrys managed to coax her out.

In the sunlight she sticks her hand out so the outline is on the ground and Katalena shifts into a tiny shadow person and hugs the thumb of the shadow making Chrys giggle in disbelief.

Shadow puppets. In the dead of night when everyone was asleep Chrys would walk over to Chima’s bed and make shadow puppets in the moonlight to coax the girl out from under the bed.

From then on the small girl became her own personal shadow, following her everywhere and the two watched out for each other, until the men started harassing Chrys and she ran away leaving Chima alone.

Chima follows her out into the rain and loses sight of her and the orphanage and she drops to her knees, alone and scared. That’s when a Demon finds her, a Demon who turned her into a Doll then left her causing her to become a Rogue Doll and The Mistress took her in.

“It’s really you?”

The small shadow morphs into the Demonic form with horns and slanted eyes and nods. Chrys eyes water and she slaps her hand over to hold back her sob as memories flood her mind.

There were so many things she wanted to say to the small girl. How she wanted to explain why she left and never came back.

“I’m so sorry…..Oh Chima I’m so sorry!”

She wanted to apologize. Apologize for leaving her alone when she was the one she needed the most and most importantly apologize for forgetting about her.

The Demonic shadow frowns. A black tentacle comes out of the ground and wipes away her glistening tears and it shakes it’s head.

I understand

The tentacle draws in the dirt then wipes the message away.

“How long have you been watching me?”

She morphs into a human shaped figure and it trips making Chrys nod her head. She was the one who kept tripping Chanyeol recently. Since when had she become so mischievous?

“Why are you here?”

Katalena forms into a flat black circle and dances around Chrys before traveling up the trunk of the tree and disappears.

“Who are you talking to?”

Chanyeol comes back with a tray and two glasses and he looks around curiously. She shakes her head and she doesn‘t notice his brows furrow and his lips set into a line.

“I was talking to myself.”
“Oh cool I do that all the time~ Wait huh? No wait I mean…uh crap….”

He sits next to her and hands her a glass and she smiles gratefully taking him by surprise.

“You seem more cheerful Chrys. Was it because I left? I can go leave again if it’ll make you happier! I wouldn’t want to be around me either!”

He laughs obnoxiously and snorts and Chrys’ eyes widen as black tentacles come out of the trunk of the tree and form bunny ears above his head.

That’s right, her eyes flashed silver so she must be a Rogue Doll like the clown from before so she acts without thinking.

“Why are you staring at me like that? Is there something on my face??”

She doesn’t answer him and continues to watch Katalena over his head. The tentacles form into an arrow pointing at him then morphs into a shape of a creature she didn’t recognize.

He follows her gaze and looks up but there’s nothing there. He looks back at her and his eyes widen.

“Are you okay?? You look pale all of a sudden, did you see a ghost or something? Not like I believe in ghosts but you can believe in whatever you want hahaha!”

He reaches out to her and Chrys leans back away from his touch. Was Katalena just toying with her or was she really trying to tell her he wasn’t human?

“I’m fine, just too much sun I guess. It’s making me see things……”
“I see things a lot too! Strange things…..but you wouldn’t know since you’re not me~ I mean why would you want to be me? Just look at me! Hahahaha….. I really need to stop……”

Night falls quickly as she continues to be warry around Chanyeol. Out of the corner of her eye she catches Katalena making random shadows on the white walls when he’s not looking.

When he’s in a different room the young girl materializes into human form wearing a black bunny hoodie with a tutu and boots and she gracefully prances around the room as if gravity didn’t apply to her.

She falls from a height and disappears into the floor like a ghost and Chrys jumps as her head pops up next to her and Kat’s eyes curve into a smile.

The Clown Rogue Doll could teleport but Chima’s power was completely different so that means they’ve come from different Demons.

But now both Rogues were under the control of this new Puppeteer and the thought made her heart race. They were so powerful they could have an army of Rogue Dolls with all different abilities even if they didn‘t create them?

Mark couldn’t handle this by himself! She had to warn someone! Chrys rushes to the door and slides it open and she ducks to the floor as something flies over head.

She looks back and is surprised to see a paper airplane, no not like the simple designs grade schoolers make but an actual paper airplane with propellers and the sound of a tiny engine.

She cautiously approaches it and it opens itself and Chrys immediately recognizes the paper. It came from that notebook she used to send Mark a message in the Demon Realm when they were at that book shop.

In big black bold script the message makes the blood leave her face.

RUN!

“Run from what?”

She gasps as Chanyeol speaks up from leaning against the kitchen entrance with his eyes narrowed. Caught.

“Ummmmm I…..I……”
“Chrys I’ve been really patient with you but I think it’s about time you stop lying to me”

His voice becomes low and serious, completely gone was that light hearted awkward ball of energy she’s come to know.

“What do you need to run from??”
“I don’t know….”
“Chrys”
“I really don’t know Chanyeol!”

He frowns and sighs while running his fingers through his hair.

“And the creature here with us? Is it a friend of yours?”
“Huh?”
“Chrys seriously you need to talk to me, I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s going on!”

His voice raises at her and the lights flicker as a giggle echoes through the room. Chanyeol looks around with a clenched jaw and fist and he immediately relaxes and the flickering seizes.

Chrys’ shadow morphs on the floor into a hand holding a finger up and it waves as if saying “no no no” in a teasing manner. Katalena’s warning for raising his voice at her only friend.

“Okay so it is your friend. Chrys what’s going on?”

opens but no words come out and like lightning Chanyeol is in front of her shielding her body with his as the glass of the cottage shatters and flies around them.
Startled by the sudden events Katalena turns into a flat sphere and phases away.

“Chrysalis”

Chrys’ eyes widen from that familiar female voice and she looks up at Chanyeol and gasps. The large shards of sharp glass that flew at him should have embedded themselves into his skin but instead they bounced off and shattered on the floor.

He was breathing heavily and his words were muffled by the rows of fangs in his mouth.

“Are they friends of yours?”

She grabbed onto his arms and they were shaking violently. Looking over his shoulder she furrows her brows in confusion.

Victoria and others of Master Jaebeom’s Dolls. She had a frown on her face and the giant fan she was holding had blades coming out of the top.

They were glowing a dangerous shade of green as they stared at her impassively.

“Yes……”

She whispers softly answering Chanyeol’s question but something was wrong.

“Chrysalis I’m so sorry Sweet Heart on behalf of myself and my Master. I do like you, I believe you are a lovely being but the only way to kill Master Mark is to kill you so I’m here to end your life.”

She declares and swings her fan making blades fly and Chrys gasps as Chanyeol raises his arm and once again the blades bounce off as if they were plastic balls against a wall.

“I thought you said they were your friends?! Why would they want to kill you then?! Friends don‘t do that you know!”
“Why aren’t those things hurting you!?”
“Guess we’ve both been liars but can we talk about this some other time!? Like when we’re not being attacked by killer Dolls!? Excuse me!”

He stands and towers over her as his body grows in size until his head ducks away from the ceiling from being too big.

His limbs thicken from incredible muscle and they breakout in thick black fur. His forearms become bigger and along with his back they erupt in a thick, leather like armor skin with spikes.

The floor crumbles as his legs and body morph into those of a giant woodland like creature with claws.

His face elongates into a muzzle, the rows of fangs glistening in his mouth as he groans. Thin pointed ears sprout from the top of his head with more leather like skin and spikes and his eyes become triangular and predator like with pupils dilated.

His armored tail shoots out and flips the bed at the Dolls distracting them as he wraps up Chrysalis in his arms. He curls into a spiked ball and he breaks through the wall with incredible strength then rolls down the streets with in-human like speed.

“After her!”

Victoria commands the Dolls and they blur after the large sphere leaving destruction in it’s wake as it’s massive spikes dig into the ground underneath it.

The wooden bridge collapses under his weight as he enters the forest park and just before Victoria can catch them a large tree trunk opens up a black hole letting Chanyeol inside and it closes immediately keeping the Dolls out.

The Marionette screams and stabs at the bark continuously chipping away at it until the massive tree falls over but it’s no use, she got away.
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Author Note: Excuse you Miss Jaebeom’s Marionette why are you trying to kill your best friend’s daughter Doll huh D:< And WHY DO YOU WANT TO KILL MARK!? Of course Chanyeol isn’t human, you should all know by now my characters are never as they seem and I really like Chima’s ability~ Next week we find out what went down at Jaebeom’s castle and where the tree sent the two when it swallowed them up \o/ Until next week I hope you enjoyed this update of Playhouse m(_ _)m Do you still want to play? (cough will update this weekend cough)

(And yes I also wrote this chapter with no internet ugh whyyyy cruelllll worldddd!!!)

Plug: Is it okay if I leave this here? I updated I think I deserve to leave this here o3o♥ As always it's just for sharing you don't have to click it but I did a short English cover of our boy's song Just Right (Did you guys catch the Just Right reference last chapter~?) So if you want to see Author-nim act weird....which is pretty normal actually.....here ya go and yes my weird can get much worse haha Who sings we should sing together too \o/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaCI1OicYvg