>The cake is so covered in candles you can't see the edible part
"Happy... 834th... birthday, Chryssy!"
>You smile, hoping that she misinterprets your wild guess as a joke
>"Anon, I'm only 621."
>Straining, you fake a laugh
>She's not amused
"Time to blow out the candles, Chry--- where are you going?"
>She rips off her party hat, throwing it to the floor
>Getting up, she exits the room swiftly, without looking back, and ignoring all your words
"Chrysalis? Wait, come back."
>You follow her into the hallway, only to hear the sound of a door slamming shut, and a lock being turned
>She has locked herself inside the bedroom
"Chrysalis, dear? Please come out, it was a horrible joke. I shouldn't have said that."
>Silence
>Defeated, you trot back into the dining room
>Some of the birthday decorations have caught fire
>The smoke detector goes off
>Fucking candles
 
>Panicking, you grab the nearest body of liquid
>Chrysalis' cup
>You throw its contents at the ever-growing fire
>But you leap back as your efforts seem only to have not so proverbially added fuel to the fire
>What the fuck was in that cup?
>You've never understood Changeling biology
>The detector keeps howling at you as you stumble-retreat to the hallway, barely able to keep yourself from falling over
>You begin hammering the bedroom door
"Chrysalis, you candles started a fire, where is the fire extinguisher?"
>Silence
>Had you said something wrong?
>This really wasn't the time for pointless drama
"I don't mean to say you're old, cakes are just not meant to support that amount of candles."
>Silence
"Not that it's a unreasonably high amount."
>Silence
"Actually, it must be the cake's fault. They should handle such a youthful number of candles."
>Silence
"Six hounded and something something is really no age a--- OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR CHRYSALIS!"
>Not even a chirp from the other side of the door
"WHERE'S THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER?"
>Mustering all the man-might that you lacked in your teenage years, you lift a heavy wooden cupboard from along one of the walls
>The door snaps open as you ram it with all your might
>It was one of those rare displays of might and prowess that only happened when no one was looking
>The bedroom was...
>Empty
>A open window gave you all the answers you needed
>The smoke was becoming a real problem now, filling all rooms in the manor
>Fuck this
>You don't own this place
>Drained of strength, your attempt to efficiently exit the window fails
>Dropping to the ground, you land in the soft grass outside
>You stagger yourself back on your feet, and begins putting distance between you and the forlorn home
>As a ever-growing pillar of smoke rises into the sky, you see a black dot coming ever closer
>You can hear the buzzing of her wings before long
>She lands roughly, seemingly having no time to slow down
>"ANON, WHAT'S HAPPENING?"
"It began burning."
>"WHY IS IT BURNING?"
"Old age."