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It was silent.
It always was.
"J̷̳͗ḫ̸͋q̵͙̺͉̈́́̕h̵̨̖̖͗̂̇ẏ̴̩̘̦͝l̸͍̑̊ͅh̵̛̻͈̮̎ỷ̶̗h̵͈̪̿̀̄.”
The small girl numbly raised her head, staring with lifeless, doll-like eyes at the tall figure that had called her name.
“We are about to have exceptionally important company over, you must be on your best behavior or there will be consequences.” The voice asked- No, ordered.
“...Yes father.”
Her voice was quiet. Raspy from underuse.
Silence was safer.
…
That night, she had found herself wandering the halls. Her presence was not needed. As long as she stayed away from their company, it would be fine.
At least, that’s what she thought.
She heard her name being called.
It sounded angry.
What… What did she do?
Maybe if she stayed out of sight until they calmed down it wouldn’t be so bad.. But, where would they not look? They knew all her hiding spots.
Dull lifeless eyes caught the brilliant bright red of one of many rooms in the house she was not allowed in. One that father loved showing off to others, who claimed it to be where the finest collection in all the land resided.
…
He wouldn’t look for her in there, right?
So she slipped into the room. She hardly was able to reach the handle, but closed it quietly enough that when his voice drifted into the hall, it drifted past her.
That did not mean it was safe.
J̷̳͗ḫ̸͋q̵͙̺͉̈́́̕h̵̨̖̖͗̂̇ẏ̴̩̘̦͝l̸͍̑̊ͅh̵̛̻͈̮̎ỷ̶̗h̵͈̪̿̀̄ slowly trotted further into the room, footsteps light and silent to avoid any squeaky floorboards. It made her think of that odd thing called ‘hop-scotch’ she had read about once, had heard idle chatter during the brief time she was allowed in school before being locked away with a private tutor instead so she wouldn’t embarrass them.
Was that what hop-scotch was? Avoiding squeaky boards? That didn’t sound like a fun game, game over meant-
…
She slowly looked around the room she was in.
…It was… Odd.
Strange items littered the entire space, proudly on display with more love and care than she had received in her lifetime. There were plaques, listing all manners of strange objects that didn’t sound entirely real.
An Atlantian trident? A dragon’s horn? A hellhound’s claws?
It all sounded make-believe.
She tentatively trotted further into the room, brow furrowing slightly as she looked across the odd relics.
…
A shelf. Empty of most anything but a cute little porcelain creature. Perhaps a cat? It had small white dots for eyes and a bright red bowtie.
…
And a sign that said ‘DO NOT TOUCH.’
The label itself was hard to read… If she stepped closer surely nothing would happen, right? She didn’t weigh enough for her footsteps to shake the floor like the adults did.
…Hm.
Cursed doll. Remember to call Justice to get rid of it.
Justice? Who… Was that? It was cursed? But it looked harmless, adorably so-
….
Free me.
“...Free…You?” J̷̳͗ḫ̸͋q̵͙̺͉̈́́̕h̵̨̖̖͗̂̇ẏ̴̩̘̦͝l̸͍̑̊ͅh̵̛̻͈̮̎ỷ̶̗h̵͈̪̿̀̄ echoed, unsure of who was speaking to her and why.
It…Moved.
By itself.
She felt… An odd tugging. An odd impulse to…
…
Why did she want to touch it? To pull it off the shelf? She knew what would happen if she was found in here, let alone touching something no one was meant to.
It will be alright, I promise.
“...Promises aren’t real.”
Silence for a few moments, as if… As if whatever was speaking to her didn’t know what to do with that response.
Why do you say that? The voice asked.
“Because people lie. Promises don’t mean anything.”
Further silence.
I’m not a person, I do not lie.
…
Why…Was she closer than before?
She blinked hard, just now registering how her head was outstretched, on her tippy toes to grab the small porcelain creature-
It fell.
It fell and broke into shards.
“No. No no no no- NO-” J̷̳͗ḫ̸͋q̵͙̺͉̈́́̕h̵̨̖̖͗̂̇ẏ̴̩̘̦͝l̸͍̑̊ͅh̵̛̻͈̮̎ỷ̶̗h̵͈̪̿̀̄ began to panic, trying to put the shards back together-
A wince as a sharp shard sliced her hand, blood trickling down onto the little thing that laid broken at her feet.
“...What was that?”
An unfamiliar voice.
Her heart stopped.
She can’t- She can’t be caught in here, breaking something, she-
The girl sprinted out of the room. She knew there was a second entrance, she- She could escape out the other door-
She managed to close the door behind her just as she heard the click of heels entering the room.
The girl was safe for now, or… She would be. She quickly made her way to the stairs, but paused, slowed. If she were running it would be clear that she had done something wrong…
But… She heard footsteps somewhere behind her. She- She wasn’t supposed to be out and about at all, maybe-
Ah, wait, the paintings! She knew that this old house had many secret passageways, ones she had found and used all her life for moments such as this.
The girl scrambled to pull one of the paintings to the side, enough for her to slip into the little hidden cubby behind it.
Funny, it was the one painting of her in the entire house.
“...We need to find whatever that thing imprinted on.” That same unfamiliar voice, sounding… Worried.
“Yes, well, I had meant to keep it in a more secure place, but I-”
“Do you have a child?” The unfamiliar woman asked, causing J̷̳͗ḫ̸͋q̵͙̺͉̈́́̕h̵̨̖̖͗̂̇ẏ̴̩̘̦͝l̸͍̑̊ͅh̵̛̻͈̮̎ỷ̶̗h̵͈̪̿̀̄ to grow tense.
“Yes, but… She should be in her room, but I thought I saw her walking around earlier. It’s of no consequence, do whatever it is you need to.” Father handwaved the notion as their voices faded away.
The girl dared to peek out, spotting her father walking away in toe with… A tall woman, with fiery red hair, but… That’s all she could really tell from behind them.
“Well, we need to find her and keep her safe, just in case.” The woman said, voice… Oddly kind and protective for someone she didn’t even know.
Something in her chest ached terribly at the thought.
…
She couldn’t stay here.
J̷̳͗ḫ̸͋q̵͙̺͉̈́́̕h̵̨̖̖͗̂̇ẏ̴̩̘̦͝l̸͍̑̊ͅh̵̛̻͈̮̎ỷ̶̗h̵͈̪̿̀̄ raced back to her room, avoiding the adults with relative ease. Perhaps she should try to sleep, or at least pretend to, that should stop anything, right? Father was more forgiving when there were guests over that could see what he was doing…
So, she turned off the lights in her far too large room and dragged herself onto her far too large bed, covered in opulence she both did not want nor deserved.
She was a problem, nothing more.
…
She woke up. Or did she? Everything felt… Off.
J̷̳͗ḫ̸͋q̵͙̺͉̈́́̕h̵̨̖̖͗̂̇ẏ̴̩̘̦͝l̸͍̑̊ͅh̵̛̻͈̮̎ỷ̶̗h̵͈̪̿̀̄…
The girl’s eyes snapped open, sitting up in bed abruptly.
Stared at her dresser.
At the broken pieces of the doll laying across the top.
Slowly, J̷̳͗ḫ̸͋q̵͙̺͉̈́́̕h̵̨̖̖͗̂̇ẏ̴̩̘̦͝l̸͍̑̊ͅh̵̛̻͈̮̎ỷ̶̗h̵͈̪̿̀̄ made her way towards it, steps shaky. She raised her eyes to the mirror, only for her breath to catch.
…She was… Shattered. A pointed heart-shaped hole in her chest. The doll was… Not in the reflection, nor did her reflection move when she stepped closer, tentatively picking up the broken pieces.
Fix me, and I will fix you.
…
“Okay.”
She pulled open her desk drawer with force unlike herself, gathering glue and other various supplies and taking a seat on the floor, beginning to glue the shards together and paint over the seams, to hide where it had been broken.
There was an unfamiliar fervor to her movements, a deep desire to do as she had been asked. The voice whispered small words of comfort and praise at her work, something she craved and never received.
Her movements grew manic.
The paints changed under her hands, going from simple reds and blues to entire patterns, moving across the canvas of the doll as though it were something living.
Bright. So bright.
It was almost blinding against the pale and ashen shade of her hands, her dull dress, her lifeless doll-like eyes…
…
The paint… Crept up the brush. Began to trail up her arm, wrap around her skin and body. Her eyes darted up, and found someone unfamiliar staring back at her from the mirror, someone donned in bright colors and who’s heart was steadily being patchworked back together.
Someone she wanted to be.
There we go… That’s it, that’s you, see? That will be you.
J̷̳͗ḫ̸͋q̵͙̺͉̈́́̕h̵̨̖̖͗̂̇ẏ̴̩̘̦͝l̸͍̑̊ͅh̵̛̻͈̮̎ỷ̶̗h̵͈̪̿̀̄ laughed.
Heartbeat growing fast and uncontrolled, breathing frantic and uneven as colors and feelings flooded her body in an incredible canvas.
Her eyes were wrong. Her eyes- They were blooming with flowers and colors and patterns and-
Her hand placed an ‘X’ over one of its eyes on its own.
One appeared over her eye as well. Everything looked more colorful, brightening, vibrant beyond belief, beyond imagination, brighter, brighter-
The clay doll laughed hysterically in her ears in tandem with her pounding heartbeat.
J̷̳͗ḫ̸͋q̵͙̺͉̈́́̕h̵̨̖̖͗̂̇ẏ̴̩̘̦͝l̸͍̑̊ͅh̵̛̻͈̮̎ỷ̶̗h̵͈̪̿̀̄ howled with manic laughter in return. It was so funny, how fast her heart was beating. The pain brewing in her small chest behind her aching ribs, the light headedness that followed, the way she could no longer stay upright, how she slumped over on the floor, laughing all the while.
It was so funny, how sad her life was. How much pain she was in. How father could probably hear her.
How her mind stopped making any sense.
Truly, insanity was hysterical.
There were claw marks on the floor.
“...We’re too late.” The tall woman murmured, regret in her voice as she stared at the trashed remnants of the bedroom. Everything was either broken or splattered with strange bright liquid with ever-shifting patterns, slowly turning pitch black and burning through the floor.
The window was smashed open.
“I’m going after her.” She said firmly, resolutely as she glanced back at the owners of the manor.
“Do what you must, don’t spare something dangerous on our account.”
…
“...If I find her, and I manage to revert this, I’m taking her with me.” The woman said with what was almost a growl.
“Fine by me, it would probably be for the best, considering she’s turned into a monster-”
The woman shoulder-checked the man on her way out the room, the flame of her heart burning brighter with anger.
“You will be held accountable for this. Godkind will decide your fate.
“What- You can’t just-”
The door slammed shut.
Everything was great, it was fun! Grass under her feet- Paws? Whatever, she hadn’t been outside in so long! She could see colors, all of them!
She howled with manic laughter, though it came out an otherworldly cackle as the creature bounded through the forest, leaving inky black footprints in its wake.
It playfully batted at a tree, tail wagging as the tree burst into vivid colors, white and striped like a candy cane.
Let’s have fun together~
Fun fun fun! She liked fun, fun was good!
She found the voice in her head steering her towards a group of deer, gone stock still at the hulking creature’s appearance.
You want to play some tag?
Tag…? She’d never played tag before…
It’s simple, try to catch the deer and see what happens.
Her tail wagged as she lunged forwards at them, playfully swatting at the closest one.
The second she touched it, it let out a shriek, colors bursting from her hand and where she had touched it, crawling up its entire body, twisting and changing it until-
Oh, some sort of pegasus? Yes, that’s what it was, shapes growing out its shoulder blades and dripping paint, mouth left hanging open in a silent scream.
…It looked… Painful.
Nonsense! It’s just excited. Get the others!
She shook her head free of that weird negative thought and bounded towards the retreating deer. She could spot a few fawn’s struggling to keep up, and…
A tall stag, angrily shrieking at her, like it was scared and wanted to keep the rest safe. Why was it scared? She just wanted to play…
It charged at her, antlers sinking into mottled melting flesh with a wince and cry of pain.
The monster batted it away with a shriek, sending it flying into one of the trees.
…A loud crack of bone.
It laid motionless.
…
Maybe we should play tag with something else.
…
The creature trudged along, past the forest, ears perking when it spotted a road up ahead. A traffic jam of some kind, the cars were just there… Waiting. Completely still.
You want to play with the cars?
Maybe… That sounded like it could be fun.
She trotted towards the road, only to pause when she heard screaming at her approach. Tilted her head, moving more slowly. Saw people getting out of their cars and running, or trying to swerve back around to drive away.
She stumbled, catching herself on one of the car hoods-
The paint draped over the entire shape, headlights growing blindingly bright and grill splitting in two, almost making a face.
The painted car swerved away, towards the people on the road. Won’t it hurt them?
She reached out to grab the car before it could run into anyone-
A sharp pain and loud boom the second she touched it. Darted her infinity of eyes over towards the source, spotting a human holding some weird rectangle thingy that boomed loudly.
…Go.
She obeyed the voice, bounding away from the road, leaving massive inky footprints…
It hurt.
The world… Was not very bright anymore.
Something… Something was wrong.
But what?
“Corrupted deer… Abstracted trees… She definitely came this way.” Elizabeth mumbled to herself as she continued her trek, following the ichor-soaked footprints the creature left.
She could hear angry shouting behind her, probably that wretched man. Normally she would be remiss to arrest someone who stumbled across a dangerous item that needed containment, he also had a collection of stolen items no mortal was meant to have.
Not the smartest cookie, was he?
She just sighed, continuing to race past the footprints, careful to avoid touching it herself. She was more resilient than the average human, but she’d rather not test her luck…
…There was a car trying to eat people on the interstate. Lovely. She made quick enough work of it, the corruption didn’t make it invulnerable. If anything flesh replacing steel made her sword easily carve through it.
“Which direction did the creature go?” Elizabeth called out to the terrified bystanders.
All fingers pointed towards a barrage of ripped down trees in a straight line.
…Ah.
It didn’t take long to catch up to the creature. It was moving much more slowly than it had been, and seemed to be steadily losing its size.
…
She hoped that didn’t mean she was too late.
“...Miss Genevieve?”
The creature bristled at her voice, immediately turning on its heel to face her. It seemed to be losing whatever shape it previously had, wounds leaking a brackish mix of blood and corroded ichor. It was hardly the quadrupedal nightmare it had first been, looking somewhere between a melting panther and a person crawling on all fours.
Weakened.
“My name is Elizabeth, I came to your home to try and safely contain the creature in that figure. I don’t intend you any harm.” Elizabeth spoke firmly and loudly, hoping it would get through to the human buried under the muck.
…
One of its eyes looked at her with fear.
The other was an empty socket with a cartoonish ‘X’ painted inside of it in blood red ink.
It seems the child won that argument, immediately turning tail to run.
“Hey- Get back here, please, before you hurt yourself!” Elizabeth called out, racing after the creature. She could hear it breathing heavily, panicked, as if coming to realize what had actually happened.
Elizabeth knew the signs very well. Little seeds of utter madness coming to stain ordinary objects and luring the vulnerable in with a spider web of fairy floss, made all the easier by an environment like that manor.
She’d seen it before.
She would see it again.
But hopefully today, she will see something new.
Maybe, just maybe, she would see someone break free before it finished consuming them.
J̷̳͗ḫ̸͋q̵͙̺͉̈́́̕h̵̨̖̖͗̂̇ẏ̴̩̘̦͝l̸͍̑̊ͅh̵̛̻͈̮̎ỷ̶̗h̵͈̪̿̀̄ was panicking. Clawing at the ground, leaving a mess in its wake.
What are you doing? We have nothing to fear. We are strong, and we are having fun, aren’t we?
I’m scared.
If you’re afraid, I can take the reins.
The creature slowed down at that.
…What do you mean?
Just let me take over, it will be fine.
…
That didn’t sit right with her.
What are you gonna do?
Protect you.
But… She said she isn’t gonna hurt me.
Humans lie. Humans cheat and steal and beat and maim, but you already knew that, didn’t you?
Let me in, and you can play to your heart’s content!
…But…
Let. Me. In.
Stop, you’re- Y-You’re hurting m-
LET. ME. IN.
I-
Ļ̴̜͙̪̩̻̬̦͔̣̬͉̱̖̈́̓͂̂̓́̓̕͝Ě̴͖̅͝Ţ̵̛̲̘̳͍̜͓̱̦̬̗̩̙̲͉̓̌͌̈̓̑M̶̧̛͎̤̟̣͎̥̍̃̈́͌̓́͘͠Ḛ̷̡̠̯̀̇̋̃I̴̳̣͎͉̫̳̯̞̗̘̦͈̖̩͎̙͒̀͋͑͝ͅN̵̦̣̝̤̻̪͍̣̝̚L̴̬̹̒̊͆̕Ȩ̵̨͇̺̘̟͔̓́͑̑̈́̈́̾͒̅T̸̨̨͙̥̘͍̹̮̞̥͈̯̒̒̿̈͛͑̏̈͘͜M̶̨̪̻̬͔͇̹̹̜̼̋̍͆͊̀̈́̊͗̇͋͜͜͝Ȩ̷̘̗̞̞̟̤̲͖́̀͗̀̓͑́̽̈́̈́̆̔Ǐ̸͓̱̖̰̺͈N̶̰͚̗̓̒̊͑̓̀͐͒͆͑̈́̇͒̔͠͠L̵̢̨͕̖̰̳̤̦̠̫͙̤̥͉͗̌͒̂̇̏͋́̐̉͂̔͋̔̑̔͠ͅȆ̴͎̖̝̜͓̆͗͊̉̿̀̀̆̈̂Ṱ̷̂̈́̓̿̿̏͆͘͝M̵̢̛̥̖͙͎͓̟̥̼̯͙̳̜̬̏͗͜ͅË̸̢̢̲͍̯̹̯̗̥̻͙̰̰̏̐̇͛͌̍͜͜͝Ǐ̷̡͉̼̦̬͔̩̯͚͖͚̦̫͎̭̬͌́̎̓́̃̕͜͝N̶̡̡̯͎̫͉̼̓͛̕͜͜L̶̢͈͇̠̞͕̣̬̝̻͉̀͐͊͘Ȩ̸͖̮͚̤̯̲̼͉̗̝̲̳̤̻̙̝̊̽́͐͋͐͗̀̀̋̊́Ť̷̤̝̭̠̞̜̝̹̫̄̾̎͂̋̀̎͒̈̃̓M̸̡͎̤͓̳͍̻̹̝͕̗͍̝̏́̈́̀̀̓͗̓̈́̈́̚͘͘͝͠E̴̡͙͈̩̤̺͔͚̻̓͑̌͌̅̂̀̈́̿͒̑Ī̸͖̬̟͐̍̂̏̇͗̉̂̓̈̏̑͠Ņ̶̨̨̘̳̞͕̞̫̱̟̊̐̉Ĺ̷̨͔̦̙͇̪̜̆̃͜͠É̵̺̮̲̹̰̠̜̪̾͝Ţ̴̛̳͔̪̏͊̈́͌͒̊̈̌͑͗͋̾͘M̷̨̤̼̭̙̃̄͆͒̇̆̑͂̈̆̽͋̓̀͊̕E̶̡̢̝͔͉̣͉̮̜̝̣̬̫̋̿̒̄̄͑́̎͋̿͐̚̚͘̕Ȉ̸̧̥̥͎̏̕̚Ñ̴̛͓͇̙͕̤͈̈L̷̨̡̨̺̝̳̟̠͕̤̱͕̀͛̏̀̅̀̓̆̾́͆͊̈́̏̕͜ͅE̷̞̬͆̏͒̽̓͂̾́̋̈́̔̅͊͘̕͜T̸̛͈͎̞̋̾M̶͖̜̦̞̥͖̊͆E̶̛͓͌̎͒̅I̴̡̟̩̗̣͙͉̟̱̣̤̤͋̃̈́̍̈́N̶̡̛̞̦͉͇̣͙͔̻̮̪͚̰̈́̀̇̆͐̓͊̍̋̐͋̈́͒͐͂̕ͅL̶̢͓̠̹̖͇̏͘͜E̵͇̫̝̪̼̖̼̘͙͂͜Ṭ̷͙̠̹̘̉̋̅̆̔̀͆̒̈́̆̽̕͝M̴̧̯̯̹̣̳͖̗̫̗̥̱̳͖̀̀͆͐̑̃̐̆̌͒̋͑͂͝͝Ë̴̛̥͉͕̜̠͉̙͓̣̩͒͗͛̋́́́̊́̃Į̷̼͍̪͙̋̓̈N̵͔̥͇̥̫̗̯͎͖̞̯̖͙̻͚̫̓Ḷ̴̡̨̦̖̠͉̤̜̦̤̠̒́̅̌̽́̈͑̋ͅĘ̶̛̮̭͖̝̭̙̜̠͈̮͈̱̐ͅṪ̴̡̠͍͚͍̮̼̳̝̯̪̹͖̘̂̋̂̔͛͆̋͑̿̽̚M̶̪̦̹̘̖̗̲̗͎̥͇͚̜͖̑͌̄Ê̶̢̗̯̖͖͇̪̯̱̬̌͜ I̵̧̥͔͇̠̩̝͍̳̙̅͒̄̈́͗ͅǸ̷̨̝̼̟̥͓̬̰̘̪̫͐͊̿̒̇͜͜͠-̴̱̙̰̪̣̅͌ͅ
A harsh tug on her tail that sent her stumbling, head over heels in an inelegant tumble. She looked over her shoulder, terrified, and…
Was met with warm red eyes.
“If you come back with me, you don’t have to go back to that manor. I can take you with me, somewhere that you won’t have to deal with those people…” The woman spoke softly, kindly…
“I promise.”
…
She tried to jerk away. The woman took hold of her wrist before she could run, holding her firmly even as the ichor coating her tried to creep up her arm.
“LET GO!”
It wasn’t her voice. It was… Something else, using her mouth. Deep, gravely…
Wrong.
“Give her back now and your sentence will be less severe!” Elizabeth barked back, glaring into the vacant socket, even as an icy cold crept up her arm.
She gave another hard pull.
…
A cracking noise.
Several broken chunks of porcelain fell to the ground, a few of those abstracted trees…
Leaving nothing but broken remains…
And a small girl curled up into a ball on the ground.
Blonde hair marbled with dark brown, clothes dyed bright yellows and oranges…
And… A tail. An inhuman trait, a constant reminder of what had happened here, staring up at her with its unblinking eye.
…
Elizabeth sent the signal to the rest of the team.
The airship touched down, giving the crew ample space and time to corral the remnants of the creature into a safe vessel. She could already see it reforming again, putting itself back together, but the damage was done, it could do no further harm like this.
“What do we do about the girl, captain?”
…
Elizabeth reached down and gently lifted the girl into her arms, feeling so, so small and frail…
“I’m taking her with me.” The woman nodded, tone final and resolute.
And no one at the scene had a high enough rank to argue with her about it.
“Gigi? Are you alright?”
The girl let out a low grumble as she slowly blinked nightmares of the past away, being met with caring scarlet eyes.
“Mmm… I’ssfine… Bad dream…” Gigi slurred, rubbing her tired eyes and sitting up on the couch.
“Ah… Well, I have some good news, if that would help.” Elizabeth offered gently, subconsciously brushing messy bangs from bright pink eyes that were once a dull lifeless brown.
“What kinda news?” Gigi asked, tail making an audible thumping sound as it wagged, leaning into the touch with a soft sigh.
“We just gained a new member, I was wondering if you would like to come meet her.” Elizabeth smiled down at the girl, something fond in her eyes.
“Besides that kitty cat you like?” Gigi quipped with a sharp-toothed grin.
“Oh hush, you. She’s an ancient automaton, actually. Apparently the higher ups thought she would be of better use in our unit.” Elizabeth huffed, standing up straight.
“Huh… Sounds crazy, but we also got a cat that can basically cast scry whenever she wants, so I dunno why I’m surprised.” Gigi chuckled, rising to her feet with a big stretch.
“Well, let’s go meet her then.” Elizabeth smiled, holding out a hand that the dirty blonde happily took.
As they walked down the hall, idly swinging their joint hands as the taller woman hummed some unfamiliar melody, Gigi pondered her nightmare.
She knew that she wasn’t a person anymore. She made peace with that a while ago, and…
Well, in spite of the obvious, Gigi felt a lot more human than ever had as an actual human. No longer just a doll on a shelf, but a thinking, feeling person who made their own decisions.
And Gigi, the person, decided that she liked it right where she was.
When something precious breaks… Sometimes, it can be put back together, stronger than it ever was.
All it takes is someone who cares enough to gather its pieces and stitch it back together.