To celebrate 100 views/10 posts, here's another story!
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Shanghai stared at her master with a concerned look on her face. Or at least, what Alice thought was a concerned look. It was always hard to tell with dolls. Still, Alice was getting definite vibes from her, telling her it was time to stop fiddling with her dolls and finally get some sleep.
"Shut up, I'll sleep when it's done, okay?"
Alice glared at her doll, as if glaring would help. People who knew the secret of her dolls knew that Shanghai wasn't really it's own being, rather that Alice manipulated it with magic to appear as if it was alive for her own amusement. But there was one secret she'd never told anyone. The reason Shanghai was so precious to her was because Shanghai was the closest thing Alice had ever gotten to a sentient doll. When she had been young, Alice had foolishly performed a ritual from her Grimoire in an attempt to transfer some of her life spark into shanghai. Needless to say, it didn't work, and the backlash of the spell left Alice in bed for weeks. But, when she'd gotten up out of bed and gone to retrieve Shanghai, she'd discovered just what the spell did. It had linked her subconscious to Shanghai, giving Shanghai a sort of mind of her own, though she was still very dependent on Alice. The ritual was too risky to try again, and even if she did manage to transfer some of her life into a doll for real it would just turn the doll into essentially a copy of her, but Alice still treasured Shanghai, the one doll who could comfort her to some degree.
Still, it was getting uncomfortable, having Shanghai's watchful stare on her. Shanghai meant well, but it was getting creepy. Perhaps she could just cut of Shanghai's supply of magic and?no.
"That was the one thing I swore I'd never do. It was gross perversion of nature, Shanghai trusts me to be her faithful protector and I-God dammit Alice, do you hear yourself? She's a doll. Go on, just stop sending her magic."
Alice glanced over at Shanghai, and she was struck by the emotion in the doll's eyes. Shanghai wouldn't hold it against her, she loved and trusted her master. Even though she was a doll, she still loved Alice.
i"Go on, stop the magic. ? Okay, how about now? ? Now? ?I can't do it."i
*sigh*"Fine Shanghai, you win. I'm going to bed."
Shanghai followed her master out of the room with what could only be described as a grin.
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Alice lay down in her bed, surrounded by her dolls, as Shanghai floated to her special place beside the bed. Alice felt more comfortable sleeping, knowing that Shanghai still continued to use her magic even as she was asleep. Sighing, Alice bid her dolls goodnight, and drifted off to sleep.
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There was a field of flowers, lilies of the valley. Deep inside the field, what appeared to be a young girl grinned and danced, playing with what appeared to be a small fairy beside her. The flowers seemed to positively glow around this girl, the pollen in the air making it glitter and shine, masking the whole scene in a sense of magic and beauty. The girl threw back her head and laughed, falling into the flowers and rolling around, lost in the wonder of being a child in a field of flowers. Anyone watching would grin, unless they were made of stone, witnessing the wonderland that was childhood innocence. But?something was wrong about the girl. She didn't seem human, anyone sensing the aura that surrounded her could tell that she didn't know humanity, and never had. But something else felt comforting, felt right about this girl. If one looked closely at her mouth, one could see faint lines on both sides, and when she rolled over onto her stomach, an unmistakable mark could be seen on her back. She wasn't a human child. She was a puppet. A living, breathing puppet. Suddenly, she sat up, and turned her head to stare at the onlooker trespassing in her field. Cocking her head to the side, she narrowed her eyes, examining the stranger as a child would examine a new relative, unsure of whether they were a friend or a threat. She turned her head and whispered something to the puppet at her side, covering her hands as if to hide her words from this stranger. The small puppet flew up to her ear and whispered something back. Suddenly, the girl broke into a huge grin and began running towards the spectator. The spectator stood there, unafraid, but rather curious as the excited girl stumbled closer and closer. She stopped directly in front of the spectator, and held her hand out, offering a handshake, just like a good little girl would do. A little surprised, the stranger reaches for her hand and-
"AH!"
Alice Margatroid shot up with a start, roused from her dream by Shanghai, who waved to Alice and gestured to the clock, indicating that it was past the time Alice was usually up.
"Gee, thanks Shanghai."
Shanghai stared at her, confused at why her master would be so angry at her. Alice sighed, remembering that after all, Shanghai was still just a doll. She trudged out of bed to get ready for the day.
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Alice sat down at her desk, ready to spend another day making dolls for her experiments. The doll she had been working on last night still lay on the desk, beside what appeared to be another doll that was just beginning to be made. Alice didn't remember making that one, but that was nothing strange. She spent all of her time making dolls. As a matter of fact, the entire desk was covered in unfinished dolls. Sighing, Alice sat down for the long day ahead, thoughts of her strange dream last night still drifting about in her head.
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"Hi there!" The little girl exclaimed.
"Hello there. I'm Alice." Alice responded. The little girl giggled.
"Hello Alice! This is Suzan!" The little girl gestured to the doll to her left, who waved to Alice.
"What are you?" Alice ventured, hoping to confirm her suspicions.
"I'm a doll!" The girl responded, giving a little giggle. "One day, I hope to free all the dolls so they can be just like me, isn't that right Suzan?" The little doll nodded.
"You're alive? But how?!" Alice was brimming with excitement. A live doll! At last!
"You want to know my secret? Okay then, follow me!" The girl took off running through the field, laughing and chatting with Alice and Suzan who followed her faithfully.
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Alice awoke on time that day to Shanghai's smiling face, much to her disgust. Sighing, Alice strode downstairs, not bothering to prepare for the day, only hoping to distract herself until she could fall back asleep again and follow that girl deeper into the meadow.
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Shanghai noticed a change in mood in the days that followed. Alice became more and more reclusive, rapidly rushing through the day only to throw herself in bed and force herself to sleep. Every morning though, she woke up angrier than the last. One day, she left and came home with a load of straw, fashioning it into a series of dolls. Alice grumpily explained to Shanghai that they were to help her find the girl in her dreams. Had Shanghai been able to create thoughts for herself, she would have seen her master's growing obsession with finding this girl. Gradually though, she became more and more concerned. Alice was no longer eating or bathing, only sparing a few minutes each day to throw herself into some clothes before she ran outside to continue her work with the straw dolls, but she had very little success. People had always known that Alice hadn't been the friendliest person, but it had gotten much worse. Marisa stopped dropping by every now and then because the last time she had Alice had yelled at her. Alice had run into Reimu during a trip to pick up more straw and had yelled at her too. Even the three mischievous fairies feared her now, after one tragic incident where she'd had her dolls tear them to pieces because they had interrupted her work. The strange girl from her dream had made off with Alice's life, leaving her little more than a bitter, hollow shell.
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One night Alice was following the girl and Suzan through the fields, chatting away, her only pleasure in life now, when she reached the edge of the flower field. Alice stared in excitement at the village they had just come too, one she recognized as Human Village. The flowers were growing into the city, and Alice could see the lilies dotting the roads and walkways, slowly turning the village into a flower garden. Alice turned to the girl in a fit of excitement.
"Is this it!? Are we here?!" Alice could barely contain her excitement, she was trembling. Finally, the secret of life would be hers!
Medicine gave Alice another giggle. "Yes, it's in here. Go on, you'll know it when you see it!"
Alice started to run into the village, but stopped. The girl wasn't following her.
"Aren't you coming?" Alice asked, feeling a little lonely without her companion.
"Tee hee~ No, you've gotta take this next step alone."
Alice hesitated, after all, she couldn't just abandon this puppet who had given her so many happy hours. But?Alice glanced down the path, and made her decision. She turned her back on the girl and Suzan.
"Thank you two." She said. "For everything." She needed no sentiments now, the secret of life was within her grasp!
Alice began running down the street, watching as the flowers few thicker and thicker, following the growing trail throughout the town, following the winding path along the streets. The town seemed to be empty, but Alice didn't care, the secret of life was within her grasp! Alice stopped in the center of the village. One building was completely grown over with lilies, the trail seemed to go upon it and smother it. Alice paused a moment to stare at it. That had to be it. Glancing around, Alice saw the trail of lilies weaving throughout all the paths that lead here. She stared down these paths and stared. She hadn't noticed it until now, but the trail of lilies had gone down every path in the village, no area was without flowers. But Alice had no time to puzzle over these things, she had found it. The secret that had given her little puppet friend life. Alice rushed to the door, pausing for a moment outside of it. She'd done it. Her quest was finally over. Grabbing the door, she turned the handle.
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"NOOOOOOOOOO! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!"
Alice began screaming the instant she realized she had been woken up. A very frightened Shanghai floated beside her, holding her lance apologetically.
"YOU STUPID DOLL! YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING! YOU IGNORANT PUPPET!"
In a fit of rage Alice seized Shanghai and threw her into the wall, cutting off all magic to her. Shanghai collapsed to the floor, no longer a being on the threshold of life, now nothing more than a doll discarded once her master got a new toy to play with. Alice threw herself into bed and desperately tired to force herself to sleep. It wasn't happening fast enough though, Alice wasn't tired anymore, if anything she'd been getting too much sleep. Shrieking a wordless wail of anger and desperation, Alice threw herself out of bed and began ramming her head into the wall, trying to knock herself unconscious. The pain was intense, but Alice didn't care, all she cared about now was falling back asleep so she could open that door and find the secret of life. Finally, her body couldn't take it anymore. Magicians could go long periods of time without food, but this was too much. Alice collapsed to the floor, the blood seeping from her head pooling around her.
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Alice was back in the village, standing in front of the mysterious building. The door had swung partly open from Alice's earlier attempt at entry, and with trembling hands, Alice pushed the door open and stepped inside.
What she saw would haunt her for the rest of her life.
Humans were shackled to the walls, with looks of horror on their faces. They were covered in blisters, their clothes completely melted off, along with a good deal of their flesh. Their faces were frozen in expressions of horror, their eyes bloodshot and staring at a torturer long gone, their mouths open, as if still screaming for help that would come far too late. There were men, women, children, the elderly, even a few youkai. Some had faces in sickly shades of purple or blue, their eyes had exploded out of their heads and occasionally a drop of blood would still drip from their mouths. Some were little more than skeletons, their flesh completely burned away, revealing worn down bones in sickly shades of red and purple, but their skulls still expressing pure agony. Some Alice wished were skeletons, their entire bodies having become covered in blisters. Some were unrecognizable as humans, just mounds of flesh covered in bubbles and burns. Alice stared in horror at the corpses, slowly backing out of the building. This was the secret of life?! This gross display of death and suffering?!
"Tee hee! Do you like what I've done?"
Alice turned around and stared at her young puppet friend who had just arrived. Could she??
"I hate humans! They're nasty, they control dolls and force them to do things!" Medicine's cute exterior began to darken and twist, revealing the madness hidden beneath. "They left me there! For hundreds of years, they left me there in that field! But I'll get them all back! One day!"
Alice stared in horror at her once-friend, realizing the true meaning of the secret. Medicine was a creature born of pure hate, a puppet who had housed so much anger and hate at humankind that she had literally given herself life just so she could punish them. Alice had always wanted to give a doll life, but not like this! Medicine cocked her head and stared at Alice.
"What's the matter? Isn't this what you want? You hate humans too! You want them all dead just as much as I do! That's why you search for ways to give dolls life! So you can replace all of them!"
"Y-you did this? You're a monster!" Alice screamed, chocking back waves of nausea, but not being able to stop the tears from streaming down her face. The kind little girl she'd adored had killed all those people?
"What? Why am I a monster? You're the same as me. You want them all gone too. You won't say it out loud, but you want them all to just go away. For ever and ever." Medicine began slowly walking towards Alice, the soil in her footsteps bubbling and melting behind her. Alice continued backing away. She was right though. Oftentimes, Alice did wish that the world would just go way, that those annoying girls who bothered her would just walk into the woods and never come out. Was she really better than this girl. A quick glance back into the building full of the dead told her she was at least a little better. Alice couldn't take the girl's judging stare anymore, and she turned and ran. She heard the girl giggling behind her, and heard footsteps. No matter how fast she ran, the footsteps always sounded as if they were getting closer. Alice realized she was running in the direction of the Hakurei Shrine. Good. If anyone would be able to stop this monster, it would be Reimu. Alice kept her paranoia under control as the Hakurei Shrine grew closer and closer, as the footsteps grew closer and closer. Finally, just as Alice was sure the girl was giggling right in her ear, she threw open the door to the shrine and slammed it behind her, only to wish she hadn't a moment later. She stared at a corpse so mutilated it was impossible to tell who it had been. The skin was burned off, reeve;ing the inner flees, and the whole body was dyed all sorts of sickly shades that made Alice feel sick to her stomach. It was unmistakable though. The corpse was Reimu. Alice heard giggling behind her, and she reeled around to find the insane puppet standing behind her.
"Y-you killed her!" Alice screamed, almost unable to believe that the famed Hakurei Miko would fall to this little girl.
"Oh, I didn't kill her. You did. The poison you spread all around this place not only killed her, it's rotting at your mind!" Alice glanced around as the puppet slowly walked towards her. Frantically, she tried to summon some dolls, to use some magic, to do anything, but she was powerless. She had only one option left. Alice turned and ran, jumping out the window and hurtling into the Forest of Magic, hearing that screeching giggle behead her. She ran faster than she ever knew she could, fueled by pure fear and adrenaline. She rocketed through the forest, passing by several horrifying sights. The three mischievous faeries covered in blisters and gasping for air, screaming and thrashing, unable to die but longing to do so. Rinnosuke, his body visible through the open door, his skeleton still sitting in a chair behind the counter. Tokiko, a blistered corpse trapped where she had tried to run. Alice found herself frantically running towards the nearest building she saw, Marisa's house. Marisa had to be alright. She just had to. She was stronger than Reimu, even stronger than her. She would be alright. She would be alright. She'd be fine. Right?
Wrong. Alice stood in Marisa's doorway, staring in horror at the corpse of the girl who had been one of her closest friends. The sight was so gruesome that Alice finally lost it, turning around she began hurling her guts up, but her body had no food to reject, so all that came out was fluid and bile.
"We didn't do this. You did. The venom that you crea-" Alice swatted Suzan away from her ear, ignoring the pain as her hand blistered, and she began running for her house. She'd be safe there she had to be. But the footsteps were drawing closer. Maybe, just maybe, if she turned around now, she could die faster. Maybe her assailant would appreciate the sacrifice and end her life quicker in a show of thanks. Then again, perhaps not. It seemed as if the girl was right behind her when Alice charged into her house and slammed the door behind her. She knew it wouldn't help, but it was the only thing she could think to do.
"I just have to get some dolls, then maybe I can fight her. Yeah that's it, I can fight her if I have some dolls." Alice stared frantically around the room, but the house that was normally flooded with dolls was now empty. Alice began frantically searching through all the rooms, trying to find at least one doll, one friendly face who would comfort her before she died, but she found none. She ran into her workroom, hoping that she might be able to make at least one doll before she died, only to find it completely empty save one doll. The doll looked just like Shanghai, except it was hanging from a noose above her work table, head thrown down, face concealed by hair. Slowly, Alice approached it, hoping that it wasn't in fact Shanghai, her friend who had tried to warn her of the perils she'd so willingly thrown herself into. Slowly, Alice reached for the doll, to turn it's head up to confirm her fears.
The doll's head snapped up as Alice's hand was inches away from it, revealing a face Alice hoped she'd never have to see. It was her. The doll was a reflection of her, but it had a terrible expression on it's face. Pained, sad, terrified, angry, hostile, but above all, lonely. All of it's friends were gone, and it was left all alone. Shocked, Alice stumbled back to the floor, to find the young girl leaning over her.
"Now do you see it? You and I are exactly alike." The girl's cheery exterior had shattered completely, her words were harsh, but they rang of the truth. "We're both creatures who have been left alone to stew in our anger and bitterness, pushing everyone away, the only friends we have are the ones we've made. How long until you would've snapped and started killing everyone like me?"
What hurt the most was how much the words were true. Alice knew that every word this crazy murderess said was exactly true. She'd pushed away all of her friends, and had relied on Shanghai to keep her happy. When she'd started visiting this dream world, she'd not only found a kindred spirit in this girl, she'd found a friend. Though she didn't want to admit it, Alice had craved the companionship the girl had offered her, not realizing that the people around her were trying to keep her happy too. Poor old Shanghai had been the only one who saw what was happening before it was too late.
"And to think I treated her the way I did. I'm not a friend or a master, I'm a monster!" Alice turned around and kneeled before the strange girl, putting herself at her mercy.
"Y-you're right. I-I d-don't deserve to be alive." Alice choked these words out between sobs, as the girl stared on with morbid curiosity. "P-please. One kindred sp-spirit to another, kill me. I don't care how, just do it!"
Puppet and Suzan stared at each other for a moment, then turned their attention back to Alice. They knew what to do. The puppet raised her hand to strike Alice down.
*PEW*
"SUZAN!" Alice saw Suzan lying on the floor, and she saw her executioner rush over to her. Shanghai flew through the doorway to stand vigilant in front of her master.
"Sh-Shanghai." Alice said, tears filling her eyes. Even after all she had done, Shanghai still rushed to protect her. "I'm so sorry Shanghai! I-I didn't know!" Shanghai kept her lance pointed at Suzan and the girl, who were just getting up.
"You. Hurt. Suzan." The girl seemed to have snapped, staring at the pair with murderous intent. "You. Will. DIE!"
Shanghai was forced to raise her shield to defend herself from Suzan, who had shot through the air and attacked her. Alice fell back and began scrambling away as the insane puppet charged towards her. Alice bumped into the wall, and the girl reared her fist?
Alice awoke with a start to find herself soaked in her own blood. She saw Shanghai lying limp on the floor where she had been thrown earlier, and Alice rushed over to her. She cradled Shanghai in her arms and fed her the spark of magic that gave her life, or at least the closest thing to it. Shanghai began moving, and Alice clutched her to her chest.
"Oh Shanghai! I'm so sorry, I should have listened! I just wanted to know how to bring you to life so badly I guess I stopped caring for you and everyone else! I'm so sorry!" Alice let go of Shanghai, allowing the doll to float free. "Thank you Shanghai. For everything."
Alice glanced around the room to find it positively overflowing with dolls. Quickly, she ran around the house, searching every room, finding each doll where she had left it. Everything was back to normal. Except for one thing. In her workroom, a lone doll hung above her worktable. It was the one from Alice's dream, while she had been dreaming in the past month she had been sewing it, bit by bit in her sleep. Unsure of what to do with it, Alice decided she had the perfect idea. She cut the rope, though she left the noose around the neck of the doll as a constant reminder of what could have been. The doll had come to life in a way similar to that of Shanghai, it had been borne of her subconscious, a warning of where she was headed. It floated around her constantly, a sort of Yin to Shaghai's Yang. And she had the perfect name for it. Hourai.
Alice grabbed her bag and threw a few things in. She had some loose ends to tie up.
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Marisa stepped out of her house that morning and tripped over something.
"WHAAAAAAH! Who left something on my doorstep, ze?"
Marisa turned to inspect the object she had tripped over. A small doll made in her exact likeness sat on top of a note.
'Sorry for everything.
-Alice'
Marisa stared at the doll, then grabbed it with a grin. Alice was always keeping her on her toes, wasn't she?
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"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Starsaphire shot up with a scream, and Lunachild and Sunnymilk shot up too.
"What? What is Star?" Sunny asked. The three were on edge since the incident with Alice.
"SOMEONE'S COMING!" Star shouted, and the three began screaming as Alice walked into the clearing they were in.
"Relax." She said. "I'm just here to apologize. Here, I got you three a present." Alice tossed three dolls into the clearing, and the three began screaming even louder, backing away from the dolls, expecting to be blown up at any second.
"Don't be strangers, okay?" And Alice left, leaving behind 3 very puzzled faeries.
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Reimu sipped her tea. It was unusual to receive a visitor, even more unusual for it to be Alice. Oh well, the tea she'd brought was good, and it didn't hurt that she'd donated a little. Alice finished relating her story to Reimu, who just took another sip of tea.
"It made me realize that I've really pushed away the people around me, you know? And you guys aren't going to be around forever, so I figure I might as well get to know you." Alice said.
"You know, I think I know who that doll in your dreams was." Reimu said, prompting Alice to lean forward in excitement.
"Really? Who is it?" While the girl was terrifying, the prospect of a living doll was too much to pass up.
"She's Medicine Melancholy. She lives over on Nameless Hill. But don't bother, she's not a living doll, she's a tsukumogami." Reimu could see Alice's excitement die down.
"Oh?I guess I'm never going to meet a living doll then, am I?" Alice suddenly found Reimu's hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry about it. Look on the bright side, even if you don't discover the secret of life yourself, treat those two dolls of yours right, and they just might last long enough to become tsukumogami themselves." Alice felt stupid. She'd never even considered that. She glanced over at Shanghai's smiling face, and took comfort in the fact that even if all of her experiments failed, Shanghai just might get a shot at life after all. There was a loud slamming noise, and Alice glanced over to see Marisa had just burst into the shrine.
"Besides," Reimu said coyly. "It's not as if you don't have any friends in this lifetime."
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Alice stopped on the way home to purchase some pills she'd read about in the Bunbunmaru that granted the user the sweet dream of becoming a butterfly. Alice hoped that these would keep her out of that unfinished dream But one day, she would go back, but unlike this time, she wouldn't be alone.
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Epilogue:
"Th-there. I made you your own dreamworld, just like you requested. Now can you please let my sister go?" Mugetsu nervously asked.
"?No. As a matter of fact?" Medicine began slowly advancing towards Mugetsu, who began backing away.
Had anyone been present for the next hour they would have heard horrible screams emanating from the two demon sisters.
And that's why Mugetsu and Gengetsu never appear again.
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I've gotta get all of these out of my system before school starts.