A/N Word Count: 8,884.
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Within the spacious lecture halls, many students dressed in neat and clean uniforms were all gathered together as their class had already begun. Some paid attention, others were distracted by daydreams and some were simply bored.
In fact, the only people giving their full attention to the teacher were the female students. Was it because he was a good teacher? Perhaps. Although many of the male students would disagree and argue that it was only because this professor, in particular, was quite handsome.
Here in this prestigious academy, the students had given this teacher the nickname "Professor Linden". It's a nickname because he wasn't actually an official professor at this place. Despite his high statues, he often liked to teach here, not as a profession but as a hobby. Although his definition of a "hobby" was making extra pocket money that he clearly didn't need.
He continued his lesson.
"Switching your skill tree does more than change your starter weapon and your base stats. The changes that you undergo are a lot more complex than people might think. It changes the very core of your body. People call it a skill reset, but it would be more accurate to call a transformation."
Linden walked back and forth as he taught.
"People who change into Archers will find they can naturally aim better even without a bow. Those who change into chefs will notice their taste buds becoming more critical of the food they consume."
Most of the students already had a vague understanding of this so he was slowly losing everyone's attention. At least he was until he said-
"So let me ask you this… what happens when the name of the skill tree you're picking is called… goblin, dragon, ogre, leviathan, scorpion, Yeti, or perhaps even… demon. Does anyone here know what happens when you pick a monster skill tree?"
If he didn't have the class' attention before, he definitely had it now.
"Picking a monster skill tree can do more than change your body… it can change your mind and plague your humanity. Monster skill trees have been known to consume the sanity of the user. Victims will slowly start adopting tendencies of the monster they picked and their appetite often grows more inhumane by each passing day. By the end, they steal, murder, commit genocide, and in a lot cases, they resort to cannibalism."
That last bit made a lot of student shiver as their imaginations went wild with gruesome imagery.
"Many of the famous monsters you read about in your textbook actually used to be humans. Humans who were frustrated by their roadblocks and were too desperate for more power. In fact, the original hero Baron recently confirmed that the S-class monster "Trogan: The Multiplying Mountain" was once a human who possessed a skill tree named Moving Mountain."
Everyone knew about Trogan. It was the first S-class monster that had appeared in years. A moving mountain that could duplicate itself and destroy anything it walked over. Everyone felt fortunate that the nine original heroes were able to easily deal with such a threat.
Linden continued. He never once stopped walking back and forth, "There have been a few well-known individuals, including a few generals, who have successfully managed to keep their sanity even after their transformation. However, do not let that tempt you into thinking you can do the same. Statistically, 7/10 people who pick monster skill tree always end up losing themselves."
Some students in the audience were starting to look a lot more nervous than usual.
Linden stopped walking and for the first time in the lesson, he faced the class, "Heed my warning young ones, if any of you have the option of a monster skill tree in your selection. Think twice before picking it, because if you do... you may very well be responsible for the next human massacre."
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The Harmless Forest
She kept pinching my cheeks.
I wasn't sure how many minutes have passed but this strange Elizabeth fake has done nothing except play with my face since I was tackled by her. She pinched, pulled and rubbed parts of my face. She would even poke my nose occasionally as if trying to test something. Her hands felt cold and rock solid.
Her glass-like eyes kept staring directly at me. I couldn't tell what she was thinking. To be frank, it might be impossible to tell what she was thinking. Judging from her looks, this fake was incapable of making any sort of facial expression. Her face remained completely rigid like the face of a statue... or a puppet.
Puppet. It was the first word that came to my mind when I saw her.
Alfred just stood there awkwardly with his great sword in hand. He kept asking me what he should do about this predicament but I was honestly just as baffled as he was.
Cleric went from being afraid to just being very confused.
Finally, I built up the courage to say, "Umm, hello?"
The Puppet stood up and backed away to give me space, much to my surprise. Although at that point, I was still lost for any words.
She finally took notice of Alfred's existence and almost immediately approached him. Seeing that she didn't inflict any harm on me, Alfred just watched her carefully with his sword in hand.
She approached him without a care in the world, completely unphased by his appearance or his large weapon. She silently looked up at him, while Alfred silently looked down at her. Both of them had faces that were incapable of making any expressions, resulting in some sort of weird, neutral stare-down between the two.
She then attempted to 'pinch' Alfred's cheek, only to discover that you can't pinch a metal helmet. So, she resorted to poking and knocking on his head, treating Alfred's helmet like a door."
The Puppet then turned to face me again. Her fully opened glass-like eyes were now directed towards my second knight. Cleric was shyly clinging to my leg while looking at the Puppet with a curious look. The Elizabeth fake then knelt down in front of me to take a closer look at the small healer.
Cleric waved. The Puppet waved back.
"Umm, nice to meet you?" I unintentionally made it sound like a question. I nervously introduced myself and both my knights.
In response to my introduction, the Puppet said absolutely nothing. She made a few more "Clack! Clack! Clack!" noises with her mouth but quickly stopped. For a moment after that, there was only silence.
The Elizabeth fake then outstretched her arm towards me. I looked at it questionably before finally realising she wanted a handshake. It should've been obvious but my mind was currently trying to process so many things that my train of thought was moving a lot slower than usual.
I shook her hand. Her grip was tight. Very tight. The sudden amount of pressure on my hand almost made my whole body flinch. Her hand was cold and I could felt a slight tremble in her arm.
One minute later and she was still shaking my hand. I'm not sure how long humans usually shake hands when they greet each other but I was pretty sure it's never this long. She kept looking back and forth between my face and our shaking hands.
The only thing I could hear was the slight clacking noise that her body made every-time she moved. To say that this interaction was strange would be the largest understatement of my life.
Another minute goes by and she finally lets go. She then walked up the creaking verandah and stood by the entrance door of the house. With one simple gesture of her arm, it was quite obvious what she wanted us to do.
I gulped.
She wanted us to go inside.
Should I decline? Would she chase after us if we were to run? Considering how fast she traveled from the second floor to here, we might not even be able to outrun her anyway.
B-rank. The same rank as Viridescent and Genad The Goblin Prince who almost killed the Reaper. Now that doesn't automatically mean she's just as powerful but certainly within that range.
But hang on a second... why does she even have a rank?
I thought those red ranks were reserved for only monsters. Unless... she is a monster. But that name: "Elizabeth0466: The Misguided Marionette". She's definitely a fake. Her number '0466' was located on the palm of her left hand and the font of those numbers were exactly the same as mine.
But she even has a monster title!
How is that possible?
The misguided marionette? What could that mean?
Fakes are cursed to always look like the originals, and yet somehow her appearance has physically changed into this puppet-like body. Although clear similarities to the original hero Elizabeth still remain. If you were to shrink her, she would've looked like the toy of some merchant trying to profit off Elizabeth's popularity.
She was still waiting for me, her hand raised and gesturing towards the entrance. Due to the nature of her face, she never blinked and her eyes were opened as wide as they could be.
I gently picked up Cleric and slowly stepped onto the verandah. Aflred followed behind me, still in his larger form with his sword ready to strike if needed.
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The door shut with a loud thud that echoed through the halls.
Every step we made inside made a slight creak noise. I swear even a gentle push from the wind could've made this house creak.
Just like the outside, everything looked either broken or abandoned.
Upon entering, I saw a living room on the right, a dining room on the left, a path to go straight and also some stairs that went up.
The Puppet led us to the dining room where she invited us to seat down around the table. Even though this was clearly her home, many things in this house had gathered a lot of dust including the chairs that my knights and I sat in.
It was very big though. This dinning room alone could fit around two dozens or so people. Maybe even more.
This table had 8 chairs around it but as far as I knew, the Puppet was the only resident of this house. As we sat in three of the chairs, the Puppet went over to the kitchen that was adjacent to the dining table.
I took the time to take in the surroundings. Through the glassless window, I could still see the trees facing us as if they were watching. Occasionally I would look away and back to see that the trees do still move when we're not looking. Interestingly, they never approached the house as if trying to give the house room to breath or something.
Next to the table where we sat was a small mirror or at least I assumed it was a mirror. The mirror was so dirty that you could barely see the reflection that it was designed to give. Underneath the small mirror was a wooden sideboard which had a hole in it but all I could see was darkness inside. There were also a few wooden cabinets but who knows what was inside.
Near the corner of the room I spotted what seemed to be some sort of pot. I think you're meant to put a fake plant in there for decoration but there was no plant or even dirt inside that pot.
There was nothing of note on the dining table itself except a dusty table clothe and a small, empty glass vase. The type of vase you would usually put a flower in.
Soon, we started hearing the sound of clinkering porcelain along with the Puppet constantly opening and closing her mouth.
The Elizabeth fake had returned with a tray in hand that held a fancy yet old looking tea set. She placed it on the table and slowly distributed the cups. The tea set was dressed in so much dust that you could draw on it with your finger and my cup quite literally had spider webs in it.
The white tea set's design was decorated by a pink, flower design.
I have to say, the way she just started serving us without saying a single word was a bit unnerving. I was slightly concerned about what type tea it was going to be considering the state of this place. But it turned out I had nothing to worry about because when she titled the tea pot towards my cup, nothing came out.
The teapot was completely void of any sort of liquid and yet she kept 'pouring' as if it wasn't.
Was it some sort of invisible tea? Nope, she was literally just pretending. The way she stared intently at her moving hands gave the impression that she was imagining tea being there. But, in reality, the only thing filling those cups was dusty air.
Alfred and I just watched with baffled expressions while Cleric enthusiastically lifted up his cup towards her when it was his turn to get some non existent tea.
The Puppet then took a seat in front of her own cup and so the four of us sat there in complete silence. The Puppet was the first to pick up her own cup and 'drink' from it. I watched carefully as she opened her 'mouth'. She didn't have a throat, teeth, a tongue or anything that a typical human mouth would have. The inside of her mouth was practically just a box with hard solid walls instead of gummy flesh.
Cleric happily played along and "drank" his tea. Although, if there was actually liquid in there, he would've dunked himself by now.
Alfred flipped his cup upside down while I awkwardly looked back and forth between my empty cup and the Puppet who was repeatedly 'drinking' from her cup in a mechanical fashion.
Eventually, she stopped and looked straight at me. Out of reflex, I looked down back at my cup but I could feel her still staring at me.
Since entering this house, I hadn't said a single word. I mean, what would you even say in a situation like this? Part of me was expecting her to say something but she hasn't. Is she even capable of speech?
Noticing that I hadn't touched my cup yet, the Puppet gestured her hand towards it as if welcoming me to 'take a sip'. I awkwardly smiled back as my fingers wrapped around the handle of the cup. Upon contact, I could feel the dust clung onto my fingers.
Cleric has probably drank 15 cups of imaginary tea at this point. Alfred was still fidgeting with his cup.
I took a gentle "sip" before wiping the dust off my lips. The Puppet kept looking at me.
"Umm," I gulped, "..."
"..." The Marionette continued staring at me with those emotionless eyes. I couldn't read her expression for obvious reasons.
What do I ask? What should I say? Should I keep quiet? Would it be wise to talk? Or would that be too risky.
It's that rank that keeps haunting me. B-rank. Despite only being one rank higher, they are infinitely more superior to the C-rank dinosaurs that Alfred and I can take down together.
C-rank monster are predictable. You can gauge what a C-rank monster can do after the first minute of a battle. But for a B-rank monster, you have no idea what tricks they might be hiding under their sleeves. Especially, this one.
Viridescent wasn't hostile until after we attacked him first so perhaps it was the same for her. I would've been dead otherwise.
But that was the scary part: I had no idea what might make her hostile. The slightest wrong move could escalate the situation, however, I had no idea what those triggers might be. For example, if I started running away at the start, would that have resulted in a battle?
I wasn't sure. None of my observations were telling me anything. If knew her triggers, I would obviously avoid them but since I don't, it felt as if I was walking through a minefield with a blindfold.
"Do you live here?" It was a silly question with an obvious answer but my mouth just spat it out due to stress.
The Puppet nodded.
I told myself to be careful with what to say. One wrong phrase and that could be the end of it.
"For how long?"
"..."
"Did you... build this house?"
"..."
"Umm, it's... it's a nice place."
"..."
"L-lovely weather we're having."
"..."
Alfred just looked at me weirdly.
This might be obvious to state but the Puppet truly was incapable of talking.
Now that I listened closely, it seemed like she wasn't even breathing. Which did make sense considering the inside of her mouth wasn't connected to any sort of air way. She never blinked either.
Whatever transformation this girl had gone through, it must've taken away her voice and a lot of her other human features.
If she were to stand completely still, she could easily pass off as a regular, human-sized, doll.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Her mouth and eyes seemed to be the only thing on her face that was capable of movement.
Eventually, for whatever reason, the Puppet decided that we have had enough tea time and stood up. Looking at us, she gestured her hands towards the kitchen.
My knights and I looked at each other. We silently deduced that she probably wanted us to follow her.
So we did. Few steps later, we were at the kitchen. It was just as ruined as the rest of the house. We saw half broken cupboards, cracked drawers, and dusty kitchen countertops. Although, if I were to be honest, aside from the dust and the pungent smell of wet wood, it was the most luxurious kitchen I had ever seen. The scale of this kitchen alone was probably the same size as the Samurai's humble cottage that she and the Sage used to live in.
The Puppet silently gestured her arm at the kitchen and paused.
She then led us through the centre hallway and into the right side of the house. On the way, I spotted a set of downward steps behind the stairs that looked like it led to a basement of some sort.
We entered a living room. A room that was occupied by grey couches that surrounded a glass coffee table.
The Puppet silently gestured her arm at the living room and paused.
She then led us to next adjacent room that was closest to the front door. It was another living with dusty sofas except there was more space in the middle which had a fancy looking rug. Just like the tea set, the rug had a flower pattern on it. From here, I could see the dining room across the hallway where we just had 'tea'.
The layout of this place was quite simple. Basically, the structure of house had a square-like perimeter with three main parts. The left side which consisted of the dining room and the kitchen. The right side which consisted of the two living rooms and then there was the centre corridor, which consisted of stairs that went up and down and it also acted as the segue that connected the two sides.
The Puppet silently gestured her arm at the second living room and paused.
She then led us up the stairs.
On the second floor, there was another corridors that consisted of four doors, two on left and two on the right. The Puppet opened the first door which led a simple bedroom. It had a grey single bed, a wooden bedside table and pretty much nothing else except a window that gave us the view of the harmless forest. It looked a bit empty compared to the rooms downstairs. I could see a bit of green mould in the dark corner of the room.
The Puppet silently gestured her arm at the bedroom and paused.
My knights and I were so confused throughout this entire period. We had no idea what the Puppet was doing and why she was randomly guiding us around the house.
After she showed us the second and third bedrooms, the answer to that question finally dawned on me.
"Oh... she... she's giving us a house tour." I silently thought to myself. It was such a human thing to do that it never occurred to me at first. My knights also caught onto that fact and took the time to admire every detail of the house. This house must've looked like a mansion to them compared to the huts we slept in.
The fourth room had a bit more stuff in it and was a lot more personalised. This was most likely the Marionette's room. Unlike the others, this bed had a decorative blanket. It had a pretty flower pattern which seemed to be a common occurrence in this house.
Standing on top the bedside table was a small glass vase, similar to the one that was on the dinning table.
But this one actually did contain a single flower. However, this flower had long lost its original colour and seemed to have died long ago.
Her room was more filled up compared to the other guest rooms. I saw more drawers, a pot by the window, a small table with a chair and even a wardrobe.
The Puppet silently gestured her arm at her bedroom and paused.
She then led us back to the second floor hallway. At the end, suspended from the ceiling, there was a rope with a handle that connected to what seemed like an openable hatch. The Puppet pulled on it and down came a wooden ladder. It was the attic.
The Puppet welcomed us to climb first.
The attic was empty. We only saw wooden pillars that supported the structure along with a large hole at the end that gave us a cool view of the forest. The walls were adorned with several smaller holes that Alfred and Cleric loved to peek through, as if each hole were a tiny telescope.
Once the Puppet was up, she silently gestured her arm at the attic and paused. We awkwardly looked back at her for who knows how many times now.
After another moment of silence, she began leading us back downstairs. With that, she had shown us every room in the house. Every room except the basement.
She led us back to the living room, the one with space in the middle. The Puppet approached one of the drawers, kneeling down to rummage through the junk inside it while my knights and I silently waited. There were couches to seat on but we remained standing regardless.
After a minute, she pulled out a tower of wooden building blocks. She carefully placed it in the middle of the rug before pulling out a few more blocks that were left in the drawer. Each of the blocks came in different shapes and sizes that could fit together in different ways.
She then gestured her hand towards the blocks that she had just placed down in the middle. The first person to understand her gesture was Cleric. He excitedly clapped his hands and went over to the middle to start playing.
Even Alfred, who had been cautious until now, promptly wanted to join as soon as the toys caught his eye. He reverted back to his child form and went to play next to Cleric. The Marionette stared at Alfred for a few moments, she was probably curious as to how Alfred had suddenly shrunk down to a child but she quickly continued as normal.
My two small knights pushed down the small wooden tower which scattered the pieces all over the rug. With those pieces, they started building random stuff together and even tried making a mini fortress.
The Elizabeth fake then gestured towards the dusty couch, inviting me to take a seat which I did. However, what I didn't expect was for the Puppet to sit right next to me, with our shoulders touching, despite the couch having enough space to hold at least five people. Just when I thought she was close enough, the Puppet shifted even closer, squishing my body against the armrest of the couch.
With that, we silently watched my two knights play with the building blocks. While Alfred and Cleric were happily enjoying themselves, I couldn't shake off the strange sensation of her presence beside me. Her body heat was practically none existent. The lack of any breathing, heartbeat, or movement made it truly felt like she was an object pressing up against me and not an actual person.
I decided to look around the room as a way to distract myself from this predicament. The room looked the same as when I first laid eyes on it. Everything was just as dusty as expected and all in the same place. All except for one thing. Near the corner of the room was a wooden rocking chair.
Was that always there?
Was I gaslighting myself or did that rocking chair just appear out of nowhere?
Almost every piece of furniture in this house was covered in dust but this rocking chair was probably the cleanest thing in this whole house. Not a spect of dust was visible on it.
My confusion over this mysterious rocking chair was interrupted when the Puppet suddenly raised both her hands and put them close together as if she was holding an invisible ball.
Strings.
They were barely visible but I saw thin white strings protrude from the tip of her fingers. Each string moved independently like a worm, despite not being supported by anything. Watching how she manipulated these strings without touching them was fascinating yet slightly unsettling to watch. All the strings then started meeting in the centre of her hands, combining and twisting with one another.
At first, it just looked like an incoherent mess of tangled string. But then I started seeing some colour emerge from the white web. Fabric and material that shouldn't be there slowly started forming.
Then it started taking shape. As seconds went by, the white web of strings slowly turned into something completely different.
After the process was finish, there wasn't a single piece of string left. In her hands was now a small... soft toy? It was a doll. A doll that looked similar to an Aria fake.
The Puppet slowly extended her arm to me.
For a moment, I just stared at the doll in pure astonishment. Was she giving this toy to me?
The Puppet simply waited and did not move which once again made her look like a statue. She always looked quite eerie whenever she stopped moving altogether.
"T-thank you." I said as I gently grabbed the toy.
I ran my thumb over the doll's soft fabric, marvelling at how a toy like this could be made purely out of string. Was this wool? Cloth? Nothing about this object signified that it was made from strings. Not to mention, it seemed perfectly crafted in terms of the stitching as if it carefully sewn with careful precision. It was fascinating to see that those invisible-like strings had turned into something so tangible.
I felt something tug at my leg. Alfred and Cleric had spotted the new doll in my hand and was now pulling on my leg since they too wanted a closer look as well.
Noticing this, the Puppet began the process again with her hands and strings. Alfred and Cleric watched the process in complete awe. Cleric started clapping when the Puppet flawlessly made two knight dolls for each of them. Dolls that looked like a simplified and smaller version of them.
After they each received their respective dolls, Alfred shook it around while Cleric hugged his one.
To my relief, the Puppet then stood up and went over to the mini fortress that my knights had built, freeing me from that awkward position. She then proceeded to create more dolls to act as "residents" or "guards" for the block fortress that my knights had created.
Now that I was finally free, I could stretch out my body a bit on the couch. It felt like I wasn't breathing the entire time she was next to me.
The Marionette proceeded to show my knights another trick that she could do.
More strings protruded from her hand and attached themselves unto one of dolls. Once attached, the doll begun to stand up and move on its own. The tiny doll waved at Alfred who simply waved back, while Cleric started clapping out of amazement. They took turns shaking hands with the doll that the Puppet was manipulating.
I silently watched as they messed around with the blocks and dolls. The Puppet continued to interact with my knights through the dolls that she controlled. Even though they were both incapable of communicating or even understanding each other, they seem to have a basic understanding of what they wanted to build and what type of "residents" to put in those buildings.
They would admire their work and then tear it down to build something else. They repeated this quite a few times.
After watching them for a bit, I stood up which caught the Puppet's attention. I involuntarily flinched when her neck snapped toward me.
"Umm, do you mind if I just look around house for a bit? I got to stretch my legs." I gulped.
The Puppet nodded and to my surprise, she choose not to follow me.
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I wandered aimlessly through the house, inspecting each of the furniture in closer detail. I refrained from touching or opening any drawers or cabinets, as I didn't want to give off the impression of a thief searching for valuables.
From the kitchen, I could still hear the sound of Alfred knocking down building blocks, Cleric clapping and the Puppet moving her arms.
After revisiting the dining room and kitchen, I found myself in the centre hallway of the house where the stairs were. I considered going upstairs but entering someone's bedroom without permission made me feel uncomfortable. Besides, I was more interested in what laid beneath the stairs.
The basement. The one place the Puppet didn't show us.
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Alfred spotted the nearby rocking chair and pointed at it excitedly, while tapping his little brother on the shoulder. Cleric was initially engrossed in what he was building but as soon as he spotted the rocking chair, his full attention was taken away by it.
Noticing this, the Marionette walked over behind the rocking chair, pushed it forward, and then indicated with her arm that they were more than welcome to have a ride.
The two knights excitedly climbed up the chair and made themselves comfortable on the wooden seat.
The Puppet proceeded to gently rock the chair back and forth.
As boring as it may have looked, Alfred and Cleric were having the time of their lives. Cleric was raising his arms as if riding a large bird while Alfred was just jumping up and down. He would often fall and hit his head in which case, the Puppet would stop rocketing the chair while Cleric tap Alfred on the head with his small healing staff. But each time, he would eagerly want to continue.
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By the time I went down the second step, I couldn't help but remember the time I recklessly charged into a dark alley way that could've gotten me killed, all so I could bury the body of someone I didn't even know.
Like most of the house, the steps that led down to the basement door were made out of wood. The deeper I went down, the darker it became.
I'm not sure what compelled me to go down here. Curiosity? Did the Puppet forget about it or were she trying to hide something?
Before, I was extremely cautious about not provoking the Puppet in fear that she may become hostile, and yet what I was doing right now may very well end up doing exactly that.
Before I knew it, I had reached the bottom of the steps. At the bottom was a simple wooden door. There was nothing unusual about this door besides the fact that it was the only door in this house that had a metal lock on it.
It was old. Like the others, the door had been weathered by time and neglect. Whatever the surface used to be like, it had now faded to a muted, ashen gray. Part of the surface was either peeling or cracked, but it showed no indication of what was on the other side.
As I reached out to touch handle, the door emitted a faint, eerie creak.
My attempt to turn the doorknob was met with a soft click. It was locked.
I leaned in to take a closer look at the metal handle; something about it caught my attention. It was coated in a layer of rust, but even so, I could see the faint outline of what seemed to be the shape of a flower, etched into the doorknob.
After concluding that there was nothing else to see, I finally decided it was time to head back and check up on the others.
But the moment I took a step back, I bumped into something—or someone—behind me. I felt my body shiver. I slowly turned my head around to look.
The Marionette was standing right there, her unmoving gaze fixed directly on me.
Startled, I instinctively tried to step away but my back ended up hitting the locked door behind me.
What followed was a moment of deep, heavy silence.
I did not dare move or speak.
The Puppet also didn't move.
"..."
"..."
We continued staring. The fact that I couldn't read the Puppet's expression at all made the situation so much more worrying. Whether it be anger, fear, excitement, or happiness – all forms of emotion were impossible to express on a face as artificial as hers. Her wide opened eyes were even more noticeable than before now that we were in a darker place. Her eyes looked fake and yet her stare felt so intense as if it was penetrating right through my soul.
After what seemed like an eternity of me just holding my breath, the Puppet made a move.
The Elizabeth fake reached for something inside of her clothes. She then pulled a small rusty key.
She lifted the key towards the ceiling as if trying to put it on display while making a few more 'clack! clack! clack!' noises with her mouth. She then started walking towards the door I was standing in front of so I moved out of her way.
Was she... going to open the door for me?
Given that she had omitted the basement from the house tour, I was somewhat taken aback by her willingness to reveal this room.
The Puppet gently inserted the key into the lock. But instead of turning it herself, she simply let go and left they key inside the lock.
The key suddenly began turning on it own before making a small 'Ka clink!' noise. The sound of the metal lock turning almost startled me again. The door then proceeded to open by itself even though the Puppet didn't touch anything.
I was expecting it to be pitch black in there but there was some natural light seeping into the room through a small window near the top of wall. The walls were made of stone instead of wood. But the decaying stone looked just as neglected as the rest of the house. Neatly arranged in rows inside the room were a series of glass dusty cabinets.
I stood at the entrance, debating on whether it was a good idea to enter or not.
The Puppet gestured her arm towards the room and waited for me to enter. It seemed like every time she waited for something, she would just stand completely still and stare.
I slowed down my breathing before stepping forward.
Every step I made in this room made a light "tap" noise as I entered.
Even up close, I couldn't see through the glass cabinets. It was covered by a thin veil of dust that obscured the glass' transparency. But I could still see the faint outline of some sort of object but due to how dimly lit the room was, it was hard to tell what it was.
So out of curiosity, I used my hand to wipe the dust away and when I did, I immediately made eye contact with a pair of fake eyes.
I flinched and took a step back.
The object inside that stared back at me was a wooden doll. It looked similar to the Marionette herself except it was way smaller, had a completely different face, wore different clothes and most importantly, it didn't move like her.
It wasn't just one. I spotted multiple wooden puppets inside this cabinet and something told me every other cabinet in this basement also contained the same sort of inventory.
There were no duplicates. Each puppet looked distinct and unique from one another. The design of their clothes and faces had a lot of detail added to them... almost too much detail. Unlike the small dolls that the Puppet created for us upstairs, these puppets had a very ominous aura radiating from them.
I took a step forward to look closer.
There was way too much detail. A puppet created by a professional crafter would usually be clean and simple in it's design. However, these toys contained imperfect details that couldn't possibly have been done by accident. I saw marks that imitated scars, pictures on their wooden skin that looked like tattoos and they held weapons with designs that I had never seen before.
This could've meant many different things but at the time, my mind only had one guess.
Were these dolls...
If my institution was correct then these wooden puppets... were all real people.
Ka Clink!
The sudden, sharp sound echoed throughout the dim basement, reverberating through the still air.
I froze as if the sound had verbally stabbed me in the ear.
Time seemed to have slow down at that moment. The basement felt colder now, the air more stifling, as I grappled with the unsettling awareness of what I just heard. I could feel my panic slowly build up as each slow second of realisation went by.
I had let my guard down. I was so focused on the ominous puppets that I didn't even notice the door closing.
After retrieving the key, the Marionette slowly turned around to face me.
I was now locked in the basement with her.
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Meanwhile, Alfred and Cleric continued having the time of their lives, gleefully waving their arms in sync with the rocking chair's rhythm.
If they had voices, they would've been cheering like regular humans kids who had just found a new form of entertainment. Both knights were imagining something different.
Alfred was picturing himself riding a dragon while Cleric was imaging a phoenix.
After a few more minutes, Cleric wanted to ask whether the Puppet wanted to have a turn next. But when he looked back to ask, he finally realised that the Marionette had completely vanished and the rocking chair had been moving by itself this entire time. It was then that he also noticed that Alfred and Cleric were currently the only ones left in the room.
Startled by this, Cleric tapped Alfred's shoulder several times.
When he finally pulled his big brother out of his imaginary world, Cleric pointed out the fact that no one had been pushing the rocking chair this entire time.
Alfred reacted in a similar startled manner Cleric had done earlier.
After realising this, the two knights jumped off the chair and started searching the house.
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"..."
"..."
I hadn't made a move and neither had she.
She was expressionless as ever. Her face, unmoving and lifeless, didn't offer any clues to her intentions.
Was this it? Had my luck run out? Was my foolish and reckless behaviour finally going to lead to my end?
When she finally made a move, it startled me. She was now looking back at the door.
Why was her attention back on the door she just locked? That question was shortly answered by a light-
Knock knock.
It was a light knock. The type of knock that could be only be done by a small being.
The Puppet promptly approached the door again and inserted the key back into the lock.
Like last time, the key turned itself with a "ka clink" noise before the door opened by itself.
As expected, it was Alfred with Cleric hiding behind his back. Cleric politely said thank you to the Marionette and bowed his head. Although, he must've forgotten that he didn't have a voice. The Puppet stepped aside as my two knights then ran towards me on their little feet and before clinging to my legs.
"How did she know Alfred and Cleric were coming before they even knocked?" It was a question that I kept to myself.
The door shut itself which was swiftly followed by another loud "ka clink!" that echoed through the room. Once again, the Puppet had locked the door.
This slightly frightened Cleric a bit while Alfred cautiously pulled out his sword, but he remained in his chibi form.
This eerie situation felt less tense now that my knights were here with me. Just having them here calmed down my nerves which helped me think more logically about the scenario.
The Puppet moved again as she approached one of the other glass cabinets. My knights and I eyed her carefully.
She opened the cabinet and aimed her palm. Like before, white strings protruded from all her fingers.
They attached themselves onto one of the wooden dolls. The toy started moving on its own. With every lift of her finger, the doll's limbs would respond as if giving the doll its own life.
She puppeteered the doll to stand up and jump out of the cabinet.
Once the wooden doll was on the ground, the Marionette directed the doll to perform random body movements. The toy repeatedly jumped, swayed its arms side to side, performed agile jumps, and dove to the ground.
At the same time, the Puppet was making 'klack!" noises with her mouth by opening it and closing it. But unlike previous times where it was rapid and consecutive, the Puppet seemed to be opening and closing her mouth within a certain rhythm as if trying to match the beat of an unknown song, "Klack... klack-klack... klack-klack-klack...klack... Klack-klack..."
The Puppet even began to sway her head from side to side in order to match the inaudible melody that played in her mind. All the while, the wooden doll she puppeteered continued its dance performance.
Cleric was not clapping this time. It seemed that he too had noticed something strange about these ominous wooden dolls.
If these things truly used to be real people, than the sight of the Puppet forcing it to do a dance was quite the morbid sight.
I took the opportunity to look into the cabinet that the Puppet had just opened. Just like the first one I looked into, there were more wooden dolls, each with their own distinct and unique look. The clothes of these puppets reminded me of one word: adventurers.
While the Elizabeth fake was hyper focused on her mini performance, I went to open one of the other cabinets. Soldiers. The puppets I saw in this cabinet definitely used to be soldiers judging from the uniforms they were wearing.
Adventurers. Soldiers. It was just a theory before but after seeing how uneasy Cleric was feeling, now I was sure: these things used to be humans. Perhaps I was overthinking but why else would she lock these in the basement?
Although, I have to note that at this point, I hadn't seen any fakes within these cabinets. But I wasn't going to jump to that conclusion just yet; that could just be because most fakes don't have any interest in this forest since it isn't related to any of the original heroes. But if that's the case, what was she doing here?
I felt Cleric cling tighter to my leg. Judging from the window near the ceiling, the sun was about to start setting and I could feel the room slowly get darker. With that, I decided it was about time to go.
"Umm..."
The Puppet stopped her performance as soon she heard my voice.
"We would like to leave now."
Only silence was what followed after that request.
"..."
"..."
Alfred kept brandishing his small weapon out of caution. The Marionette stared at us with the same unchanging expression as she always has.
The Puppet then proceeded to put the wooden doll back into the cabinet and close them all. The cabinet that I had opened previously managed to closed by itself. The Elizabeth fake then walked to the door and inserted the key back into the lock. "Ka clink!". Once the door was opened, she gestured her arm towards it.
With cautious footsteps, we went past her and up the stairs.
As I went up the steps, I once again heard the distinct "ka clink" noise of the Puppet locking the basement door behind her.
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Once we had returned back to the first floor, the Puppet made a sharp turn straight back to the living room where my knights had left the building blocks.
She then picked up two wooden blocks in her hands and faced us. It seemed she was silently urging us to go back to playing with the building blocks and continue having fun. For once, I could actually sense a tiny glisten of anticipation in her glass-like eyes. It may have been the first emotion to ever be displayed on her face today.
My knights and I looked at each other nervously.
"Umm... actually, I think it's time we head home now."
The Puppet dropped the building blocks and almost dashed towards me.
I reacted by freezing in place. In all my life, I had never felt such a rush of terror in a such a short amount of time. When a B-rank monster charges straight at you with that speed, it's like your heart just stops, leaving you helpless and unable to react in time.
Fortunately for me, the Puppet still hadn't shown any hostility... yet. She stopped abruptly in front of me, and her cold artificial hand roughly grabbed my arm. Her hand was shaking as she did so.
Even Alfred barely had anytime to react properly and by the time he registered what had just happened, I told him to stand down.
For a moment, the only thing we could hear was the constant, rapid clacking noise of the Marionette opening and closing her mouth. It was the fastest I had ever heard her make that noise, "Klack!Klack!Klack!Klack!Klack!Klack!Klack!Klack!Klack!"
My heart was beating a lot faster now. I could feel Cleric shaking by my leg.
This potentially might've been the first sign of conflict of today: we wanted to leave but she clearly wanted us to stay.
I say 'potentially' because the Puppet hadn't done anything else besides just stand there and hold onto my arm.
The words 'what do I do? what do I do?' constantly repeated themselves in my head over and over. If there was a time today where my choices determined life or death, this was that time. Do we fight? The exit was right there but there was no way we were going to outrun her. But starting a fight in her own territory would be no different to suicide. Alfred was eager to start a battle but I could sense a hint of fear in the way he brandished his weapon.
I'm not sure how long it had been since she grabbed my arm but since then, she hadn't made a move. She just continued to stare at me. I should've taken more time to consider my next few words, but the pressure felt like I was on some sort of imaginary timer.
"We, ah... w-we'll come back... we, umm... We'll be back with some of my other friends, I-I promise."
She let go.
I'm not sure what it was, but she let go.
I'm not even sure what compelled me more to utter those words, but it seemed to work.
She even took a step back away from us.
The front door opened by itself, and she gestured her arm towards it.
For a moment, my knights and I looked back and forth between the door and the Marionette as we couldn't believe that leaving could possibly be that easy.
"T-thank you." I picked up both my knights and slowly exited the house.
Each step I took on the outside verandah made a creaking noise that seemed so much louder compared to the first time I stepped on it.
As I continued my retreat through the grass field, my knights and I couldn't resist the urge to look back.
The Puppet remained motionless by the door, her unwavering gaze following our departure.
I half-expected her to chase after us, but she made no such move.
There was no sound, no hint of movement. She simply stood there, silently watching us until we vanished into the dense foliage of the surrounding forest.
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I'll be honest, when I was watching the Puppet and my knights having fun with those building blocks, the thought of inviting her to Fake Town did cross my mind. Despite how eerie her presences may have seemed, as the day went on I was slowly becoming more convinced that she didn't mean any actual harm. Maybe she was like Viridescent.
But then I saw what was in that basement and now I wasn't so sure anymore.
When I asked Alfred and Cleric for their opinions, they said they weren't so sure either.
It was clear that the discovery of that basement had left an unsettling feeling in our minds.
It was something we deeply pondered on even after we safety left the Harmless Forest.
I'll have to ask the Reaper and the Samurai for their opinions first before I make that decision.
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...
The Puppet silently settled down on the rocking chair that had mysterious appeared on the verandah.
Using her slight body weight, she gently rocked on the chair back and forth as she waited.
Even when the sun had set and darkness had shrouded her entire house, she waited.
She kept rocking on her chair, her eyes wide open the entire time, unblinking and motionless like a regular manmade doll.
For hours upon hours, she remained in that chair, aimlessly staring forward at nothing.
Her eyes eventually locked onto the moon.
She watched as the moon slowly rose up to the sky, displaying all of its glory. Only for the moon to gracefully descend back to the horizon, making way for the equally slow and graceful sunrise.
Even as another day passed in complete silence, she continued rocking in that chair.
...
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End Chapter
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A/N Sorry for the slow update, now that I'm not on holiday, updates will be very slow. A friendly reminder that if you check the progress of future chapters or ask me anything directly, there should be a discord link on my profile page. We got a few people in there now but feel free to just lurk around.
I haven't had time to return to previous chapters to fix errors and inconsistencies but that is a future goal of mine.
If you're reading this, thank you so much for reading this far as always :D. See ya in the next one.
This chapter was finished on the 8/09/2023
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