Work Text:
Puppets are beings made of strings, invisible, impossibly long.
With no puppeteer to talk to, eternally binding the doll, if a puppet has no string what difference is there with a human? But today a puppet walks with a human, if we can even call her that, she is a sword, cleaving with purpose, that's what a human being does, but for the puppet there is no space for honor or might, she needs to be precise, to see the full picture from the start, blades in hand she will be scissors, to finally free the puppet she cares for.
Day 1
The Mansion is perfectly clean, not a spot is left,
‘Perfect as always’
Shiori thought, her puppet was there staring down the job complete waiting for the next order.
Picking her cup of tea near her lips she tilts and let it fall on purpose, without hesitation the puppet picks it up.
“Good job there my dear”
“Miss Novella please be more careful.”
But carefulness is not in this woman diary, she picks the cup again in her hand.
“Now if you wouldn’t mind can you not pick the cup this time?”
“As you say”
It falls down and porcelain breaks and shatters.
“Good now please don’t picks this one too.”
“Of course”
A bit of a devilish smile on her face, she takes another cup, and she launches it in the air.
There is not time, as the cup is about to crash on Shiori’s head,
Snip
The puppet snatches the cup.
“You shouldn’t harm yourself this way Miss”
“You may be right but why did you catch it?”
The puppet looks at her hand and lets the cup fall to the ground.
“Now I have to go back to work, clean this up”.
Day 11
It's a cold day, the windows outside freezing around the edges and the Miss is waiting in her bed.
“Miss how do you feel? Should I prepare you any medicine”
Her puppet is standing there, with a plate full of Misses favorite foods.
“Oh I am not sure I’m unwell, would you touch my head to see if I’m too hot?”
Her puppet tilted her head at the strange request.
“ Miss I cannot feel heat or cold, I would not even be sure what temperature is right for you!”
Her cheeks slowly flushed red, “But you can tell when water boils, no? Just place your hand here, I’m sure in a bit you will get the hang of it”.
The automaton delivers and puts her hand on the Misses head.
Two hours pass.
Snip
“... Master, I…” She takes her hand off, trembling.
“I think you are piping hot! I will immediately make you chicken bone soup.”
Day 47
Shiori Novella is looking at the fireplace, a letter in her hand with a black eye sigil on it, scoffing at it, she hears footsteps approaching.
Before her puppet enters the room the letter is burning in the fireplace.
“Miss I have tended to the garden, by your request”
“Great job Cecilia.”
Cecilia tilts her head a bit, then turns, searching for somebody else.
“I’m sorry Miss, who are you talking to?”
Shiori isn’t surprised, her models are named after numbers most of the time.
“It’s your name silly! But I will be damned, I can't really think of a surname that fits you.”
Cecilia stops, lifeless for a second, she reboots with the new information in mind.
“Yes. Cecilia at your service. For a surname, sorry if I interfere with your order, but as a puppet what need would I have of it?”
“ You are right but are you going against my wish? As your master, please decide a surname for yourself.”
Cecilia stops again, a little longer this time.
“As a puppet of this House, Cecilia Novella has a bit of a ring to it? Not that I can tell for sure.”
Miss Novella cackles at the proposal.
“No, no, no! That won’t do! Please think of something on your own, something that speaks to you.”
Cecilia almost stops again, but this time she starts turning, till she sees herself in the mirror, to her white locks, emerald eyes, porcelain skin…
Snip
“Immergreen.”
Shiori writes it on her mind,
“Cecilia Immergreen, yeah I like that.”
Day 256
Cecilia is organising, again, the library books, her miss had scattered twelve different books, reading through all of them multiple times, ‘archiving’, as she says.
She is wondering, as a puppet made to understand most languages, half of this literature didn’t make an ounce of sense.
Just holding them… they didn’t feel nor hot or cold just ‘wrong’.
The door slammed open and then shut.
Miss Shiori is back.
“Welcome back Miss, your tea is rea-”
She is stopped, quickly seeing the black blood dripping on the floor.
Her miss is a complete mess, a gunshot to the shoulder.
“ Ehehe, can you put the cup on my lips? Picking stuff up at the moment hurts a lot.”
Cecilia rushes around, bringing bandages, taking out the bullet, tending to her miss with the most care she can.
“You really can do anything eheh- OUCH!”
The alcohol burned like it was fire on the Misses' wound.
“No time to joke Shiori, what happened? Did you anger somebody again?”
A half smile paints her face.
“Some people are angry that I even exist Ceci,”
The door slams again,
“ He is here. Don’t fight back Cecilia, ok? I got this.”
Something in a white coat entered with a gun in its hand, pointing at Shiori.
Cecilia stands up, orders were clear but-
“Hello sir? Welcome to our humble home, how would you like a cup of green tea-”
Trying to hand the cup to White Coat, he throws her away on top of a suit of decorative armor.
“HEY, NO NEED TO TOUCH HER BIG GUY! You want a piece of me, no? Come on then!”
White Coat start to raise his gun, Cecilia looks and stops.
What to do.
Something inside her tears
What she is about to do isn’t fighting back.
She picks the spear that the armor was holding and impales White Coat with it.
Golden blood starts flowing till White Coat falls to the ground.
“It’s not fighting back if it’s already over, no?”
SNIP
An hour later
“ I don’t understand, miss.”
Shiori smiles while she is finishing packing her things.
“I’m about to be imprisoned Ceci.”
Cecilia shakes her head.
“Yes I understood that but why can't we run?”
Shiori wasn’t smiling
“They will chase us to the edge of the universe, I fear. But do not fret! When the time is right I will return, so please you just have to wait here.”
Cecilia looks at the stone interior.
“I… It will be cold without you.”
Miss Novella, gets closer, slowly, bit by bit.
“Well then I must leave you with a gift to make it less cold,”
Her lips are salt of the earth, something she didn’t even know could be felt, soft as nothing she even grasped to think.
After that it is just a second, her longest second while her Master waves, and closes the basement.
Day 3652500
The door finally collapses and crumbles.
Cecilia Immergreen is looking at the sky.
The stars have changed, there are new ones and others have moved where they didn’t belong.
What is this feeling she has? How long will she have to wait?
Seeing the stars after so long the puppet realizes something.
It’s all her fault.
She should have deactivated long ago.
But she waited.
She endured.
Just for her.
She can’t just do as she is told anymore, she won't, it's Her fault.
She has been torn apart
Standing up, now looking forward.
“ I will be the one to go to you, and I will make you pay for making me do so.”
A puppet walks, now holding the sword.
Could you even call it a puppet anymore?