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It had been an hour, or had it been two? His daughter's body had already cooled, the heat seeping from it along with her life and his heart. His eyes stared at nothing in particular, two stagnant pools under an ashen sky, unseeing. Or at least they would have remained that way had the splinters of the little abomination which had ruined his daughter not begun trembling, performing a thrumming dance on the worn wooden floor.
Thin, gleaming threads of a violet hued energy slowly trickled out of the doll's remains, reaching, twisting, writhing in a somewhat leisurely manner. They appeared to be forming a web, spinning themselves back together while slowly, inexorably, the fragments of the figurine began pulling towards each other to once again become a whole. First the legs, then the shattered torso, it was not long before all of the pieces had rejoined, mingling with each other long enough for a new layer of soft, pliable skin to spread across the doll's petite body. She let out a short gasp of breath and turned to the man whose expression had changed rapidly to one of disbelief and pouted.
"Papa, what was that for? I just wanted to join my older sister..."
It was at this point that the diminutive being noticed the bloodied axe in her surrogate papa's hands, turning slowly she took in the broken shell of her former older sister.
"No, no, no, no, no.."
A litany of denial trickled from her lips as her eyes grew wider by the second, in a flash she was at her sister's side cradling a lifeless hand in her delicate palm as though it were a rare and fragile treasure. She looked up at the man who had given her a second chance with teary eyes.
"Papa, why? My whole life was a blur of mistreatment, I lay in that field, in the wind, rain and snow. I knew nothing but hate, and then you found me. You washed away my pain and replaced the hate with love. Why, you even gave me a sister, someone who loved me more than anything else.. I never had a sister.. I never had a papa and now you have destroyed her! Why papa?!"
The man just stared on, his hand gripping the axe tightly. He drew himself up and stumbled across to the weeping being, the weeping being who had begun muttering to herself softly, the being which now drew herself up and glared at him and his stained weapon.
"Unforgivable."
The man lunged at her then, throwing himself at her bodily as though he were a crazed beast. The axe was deflected by a tiny hand as if it were merely a paper fan, it sailed out of the window and disappeared into the viridian grass outside.
"You will regret this papa."
The doll's eyes had taken on a baleful gleam, a gleam which promised an inescapable vengeance. The defeated man sat down hard, he could only gawk at the strength of the tiny girl swathed in a cute dress he had made himself, her coiled silvery locks cascading around her slight shoulders.
"From now onwards, I will be your daughter papa. I will remind you every day about my sister, your child, I will coat everything that could hurt you in my energy so that you cannot escape, and I will remind you for the rest of your days about the heart you have broken."
The man slumped further, his will to fight draining from his body. He realised that even if he smashed her up and scattered her to the winds she would return to torment him. He supposed it was true what they said about a doll's wrath being something to be feared, not only this, but that other saying about engaging your brain before acting appeared to ring true too.
The doll took in her papa's expressions and nodded to herself, this would do for now, he would be sorry about what he had done to her dear sister, but that would not be the end of it, she would ensure that he would remember and take in the full measure of her pain. After all, she had the rest of his life ahead of her.
Thin, gleaming threads of a violet hued energy slowly trickled out of the doll's remains, reaching, twisting, writhing in a somewhat leisurely manner. They appeared to be forming a web, spinning themselves back together while slowly, inexorably, the fragments of the figurine began pulling towards each other to once again become a whole. First the legs, then the shattered torso, it was not long before all of the pieces had rejoined, mingling with each other long enough for a new layer of soft, pliable skin to spread across the doll's petite body. She let out a short gasp of breath and turned to the man whose expression had changed rapidly to one of disbelief and pouted.
"Papa, what was that for? I just wanted to join my older sister..."
It was at this point that the diminutive being noticed the bloodied axe in her surrogate papa's hands, turning slowly she took in the broken shell of her former older sister.
"No, no, no, no, no.."
A litany of denial trickled from her lips as her eyes grew wider by the second, in a flash she was at her sister's side cradling a lifeless hand in her delicate palm as though it were a rare and fragile treasure. She looked up at the man who had given her a second chance with teary eyes.
"Papa, why? My whole life was a blur of mistreatment, I lay in that field, in the wind, rain and snow. I knew nothing but hate, and then you found me. You washed away my pain and replaced the hate with love. Why, you even gave me a sister, someone who loved me more than anything else.. I never had a sister.. I never had a papa and now you have destroyed her! Why papa?!"
The man just stared on, his hand gripping the axe tightly. He drew himself up and stumbled across to the weeping being, the weeping being who had begun muttering to herself softly, the being which now drew herself up and glared at him and his stained weapon.
"Unforgivable."
The man lunged at her then, throwing himself at her bodily as though he were a crazed beast. The axe was deflected by a tiny hand as if it were merely a paper fan, it sailed out of the window and disappeared into the viridian grass outside.
"You will regret this papa."
The doll's eyes had taken on a baleful gleam, a gleam which promised an inescapable vengeance. The defeated man sat down hard, he could only gawk at the strength of the tiny girl swathed in a cute dress he had made himself, her coiled silvery locks cascading around her slight shoulders.
"From now onwards, I will be your daughter papa. I will remind you every day about my sister, your child, I will coat everything that could hurt you in my energy so that you cannot escape, and I will remind you for the rest of your days about the heart you have broken."
The man slumped further, his will to fight draining from his body. He realised that even if he smashed her up and scattered her to the winds she would return to torment him. He supposed it was true what they said about a doll's wrath being something to be feared, not only this, but that other saying about engaging your brain before acting appeared to ring true too.
The doll took in her papa's expressions and nodded to herself, this would do for now, he would be sorry about what he had done to her dear sister, but that would not be the end of it, she would ensure that he would remember and take in the full measure of her pain. After all, she had the rest of his life ahead of her.