steelmyself | who stole your heart and the key?

Entry tags:

a forest dark,
ic

who stole your heart and the key?

In the dark, you taste something sweet and tart on your tongue, almost like apple but not quite: pomegranate juice, out of nowhere. A hint of something metallic accompanies it.

You fall down.

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[Not good enough, apparently!!!

Looking for the exit. Not to leave, but to air the house out.]

There are broad doors in the hallway that can be opened. The housekeeping puppet ignores you for the time being.

[OPEN WIDE, DOORS. She doesn't know a thing about cleaning or fresh air, but she read about this in a book once, so clearly that means it works in real life too.

Not that this is that. Or that she's alive.]

The doors open. A little of the dust blows out into the cool, still courtyard beyond.

The puppet-thing pauses behind her.

[Thank goodness. She doesn't really know how to do anything else though, so she turns her head to just take a while watching the puppet.]

"Why are you cleaning?"

Its voice sounds faintly like Haku's, but creaky and fake somehow.

Edited 2016-01-09 23:07 (UTC)

[Last time she checked he wasn't a lil puppet dude with sword arms, but ok. She can roll with it.]

Because this house is rather dusty. It agitates my nose, and makes me sneeze.

"There's no point. This place is fake, like everything else here."

That may be so, but I assure you that my discomfort is no falsehood. Please help me clean.

"I'm trying." It leans down to dust the edge where the wall meets the floor some more. "But there's no point. This is just an illusion in a hopeless place."

[Sneezing some more, then moving to cover her nose with her hand.]

If you despise it so deeply, then why not be rid of it?

"Don't you get it? It's me."

[Shoots it a withering look.]

That isn't true. You're you. This may be a representation of who you are, but you aren't a house, Haku. You're a person.

[A beat.]

Could I find building materials here?

"I'm not a house, that's true. But I'm hardly a person, either." He pauses. "Building materials? Why?"

If you're unable to enjoy this place, then there's no need for it to exist. I'll build you something that will make you happy.

[Taking a look around for any tools, and loose pieces of brick or lumber. Just scanning with her eyes, not moving just yet.]

There are plenty of cooking and cleaning tools, but no construction tools.

The puppet-creature can't change its expression, but somehow its stare seems to hold bafflement. "I can't. I can't, not anymore."

That's ridiculous.

[A beat, before she adds, like an afterthought,]

Why not?

[Rummaging through the cooking and cleaning supplies to see if she can find anything to use as a hammer. If she can dig up nails from the house and pull lumber together, maybe...]

There's a lot of cooking supplies, including some that are generally hammer-shaped, but they're probably not sturdy enough to be used as a hammer.

"This place is nearly the deepest core of me--all the things about me that are fraudulent and fake and belong in Hell. You can't change that."

Then it seems that I may be in need of a greater fire than I had anticipated.

[She goes quiet for a while, then looks at the doll, gaze falling squarely on one of its arms -

Oh.

Then she looks at the sword in her own hand. Right. This would probably work - so now she needs lumber. More importantly, she needs nails to hold it together. Next step is feeling around for anything that might be nailed down.]

If your own falsehoods are causing you to suffer, then there's no reason for them to exist. I understand now that it's impossible for you to be rid of them through your own effort - it's dreadfully improper of me to hold you to such expectations. You're a human.

But, Haku, I'm not you.

The puppet freezes in place as if hypnotized. It speaks after a long moment, its voice a little more human now.

"No. You're not."

I'm not! So it's possible for me to do this for you.

[A beat.]

Although I'm not very well-versed in construction...

"Destroying it is impossible. I've tried. I've tried to destroy everything about myself and failed."

[... Squinting a little...]

I'm not you.

"That's true, but..." He trails off, a hint of doubt in his voice. "Will you destroy me, then?"

Of course not. I'll take you with me, if you'd like to go - however, we must do away with this house.

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