"We bring you the hottest news! A man called for 911 and saved the store's owner and his family! The police arrested three thugs as they arrived at the scene. Their leader, who also worked as a cashier in the store, stated that it was all just a misunderstanding. Those three will testify in court tomorrow! Unfortunately, the ambulance did not make it on time. The bullet in the hero's chest claimed his life. His name was…"
'Matsouka, Kamen.' I thought, and completed the reporter's sentence. 'Am I already dead? Why am I hearing an anchor telling the news in this dark space? Are my eyes open? I can't see a thing.'
I saw nothing but the dark sky hovering above me. There was nothing else but my inner voice keeping me company. My body refused to move.
I remembered everything that had happened to me. When I placed the phone in the bin and shouted the address, thank god the police arrived on time. I thought the family would never make it, but they did. It was all thanks to me.
The moment I saw the little kid's eyes, I knew for sure that I must save her. I threw my life at the front lines, hoping to catch their attention. Those thugs planned on killing them. They were not kidding around.
The girl had more potential than me. She was looking forward to life. She did not want her father to die, so she begged on her knees when the girl saw him injured. I, who had resigned everything, differed from her.
I gave up living in that crazy world.
'It finally ended, huh?' Silence filled the air surrounding me. It was peaceful. I became a cloud, drifting from outer space, not knowing where to go or what to do. 'At least, I gave her a bright future. If I lived back there, the world would remain the same.'
It did not differ from that cogged life that I had. I couldn't get a job, a partner, a loving family; I had nothing but myself to rely on.
'Maybe I'm a machine trapped inside the world called life?' A chuckle escaped my lips, if I had any. I knew I was laughing deep inside me.
The abyss laughed back as my eyes stared at the dim tunnel.
'I'm sorry, mother. I'm a failure. I'm sorry, my brothers. I don't have any talents.' A waterfall of tears cascading through my cheeks, if I had any once again.
'I'm so sorry, Kamen, for letting you down.'
....
"I just need to fix this part and... there! All perfect!" A feminine, giddy voice echoed inside a room. "Now, the eyes!"
'Is this some kind of joke? Why am I hearing things when I'm already dead?' I thought, but nobody could hear me. I had no lips to express my ideas. All I had was a talkative mind.
The mysterious girl fiddled with something. Her hand touched me, but I did not know where and what she did. The warmth of her palm brought life to me, both literally and mentally.
'Is this the goddess that people were talking about when a person dies?' I could not help but ask.
"To wrap things up! Maybe a violet coat would be nice to see!" The girl ran through the room, picked something, and threw it at me. I knew she was racing around, since her clamorous stomps gave her way.
She was just adorable, even though I couldn't see her.
"Violet, just like your coat!" the girl announced.
She placed a round thing to cover my face. I assumed it was a mask, but I still did not know what it was. My body wiggled uncontrollably, as if telling me to move my cells. It almost felt like my life was depending on the occurrence.
I followed the command and quivered with all my might. However, despite my efforts, my limbs never moved a muscle. That happened until… I peered my eyes open.
There was a petite and young girl in front of me, wearing an obsidian gothic dress. As I squinted my eyes, there was an insignia in the middle of her breast that proved her royalty. The design had the shape of a puppet.
'I wonder what that is? I sure hope I was correct.' I exclaimed inside my head
She had a twin-tail hairstyle that suited her looks. The lass had silver hair akin to those valuable minerals I had only seen in the jewellery stores. With black, but not too dark, stockings, her clothes worked perfectly for the girl.
Gripped in her hands were the cotton stuffings and spare eyeballs. It wasn't those goggling eyes used for earthquakes. Those were different. What she had was perfect orbs that mimicked the human eye.
'I swear that's the most awesome eyeball I've seen in my life!' I wanted to shake my head, but I couldn't. 'Do I even have a head to begin with?'
There was dirt obstructing the upper part of my eyes, which made me blink a million times. I couldn't move my head or any parts of my body. I could only move my pupils around for the time being.
And there, I saw the gothic girl staring into my eyes. She dropped everything the girl was carrying and sauntered towards me. Instead of running away, a grin curved on her lips.
"You're alive!" the girl announced.
The irony of this lady. I was a dead meat the last time I remember.
No matter how much effort I tried, my lips would not budge. I had nothing on my face. There was no liquid coming from my mouth.
'Something doesn't feel right.'
The girl was at breadth's length before me. She was inspecting my face with her playful hands, twirling near my eyes. I expanded my eyes and averted her fingertips. Her orbs widened as well.
"You are?" the girl asked, but she jerked backwards. She finally noticed that my lips were nonexistent on my body.
"Right! I can't believe I forgot to put a mouth! Wait, let me find something here." She scrambled behind and hurried towards the dull treasure chest.
Upon opening the container, the girl snatched some chisels and hammers and went towards my way. She sculpted my body and gave me a mouth. After countless hours of drying, I could open my mouth.
However, there was no voice coming out of me.
"Voice, voice, voice. Where do I find one?" The lass queried me a question that I could not answer.
Nobody even told me where this place was. All I knew were the darkish panels surrounding us that looked like a cave. There were dozens of strings, wools, and pieces of cotton on the sides and on the board. She also filled her boards with miniature dolls of some sorts.
I could only guess that I was one of her few toys. But why am I this tall? I appeared even taller than the gothic girl. A plush doll should be the size of a hand. Any bigger than that would seem absurd for a kid, especially to an adult.
'Maybe she's making a human-sized model?' I told myself. But for what purpose?
She could not tell me since I had never asked.
"How can I add Mask with a voice? Should I make one using magic? Or maybe there's another way? I don't remember materialising any voice box through the book of spells. Maybe I wasn't listening. Did the court magician teach me that? There must be away. There has to be!" The girl kept mumbling to herself while writing something on a piece of paper.
It was not the usual sheet that I was familiar with back on Earth. It had this peculiar aura circling the pad. Upon peering into my eyes, there was azure fog surrounding the paper.
'Magic!' I exclaimed, but of course it was inside my head.
But I was still unsure, given the few hours I had with the girl. I wanted to know more about her. She seemed nice to me. The girl was unlike those thugs, bosses, and other human beings from my previous life.
The girl was the first one to apologise in front of me. She said sorry to the things that it was not even her fault. For the first time in my life, I was not a nuisance to her.
"So, maybe, just maybe, that bat could give me…" The girl stopped mid way from her conversation to herself upon looking into my eyes.
She placed everything down and walked towards me. I thought for a moment that she saw right through me. The girl, whom I had never met before, was now returning my gaze. An angel in disguise was what I wanted to describe to her.
"It's going to be okay," the girl said. "I found a way for you to talk. So it's not going to be me who does the yapping, okay? I also want to hear your voice. Just hang on there and be a doll. I'll get back to you as soon as I'm done here. But first, let me get some snooze."
I glimpsed at her drawings and found an image of a bat with its neck sliced, revealing something inside. There was an arrow pointing in a direction with the words written "Voice box for Mask. Kill the bat, place it on the doll, and you're done!"