Crowned with knowledge, embedded with eyes, and blessed with a voice that was being strangled by her own tongue. It left a noticeable lump in her throat, bits of porcelain dusting away. Atsile had no need to breathe, yet the desperation for air suddenly kicked in out of muscle memory.
The first few minutes were spent inaudibly asphyxiating, holding her throat, trying to produce any other sound besides inciting pity. The pain would digress her small want to be witty. Through tear-ridden eyes, the Atsile felt herself be grabbed by the throat again, her small hands caught within the palm of the Aiseirigh.
Something sharp was digging into the sockets of her eyes, mixing in red with the salt leaking unnaturally. She was afraid. Should she thrash her head? Should she just stay still? These wild thoughts reverberated and crashed back forth in her brain until the pain was accompanied by a pop.
She could feel it. It was sticking out, a thin meat line as it sags over her face. And she couldn't even scream. It hurted. She'd rather black out, she'd rather black out so badly. Please, please end this. I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!
I'll be a good girl! I'll never disobey you again! Please! It hurts! It hurts! I didn't mean to be like this! I didn't mean to hurt anyone! I didn't mean anything! Please… I… I just wanted to live…
The second eye popped out, pulsating with a stream of blood. In the doll's wordless frenzy, the Aiseirigh ripped them both out of her head. A small splat over his thick padded jacket, nothing different from yesterday.
The dragon peeked inside the eyeless sockets. Atsile could feel the hot air blowing her head, every single wet dripping substance seeking out embraced by its warmth. A bloody mess was her sight, she couldn't see anything; but she should be able to. He did not allow it.
"Hmm…" The man stared at twirling flesh inside the doll's cranium. It seemed rather alive but what was he gonna do? Crack her head open? He was gonna be the one cleaning the storage, knowing that he pissed off the janitor this week. He decided against it.
But still, knowing that the demon inside was conscious enough to move, it was better to fully incapacitate it.
The Aiseirigh placed his hand over Atsile's left arm-- and ripped it off. It was painless or rather, even if it was, Atsile wouldn't have felt it. She was strangled, blinded, and her consciousness was dimming.
With another clack on the floor, Atsile no longer had limbs. She was just a torso with a bloody head, with dangling forearms stuck to her throat under the dragon's massive hands. The forearms fell to the floor with the same brittle clack as well.
'It hurts, it hurts' Her lips moved to no avail but only the struggling noises came out. 'Please, what did I do? I'll fix it. I promise. I don't want to get hurt anymore…'
"Atsile! What happened?!"
A child is crying. All ragged, a crack over her dusty porcelain face, wetted with tears. Arms came to hold her, carefully making sure that nothing else fell from the child's body.
"I'm sorry..! I'm sorry..!" The child cried. "Please..! Don't kick me out, please..! I swear I won't go against you again!"
"Sweetie… I would never…" The mother gently brushed away the tears. "Tell me, what happened?"
"I… I wanted to go out… I wanted to play outside… and then… and then…"
"Sshhh… It's fine, it's fine." The mother wrapped her arms around the child's body before lifting her up. "I'm sorry for not taking you out as often as you should be. Come on, let's go. How about mommy go treat you to some ice cream?"
The tears lessened. "Really..?"
"Yeah! Mommy's just got paid so let's spend it on something big! Atsile, you know what a sundae is?" A bright smile over the clouds that dimmed the sky, breaking through them like sunshine over a storm. "Lots of ice cream in a cup!"
"Really?! Really?!" And the bright sunshine reflected upon the daughter's face as well. "Mommy! I want a sundae!"
The mother lifted the child higher and placed her behind her head, her child's legs hanging over her shoulders.
"Alright then! One serving of sundae for my little angel is coming up!"
With giggles of forgotten tears, the young doll child waved her arms around as her mother ran through the streets of the fortress-like city. The little angel, spreading her wings beneath the little world that she only comprehended.
They didn't have much, but this was more than enough. A roof over their heads, food on the table and resources for the young doll's education; it must be nice to live in that world.
She remembered vividly, how the frosty sundae was sweet with that rich syrup dripping over the colourful ice cream. Each scoop a cold treat to her tongue; that shouldn't exist. Her face almost cracked even further too, her mother almost having a heart attack when a piece of her face fell on her lap.
It hurted, most definitely. But it didn't hurt as much. Her mother was there and the staff had a spare duct tape out in the back storage. That day was well for her, for both of them. The cafe even took a picture of them to hang them on a wall because of the fact that a living doll came to visit them. She even wrote her name on the photo!
Atsile, the living doll and… And…
…What was her mother's name?
No, it should be obvious what her mother's name was. It was… It was…
Agariss.
Yes, it was Agariss.
Atsile the living doll and Agariss, her mother. Signed upon a picture full of memories and smiles.
The door leading outside of the basement housed the thudding steps of the Aiseirigh. Clutched between his fingers was the head of a doll. The neck has been severed from the torso, the flesh from the doll's cranium was almost hanging out, barely visible between the porcelain cracks.
One of the guards outside of the basement storage shot a judgemental look at him.
"...Should've known you were just dismantling the thing." The lizard man scoffed and the dragon man apathetically raised Atsile's head.
"It makes for easier packaging, plus incapacitation. I made sure that it couldn't speak nor see."
"You do know that the Tekhanure is also alive too, right?"
The Aiseirigh shrugged. "They always come back. Once we separate the demon from the Tekhanure, we'll have ourselves a little assistant around here once we register it."
And the Khazenka groaned. "I doubt it'll listen to any of us after what you did."
The tall horned man rolled his eyes before turning away.
"I do all of the dirty work as this village's Vagant advisor and this is all the respect I get…"