Re: Incarnation

London, England. It's the nineteen forties and World War Two is going strong. Anxiety is high for everyone, but even more so for a humble mother and her daughter. A doctor sitting next to the daughter, laying in a hospital bed, asks the mother to sit in an area some distance away from the child. “Your daughter… her illness… I'm so sorry ma’am but there's simply nothing I can do. She has a malignant growth, a tumor. I can't simply cut it out without killing her and it'll only grow larger. All we can do is give her medicine to ease the pain, but… she'll be lucky to last more than a year let alone till the end of the war.”

The mother starts crying, sobbing. “Are you sure there's nothing you can do for her? She's only seven.” The doctor lowers and shakes his head. “All you can do is make the most out of what you've got. I'm so sorry.”

September Seventh. The mother is walking with her daughter, who stops to cough into a cloth every so often, when suddenly all the lights in the city go dark and the air raid sirens go off. The mother and child look around only to see planes flying overhead. The mother grabs her child and ducks into an alleyway. “What's going on mummy?!” The mother covers the child's head as they duck next to a dumpster. “Looks like the war has come to the capital. We'll have to wait it out and try to find someplace safe.” The child starts sobbing. “Mummy, I'm scared.” The mother does her best to comfort the child. “Everything will be okay.” She says as she runs her hands through the child's hair.

Explosions and fires everywhere, the very ground shakes beneath them as the only light in the city comes from the bombs being dropped by the Germans. The two huddle up and sob together before eventually making a break for it and following another family running for shelter. As they run, bombs rock the area, debris fly around and the city is drowned in the chaos of war.

The pair continue running until a bomb strikes a spot not far from them, sending them both flying and separating them. The child impacts a wall and hits the ground before flaming debris falls onto her. As she is being burned and crushed she reaches out her hand and calls out. “Mummy!. Mummy!” She can hear a distant voice calling out to her, but it's muffled by the roaring flames.

The child continues to call out as she reaches out her hand and she spots the shadow of a hand start to pierce the flames when there is a loud bang and a flash of light quickly followed by a ringing sound as the child's vision goes white. Then, everything goes black and the child feels weightless. She almost feels as if she is floating in a vast darkness when she spots a light in the distance. She reaches out for it and it draws closer, but then she feels a hard pull that tugs her away.

Night time in the city of Ran, a man stands in front of a massive tree. The Yggdrasil. He wears ceremonial robes and holds a staff of twisted wood that ends in either branches or roots at the top. He's speaking in an indecipherable language and performing some sort of ritual that results in the tree having a green glow on its outline. Then, in a burst of light and magic, several balls of light in various colors shoot into the sky and float in the air like dandelion fluff.

Some of the balls float off far into the distance, some linger above the city, but one blue ball that's moving on its own suddenly shutters and shakes before shooting off into a building in the city of Flowers. The man who performed the ritual doesn't seem to notice this or care as he taps his staff to the ground and nods with a dissatisfied grunt. “Still not enough, looks like I'll need more and better artifacts to sacrifice if I want to summon a chosen one.”

Inside a basement, also performing a ritual around the same time as the man at the tree, is a disheveled and sleep deprived looking old man. Wind whips around him as runes glow blood red when suddenly a blue ball of light shoots into the doll at the center of the ritual. The man runs to it and lifts it gently as he calls out to the doll. “Emily! Emily! Come back to me Emily.

After the tug in the darkness, the girl suddenly felt heavy for a moment before she felt someone lift her and call out a name that wasn't her's. She turned her head sharply and opened her eyes to see a stranger had been holding her and calling out a name that wasn't even her's. After a brief moment of shock she pushed the man away and skitted backwards with her hands and feet. “Who are you?” Her voice came out full of fear and shock.

The man slowly moved a bit closer to her with his hand stretched out. “Don't you recognize me Emily? It's me, it's daddy.” He gestured to himself with his other hand. The girl's memory was fuzzy, but she only remembered a mom and no dad and her name wasn't Emily. “That's not my name, I don't know you.” The old man's outstretched hand slowly moved back to him as he furrowed his brow. Did something go wrong with the ritual? “What… is your name then?”

The girl's memory was fuzzy and she was having a hard time remembering. “I… I don't know. But it's not Emily.” The man crouched down and put his hand on his knees, keeping his distance. “What do you remember from before now?” The girl thought hard, and flashes of memory went through her mind. “I remember being sick, really sick. I remember mum being worried. Then there was a war, my home was attacked. I remember fires and explosions everywhere, shaking the city. Burning debris fell on me and… I was reaching and calling out to mum. Then everything went dark for a while. I was weightless and floating in a void when suddenly I was pulled someplace and woke up here.”

The old man stared at the girl blankly for a moment before his eyes suddenly widened. “Wait right here.” He spoke quickly before rushing up the stairs and out the door. He looked up at the night sky to see several colored orbs shooting through the sky. He grabbed his head from both sides as he made noises of frustration. He then went back inside and down the stairs before pacing back and forth in front of the girl and grumbling in frustration.

The girl watched him pace back and forth for a bit before talking. “Something tells me you aren't exactly happy about this either.” He stops pacing and looks at her. “I… I'm sorry, it's not exactly your fault but… ugh, it wasn't supposed to be this way.” The girl was curious now. “What… exactly were you trying to do?”

The man walked a bit closer to her and crouched down. “I had a daughter, Emily. She was my treasure, my world. She got sick and… I couldn't afford the treatment in time. One hundred thousand argentum is more than most people make in a lifetime, but I tried. I built a body that looked as closely to how she did before she died as I could and I… I learned dark magic so I could try and pierce the veil and bring her back. But I guess there's a time limit. She must either be at peace or reborn.”

The girl heard the words “built a body” and “magic” and it sank in what had happened. She looked at her hand, the doll joints of the artificial body her soul now inhabited, and began to shake. “Wh-what am I?” The man let out a soft sigh. “A living doll, a marionette. I'm sorry but I can't undo what I've done or send you back.” The girl settled her shaking down a bit. “Even if I wasn't crushed and burned, I think the illness I had would have done me in anyway. It was… untreatable. Your daughter, how old was she?”

The man eyed the floor. “She was fourteen when she passed.” The doll finally stood up from the floor. “I am… was seven when I died. If this can't be undone… you have no way of getting back the daughter you lost and I'm too young to care for myself. I know it's a lot to ask but…” the girl paused, unsure if she was doing the right thing. “Maybe we can… help one another out. I know I'm not Emily, but I need someone and so do you.”

Tears of frustration and sadness are dripping down the man's face and he wipes them away and nods before standing. “What… do I call you?” It was a good question, the girl couldn't remember her name. “You called me a… Marionette? That sounds pretty.” The man nodded and softly put his hand on the doll's shoulder. “Welcome to the world, Marionette Abstergo.” Marionette felt a strange sensation, difficult to describe. It was almost as if the name had been etched into her soul.

Things were awkward at first, especially considering she wasn't exactly allowed to leave the building at first. “I want to go outside, I want to play with other kids.” The man was sitting at a desk and working on an enchantment. “You know why you can't do that. If someone sees what you are they might react… negatively. Who knows what the city would do to you… to us if you were discovered. I used forbidden magic to create your body and bind your soul to it. That alone would be enough to condemn us both.”

Marionette looked at the ground sadly. “What if I used a cloak or only went out at night?” The man sighed “still risky.” The girl slumped as she pattered around, but then perked up and moved quickly to his table. “Maybe we can use magic to hide what I am.” The man paused and looked up at her and thought for a moment. “I… will consider it.” The girl practically jumped up with excitement. “Yes!” Then the two are interrupted by the sound of a bell ringing.

The man stood up and moved to the stairs. “We've got a customer. Wait here and stay quiet.” She nodded slowly and waited patiently for her adoptive father to return. After a bit, she could hear shouting. It was muffled so she couldn't understand exactly what was being said, but Marionette could gather that her father was having an argument with whomever came in. “Sounds like someone is making an unreasonable request.” She sighs softly before sitting on the floor and looking over her arms.

The man came up the stairs to see the Duke of Flowers in his shop, accompanied by two guards. He was a slightly rotund man in his thirties who had come into his current position around ten years ago. “Giuseppe, I'm here for the annual report. Ten years ago when I took this position I gave you and every other artificer or enchanter the same mission. You said you needed ten years, and the reports I've been receiving, sporadically I might add, have stated steady progress without specifics. Well, do you have what is required of you or not?”

The man looked at the floor and fidgeted with his hands. “I… I… I recently made a major breakthrough and figured out how to do what you've asked of me but…” the rotund man slams his fist onto the desk. “I don't want excuses! You told me you could make me an army, that you could figure out how to replicate the living armor magic used by the ancient magus of Ebony Tower! You said I would have my army in ten years! It's been ten years, and you are telling me you only now figured out the secret?!”

The man took a sharp town with the Duke. “You know nothing of magic, of how complicated the ancient magics are! I just need… something to enchant. A lot of somethings. You want living armor, I'll need armor to animate. I am just one man and I-” the Duke interrupts him “If I give you the armor for what I require, how long will it take?” The man sighs “Five… it would take me five years.” The Duke grumbled. “That's the same time table Leo gave me, so I guess it works out in the end. Just don't lose sight of why you are doing this Giuseppe, or why I have made these demands of you.”

The man shook his head. “I haven't forgotten.” the Duke gives a smug smile and a satisfied nod. “For the Light of Longinus.” The man responds to the Duke's prompt with “For the Glory of the Empire.” Then the Duke turns his back at the man to face the door. “For the Glory of Flowers.” Then exits the building with his men in tow. The man lets out a sigh of relief. Then he hears the sounds of movement.

He looks around only for Marionette to drop from somewhere in the shadows of the ceiling holding a large pair of gardening shears. “I was worried about you, I thought that unpleasant man was going to hurt you.'' The man sits behind the counter and wipes the sweat from his brow. “He wouldn't do that unless he didn't think he could get what he wanted. He needs me to build his new army. That fat bastardo has grand ambitions and delusions of being the next emperor.”

Marionette opens and shuts the shears several times. “Maybe I should do something about that before he has a chance. I don't like how he bullies you.” the man lets out a sigh “He's got all the power here. He's in charge of the entire region. He could easily have me executed if I say no and nothing bad would happen to him. He's worse than a bully, he's a tyrant.” Marionette nodded “We had those in my old life. Must be a… uhh… What's the term? Universal constant.”

The man thinks for a bit. “There is something you could do for me, for us. In order to create what the Duke wants I need animals, live ones. I need to use magic like what I used with you to put their souls into gems to power the magic that runs the animated armor long term.” Marionette nodded “But I'll need to be sneaky, discreet. Both exiting and entering this building as well as moving inside the city.” The man nods slowly. “Please, be careful Mari. You're all I have now. I don't think I could survive losing a second daughter.”

Marionette nodded and left the building via a window before carefully using the shadows and making her way out of the city. Once outside the city she spotted a tree root that had come out of the ground and gone back in creating a tree arch just outside the wall. Curious, she touched it, only to draw back her hand sharply when it glowed faintly. “Is this a root from that big tree in the center of Ran city? The one that pulls in souls from other worlds.” She looked at it in awe as she walked through the arch a few times, then moved on.

Capturing small animals would be her best bet since a larger animal would be hard to carry. Marionette started placing rope net traps and bait that would hopefully catch some rabbits, squirrels, or birds for her to bring home. Once set up she hid herself and waited. She must have sat for several hours before traps started going off. She was surprised to see among what she expected to catch she also snagged a raccoon and a badger. After using some herbs to knock them out so they wouldn't make noise she carried her catches back into town.

Once again Marionette kept to the shadows and avoided the night guards. She slowly made her way back to the store and crawled in through the window. She then went down the stairs and presented the animals to her father who already had a few sets of armor set out and ready. “I can keep doing this for as long as needed. I don't exactly need sleep or food. This body definitely has its perks.” The man nodded and started getting to work. “I'm going to take my sweet time. I told him it would take me five years so I'm going to use up all five. Honestly, I could have done it in one but I don't actually want him to have his army.”

Marionette nodded. “You are stalling.” The man let out a confirming grunt. “I'm betting Leo and every other person that man has forced into service is doing so as well. It's build his army or face public execution as a traitor to the Empire. The only traitor is him, and his ambition to take the high throne by force if necessary. That man must think he was chosen by God or something. Maybe if I delay long enough, someone will figure it out and step in.”

Marionette let out a sigh and started packing a bag with stuff she would need for another hunt. “I'll do what I can to help.” The man stopped what he was doing to pat her shoulder. “Don't rush my dear. We need this to take time. After I'm done with this batch I'll fix you up with a ring of illusion so you can do some errands for me without needing to be sneaky.” The doll clapped her hands “Right, but I'll still have to be sneaky with the animals right? I remember you saying that the magic you are using is forbidden.”

The man nodded. “If anyone knew about it I'd likely be executed. Well if it was the Duke he'd simply blackmail me. As long as he gets results, he doesn't actually care if it's forbidden magic.” Marionette would scowl if she could. “What a vile man.” The man started using a magic ritual to put the animal souls into gems and power the small number of animated armors he created. “These things aren't exactly like you, they simply follow orders and have no will of their own. Also, the magic gem runs out of energy eventually unlike with you. The Duke will have to replace the gems every so often.”

Marionette lit up a bit “like a battery!” She stated excitedly. The man looked at her and furrowed his brow. “A… what?” Marionette looked over to him. “It was something that existed in my old world. It stored energy that powered various things such as lights at night.” The man rubbed his chin. “A magic item used to illuminate an entire city at night? That sounds slightly fantastical, but if I used a similar gem method but with a different source it might be possible. I'll have to talk with Leo about it, maybe he'll know a way to make it work.”

Marionette shuffled around. “This world is so much different then my old one. We didn't exactly have magic. Everything was done using a combination of different things. We had something similar to the alchemy of this world and herbalism as well, just more advanced. We used it to power our world and help the sick and wounded.” The man thought about what he was being told. “A world without magic? Without the beasts that are born from and with it… what an interesting idea. Maybe I'll bring that up to Leo too.”

Marionette was curious now. “Who is this Leo anyway?” The man responded simply “an artist an artificer. We sometimes compare notes but he's an insufferably social ladies man. I have no idea how he has the time for art and invention when he spends half of it at parties either selling his latest work or shmoosing the ladies. He's young, a prodigy really. So it's not surprising to see him act the way people that age do. He's only sixteen and is already on the same level as a master craftsman. Kid came out of nowhere six years ago, he and his recluse of a sister just apperated from the aether.”

Marionette tended her fingers a bit. “Maybe one day… I could meet them?” Her adoptive father looked at her quisitively for a moment. “I guess once you have the illusion ring and can walk amongst the townsfolk there isn't much reason to not take you with me places. People likely won't pry farther after I say that you're my daughter. Most people don't know my personal life enough to know better.” Marionette nodded with excitement, she was looking forward to a future in this strange new world.