Franken Puppet: A short Story
In a kingdom full of all things that are nothing special was born a young child of fiery red hair. He grew up in the kingdom of nothing special and became a strong young man. He was a very ambitious young man, with the fire of youth in his heart and yearned to live a full life. He left his kingdom in the night without saying goodbye because in a kingdom of nothing special the event itself was nothing special. He ventured out and about and had many adventures, though he felt that without great power there was a part of life he was missing.
One evening at sunset he prayed by a great river that held the sun. "There is only so much a man can do, no, there is only so much a kingdom can do. I love the life I have been given to live, and to honor that gift I intend to live it to the fullest." He said. He looked into the river that reflected the sun and made a selfish wish. He wished for the power of the sun itself. With such power surely there would be nothing he couldn't do. He could see more sides of the world, and more adventures he could undertake. There was so much left out there to learn and see! Surely there is nothing more powerful than the sun, and so he wished. "For the power of the greatest light so I might see the greatest shadows. To see all..."
Before him the sun god did appear. He struck the young man down, and dark magic roots from the ground began to entangle him causing him great pain. As the young man struggled against the power of a god a great curse was laid upon him. "Know the darkness before you dare ask for the light. I curse you for your ambition and selfish wish." Said the sun god. Painful stitches scarred the young man's body all over and pierced his soul. He reached out his hand and was given a scythe of great dark power and black magic, and thus became a reaper. As the man finally recovered and stood up, he heard the scythe speak to him. "This is the power you will bear, though it will eventually weigh at your sanity. In time you will become a mindless monster." Said the scythe.
The young man went on in life, trying to enjoy adventures like he used to, but everywhere he went people feared and hated him for the power he wielded. Over time he was beside himself with sadness and he grieved over the inevitable. "My time is suddenly so short now. But I have so much I want to do, and I still want to live!" He cried. "Even now I can hear them—I hear the madness calling for me! Is it really so soon!?"
His crying was quelled when he heard a beautiful voice singing-a voice carried on winds to the very heavens so the gods angels might sigh. He followed the song to its source and met a beautiful young woman of white blonde hair. He approached her and when she saw him she smiled. "I'm alone too," she said. The young man asked if he could stay and listen to her song and she nodded and continued to sing. He asked her why she was alone, and she shrugged. "I don't know. A lot of things seem to end when I'm around. The world loves others more than me, so I do not ask. Love cannot be demanded anyway." It was then the young woman looked at the young man and asked him if she could stay with him for awhile. The young man agreed and from then on the two of them went on some adventures and became good friends.
One day the two friends passed through a small village when the villagers attacked them over the dark magic they sensed from the young man. The young man used his powers to protect the young woman and fended off the villagers. The young woman saw the young man's curse for the first time and was frightened. The young man smiled at her and said, "I understand if you're scared. The darkness scares a lot of people, and it is a scary thing even to me." He said. "You can leave me if you want, I won't try to stop you. And I'll be understanding of it."
"Does it hurt?" she asked as she touched the deep scares on his arm. "All the time. But I've gotten used to it, and I've been living out my life despite it. When I met you I was happy for the first time in awhile, and realized that even while bearing a curse, I could still live life and be happy. My time is short, and I've learned to appreciate my happiness. If the sun god thinks he has cursed me, he is wrong. He's been my greatest teacher."
The young woman began to cry and swore she would stay with him. She grieved for the dwindling time they had together, and she worried about a future when he wasn't there anymore. That night as they camped away from the towns and villages the young woman made a wish. "I wish I could take his pain away." Without any other words that is what she wished. That night the sun god did appear before her.
"Are you sure you wish this?" he asked. The young woman was sure.
The next morning the young man awoke and saw that his curse and powers were gone, but so was his friend. He swore he would find his friend and went on many great adventures in search for her. He adventured a lot and made many friends and wealth along the way. After searching for a short time, he returned to the river that held the sun. "Maybe she was scared of me afterall. I don't blame her." He said. "But maybe she could see me now and not be frightened. And we can be together longer."
"Is life all about a time limit to you? What if you had started out with a shorter life expectancy anyway?" asked the sun god as he appeared. "Is the numbers on the clock all that's important to you? All you're wishing for is a way to take everything for granted. Humans are nothing but selfish to the very end." hissed the sun god.
The young man jumped and instinctively reached for a scythe that was no longer there. He gasped as the sun god seized him. The sun god demanded an answer.
"If I could do all the things I wanted to do in a shorter lifetime, then that is okay with me." Said the young man. "If I die, then at least I could say I did not waste my life, no matter how long it is. Life is only as long as you are ambitious and motivated. Beyond that, you're just waiting to die."
The sun god released the young man as he revealed the young woman imprisoned deep in the lake. The young man saw the curse of darkness upon the young woman as she lay imprisoned in the river of sun. "Let her go!" Demanded the young man. "Return to me that curse, it is mine to bear!"
"All this time has passed, have you not remembered what it was like to take life for granted?" The sun god taunted. "And would you really put her suffering in vain?"
The young man did not hesitate. "I enjoyed taking life for granted while it lasted. I will tell her that I have learned much in this time while she suffered on my behalf. But I will take responsibility for my actions. I was the one to anger you and awaken your wrath. I don't care what it takes, she will not suffer for what I have done."
The sun god smirked. "I will return to you your curse and punishment. But it will consume you now. You will become a monster, and as the sun god, I will slay you." Said the sun god.
"And she will be free," demanded the young man. The Sun god nodded. "She will forget her suffering while you will inherit all of the time you missed."
The Sun God transferred the curse back to the young man and relieved the young woman of her suffering. The young man regained all of the dark power he had and was overcome by insanity and became a monster. The young woman awoke beside the river of the sun as the sun god and monster began to battle. Their battle shook the heavens and earth and the young woman was frightened. She grieved for her friend and how her help had not been accepted. She began to cry as the battle waged and in her mourning and grief she began to sing and her song did give the two foes great pause. The monster was calmed and brought back from his insanity.
"Why didn't you accept my help?" the young woman cried as the young man reached for her.
"I'm sorry. I've been selfish all along. Humans will always be selfish. Will you forgive some selfishness and not other?" Said the young man.
The jealous sun god drew his sword, realizing the great power of song the woman had. He moved to strike her down and the monster swung his scythe to protect her and did slay the god. "I just wanted to feel alive." Said the sun god as he fell. The young woman seized the sun god's power as he fell and became the sun god. She then turned to the young man, and asked to relieve him of his curse. He declined.
"I have already been relieved. The darkness cannot harm me now." He said. "I am selfish and will continue to be selfish in order to love life and live it as full as I can."
"I accept it because that is what makes human." Said the young woman.
Then the young man asked the young woman if they could continue to be friends. She agreed and from then on, the young man and his great darkness, and the young woman and her great light stayed friends and went on many adventures and lived life out to the fullest.
AN: A story of IA and an original character of mine named Redd. The story of the Franken Puppet. Franken Puppet is the name of the dark curse itself. The story was inspired when I tried to come up with a T-shirt design for some website that was giving free Hatsune Miku EXPO tickets to the winner of the contest. Leading up to the due date I worked double shifts three days in a row (I work three different jobs) and the due date was the only day off I had, so I fell asleep all day through the next day. So I definitely won't be going now : ( But I figured I would share my design idea story anyway. The design was really cool too. Oh well.
Redd's design: art/Redd-Fixed-Design-481895894 if you wanna see it.