Deep within the Forest of Magic sat a lone cottage, smoke gently rising out of its chimney
Deep within the Forest of Magic sat a lone cottage, smoke gently rising out of its chimney. The dark night had been shining a gentle cascading moonlight across the building, entering the windows upon its western side. Within this window was a library, books upon books surrounding a lone girl, sitting at a desk frantically reading out of one book and writing in another. The light obscured her in a shadow of darkness, revealing only her hand as it hastily wrote.
"It appears that the creation of an independent doll may be a two step process…" She wrote in messy handwriting across the parchment, writing down books and page numbers upon the border.
The girl hastily stood up upon finishing her final words, racing towards one of the bookcases and hastily digging through, using the books that littered the ground as impromptu ladders. From here, the light shined totally upon the girl; she was blonde and young, her face pretty and her skin fair. She wore a simple dress of blue, laced with red and white, her hair kept in place by a simple crimson hair band. The girl finally found the tome she was searching for, digging it out of its place and returning to her uncomfortable wooden stool.
She returned to digging through the pages, finding excerpts she needed and writing them hastily down. "The first is to create a body that is capable of sustaining itself. It may draw its life-energy from some kind of power source, or it may work in a manner similar to a living creature. This may also result in lifelike intelligence and reactions, but it lacks the ability to create and retain emotions. Thus, it is lacking a soul…."
As she frantically jotted her thoughts down, her free hand went to beckoning something from the shadows. Upon a book case a small, humanoid shape stirred, climbing to life out of its cubby. It flew to her upon tiny wings, stopping in mid-flight before the girl.
"Yes Mistress Alice?" The doll asked with hesitant eyes.
"Fetch me some tea, Shanghai." Alice ordered the doll without looking up, hand still manipulating it.
"I shall start on it." The doll cheerfully said as she flew out of the room, zooming presumably towards the kitchen.
Alice stopped in her writing as she took a moment to reflect at what she had just done, catching herself. "Why…? Why do treat them as such… They can't respond, yet I order them, and throw them their voice…"
"Am I really that alone…?" Alice began to tearfully realize as she rubbed away at her eyes.
For a few moments she sat there sobbing silently, until she was bothered by a tiny squeak. "Mistress, your tea is ready."
The girl quickly regained her composure, cleaning herself and defensively taking the tea cup and saucer out of the doll's tiny hands. "G-go back to your place. I will call you if I need anything else."
"Yes mistress." The doll muttered as it fluttered away, back to its cubby.
Alice went back to work after taking a few sips, setting the tea down upon some random book. "A soul is necessary for complete and total autonomous function, as well as personality and emotion. Thus, I am not simply creating an autonomous doll, but I am creating life. I am attempting to become God…"
The bright sunlight broke through the window panes, lighting up the room with a yellow glow. Alice lay asleep upon the many books she had compiled. As the light's warm glow slowly crept onto the girl, she awoke with a yawn, rubbing her eyes all the while.
She looked down after blinking a few moments to register her location. "I fell asleep…"
The blonde girl looked down at where she had left off, and noticed something that had not been there before. In the pages of her journal was a new page, one she could not have possibly written.
Dear Alice,
It's your dear brother, and I wish to share with you the most wondrous news. I've succeeded, and I've created seven of them thus far. Will you wind? Will you not wind? I'd like your reply quickly.
Love, Rozen
Alice was shocked at the parchment. "I've not seen Rozen for many years… Now, out of no where…"
She read the parchment again, letting her foggy brain slowly wake up. "Succeeded!?"
Had her brother truly succeeded in where she had been struggling for such a time? "A doll? A living doll!?"
With great zeal she moved to find her pen amongst all the paper, finding it long after frustration had sunken in. She ripped the page out of her journal and in big, bold letters she wrote "I WILL WIND."
She looked at it for a moment, deciding that if her answer was not any more obvious, she circled "Will you wind?"
Alice quickly folded the paper and slid it back into her journal, slamming it shut. Her brother had been fond of using such a "stupid, frivolous, difficult means of communication."
She turned around as the book slammed to find a black case sitting behind her. It had magically cleared the books around its spot to their places on the wall. Only the black case with golden trims and a golden lock was there.
"Brother, you better not be lying…" Alice muttered as she timidly edged her way towards the case, wary of tricks her brother had pulled upon her when they were young.
In great titillation she got on her knees, putting her hands on the latches and throwing them open.