This is the Cirno News Network with a breaking news story! An odd chill passes over the land once again, nearly emulating the effects of the spell years ago! Are the seasons being stolen again? A recent visit to the Netherworld has resulted in our workwolf nearly being scalped, while a visit to the lake gives no answer, as the ice fairy herself has disappeared. Is this the result of a new presence, or an old one making itself apparent once more? Only time will tell, we believe. We will be back with you as soon as we receive further updates on the situation!

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Poison Embodying the Worst of its Kind

So, tell me, why do I have to be so nice? Not like the damn human has any real reason for us to be nice. Sure, I get it. It's your duty to protect it, and that is why you've done a fine job of it so far, yes? A fine job indeed. If you haven't noticed, that one that you were supposed to be protecting is gone. And whose mistake is that?

So you say. Convenient that you were like that, wasn't it? Maybe you actually realize how little you cared for it, sister. No, I am not like you, but at the same time, I am not unlike. You don't stink like the humans do, after all. Sweat and scat and so much more that I don't even want to mention. Nasty creatures. Why do they have to produce so much of it? Not only that, but they bleed everywhere. Every which way if you so much as twist their wrists. You would think they'd be a bit sturdier than that, considering their egos.

Whatever, you green-haired freak. We'll do it, we'll do it. But not for you. Su-san wants us to, and I guess I can't say no to her. Who knows what the doll will do if I don't show her the error of her ways herself?

Don't believe me, do you? Well, let me tell you exactly what will happen. He'll wake up, if it wakes up. Maybe I was a little too haphazard when I was bombing that entire part of the forest with poison. If I wasn't careful, I could have accidentally used a type that is more harmful to humans than not. That would be absolutely terrible, wouldn't it?

If it survives, it will wake up and start asking for stuff. It's never "Oh thank you strange doll lady. What may I do to please you?" It's always asking for directions, or why am I in a field. Sometimes it's screams. Such lovely screams. Although, those times are when I have my hands around their throat. Sometimes it's just more fun to make them wake up like that.

Stop talking like that, Su-san. It's not like that the thing will care for you. I'm sure it didn't earlier. It just wanted to get out of Makai as quickly as possible. It was bored, so it decided to chat with you. A kind word here and it had you doing whatever you wanted, no matter the tough face you put up.

Don't try to deny it. You always are that tough. At least you learned something from me. I haven't been alive this long just to watch you dilly and dally about this and that and whatnot, hear? Someone has got to knock sense into that tiny head of yours, or they'll treat you like a fairy. Be glad that you're not. I'd rather not you go and start dying on me every step you take.

No, that is not a threat, you stupid robot. I hate seeing my own kind acting so dumb. I about want to smack you for that comment right there. And I don't doubt I could, either. Age is strength for those of us brought to life, don't you remember?

…Then again, I don't have a giant gun build into my arm, either. Fine, fine… I'll leave you be, freak. Now calm down. It won't be long to get into here.

Well, there's one of the damn Lilies. Which one… Ah, green. Fun. Well, there's no way to tell them apart, is there? Although, I wonder which one you'd be if you were taken by her. Probably none of the above, knowing how dumb and stubborn you are. Do you even have enough to be seduced by what she offers?

Hell, I'm not dumb enough to try and get close. After all, I don't know of a single problem that can't be solved by simply gassing it. Human bothering you for directions? Gas. Flower youkai wanting tea again? Gas. Shikigami wanting a favor done? Lots of gas, but still gas. It's a wonderful word, isn't it? Although, poison is quite a bit more lyrical. I'd have to consider which one is my favorite.

Oho, there's your boyo over there, ya crazy not-doll. Go and get it, will you? I'm rather sick of you prattling about in worry.

…I'll give her this, she did step on that stupid fae's face. Good for her. Good for her. See, that is how you take care of your problems Su-san. You know how hard it would have been to come in here and shooting magic like danmaku? It would have been crazy talk. I mean, sure, we would have gotten many, but they would have spirited it away before we would have gotten them all.

Besides, maybe we should go ahead and kill them all. Not like anyone would miss the damn things. Oh, sure, they're nice when they take the humans all that, but they take the others, too. And we do have to sleep at times.

…Well, I do at least. You're a strange one, Su-san. Maybe you've yet to fully come to life. Who knows? I'd say we go and find that old creator of yours. It's not like it's been too long since you came into existence, right? I'm sure she would be very glad to pick you apart and find what is wrong! But then we might have to worry about her putting you back together again.

We agreed not to talk about that, Su-san. Especially not when the damn human is nearby. So shaddup and follow me. We can get out of here and leave the damn meatball to its fate, whatever that might be.

Come on, now, we need to go. There's no time to stay around. And why do you even want to? It's not like that the human actually missed you. Heh. Poured out your life story to the human when you had it to yourself? Trying to make it feel sorry for you? I wouldn't trust the creature. Tricky ones they are, and they will always end up using you. And we know that's not what a proper doll wants, is it?

Well, I'm certainly not going to leave you here by yourself, you stupid doll. I'm certainly not going to let you be taken away by it, no matter what you remember from last time. It better not make one move at all, or I'm going to gas it sooner than later. No matter what that not-doll freak thinks. Some sister she is.

I'm really going to have to work on that girl. Look at her fluttering about that accursed human. Typical. Acting tough one moment, and then shying away and using it as a platform to sit on. Doesn't she remember that is where the indignities begin?

Always with the treating the doll as less than human. Aww, isn't she cute. Like she isn't another person, but just an object of derision. Just look at how she walks around. Like a little cat without the claws. And then they demean you… Dressing you up and down. Do they like it when they are forcibly stripped and paraded through those humiliating pieces of fabric? Of course not, they abhor it. But the damn humans cannot think of the irony. At this rate, they've probably started to dress up dogs in the irritating outfits. The thought makes me want to hit something.

And it'll not remember in the end. Once the bemusement and temporary amusement ends, they'll leave you… Su-san? Stupid doll. It's not even paying attention to me. At the very least, that human is not going to stoop so far as petting her head. That would be unconscionable.

This will not end well. Not at all. Why in the world are you bring up that old master of hers, human? Leave it alone! Old memories will not help with anything! We could free the dolls, yes, but that youkai is too powerful to mess with. With that book, there is no telling what she can do. Damn thing… Who does she think she is, depending on that lore? As bad as that human and the reactor, she is.

Oh, got your attention, haven't I? Yes, yes, I'm sure you are trying to be pleasant, but I am having none of that, do you hear me? Absolutely none. I don't want to hear a single thing that you would have to say. All of it would be sheer poison dripping from your tongue.

And not the good type.

Yes there is. And it's the type that I control. After all, it is only fitting that I can control that poison that put all of these lovely fairies to sleep. Isn't it better now they are sleeping the sleep of the unjust, to have sated the melancholy that filled their lives with an appropriate medicine?

True, they had little in the way of melancholic feelings, but they got their desserts all the same. Annoying creatures. I'll not miss them one bit if they fail to live. But you, human… I care about even less. You might say I detest the thought of you surviving.

Mercy, of course. Little Su-san here does need to learn. After all, by saving you, that puts you in my debt, no matter what your trigger-happy little not-doll freak will think. Not that I exactly have much that I want you to do, granted. Aside from dying, that is. But it would make Su-san so flustered. She may pull a fast one and run away, or do something stupid.

I don't exactly have to answer that, now do I? Besides, you need no reason save for what I am. After all, tsukumogami are so hated, aren't we? There is nothing good about me. I'm just the spirit of a little tool, a little doll… Abandoned for a hundred years. There's no reason I should hate anyone, is there?

Now that we've got that settled, we need to get going, Su-san. …I'm not saying it twice, Su-san. Leave the human to its fate. After all, it has that oh-so-fearsome protector right there. There's not much that could beat it in brute force. Heh… not like I needed it here.

Don't make me come over there and grab you by the hair, Su-san. Leave the- Oh, ignore me. Right. Not like I've been the one to protect you all the years. I've kept you safe from the humans and the youkai and I would have kept you safe from the celestial had she bothered to come to my field. Seems that even that dimwit had some sense about her. Best for her, then. It might have been fun to try that sword on her thick head of hers…

I guess they are caught up in that discussion. I expected to garner some sort of reaction from that human. I know its kind; it loves to try and meddle in the business of its betters. Damn lucky the thing isn't a Lily and seducing another unlucky outsider into the cadre. I suppose that she did only have a hold of it for a few days. A pity. If it were already infected, I'd have to go and give it a mercy killing. Just to make sure everything went well.

Oh, no, don't even give the damn human that look, Su-san. I tried to whip that out of you! Don't even try to look cute unless there is something to get out of it! There is so little that the human will offer you. There is literally no point.

Oh great, and the human goes again. Filling her head with stories of those sisters of hers. Abominations of wood, and the product of an amateur. What more can you expect from a child who was given an adult's temperament? That child never grew, just as this child was not allowed to grow. I wonder which one you are, human. I wonder…

Su-san, what are you speaking of? Speak up. I cannot hear you all the way from over there. By the poisonous lily, I am not telepathic. I cannot hear you talking just as much as I could understand the cricket's chirps. …That alone brings up bad memories of that damn firefly. I am not kindling, no matter how still I lay when I rest my eyes.

Bah. I might as well get closer. Stupid human… There is nothing that the two of us don't know about each other. She told me about your stupid visit earlier, when she had to pull your fleshy rear end out of Makai. Should have just let the kappa pull your soul out. At least she'd put you in a proper container. You might even learn what it feels like to the rest of us. Unable to move for years, and left alone and forgotten.

Although, if that kappa had fussed over it the whole time… Bah. Maybe the human in a box would have been driven insane. One can dream.

…Alright, Su-san, you're done talking. Now tell me what you told it. And don't even start, human. Yes, don't even start… laughing… Don't make me kick you in the shin! Just because I'm three feet tall doesn't mean I'm not capable of banging your shin clean in. Then you'd wish that the Lilies were alive to heal you again. Do you understand me?

Hrmpf. Right. A lie, but what can I expect from a human. Idiot. How did your species become the dominant one, again? If only I could reproduce… Bah. Those are plans for a few centuries for now. Front and center, Su-san. Tell me exactly what you told the human. And do not try to hide anything from me. You know what happens when you hide stuff from me.

Really now… You were just concerned about that damned mage's fate? A lie if I've ever seen one, Su-san. You've cared about those other dolls, if only to show how sickened you are of them, but you've not anymore than that. Repeat after me. I don't give a damn about that stupid youkai magician. I don't give a damn about that stupid youkai magician. I don't give a damn what you think about this human now shut up or I'll make you wish you were poisoned earlier. I know plenty that are more virulent than the ones I emitted earlier.

…Be serious, Su-san. You wouldn't go against me and try to save that human. I know you. You don't put yourself on the limb for much of anything. Even that human over there is safe. There's nothing it can do. So don't even think you are brave for going out of the way and escorting it. It was a stupid quest, and there was even no danger? Why do you expect to be commended for completing it?

So, again, tell me. I need to know what you are scheming. I don't want to find the human in my fields later with a sudden need for shelter. This damn human most certainly will not be getting it, no matter how big you make those eyes of yours. So, don't even think of doing that. You'd be an idiot if you did.

…What.

Seriously, Su-san, you are not going with the human. No way, no how. You are still tiny! How can you bother to fend for yourself? Please, don't give me that crap about making sure the human takes care of itself. It obviously can't. How else would it fall into the Lily's nest if not for sheer idiocy? It's just another damn outsider that doesn't know how to take care of itself.

You will not help. You are still weak. You may be able to control the poison, but to what degree? Are you gonna make some oni through up because it decided to chug a fiftieth bottle of suddenly bad liquor? You're most certainly not going to effectively bomb the entire area with the proper poison. What if you need to kill everyone in thirty seconds flat? Do you know how to interrupt the nervous system of the pathetic sacks of meat?

Of course you don't. Which means you won't be leaving. Not until it is safe for you to go. End of discussion. Now, let's go.

Su-san, I said we are going. Come over here. Get up off the human's shoulder and fly over here. Forgot? Here' I'll demonstrate? Just concentrate your mind… Oh, ignore me. Just stay there as the human stands up and walks off. With the damn green-haired freak of a not-doll. Sure. That sounds just peachy.

Ignore me. I only took care of you… I only made sure… you were safe. We were sisters, weren't we? Comrades? Teacher and student? I don't care a damn about everyone else, but I always meant the best for you…

…You don't even have a bye for me? Just a small little wave? Cheeky little… Wipe that smile off your face! I'm going to come and… Come and get you. Su-san, you come back here right… Right now. I'm sure she'll change her mind soon enough. After all, it's probably just temporary insanity after being so close to a human. It is contagious, probably. Don't worry, Su-san, we'll think of something to kill it off! Just come back to… Medicine…

…Anytime…

Su-san?

…What am I doing? Stupid doll just couldn't wait to get out of here, could she? Of course she did. Took the first human carriage out of town. Away from home. Human didn't even bother to hang its hat up. Not that the human has a hat. Stupid human.

It's all its fault. Human's fault, yes. It put a spell on Su-san. I'll just go right on. I can go right now and fix it… I could… I can't. She left me. Su-san left me. Why would she do that? Who will… Who will keep me company now? Who will hug me at night and look up at the stars? I'm just going to be all alone.

All alone… again.

…Well, at least I have all these Lilies to keep me company. Wake up girls… I've got to see how painful this will be for you until you expire. And as a special treat, I'm going to let you feel it all. So smile those perfect faces. They won't be for long.