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There was once a man who lived in a small cabin in the woods. No one quite knew his name as he was more of a hermit than anything else. He lived all alone in the vast woods, where not even the animals dared come near. He, one day, chose to explore outside his humble abode. He left with just a small bag and some water in a sack. It's not like anyone would visit, the man was in a single player world.
He adventured far and wide, from the highest mountain to the lush of rivers and creaks. His shoes wore thin as the man pushed through the harsh brush of the forest floors. The man ventured into dark forests and into abandoned mines. He learned to start fires in the wilderness, and how to sharpen his dagger. He scavenged and hunted for food, and learned what kinds of flowers and mushrooms were best for stews.
After almost 4 years of adventure, he had found an underground Tome. He never thought it was a real thing. He looked into the pit, a somehow functional bubble elevator was in the middle of it. Maybe that was why the man had enough courage to jump into the murky water.
His dirty blonde hair was the only thing of Light The Tome had seen in years. The Tome wanted it. And The Tome always gets what it wants.
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“It sure is dark in here..” Said the man. His steps echoed into the dark void of The Tome. His breath was a bit heavy, The Tome being far down into the earth. The whole place was made from stone, clear to the man that it was a very old place. He held up his lantern to avoid tripping onto the floor. The tip of his sword almost grazed the floor as he gently walked, he didn’t want to break anything after all.
He was an explorer, not a thief.
He walked down the long hallway. “I think this place might have been a church of some kind..” he murmurs to himself. At the end of the hallway was a statue. It seemed humanoid shaped, but had 2 pairs of wings coming from its back. The figure was standing up right, but had its hands clasped together, and its head looking up. Where its eyes would be was a mask. The stature was all gray from its stone, but the mask was different.
The mask was a vibrant purple, almost impossibly so. It almost glowed from its intensity, the only thing really bringing any source of light into The Tome. The mask had a strange symbol on it. It was a rectangle, with it looking slightly broken on two opposing corners in white.
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He really wanted to touch it. He probably shouldn't, but that's never stopped him before.
And so, he walked slightly faster, until reaching the statue. There was a sign at the bottom of the statue's base. “‘Do not touch the mask!’?” He thought for a moment. “I'm so gonna touch it now. Who just leaves a sign that says ‘do not touch’ and expects no one to touch?”
He placed his belongings onto the floor, and jumped up onto the statue. He didn't get instantly killed or explode into particles so the sign lied. It was a really big statue so it took the man a long time to actually get up to the face portion. The man stood on his tippy toes and the mask actually shrunk down to an average size. Should he put it on? Hes getting a strange feeling from it…
Of course he is.
He places it on his face and holds it up, as it doesn't actually have a way to stay on his face. He then looks at a puddle of water. “Woah, I actually look kinda cool with this! Maybe I'll add sculpting to my list of hobbies to try?”
The man could hear some whispers in the distance, but that might just be the ringing in his ear. The mask was really cold from no use. Despite that, it was pretty soft on his face. The Tome’s purple light reappeared. ‘That’s strange’ the man thought. “I thought the light came from the mask…?”
He looked up at the statue. There was no light coming from its face. Where was the light coming from? The blonde man went to take off the mask.
Only to find that he couldn’t.
The man let go of the mask, hoping that it could fall but it firmly stayed in his face. He shook his head, ran around and even started doing some backflips, hoping the erratic movement would do something. Nothing.
The Statue opened its eyes when the man looked at it again. The man could feel his heart stopping in his chest. How..?
“Grian Xequla Nightingale, you dare use things that belong to the Gods? We will have your spirit bound to us as punishment.” The Tome's voice boomed with power. That wasn't even the man’s middle name, but nonetheless, his eyes widened. “I-I’m sorry, I didn't know! I can put it back. I swear i didn-”
“Silence.”
“...”
The man felt his heart still not beating. Is he really that nervous? He went to bow, of course he knew of the entities speaking to him. The Watchers. Old ods that were banished because of their cruelty to humanity that their demigod children sealed with all of their magic combined. Both their children and the Listeners made sure all places of Watcher worship were sealed. How did the man get in here?
He fully looked down, and screamed in terror. The Statue smiled gently. It’s gift was received.
Why was the man so small? Why were his legs so… plushy? The man attempted to run-scream-shout-yell-run-run-Run-RUN-!
The soft body simply fell onto the floor, motionless. Its glasses on its head fell off, making a small clank noise.
“Come now young one, there hasn't been another in centuries.” Whispered the Statue in the doll's ear. The doll lay quietly on the floor, its mouth gone and eyes covered.
On the floor, the small doll laid. It was slightly smaller than 1 foot, wearing a red cardigan, a stained white shirt, black cargo pants, and worn brown boots. Its hair was dirty blonde, with removable wire glasses pushed up into its hair. It had a black backpack filled to the brim with the strangest of things like small eyes of ender, potions, a water bottle, a black egg, and an even smaller version of himself rounded out to a ball shape. Instead of the almost black eyes, its eyes were covered by a white mask, with a symbol in a bright purple etched onto it.
The Statue lifted its hand, willing the doll closer to its base. The Statue had gotten its own mask back, illuminating The Tome once more. The doll stayed there, motionless.
Until light broke back into The Tome once more. For now, the doll will stay, unnoticed, and unloved. No one would remember its existence.
Not for a long time.