Cutlass: Puppet
My entire body is sore. I wake up from what feels like a coma. Everything around me feels off, and I feel so sluggish. More importantly, I’m… standing? I clear my mind and blink a few times to get a handle on what is going on…
My body is drenched in water, but- more importantly- I can’t move my body! There are all sorts of vines tying my body still, and I can’t seem to even lift a muscle. The vines have even made it all the way to my snout, wrapping my muzzle shut.
“Nmmph… rrrf!” I try to speak, but it’s no use. I feel like a statue, and yet my body is moving on its own. My body is moving down to the ground and my hands move to pick something up… a piece of parchment with an incomplete fire sigil! What is going on? I look in front of me and I see Willow standing in front of me with a wooden core, now converting into essence.
“I feel some resistance,” Willow exclaims, “I didn’t realize you were going to wake up. Then again, I did just drench you in water.”
“Hmmmphhhmph!” I try to scream, but nothing comes out. My other hand grabs a brush with ink on it as Willow guides the roots and plants to make me move.
“I just made you duel me in your sleep. You summoned a helpless fire core with no backup and I summoned a wooden core with water attacks and supports. It seems the water woke you up sooner than expected. You see, I drugged everybody last night…” Everybody… that means Lysander! What did this cheater do to them? I glance around and I notice a thick tree behind me. That tree wasn’t there before- no…!
“Lysander is in there if you’re wondering. I couldn’t afford to risk it. I’d tie them up, but I can’t risk them being found later. That’s why.” Willow summons a new wooden core as watery tendrils rise up from the ground. I cannot stop them.
“My grandmother was taken away from us… by death.” I jolt. I realize why Willow is so desperate now. “She didn’t deserve to die. She was a kind and sweet women. She accepted Maple even after learning she summoned a demon. And I never got to tell her I was-” Willow’s voice breaks. “That… that I was an elementalist… She never knew!” My claw finishes the sigil as I summon a small, fiery core.
“Gmprhl…!” I want to talk to them, maybe I could help make things better? But I can’t do that unless the vines let me do it.
“I’m sorry,” A massive wave of water crashes into my body as my core fizzles out. “I wish there was another way.”
I try to shake my body. Now that Willow has what they want, I want out. However, the vines are shifting my body again, now. This time, I am being dragged backward toward the tree. Its bark peels to reveal a struggling, tearful Lysander. “This is the end,” Willow states, voice trembling, “I won’t forget you.”
“Hmph! Nmf! Hmmmph…!” Placed back-to-back with Lysander, I feel the roots and bark slowly seal up on me. Almost seamlessly, the sunny meadow transitions to pure darkness. Moreover, I can’t breathe. I can only squirm and hope now.