RAG DOLL AWAKENS II

In the deepness of her unconsciousness, Leriya could hear a strange, mechanical whirring filled her senses, as if the air itself was alive, pulsing with energy. One felt close, like it was inside her head, while the other seemed distant, floating in the air. But all she saw was darkness, broken only by the flicker of a small blue light illuminating the barren emptiness.

Slowly, she came to consciousness. Leriya woke to the sound of Lyse's crying—a piercing shriek that shattered the fog of unconsciousness. She didn't know how long she had been out, but the pain in her limbs and the softness of dirt beneath her made her situation clear.

Opening her eyes, she took in her surroundings: she was in a ditch, the mound of unearthed sand towering 15 meters above her. Panic surged in her chest, but an even stronger, instinctual desire to escape overpowered it. Yet, deep down, she knew—there was no escape from this.

"Please... Sa...mol... he...lp," a faint, broken voice called, carried by the loud breeze. Leriya's mind barely registered the noise; a steady, pumping sound filled her ears, one she found hauntingly familiar. Her body refused to move. Once again, she was rendered powerless, a helpless victim. Fragments of the last few hours flashed in her mind, chaotic and disjointed. She tried to scream, and to her surprise, her voice came back. Though her tongue felt heavy, swollen, and bitter, she managed a desperate cry. "Help! Help me!"

A gruff voice answered. "Oii, madam!" Heavy footsteps approached, and a shadow loomed at the edge of the ditch. A man peered down at her, his expression one of mock pity. "This person is awake," he called to someone unseen.

"Please... help me," Leriya pleaded, her voice cracking. Her heart seized when the man scoffed and spat on the pile of sand.

"I-I am the heiress to the Aryan Empire," she whispered, her tears pooling in her eyes. "I can change your life—pl..." Lyse's voice cut through the darkness, a low murmur.

"I promised him something more, though," Lyse's voice echoed in the stillness.

Leriya's eyes flicked to the source of the voice. She could barely make out Lyse's figure standing above her, just out of reach. "Why are you doing this, Lyse?" Leriya's voice trembled. "Why?"

Lyse's expression flickered with something almost tender, then hardened. "You had everything growing up... even now." She paced back and forth, causing bits of sand and dirt to spill on Leriya, her hands clenched into fists at her sides as she refused to meet Leriya's gaze.

"This isn't just about you. It's about the bigger picture, Leriya! The kingdom. Under my reign, I could make things better—more prosperous. I could unite the classes. I could finally end the rebellion gaining strength in the North. I could bring peace where there's only chaos. I could do everything you can't," Lyse said, her voice rising in intensity with each word.

Her voice wavered, but the fire in her eyes never faltered. "And—and I'm not doing this for me. No. 

"I'm not being selfish, okay? I'm doing this for the people! For Samol! He believes we can fix this mess. I could bring peace. I could unite the classes—end the rebellion!" She paced in circles, hands gesturing wildly, as if trying to convince herself just as much as she was trying to convince Leriya.

Silence hung between them, heavy and thick, as Lyse's words settled into the cold air.

A low, familiar hum filled the space. The mechanical whirring, which had halted while Leriya was coming to consciousness, resumed with a buzz. It rattled her nerves, but she couldn't let herself be distracted now. She had to focus. Lyse had always been logical, able to sacrifice anything and everything for the greater good.

Sacrifice something. Is that all I am to you, Lyse? A little sacrifice. The thought pierced Leriya, desperation turning to disbelief. "If uniting the classes was your goal, why didn't you just talk to me?"

Lyse smiled—a smile that sent chills down Leriya's spine. "Do you know where this is?" Lyse gestured around her, to the ditch. "This is where you found me, under the rubble of Des Anakkin Manor. If not for the revolution your grandfather started, I would've had everything—a family, wealth, a prince—like you. Why should I suffer for his sins?"

Leriya felt the weight of those words, a heaviness that crushed her chest. This is for the people? For the future? For Samol?

"Lyse, please... not like this," she whispered, her voice breaking.

Lyse tilted her head, her eyes narrowing. "I know you love me, just as I loved you. But the people come first—you used to say that, remember?" She stepped back, signaling to the gruff man standing at the edge of the ditch. "Finish it."

"No, no, no!" Leriya screamed, but her voice was swallowed by the night. The darkness pressed in around her, suffocating her with its weight. Tears blurred her vision as she thought of the past—of how she had saved Lyse, a pale little girl who had become her closest confidante, her companion through so much. If there was a god, now would be the time to intervene.

She felt something wet seep into the ditch, slowly rising to her thighs. The wet cement rose slowly, thick and suffocating, until it reached her thighs. She could feel it—cold, heavy, pressing against her like the weight of all her current predicament, death. They weren't just burying her. They were were entombing her. Merging her with the earth itself. Lyse's mocking giggle drifted down from above.

"I'll build a monument here, in your honor. Won't that be nice?"

Leriya's lungs burned as the cement rose higher, the suffocating weight pressing in on her chest. Her last thought as the cold liquid cement enveloped her was, Why this kind of death? Her mind went blank, suffocating in the dark abyss of her thoughts. Then, just as she was sure her last breath was coming, a voice pierced the silence.

System Loading Complete. The God of Special Intervention--GOSI has been activated.

What was that? Leriya's body felt like it was drifting, upward, weightless. Her breath came in short gasps. So... this is death?

"Death?" A voice echoed in her head, a strange, calm presence amidst the chaos.

Leriya froze. "What?"

"Oh no," the voice replied, its tone light and amused. "You're not dead."

A strange chuckle escaped her lips. "Great. Now I've got a weird man's voice in my head."

"My name is Gosi," the voice said, as though that explained everything.

Leriya wanted to scream, but when you think about screaming, you can't quite do it. Instead, she kept her cool. "Is this where I introduce myself?"

"Maybe you should open your eyes first," Gosi replied, his voice turning almost... helpful.