cursed doll fic

"You don't know where to stop do you? You were already cursed by this world, but now you are not just an abomination unshackled by time itself, you are a monster."

"Puck! Shield her!"

An un-fathomably short window for response and yet a response came nonetheless. In a fraction of a second, a frozen mist manifested into the world condensing into itself and creating solid matter. In what felt like an eternity for him a shield of ice formed itself behind Emilia instantaneously and blocked the incoming swing from the attacker.

The black-haired beauty who had swung her kukri blade into the ice shield leapt acrobatically off of it, twisting her body and twirling in the air. Normally this would have been a lovely sight, but she has been trying to kill the occupants in the loot house which lessened the mesmerizing sight of her acrobatics.

"Thanks for the warning! You really saved us there!"

That's where my story really began, not when I first got summoned to this world, nor upon my first death or the discovery of Return by Death. It started on the loop where I had finally succeeded.

"That's enough."

After being brought to this world, I thought Return by Death would be similar to a curse. A curse that would save the lives of everyone around me at the expense of my sanity. But never had I thought that-…

"Reinhard just blew up the whole building, how the hell are you still alive? Are you some kind of monster? Are all the people in this world monsters? How am I going to compete at this rate?" Subaru managed to get out, joking morbidly to hide his nervousness at Elsa's survival.

"It's quite rude to call me a monster. You're going to wound my heart." Elsa shot back in a playful yet dangerous manner, the tone of her voice causing Subaru to almost step back in reflex.

Faster than anyone could react she had crouched down and shot off like a bullet, her bloody form and ruined limbs still regenerating mid-flight towards her target.

"If you want to compete with the people around you, then perhaps you should adapt and become a monster as well."

Time had seemed to slow down, glancing to the right Subaru could see Reinhard attempting to intercept Elsa from reaching him. Looking further he could see Emilia with her arm reached out, a crystal of ice forming above her outstretched hand as she looked worriedly towards Subaru, panic evident in her expression.

Snapping his eyes back to the black-haired assassin in front of him, with resignation in his eyes he thought to himself.

'I failed again.'

Time sped up again as Elsa latched onto him, her mouth wide open with her fangs bared. She clamped down onto his neck. Just as quickly as she bit down, she used her existing momentum to swing her body into the air using his shoulders as leverage and landed on the ruined roof of the loot house.

Something was very wrong.

Pain unlike anything he has felt before tormented his body. Originating from his neck where Elsa had latched her fangs into him and spreading throughout every nerve and cell in his body. Something was corrupting him. A scream ripped through his throat as he fell to the ground landing on his back as every muscle in his body tensed up.

The blood rushing in his ears blocked out the sounds of Reinhard arriving by his side, Elsa's parting words, the worried shouts coming from Emilia and Felt.

The pain was too much, his hands clenched tightly into fists and as his muscles spasmed his fists hit the ground beneath him causing it to crack. The people around him looked at this newfound strength with shock, as he had not shown the ability to showcase said strength just a few minutes prior.

He could feel the gentle glow of Emilia's healing magic trying to help him but nothing seemed capable of easing the pain. His vision slowly faded into nothingness as the last thing he saw was Reinhard picking him up as a pink haired maid entered the broken door of the loot house.

…I would be cursed again so soon.

-

- The Curse that Binds Us -

-

"I don't recognize that ceiling."

Subaru's eyes slowly opened as he muttered out softly. His brain was slowly coming up to speed as he recalled the events that had happened prior to his awakening. His deaths in the capital trying to save Emilia who had saved him in that alleyway. Meeting with Reinhard after calling out for help. And finally staring Elsa down as she had launched at herself at him.

"You're finally awake, Subaru." A familiar voice had responded to him, the voice in question laced with the tone of relief.

"Reinhard…"

Standing to the side of the bed Subaru was laying on was Reinhard. He was dressed in his usual knightly attire, his dashingly handsome face and red hair were quite the sight to see when you first wake up. Those vibrant blue eyes that stared at him with relief made his heart flutter.

"If I didn't know any better, I would think you are trying to charm me! Sorry red but I already have someone in my heart!" a blush was on Subaru's face as he waved his hands around in a flurry before pointing suddenly at Reinhard, his mean looking eyes looking at Reinhard with both embarrassment and determination.

Reinhard looked dazzled for a moment before closing his eyes as he chuckled slightly at Subaru's behavior as he brought a hand up to cover his mouth.

"That's quite the compliment Subaru!"

"That's not what I meant by that!"

As the two of them bickered lightly with each other back and forth, the sound of footsteps resonated and echoed outside the room they were in. The footsteps approached at a gradually accelerating pace before the door suddenly slammed opened and Emilia entered the room with a relieved face as her eyes landed on Subaru's form on the bed.

"You're awake! I'm relieved you're alright! It would be bad if you went and got seriously injured on my behalf you know!"

"Emilia-tan!" Subaru beamed at seeing her, feeling all of his worries wash away.

"Tan?"

"Ah – It's a suffix, like a nickname to show off the closeness of our bond!"

"That's strange I don't remember getting that close to you…"

"I got shut down instantly?!"

Emilia just giggled in response to Subaru's antics, she brought a hand up to her chest in relief as she gazed at him with an expression that gave him butterflies in his stomach. Subaru quickly got over being shut down as he looked around at his surroundings to distract him from the feeling in his heart. This wasn't the loot house clearly. He admired the intricate design of the room they were currently in. It was a large and spacious bedroom, with ornate furniture and intricate designs on everything. His eyes gazed up towards the ceiling which had a chandelier dangling in the middle of the room.

"Where are we? The last thing I remember is being attacked by that crazy lady back at the loot house." Subaru deadpanned as he remembered being attacked by Elsa. The intense pain that followed before darkness.

"Speaking of that, Subaru. You were attacked by The Bowel Hunter, I am truly sorry I couldn't reach you in time. It seems that even now I fail to protect those around me." Reinhard's somber voice surprised Subaru, who quickly shook his head and denied those self-inflicted accusations of failure that came from Reinhard.

"No way! If it weren't for you, we would have seriously been toast! I am really grateful that you showed up! Really!"

Reinhard slowly nodded. The sides of his mouth quirked upwards ever so slightly into a soft smile.

Emilia nodded as well and turned to look at Reinhard.

"I'm reeeeeeally grateful to the both of you, that could have gone much worse than we anticipated. Subaru, you calling out to Puck saved my life, although I have to ask how you knew about him? I don't recall meeting you before the loot house and Reinhard said you were looking to get my insignia back for me."

Subaru grimaced as he recalled the events that led him to that moment. His mind was in turmoil as he pondered the idea of being honest and telling her that they had met before in another of his lives. But would it be a good idea to speak about his deaths and ability? Would they even believe such a story? As he opened his mouth to say something he was quickly cut off by Reinhard.

"Actually, there's something I want to discuss with you, Subaru. How do you feel? You were attacked by Elsa and you collapsed in pain by the time we got to you."

Subaru looked down at his hands and clenched his fists rapidly as if to test how he felt. He looked back up at Reinhard and Emilia and gave them a smile.

"I feel good actually, great even! I feel better than I ever have in my life! It feels like I could take on the world. Is this my magical awakening?! Ah probably not, it was most likely the healing magic Emilia-tan had used if I had to guess?" He muttered out at the end casting a questioning gaze at Emilia.

But to his surprise Emilia looked at him with a worried gaze and shook her head, confirming that she did not play a part in his recovery.

"Actually Subaru, your wounds healed on their own shortly after you had been bitten by Elsa. I believe you may have been inflicted with a curse." Reinhard responded, his voice grim and serious.

"So curses exist in this world as well? I suppose that's a bad thing?"

"I'm not quite sure what you mean by that, but curses are typically bad, yes. They are usually casted by a shaman, a curse can be detected and removed before it is activated. But if it activates it will consume the life-force and magical energy of the being who had been cursed until they die."

Subaru suddenly shot out of bed pointing at Reinhard in panic.

"Wait a second! Before you continue explaining you mean to tell me that I'm going to die?!" What a cruel joke, he thought he had escaped the loop. If he died now, would he end right back up from square one? The ramifications of this weighed on his mind heavily.

Reinhard shakes his head bringing ease to Subaru's mind.

"No, I've already confirmed it wasn't a typical curse. You can rest assured you are not going to die, although there is definitely a curse on you and I don't think we will be able to remove it. You mentioned you were feeling great. I'd like you to do something for me."

Subaru nodded his head slowly as he silently agreed to hear out his request.

Reinhard walked over to a nearby chair which had a metal rod, similar to the shape and size of a bat resting on it. He picked it up in his hands and walked back over to Subaru before handing the metal object to him.

"I'd like for you to squeeze this with all your might, try to crush it."

"Huh? There's no way I'll be able to do that! This is solid metal isn't it?!" Subaru yelled out in a dramatic exasperated tone at Reinhard's request.

"Even so, I want you to try." Reinhard calmly responded.

Subaru looked at Reinhard with hesitation before shifting his gaze over at Emilia who was still looking at him with a worried expression. His eyes finally shifted to the metal rod in his hand. While he had a pretty good grip strength already, this was a dense metal object. But there was no harm in trying right?

Subaru slowly applied pressure to the metal rod as his grip increased against the metal rod, surprisingly he felt no resistance even as he approached his usual maximum grip strength, deciding to test the waters even further he continued to apply more grip, he felt strength surge up that he didn't know he was capable of as he lost control of his grip strength as the metal rod was crushed beneath his hand.

"Holy shit! I just crushed that thing in my hands? Have I awakened my latent magical ability or something?! Would've been nice to have this before I fought my first boss!" Subaru yelled out looking upwards to the heavens… or rather the ceiling of the room they were in, before awkwardly looking back down at Reinhard and Emilia who were gazing back at his outburst with a puzzled expression.

"Ah never mind me. You were saying Reinhard-sensei?" Subaru let out a defeated tone as he motioned for Reinhard to continue speaking after making him crush that metal rod.

"I believe you were inflicted with the curse of a Cursed Doll." Reinhard grimly spoke as he looked into Subaru's eyes.

"Cursed Doll? That sounds both cool and scary at the same time!" Subaru exclaimed before continuing. "So, what is this 'Cursed Doll' exactly?"

"It is a curse art which typically involves the application or carving of a curse mark that includes the information of the target they want to kill on someone, and upon activation, the person with the curse mark gains a semi sense of immortality, with increased strength, speed, endurance and reflexes. Cursed Dolls typically have an incredible regeneration factor, although they aren't infallible. However, as a cost to this power they tend to lose their sense of self and can't do anything else but kill the target and they die when the target is killed."

"But I don't feel any different?" Subaru replied as his eyes widened at this information. Immortality? Regeneration? What was the point of Return by Death then? Wait no he shouldn't get hasty, Reinhard said this wasn't infallible, it had limits. He could still die if he's not careful.

"I've heard that there was a way to create a cursed doll without the negative side effects of losing their sense of self or death. I believe Elsa is a cursed doll who does not suffer from those side effects… and I believe when she bit you, she transferred that same curse over to you." Reinhard continued as Emilia gasped at the realization.

Subaru recalled the events that led up to Elsa biting him.

"Reinhard just blew up the whole building, how the hell are you still alive? Are you some kind of monster? Are all the people in this world monsters? How am I going to compete at this rate?" Subaru managed to get out, joking morbidly to hide his nervousness at Elsa's survival.

"It's quite rude to call me a monster. You're going to wound my heart." Elsa shot back in a playful yet dangerous manner, the tone of her voice causing Subaru to almost step back in reflex.

Faster than anyone could react she had crouched down and shot off like a bullet, her bloody form and ruined limbs still regenerating mid-flight towards her target.

"If you want to compete with the people around you, then perhaps you should adapt and become a monster as well."

Subaru's eyes widened.

"She heard me call her a monster and complain about the unfairness of the situation, so out of spite she cursed me with the same affliction she had? She told me to adapt and become a monster myself… she meant that literally?!" Subaru exclaimed with disbelief.

"And wait! Enhanced strength and speed, immortality and regeneration… and she bit me to transfer this curse?! Isn't this just another form of vampirism?!"

"Subaru, vampires are just mythical stories! Do you have the need to feast on blood?" Emilia suddenly spoke up, her voice reminding him of the chimes of silver bells.

"Ah no I guess not, that's Emilia-tan for you soothing my worries!"

"I don't know how I did such a thing, but I am reeeeallly glad that it calmed you down."

"… Emilia Maji Tenshi! EMT!"

Reinhard suddenly interjects, his voice calm and collected. "I'd like for you to stay here for a few days, Subaru. I don't know if any other problems will manifest within you. It would appear that your body has changed to reflect your new state."

Subaru gazed down at himself, his eyes trailing to his arms and abdomen. He lifted his shirt up seeing the slash in it, and saw that his body was more toned than he remembered. He had always kept himself in good shape, but this was more than he expected. He wasn't ripped but he definitely had more muscle than before.

"Yeah, looks like I suddenly bulked up! I don't know how to feel about that as it feels like a cheat code but I guess there's nothing I can do about it."

"I don't know what a 'cheat code' is but it would seem from how you crushed the rod I provided you earlier that you have no control over your new strength, I'd like to help you better manage and control it, as well as monitor you for any new changes that might arise."

Subaru looked over at Reinhard and nodded slowly. Reinhard looked over at Emilia apologetically.

"Forgive me Emilia-sama, I know you wished to take Subaru with you back to the Mathers domain and reward him."

"It's alright. I understand your reasonings and I too would like to make sure Subaru will be alright. Is it alright if I spend these next few days here as well? I'd still like to take Subaru with me after it's over."

"Of course Emilia-sama, I'll have Carol prepare a room for you."

Subaru could feel the heat rising to his cheeks at Emilia wanting to stay by his side and make sure he was alright.

"Emilia-tan is seriously an angel!"

Emilia looked over at Subaru and a soft smile appeared on her face as she giggled at him. "I'm glad to see you're taking all of this in stride."

A few moments go by as the three of them talk to each other. Eventually an old woman in a maid outfit with shoulder length hair and short bangs appears and takes Emilia to her room leaving both Subaru and Reinhard alone for the time being.

"Subaru, I recommend you get some rest. In a few hours one of our servants will call for you to come and eat dinner, you just went through a metamorphosis in a sense and it is a good idea to let your body rest and adapt to its changes."

Subaru yawns as he nods his head agreeing with Reinhard as he sits back down on the bed.

"Thank you for all the help, Reinhard, you really saved my ass back then at the loot house and you're letting me stay here. You're a good friend." Subaru says as he raises his hand out towards Reinhard.

Reinhard's eyes widen ever so slightly at being called a friend. His expression softens into a happy smile as he raises his hand to grasp onto Subaru's.

"Friend… yes I would very much enjoy that." Reinhard says appreciatively as he shakes Subaru's hand.

Reinhard lets go of Subaru's hand and begins to walk towards the door leading to the hallway outside of Subaru's room. As he opens it and steps outside, he turns back to Subaru.

"Rest well, friend."

"Mhm! I will."

After Reinhard leaves. Subaru sits idly on his bed staring at his arms and body in admiration and a bit of anxiety. Reinhard mentioned being a Cursed Doll was well… a curse. But he feels great, amazing even. But Elsa, a known assassin had turned him into it. Does that make him a monster like her? Why did she even do it? What was the motive. Was it in spite of him insulting her, or was it something else?

Realizing he wouldn't find his answers by thinking about it, he took Reinhard's advice and decided to get some sleep. He laid his head down onto the bed and after a few minutes slowly drifted back into slumber.

"One Puck… two Pucks…"