He sees perfection in them. Humanity, especially youth, is full of sin. But in his workshop, sin is lost forever.
August finds himself trapped within this very workshop at the mercy of the Dollmaker himself and desires to be free and return home ag...
August slowly flutters his eyes open, hearing someone whispering some sort of lullaby. As soon as he retains vision again, he looks around the candle-lit room. There is a girl in a pink dress and blonde short hair kneeling with her back turned to him, swaying her head side to side as she sings.
"When I am king, dilly dilly, you shall be queen..."
August sits up from the cold wooden floor and finds that his coat has been taken off and placed under his head as some sort of pillow. He can't even remember how he got to this room. Maybe this girl can tell him. Maybe she is trapped here too. However, something about her looks familiar to August. He just can't pinpoint how.
"Who told you so, dilly, dilly, who told you so? 'Twas my own heart, dilly, dilly, that told me so..."
"U-Um, hello?" August calls out, making the girl stop singing and swaying to her own song. "Who...who are you?"
"..."
The girl slowly turns herself around to face August, but as soon as she reveals her face to him, he instantly gasps and shuffles himself back into the wall.
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It's the porcelain doll August had gotten from his aunt last year, the one Ebony had taken with her a year prior, eerily staring at him with eyes almost glowing.
"Shh, don't panic. He might hear you," The doll whispers as August breathes heavily, watching the doll's mouth move as it talks.
"Y-Y-You're a-alive?!?!" August gasps, his head started to feel dizzy from all the stress and confusion.
"Please don't be afraid of me. I won't hurt you, I promise," The doll claims. "Did you sleep well?"
August doesn't respond to the doll's question and stares into its soulless, gleaming midnight-blue eyes as it gazes back at him. The doll can see his discomfort and inches itself a little closer with its hands raised slightly.
"Everything is ok now. I'm here. He won't find us in here, I promise," The doll says with care as August's body eases up, slightly believing the thing's words.
"W-Who are y-you? How are you t-talking to me right now?!" August asks, feeling his body shaking with his breath.
"That's not a very nice question to ask your new friend, is it?" The doll says with a pouty tone in its voice, all to August's bafflement. New friend? Why does this doll think of August as its new friend? Who exactly is this doll and why is it talking to him like Mr Vogel did?
"My name is Imogen Vogel. You must be August, right? I like that name. It reminds me of Mother," The doll states with a slightly happy gleam in its eyes.
Vogel?! That couldn't mean...
"H-How did you know my name?" August asks nervously.
"I heard father say it when he was talking to you. He seemed very excited to meet you. Although, I am glad you were able to get away. He does that with all the others who come here. He never leaves anyone alive for me to talk to and be friends with," Imogen explains. "I had tried to escape from him but your sister brought me back about a year ago. I have been very very lonely here. But, now that you're here, I have a new best friend! And I promise I'll make sure you're safe from Father."
