To Destroy A Country

Extra 6 [Dec 7 2021]

Yae's eyes fluttered open groggily. She could feel Ei still leaning on her shoulder.
  "I need you..." a quiet voice spoke in the darkness.
  Yae blinked several times, trying to see in the dark. She could see a blurry figure before her through her wet eyes.
  After a moment she smiled tiredly, "m? What is it?"
  "... I need... help..." he spoke slowly.
  Yae nudged Ei, "I'll be right back, okay?"
  Ei nodded as she mumbled something and laid down on the floor.
  Yae stood up and shook herself awake, "what is it? What do you need?"
  It took her hand and started walking.
  Yae wondered how it could see... She sighed, she wished Ei would teach him to talk. She really seemed to neglect him...
  He took her into a room and turned the light on.
  She shielded her eyes from the light as she blinked. She noticed something alarming about the child beside her.
  There was a shocking streak of red across his cheek. The same color was on his hands.
  Yae abruptly pulled her hand away, stepping away with wide eyes.
  It gazed up at her with those dead eyes. It held its hand out to her, smeared in crimson.
  Yae looked down at her own hands, feeling her breathing quicken. Her hands shook as she saw that same color on her own appendages, "what... what did you do?..."
  It lowered its hand, turning its face to the side. It didn't speak. It lifted its other hand and pointed to an adjacent room. As it did, its clothes fell off of its other shoulder.
  Yae carefully reached out and fixed it, "what happened?..." She was trying not to show how horrified she felt. Her ears were twitching, she could heard noises from the other room.
  It took Yae's hand and started taking her towards it, "help..."
  "Help what?..." she said in a whisper.
  It pulled her inside and she almost gasped.
  The room was beautiful. It was covered in intricately carved birdcages, full of little creatures screaming their hearts out.
  The child took a step back, over the threshold of the door and the room quieted, but it wasn't silent.
  Yae pulled her hand away, "what did you do?..."
  "It was like me..." he slowly lifted his hand and pointed inside the room, it's face was obscured from view.
  Yae didn't want to be in this room. It had a horrible, cold feeling in it. Yae carefully walked farther in, she didn't like how ominously the child had spoken.
  Then she froze. There was one cage that wasn't making noise. Yae slowly stepped over, holding her breath. It felt like years until she was in front of it, peering inside.
  Covering the bottom of the cage was a blackish-red liquid. Both too light and too dark to be blood. There was a large raven laying in a pool of it.
  "Like me..."
  All the birds in the room started shrieking as it stepped into the room. It walked over to Yae, wincing when it got too close to some of the cages.
  Yae noticed the color smeared over the child's body wasn't quite right for blood, either.
  "What happened?" Yae asked as she unlocked the cage.
  It shifted on its feet, "I let it out..."
  "But what's all over the cage?..."
  He held up his hand, and Yae could now see dozens of cuts, scrapes, and lacerations.
  Yae's brows came together, why is it such a weird color?... Now that she thought about it, the doll really shouldn't be able to bleed at all...
  "He started screaming... knocked over the other cages..."
  Yae saw there were sheddings littered over the floor along with a few feathers here and there.
  "It got stuck-" he took Yae's hand and squeezed it tightly.
  "What do you mean?" Yae carefully placed her hand on its head.
  It pointed with a shaking hand at the cage. In between some of the bars were ripped pieces of feather.
  "It... it stopped moving..." its grip on her hand tightened to the point that she almost pulled away. "I put it back in..."
  Yae looked down at the blood on the floor from his hands and face. Why hadn't he tried to heal himself? Or ask someone to help him? Why was he so concerned about this bird that was already dead?...
  "Now they're all scared..." he gestured around the room at the screaming birds.
  Yae pulled the child out of the room with her, "why did you let it out?"
  It took its time speaking, "it looked sad..."
  Yae sighed heavily as she was leading him down the hall to the bathroom, "you had me worried you killed someone."
  "Like me..."
  Yae looked over at him, "what?"
  "The bird..."
  Yae grew concerned, why did he keep repeating that? "But you aren't dead..."
  He shook his head, "lonely..."
  Yae stopped walking, "that's why you let it out..."
  He nodded silently, squeezing her hand, blood seeping out of his own.
  Yae bit her lip. This boy was so sensitive... She was afraid he might keel over and die if someone yelled at him...
  "It was my favorite..."
  "I know, I'm sorry," she pushed the bathroom door open, "let's get you cleaned up, okay?"
  As she was bandaid-ing him up, she noticed that all his wounds had closed up except for the one on the palm of his hand.
  "When did this happen?"
  "When I let it out..."
  "It attacked you?"
  He nodded and his eyes welled with tears.
  Yae sighed quietly, "that surprises me... I would think it would have thanked you for letting it out..."
  He shook his head, wiping his eyes sloppily.
  Yae pat his arm, "hey, it's okay. There are plenty of other birds, we can get you another one..."
  He shook his head, "not like me..."
  "You want one that's like you?..."
  He nodded, "not even... that one was like me..." he pressed his hand to his chest.
  Yae tilted her head, "what do you mean?"
  "The Shogun said I was alone... I don't have a heart... I'm the only one..."
  Yae couldn't believe Ei would have said that. Could she really hate her creation so much?... Yae couldn't fathom.
  "Don't- don't listen to her," Yae pulled him into her arms, "I know you have a heart."
  He shook his head, "there's nothing..."
  She squeezed him tight, "don't say that... you're crying. That's proof enough for me."
  He shook his head but didn't say anything more.