The Music is in Me

Chapter 1: You Found Me!

"So this is the place, hm?"

Paris asked, as he and a new 'friend' of his, Yumi, a young girl with special abilities in regards to the supernatural, stood outside a dilapidated old warehouse. Apparently, the night before, after dealing with a rather vicious ghost inhabiting a camera, Yumi had yet another one of her prophetic dreams. Something about coming to this warehouse, and meeting... somebody. From the way Yumi explained it, the person in the dream meant no harm- and in fact, was willing to help them somehow.

It'd been roughly eighty years, and Paris had all but forgotten about the music box woman his surely dead-by-now creator made. And now, once again, he was made to repeat his job: capture every vicious thing Ivan had created... Though, fortunately for him, he didn't have to be as nearly as nice as he did back then.

"Y-Yeah, I think so... It looks like the one in my dream." Yumi nodded, her red eyes scanning the building. "N-Nora said, um, this place had been around since the 1990s... S-She doesn't know why they didn't tear it down." She added.

"Hmm.. Curious... Didn't Lily mention something about a rumor regarding this place?" Paris asked, as they walked through the door, as the lock had long since been cut. No doubt more teens, curious to investigate the 'urban legend' that had once again been circulating, just as it had back in the day.

"Mhm." Yumi confirmed, looking around the desolate, dusty building. "Basically, ah... I-It's said people can hear s-singing, and, um... Well, people say it's like a ghost. Something like that..."

"I definitely hope not. I think I've had my fill on ghosts for the time being." Paris remarked, letting out a sigh as he rested his hand on his hip. "Well, let's get this investigation over with."

Yumi nodded, following the puppet's lead as they wandered through the abandoned building. Before long, however, the two suddenly stopped when they heard something a bit out of the ordinary. A voice, an almost sirenic one, was singing. There were no lyrics, just sweet vocalizations to a rhythm Yumi didn't recognize. But Paris certainly did, as Ivan had a habit of humming the same song under his breath from time to time.

"Huh... That sounds rather familiar- huh?" Paris noted, before realizing Yumi was in some type of trance. He wasn't sure if that was just Yumi being Yumi, or if the singing had some type of effect. Whatever the case, Yumi entered a room- moving as if she knew exactly where she was going. Paris was quick to follow, his hand reaching for his knife just in case this was a strange trap of some kind.

In a rather spacious room, Yumi and Paris found a rather large box- almost comically so. Adding to the absurdity of it was the way the box was painted. It was painted purple, with yellow accents to make it look like there was a bow wrapped around it- like some sort of Christmas present. As they neared it, it was becoming incredibly clear that the singing was coming from inside.

'Where have I heard that voice before...' Paris wondered, snapping out of it when he saw Yumi go to open the box. "Yumi, wait!" He exhorted.

But alas, Yumi was already opening the box. It was really weird, the way the thing opened. There were two handles on the top, allowing her to pull the two sides of the box open. There was also a small lock, like one you would see in an apartment, to keep it shut... Like it was more so trying to keep something in, instead of keeping someone out.

Once the box was opened, the singing suddenly stopped- a gasp suddenly replacing it before silence filled the room. Yumi seemed to have snapped out of whatever trance she was in, looking at the box in slight fear and curiosity. A slender, gloved hand reached up. Then another. Paris was ready to pull his knife out and attack the box's inhabitant then and there before the hands pulled their mystery owner up.

And as it would turn out, the "mystery owner" wasn't mysterious at all. Not to him, at least.

He recognized her just about immediately from her long, flowing red hair that was tied up in a ponytail. If that weren't enough, then the large red circles on her cheeks -that were very similar to his- were just as big of a dead give away. It was Kitsune, the same ballerina he'd known eighty years ago.

Her amber eyes were slightly wide, most likely from disbelief before she looked at Yumi. A small, genuine smile appeared on her face as she pulled herself out of the box and crouched down to the child's level. "Thank you so much for letting me out of there! I was beginning to think I'd never get out!" She chirped, gently patting Yumi's head as she praised her.

Yumi gave a shy smile. "I-It's no problem..!" She assured, looking back at Paris who had a rather unreadable expression on his face. "I-I found her, Paris!"

"So you did, Yumi, so you did." Paris nodded, walking over to the dancer.

"Ah... Paris, hello there. It's been... a rather long time, has it not?" Kitsune asked, suddenly taking on a much more formal tone.

Had something like this happened in the past, Paris had no doubt that he would've been more irritated. Perhaps it was because she disappeared so suddenly, with no explanation as to where she was. History would repeat itself, and he would just be polite... For now.

What could he say, old habits die hard, and even Kitsune would be willing to admit they'd probably start butting heads once again.

"Indeed it had... Pleasure to see you again, Kitsune." Paris responded.

Yumi glanced between the two of them before she realized what was happening. "Oh- Paris, is she one of...?"

"My creator's other creations, yes. One of the more harmless ones, and, shockingly, not as annoying." Paris responded.

Kitsune chuckled. "Not as annoying, huh? Coming from the puppet who'd argue with me everyday, I find that statement rather funny."

"Shut it." Paris narrowed his eyes at her, letting out a sigh. "Yumi, as you might've guessed, this is Kitsune. Kitsune, this is Yumi."

"Nice to meet you, Yumi!" Kitsune chirped, giving the little girl a kind smile.

"Y-You too!" Yumi nodded. "So... A-Are we taking her with us?"

Paris blinked, a bit caught off guard. He opened his mouth to try and refuse, but quickly realized two rather unfortunate truths. One, he had to keep an eye on all of Ivan's creations if they weren't destroyed- and he had no reason to destroy this one; especially as she was most likely going to assist them. Two, Kitsune clearly didn't have anywhere else to go. With a small, reluctant sigh and a hand to his forehead, he gave a small nod.

"Yes, we are. Seeing as we have no choice, really." 

"Gee, missed you too, buddy." Kitsune rolled her eyes. "I'm assuming the kid doesn't live by herself, so we probably lay low, huh?" She asked.

"That's correct, yes. For now, though, you're free to walk." Paris explained, as they turned to leave the building. After exiting the warehouse, Kitsune was ecstatic to see the outside world- in particular how much it's changed. 

"Oh my.." She giggled, running ahead and doing one of her twirls. "This is just gorgeous!! Look at all the pretty lights!" She beamed.

Yumi giggled, following alongside her with Paris. "I-It looks different, huh?" She asked.

"Oh, absolutely, it does! Not in a bad way, of course! I like it!" Kitsune chirped in reply.

As they returned to Yumi's residence and snuck back inside, Yumi let out a tired yawn as she got comfortable in her bed. The two dolls took that as their sign to return to their 'object' forms, and sat on Yumi's dresser- ironically side by side. The two side-eyed one another, despite their frozen smiles. 

"Stubborn puppet..." Kitsune muttered.

"Pesky ballerina..." Paris hissed back.

With a huff, Kitsune closed her eyes, sitting on the desk alongside him. Paris did the same thing, and silence was the only thing that could be heard that night.