Vao pulled away from Sapphire, his face devoid of color as he stared at her. The doll leaned forward, moss crumbling from her joints as she rose to her feet. Her joints warped and weathered, her eyes missing and her body hollow, she looked just the way he never wanted her to.
"S-S... S-Sapphire," he croaked.
Emma bit her lip, turning her gaze to the ground. "... Are you... H-happy, Vao...?" She stammered, her voice smoldering. "S-Sapphire... Sh-she's..."
She couldn't finish her sentence. But she didn't need to. Sapphire had crossed the threshold of no return. Without a fairytale of her own, she was going to turn into a demonbeast. She was going to forget everything, and be doomed to roam Wonderland forever. With tears trickling down his cheeks, Vao let out a raspy, trembling whisper.
"I'm... S-so sorry..."
He didn't just fail her. He had let her fall to a fate worse than death. A fate where she lived feeling the very thing that pushed her over the edge. She felt lonely. She would always feel lonely.
"... E-Emma," Vao hissed. "... G-go..."
Emma looked up at him, Red Hood's eyes watering. "M-Mr. V-Vao, b-but-"
Sapphire's fingers curled around the pull-chain of her chainsaw, the engine spluttering. Vao closed his eyes, letting the tears fall.
"... I-I'll... H-handle this... So go..."
Red Hood tried to protest, but Emma was already guiding her away. The idol gave one last glare at Vao, her teeth gritting together, her lips wavering.
"... Amiga... If y-you get killed... You r... Really deserved it..."
Vao was silent. And finally nodded his head.
"... Y-yeah... I know..."
He could hear Emma and Red Hood disappearing into the bushes, Vao looking up at the girl he had rejected just as she managed to start her chainsaw. The more he looked, the more terrible he felt. The more he didn't want to admit the truth.
If he wanted to help Sapphire... He was going to have to kill her. Just like he did with Hekue.
Sparks burned his skin as the chainsaw's teeth met his crossed daggers, Sapphire's movements uncoordinated and slow, weaker than she had been before. But it was still enough to nearly break Vao's guard, the dullahan backing away, his grip weakening on his weapons.
"W... W-why...?"
Their weapons clashed again, Sapphire pushing against him. Vao knew if he didn't fight back, she was going to kill him. But every time he raised his daggers, his spirit crumbled away.
He couldn't do it.
"W-why... D-did it h-have to be you...?"
"̵̧̢̪̝̟͕̝̤̯̐̈͌́̉͛̌̕̚V̸̢͔̞͔͖̘͕͈̘͉͓̑͂̽̈́̒͜͜-̸̙͙̝̞̯̜̗̈́̈́̿V̴̧̭̜͇͓͓̥̻̭̱̪̺͚̬͆̈́̀̌̾͆̀͘͜͝ặ̴̡͔͍͕o̴̡̨̻̘̺̞̠͈͔̿̈́̒.̶̝͙̙͋́́̃̌̈̚͝.̸̢͓͈̳͒̋̿̔͌̓̊͜͝.̸̺̽̿͌́̽ ̴̨͇̗͔͇̻͕̣̼̮̘͓̦̇̊W̸͇̭̹̑̎̒̿̅̀̈́̈́̄́̃̀̿͜͝h̴̡̧̖͉͉̬̩̣̟̤̟̻͎͌̐͐̔̊͊̀̀̿̕͜͝͝ͅě̸̢̡̡̨̛̗̦̺̫͍̝̌̃͑̄̐̔̋͂̀͂͝ŗ̶̽̀ͅḝ̶̡̛̛̰̹͔͎͕̣̞͔̖̖̋̍̐́̂͐̃͘͜͜͠.̷̡̨̟̹̰͚̱̇̍͌̇̑̈́̉̈̏̏̓̅̒̕͝.̶̛̹͚͙͙̉̈́̔̊̈́͌̾́̓͠.̷̢̡̛̼̙̹̼̖͎͓̼̠̗̣͑͗̕͜ ̷̧̫̤̗̘̱͈͙̪̳̂̄̽̌͛̑̂̒̕̕͘͝͝͝Ḑ̶̡̛͈̤̜̤͉̜̱͔̤͚̾̿̍̑͊̀̅͐̌̆͐̔͝͠-̸̠̮̗̹̞̺̳̋̉͝d̸̢̖͉̙̳̓̄̅̄̀̿͒̄͛̾̈́̓̕͘̕i̸̢̜̜͇̙̟̻͒d̶͉̗̉̽͒̃́̊̓̈́̎̂̎̈́̚̚ ̶̨͕̭̏̍͐̌͑̔̀y̴̛̞͎̓̈́̊̈̊̏̕͝͠ọ̸̧̨̳̤̼̳̦͔̩̓͊̆͒̈́̄́̄͒͐̒̕̚͝͝ů̷̥̩͛̉̍͑̃͝ ̵̛͍̾̊̃̉͋͝g̵̮͖͓̼̳̎͂̅̃o̶̢̼͌̉̾͂̅́͑̒͗̅̏͊̿ͅ.̶̨͔͉̝̦̣̦̘̳̯͓͍̖̠͋̇͌͑̒̽̀̅ͅ.̶͙̝̹͌͗̂̓̅͘.̵̢̖̥̘̪̫͍͔̺̒̊͋̏́̄͗̒̉̊̏͠?̵̨̧͔̹̘̞̘̗̰̭͍͍̫͓̽̄̅̄̀́̃́͛̚͜"̶͔͐
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WtSLB: Sapphire in Wonderland (Hiatus)
FantasySixteen thousand years after the Freedom War, nonhumans and humans have found a peaceful coexistence with each other on Twist. With the oppressive Church long gone, the Cult having disappeared long ago, and the Gods oddly straying from the routine...
