"What's a human doll?" I asked. I was very confused when Theodore said that Lucas is a 'human doll'. Humans are humans. Dolls are dolls. One is alive and one isn't. How can one be a living and non-living person or thing at the same time?
"Human dolls are original creations of Floran. They were created over 100 years ago not long after the war of beings ascending to become Gods and Goddesses. Floran had the second most land after Kassiel and was chosen as a target for its big plot of land instead of Kassiel because many were scared of Esper, while Floran Goddess just seemed to be smart, not strong. The human dolls created were warnings from Floran to the other nations that invaded them," explained Theodore.
"Warnings? Wooden dolls that are able to move were scary enough to be used as warnings?" I questioned. It seemed very silly for the people back then to be scared of moving dolls. Plus, even if they could move, aren't they still just bits of carved wood? But then again, Lucas seemed more than just carved wood moving. He could use magic too and seemed to have a mind of his own.
"This boy," Theodore pointed at the body of Lucas that had now planted itself in the ground, "when you interacted with him before, did you have any thoughts about him not being human?"
"None. He was exactly like a human."
"Do you think a wooden doll could look that similar to a human?" questioned Theodore.
"Well if a doll could move then it shouldn't be that hard to make it look like a human as well right?"
Theodore knelt down.
"Your highness! You mustn't!" a knight said, looking concerned.
"It's fine," Theodore shook the knight's concerns off. "Here," he lifted up a piece of string, "this was how he was able to move. Mana was transferred to him through these strings connected to him and allowed him to move freely."
"Then mana was used to make him look human too?" I asked.
"No," Theodore shook his head, "mana can only be used to make someone look young and keep skin in a good condition, not make something look human. Human skin can not be created that easily. They can't grow on trees. There was only one person who could create artificial human skin, but they've already passed away and they created it using dragon scales. Floran doesn't have any dragons inhabiting it. "
"Then how did Lucas look human?"
"The people of Floran was able to keep their land by threatening people with their human dolls because the appearance of the dolls made people get goose bumps."
"But the only thing scary about Lucas was his smile," I said. "Everything else about him looked human, or did they make him that way so he could infiltrate the village?"
"The human dolls are named that for a reason. They all looked human however, they took the appearance of the people who entered Floran to steal land and went missing," said Wren.
"Wait, but his highness said that mana can't be used to make a doll look like a real human, so are you saying that..."
"That's right, the dolls were created with the real dead body of humans," Theodore confirmed it. "At first, everyone just thought that Floran created the human dolls to deal damage to their mental health by creating them to imitate their dead comrades and family members however, a group of people in Thanar discovered that it was made from real human skin, teeth, nails, hair and eyes after trying to create their own army of dolls themselves. The project was shut down after they found out and they told the whole world about it."
"So you're saying that Lucas was a real person..." Does that mean what he did to his hero was out of his own will? "Wren, then does that mean there's a chance that Lucas didn't kill his her-" I remembered that other people were still here, "I mean his partner willingly?"
"I'm not sure. You'll have to ask his highness about that. He's very knowledgeable unlike me," Wren replied. I turned to Theodore for answers.
"Unfortunately, he killed his partner willingly," answered Theodore.
"But he was turned into a doll when he was in Floran! If he's a doll then doesn't that mean he was controlled to kill her?"
"He may have been turned into a doll, but we aren't sure if he was a doll when he killed her. Not only that but when someone is turned into a doll, they still keep their personality, looks and will as long as their will doesn't hinder the order they received."
"Then he must've been ordered to kill her!"
"I don't think that's correct," Wren spoke up. "Even though I don't know a lot about human dolls, I heard that they receive only one mission when they're created and after they complete it, they die and turn into a tree. There are no second or third missions so if Lucas's mission was to kill his partner, he would've died back then."
"So Lucas had always been a cruel person..." I felt slightly upset, but it wasn't because I couldn't prove Lucas to be a good person. The two of us aren't close, so there was no reason for me to be sad for him.
"Felix," Wren whispered in my ears, "even if most of the villains were good and innocent people, there's a reason why some of them were chosen to become a villain." I guess what Wren's saying is right. Lucas really fitted the role of a villain.
Theodore who was observing us turned to his knights and motioned them to cover their ears and look away.
"Your highness?" both Wren and I were confused by why Theodore had ordered his knights to do those things.
"You don't have to hide that you're both villains to me," Theodore said, shocking me, "I already know the existence of people with the roles of 'the villain' and 'the hero'."
Does Wren know that Theodore has knowledge of this? I turned to look at her but when I saw her surprised expression, I knew that she also didn't know that Theodore knew these things.
"How do you know your highness?" asked Wren.
"Someone approached me and told me months ago. I think maybe around one year ago actually. He said he was a hero."
"His name? What's his name?" Wren's pupils were shaking rapidly.
"I'm sorry lady Arla but, he never told me his name," replied Theodore.
"I see," said Wren, looking a little disappointed. "Also, I did say you could just call me Wren earlier, so please just call me that."
"It's fine, I'll continue calling you 'lady Arla'," smiled Theodore.
"Um," I spoke up, "what was Lucas's order? He died and turned into a tree so that means he completed his mission right?"
"I don't think he has," said Wren.
"But he turned into a tree," I pointed out.
"Usually the trees human dolls turn into after completing their mission is big and tall, but what he turned into isn't even a tree, it's just a clump of wood with roots connecting to the ground. Even his original body shape could be made out," Theodore looked up at the mermaid that was still in the air and called out towards her, "Vera." The mermaid then extended her hair and destroyed what use to be Lucas's body open.
"It's hollow?" I questioned.
"It means that Lucas didn't really die and turn into a tree. There's no core in here either. Human dolls are created with cores inside them that are made from the heart of the original human and their mana. The core is extremely delicate. If I opened Lucas's body myself instead of Vera who is made from mana and there was a core in here, it would've been destroyed but there's no core in here anyway."
"If you knew then couldn't you have opened Lucas's body yourself?"
"Yes but I was desperately hoping there was really a core in here," replied Theodore.
"Why? You don't even need it."
"I do need it."
"Your highness, don't tell me you plan to create a human doll yourself," said Wren in disbelief.
"You can't even create a human doll because you don't have any human skin or parts!" I exclaimed, "unless if you-"
"Of course not. I wouldn't do that to humans. I was able to get my hands on some dragon scales and the hero who told me of your existence gave me some of his hair," clarified Theodore. "The person who knows how to create artificial human skin from dragon scales that I mentioned before was the third king of Kassiel, 'Alaric Kascis'. I just happen to have his journal that tells me how to create artificial skin. The only thing I'm missing is a core, but I don't want to kill a human for one."
"Do you mind letting us see the human doll you're creating?" asked Wren. She looked like she had something in mind.
"Sure," the massive mermaid then turned back into a snake and wrapped herself around Theodore.
"May I come too?" someone stepped out of the shadows. I recognised that voice to be 'Kelan's'. Now that he didn't have his hood up, I could see his face more clearly. He had dark skin, black hair, dull black eyes and two scars on his cheek.
"Of course," replied Theodore.
The three of us follow Theodore and his knights to the palace. When we got to Theodore's room, the knights stayed outside while we entered.
Theodore walked up to his desk and placed his hand on a glass ball then activated his mana. A small part of the floor then opened and there were stairs leading down somewhere.
Once again, we follow Theodore down and were greeted with a messy workshop and a lot of paper on the floor.
"Sorry, it's a little messy," Theodore chuckled nervously, "here it is, the human doll I've been building."
The human doll looked like a male with white hair, white eyes that looked like glass and extremely pale skin.
"Lady Arla?" Theodore questioned, "are you alright?" I turned to look at Wren and was surprised when she had tears rolling down her eyes, staring at the human doll without looking away.
"Felix..." she mumbled, still not looking away from the human doll.
Huh? But aren't I right here? Why is she saying my name while looking at the human doll?