Great Hand

The female puppet was finished, her temporary appearance was finished. She was flawless, and almost looked like the real thing. I especially focused on her face or head overall because that was where most people would be looking. I checked out her long black hair and nodded. It truly looked like the real thing.

“You are my dancer. Once this is finished, I will return you to your original form. Your name will be — Ballerina.”

A dancer full of elegance and beauty. She was meant to captivate and to be admired. I gave a lot of time and resources to her, so I believed she’d do very well when the time came.

“Alright, let’s give this a try.”

I made a link to Ballerina and possessed her. My vision changed, and I was now in her point of view. My real body was standing right before me. We were the same height, same body build, so it didn’t feel too strange to be in this different body. I tried moving around. I must say though, moving in this body felt a bit smoother. It was the same as that crawler puppet.

I moved to the mirror and looked closely at my face. I nodded.

Perfect.

I was certain this would work.

Suddenly, knocks rang out of the door. I instantly disabled the possession and dematerialized Ballerina. It would all come crumbling down if anyone saw her.

“Your Highness, you have a delivery.”

“A delivery?” Puzzled, I walked over to the door and opened it. A maid was carrying a big box. “What is it?”

“It’s the gown you’ll wear for the ritual.”

“Oh.” I didn’t know about this.

“May I enter your room? I was ordered to help hang it in your wardrobe here.”

I nodded. “Sure.”

I let the maid inside. She put the box on the table and started bringing out its contents carefully.

“This one is the veil.” It was a black veil with golden seams. She also pulled out black gloves.

Oh, there’s going to be a veil. What was the point of putting extra work on the face then?

But then again, better to overdo it than not.

The maid opened the wardrobe and hung the veil and laid ‌the gloves inside.. Afterward, she slowly pulled out the black and gold gown. It was beautiful. The maid hung it inside the wardrobe.

The maid turned towards me with a smile. “We will assist you when the time comes.”

I nodded. “Alright.”

With that, the maid left. I let out a sigh. A complicated gown to wear, and the plan wouldn’t work if the maids were going to help me dress up.

Guess I have no choice but to brute force it.

I let out a sigh again. I have been sighing a lot lately.

***

The time had come. Today was the day of the ritual. Or rather, as it was nighttime, it was the night of the ritual. And I had never felt so nervous. After taking a bath, I slipped into temporary clothes and made my way to my room. It was where my gown was, after all. And it was risky to move it.

It took a whole lot of willpower just to prevent myself from faltering in nervousness. I hated being scared like this. But I had to get through it. After tonight, if I succeeded, then I’d be free.

Once I reached my room, I stopped the maids.

“Princess?”

“... I will dress myself.”

The maids were confused. “But that’s impossible, you need help.”

“This is a special day, and I’d like to do it myself. I have my puppets to assist me.”

“Your puppets?” The maids looked at each other, hesitating.

“You can check my clothes later when I’m done, see if it pleases you.”

“R-Right. Very well, Your Highness.”

I closed the door. I waved my hand, and the bare puppets started moving.

Time to begin.

***

I checked myself in the mirror. I looked beautiful in this gown, I must say. Everything was so neat and done professionally. I should try using my puppets more to help dress myself up. At any rate, time to go. I put the veil on my head.

I left the room and quickly closed the door. The maids were all looking at me with widened eyes.

“Oh my, she’s so beautiful in that dress.”

I lifted my veil, showing a bit of my face. “So, are you pleased?”

The maids giggled at each other. “Yes, Princess. It is done well.”

“Alright then, it’s time to go.”

I covered my face with the veil and started heading for the entrance to the Luminous Tree. But then I saw Alaric standing in the hallway ahead, wearing a fancy formal outfit. He had that look on his face as if he disliked what was happening.

It seems they told him at last.

Alaric aggressively walked towards me, the maids frantically moving aside. He stopped right in front of me, and I stared back.

“Brother?”

“Do you know what this ritual is for?”

“Hm?” I tilted my head. “Of course I do. It’s for the divine.”

“Do you know what they’re going to do?”

“They? Who do you mean?”

“Everyone!”

“I don’t get what you mean. We’d just be performing a ritual, and I’d be heading it.” I pretended to be clueless, this was the most logical option. I couldn’t let them have a hint that I knew.

He palmed his face, he appeared to be completely frustrated. “This, this isn’t right. You don’t have to go, Avenelle.”

“I don’t understand, Alaric. But it’s almost time, I must go.”

He averted his face away, he looked like he was about to cry. He shook his head.

“Brother, is something wrong?”

“You need to get away from here…” he muttered quietly, but I faintly heard it.

“... Brother, it’s time to go. I have to do this.”

He closed his eyes, slowly nodding. It was heartwarming to see he deeply cared about me.

Along with Alaric, we made our way to the Luminous Tree entrance. Right by the doors, the rest of my family were already waiting, all of them were wearing their most beautiful outfits.

“You look so beautiful, sweet Avenelle,” Vivienne said as she made her approach to me.

To stop her, I held out my hand. “Please don’t sister, you might wrinkle my gown. We can’t have that on this occasion.”

“Ah, of course.”

I looked at my parents, and at Saviel, they were all wearing firm faces. As if they were trying to hide what they were truly feeling. I resisted the urge to sigh. Not like they also had any other choice about this.

The massive doors to the tree slowly opened, the floor shook as they moved. They were incredibly heavy doors. Once they were fully opened, there was a loud thud.

“It’s time to go in, daughter,” Mother said.

I stood in the middle and started walking forward. Once I went past the threshold, I looked up, and I gasped in astonishment. The glowing tree was colossal, I looked like a legit ant compared to it. It boggled my mind. And we were not even at its roots. Amazing.

The platform we were walking on only went almost half of the tree's trunk. Drawn on the floor was a wide magic circle, faintly glowing in a blue hue. Further in, closest to the trunk, was an altar of the moon, with candles lit.

I looked behind me and saw the doors closing on their own. They had blocked my only way out.

Standing beside the path was the Great Mother, as young and radiant as ever. I stopped right next to her and bowed my head.

“The moon shines brightly tonight,” Grandmother said. “Now is the time. Do you not feel the power that emanates from the moon?”

I shook my head. It was just the moon.

“The divine is closer than ever, and it awaits.”

“... What shall I do?”

“Stand at the center of the magic circle.”

I nodded, and as I did so, I looked back at my family. They were all avoiding looking at me. Hm.

I stood at the center of the circle, while grandmother handed me a bouquet of roses.

“Hold it.”

“...” I held the bouquet. I was a bit caught off guard about the flowers.

Grandmother stood by the altar. She waved her hand, and the magic circle’s glow became brighter. “You will not move, Avenelle.”

I gulped, feeling nervous.

Grandmother raised her palms upwards, her eyes glowing ‌gold.

“The divinity who watches over us from the cape of night, I beseech thee to bear us thy never-ending light. Hear my call, the Great Hand that guides civilizations, the divinity enthroned in the moon and stars. The beginning and the end of all.”

I felt a wave of magical power emanating from her. At the same time, symbols appeared in thin air and started to revolve around the magic circle. I looked up, I couldn’t see the sky from here under the tree, but I could feel something coming from above. Something massive, something incomprehensible. What could it be?

“We come as thy servants, bound in oath, offering flesh, life, and soul. We beseech thee to notice our devotion and hear our wish for thy restoration. May this soul of the defiler return thy hand once more.”

Woah, wait, what do you mean defiler?

“We lay this body upon the world’s stone, waiting for thy grasp to come and descend to take thy price. Accept this life, accept this offering. Not in vain, but in vow, not in weakness, but in will. Through this sacrifice, we call unto thee! We, who are bound to the night for all eternity.”

I sensed a powerful presence coming. I held my breath as I looked up to see a translucent, colossal hand descending from the sky, passing through the tree like a ghost. It was as big as the tree. Everyone, even outside the palace, must be seeing it too!

It’s a literal hand!

My mouth dropped open. The sheer scale of this moving thing was staggering. The hand of the divine coming down on me. And then, its fingertip touched me.

The hand suddenly started to crack and crumbled apart. And then, it dissipated completely. Seeing this, everyone fell silent, failing to comprehend what had just happened. Grandmother looked the most confused.

“What…? What is this? This should have worked.”

The bouquet of flowers dropped to the floor.

“Haha… Hahahaha…” My laugh faintly echoed.

“Avenelle? Why are you laughing?” Grandmother asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Nice try, family of mine.” Crimson threads gradually appeared around me… “I was never here.” Or rather, appeared around the puppet, a near-perfect replica of me.

“What is this? A puppet?!”

The puppet removed the veil.

“Greet, Ballerina.” I chuckled.

“It was never Avenelle?” Alaric muttered, staring at the puppet, dumbfounded.

Ballerina lifted her skirt, and ‌out of it came a dozen small dolls. Four dolls rolled to the doors, while the rest faced the family.

“What is going on here?” Mother asked.

Ballerina waved her hand, and six blue celestial swords appeared from thin air. A power of my Astral Forger class. My family’s eyes widened in shock.

“Astral Forger? Impossible,” Father said. “You’re a Puppeteer.”

Each of the smaller puppets formed a sword of its own. While on the gates, the four puppets summoned two massive shields and two swords that crossed each other, blocking the door to the outside.

“How does Avenelle have two classes?” Alaric asked no one in particular.

Ballerina elegantly spun around, and the swords circled along with her. “I knew what you were planning to do with me. I will not let you have your way.”

Ballerina leaped towards my family, in particular, to my father. She swung down her blade at him, and Father quickly conjured a celestial sword of his own, blocking the blades.

“Get rid of this thing!” Grandmother shouted. “And find Avenelle!”

Magic glowed in Saviel’s palm, but then a small doll jumped at him and swung a sword.

“W-What the…?” They started to gang up on him.

Alaric, meanwhile, swung multiple swords at Ballerina, helping his father. But she blocked them all with her several swords. The dancer pulled away with a turn, and the several swords flew towards both Father and Alaric in a sideways motion, smooth as a flowing water. As for Mother and Vivienne, I left them alone as they were non-combatants.

“How is she able to summon this many weapons at once?” Saviel asked, stressed about the many dolls ganging up on him. He unleashed a blast of magic, but the dolls switched from swords to shields.

“Ignore the puppets!” shouted my grandmother. “Get out of here and find her!”

Father disregarded Ballerina and ran straight towards the doors. But a giant sword suddenly appeared above him and shot down at his position. He quickly dodged, but then another came down at him.

He dodged again. “Incredible, daughter.” He waved his hand, and several swords appeared in thin air and shot towards the protected door. But they were deflected by the shields. “So you were hiding this much strength.”

Ballerina jumped in from above him, and she swung several swords at once. “Desperation does wondrous things.” She then stood ‌between the doors and my family. “Have fun with my puppets.”