I wave my hands in front of my face as a familiar settlement appears before my eyes. Humanoid figures move around me, each one busying themselves with something. But here I stand, staring off at the bulbous sun with nothing in my head. Tick… Tick… a soft noise echoes through my hollow chest. Blinking twice, my legs whir into action. Clank clank, my heavy, clumsy footsteps propel me forward, following behind everyone else. One moment, we wander around, picking up rubble off the eroded ground. Next, we stand around, admiring the distant tower looming atop a forgotten staircase.


    Was there any meaning to this?


    An odd voice whispers into my ear as I pick up an empty wooden box and move it around. Minutes of repetition turned into hours as the herds of me roam around. Occasionally, a jolly fellow would come down the mage tower.


    What was his name again?


    We gather around him as he walks around with a pompous wizard hat. His appearance was quite similar to the Peddler.


    But why can’t I put a name to him?


    My eyes blink twice as some of us get taken away.


    “Surely this will be the one!”


    The odd wizard proclaims out loud as he takes them into the mage tower. With no thoughts in our heads, we continue our meaningful tasks of picking rubble.


    Tick…Tick…  my eyes stare like plants photosynthesizing the surrounding light. A hypnotizing radiance quivers in the corners of my eye as I pick up more rubble.


    How long has it been?


    What is long? What is time?


    The same routines repeat themselves like an endless cycle of monotony. However, one by one, our numbers dwindle. Taken away into the tower with an obnoxious, pointy hat.


    Was it the creaking of my limbs that made me realize the weight of things? Each piece of rubble started tugging against my arms, like sand weighing down on a tarp. I look around at the others minding their own tasks. Their limbs shrill and creak, but none of them worried.


    Worrying… What is that?


    A soft tick thumps in my chest as I gaze off at the light above.


    Who am I? What am I?


    Questions bounce around like curdling poison as I stare off in silence.


    One day, the ones who entered the tower came back down. Each one had something odd about them. Some spoke words and hummed broken tones, while some danced around. Change came like a feverish virus as the ones from the tower spoke to our hearts. The usual task of picking rubble was eventually abandoned as we danced around aimlessly. we felt purpose, whatever that means.


    But as limbs creak and shrill, the herds start to fall.


    Caught in mania we twist and twirl, finding order in the random movements. With each fall, we lighten our footsteps. Something in us desired to learn; to not become a tangled mess. But as time went on, the limbs ground to a halt as our gears spun out. Lost in a cacophony of noise, the once jolly fellow looms over us with bags under his eyes.


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    “With the proper infusion of chaos and magic, a perfect vessel should in theory be created… But where are you?”


    We lay still like the rubble that once rested on this ground. The energetic ones wobble and wiggle as the odd wizard carries them away.  With a heavy sigh, the essence of exhaustion escapes him.  We lay completely still, embracing this unknown feeling. Tick…Tick… our hearts echo through the floor as threads extend between us.


    We unite through silent exhaustion


    Raising off the ground, we tilt our heads and stare off at the bulbous sun in the sky. Thoughts race through our empty heads as a daydream flies by.


    What are we?


    We ask in unison. Only to be met with a deafening silence for an answer.


    Silence, bitter and sweet like the taste of a rotten fruit. As they realize the weight on their feet, a shrieking madness escapes them. Limbs were torn off their sockets as our usual dances became feral and savage. Was it fear? Or was it disgust? An unknown feeling wallops in my chest as I run, cowering away between the rubble. Eventually pathing to the stairs leading up to the mage tower. With each burdening step, I wobble my way up.


    “He must have something that could help us…”


    Words repeat themselves in my tingling head. At the top, a looming gate stands in the distance. Pushing the heavy doors aside, I walk towards the mage tower. Each step clanked and whined against the uneven ground.


    Or were your feet uneven?


    Stumbling around, I look up to a lonesome individual in the distance. A red cloak bellows against an unknown wind as he slams his quarterstaff on the ground.


    “Stand your ground!”


    His shout echoes through the air, carried by the intensifying wind. My limbs wobble and shake to the increasing beat in my chest.


    “Please… help… them…”


    An unfamiliar voice escapes me as he holds his quarterstaff forward. Suddenly, the mage tower doors crack open as the odd wizard stands there.


    “Now now Pedro, I think that’s the one.”


    The odd wizard rests his hand on Pedro’s shoulder as he lowers the quarterstaff. With an eerie grin, he approaches closer. Move! I tell myself as my limbs freeze up. Tick, tick, tick, the mechanisms within start to whir loudly. A tremendous weight presses down on my shoulder as an unnerving chill runs down my spine.


    Found you…


    Words bounce around my mind as darkness overwhelms me. Shifting waves cradle me around as I sink deeper and deeper into the abyss.


    Everything felt like a distant memory, like a dream that slipped between the web of my hands. In silent ponder, my mind wandered between blank eternity.


    Alone.


    Alone, my heart blinks


    Echoing throughout the abyss


    Waiting.


    Waiting for the sun,


    that was once in a dream.


    But as I awake,


    to the cold darkness clinging on my clothes


    I hum to the silence once more,


    as each breath escapes me.


    I blink twice to a room draped in darkness. A sudden awareness of each limb rushes to life as I curl my fingers against the ground. Gone was that stiff, stingy machine for a body. With a yawn, I stretch, listening to each bone pop. Pushing myself up, I crawl off the cold, paper-covered ground. As my eyes adjust to the surrounding darkness, I catch a faint glimpse of an odd flower shimmering atop a chair. Its spidery tendrils reach into the abyss. It drifts towards me like dandelion fluff, slow and deliberate. As it lands into my hands, I observe the red petals blooming open as it fades away like an ember caught by the wind.