Chapter 28:
// From Bad to Worse. //
Crawling from the walls and ceilings, their aim was clear.
It was none other than the queen herself.
As they continued to defend the queen in her chambers.
With each one being cut down and slowly disintegrating to mud and dust while releasing a horrid stench.
Something drew Estel's attention while she was gazing at the battle in front of her.
She turned around as she saw many hands coming out of the walls.
[20... no...
30...
40...
50...]
As it grew in numbers, the whole wall had suddenly looked like a hellish gate from another world.
The front door was being flooded by the undead.
There was a mass of zombies about to flood from behind them.
She went pale gazing in fear.
As Leanne noticed Estel expression she turned to look at what she was gazing at.
Only to scream in horror.
As everyone in the room turned to see their desperate situation.
"This... this is the end!" One of the guards cried out.
But before the rest of their morale fell...
Lana swiftly cried out.
"Carve a path forward!"
She then charged at the horde in desperation, while conjuring a lance of ice, piercing multiple undead. The rest of the guards followed her reckless charge, taking them out in unison.
As for the king himself, he carried the queen on his back as Leanne and Estel shortly followed.
As noises of men and women cried out.
Estel move a small distance away from Leanne as she followed to ask Aisha.
[What the heck is going on!]
Aisha retorts.
"I told you to take precautions.
Artificial curses are man-made curses which basically breaks the laws of nature.
These undead coming out of walls and ceiling are possibly souls that resided within the curse.
Their purpose was possible to possess the queen turning her into a monstrous creature that possessed a strong hatred for life itself."
[What's up with that ridiculous curse!?]
"Humans are quite meddle-some creatures.
They meddle in things they do not understand.
Until they end up being the victim of it.
I've seen it many times and it still doesn't fail to impress me."
[Now isn't the time to complement how much of a scum humans are!?]
As they managed to leave the Chambers of the queen the flood of undead from the walls.
Finally managed to flood the room which they defended.
While everyone was busy running for their lives,
Estel then attached her strings on knocked down,
Knight armored decor holding weapons that were placed around the palace.
As soon as she managed to gather up at least 7 of them.
She then stopped following the group as they continued their desperate escape.
Focusing on the strings, the puppets complete themselves in a few seconds.
But the undead who was following them soon saw her figure and rushed towards her.
As the puppet moved to cut down any that dared to come closer to her while functioning as a wall.
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// The Birth of the Puppeteer Princess. //
This reminded me of the days where I used to play with my mother.
Every time she visited me, I snuggled her in joy to fill my lonely heart.
Her strings played with the many dolls around my room.
Yet, the moment I asked her what the strings I keep seeing are...
She then paused to ask me.
"You can see them?"
I nodded to her in response, then saw a wide smile as she then told me.
"Do not tell your sister or anyone else, Ok?
It will be our little secret." placing a finger on her lips as she patted my head.
It was the day she began teaching me how to weave them.
Apparently, my sister can't see them.
She calls them...
"Threads of the World."
Magical Threads that reside in everything including people.
They aren't particularly visible, and only reveals themselves.
When I start to connect to them.
Apparently, my own mother deliberately placed a string on me.
Hoping I could see them as she did.
She showed such a happy expression the moment she discovered I could see them.
Because it was something our family blood-line inherited.
The first thing she taught me was...
To bound a doll to a wall with it.
Whether it was in the ceiling or to the wall even around my body.
It was simply...
Harmless practice, but slowly it became fun as she continued to teach me more about it.
All alone in that boring room with many dolls around me.
She visited to amuse me by playing with me using my own doll.
Or telling stories using them as actors.
She gave me something to look forward to in that place...
With nothing else to do, trying to practice and imitate her were the only thing I could do...
Aside from boring and painful queen lessons.
She visited me in random times, 2 days every week.
After that, she deals with work within the castle as my father's assistant.
As for my sister she visited once a week, to check up on me.
Only to snuggle her in response to her visit.
During those empty hours for the last 5 years at the age of 9...
All I could simply feel in that room.
Was... "It was lonely."
A total of 20 dolls was in my room, each one with varying size.
5 was as huge as a bear.
10 as large as a person.
5 was big enough as I am.
Eventually, it reached the point where.
I started manipulating them,
Moving them like people, trying to ease the loneliness.
Playing tea party with the dolls, do small chores like tidying up.
Before I knew it...
After working on this for 4 whole years.
I had controlled all 20 dolls all walking like living assistants.
The moment mother saw me, she swiftly closed the door.
Her words to me were...
"Never show this to anyone!" she cried out.
while giving me an extremely worried expression filled with concern.
I then nodded in response.
But didn't know the reason why, but it made her sad so I simply avoided using it.
From then on forth she began teaching me how to cry it out in a disguised shape of a spell.
"Bind!" a spell to defend myself.
In actuality its more than it appears to be...
I can set up invisible traps that bind people by placing a command on it.
Manipulate objects with only a slight movement of my hand and through my will,
As long as the strings connect to where I am.
It has multiple downsides though...
Using it physically tires me out.
Its approximate range is based on how close they are to me.
The further they are, the weaker the threads become.
The more I control, the weaker their movement become while stressing me out.
While it is true I can turn them to traps, they only become one-time simple invisible trip-wires.
Instead of bindings...
If I go too far away from them.
Not only that...
My battle with the bandits just made me realize.
Controlling a person was way harder than I thought.
It was my first time doing it to a living person.
They move too sluggish, they resist too much, while also blabbers a lot.
I rather not do that again if possible.
After experiencing it.
I can only control a single living person with it.
Which is too unreliable.
It was a terrible experiment.
It's better to use on non-living things with this...
But for the undead, It's better to just use these heavy metal guardians.
As Estel waved her hand the rest of the puppet moved as they all swung in unison.
as bits of their body get cut down falling to the ground, slowly turning to dust as the last of them drops.
Her armlet then said to her.
"You can always use magic.
These things will keep coming until the cursed area had been purified."
"That is like saying, Estel is right here!
I rather hide for a little while longer."
As she said these words, she then wandered the palace to regroup with Leanne.
But then she heard a cry from the a room close to her.
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// Her siblings. //
"Stay away!
From my brother you fiends!?"
As she followed the voice, she then spotted a man defending a child.
She could easily recognize him, she didn't want to deal with him.
It was none other than Lance.
Currently fending off the undead with his brother Ronald behind him.
Unfortunately for him, they were surrounded by at least 15 of them,
As they slowly advanced toward him.
[I do recall Leanne had a little brother.
But why do I have to deal with this handsome annoying jerk.]
As Estel observes them, from the door.
His eyes then turned to her.
"You.. if you intend to watch, then watch.
But I'm sure to punish you after this you peasant..." he said in anger.
Estel then showed herself with irritation.
"Is that a way to ask for help?"
He then saw her figure, he expressed his shock as he then cried out.
"That silver hair and isn't that my sister's dress?"
She flinched, as she swiftly denies it.
"I don't what you're-"
But during this time, three undead rushes at him.
He dispatches the first, then the second with skillful swordsmanship.
But the last was able to bite him while guarding with his right arm holding the weapon as blood began to drip then pulled out a dagger from his waist to stab its head with his left hand.
Estel then noticed, he is in a terrible condition to fight.
Bite marks were all around him, and his brother had a bitter and worried expression.
But then he shouted.
"Leave us! I can handle it from here." As he showed a bright smile.
Estel responded with a bored and tired expression.
"Your clearly losing, Idiot.
Stop acting like you're in control."
As she then pulled her strings as the puppet that were guarding behind her enter the room as they charged through the horde of undead.
The prince had a shocked expression as she watched it.
Their attention soon changed towards the puppets as they tried to overwhelm them with sheer numbers only to be swatted down like dolls.
[I'm getting a bit tired, moving this many.]
She then flickered her hand as she removed control of the three metal armor as they lifelessly crumbled to the floor.
"So... so cool!" Ronald cried out as he rushed towards her with a wide embrace.
"Are you perhaps sisters friend?" he asked.
She nods, to him unable to deny it.
Estel was undoubtedly wearing her clothes.
But then Lance voice echoed from behind him, "Thanks for saving us."
His expression was pale with rough breathing.
Estel could only exhale with a troubled look,
Then brought out bandages from getting used to days,
when she didn't have any underwear to replace her dirty ones.
"Use this..." She said.
"I'll keep these things at bay.
While you fix yourself up."
As she said these words and small movement of her fingers, her four of her puppets moved to defend them.
alking towards the door and to the walls guarding them, from any undead that would start to crawl out.
As she herself needed rest.
Lance then swiftly removed his upper clothes as he bandaged the wounded part of his arm, limb, and waist. Ronald then pointed to Estel about alcohol and cotton from the shelves inside the room. As she had one of the armored knights pulls it out for her.
As she held the bottle in her hand, she then gave it to Ronald.
Lance then said. "Aren't you going to properly bandage me?"
Giving him an annoyed expression.
"I'm tired enough controlling these things.
Try moving multiple doll's, I'm sure it's easy."
Ronald then said as he pours the alcohol into the cotton.
"Stop acting so spoiled brother.
It's amazing enough that she was able to control those things."
He then slapped it into his wound as he groaned from the sting.
"Ugh!"
Estel then moved the knight in a posture where they wouldn't collapse,
Nor would they require her aid to keep standing.
As she watched the two.
After a few moments.
They were soon ready to move again.
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