She had expected death to be quiet and cold, but not wet. It definitely wasn't as comfortable as she thought it would be either. Rather lumpy and scratchy actually. And who was sobbing so loudly? Other people were trying to enjoy their eternal slumbers. At this point, the sobs were getting a bit grating on her senses, opening her eyes and expecting to see anything other than what she saw. A stone ceiling that had been dripping water onto her head at a steady pace. Or maybe it was also the woman who she'd never seen before bawling her eyes out over her body. Quite quickly she came to realize that she was very much not dead, but also very much not herself either. The butler wouldn't have lied and given her a sleeping drug rather than a poison, nor would they have moved to eliminate her without the Master's explicit permission. Something wasn't quite adding up, even she knew that.

Pushing herself up into a sitting position proved to be a terrible idea as she got lightheaded and dizzy instantaneously, letting out a soft groan and laying back down as she finally felt something in her body, sharp, jarring pain that made her lay back down almost instantly. Her movements and noises seemed to have broken the woman next to her out of her crying trance as her sobs came to a stop and her face came to hover over her, revealing puffy yellow eyes and a relieved smile, along with plenty of smeared makeup.

... Yup, she still had no idea who in the world this woman was.

"Oh, my Sophie! I'm so glad you're okay!" The yellow-eyed woman, who had also called her by the wrong name, took her into her arms in a tight embrace that sent her sore nerves ripping her a new one. "Momma's so sorry! This should've never touched you. It's all that bitch's fault, that wicked wench! If it weren't for her we would've never ended up here!"

At this point, she just wanted this woman to stop squeezing her to death because it hurt so badly, her nerves were singing and not in a good way. So a puppet did what a puppet does best, it played along. 

"Momma? My throat hurts..." She let her voice come out in barely a whisper, raspy against her throat and very much different from the voice she had come to associate with her own.

The woman's grip on her loosened enough to leave the pain in her body only buzzing and sparking under her skin rather than scream and singe, which brought her noticeable relief. The woman spoke again after hearing her small complaint. "Of course, your throat hurts dear. I'll get you some water right away. Ingrid! Ingrid get me a cup of water this instant, Sophie's woken up!"

A loud "Yes, Madam!" is heard from somewhere in the stone place and scurrying is heard as whoever this woman was stroked her head and attempted to... soothe her? She had no idea what was happening anymore.

"Momma, where are we?" Deciding to get more information out of the woman, she looked at her as pitifully as she could muster from her years of experience. After all, puppets could have any emotion their Master desired from their performance.

Apparently, it worked because the woman looked like crying again. "Sophie, dearest, we're in the Tower of Discipline. Momma did something that made your Father Emperor very angry. We'll be living here until he calms down," the woman got a rather fanatic look on her face. "Momma will figure something out, we won't be here for long."

She got the feeling that was just the woman's hope. Before she could ask any more questions in reply, a woman in black clothing and a veil covering her face came into the room with a glass of water that was handed to the woman who propped her up and pressed the glass to her lips. 

"Drink now, Sophie. I'll tell you everything after you finish drinking." She was beyond happy to do so as she gulped down the water in the glass, her throat's scratchy and painful itch being soothed by the cool water that left her feeling much better than before. After she finished drinking down the blessed liquid, she took the glass from the woman's hand and held it in her own, seeing a reflection staring back at her. A reflection that was very much not hers.

And with that, the dizziness from before came back full force along with a searing headache that sent the glass to the floor and her hands desperately clutching her head. Visions flashed behind her eyelids, memories that weren't hers came to the forefront as blurred whatever was left of her consciousness, turning the yelling of the two women in the tower to indecipherable squabble.

What... What is this? Who am I? I'm, I'm supposed to be a puppet...

Finally, the nausea-inducing spinning of her head came to a stop, leaving nothing but a buzzing in her ears and her body softly shaking.

"Sophie? Sophie, dear, can you hear me? Ingrid go get the doctor this instant-"

"Sophronia..." She finally spoke again, hands retracting from her head and her eyes strangely clear. "I'm... Sophronia..."

"Of course you're Sophronia. You're my daughter, my little Sophie.."

"Yes... I... I am Sophronia."

And something about the way Sophronia's eyes changed sent a shiver down her mother's spine.

"I've got no strings, to hold me down, to make me fret, or make me frown. I had strings, but now I'm free, there are no strings on me..."

countess_c

Hello again, everyone! Thank you for reading once again and please remember to leave a comment about your thoughts! I love reading them.