The woods were calm and quiet as I walked the path, doll in tow. We reached the end of the woods to find the location we'd been searching for: an enormous castle, black stones surrounded by a moat which seemed to be made of pure midnight. Lightning flashed over the castle, and thunder rumbled by a moment later. The doll shrunk behind me and grabbed onto my coat.
"Miss, maybe we could.... skip this time?"
"Now, now, doll, there's nothing to be afraid of." I stepped forward confidently, and waited at the edge of the moat for a moment. Thunder rumbled again, and the doll squeaked adorably. I checked my watch, sighed, then in a booming voice I cried "I, practitioner of the Art of the Lost, she who bears the sigil of the Goddess Brigid, the one who knows the Ancient Name, I command this castle to allow us entry!"
Slowly, the drawbridge lowered. I checked my watch again. It's fine, I had time, but it was awfully dramatic. Eventually, the drawbridge struck the stones on this side of the moat with a mighty bang, and the portcullis opened behind it. "There, was that so hard? Come on, doll."
I walked ahead, and the doll took a moment before it remembered it would rather be with me than alone on the wrong side of the drawbridge. I heard its clockwork speed up as we entered the dark castle. Torches burst into purple flames as we approached the interior, causing not so much illumination as an intensification of the shadows. The corridor channeled us into a huge, dark space, impossible to see the ceiling or the far walls.
"Miss! Miss! Please, this one thinks that it's probably fine! We don't have to go in there! Why don't we go home and this one can make Miss a nice cup of tea?" the doll begged.
"It's okay, doll, there's no reason to be scared," I said, but no sooner had I done that than there was a long scraping noise from in front of us, accompanied by titanic footfalls.
A dark red reptilian figure emerged from the gloom, eyes gleaming in the torchlight, and as it saw us, it opened its mouth to reveal a maw filled with jagged teeth and glowing green liquid. A globule dripped onto the stone floor, where it sizzled and ate away at the rock. "Missssss!!" the doll wailed, pulling on my sleeve to get me to turn around.
"Oh, really," I said, "there's no call for all of this! This is a routine checkup!"
The dragon didn't seem to agree with me, but you can't win them all. I dove to the side as a line of goo burst forth from the dragon's maw, slicing the room in two and separating me from the doll, who cried out in alarm.
"Stay there!" I shouted at it, as I gestured to materialize a gleaming set of armor around myself and a magical sword in my hands. The beast reared up and tried to slash at me, and sparks flew between us as I parried the heavy blow. The dragon fell back, surprised by my strength, and opened its maw once again, acid spittle hissing on the floor.
I took this as my cue. Before it could blink, I was upon it, thrusting my sword into its mouth to force it to remain open. It roared, scrabbling ineffectually at my armor as I dug in the pouch that had appeared at my side. Its tail lashed out and caught me before I could react, hurling me across the room, and knocking my prize out of my hands: a single, blue-white crystalline fruit, which rolled across the floor out of my reach. I dove for it, but the dragon pounced upon me before I could reach it, pinning me to the floor with its bulk as the fruit danced just outside my outstretched fingertips.
The creature lowered its maw to look at me, and finally flexed its neck muscles to snap the acid-weakened sword in two. Its head twisted around to look me in the eyes as it unhinged its jaw once more.
Which was, of course, all the opportunity I needed. I flicked my wrist, and the fruit flew directly into its gullet as it inhaled. It choked, acid suddenly turning a bright blue as it fell off of me, flailing on the floor as it fought to avoid swallowing my little gift to it. I ran up to it, forced my legs around its jaws to hold them shut, and massaged its neck like a dog's. "Swallow... swallow!"
It gulped, finally, and burped, its form shrinking and twisting to the size of a small cat. It yowled in protest.
"Do we have to do this every time?" I said, dismissing the dented armor with a wave of my hand.
"Sorry, Practitioner of the Art, you know I do only the bidding of my mistress. She awaits you at the top of the tallest tower," it yawned, "as always. I do so love our sparring sessions, but could you perhaps be a bit less rough, next time?"
I rolled my eyes as the doll came over and scratched it under the chin. It purred contentedly in response. "See, doll? Nothing to worry about."
"Miss! You almost got dissolved!" The doll's eyes went wide, although it didn't stop its ministrations on the tiny dragon.
"I promise you, it wasn't that close," I said, voice flat. I closed my eyes and took a breath. "But thank you for your concern, doll. Shall we meet the mistress of the castle?" Finally?
The doll looked at the once-proud dragon, who shrugged. "Well... if Miss is sure it's safe... then this one will follow you."
One labyrinth, an uncountable number of shadowy, insubstantial guards, a shit-ton of stairs, and a final puzzle about the two doors and truths and liars later, we finally managed to make our way to the throne room. I checked my watch again - I really needed to hurry this up, but you can't rush these things. Guess I'll just be behind again today. Why can't these check-ups ever just go smoothly?
I pushed open the double doors, the doll cowering behind me, and there, sitting on a huge, dark throne, was the person I'd come to check up on in the first place. Easily ten feet tall, skin seemingly made of the midnight sky itself and wearing dark, spiky-looking armor, she stood and lowered her staff at the pair of us. "Who dares enter my palace without my-"
There's not rushing, and then there's belaboring the point. I made a slashing motion with my hand, and the starry cloak fell away, revealing a normal, human-looking woman in her early twenties, bearing a striking resemblance to the doll. She stood, shocked, for a moment, then began to draw darkness from the corners of the room towards herself. "I'm not going back! You can't make me!"
"I don't know how many times I have to tell you this," I had to shout over the whirlwind forming behind her, "I'm not here to force you to do anything!"
The dark hurricane paused itself. "You're not?"
"No! It's been several years now, this really isn't necessary. I just want to ask you a few questions." I pulled a notepad out of my coat with one hand and conjured a nice couple of comfy chairs and a couch with the other. "Please, sit down, both of you."
Gingerly, the woman and the doll sat down next to each other. That was a good sign, and I made a note of it. "My name is Doctor Trahan. Do you remember me?"
The doll shook its head, wide-eyed, but the woman squinted at me. "Wait... yeah, I remember now. We have met before, haven't we?"
"I have to tell you, it would save me a lot of trouble navigating your mindscape if you'd remember a little sooner next time," I said, wryly.
The woman and the doll both put their hands up to their mouths in the same motion. "Ohmygosh I'm so sorry! I thought..."
"You thought I was going to take you away from your witch. I understand. No harm, no foul, but I do need to go through the standard questionnaire and make sure that you're still okay with being a doll..."
Thankfully, the questionnaire was quite short, especially since there was no reason for concern. The Witch of Twilight Seas had passed annual doll-ownership review every quarter with no issues, so with my completed questionnaire in hand, I left the original personality in the dark, quiet, safe place it had been left and brought the doll back with me out into the light. When I popped out of the dreamscape, it stirred on the patient bed in front of me.
"That doll passed with flying colors," I told it. "I just need your signature here to complete the paperwork." I handed it a pen, and it expertly calligraphed the sigil of its witch onto the bottom of the page.
"Then, this one can go back to its witch?"
"Yes. I don't see any part of you that wants to change what you've become," I say, tucking the doll's paperwork into its folder. It's so much easier in the dreamscape, but we make do out here in the real world. "Make sure to schedule your next yearly appointment on the way out, and you'll be good to go."
There was a soft paf noise as the doll ran headlong into me, flinging its arms around my chest. "Thank you! Thank you, Miss!!"
I patted it on the head. "There, there. No need for tears. I know change can be scary, but you don't have to worry about it for a while now. And when you do want to change, it'll be because you're ready for it."
The doll looked up at me with shining, wet eyes, and I couldn't help but smile. I reached behind me and plucked out a tea bag from the 'treats for good dolls' bucket. "Here. You look like you need this. There's a hot water dispenser in the lobby. Go on."
It turned to go down the hall, and just before leaving, it spun back and curtseyed. "Thank you, Miss!!"
I waved goodbye, tapped a few notes into my computer, then put the paperwork away and made ready for my next patient.
