What now, Desu? Part Desu[]
Value[]
Moll One stands outside of the golden double doors leading to the master chambers, a cart carrying a silver platter by her side. She dons her red maid outfit, with a matching headband sitting neatly on her head. She lets out a long sigh, her face scrunching up in a frown. "You can do this One. Just breath, smile, and serve."
Hesitantly, she raises her hand and knocks on the door. "Master Copperville, your lunch is here."
"Come in" a voice on the other side demands.
Moll One opens the doors revealing the room within. Above the room is an ornate chandelier covered in jewels of different cuts and crystals. A king size bed lies on the other side of the room, its bed sheets tucked and tidy. On either side and behind the bed are a pair of glass doors which lead out to the balcony overlooking the flower garden. To the left is a side room which leads to a luxurious restroom complete with its own shower. To the right, next to the golden doors is a walk-in closet; its door closed, containing the collection of garments within. Past the closet door is a smooth marble desk with Mason Copperville sitting in front of it. He stares at Moll One, his body facing her.
Mason Copperville is a man of over fifty years old. His once black hair is graying, with less of it to cover his head. His graying eyebrows are still pointed at the ends giving Mason a sharp glare. There are several small wrinkles in his visage, but Mason still manages to exude a commanding demeanor. He wears a golden colored dress shirt along with a pair of jet black pants socks and shoes.
Moll One pushes the cart as close as she can to the marble desk. She proceeds to remove the platter from the cart and place it on the desk. Before she can remove the covering, Mason lightly touches her hand, causing her to start. "A moment One, I want to have a word with you."
Worry spread inside Moll's chest, causing her heart to quicken. Ignoring it, Moll forces a smile to mask her inner turmoil. "Is something the matter Master?"
"Quite, have a seat." Mason rises from the chair and shifts it away from the desk. He stands next to it motioning her to sit down on it. Moll obediently sits down on the chair and looks up at Mason; his eyes stare down at her with a calm fury. Seeing this, Despair grows in Moll's stomach as a lump of iron, weighing her down on a psychological level.
Mason folds his arms in front of his chest, letting out a huff. ". . . In four days time, I will be leaving the Moon to head back to Hindale back in Azures. You along with three of your sisters will be coming with me. The girl, Three will remain here with Ren and make sure his needs are taken care of. There will be much work to get done during this time, so it is imperative that the five of you girls get your act together."
Before Moll can utter in a word, Mason continues ranting. "Ever since Ren's graduation party last week, the five of you have lost your touch. None of you have been able to do a proper job on any task worth attending to. I've had to deal with burnt food, icy floors courtesy of Five, the loss of several expensive busts, and an ever prevalent absent-mindedness from each and every one of you which prevents me from obtaining any proper response to anything I say!"
Moll One couldn't stop the frown from showing on her face. Master Copperville was right of course, none of the Molls had recovered from the shock of discovering they were clones. To Moll One, every day feels as if she was living in a waking nightmare she can not escape from. She barely finds the strength to rise from bed each day, let alone keep up with the duties that were required of her.
A small part of her feels guilty for failing Master Mason's expectations of her and her sisters. Despite knowing that she is a sub-human clone because of him, she still feels gratitude for the man who gave her everything.
Yet a tiny voice screams with all its might deep within her contrasting her loyalty to her Master. Rage builds inside of her from Master Copperville betraying them all. They were all granted life for the sole purpose of being his daughters, but they were rejected and were raised as servants. "What was wrong with us that he would do that?" Moll asked herself. "What was wrong with ME!?"
"One. . . ONE!! Are you paying attention?"
With a start, Moll suddenly looks up realizing that she had tuned out of Master Copperville's rant. "I'm . . . I'm sorry Master Copperville, what were you saying?"
In frustration, Copperville slaps his forehead and let his hand drag down his face. "This! This right here is exactly what I'm talking about! All of you have had that same look on your face whenever I attempt to talk to any of you! Do any of you girls remember anything you've been taught about your jobs!?"
Copperville continues to rant, but Moll once again tunes him out. Even as Copperville berates Moll, her mind was racing to objections and counter-arguments. It was taking all of her restraint to avoid giving voice to her thoughts. "Don't we have the same look on our face because you made us that way!!? Weren't the things you had us learn just a way to pacify us and keep us tame? Were you afraid of giving us a normal education at a school because someone would realize what we were!!!?"
Unable to bear it anymore, she stands up suddenly, causing Copperville to abruptly stop. She glares at him not knowing what to say, her breathing ragged and quick. Several different thoughts passed through her head in the seconds that seemed to pass by in an eternity. Just as Copperville was about to say something, Moll spoke first. There were many things Moll wanted to say, yell and scream about; but what came out of her mouth was a question she had wandered since the day her life was turned upside down.
"What. . . What are we to you!?"
While he was irate about the current situation, Copperville managed to utter a calm "Come again?"
Realizing what she just did, Moll attempts to compose herself and ask Copperville again. ". . . My sisters and I, what, or who are we to you?
Ever since the. . . fire took our parents away and scarred our stomachs", a story which Moll just realized was a lie, "you took us under your care, erased our scars, and raised us to be what we are today. For that, my sisters and I will always be grateful."
Moll grimaces in pain, "But. . . you've never treated us remotely the same way you've treated Master Ren!! I know he's your flesh and blood. . . but compared to him, we were second-class citizens!!
We weren't even allowed to go to a school like most kids our age like he did!! We never got the chance to talk with other kids like us, or to act like kids our age!! If we talked to anyone it was always as your maid or your bodyguard!! We were never allowed to be ourselves!"
Moll let's out a sorrowful laugh as she puts all the feelings she kept hidden inside her the past two weeks into words. "You never even given us names to call ourselves! All you've ever done was refer to us as numbers! Heck! The only reason everyone knows us as the Moll girls is because Five liked the name and we all took it! But you never bothered to care!!
Copperville smiles, and chuckles, causing Moll One to stop. "Is that what this is all about? Your lack of a name and identity? Why One, why didn't any of you just say so sooner?"
Moll looks up at Copperville with a confused look on her face. "What?"
"My sweet, dear One, if you and your sisters just wanted proper names you could have gone to the local courts to change them yourselves. You most certainly don't need me to do that for you."
Moll couldn't believe it. She just told Copperville nearly everything that was plaguing her mind, but he just dismissed it as if it were an unfavorable news article about someone he never heard of before. Irate, she throws her hands up in exasperation. "You. . . Don't. . . GET IT!! It's not just about the names!! It's-"
"Enough One."
. . . "But-"
"ENOUGH!! There are too many things that require my attention at this time. I do not need your list of woes right now to distract me from those tasks. Tomorrow you and your sisters may have the day off to get new names for yourselves. Make an enjoyable afternoon out of it and explore the rest of the city while you're at it. Just be ready to work when you come back the next day. Do I make myself clear?"
Moll freezes. Copperville didn't care about her troubles one bit. Had Master Ren been the one with problems Copperville would listen to him all day, but he isn't even taking her seriously. Her problems didn't matter to him. . . She didn't matter to him.
"Do I make myself clear?" Copperville repeated.
Feeling defeated, Moll lowered her head and her eyes. "Yes, sir."
"Good. Now go run along to your sisters and tell them the good news. You're dismissed."
Moll One shuffles out of the room with her head lowered as if she did not have the energy to spare raising her legs or head. After she closes the doors, she lets out a sob.
Raising her hand and clenching it into a fist, she almost bangs on the door, but she stops herself. With no other recourse, she runs away with tears streaming down her face.
An important conversation[]
Moll Five is sitting at a dinner table holding her staff in her crossed arms. She wears a deep blue maid outfit with a matching headband. She sighs. "You have to do it eventually, Five. You can't put this off for much longer."
Ever since the discovery of the Moll maids' origins, none of the Molls have talked to one another. It was painful to look at the other girl's face and be reminded of what she and yourself are. A copy and pasted person whose sole purpose was to serve her master.
And yet. . . was that really true? Were they really the same person? Of course not! None of the other girls know how sorcery works as well as she does. They didn't go through the harsh training she did to control her ice magic. They can't stand the winter weather in short pants and shirts like she can.
Likewise, She doesn't know how to pick locks like Two can, or how to properly hold a gun like One is able to do. She most certainly isn't as religious as Three neither is she a competitive thrillseeker like Four is.
The experiences that each of them went through was too different for Five to consider any of the other four as herself, yet she can't bring herself to confront any of the other girls about it.
"I need to talk to them. We can't go on like this."
Five gets out of her chair unable to sit by anymore, her right hand still on the chair. "But. . . can I confront them? I need them to listen to me, but I don't know if they'll stand me anymore. Who do I go to?"
She blinks as she looks down and is surprised to see the chair and floor covered in ice. "Damn it! Not again!" Sighing, she undoes the spell removing the enchantment. "Tch, it would a miracle if I didn't freeze them over first."
Five walks out of the dining hall, contemplating.
"Let's see. . . Four is trapping herself inside of her room when she's not working, claiming to be maintaining her robotic limbs. To get to her, I'll have to break into that room. I don't think she will want to talk to me if I did that.
Three is a mess. No one can seem to get through to her aside from Master Copperville. No way am I telling him what we discovered.
Two has practically fallen off the face of the moon. I don't see her unless she is asleep."
Five stands in the middle of the main hall, contemplating her conundrum.
"All that's left is One. . . She hasn't talked to any one of us at all, but she isn't hiding anywhere. I've seen her around even when she isn't working. She may be my best bet at getting to the others, but how do I talk to her without her running away from me?"
As she thought this, Five's magic pours out of her due to her frustration. A layer of ice covers the floor in a radius of about 4 feet around her. "Ah. . . Shit! Again?!"
Before Five can undo her magic, she hears hurried footsteps head towards her followed by a shrieking "AAAAAHHHH!!!" A red blur slams into Five, pushing her to the floor. Reacting, she encases herself in ice, her head the only part of her body sticking out of the ice block.
It takes a few seconds for Five to collect herself. Looking up she sees her face staring back at her. Only unlike her, this reflection is wearing a red headband. Her eyes are red and puffy from crying. She is also trembling with chattering teeth.
"F-F-F-F-FIVE!!! LET ME GO!!"
Five realizes that she has inadvertently encased One in her ice spell along with her. One's body is just above her, mere inches from touching her. Like Five, One's head is outside of the cube, the only part of her capable of moving.
"Oh, shoot!! Sorry, One! I didn't mean to freeze you! Are you alright!?"
"N-NO I'M NOT LET ME GO!!! YOU'RE F-F-FREEZING ME!!!-"
Distressed, Five shouts "DON'T YELL AT ME!!!"
The ice grows up to One's jaw causing her to stop. The two girls breath heavily for a moment. Five composes herself, but she still frowns mournfully "Don't yell at me. I need to concentrate."
Five calms herself, her facial features relaxing as she closes her eyes. "Breath in, breath out." The magic ice slowly evaporates into nothing, allowing One to move a little more of her body with every passing second. When she is able to pull her arms out of the ice, she immediately hugs her body and rubbing her arms, shivering all the while.
"Okay, just a little more and we should be out." Five looks up at One hoping to see or hear her rebuttal, but One refuses to look back at her. Dismayed Five looks down in disappointment.
Suddenly, One falls on her again, this time, headbutting her.
"OOOOOWWWW!!!" They both shout.
"What was that for!? I'm working as fast as I can!!"
Pushing her body off of Five's, One responds. "I didn't do it!! Gravity brought me down, you idiot! And can you not stop? My feet are still stuck!!"
One's and Five's lower legs were still indeed attached at the bottom of the ice block.
"Don't call me an idiot! I'm not the one who just tackles people minding their own business!"
"No, you're just the one who freezes the floor into her own ice skating ring!!!"
"I didn't- . . . UGH! At least I watch where I'm going!! If you weren't running blindly to nowhere, the ice ring wouldn't have mattered!!"
"I wasn't running blind, I was running away from. . . this insane place!!" One motions to the mansion around her with her left arm.
"This entire mansion is just one fucking lie!! Everything I knew was manufactured by a man WHO DOESN'T CARE ABOUT ME!!!" Tears start to well up at the corners of One's eyes as she breathes heavily.
In the span of a few seconds, the ice surrounding both of their feet evaporates, giving both girls complete maneuverability. Yet One does not make any motion to move. After a brief moment, Five lets out a light chuckle causing One to flinch in anger.
"What's so funny!?"
"We're talking to one another." One softens at this.
"One. . . I'm sorry about freezing you, I am. . . But please don't run away from me. I can't stand this anymore. You, me, all of us. You must know in your heart. . . We're Not Each Other! You're not me! And I'm not you!"
Five shifts her arms behind her to lift her torso up, One in response, moves backward to give her room.
"I've loathed this past couple of weeks. We haven't been able to talk what happened because. . . Well. . . it's hard to admit what we are. . . I've. . . always thought of us as siblings, and it sucks to know the truth. I'm disgusted to know how we came to be, and I felt guilty for being the one to find out about that damn hidden dungeon."
Five and One sit across one another on the floor.
"But you know something? Before we found that place. . . before we knew. . . would you say that I come off as alien to you? Would you believe that I was something other than human if you didn't know about how I was made? Did you hate me?"
"NO!" One shouts. "Five. . . *Sigh*. . . You know I'm not angry you. I don't blame you for anything. . . It's just. . . Well. . . You know. . . I . . . I just want to believe. . . That I'm me. Not some extension of someone I don't know. A shadow of just some mystery girl with my face. . . Which is her face actually. . . I just want to believe that I have a 'self'. I want to believe I'm human!"
Five smiles softly. "Of course you're human. We all are. If we really were fakes, we wouldn't worry about these thoughts." She reaches out and puts her hand on One's shoulder. One tenses up, but only slightly. "And as for having a 'self', I don't know anyone who acts like you do. When things get tough, you're the one who pulls us together and gives us direction. Frankly. . . I look up to you."
One smiles. . . Pulling Five into a hug. "I'm sorry Five." Five squeezes One. "I'm sorry too."
The two girls stand up and break up.
"So. . . What do you think we should do now One? I want to talk to the others, but I'm not sure they will be willing to listen to either of us."
"No. . . Especially Two. . . That girl avoids everything she doesn't like as if it were a plague." Suddenly, One's face lights up. "However. . . They can't ignore what I'm saying if Copperville ordered me to say it. . ."
"Uh?"
"Come with me. There's something Copperville wants us all to know."