"my dear Alice..." he whispered his soft voice like a cold breeze to her soul, "a man who was once shattered and maimed knows the value of the strings...I wasn't born a puppeteer...I was a mere innocent...torn and then stitched...over and Over and over again..." he tapped gently on his arm chair a slow rhyme that calmed him before her "they called me the devil, but I still made a choice...it fascinates me how dolls like you...no matter how shattered or broken once fixed can look as divine as angels..." he gently placed his thumb on her lower lip as she blushed "I am indeed joyful of my duty...salvation can be earned through satisfication, and I wish that no soul suffers as much as I, you, or any of my dear dolls have suffered...one day those strings..." he raised his hand slightly making the strings more visible under the moonlight "they will be cut, and each one of you dolls will find thier own path...I fixed you and that was all what was asked from me...the strings keep you away from those who will shatter you once again...but one day the blessing of warmth...that sacred bond that can never be shattered, it will find it's way to each and every one of you my dear..." she can't see his face but she can feel the sadness in his voice "fear not my beloved...my workshop will never be empty, new dolls will come here and I will take care of them just like how I cared for you..." Alice's heart was aching with the idea of leaving her master, she pressed her lips onto the lips of his mask and smiled burying herself into his arms as he gently stroked her hair "do you think you can find your bond one day master?" he laughed softly hiding his pain "oh? one may never know beloved, maybe I did maybe I won't...that is something only the strings of fate can choose, now sleep we have a show tomorrow" Alice nodded displeased by his bleak answer as she closed her eyes and fell asleep "the bonds that are sacred and dignified, must be cherished or else their fate is to be broken..." he looked by the window the moonlight cascading over his mask as tears trickled down his neck "I was such a fool...to let her go, maybe I can meet her in another life? we may never know, but this workshop is my divine prison...and those dolls are my angels, it is my duty to protect them, why would I ask for anything more than purpose? a man without a purpose will be tarnished with greed...I have no use for that, my dolls need me, and I need them just as much" he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep himself, his grip on his doll gentle but firm making sure she doesn't fall.
