Niko Grant's Story

Niko

Niko hopped from rock to rock, careful not to let his sneaker-clad feet step into the cool water of the creek. Of course, he wouldn't have minded his feet getting wet, but that wasn't the object of his little game. 
He'd been at it for about ten or so minutes, and showed no sign of stopping. Until he saw the doll. 

It was eye-catching, that was for sure. It's vibrant pink hair was splayed about the green grass. It's large glass eyes gazed at the afternoon sky. Niko halted on his rock, almost falling in. He looked at the doll from afar, not so sure what to do. It may have belonged to some little girl that had played by the creek. But what normal girl played by the creek? That was his territory. Nonetheless, girly as the thing was, he ended up crouching by it. 

To his surprise, he actually reached out and picked it up! What was he thinking? Niko mentally chastised himself. I'm a boy! Boys don't play with dolls! he thought. But as it was, he found that he could not put it down. 

Begrudgingly, after looking around wildly to see if anyone was nearby, Niko unzipped his Indiana Jones backpack and tossed the doll inside. He quickly jumped up and abandoned his game at the creek, running instead towards the park. 

Exonia

After what seemed like an eternity but was probably only a few seconds, Exonia found herself looking into the large green eyes of a little boy. He bit his lip and stared at her for a time, as if he were thinking hard about wether or not to pick her up. 

Yes! Pick me up! Her mind screamed. She found that she loved the thought of being held by a child, no matter who they were. Her prayers were answered. The boy picked her up and she found herself in the dark moments later, amongst God knew what else. She was tossed up and down by the shaking of her new surroundings, and Exonia resigned herself to the fact that she was now this child's plaything. She hoped he wouldn't destroy her...

Niko

He found himself in the sunny park minutes later. Families and the occasional couple milled about, conversing and playing and the like. Ignoring them, Niko swiveled his head back and forth, as though looking for something. He had no idea what. 

Then he saw it. Another doll, this one with golden hair and rather elegant clothing. Niko rushed over to it, dropping to his knees to get a better look. It's glassy amber eyes stared right back at him, supposedly deprived of emotion. Niko was getting she same feeling about this doll as he had the last one. He needed to take it, keep it safe. 

Once again, looking to see no one was watching, he snatched the doll and threw it in his bag. He followed his gut to his next destination: the town. 

Raika watched as people came and went in the park below. She had nothing else to do, after all, being unable to move, speak, or even turn her head away from the park. As she watched helplessly, like a spectator outside of the world itself, a small shape swiftly made its way up the hill toward her. It was a young boy, it seemed, probably about 10 years old. It appeared he had noticed her and, curious as to why there was a doll lying around in the middle of nowhere - a fact which she was greatly in want of knowing as well - had approached her to see why exactly she was there.

Raika simply stared up at him, her eyes unable to move even an inch from his face. He gazed back as though sizing up a piece of merchandise, a thought which greatly aggravated her. This was only made worse when suddenly, without warning, he snatched her up and threw her into his backpack. She bounced against something else, then slumped against the side of the pack, motionless aside from the constant bouncing caused by the boy's swift gait. However, from this angle, she could see exactly what - or, rather who - it was she had been thrown into.

It was another doll. Raika didn't know how, but the sight of her brought a sort of recognition to her mind. Looking at the other doll, Raika knew just one thing.

She's like me. And... I know her.

Exonia

Tossed into an awkward position, Exonia gazed at the new doll, straining to see in the limited light that filtered through the nor-quite-zipped zipper, her eyes not betraying any signs of emotion. The new, golden-haired doll aroused an aching curiosity within her. She was positive she'd seen this doll somewhere before. She was also certain that this doll was like her...she knew nothing of her new existence. 

Niko

He ran through the streets as fast as his small legs could carry him, dodging and weaving through the crowds on the sidewalks. He passed shops and restaurants and recreational buildings, none providing the unknown thing he was searching do desperately for...

Niko stopped dead in his tracks. His head swiveled to the left, looking across the street and right into the window of a toy shop. A girl in a white blouse and pink shorts was walking outside. She looked older than him, though not by much. She had something in her hand. A doll. 

Without warning, Niko rushed across the road, cutting in front of cars, earning him several angry honks. The girl rounded the street corner. He sped up, determined not to lose her. He needed that doll. Niko didn't stop to yell at himself for being so desperate to get a doll, of all things. 

Upon reaching the other side and turning the corner himself, Niko realized that catching up to this girl was going to be harder than he'd expected. It seemed that floods of people were coming his way, and Niko had to push against the tide harder just to keep her in his sights. 

After about five minutes, Niko felt hopeless. He was about to abandon the chase when the girl turned again, walking across the street to a small playground. He crossed behind her, still farther away than he liked. 

Finally, Niko caught up to her by a sandbox. She was twisting the doll's pink hair around her index finger. Niko called out to her. 

"Hey! Hey!"

She turned around as he ran up to her. Her brown ponytail swished at the motion. The girl addressed him. 

"Yeah?" 

Niko halted sharply. Up close, she was taller than he expected. He had to tilt his head back to look her in the eyes. He was nervous. What was he going to say?

"Ah...um...is there any way that you'd...eh...give me that doll?" he finished weakly, pointing timidly to the toy in her hand. 

"This?" she held it up and looked him up and down. "Why?"

Niko bit his lip. He decided to come up with a lie. He'd never considered himself to be a good liar, but then again he'd never thought himself a terrible one either. 

"Well, you see, my sister's very sick. She's been at the hospital for weeks and she collects dolls, see, and I saw that in the window and wanted to buy it but I realized I didn't have enough money with me so I ran home to get it and when I came back you-"

She held up a hand, cutting off his ramble. She looked at the doll. "You know, I only bought this for my dog to chew on. He loves dolls. But," she added, causing Niko to flinch. "This cost me some money." She looked Niko up and down. "On the other hand, I'd hate to keep it from your sister... Tell ya what. You got something for my dog?"

Niko paused, mentally checking the contents of his backpack. Two dolls... a comic book... a Thor action figure...

He brightened up. He unzipped his bag, brushing aside the two dolls, his hand searching for the thing. Niko found it and held it out triumphantly for the older girl to see. 

She looked at it a moment, pondering. She looked at the doll, his action figure, the doll again. At last, the girl took the Thor toy, handing him the doll. 

"Tell your sis I said get well soon, okay kid?" she asked. He nodded vigorously, placing the third doll in his bag with the other two. With that, the girl turned and left him standing there alone, by the sandbox. 

Feeling good, Niko skipped off in the direction of his house. Upon seeing the one-story structure out on the hill, he ran at full speed over to the largest tree in the yard. Atop that tree was a treehouse. His base of operations, so to speak. 

As he headed for his little sanctuary, Niko began to wonder what had compelled him to pick up the dolls. He knew they were special, but how?

A chime from the store door echoes through the building as a girl, seeming to be almost a teen, walks in. Her dark brown locks were tied in a tight pony tail, and her eyes seemed to gaze around the store only to land on Angelina. At first, she hoped the girl would buy her. It wasn't a small child; old enough to possibly not take the initiative to tear her limb from limb, so maybe she would have a good chance with this girl. However, the girl disappears from her vision, being that she was only able to stare out the window and saw her only through the corner of her vision. With an inward sigh, Angelina begins to ponder if she had just been passed over....

But suddenly, she is lifted high from her mantel, and a panic rushes through her. What's happening?! Angelina yells in her mind, watching as she seems to float higher and higher up from the world. Finally, she is faced to see the brown haired girl is holding her, her big, round, red eyes staring back innocently. At that moment, panic turned to excitement. She was being bought! Angelina would be out of this dump in no time, and hopefully would find out more answers to what exactly was going on here. A strange green paper is exchanged between the two humans, and the girl walks out with the goddess doll...

Moments later, they seem to arrive at a strange playground from small children. The area in which she was in did not please Angelina one bit...She hated children..Their shrill cries and screams annoyed her small, delicate ears. But it wasn't as if she could actually do anything about it...She can feel as her smooth, long pink hair is lifted off the nape of her neck, to be twirled around the fingers of the girl who bought her. It sort of hurt, and the girl was a bit rough with her hair. She wanted to yell out to the girl and make her stop, but her frozen lips would not move...

Then, a strange little boy seemed to run up to her new "owner." As he asks if he can have the doll, inwardly, Angelina yells out No! Definitely not! He's a boy, you fool! Children, especially little boys, only care to destroy things! He'll destroy- but her words of panic and anger are cut off by the girl's response. Angelina's heart sinks at the words. A dog?! How dare you figure to use me for such a useless thing!! I am not a dog's toy!! she starts screeching within her head, becoming filled with even more rage.

When Angelina is handed to the boy, staring around at the world as it swirled by, while he quickly walked off, she simmered in her own heat. Great...either way I'm screwed...This boy probably doesn't even actually have a sister... She mumbles to herself, her long pink hair flinging in every which direction as she bounced along in his hand.

To the surprise of the golden haired doll, voices once again spoke up outside. Something strange seemed to be afoot, for moments later, a third doll was placed within the already crowded backpack. Stranger still, the boy had given up something it seemed he had liked in exchange for this doll. That meant that he had to have some motive, some hope of profit, from collecting the dolls. But yet stranger still was the fact that Raika was certain that she recognized this doll as well. The chances of one boy finding them and gathering them all up seemed preposterously unlikely. That is, unless someone had informed him of where they were. But if that was the case, there was the question of "Why?" That single word haunted every waking hour of the elegant priestess doll's new life. Why was she a doll? Why was she able to continue thinking and living with the body of a doll? Why couldn't she remember anything but her name and the other dolls she found herself placed amongst? Why were all of the dolls being gathered together? Why was a young boy, of all people, the one to do it?

And most importantly, why was she so sad, so afraid? It felt like something had gone colossally wrong, and Raika couldn't help but fear for both her life, and the life of the boy who had taken her in.