Ivy's eyes opened. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Mia was gently shaking her. What time was it?
"What's up?" Ivy sleepily mumbled.
"Will we have time to play before the games begin?" asked Mia. With a groan, Ivy pulled her blanket over her head.
"It's sleeping time, not playing time, Mia!"
"SOOO, that's a no, then?" asked the child, peering under the blanket at Ivy. She had that stupid look of adorable disappointment written all over her little face. Well, Ivy was already awake. It must be really early so, in theory she would have a little bit of time. Not to mention, Ivy was awake now and it would probably take her a long time to fall asleep again. So, she might as well.
"What game do you want to play?" Ivy muttered, sitting up.
"So, it's a yes!"
"It's a yes. But we can only play for a little while, alright, Mia?"
"Alright! Can we play tag?" asked Mia.
"Do you really want to play tag with just two people?"
"Yeah. It'll be fun. Come on!" Mia grabbed Ivy's hand and dragged her along. To Ivy's surprise, Ruby was awake. She was sitting in the main hall, looking out the window with a few other dolls. Hm, maybe it was later than Ivy had thought. Perhaps she had gotten too used to sleeping in.
"Ruby! Do you want to play tag with us?" Mia called to her. "I think tag can be fun with two people, but Ivy doesn't think so. So, you have to play with us so that Ivy won't get bored."
"Oh, dear, we can't let Ivy get bored," Ruby giggled. "I guess I have no choice but to play with her for a little bit." Ivy fought back her own laughter and the game began. Ruby was surprisingly quick. Both Mia and Ruby were very good at making sharp and agile turns. But it took a lot for Ivy to get tired out. Stamina. That was something she couldn't lose too much of.
"Alright, that's enough for now. You need to save your stamina for the game," Ivy said upon noticing that Mia was starting to pant.
"Can we play after the game?" Mia asked eagerly.
"I guess, if we're all still alive," Ivy muttered.
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"Yay!" Mia exclaimed. Ruby and Ivy glanced at each other and smiled. How did Mia do it? The sun was beginning to rise, and more dolls were starting to wake up. But the world still seemed fairly peaceful and calm. That was until a loud crash and the sound of glass breaking shattered the silence. Ivy spun around to see a doll lying on the floor with a shattered leg. Two dolls stood above her, looking down at her with anger and surprise.
"Ruby, please help fix her leg," Ivy said quickly, rushing over to the doll's side. "This is Ruby. She's a fixer, don't worry. What happened?" Ivy said.
"I-I didn't mean to... I wasn't thinking..." one of the other dolls whispered. Guilt was spreading across her face.
"Did you push this girl?" Ivy demanded.
"Y-yes, I'm sorry."
"I hope you understand how badly that could have ended. We may kill each other and be violent little savages during the games. But there is no place for that here. Do you understand?" Ivy tried to keep the anger in her tone controlled and calm.
"I-I understand. It won't happen again."
"Good. Because if this happens again, there will be consequences. Even if I do not inform the overseers, there must be some kind of amendment. This kind of behavior will tear what little security this place has," Ivy reminded her.
"Yes, I understand," whispered the doll.
"Good. Now I suggest you keep to yourself for the next little while. Any anger that you have you're welcome to take out using the games, but not here, not on your own housemate." Ivy glanced down at the injured dolls. Ruby's powers really were a marvel. "Thank you, Ruby." Ivy helped the injured doll to her feet. "Do you feel alright?" The doll nodded and whispered her thanks. Ivy turned to Ruby with a frown on her face. "You'd think that they’d get enough danger and stress during the games," Ivy muttered.
"I mean, it's easy to lose your temper sometimes," Ruby admitted. Fair enough. There were plenty of ways to stir up trouble if you wanted to.
"Yeah, that's true. I'm sorry that you had to use your powers. I hope that didn't drain too much of your stamina," added Ivy.
"No, I've still got plenty. I really don't mind using my powers to help out. You handled that little squabble pretty well." Ruby smiled brightly as she spoke. Those words filled Ivy's soul with warmth. She found herself smiling back at Ruby. "I honestly don't know what we would do without you here," Ruby added.
"Well, I hope I do a good job." Ivy beamed. It was always nice to feel appreciated and like the work you put did mean something after all. "Now we should probably get going," Ivy said. All the joy and peace that the game had brought Ivy faded away the instant she stepped out into the streets. Now the real games began. These were games that would never be fun. All the dolls gathered in the square and pulled out their pens.
Ivy kept her eyes fixed on the bright blue sky above as she wrote randomly. It was best for her to not think too much about her choices. Blue was a really pretty color, wasn't it? People often described it as being the color of sadness, but that didn't make any sense to Ivy. It was a deeply soothing and calming color to Ivy. There was something so gentle and delicate about blue, especially the darker shades of blue.
Yes, colors were the perfect thing to focus on. Ivy's crystal was green and so were most of her clothes and supplies. But if she could change her color, she would want it to be blue or white.
"Alright! Now let's see which answers were correct and which weren't!" Mary cheered. With closed eyes and gritted teeth, Ivy braced herself.