Cloudsea - The Chronicle of Alice Van Vaugen

...... possessing qhen............ books....... knock qhen out............ expel........ trap it inside.............. stuffing them into books............. trapping spirits........... maybe you......... i don't know, try it out and see what happens. Should be interesting either way.

"...That's STUPID. You're STUPID! I am going to DIE and-" ( No, this should work. ) "EXCUSE ME?"

You want Qhen to trust you. I trust the voices, and to that end, I want you to trust me. Just once. This plan will work, but you need to commit to it.

"But... Trust is hard, you know?"

"Uh. Yes? I suppose?

"I have put up with a lot of stupid people who want things from me, when all I've wanted to do is just... do my own thing."

"I can understand that, I think." ( WHAT ARE YOU DOING, DESTROY THEM. ) "I'm just tired of wandering around by myself. Even with the ship I'm on, I don't really mingle well with the crew..."

"Cool! Then this works out! You just trust me long enough to make this plan work. When we're both safe, I can go home, you can hang out and read books, and maybe we can see about locating some ice cream or something. Bath, tea, books and ice cream. Cool?"

"Um... Really?"

"Do you have any reason to doubt me right now, outside of a weird creepy voice shouting at you to kick my ass?"

"No?"

"Okay. Then my plan is simple. You're going to do everything in your power to resist that voice, including not moving, and I'm going to knock you out. Where's the softest spot I can hit?"

"This sounds like a terrible plan and that's a really weird question!"

"Then don't worry about it! Just, no matter what you do- HOLD STILL!"

Alice ran straight at Qhen, a third series of voices screaming in her head. Her own. This was stupid. This was all stupid. But you know what they say about plans. If it works, it wasn't stupid! And besides... Alice could feel herself smiling. A swipe at her side, and her gun was back in it's holster, button snapping back into place as she slid a pair of s.slug shells out of her pouch, putting one in each hand for weight. Some people believe it is a curse to wish 'an interesting life' on someone, or to live in 'interesting times'. But maybe those people weren't trapped in their own town, in their own house, in their own head.

Alice fell upon Qhen, knocking the both of them down into the grass. ( STOP RESISTING! ) Alice knew she wasn't strong, so she'd have to make these blows count. If Qhen's biology was anything like a human... Her hand struck the side of Qhen's head, hand aching already as she aimed to daze Qhen in case this plan didn't work. ( FIGHT BACK! SHE CAN'T HELP YOU. ONLY I CAN HELP YOU. YOU DON'T NEED ANYBODY ELSE, QHEN. ) She struck again and again... and it wasn't working. Damnit- Think, Alice! Think! What can you even do? No- 'What can YOU do?' Not 'What are you even good at?' but "What are you GOOD at-

"Qhen!"

"Alice, I'm sorry! I can't do this much longer!"

"No, that's fine! Launch me!"

"... Ah?"

"I need the distance! I'm gonna take you out in one shot! Just kick me back and then come at me with everything you got!"

"A-... That-... This is stupid! I'm going to hurt you, or worse!

Alice tightened her stomach muscles, and closed her eyes. This was going to hurt. She didn't have anything left in her, so she was going to have to MAKE this wor-HURK. Qhen's knees crack as they pop back with superhuman speed, and she barely registers the feet against her torso before she is sent flying. Master Kui was a fencer, a swashbuckler, and a scoundrel, and taught her that if you had to take a hit... Roll with the blow, and make it look good. She hit the grass and immediately kicked her legs up like she did so many times when she was younger, rolling once- twice... and then ending up on her feet. Which was good, because Qhen was already coming this way.

Alice was good at one thing. Learning. She wasn't good at respecting authority, or good at understanding other people, or even really good at having a conversation where she didn't feel awkward and out of place... But every tutor, trainer, teacher had always taught her something. She read that strange book. The Void Manifest. She understood where she was. A sort of... crawlspace between reality and every other world that might exist. It didn't matter that this crawlspace didn't belong to her or her Possessor. She knelt down and touched the ground. She began to feel tired as she channeled her own energy, her very stamina into the 'ground'... Qhen drew closer- and closer- and-

She was also fairly fast herself. She timed it as close as she could, then grabbed a handful of the ground and pulled. Her fist twisted around as she brought it up, making as if to uppercut Qhen- Except she was a split second early. But that's okay. She probably would shatter her hand at this point. Instead, she was going to let Qhen punch herself in the face with the steel bar she was pulling up out of the ground.

WHUD.

"HJRRAARK-"

Alice stumbled to her feet as she let go of the metal she had pulled into existence from the fabric of the void. She stumbled not because she was surprised that worked- but...

( YOU FOOL. DID YOU THINK KNOCKING MY AVATAR UNCONSCIOUS WOULD STOP ME? )

A mist, a- A haze... not unlike the one she was familiar with, began to swirl around Qhen's unconscious body. This one was crimson in color, and it began to rise ( WRITHE. ) up and solidify, becoming a large crimson cloud of haze, with a blood red hooded cloak pulled around it. It began to extend an uncountable number of arms from under it's cloak, each clutching another weapon in it's grip.

( DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO FIGHT? CAN YOU COMPREHEND MY MIGHT? )

"Look. I'm really tired. I don't have anything left in me. I don't know what your beef with me is and I don't care. It probably has something to do with how you look like a terribly written villain or something. I'm just going to take Qhen and we're going to go back to my house, oka-"

( TERRIBLY WRITTEN VILLAIN?! I AM BEYOND 'GOOD' AND 'EVIL'... AND QHEN BELONGS TO ME! I AM THE MUSE OF THE ANTI-HERO AND YOU DON'T EVEN DESERVE TO BE IN MY STORY! )

Alice suddenly looked and felt even more tired. The Alice in her head was still making a racket- but... she wasn't just screaming. She never was. She was screaming with laughter. This was everything she wanted. To see things. New things. Thought provoking things. Impossible things. She looked at the haze which floated beside her. It wasn't as dark as it used to be. It was more of a grey color. Like a cloudy afternoon. If she plunged her arm into it, would it be cold?

"What the hell have you even gotten me into? If you had said from the start that this was some sort of weird immortal grudge match, I probably would have said no."

( No, you wouldn't have. You would have said yes without even asking any important questions, and you wouldn't have the knowledge you have now. The knowledge you need. )

"I would not! I would- ... Did... Did I get outsmarted by a cloud?"

( I would allow you the 'out' of admitting that I was a very old cloud, but to me, the reckoning of time is meaningless. I just am. )

With a defeated sigh, Alice touched her pouch. It was still there. She feel it's power. The book was actively asking to be used now. She looked at the thing that menaced her. The Muse. She wondered if that was a title, or a description. Was the thing that was helping her also a 'Muse'? Hm. Oh well. She promised Qhen ice cream and- Crap. She just remembered that the city was attacked. She wonders if she can make good on that promise... She does have a recipe, and if any small markets or even just animals survived... Maybe! She's never milked an animal before! That would be... probably gross. Anyway. She gripped the book with her hand.

( ) "Your shouting is giving me a headache. It's time to take a nap."
( ) "I need to get Qhen back to my house so I can make sure I didn't give them permanent brain damage."
( ) "What makes you think this is your story?"
( ) "Why don't you come over here and find out what happens?"
( ) You're just too tired to even think of anything witty. Just trashcan this idiot already.
( ) You know what? Make ( ? ) deal with this. You're tired. How tired? THIS --v TIRED.

{Qhen took some Health damage!}
{Qhen took some Morale damage!}
{Alice took 8 Health damage!}
{Alice is now holding on with her willpower!}
{Alice took 2 Morale damage from the rollover!}
{Qhen has been rendered unconscious!}

HP 0/10 - MP 8/15 - AP 16/20>