Cloudsea - The Chronicle of Alice Van Vaugen

. . .

Alice laid on the floor of the voidspace. Her heart hurt. Earlier, that may have been for a completely DIFFERENT reason- but right now, the reason was because her lungs were on fire. Her lungs were on fire because she couldn't breathe properly. She couldn't breathe properly because she had just taken a critical dose of medicine intended to give the user more energy. She used to take it for nights when she needed to do a bunch of studying for a particular subject of discussion with a visitor. The reason she had taken a critical dose was because she was practicing with the voidspace, learning the limits of her power- and she had the bright idea to restore her own energy with medicine, then to exhaust herself, over and over.

So here she was, laying on the floor of the voidspace. She had been building. Tweaking. Editing. Erasing. Copying. She learned the maximum size of the voidspace, and had placed blocks at those limits so she knew how much space she had to work with. Then she started making rooms. Storage rooms mostly. It was busy work. To keep her mind off of things. She was so. . .

Her heart started beating again. Oh god that hurt even more. It was like her entire body went to sleep and now was getting oxygen and blood flow and EVERYTHING was doing that tingly thing and-

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"Oh god. I just died for a moment."

( You did. How do you feel? )

"Everything is pain."

( And that is probably the tamest pain you'll feel, coming back like that. Please, do refrain from doing such foolish, dangerous things in the future. Or at least think them through a bit more. )

Alice rolled over, slowly, and sat up. She got dizzy, and instantly regretted that. Speaking of instant regret, she started thinking of the dream again! And waking up! And attempting to kiss Qhen awake, and Viss being there and- Oh yeah! Yeah! ATTEMPTING! She more or less just headbutted Qhen in the mouth! Which was probably fine because Alice forgot that Qhen has terrible breath! She reminds herself to make sure Qhen owns a toothbrush. Or at least- like, some form of breath spray. Alice fell over and rolled over onto her other side.

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"I- am just so angry with myself! And angry with Qhen! And angry with Viss! And even angrier with myself still! Do you know why, Empty?!"

( Is it because you aren't as angry as you feel like you should be? )

"YES! I DON'T UNDERSTAND! Why-... Why..."

( . . . )

"Why do I always end up feeling so -empty-, Empty?"

( I cannot tell you that, for I do not know. I still will not look so deeply into your personal life like that. Which is why I do not interrupt you unless called for first. )

"And why you couldn't shield me when I was about to get murdered by that thing! I have another terrible scar thanks to you! . . . That was unfair of me to say!"

( Yes, and No. No, because in an ideal situation, I would gladly defend you with my power. But yes, because I have no power, Alice of Vaugen. I cannot defend you. Despite our hearts being similar in nature, being similar does not bind us together, certainly not like Qhen and Free. )

"I still don't understand why we can't be like that..."

( Because it is dangerous. Qhen understands the dangers inherent with the power they are receiving. The price that Qhen pays is one they are willing to pay. I cannot say the same would be for you, Alice. )

". . . You don't even know. You haven't even TRIED to explain it to me. You just hide behind this impenetrable wall of mysterious junk, telling me that it's dangerous, for both of us! I saw what happened to Qhen! How can anything be more dangerous than that?!"

( Because the price of my power is not your body, Alice of Vaugen. It would be easy, if all I required was your body. What's another wound, another scar, in the face of having the power to defend yourself from such attacks? The price of my power is something much more dear. )

Alice sat up, slowly. She crossed her legs and leaned her elbows on her knees. A couple of experimental deep breaths. Then she slowly stood up, shakily, and stared up into the hood of the floating grey cloak, and it's foggy haze that drifted everywhere around it.

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"I'm so tired of getting the run around from people. You. Qhen. Viss. Everyone in my adopted family... All these people, spending so much energy trying to protect me from something I don't even know about. Tell me what you think I'd find so 'dear', Empty." and i'll show you how wrong you are. . .

( . . . Alice. . . )

"You UNDERSTAND me, Empty. Maybe our hearts aren't linked, but they're similar. Too similar. That's enough, isn't it? Whatever the price is... I can handle it."

---

Viss rubbed her hands together, and looked at her handiwork. She was just so- Just so DELIGHTED with herself! Truly, this would be a fabulous gift. Alice would never be able to ignore such a healthy offering.

Qhen just looked confused.

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"So, I get the candy, which you had me help you make. I get the books, which you had me collect, after making sure I was at least pretty sure she didn't have these in her collection already. I even get the rifle you found down in that- ... place. . . There's no way those jail cells were for prisoners. They looked way too... comfortable."

"Ssst! Do not worry about it, Qhen. Viss will clear the place up, and likely have most of the rooms re-purposed into labs and workshops. But please, continue to lavish Viss with your praise for Viss' clever ideas, and also headpats. You are still on the hook, Qhen."

". . . Right. So- ... What is THIS? A cannon?"

"Qhen does not recognize this? Look! Right here. The Imperial Seal! The machinery! This is a piece of mobile artillery! If we can get this running again, Aliss might be able to make use of this!"

"Ah- You think so?"

"Viss thinks it might work. If not, it still needs to be repaired so it can roll up the stairs and outside to be salvaged. Qhen will take a look, yes?"

"... Pray tell, Viss, what exactly happens if I say no?"

"Well, if Qhen doesn't want to start right away- Qhen could let Viss show Qhen what these cells are for-"

"Right! I'll get to work immediately."

". . . Aliss has really put Qhen on the spot, hasn't she... If Viss did not know any better, Viss would think that-"

"Viss! Qhen! Miss Alice sent a message! She needs you to come up to the house, as soon as you can!"

"... Hm! That took less time than Viss expected- We will be right up, Mossy! Qhen. Grab the gifts we can take Aliss for now- except the chocolates. I will carry those. You might drop them."

"You know what, I can't WAIT for you to start acting like you were earlier. . ."

It was only afternoon by the time Qhen and Viss reached the house. Qhen had to admit, they thought it was a little... fast? But then again, Qhen knows about the voidspace. Maybe Alice went and chilled out in there after her bath. Qhen immediately wondered what kind of toll that takes on the body. They walked into the house and looked around...

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"Aliss! Viss is here, with Qhen! Where are you?"

"Oh. I'm in the pantry. Come on in."

"... Hmm, I was right. Good to know. She's probably still in the voidspace."

"... The what?"

---

Viss looked positively... intrigued! Qhen had to admit, they were surprised to see the interior of the voidspace looking like this. It was like they had walked into another hallway of the house, inside the pantry. They called out for Alice again, and getting an answer, followed her voice deep inside. . .

Finally, they found a pair of doors, and pushed it open. It was a library. A really big library. Qhen was immediately on guard, because they JUST realized that the library in the house proper was empty when they passed it. Just how much had Alice been up to in the time they were gone?

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"Aliss! Viss and Qhen have returned, as you requested. Qhen has something to say to you, and we also brought a gift, as an apology... Qhen?"

". . .I-... I'm sorry about what I said earlier, Alice- Last night- In the dream- Our dream? Crap. This is really confusing- I'm still sorry. I didn't really... take your feelings into account when I said those things- I have a really weird relationship system with the people I know and..."

"Hm? Oh- It's alright. It wasn't that big a deal. Getting all that worked up over it was just me being silly. I mean- It's only been a few days, right? I haven't really had any friends... or really anybody who would stop by to talk to me for something other than to ask about information about something else, or to try to sell me something, or otherwise take advantage of my naivete and quiet upbringing. . . I just got overly- attached, that's all. I'm sorry. You should come sit down with me, I can tell you about all the things I did today. . ."

Something was off. Qhen looked around. This room was... large. Very large. And outside of the massive bookshelves, the place was practically empty, if you ignored the large, comfortable looking chairs and small side tables. From the sound of it, Alice was sitting in the middle chair, facing away from them, and as Viss wandered over happily, having foisted the other gift package back onto Qhen- Qhen saw it.

Grey fabric. A hood, and Qhen was suddenly aware of how cold the room was, despite being brightly lit, as if by a fire. . . And the closer Viss got, a mist began to form on the floor, and- Oh-

( ) "Viss... Back away from her. . ."
( ) "VISS! NO!"
( ) Say nothing, you have to act!
( ) Say nothing in time, it was already too late.