Cloudsea - The Chronicle of Alice Van Vaugen

Defend Yourself!

What was- Viss twisted just in time, her body contorting as her legs kicked out, throwing herself to the floor and rolling away as Empty Alice suddenly. . . Exploded. Empty Alice continued to float there, arms at her sides, with those dead eyes, monochrome hair... but there were so many arms coming out from under that cloak, stretching out- More than a number of them clutching rifles.

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"Damn."

Viss pushed herself up, legs kicking hard against the ground to throw her TOWARDS Empty Alice. Against a regular opponent, Viss' eyes could catch the moments just before the pull of a trigger. Against. . . This, She did not wish to find out how fast she'd have to move to avoid catching a bullet. She brought her arm around as she moved in, turning her movement into a corkscrew as she brought her sword along the curve of her movement-

Empty Alice shoved off the floor with a mass of the hands, and instead of the solid blow Viss was hoping to land, instead she only cut off a couple of it's limbs.

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"I just started to get used to life again..."

Viss' eyes fell on Qhen again. She harnessed the feeling that welled up inside her. . . She twisted again, and just barely caught a bullet whipping past her face- This THING was fast- but not fast enough. . . And the longer this battle went on-

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"I- I was... I was HAPPY! All I needed was my crew mates... All I needed was a place to sleep, and a job to do..."

"Alice could never understand that sentiment. . ."

"I'm not TALKING to >ALICE!< I'm talking to YOU! Even if you could properly bond with Alice, Even if you've taken away her feelings so she doesn't have to suffer... Even if you're wearing her face- You're not HER! You can't ever be anything but yourself! Nobody can get away from themselves!"

"You understand that well, don't you?"

Viss felt something inside her straining- bubbling up, like bile. She was making a mistake. She hasn't had to seriously fight in years. . . She hasn't had to push these kinds of feelings down in actual moments of stress... Her claw ran under her eye, and came away painted blue. She ran her hand along the edge of her blade, rubbing it into the amber material. Then with a swing- she struck the blade edge on the stone floor, making a spark, and bathing the sword in blue flames.

The next blow felt more substantial. The edge of the blade came up along Empty Alice's side, catching another pair of the arms right at the 'shoulder' joint, and with a push- cut through them, the blade leaving sticky, burning blood on Empty Alice.

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"Of course I do. . . Qhen has always been so sweet- I did everything I could to protect them when we were growing up in the pit. We got this nice job helping out an airship crew- We started to get close-"

Viss dodged a bullet, but ran right into a fist, stumbling back and severing the hand off at the wrist.

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"Then one day the Captain and Qhen went to investigate something on an island in the CloudSea... And the captain didn't come back, and Qhen was suddenly like they were someone else. . . I was just becoming satisfied, I was just starting to live... If I had been there, could I have stopped all of this from happening? How many of you devils are there?! How many of you are wandering around, controlling the lives of others?!"

". . ."

". . ."

Empty Alice stared right into Viss' eyes. Viss saw something... confusion? Disgust? Hate? Sadness? Viss couldn't tell. That feeling was boiling way in Viss' heart again... Empty Alice- Empty pointed at Viss' chest.

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"How many nights go by where you feel dissatisfied with your life?"

"Wh, What?"

"How many weeks have gone by, where you wanted to cry out, but couldn't?"

"How... dare you..."

"empty..."

"How many months has it been since you genuinely smiled?"

"You can't- Understand..."

"empty this is wrong"

"How many years has that devil in your heart been telling you that you should have died back then?"

. . . There it was. The calmness. The stillness. Viss understood. Her head was screaming and throbbing. She looked over, and verified that Qhen was still down and out. She re-gripped her blade. She let the sensation wash over her, and for a moment, she could hear the crowd screaming her name. Pounding their fists on the railings. Fight. Fight. Fight. Kill. Kill. Kill. That's all she was good for. Even now, she was only posing as a doctor. Posing as someone who was happy. Posing as someone who was a complete humanoid. If Qhen's heart was shattered, her heart had exploded, and nothing of it remained. That was why Qhen couldn't return her feelings. That's why Alice seemed so good. That's why- Why... She lifted her sword. The next blow would be the last one. She would make sure of that--------no, NO.

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"NO!... Alice... You're actually in there, aren't you..."

"I'm here, Viss. You don't have to do this- Empty, we can stop this now-"

"Alice, Please..."

"No. The enemy has revealed itself. If we do not stop it here..."

"Empty. . ."

Viss held the blade up high, reversed in her grip, the curved point glistening and burning in front of her face. . .

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"I'm sorry... I've done so many bad things- I've lied to Qhen for so long- I thought I could be satisfied if I left Qhen in your care and I... But-"

"Empty- This isn't going to work!"

"Viss... Tell me, do you trust us?"

". . .I can't... I can't trust anyone, but myself. . . But- I don't want this anymore! I just wanted to make Qhen smile. . . I just wanted to stop fighting. . ."

The blue flame started to drip down Viss' arms, enveloping her arms, then her body- covering her body in a vibrant sapphire cape, which began to then grow arms, reaching up Viss' arms and gripping the sword, burning away the amber and leaving behind a blade of solid fire. . .

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"Viss. . ."

"Alice... I'm sorry. I- I guess--

. . .

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"Viss has just been consumed with Envy. . .Ha.. Ha hahak--/\/-k .. kk k k. . ."

"Viss! EMPTY!?"

". . . I'm sorry, Alice of Vaugen."

Viss slumped forward. the sword withdrew from her chest, leaving no mark behind but leaving a long wet streak of blue blood on the ground, as the blue flames engulfed her completely, growing into a new, but familiar sight... A floating blue robe with a hood- of a beautiful blue color... Inside the robe, blue flames churned, and in the hood, Viss' face could be seen for a moment before a mask of blue porcelain formed over it, bright blue fire burning behind the eye holes. . .

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"We're going to have to do this the hard way."

". . .Can we do this?"

"My will is your will, Alice of Vaugen. If you wish to save Viss, then you must Empty your heart. You do not have time to feel. You must instead think, and use your resources to their fullest. . ."

". . ."

"Identify yourself, Muse. Let us record your name into history one last time."

". . ."

The Muse lifted it's arms, gripping the now appropriately sized blue flame sword in both of it's hands. It brought the blade down with a single stroke, not to hit, but simply to get into a battle pose, as a nimbus of fire roared into life around it, expanding outwards and buffeting Empty Alice with a wave of choking heat. . .

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". . .I am the Muse of Passionate Criminals and I BURN with jealous love- you cannot hope to stand against my flames, Meddler! I will enjoy cutting you into pieces for my host, just like I killed every other fool who has gotten too close to our most cherished one. . . "

- . . . Viss has been slain . . . ? -
- Viss is now MUSE of Passionate Criminals. . . -
- Empty has cleared it's mind, Alice has cleared her heart. Together they fight as one. -

Empty Alice's equipment has changed:
Equipped: Artillery Rifle of Thought
Equipped: Rifle of Will
Equipped: Coldflare Pistol
Equipped: An Empty Heart, An Empty Mind.
Exist For: Yourself, do as you will, will what you do, and write your own story.

ALICE> (100/100 Morale)

Alice has not even begun to explore these new powers. The only thing she knows how to do is [Attack]. She could use some help learning about the other powers at her disposal. The universe still whispers to her. Help her.

( ) [ATTACK] {WEAPON}
( ) [?]
( ) [??]
( ) [???]
( ) [????]

Qhen has been rendered unconscious for this battle, and as such, has already faded back to reality, where they will be unable to help Alice.