Cloudsea - The Chronicle of Alice Van Vaugen

Alice sat alone. Not that her house was empty. Viss was nearby- After such a short time, she was quite aware of how it felt when Viss and Qhen were in her proximity. She also had learned this unusual prickling that meant that Viss was watching. For now, Viss was not.

Viss was outside, on the other side of the wall, talking with some of the crew. When they learned that Alice had agreed to the exchange- Well, the 'temporary captain' at the time had come by to find out what it was Alice wanted. They were. . . Relieved? To learn that Alice intended for them to finish their work before they were allowed to properly settle in, and that she was also going to look at everything they salvaged, and made a decision on what they could have afterwards.

Jules, their name was? Jules thought the entire thing amusing. Agreed that Qhen had found a 'proper captain' for the ship. They had even brought a peace offering. . . Apparently Jules was originally the engineer, and had been given the captain role because they knew the ship best. So she gave Alice the best thing they could think of as an offering.

They gave Alice the designs for the airship.

Jules used to work for Her Imperial Majesties, in the royal research society. Jules didn't offer up a reason as to why she was no longer with them, and why she had taken a ship and all of it's design documents with her. . .and Alice didn't ask.

She had spent a couple hours pouring over the designs. The ship was fascinating. It was steam-powered, which is. . . rare. Mostly because charge stones were fairly plentiful and powerful enough to drive the propellers to move even a larger ship for at least a week or so- it and were small enough that it was easy (but not cheap, maybe. . .) to keep spares on board.

At least, that's how she understood it. But this design- It was fascinating! The ship's exterior shell was made entirely out of high strength steel! It was a costly material, but it's strength meant you could have thinner walls, and it was reinforced with wood and metal struts that helped absorb impacts. . .

And this steam engine. . . If it did what it looked like, to Alice's novice eye- this thing could practically last forever! It only needed elemental stones to keep the heat going, and it even had a coal box for emergency heating. . . And it only needed water if the 'Main Cannon' was fired? She hadn't really figured out what that was all about yet, and she wasn't sure if she cared right now. She closed the folder of scrawling and scribbles and diagrams and blueprints, and flopped back in her chair in the downstairs study.

Before she chased everybody outside, Viss and Qhen had stopped to let Alice know what they thought. They respected her, and cared for her, and making her the captain was just as much for her as it was for Viss and Qhen and the rest of the ex-crew. It wasn't anything exceptional, but it had made Alice think for a while, which she was doing again.

Alice has no idea what the outside world is like. She's been living on this- picturesque island for so long. . . There have been no problems. . . No worries. . . No-

. . .No, wait. Something feels off. Something. . .hurts. . .

No! Can't think about it. She needs to get out of this room. Out of this house. Outside! She can go out the back door and have a breath of air.

She nearly tripped as she threw open the back door and stumbled out, catching herself on a support for the back porch. She held onto it and breathed. Her head stopped hurting, little by little.

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". . .You alright, Alice?"

"AH. H-Hello, Qhen. What are you doing out here? I thought you'd be out front. . . with the party."

Qhen was sitting on the grass. It took a moment for Alice's eyes to readjust, but she was quickly aware of the small red cape hanging around Qhen's shoulders.

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"Oh- I was. . . Talking to Free. Viss and I haven't told the crew anything. They don't need to know about the weird crap we've been seeing, and I've never been particularly close to any of them, aside from the captain."

"Ahh. . .Mm. I'm sorry. I just needed some air, and I couldn't remember how to open a window that didn't involve breaking it with something. If I'm interrupting, I can go back inside-"

"Nonsense. Please, Miss Vaugen, I insist. Sit with us."

". . .Qhen?"

"I wasn't saying anything you couldn't hear, Alice. I just saw you were deep in thought, and I didn't wanna bother you earlier. I don't have any problems with you sitting."

Alice smiled. Free wasn't there, but Alice could see them bow politely when she walked over and plopped down- Right next to Qhen. Her head fell on their shoulder. Qhen blinked, then coughed politely, to themselves.

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"Sorry. Your shoulder is comfortable, and despite all this sleep I've been apparently getting- I don't feel all that rested."

"Ha- I know how that feels- well. Maybe. Feel free to use my shoulder as a headrest then. I'll try not to move."

". . .Mm. So. What were you talking about?"

"Hm? Oh! Free and I were discussing- amusingly enough- the concept of freedom. What it means to us. It is part of our identity, I thought it would be interesting to see what Free thought, and in turn, discover what I thought."

"Ahh. . . That sounds. . . Enlightening? Maybe fun, depending on how much you like debate and discussion."

"Well, I suppose I'm not against it- But it helps that Free is a part of me. I think talking like this brings us closer, and helps us understand one another. Also, it's like an exercise."

"Oh?"

"It's hard for Free to maintain a physical form, just like it's hard for me to maintain our metaphysical combined form. So this is training. In order to attain our beloved freedom, we must become so strong that nobody can defeat us."

". . .Ha. . . How many times have you mentioned that we read the same things, Qhen? Down that kind of path- you're going to make yourself sad."

"Maybe. If I screw up, then I'll just have to get back up and fix what I screwed up."

". . ."

"But enough about me! That's boring! I'm sure you know what's coming up next, Alice?"

". . .Huh?"

"Well, you're my Captain now- and Free and I were talking about freedom. . . Free might respect your ability to defeat us, and might even appreciate you hauling us back from the edge of oblivion- But we gotta know. What's Freedom?"

. . .Alice slowly sat up. She looked at Qhen. Qhen smiled back at her. She turned and looked out off into space. Everything got- incredibly quiet. She was hyperaware of not only Qhen, but Free's gaze. It made her uncomfortable, but not as much as the question did. What was Freedom? A dictionary would say 'the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.'

That was probably the Freedom that Qhen and Free pursued. What would Freedom to Viss be? Probably 'the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.' She could tell that Viss' past was an incredible weight that she had to deal with every day.

So, what was Freedom to her? Alice van Vaugen. Young woman. Bookworm.

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". . . Freedom, the power of self-determination attributed to the will; the quality of being independent of fate or necessity."

". . . Uh."

"I found- a definition, of the word Freedom, that I would apply to you. To Viss. But that definition just now was the only thing I could think of. It feels. . . Appropriate."

"Is that it? Is that all you can think of, when you think of your personal freedom? A definition?"

"I've never known anything I would call. . . a lack of freedom. Or rather- Anything that I've done, I've done because I wanted to. I might have felt restricted staying in my house by myself, but the alternative was terrifying. I think that is my answer- or even to the point, my lack of an answer is my answer. Until I know freedom, I can't tell you what it is to me."

"That's pretty good, Alice. Awkward, impersonal and childish. . . But good. So tell us. How will you learn to know freedom?"

". . .I don't know. What if I said that when we were done with searching the town for supplies, I just. . . planned on getting on the airship and going somewhere?"

"Where?"

". . ."

( ) "I don't know."
( ) "I don't care."
( ) "Anywhere but here."
( ) "I want to see another island."
( ) "I want to see what the world is like."
( ) "A bar? Adventures start there, right?"
( ) [SECRET ANSWER: Can Alice trust Qhen with this one?]
( ) "How about the CloudSea?"
( ) [Quick, Change to another character!]