RE: Cloudsea - The Chronicle of Alice Van Vaugen
07-24-2017, 11:19 AM
Spoiler
Spoiler
Spoiler
Spoiler
First, she was leaving! That was terrifying! The island was so safe- but that was the problem. She wasn't going to find freedom that way. . . She wasn't going to find purpose! What was it that she wanted to do? Did she just want to explore? That sounded like a really good way to get lost and never come back. Ugh...
And the voices weren't helping for once! She didn't want to just let them invisibly influence her actions! They were really good when she needed help in an emergency. . . But sometimes they just pulled her in so many directions, she was afraid she was going to snap.
. . .The power of self-determination attributed to the will; the quality of being independent of fate or necessity. Maybe that's all she wanted. She has had this terrible feeling, in the back of her head. But- she wasn't going to think it right now. She could feel the universe watching her- and she didn't want to open that particular pandora's box just yet. . .
So she was going to sit here, and think to herself, and work it out.
She was afraid of leaving. But she knew if she stayed, at best, she would lead a boring, unfulfilling life. She's had a taste of action. Of adventure. Her heart cried out for more.
No, not her heart. Something else. A distant feeling. That feeling she got, like when she was laughing in her own head. It was like she was shaking herself awake after a long nap. Like she was an observer in her own life- Well, that is the case, isn't it? Doesn't everybody have that voice, that halfway through doing something stupid, makes you painfully aware of how much dirt you're going to eat when you land from your childish flights of fancy?
She knew if she stayed, her 'inner self' would be disappointed. SHE would be disappointed. At best. But at worst. . .
Alice knew the townspeople were gone. Whatever had killed her had taken them away. She wasn't even sure what had actually happened. That night- it was all nightmares and bad dreams and her head hurt when she thought about it. Like something was keeping her from remembering properly. There were all sorts of things like that. . . Things that if she told Qhen and Viss, they would only worry needlessly. She wanted them to worry, least of all. She couldn't work out why, but she was happier when they were happy.
Probably something about creatures spreading joy through their own lives spreading happiness back- what was it... a number of quotes came to mind, from some distant place. . . A book? Ah- Shared pain is lessened. Shared joy is increased. Thus do we refute entropy.
Ha. Thinking about that made her smile. She sat back up, and looked up at the sky. It was already getting dark. She can't remember the last time she looked at her clock. There were thirty hours in a day. Ten days in a week. One for each of the 'Legendary Ten Explorers' that helped make the Imperial Sphere safe. Three weeks in a month, one for each major phase of the moons. Waxing. Full. Waning. Ten months a year. Again, one for each of the legends.
Time, like many things, was a manifestation. A product of men. A machination of mortality. Time. Wealth. Possessions. Words. Numbers. She closed her eyes, and pushed everything to one side, like her head was a massive desk. All of it, off, onto the floor. Everything around her began to grow incredibly silent. The coolness of the air gave way to something else. The feeling of the grass and ground below her gave way to nothing.
Everything was gone. Everything was still. It was just her, and this desk. This massive object that held the things she thought about all the time. She put her hand on it, and began to smear letters into it's surface. A question.
[What do I want out of life?]
She sat there, and stared at the letters. She felt something envelop her- she felt the nothingness envelop her. It pulled her in, and here- here, she could think. The letters began to change- change to the question she really kept asking herself. . .
[Who is-]
( Alice. )
Like a strained metaphor, she was back in the now. The present. Her head whipped around, and she sighed-
Spoiler
Qhen and Viss worked through the night, helping the ex-crew unload their personal belongings, laughing, joking- They could not properly express what had happened in the past half week or so. They were ready to have another adventure. They wanted to see more- but more importantly, they wanted to see it with Alice.
They argued on which island they should visit first. Which bar would be better suited to a young woman like Alice. They talked about what they would need to go out into the CloudSea again. . . And they talked about Alice's dream. After everything Alice had done for them, they were wondering if they could help Alice's dream come true. What were the chances of finding something like that? How far would they have to search? How far could they search?
Free watched Qhen and Viss work. It reached up and touched itself on the chest. Their heart continued to beat. Continued to pump blood. They thought about what might have happened, if Alice and Empty hadn't stopped them. Free wondered if Viss would ever awaken her muse. She was so... used to lying to herself. Her heart had stopped giving off those negative feelings, but it feels less like- those feelings have stopped, and more like she just found the cracks in her armor, and sealed them up.
Of course, Free was more worried about Qhen, but that's because Qhen was their host. They were like. . . two sides of a coin? No. . . a bow and arrow? No- but closer. . . Two things that were amaaing together, but each separately was still useful. . . Hm. It was going to think on this for a while.
Empty stood. They stood at the edge of the land, where Alice had left them. They walked right up to the edge. They stared down into the clouds. The breeze blew against their cloak. Their hair. Their tears.
Empty stood at the edge of the island all night.
Alice stood on the deck of the airship. Her airship. HER airship. It was hers now. That was still confusing. It had really been like, a day and a half, because Viss and Qhen worked so hard that Alice forced them to take a nap first. Speaking of, Viss was below, checking on the steam engine, while Qhen quietly did calculations with the breezemap. The Brasstack slowly drifted away from the island. She was already feeling homesick. Nervous. Excited- Not that she had to worry! She had- okay, she didn't. The universe helped her with an amazing idea. . . She installed a door to the voidspace! It would allow her to pop back to the voidspace and-
Qhen was bringing the Brasstack in to dock. This island felt off, but Alice couldn't figure out why. It might just be because it's entirely man made! Just one big city. . . There was dirt sure, but it was like- Like any grass or trees she saw, it felt like someone had planted there just so it would look nice.
Well, that could be the reason entirely. Hm. Alice helped deploy the docking hooks that roped the Brasstack up to the docks, and the airship slowly wound down. . . And as she looked out to the docks, she saw. . .
( ) A lot of people.
( ) Too many people.
( ) Holy cow, Qhen said this was the closest trading hub, but Alice didn't know that meant this many people!
( ) a Bird Person?
( ) Very nice looking building that had a sign that read "Cafe" on it.
( ) Nobody.