Tale of Four

Hanging over the edge of her bed, Alice hung upside down, reading a book on the creatures of the Deadlands, flicking through the pages, half interested in it. Whilst nearly all were things she had never heard of, the information about them was less interesting than she thought, mainly just in-depth descriptions of their biology, something she would much rather learn about first-hand, rather than explanations of their origins and any strange powers they had, like the mimics.

Letting the book fall through her fingers after flipping to a new page with the same type of boring information, she groaned, only to be pleasantly surprised by a voice cutting through the air. ”Alice.” Throwing herself up, sat at the end of the bed, dressed in a black magic robe. Chesh sat, with a grin, lazily leaning against her hand, her black and purple hair falling to cover half her face.

”Chesh.” Happily crying, Alice dove across the bed, jumping into her girl, tackling her and squeezing her in a tight embrace. ”Where have you been?”

”It doesn’t matter.” Laughing, she pushed Alice off her and sat up, staring into Alice’s own green eyes. ”You’re bored, aren’t you?”

”Of course. All the books here aren’t interesting, and the people are even less.” Huffing in annoyance, thinking about the man with the red irises, she shook her head in disappointment. ”That guy keeps ignoring me as well. I’m starting to think he was lying to me about there being a second, and just used it as an excuse to meet me.”

”Now don’t be silly. You already know that he had no reason to lie.” Pushing a finger into Alice’s forehead, Alice slapped the hand away before laughing. ”I am more interested in what he meant by you meeting a God.”

”Obviously he is just lying to make himself sound better. I will admit he knows things; he knows I’m special after all, but meeting a God? It makes no sense. Teacher was certain that godlike beings, all live in the immaterial.”

”But Alice.” Chesh said, tilting her head, making Alice do so in the opposite direction, ”What about the fortune teller?”

”What about him? No one is able to read fate, Chesh; that much is obvious.” Alice said with certainty, making Chesh shake her head. Grabbing Alice’s hand, their fingers interlocked as they stared at one another. Lifting the hand up, Chesh smiled and slowly pushed against Alice, making Alice push back so she wouldn’t fall over.

”But he knew you were special.”

”So did the guy with the red iris. Obviously, some people can see what makes me special.” Chesh’s grin grew wider; the more Alice frowned.

”So you really think he was lying. But what about the Dead guy and his whole theory on fate?” Pushing with more strength, Alice felt herself tilt backwards and pushed back harder to stop it.

”His theory...” Alice paused for a moment, thinking about it. ”I can believe him a little more. But that whole fortune the old man read me didn’t make sense. Talking about me being blind, and then saying how I had nine lives. I’m human right now; I can only have one life.”

”But if you think carefully about that part, isn’t it just saying that you will have more lives in the future? He almost confirmed that you achieve your goals.” Alice shook her head and smirked. With it, she pulled Chesh’s hand as hard as she could, making the girl fall onto her, the sudden weight pushing her down until Chesh lay atop her.

”Knowledge will be hidden; knowledge will be revealed. Knowledge is true; knowledge is dangerous. Some things were never meant to be opened. The wrong choice was made.” Chesh said slowly, a playfulness in each word as she stared into Alice’s eyes with absolute certainty. ”Opened is a strange word, is it not?” Looking into the purple and black eyes, Alice narrowed her eyes.

”You don’t think he knew I was going to look for the Old Ones.”

”To reach for apotheosis and make the world your own, you must find pretenders and learn from them. They may not be real Gods, even by the belief of the people of this land, but they do have God-like power, evident by the corruption of the land itself.” Chesh said slowly, with certainty.

”They are sealed away. So I must open the seal. But why would that be the wrong choice?”

”Isn’t it obvious?” Chesh’s mischievous grin widened as her finger intertwined with Alice’s. ”It’s the wrong choice for him. He must be scared of you.”

”That... that makes sense.” Slowly nodding in agreement, Chesh rose, pulling Alice back up until they both sat upright, their pushing game continuing. ”And he all but confirmed I became a God with the next part.” Lowering her head, there was slight fear in Alice’s expression as she thought about the fortune. ”But Chesh.” The force they pushed each other with eased as Alice’s voice dimmed. ”Damnation for the faithful. Promises for oneself, nothing for the faithful.”

Looking up and meeting Chesh’s eyes, there was guilt as she spoke, ”You’re the only one who is faithful? Doesn’t that mean...” Her words stopped as she looked away. With a light chuckle, it was Chesh’s turn to pull as hard as she could, falling backwards so Alice would land atop her.

Through her fiery red hair, she saw the usual mischievous grin that always plastered on Chesh’s face change into something more serene; her beautiful face, clear of all imperfection, looking up at her with absolute admiration and acceptance whilst the black hair spread out across the bed looking like a halo that surrounded her. ”Why does that matter?” Like the easiest thing ever to be said, Chesh’s other hand rose as she cupped Alice’s chin. ”I exist for you, Alice. You’re the one who was chosen; you’re the one who decides what is right and wrong. It’s all a story, and the main character, the hero of the journey, must always make one hard choice to complete the journey.”

Feeling Chesh’s warm stroke on her cheek, Alice leaned into it, never breaking eye contact with the gaze that showed no regret. ”You’re so silly and kind, Alice. Fearing for me so much.” Chesh’s hand moved, inching towards Alice’s ear. Once it touched the side of Alice’s hair, it began to turn black, visible to Alice as the fiery red and darkness mixed in front of her. ”We are always one, even if I am not there for you. And if your actions somehow damn me, you can always bring me back. The world will be yours to play with at that point.”

Lifting a hand and moving Chesh’s hand, her hair returned to normal. Looking down at her, she couldn’t help but shake her head. ”But it wouldn’t be you. Not really.”

”Of course it would.” Chesh replied, ”Alice, do not worry about me; it doesn’t suit you.”

”But... but you’re my friend.” Her voice came out as an audible whisper, like a child sulking. Letting go of Alice’s other hand, Chesh’s hands reached up and wrapped around her, bringing her into a deep embrace, pulling her down and closer.

”Then listen to your friend. I exist solely for you. Nothing you could do could hurt me. And if you must make a hard choice that discards me, do not worry; I will happily let you do it if it means your dreams come true. You’re the special one, not me.” Sweetly whispering into her ear, Alice could tell that not a single word spoken was a lie.

”But... but...”

”Alice.” A warm hand touched the back of her head. ”If I must leave for your dream.” Letting go of her and pushing Alice back an arm’s length, her hand ran across the side of Alice’s face, half her hair turning the same midnight black as Chesh. ”You promised that if you ever wished to change how you looked, you would only do it because you wanted to, nothing more. On days when you miss me if I am gone, you can become me. I do not know why you would want to, but you always can.” Before Alice could reply, her mischievous grin returned as Chesh tapped Alice’s nose with a finger. ”But I don’t know why you would want to.”

Closing her eyes for a moment, Alice let out a deep breath and slowly sat back up, getting off Chesh, Chesh following suit, sitting opposite her. ”But what about the last part?”

”Others will see your dream come true and realise the truth. You rule the world. It will be their prison because nothing else will be true.” With a thin smile, Chesh nodded to herself, already agreeing with her own words and jumped up off the bed, stretching like a cat. Grabbing Alice’s hand, she brought her towards the window and pushed it open. ”I’m hungry. What about you?”

”Yeah.” Her voice was quiet when replying. Shaking her head, Chesh pulled Alice close towards the window, into her arms. Bringing their hands up she held them before her heart.

”The city had so many nice smells. Shall we? You’ve always loved nice food.” A few seconds passed as Alice stayed silent before she chuckled, a bright smile matching her bright eyes return.

”Okay.” Seeing her joy for food, Chesh pulled, dragging Alice out the window, letting them plummet down.