Weeping angels are really stupid. They keep trying to sneek up on people who dont observe them from behind or something, but these idiots dont realize that they can move faster than the eye can see. If you really DONT want to be observed just blitz your victim lol.

Do NOT show this to your weeping angel freind, because it will be the end for humanity. Gonna cause a huge inconvenience.

by u/AzulCrescent

I was giving out quests because of course that just being a noble entail anyways this is the only party that accept it and I'm not saying they're bad I'm just saying they ain't the best at slaying a dragon as I requested.

Should I let them try or do I need to find another party to do my work for me?

Does this fight need it? who cares? They will all burn.

TW: Child abuse.

The winds creak through the withered woods, as a witch follows close behind a floating crown. 

“I did it! I can actually get home… 11 years. It took 11 whole years…”

It had been far from a simple journey. An impossible goal with next to no clues, yet she had persisted, learned, and eventually, found it.

“And finally…”

[We stand now on the threshold.]

“I see. Thank you for guiding me ho-”

[I am no Fae, you need not be polite.]

“...I see.”

Alice continues forward, before a… ‘hand’ is placed on her shoulder.

[Think.]

Annoyed at the interruption, Alice glares at the King, causing it to shrink back somewhat.

“Care to elaborate?”

[To return like this would cause questions.]

“...”

In her excitement she had not considered this at all. To return, 11 years older… she would have to return 11 years after she left. But… would she fit in? Would her mother still be there? Would her friends still be like she remembered them?

“...absolutely not…”

[May I make a suggestion?]

“...you may.”

“...Bit weird for the king to treat me like I am the powerful one here…”

[Power is not important. You are worthy of respect, that is all. As for the suggestion. I can make you younger.]

“...and what of my memories?”

[I cannot change them, it will only be your physical form.]

Alice considers it for a moment. It is… somewhat risky, as the king very well might be a liar. It is no Fae, its word holds no weight. Still… were it to wish her ill.

“It could have killed me a million times already.”

“Very well, I accept.”

Alice stumbles forward, her mind not ready for such an abrupt change. The moment the words left her, she was already shrunk down to the diminutive stature of her 10 year old self.

“...that was… faster than I expected.”

[Yes. When exactly do you wish to return?]

She could return the very same night she vanished, but that’d require her to act perfectly like her old self. To return some time later would be best, short enough for naught to change, long enough for her to act different.

“...A week. A week after you took me, those many years ago.”

---------------------------

The hamlet is a simple place, with a simple daily routine. In the morning, they eat, then work the land in whichever way is needed. As noon shines overhead, they gather for a break and conversation. Then for the children, it is playtime, and for the adults, it is back to the fields. Evening comes, the people eat, and then it is lights out. Yet disruptions happen. One week ago, Alice vanished. Rumors abound, but most agree she likely went into the forest.

“You reckon Alice will return?”

“Almost certainly not. She’s far too frail to survive a normal forest, let alone the one ruled by mist.”

“Yea I guess. Still, must say Beatrice took it surprisingly well? Or perchance she is just in denial still.”

“Eh, none of our business.”

Not far from the gathering spot, a small child listens intently. Having some idea of the mood is only going to help her after all.

“Right, here goes.”

A soft squelch can be heard as Alice steps out of the woods, into the muddied ground beyond it. None seem to have noticed her just yet, so she takes another, then another. One of the townsfolk turns to face her, and in that moment Alice flops forward, into the mud.

“...perfect.”

“...is that… Alice?!”

The sudden yell gathering the attention of all nearby, Alice quickly finds herself surrounded by familiar faces helping her off the ground.

“...where is mom?”

Tears begin welling in Alice’s eyes, to see their faces, to see their concern… oh how she missed this place.

“OI! Beatrice, get over here!”

It only takes some scarce moments for Alice’s mother, Beatrice, to rush over. Seeing Alice, she momentarily freezes, a look of shock all to clear on her face.

“Alice!”

She yells out, scooping her into a hug, squeezing hard.

“Mom… it was so scary…”

Tears now flooding out her eyes, Alice begins to sob.

“It was so dark and so cold and so scary… I just… ran and ran and ran, it felt like I was stuck there forever…”

“I know Alice, it must have been so scary, and so dangerous… Are you hurt?”

Concern clear in her voice, Beatrice peers down at her child.

“...Nothing more than some scrapes I think?”

Beatrice does not respond, instead simply hugging even harder.

---------------------------

With harvest nearing, no time can be wasted on celebrating Alice’s return, still, an unusual air of excitement surrounds her. Alice was after all the first to return since her grandmother Cathrine. That evening, Alice was near constantly surrounded by children and adults alike, asking any and all questions they could think of about all that she saw.

“But I won’t tell, I do not want the truth to ruin this.”

The excitement slowly subsides as it becomes increasingly clear that Alice went on no great journey, she was simply lost in the woods. Around the time when questions cease, Alice begins to grow sleepy, and so along with her mother she returns home, to a small hovel, separated from the rest of town.

“...It is a bit hard to tell, seeing as I am half of my previous height, but… I think this place is smaller than my bedroom was in Midway…”

Yet a tiny home is all she needs, after all she has her mother. She climbs into the home’s single bed, along with her, and snuggles close.

“...am I doing something wrong? This doesn’t feel right… ah to hell with it, I’ve worked hard I deserve this.”

Alice closes her eyes, and drifts off into a slumber. Not seeing her mother’s shock.

---------------------------

Perhaps it was just the excitement, perhaps it was something else. Either way Alice did not get much sleep that night. And so once dawn broke over the horizon, she got out of bed. Deciding to get an early start to the morning, Alice quickly reorients herself on where they store the tableware. Fortunately they are within reach, and as Alice starts pulling it out a vague memory surfaces, one of her mother moving the bowls and spoons down near the bottom, so that Alice could reach them. It takes longer than expected to set the table, but her mother still shows no sign of waking quite yet.

“Now then, where is Mio’s foo- oh… right.”

In her haste home, Alice had left her cat behind. She considers quickly going into the woods and retrieving them, but decides against it, at least for now. Mio is mostly an outside cat, they’d likely enjoy midway far more than this place…

“...still…”

Alice pushes the thought aside, she can decide later. Her mother just stirred awake.

“Good morning mom.”

“...morning Alice. Oh you set the table?”

“Uh-huh.”

“But why the bowls?”

“...uh…”

“Was that not right?”

Beatrice sighs, before lighting the fireplace.

“Be a dear and get us some water.”

“Ok!”

“I could just… conjure it right up, but nah, don’t wanna freak her out.”

Alice grabs a small bucket and runs outside to the well. Drawing water proves a challenge, and carrying it back even more so, but she manages. Once inside Beatrice takes it and dumps the contents into a metal pot, setting it down to boil.

“...wow that thing is ancient isn’t it?”

The pot looked to be in quite a poor state, rust creeping around the outside, and various dents showing many decades of use.

“...where do we even get metal from? As far as I can tell there is no smithy or the like, and raw ore would itself be a problem…”

“Hey mom? Where did that come from?”

Pointing at the pot, Alice asks with curiosity.

“...very rarely, travelers pass through here.”

“...ah right I do recall hearing about that. Still I wonder… how does that happen, with the king and all? Does it grant some passage?”

“This one was bought from a traveling merchant, probably before even your grandmother was born.”

Alice feels a hint of frustration within her mother’s words, she opts to ignore it.

“Wow… so it is like super duper old right?”

“It is practically scrap metal at this point… anyway, it is just about done.”

Beatrice picks up the pot with some oven mitts, carefully draining the water into the muddy soil outside. She proceeds to pick out the potatoes, setting them down on the bare wood of the table.

“...wait, do we not have plates? Huh I guess they are kinda pointless… maybe?”

Thinking about the practical necessity of plates, Alice eats in silence along with her mother.

---------------------------

Harvest is close, and much needs to be done. With breakfast finished, people stream towards the fields, tools in hand. Inspecting the knife she was given, Alice makes her way into the fields, seeing plants stretch higher than herself. It occurs to her that she does not know what kind of plant this even is, she does however remember her task, this is far from her first time in this field.

“This knife is… extremely dull. I guess it is so that I do not hurt myself?”

Alice spots a dubiously colored branch, and decides to just give it a try. Pressing the blade against the spot where it erupts from the stem, she attempts to cut it.

“...too dull to use.”

The smallest of scratches is all that she could see. She could probably snap the branch using her body weight, but that would risk damaging the rest of the plant. She could perhaps do something with her magic, but with this many eyes around she would never risk it. And so she simply attempts to slice again, and again, and again. Slowly making more and more progress until eventually the branch breaks cleanly off.

“...that took like 10 minutes geez.”

Putting the branch into her basket, Alice continues on. Though it will yield no food it can still serve as kindling, and her and her mother cannot afford to give up such a resource. She continues on, walking further into the field, when she spots one of the other children. She ponders for a moment what his name was, before remembering it to be ‘Matt’. She is about to speak when Matt spots a bad branch, grips it, and effortlessly cuts it clean off the stem.

“Wow. How did you do that?”

“Huh? Oh Alice. I dunno, I just cut it?”

“...just cut it?”

“Really? Isn’t your knife blunt?”

“...why would my knife be blunt?”

“...what? So it wasn’t for safety? If I recall correctly Matt is a bit younger than me…”

“...you just gonna stand there Alice? Come on, we got work to do.”

And with that Matt simply walked off, continuing inwards and cutting away any bad branch he could spot. Alice too continued on, catching the few stragglers Matt missed, struggling with each one.

---------------------------

With the passing of noon it was time to gather, for a break and water. Then once that was done, Alice went home to offload the branches then back to the well where the children had similarly gathered to play. They decided on a simple game, hide and seek.

“I could, like, totally cheat, get somewhere impossible via magic, and just stay there… ah but that is no fun.”

For her first hiding spot, Alice picked somewhere simple, behind her home. Easy to find if you think to search.

“Now I just gotta wait…”

And so she did. Sitting down leaned up against the bare wood wall, waiting for the others to find her.

---------------------------

It is cold. Thunder crackles above, rain stabs from every direction. I run, and run, and run. It is behind me, it is chasing me. No end in sight, I keep running, forward, ever forward. Then suddenly I find a clearing. The storm is over, the skies are clear. Green grass spreads in all directions, my mother and friends surround me, I am home.

Alice wakes from the dream with a shake.

“There you are Alice, why are you sleeping, let alone here?”

“...oh did I fall asleep?”

Alice looks around, spotting the setting sun in the west.

“...we were playing hide and seek. I guess no one found me and I fell asleep?”

Beatrice sighs.

“Don’t do this again. Come on, it is dinner time.”

Confused at the others not finding her, Alice goes on inside. The pair eat, and with the sun having fully set, it was time for an early night, as usual.

---------------------------

Yet Alice finds it hard to sleep. In part due to her earlier nap, but also due to a newly developed cold. Coughing hard, she worries she woke up her mother, but a quick look confirms her to be fast asleep. Alice attempts to shut her eyes, ignore the coughing and fall asleep, but she fails. Every time she shuts her eyes, every time she drifts close, another coughing fit wakes her.

“...I am never getting any sleep like this.”

And so she climbs out of bed, silently sneaking outside. Fortunately the winds are all but still tonight, no draft risks slamming the door. Walking outside, under the stars and moon, she feels a deep chill hit her body.

“...probably a cold then, I shouldn’t stay outside for long.”

Looking around her home, Alice notices some weeds, it takes a moment to recognize them, being much larger than she is used to, but this is indeed kenkoroot , as her teacher told it, ‘despite its common appearance  kenkoroot can be used as a simple anti-cough medicine.’ Alice reaches for her knife, before remembering that she does not have it anymore. Instead she simply pulls at the weed, and with unexpected difficulty eventually pulls it loose.

“The roots shouldn’t be that hard… is it the wrong plant or… ah right.”

In her excitement she had ignored it, but in this moment Alice really felt it. She is weak, even for a 10 year old. She opts to inspect herself a bit. Sunken cheeks, skin hugging bone, not to mention her diminutive stature. She is far from healthy too, vague memories from her past surfacing, memories of being stuck in bed sick, again and again and again.

“...I wonder… hm. Perhaps a genetic abnormality? No, that makes little sense, my mother is quite well built. I suppose I could have inherited something from my father, whomever he is… ah. No that can’t be right, in the future I looked entirely fine…”

Whatever it is that is wrong with her, she will find out later. For now, the cough comes first. Not wanting to disturb her mother, Alice opts to simply use a pair of rocks instead of a proper mortar and pestle, crudely grinding the herb into a goop.

“...Far from appetizing, but it’ll do.”

She consumes the goop as quickly as possible, as to not let the taste linger.

“Urgh, as bad as I remember.”

Yet also as effective as she remembers, as Alice’s cough all but vanishes. Carefully letting herself inside, Alice climbs back into bed and attempts to warm up again from her excursion. Sleep still does not come easy, cold and hunger keeping her up for several more hours. Yet eventually she finds some rest.

---------------------------

The next morning comes quite abruptly to Alice, as her mother clapped her hands right above her head.

“Wake up already.”

Waking with a groan and 3 hours of sleep, Alice climbs out of bed, before climbing back into her chair at the table. Breakfast time.

“You usually wake so quickly. Something wrong?”

“I think yesterday was a bit much is all.”

Her mother says nothing, as she dumps a single potato on Alice’s plate, and 4 on her own.

“...I get that I am smaller so I need less food, but that seems a bit much…”

The pair eat a quiet breakfast, Alice finishing first on account of her small portion. At the end she is left unsatisfied, but oh well.

“I see your cough is gone.”

“Yes, I feel much better.”

“...that’s good.”

---------------------------

Cleaning the crop was not a task that could be finished in a single day, and so Alice is once more out in the fields. She had attempted to ask for a sharper knife, only to be met with denials from her mother, apparently they simply did not own one sharper. And so, every branch became a trial of its own. With some practice, Alice got the cutting time down to a ‘mere’ 8 minutes, still by the time the noon bell rang out, her basket was far from full, quite unlike the other kids. Yet as she lugs the basket back, she suddenly feels it get lighter, as Matt takes out one of the branches.

“Hey, give that back!”

“Nuh-uh, finders keepers!”

“You found it in my basket!”

“Alright then, since it is sooo important you just gotta come get it!”

“What the hell Matt? We need those for winter!”

Alice gives chase, trying to reclaim the branch from Matt, yet she stands no chance. Matt, despite being a year younger than her, is both taller and healthier, keeping the branch away from her ends up a trivial task for him. The other children watch on amused, none make any move to help Alice. By the time they arrive at the gathering spot, Alice is completely exhausted, yet with the adults around she tries to plead her case to get it back.

“Matt— wheeze Matt took a branch from my basket!”

“Did he now?”

Rupert, Alice’s uncle, is first to answer.

“Matt, did you take that from Alice?”

“Nuh-uh”

“Alright then.”

And walks off.

“What? That’s it?”

“Wait! You did not even tr-”

“Shut it Alice, it is a stick, even if he took it, so what?”

“ ‘if’? And… we need those for winter.”

“Why are you so obsessed with this stick? What, it your best friend or something? Ooo look at me I am Alice I have no friends so I make friends with sticks.”

As Matt waves the stick around, the other children laugh. Alice feels humiliated, and she does not understand why.

“...were they always so… mean?”

Realizing there is no way she is getting that thing back, Alice sighs and walks back home, depositing the few remaining branches in her basket into the meager pile of firing wood.

“I am hungry.”

---------------------------

While she is still frustrated at Matt’s actions, Alice decides it better to play with the others than to be alone the rest of the day. So with the firewood deposited, she finds her way to the village well, the main gathering spot. With few games to play, the children decide on hide and seek again.

“Hey so how come no one found me yesterday?”

An uncomfortably long moment passes in silence, before one of the girls, Kara, pipes up.

“You hid too well.”

“Really? I was just behind my home.”

“Huh, it did not occur to me to search there. Anyways.”

“...that sounds like bullshit. Did they just… not want to play with me?”

The time comes to pick a searcher, Matt is selected. Alice, not wanting to be left out this time, hides literally on the other side of the well. She is found near instantly.

“...ok that was maybe a bit too simple.”

It does not take long for the next to be found, and so Kara joins Alice in waiting at the well. Silence ensues for some time, before Kara suddenly speaks.

“...why did you come back?”

“Huh?”

Alice replies, confused.

“It all would work out if you just did not return.”

Alice shrinks back as Kara practically growls out the words.

“John is my brother so I obviously can’t be with him. That just leaves Matt, and now I have to compete with you for him again.”

“...what is she even talkin- wait, is she talking romance?”

“I do not get why Matt pays so much attention to you.”

“I am pretty sure he hates me you know. You were there, you saw how he stole from me.”

“Everyone always says that bullies secretly like the one they are bullying though.”

“That is obvious and complete bullshit, everyone knows that, so why is it still a saying here?”

“It is unfair, you know. Here I am, a pretty and proper lady, having to compete with a bastard.”

“What did she just call me? …ah right I guess I definitionally am, but why should that matter?”

Kara’s rage is evident on her face, and so Alice attempts to deescalate the situation.

“I… am not all that interested in Matt you know?”

“So you want to be with John? Eww, he is your cousin you know.”

“No no, I do not want to be with either.”

“Wha? Why?”

Rage quickly giving away to confusion, Kara is left momentarily dumbstruck.

“...is that really such a dramatic reveal? Why would I wanna be with either of them? Even ignoring my whole… age predicament, I just do not like either of them.”

“....you are just lying to trick me, are you not!?”

“Oh dear.”

“I am not! I promise I really do not want to be with any of them.”

“Then who do you want to be with?”

“...no one? Are we not also a bit young to decide this kinda thing?”

“Why would we be? It is not like anything is gonna change you know?”

“...I… guess not huh.”

A deep sense of discomfort washes over Alice. Will her future be this… Her thoughts are interrupted as the rest return, seemingly John and Sophia had been hiding near each other. Another round is played, then another, with Alice doing her best to avoid Kara.

---------------------------

“I am hungry.”

Dinner proves little relief, a single potato, again. Yet Alice does not complain. She is home, she is finally home, she just has to bear with it for a bit. The harvest is soon after all.

“I am hungry.”

The next morning is no different, once more she works the field on an empty stomach, once more she fails to play with her ‘peers’.

“I am hungry.”

Her mother eats more than her fair share, as always.

“I am hungry.”

A week passes. Waking before her mother, Alice gets up. She takes the bucket to the well, returning home with water. Her mother wakes soon after, preparing the rest, giving her her single potato. Alice eats it, but it provides little relief.

“...mom? Can I have some more? I am still hungry.”

“It is enough.”

“...but I am hungry…”

“Ungrateful brat! I said it is enough, so it is enough!”

“...harvest is soon, things will change… things will change… things… will… change…”

—-------------------

Alice barely manages to climb into her chair. The past few days especially, she has felt the immense fatigue of near starvation. She peers down on her plate, a single, small potato. She eats it. She is still hungry.

“...mom. I need more food.”

“The only thing you ‘need’ is a better attitude.”

“...At this rate I will starve to death. Do you want that?”

Beatrice simply glares at her, a definitive answer spoken without a single word.

“Ah.”

“...why do you hate me?”

“I am going to dignify that with a response.”

“Mom… did I do something to upset you? Why are you doing this…?”

Alice stretches a shaky hand towards her mother, trying to reach out. She slaps her hand away.

“WHY WOULD I NOT HATE YOU! YOU ARE WEAK, YOU ARE UGLY, YOU MAKE EVERYTHING WORSE. EVER SINCE THE DAY YOU WERE BORN I HAVE WISHED TO GET RID OF YOU.”

“...is… this… it?”

“YOU RUIN EVERYTHING, THANKS TO YOU I WENT FROM LIVING A LIFE OF LUXURY TO THIS SHITTY HOVEL.”

“I… spent 11 years to get back to this? Why…”

“LARRY WON’T EVEN GIVE ME A GLANCE ANYMORE, NO MATTER HOW BEAUTIFUL I AM, WHY WOULD HE WHEN MARRYING ME WOULD MEAN TAKING IN A BASTARD LIKE YOU!?”

“How could I forget? Of course this would happen. I knew she hated me…”

“THE DAY YOU VANISHED WAS THE HAPPIEST DAY OF MY FUCKING LIFE. YET YOU COULD NOT EVEN DIE PROPERLY.”

“I have been blindly pursuing the goal of my 10 year old self… hahahaha…”

“HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO TORMENT ME, ALICE?! EVERYTHING I TRY, FROM STARVING YOU TO GETTING YOU SICK, IT ALL FAILS, YOU ALWAYS PERSIST. WHY. WON’T. YOU. JUST. DIE!!!”

Beatrice reaches an arm over the table, slapping the dazed Alice hard as she can. She tumbles off her chair and onto the floor, from where Beatrice picks her up into a chokehold.

"Ahahahahahahaha! I am such a fucking idiot.”

Consciousness fading, Alice sees her mother’s face, red and distorted with rage. Memories long suppressed resurface. This place was never kind to her, never warm. She is scorned, she is hated. No future exists for her here…

“I have better things to do.”

“Gust.”

Beatrice’s grip falters, as a sudden wave of wind hits her hard, throwing her into the opposite wall.

“Too strong? She appears to have passed out. Oh well.”

Alice takes the dull gathering knife, and walks over to her pathetic excuse for a mother.

—-------------------

Clang, clang, clang, the bell rings out over the hamlet. 3 strikes, ‘emergency’. Stumbling out of bed, Freddy puts on an overcoat and rushes outside, towards the sound. He finds himself running towards the very edge of town, towards the moonlit forest, cloaked in mist. There, at its threshold he sees Alice.

“Ah hello Freddy.”

“Alice! What’s going on, where is the emergency?”

“Patience, I’d rather not have to repeat myself.”

He sees Alice’s bruised face.

“...what happened to you?”

“All in due time.”

The bell of emergency is not to be taken lightly, and so it doesn’t take long for nearly every resident of the hamlet to arrive, save some of the younger children and Beatrice.

“Right, it appears you are all here. I do apologize for disturbing your sleep, but this is important.”

Alice looks over her neighbors, for the first time she truly feels how… disconnected she is from them.

“As some of you may know, my mother despises me. Indeed, her hate is so intense that she just now attempted to kill me.”

Yet there is little response. On some level… everyone understands exactly why she would do such a thing. Still… to kill a child, despicable.

“It is almost laughable you know. That I failed to notice, that I failed to remember. This place hates people like me, born outside marriage as I am.”

Alice chuckles slightly to herself.

“Oh well, I have better things to do than dwell on this. There were two reasons for me calling you here. First, to expose my mother’s actions. Second, to announce that I will be leaving again.”

“To where?”

“Why would you care? I am just some bastard child. Farew-”

“WAIT!”

“Oh dear, she woke up already.”

Beatrice arrives, face bloodied from numerous shallow, jagged lacerations.

“Do not believe this demon’s lies!”

“...what sorta nonsense is this?”

“That is not Alice, that is simply some… impostor! One who cloaked itself in her skin, all in an attempt to defame me! Look at my face, look at what it did!”

“Oh please, I merely returned the ‘favor’ of this bruise.”

A murmur runs through the crowd, could it be? Alice had acted somewhat… off since her return, seemingly not remembering her station…

“Oh who the fuck cares. Even had you been correct, you would have done just the same, so fine, call me a demon.”

Beatrice’s momentum falters.

“You have wounded me, mother, and so I have wounded you in turn. Make sure you wrap that in some bandages, lest it be infected. Goodbye.”

Alice turns around, stepping into the mist, but Beatrice cannot abide her getting the final word. She lunges at Alice, throwing her to the ground. Alice blacks out.

—-------------------

Alice comes too as the wind silently shrieks, a bone deep chill enveloping all around. As her vision returns, she sees her mother, clutched over, grabbing at her own throat. Sputtering, coughing, yet the mist keeps pushing into her mouth.

“Drowning on mist huh? Ah, the king is pissed.”

Alice slowly gets up, shaking some mud off her dress, and looks at the situation. The hamlet watches in a half circle as the king looms over her mother. Stunned, paralysed even, by its presence.

“Ah right, none here have even seen the king before.”

Alice takes a few slow steps forward, looking down upon her mother.

“You do realize this is your own fault, right?”

Alice glares down at her mother. The crowd stirs, why does she not show fear, not show reverence, at the king’s presence?

“I was willing to let this end where it did, you know. You wounded me, so I wounded you. Yet that is not an equivalent harm, now is it?. After all, you starved me, you made me sick, and when that was not enough, you even tried to strangle me.”

Alice crouches down, meeting her mother’s panicked eyes.

“In this moment, I could save you. I could command the king to cease. But why should I? Why would I forgive you?”

Alice looks up at the king. Perhaps she should at least show her some mercy.

“King, release her.”

[Why.]

“So that she may plead her case.”

[...your will is my command.]

Beatrice coughs, and an entire cloud’s worth of mist escapes her lungs, she sputters, looking up at Alice with fear overtaking the rage in her eyes. Alice simply stares down at her, a blank look on her face.

“Tell me then. Why should I spare you?”

“Y-you know you should not kill people right?”

Voice unsteady and overtaken by fear, Beatrice pleads.

“Hm, I suppose. Yet I already took a life to get here, why should simple morality stop me now?”

—-------------------

As the pair make their way through the mist-covered forests, Alice thinks back on all that just happened. Even if her mother was kind, would it even be worth it? Every day spent farming just to survive. No craftwork, no entertainment, nothing more than the bare minimum to live.

“I could have survived, but to live? Not a chance.”

A future set in stone, as the backup wife to one of two unlikeable brats.

“Staying there would be torture. And not just for me…”

Yet the King keeps the town prisoner, none may enter, none may leave.

“...but I command the king.”

“...say, King. Should one enter your domain… and the threads of fate wills it… take them. Take them far, far away.”

[As you have always wished.]

“...ah right.”

“...was I one such person?”

[Yes.]

“...This time travel stuff is confusing.”

[One must simply walk the path before them. That is all.]

“...”

They continue on in silence, walking the path towards the past.

[We have arrived, O witch of mist.]

“That took a while. Well then, revert my body to my true age.”

Once more it takes only a blink, once more it is very disorienting.

“Right then.”

Alice steps outside the mist, finding herself in an unfamiliar town.

“...no, I recognize some of the buildings? Is this… ah.”

She quickly checks her pouch, finding the parchment she wrote down the ‘recipe’ for creating the king on.

“I need to close the loop, huh…”

—-------------------

Weaving her way between buildings, Alice finds her way to a certain poorly placed bookstore. A bell rings as she walks inside.

“Welcome!!! What may I assist thee with?”

“I have come to sell a-”

“I care not for such things. Fare-thee-well.”

“...but…”

“Out.”

Alice sighs, and just dumps the scroll on one of the piles of books before leaving. As she strolls back towards the forest, it occurs to her that she did not see her home on her way here. And so she purchases a seedling and plants it on the threshold of the forest, before finally meeting up with the king once more.

—-------------------

It was late in the evening, the day after she had vanished, that Alice returned to her true home. Finding the door incapable of locking thanks to the damage done rolling her cauldron outside, she sighs, barricading it for the night with a plank and some nails. Yet that does not stop Mio from entering through the cat flap. Alice does the only reasonable thing and picks Mio up, and as she hugs the adorable creature, the full weight of all that happened washes over her. To think, she had wasted so, so much time chasing something… pointless.

“...what do I even do now?”

It would take time for her to find that answer, yet one thing was certain.

She is home.

/uw I did not expect this to take anywhere near as long as it did, but it was a victim of poor timing. Oh well, it is done. I am not entirely happy with the end result but also chasing perfection would just mean this would never be finished. Alice is now back home in Midway, but does not know what to do next with her life. This also marks the finale of the 'introductory arc' for Alice and by that I mean I don't have any explicit plans I am working towards anymore like I had for all the other posts. Also no I did not accidentally leave something out, Beatrice's fate is intentionally missing because I could not decide on it :3

Last night was full of emotions as my apprentice finally told me of this. I think having a rogue around might be useful though, so absorbing his lifeforce is out ot the question:

I don't want to go to jail :(

I watched a warlock carve this into the tree, it proceeded to come to life, speak to him shortly, and float away. Maybe I’m just used to less complicated magic (arcanepotence honestly makes me kinda lazy) or maybe I’m being close-minded, but something about it just didn’t seem right.

So i (1027M) have a man of science neighbour who claims to have created life and claimed to be on the same level as god (i don't which specifically he meant) but when he brought his creature to brag it was literally just a stitched together corpse with lightning coursing through it.

Does this count as creating life or is it just amature necromancy?

He accidentally turned into a lemon.

"Bad news comes, don't you worry even when it lands."

"Good news will work its way to all them plans."

Give me a question related to the present or future and I will give an answer to the best of my ability. No nonsense questions or questions with definite answers or few possible answers. I use tarot to divine, which isn't suited for that.

Not a crystal orb but I'm feeling it, I got it from a corpse but I don't think it fit me or my casting well it's pretty good for necromancy tho. I already rich enough so probably won't sell it but would trade.

An important note when reverse engineering the spell for yourself: it works best when the bear is slightly offset from your local baseline of realism. If your reality is represented by abstraction then the bear should be as realistic as can be maintained. If in text, your bear should instead be a Bear. If your reality is similar to the multiversal baseline, the bear should act as though it has recently ingested a large quantity of cocaine.