alchemists-eve

[alchemists-eve]

“Let’s go get dinner.” Suggested Sarah.

“Breakfast.” you corrected

Sarah placed a hand on your shoulder and shook her head. “Nah, babe.”

“At the Corner?” Damien hesitently asked, testing the water.

“Of course.” Sarah replied.

Damien groaned but nevertheless turned off the TV and went to get ready. You stretched and looked down at the stain covered clothes you were wearing. He was right, you did stink of weed. Definitely not ‘outside’ appropriate.

You threw back the last of your coffee before turning to Sarah, “Thank you,” you say in a voice intimate and small.

Damien was approaching the bathroom with his towel and products just before you shoved passed.

“Hey!” He shouted

“Tits are out!"

“You bitch!!” He scolded back.

“I need to stop smelling like weed. Won’t be too long.”

His groans grew quieter as he left.

You dropped your clothes and finally got to take a good look at your body. You were covered in burn scars. Flesh warped and transformed. Your nipples looked like half baked shrinky-dinks and your belly looked stretched and loose like you’d just given birth.

You felt for your lighter, the urge to smoke welling. Well, not the urge to smoke so much as the urge to cry, but a smoke usually helped you through that. Looking over at the empty shower, you couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by defeat.

Instead, you snatch a can of deodorant and bathed yourself in that. Throwing your clothes back on, you announce that you have freed the bathroom from your gargoilic clutches for Damien.

“Oh, okay!” he shouts from his room, with a dull tone as if you had never taken it from him.

You return to your room and try to find something to wear. All your clothes were piled on the floor, only moments ago exposed directly to your hotbox.

“Sarah!” you cry.

“Yeah babe?” she replies, relieving herself from beyond the edge of your door frame.

“My clothes stink. Can I borrow some of yours?”

The could see the cogs tick inside her head.

“I’ll do your laundry?” you bargain.

She looked over the floor blacked out by clothes and the half empty chest of draws, drained of its contents. “No you won’t. But find. The usual stuff?”

“Yes please.”

Without another word she leaves, quickly returning with a small pile of clothes: a pair of jeans, a flannel shirt, an overcoat and a bra far too large for you.

You toss her the bra back. “Nice try, but I can manage without that.”

“How cute is it though?”

“Very. And thank you.”

“Well, I figure you’re a bit traumatised. Least I can do.” She smiled sweet, “Oh,” she added. “Stop fucking with Damo. You know how he is.”

Half out of shame, but half out of a commitment to be subtler in your fucking-with, you nod and gesture for her to leave.

The weather had turned to a dull overcast, catching the orange of the evening sky. The three of your wrapped up to leave.

The walk to the Pub was pretty long, but it was a trip you were intimately familiar with. The three of your lived in the industrial district of the capital city. As you passed the brickfield, Damien spoke up. “Did you know that not all bricks are the same? A bricks deviation from the standard is measured by its Dimensional Quality Level.”

Damien always had something interesting to say about bricks.

“The category DW1 means that the height and width of a brick differs from the standard by less than 50mm.” He continued. “DW2 means there’s a difference of only 40mm. Anything larger than a DW1 is called a DWO.”

“What’s a brick that’s DWO?” You ask.

“I dunno. A rock?”

As you round the road to the Corner Pub, you’re shocked by the commotion. Voices roar and the streets shake. You all rush in to see what’s going on.

A television broadcast.

A pit opens in your stomach. You see a creature; a demon. With skin like magmatic rock that glowed in the night. Far away the beast appeared. Fire ripped from its mouth as it scorched the city.

Suddenly you were stood over Kata’s body. His empty skull staring back at you. It was blacked, and as dark as the earth around it. Embers glowed and smoke billowed.

You were frozen.

The figure you free approached before you again, emerging from beyond. You felt their warmth radiate over you as they approached.

“Thank you.” the You said.

Your heart got stuck in your throat. In a quivering voice said, “I need to go home.”

The You grinned a nasty grin. “Alright.” Your’s voice was like a cloud your thoughts were adrift on. “Come with me.”

You’s body changed. Stone grew deep within. Flesh grew thin and shined purple and grey. Skin bruised as the growing rock pushed against the boundary of You’s body. Their sides burst and then slipped away as a demon stepped free from its prison. The creature stretched deep and long for the first time in an age.

Without a thought you climbed on board. You gripped onto You tight. Their body began to glow. Their temperate grew until flames burst from where you touched them. But fire didn’t hurt anymore.

“Eartwhile.” You said.

“Yeah?” You reply.

“Erstwhile?” You’s voice was filled with panic.

Then you were back. Sarah had you by the shoulders. Slowly the voices of the Pub became distinct. “Are you okay?”

You looked back up at the Television. And there was You.

*****

Art by the outrageous @oni-ino

***Next Part******Previous Part***

[alchemists-eve]

You laid, wreathed in the comfort and warmth of your bed, mounds of pillow and blankets swamping your body. Plastic ivy hung from the ceiling. A small altar displayed your camera gear. Your ceiling fan remained still and so did the air in your room. Billows of smoke suspended in the afternoon sun. 

Posters and pictures covered your walls. Your worn and tired eyes glancing over each as your mind recounted a thousand memories. Thoughts spiraled in your head. You catch yourself. Remind yourself it’s okay. Then roll over and stare out the window. 

The tree catches your attention. The way the sun shone unevenly through the leaves and- Someone knocked at your door.

“Erstwhile?”

Fuck. 

“It’s been days,” the voice worried, “could you please come out?”

Rolling over to face the door that the voice was bothering you from, you carried your momentum through the form of a pillow, throwing it. The pillow struck its target with a gentle THUB of acknowledgement before returning to the floor. 

“Can I at least come in?”

You inhale sharply, coiling up and rubbing your face. “Fine!” you shout, “see me at my worst” Your tone was half joke but you couldn’t deny you had been better. 

You still don’t fully know how you got home. You still don’t fully know how you survived. You still can’t get the thought of Kata out of your mind.

You haven’t seen Sexcrus since that day either. And his superhero escapades have completely stopped too.

The door was thrown open by your housemate, Sarah. The woman stood in the door frame, arms crossed, with an intensity you knew was more complex than anger. As much smoke as possible be-lined to fill the clean air behind her. You smiled sarcastically.

“I know you’re going through something. But it was your turn to do the dishes two days ago, and you’re not talking. So either explain yourself, or get us something to eat off of.” 

“i’m sorry.” you sobbed. 

Her character broke immediately as she threw herself to the foot of your bed. “Oh fuck. It’s really bad.”

You slowly nodded. 

“Come on.” she said, slowly freeing you from the blanket. She revealed your miserable writhing form, exposing you directly to the sun’s light. It was wonderfully warm in a way the blanket was not. And like a cat in the sun you uncoiled yourself.

Sarah sat you down on the couch, wrapped you once more in your blanket. Damien, your other housemate, was sat beside you watching TV. You watched along in silence. 

“Where you been?” he abruptly asked

“around.” you whisper. 

He turned to look at you, ran his eyes up and down, and turned back to the TV. “You smell like weed.”

Sarah returned with a cup of coffee, and handed it to you. 

“I don’t like weed.” Damien continued, “It smells.”

“you smell.” you mocked in a tiny voice. 

Without breaking eye contact with the TV, he flailed his arm at you, whacking you gently on the leg and you smile for the first time in a week. 

You turn to look back at Sarah, “thank you.”

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[alchemists-eve]

You feel the fissure between you and Kata redivide your selves. You are once again standing among the camp site, holding him by the neck.

Swinging his body around, you throw him to the ground. The earth erupts with dirt and grass. Sexcrus calls out to him, but his words fall on deaf ears.

It’s not hard to believe such an impact would kill someone, but Kata stubbornly survived. Slowly he stands to his feet as you look over him. Dusting himself off he says “I see you’ve finally figured it out. Took you long enough. You see..”

You cut him off with a snappy right hook. He stumbles back from the impact. You split his lip. He wipes the blood from his mouth, looking back at you severely before rubbing the burns on his neck. “You had better stop. If you’re not careful you’ll cross the point of n-”

“Shut up!” you roar, your voice shaking the grass and trees around you. You barrel forward winding up a king-hit. But before you can connect, he jabs you in the rib. You recoil, pain quickly returning to your body. You could feel the intensity, the flame that wreathed you in strength flicker. You pull back to put distance between you two.

“You felt that, didn’t you. Doubt. Weakness.” Your heart skipped a heat. “There it is again. Can’t you feel it growing?” As he speaks, he slowly walks towards you.”I don’t even need to touch you, I need only speak your weakness into being. This power is grand, but it’s a metal hard to temper. This is a power He grants me, and it is through His guidance that I can understand it.

Do you know what faith is? Do you know why I can so easily draw doubt into your mind? Pick a god and pray my dear, because right now it doesn’t matter who you believe in. But if you plan to stand against me with nothing behind you then you’ll be swept away.”

Kata’s creature rises up from its hunched over position. It collects Kata and places him on its back. “Look upon me and see what my God can offer.” 

The creature swings its mighty arm and strikes true. You are struck by the mighty mass of entwined vibes and green detritus that has been wrapped up in its body. 

“Do you believe in the god that changed you?” you ask, “Well I believe in the self who changed.”

The creature’s arm is returned to the earth as ash and dust. Your body remains unharmed and your being unscathed. You lunge towards the creature, striking firm into its centre of mass. Like a spider bite, a ring of flesh around where you hit rapidly decomposed and the hulking behemoth was thrown onto its ass. You climb up its now corpse and confront Kata directly. 

You grab him firmly by the shoulders and push him off the back of the beast. You both collide with the earth, him pinned between you and it. You open your mouth and roar. Flames erupt from deep within you, scorching Kata and the grass you laid on. You screamed like someone screams into a pillow, until your voice went hoarse and you began to see stars. 

You stood up, the charred body of the man who imprisoned you remained. Your fire had burnt out.

You walked aimlessly in the direction you saw people leave and hoped to find something different.

********

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[alchemists-eve]

You find yourself inside a small suburban home. Your body did not follow you, yet you occupy this space. A man sits at his desk, cigarette in hand. His windows are closed, his ashtray is full. In the adjacent room was a boy. The boy sits cross legged in front of the TV, transfixed. The air is still and heavy with smoke that slowly billows its way from room to room, drawn not by a breeze or wind, but by the weight of the smoke itself. 

The man sat in absolute silence until his cigarette ran out. Then he would roll a fresh one, strike his lighter, and begin again. 

The boy stood up and approached the man. “Dad,” he said, “I’m hungry.”

The man sucked air in through his teeth and turned to the child, “And what do you want me to do about it?” He said, his voice muffled by smoke, blowing it into the boy’s face. The child coughed, and turned away. He returned to his place in front of the TV and waited for the day to end. 

The world shifted again, and suddenly the men were much older. The boy, now a teenager, and the man marked by wrinkles. The older man sits in meditation under a large machine. “Turn it on” he commands. The boy approaches the back end of the machine. He reaches deep into an opening in the heart of the machine. This triggers something, you’re not 100% sure what, but the machine roars to life. The boy keeps his hand inside as the machine roars, rumbling and trembling, bent over the man. The man’s eyes are sealed shut.

The machine continues to stir and shake, fear covers the boy’s face. “Dad…?” he asks “I’m scared.”

“Shut up, Gideon. Keep it steady. Do not let go.” he barks.

The trembles of the machine turn into a rumble, turned into the outer lining of metal beginning to burst at the seams. Rivets pop and the boundless machine inside breaks free of its frame, thrashing about inside its metal cage, eager to break free. 

“Daaaaaaad” The teenager whines. “I don’t like thi-”

The man jumps to his feet. He stomps around the machine which threatened to burst and latches onto the boy’s arm. He restrains him, holding him deep inside the body of the machine. The boy, the teenager, his eyes begin to well with tears, his face overcome with fear. “Dad!” He screams.

“Do. Not. Let go.” 

The machine erupts. Shrapnel cuts through the air, slicing through both boy and man. The pair and thrown from their feet and onto their backs. The boy carries on crying, while the man lays in silence. 

“I’m a failure.” Says the man, “A failure of a father.”

********

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[alchemists-eve]

Your body is burdened by the nature of existence. The world imposes itself upon you. Manifold, experience, memory, creation, destruction, observation and understanding, all things which push you down.They mould you, and change you, and impose a shape upon your being that you call a body. But what fills that body is a mind which craves freedom. It pushes back, it resists. It fights against the limitation that extension imposes upon you.

But these limitations are illusions. Falsehoods placed upon the mind which limit what you can be. How does a fire extinguisher become a camera? How can a what-is become a what-wasn’t? These things were always capable of changing. And so are you.

Your name is Erstwhile, don’t forget that. 

You didn’t think to stand. You were standing. You didn’t think to grab Kata. You were grabbing Kata. Flames lapped against your flesh like weightless seaweed bends with the ebb and flow of the tide. Your body does not ache, does not sweat, does not feel anything. For the first time in your life, you are one with your body. Your body is you.

Balls of web were slung in your direction. They crossed the event horizon of your body, disappearing. No ash remained. You were left unabated. Focused and fixated on the man in your hand. Burns formed where you held him, radiating like an outline around your hand. He writhed and wriggled, gasping for air.

The boundary between you two blurred. Looking deep into his eyes you saw who he was. Who he had always been. 

********

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[alchemists-eve]

The rumbling turned to loud thuds as something large approached. You both rushed outside to find an enormous monster made of vines. The gargantuan faux-beast erupted from the forest with a howl. 

Josi turned back into the mess hall and screamed: “RUN. NOW.” 

A gaggle of researchers emerged in a panic, running as fast as they could in the opposite direction to the beast. You, heeding Josi’s words as spoken, but not in spirit, sprinted directly for the creature. Gripping your table-knife in hand, you threw yourself onto the beast. 

“Wrong way!” Josi screamed, but adrenaline was already coursing through your veins. 

You leapt onto one of the creature’s mighty vine-tentacles, thrusting your tiny weapon as deep as it could go. Without hesitation you dragged the knife down and across the perimeter of the monster’s flesh, opening up a wide gash. The creature roared its terrible roar and gnashed its terrible teeth as it whiped itself around to throw you from its body. You clung for your life, digging nails into the soft plant-flesh for grip. 

From atop the monster emerged Doctor Kata, his eyes white with power as he manipulated the plant-creature. He spoke in words that echoed through the beast’s roar. “You can’t escape. Observe the power of my God.” 

He swung his arm wide, and the creature followed in kind. One fell swoop threw the entire bedding tent across the clearing. You emerge from behind the monster up high. Digging the  knife into the monster's back, you use your body weight to ride it down. The dull knife cuts like butter through the writhing mass of vines and tentacles which compose the creature’s body. They frey, untethered, writhing loose in the air. The creature reals in pain, and Kata shifts to regain his balance. 

He looks down to see you. His expression wasn’t of disappointment or anger, but of sinister joy. He snaps his fingers and from within the canopy of the forest a ball of web flies towards you. It catches you across the face, throwing you off the monster and onto the ground. A large tentacle pins you down under its weight. Looking out across the clearing, you can’t see Josi anywhere. She must have left with the others. 

You writhe and squirm but the weight of the creature is too much for you to move. Kata climbs if and is once again looking down over your captured body. Panic begins to well up inside you all over again, your thoughts race at the idea of going back in that cage.

Something deep inside you breaks. The world begins to melt away. First it was Kata’s boot, the black leather started to sweat and peel away, the texture and colour melting into the grass below it. This too began to melt and fade away. The tree line turned into an impressionist painting of greens, browns and blues. 

From the work of art, your doppelganger emerged. They walked slowly with wide strides towards you, “You haven’t figured it out, have you?" 

"Argh!" You scream at the apparition. "Help or don't!"

"That's fine. I remember this. It's weird being here." They snickered. "But listen. If the camera can change its nature, if Sexcrus can change his nature, if Kata can. So can you."

Something snapped inside you. It lurched forward like a broken bottle primed for the attack. From within you feel it pierce your body. You wretch in pain, as it radiates across your chest. You scream. You scream and scream and scream until your vocal chords die. You heave up rasping stillness that felt like sandpaper, a blood vessel bursts in your eye. 

Then it clicked. Change. You can just change.

You bite down on the dirt and roar. 

You understand it now. What makes the change happen. 

Your body erupts in a plume of flame.

********

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[alchemists-eve]

I just wanted to apologise for not having uploaded new parts recently. The truth is, I've finished the current act of Alchemist's Eve. I just haven't made any art for it or uploaded it yet. What I am doing, however, is adapting it.

Into Twine.

Twine is a text based game engine that I'm hoping will be a bit of fun to mess around with.

The reality is that its hard for me to continuously create something as it is on a platform like tumblr long term. This is the longest piece of writing I've ever done, and while it has gained some attention over the last few months, I've struggled to feel totally motivated by it. I can't see actual viewer numbers, only interactions, and I figure a thing like this would have very little direct interaction. But its still hard to keep motivated.

So in the interest of keeping it going, I'm branching out and exploring new ways of exploring this world and these characters.

No word on scope at the moment. Right now it is just a straight rip of the text from here into the engine. But we'll see where experimentation takes us.

[alchemists-eve]

You burst into the mess hall, making a beeline for where Josi was sitting. She was sat in the far corner, shovelling food into her mouth. Your fire in your belly had all but burnt out as you really saw her for the first time. Your stomach was stretched thin. Like you were hungry and full all at the same.

She had been pretty in the dark. But she was breathtaking during the day. Eyes as blue as the sky, and skin as deep as the ocean. But so fixated on this woman, you missed the table between you, tripping over it and rolling onto the floor.

She rushed to you, rice flickering from her lips as she grabbed your arm. She guided you up to a seat. With a mouth full of food she mumbled, “I’m glad you’re feeling better,” she swallowed, ‘But you need to take care of yourself.

You were shocked when you heared her speak. Her voice was like rolling thunder. You tried to say something, anything. But somehow you managed to forget every word there had ever been. Your tongue had swollen to twice the size of your mouth and your lungs hogged all the air. All you could do was nod and blink. So you did. 

She smiled softly, reassured in herself that you could sit up without incident, and returned to her food. Her face flushed with embarrassment as she began to dig in, realising you were without. In truth, you weren’t all too hungry. If anything you felt quite queasy, a frog still caught in your throat. However, by way of that frog, you couldn’t protest.

She approached the rations. A table, far larger than the food found on it. In its centre was a large bowl of rice surrounded by the dwindling remains of anything anyone could find to enhance its flavour: Ketchup, a nearly empty bottle of soy sauce, a completely empty jar of mayonnaise, and hazelnut sandwich spread.

All you could do was watch her. Every move, every action felt choreographed. She moved with a nearly programmatic grace, as if it had been her destiny to walk across this tent. 

She could feel you stare. “Are you okay?” She asked.

The rubber band that was your brain snapped back. You realised where you were: at this camp, sitting down, wanting to talk to Josi, apparently about to eat. “Thank you.” you said as she placed the bowl in front of you, “Thank you for everything.” 

“It’s a pleasure! Thanks for popping in.” She chuckled digging back into her meal. 

You sat and ate in silence for some time, trying to work up the nerve to actually speak with her. You searched tirelessly for the place where your passion had gone. Small talk would have to suffice. But as you opened your mouth to ask a question, she cut you off. 

“Meanwhile, right?”

“Excuse me?”

“Your name. Meanwhile, or something?

“Erstwhile.” you corrected.

She chuckled, bumping the table. “That’s it! I’ll never forget it now!”

You chuckled awkwardly along. 

“So, Erstwhile. What brings you to me?”

“Pardon me?” You ask with a stammer.

“You came in with such passion; such fire in your eyes. I doubt it was just to thank me. What’s on your mind?” Even her words felt deliberate, her words emphasised with large movements; a first pump, throwing her arms out, stomping her feet.

You explained to her your concern about Kata. You pointed to the dwindling food supply and wondered what plan she might have to take the camp back.

She sighed a deep sigh. Her confident demeanour betrayed itself for only a moment. "I don’t have a real answer to that. It was bad enough with just Doctor Kata. But, if what you said was true; if there is someone else, then I have no ideas. Especially if he’s a superhero.”

"W-well. Maybe I can help. I have a magic camera that can set stuff on fire!" 

She paused, blinking with bewilderment. "Like a-" she mimed the action of taking a photo, "that…" she mimed the explosion of a giant fireball

"Yeah! You might have even heard it. A few days ago when Sexcrus and I first arrived, I tried to get Kata. There was a huge fireball, I reckon you could have seen it from here." You gestured in the vague direction of Kata's camp outside the open mess hall tent. 

"That was YOU?" She challenged.

"That was ME!" You reassured.

Josi fell into deep thought. You could almost hear the cogs ticking away in her head. "I guess that does change things. But you don't have the camera now, do you?"

This time it was your turn to be dejected "No. He took it and he still has it. But, whatever I did that made that camera, whatever magic did it, he has a whole book of that stuff. Who knows what could happen if we take back the camp."

She cringed at the word "magic" but otherwise seemed compelled. "Still, we're in no better position without getting that camera." 

"Maybe you could snatch it?" You suggested. 

"Not after breaking you loose. I'd only taken stuff he'd never notice was missing. But when I saw he took a hostage…" she trailed off, unsure what words to say. "That man is evil."

“Thank you, again.” you reminded her.

She smiled a wide and toothy grin, “Again, it was a pleasure.”

In was at this point the table began to rumble. The sounds of falling trees and thudding footsteaps could be heard outside the tent. Josi readied her fork. You grabbed the butterknife.

********

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[alchemists-eve]

You woke up slowly that morning. This space was new. But, it afforded you a lack of responsibility you sorely needed. You found yourself in a large canvas tent filled with empty cots identical to yours. As people came and went, you would pretend to drift back off to sleep.

You took solace in the time you were given to rest. Personal items, jumpers and jackets littered the various beds; marking the territory of each sleeper. It smelt like a changing room.

Along one of the long sides of the tent the entrance was rolled up, allowing a breeze and fresh sunlight in.

It wasn’t long before someone arrived for you.

“I noticed you were awake. You might enjoy some of this.” He said, handing you a tall cup of black coffee. A bold choice to make regarding someone’s coffee preferences, but his risk paid off. 

“Thank you. It’s a nice place you’ve got here.” you remark as the stranger sat across from you. 

He shrugged, “You know how it is. Best we can do with what we’ve got.” 

Looking out over the makeshift courtyard, you felt a sense of familiarity. The camp is set up very similar to Kata and Sexcrus’, albeit more sparsely filled. However, what stood out to you was how alive it felt. Thirty-something people populated the space, talking, mingling and doing their own thing, all together. The space was abuzz with noise and activity.

You drank deeply from the fragrant tar. Your headache melted away, dripping streaks of relief down your back. It sent shivers up your spine. Sinking into the business of your newfound space, the white-noise of humanity pulled you deep into your cot. 

“So you’re the one Josi found, right?” the kindly man inquired. 

“Oh umm. My name is Erstwhile.”

The man was visibly surprised. “You don’t hear a name like that every day. I’m Toby. I work with Josi and the rest.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m from town. I had no idea so many people were out here.” you remark.

“Well, we’re a serious research crew hoping to perform some serious research. But you know the rest. It’s such a shame, though. I would still like to study that meteorite.”

“Yeah, actually I was curious about that. What’s the big deal with it? Looked like just a rock.”

Tobi’s face lit up with excitement. The metaphorical seams which kept him stitched together were positively bursting as he tried to restrain his excitement. “It’s from space!” He erupted, quickly covering his mouth. 

Someone from outside the tend heard this and returned his volley with a “Hell yeah, space!” 

“What’s space?” you ask. 

Tobi pointed upward with an expression of pure delight. All you saw was tent.

“It came from the sky! Far above. All that blue is actually an endless void. Filled with other worlds and giant balls of fire called Suns. And this rock came from there!”

The hairs stood up on the back of your neck. The idea rattled you deep to your core. The world inverted and, for a moment, you weren’t a person standing on Earth below a dome of sky. You were an insect clinging to a surface above an endless void. You were a child first setting foot into the ocean. You were a shipwrecked sailor staring into the oncoming storm.

“Fucking hate that.” you said.

“It’s a lot for someone to take in at once.”

“So what’re you all planning to do to take it back?” 

“If there is a plan, I don’t know about it.” He said, dejected. “But I’m sure Josi’s concocting some shenanigans. She’s the only one brave enough to touch the place.”

You laid pensive in your cot. Your line of sight looked far beyond the man who sat beside you. You stare further than the walls of the tent. Beyond the sky, the stars, and straight into the eyes of revenge. A fire burned in your throat as gears began to turn. A devilish smile crept its way across your face. 

You threw your bedding aside and jumped to your feet. Your belly fire ignited with a further righteous fury. 

“Where is she?”

******** 

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[alchemists-eve]

“Can you…” you began. “What happened to your camp?”

Josi was hesitant at first. You suspect she didn’t want to overwhelm you already. But you were desperate for some distraction. Anything to pull you out of yourself. So you nodded affirmingly.

She began with a deep inhale.“My crew and I had originally set out to research the meteorite. The one at the centre of camp. Doctor Kata was a member of our crew and took a particular interest in it. Even as the rest of us were assembling the camp he spent the entire time observing it up close. I figure he was just keen.

Once the camp was set up, however, he showed his true intentions. Not a moment after the final piece of equipment was installed he mutinied. Massive vines erupted from the soil and grass spewed from the earth like water.” Josi’s voice betrayed a pain that her words masked.

The pair of you slowly moved onward as she told the story. The night’s breeze softly shook the brush around you. Wrapped in her jacket, you felt comfortable as the events of the last couple of days ran through you. As things began to settle, something else rose up.

“Why did you stay out here?”

“Well, we still want to do what we came here for. But, when he took all the equipment he also took all the cars. We don’t really have a way to leave. And there is no mobile reception so far out of town.”

“How are you gonna get it all back?”

“No idea. Our first priority is making sure everyone is safe. Then…” she trailed off. It was clear she had no real answer to that question. “Frankly, getting it back is wishful thinking. We should just leave.”

“What about Bug Man?”

“Who?”

“The guy with him,” you assert. “The weirdo superhero. Apparently that’s his son.”

“What, like an actual superhero?"

“You’ve never heard of him?”

“I mean. I work with meteorites. I figuratively live under a literal rock.”

You spend the remainder of the trip to Josi’s camp filling her in on what happened. You were marched through camp towards the makeshift dormitory. The few people who filled the sparse camp late at night whispered to each other. “Whose that?” someone whispered. “I don’t remember him?” another muttered. Your eyes were heavy. You couldn’t see who was speaking.

Josi didn’t so much place you into the cot as she threw you onto it. The comfort of a surface that gave to your weight overwhelmed you with comfort. You felt your muscles relax, and their weariness manifested in full force. You could not move.

The last thing you remember was the feeling of a blanket being tucked in around you and the cool breeze tickling your nose.

******** 

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[alchemists-eve]

The woman finally broke the silence. "I'm Josi by the way." 

You pushed through mud and foliage. The forest around you closed in as you soldiered on. Twigs crunch underfoot. You were reminded of the impact of humanity. Much of the nature you’ve experienced hadn’t been naturally occuring, the concrete world carving a little slice of nature apart from which everything else was demolished. You wonder thoughtlessly whether the forest you found yourself in was an extension of this. Was it truly always there, was it a product of human intervention. Is there a meaningful distinction between the two? 

Was crushing the leaves underfoot something that helped them or hurt them? Was this the weak caving under your mighty boot? Or was it interference from a force conscious enough to care? Does consciousness oblige you to care? Does obligation to care mean it’s the best thing to care? You were locked in a cage, and it can be hard to fully understand and accept whether its appropriate to kill a plant in the context of having just been locked up in a fucking cage.

Your hands quivered, and the meandering thoughts helped keep you occupied as you stumbled heel over foot behind your saviour. You looked at her from behind, and it was all but impossible to understand who or what she was. You saw a person. Well, you saw the back of a person. Dark hair, maybe black, tied up and plated into a braid which crept its way down her back. She wore a jacket of some kind. You suspected it was made from tanned leather, but it was all but impossible to tell in the dark light. 

Who was she? Josi, apparently. But who or what is a Josi?

You quivered, "I'm Erstwhile."

On the flip side, a part of you was completely absent. The events of the last few days had left you empty. The left half of both your eyes focused on the woman and path before you, the right side of both let your gaze linger. You felt the bags under your eyes. You felt the fatigue in your legs. You felt her hand scratch absently on your hand as she held on tight.

She asked. Her tone sounded desperate as she tried to keep you going. "That's a gorgeous name. Let me guess. Your mum picked it!?" 

It had been a while since you’d eaten. It had been a while since you’d slept. It had been a while since you’d felt comfortable and the taste of your dream the night before was still on your tongue. 

"Actually I chose it." You replied, trying to reassure her that you were okay. "How far?"

"We're nearly there,” she replied. “You’ll be safe."She looked at you with eyes that reflected the stars. "But if you're having trouble walking…” she trailed off, looking you up and down. “Yeah, you're pretty scrawny. How about I carry you?"

The sudden offer for help was more than you’d been prepared for. Your knees buckled under your weight. The underbrush was soft. You couldn’t remember crying but tears ran down your face. 

Josi sat down with you and did her best to comfort a perfect stranger. “It’s okay. You’re okay now. Not far now. Just a little further.” She said in that way people do when they don’t know what’s going on. You were a mess, and sounds that weren't quite word trickled from your lips. You tumbled and withdrew, trying to get your bearings as the world spun and spun and spun.

'Settle yourself,' you thought, 'use the counting trick. Five things you see. Four things you feel. Three things you hear. Two things you smell. One thing you can taste.'

But it didn't work. Feelings continued to well, and the forest closed in on you. You grabbed hold of Josi as hard as you could and pulled yourself in, desperate never to let go of someone again. 

An "Oh god" escaped her lips. She grabbed and held you tight. "I'm so sorry." Her voice was alive with righteous fury. 

"How much further?" You sob.

"See that light up ahead," she pointed through the brush. You squeeze a peek, your face still buried in her jacket. Deep though the canopy and foliage you spied a dull glow.

******** 

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[alchemists-eve]

Day turned to night once more as the father-son pair carried on within their tent. No thoughts crossed your mind as you sat, unsure of what would come next. You picked at the peeling paint that covered the bottom of your cage. You rapped the bars of your cell, each ringing a different note. You counted the blades of grass in a nearby patch. Then recount them again because you weren't sure if you got it right the first time. There were 1,798 blades and 3 dandelions.

Tonight Bug Man didn’t come to light the fire. The cold scoured your spirit and bore into your bones. But still, all you could do was wait and hope sleep would come to break up your day.

It was only as you began to drift that, in the shadows behind a cluster of crates, you saw a figure. It was small, crouched low. You turned away, and pretended not to see. But curiosity took over, darting your eyes back and forth. For moments it vanished, only to appear a little closer. The figure was focused. Indifferent to the camp and the pair of men. You recoiled like a frightened animal. Too afraid to scream or confront it.

It closed in on you and, as the light of the adjacent tent revealed their form, you saw it was a woman. She looked you in the eye and pressed her finger to her lips. You nodded. She smiled.

She approached with a keyring of small un-key-like objects and began fitting each one into the lock. The woman’s grimace grew with each failed attempt. She looked behind her to make sure no one saw.

After four attempts the lock popped open and the door swung free. She beckoned for your hands. You offered them, quivering with fear. Slowly she drew a knife and freed you from the web. Holding you close, she guided you quietly out.

********

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[alchemists-eve]

"Wake her up"

"Listen. I told you. They use they/them pro-"

"Don't you tell me to listen. Wake her up!"

You feel a gentle nuzzle on your shoulder before a "Move, idiot." and a third kick to your ribs. You're a stubborn sleeper, but no amount of stubborn could keep you from this delightful day. The cold morning air sharply fills your lungs as you gasp for breath, the morning fog settling sweetly all around you. You roll over, your eyes misaligned with the latticed bars of the cage.

“Morning sweety. Today we’re going to finally help each other.” The Old Man taunts, grabbing you by your webbed wrists and throwing you onto the dry dirt. It was as cold as the cage, but compared to the rigid metal floor, the dirt was a simple pleasure.

Looking forward you can see the interior of his tent. Across its far wall was a long workbench, with tools and sundries littered about. In the centre sat a large tome, and beside that was your Red Camera. The old man slowly walked over, collected your camera, and returned to you.

He knelt down, once more, and asked, “Do you know what you’ve done?”

The morning was still so new to you, you couldn’t possibly answer th-

A sharp kick to your stomach spewed food you couldn’t remember eating.

"Do you know what you've done!" The old man roared. He stormed off to collect your camera. He tossed it to the ground in front of you. "You've ruined everything! This shouldn't exist! What you did, that page you read!"

"I don't-" you groaned, the edge of your vision beginning to fade. You started absently across the dirt, trying desperately to edge the panic attack that rose up from the bottom of your heart, teasing its way into your throat.

The old man crouched down to meet your eye-line. "I have spent my life trying to understand the nature of things. To understand how things are, how things have been and how things will come to be. I understand more than you could ever imagine. I have come to know my God as He is, for what He is, not who people wish Him to be. And I learnt to love that. But this?" He pulls the camera over to you, "This is an abomination. This should not be. This is a mistake."

He stood up, all the rage drained from his eyes. Dirt covered the front of his robes. "And it's a mistake I don't know how to fix." He turned to face Sexcrus, "Thank you for bringing her here. Maybe with her we can find a way to fix this."

The pair dragged you back into the cage, and locked the door again. Your face remained emotionless as you let this happen to you. You didn't thrash. You didn't bite. You didn't resist. You went back into your cage.

********

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[alchemists-eve]

“Look upon yourself and ask the questions, Ask the questions that give you butterflies. Warp and change who you think you are And know these questions are meaningless."

"Nothing is created to be understood. Yet you were created to understand.

Who are you? What do you do? Why do you keep doing it when all things tell you not to? Who hurt you? Who healed you? What pushed you to take that next step?

In asking the question your understanding of yourself changes. You ask. You answer. You know. You grow. You’re different. You ask again. The answer has changed. If you ask, you are the kind of person who would ask. If you don’t ask, you're the kind of person who doesn't ask. You cannot observe the world from within.”

A sense began to develop.

You watched as your body extended indefinitely through time, forward and backward. You are nothing along the spectrum of all of existence. Tiny. Floating through space. A spec on the windshield of a car on a road in a city on a continent on a planet in a solar system in a galaxy in a universe.

You ask the infinitum of space and time who you are. But it does not hear you. You are nothing.

Within you something develops further.

You dive into the world around you, falling and shrinking into the space between molecules and atoms. You descend into worlds far smaller and complex than you could ever imagine. A body with a heart with veins with blood full of cells comprised of proteins composed of molecules built from atoms formed by electrons.

You ask the infintesium of the atom who you are. But it does not hear you. You are nothing.

“Listen to the fire. Listen to how it snaps and crackles. How it moves with the wind. It is distinct yet the same as the air around it. Take a photo. Look at it. It’s different now. Yet it is still fire. It burns. It does so because, by its nature, it is powerful. And when all things tell it that its strength doesn’t matter against the blazing sun it doesn’t stop burning the hands that touch it. When it is abstracted to a chemical reaction, does it stop heating a room?”

You grasp the chains in your hand, and listen. You feel the warmth of the room vanish, coallessing in your burns. You grip the chains harder, as the warmth concentrates into your palms.

The fire grows strong and wild, the flames lick the edge of the fireplace, and the crackles and snaps become pops and bangs.

“I still don’t get it.”

"You will."

The chains snap

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[alchemists-eve]

You were there.

You were chained up.

Held up above your feet, strapped to the wall behind you, your heart rate spiked as you ran to you. You huffed furiously trying to set yourself free. You looked down at yourself, and saw your efforts, but the chains had made you weak.

You tried to break free a dining room chair. Craft a makeshift weapon. To break the chain. To smash the wall. To do something useful. But they refused to budge.

At the sight of yourself you came to life. “How did you get stuck here?"

“Me?” you struggle, scouring the room for a way to free yourself, “I’m not the one trapped here!”

“You look pretty trapped to me.”

“Shut up!” you scream, “Help, please!”

You shake your head and let out a sigh long since defeated, “It ain’t gonna work. This ain't my first rodeo, cowpoke. There’s no way you're getting me outta here that easy.”

You looked at yourself, terror dripped from your eyes. You didn’t know what to say, what to ask. All you could do was sink into the stone chair beside the stone table, in the stone room and look up at yourself.

You smiled.

“How did you get here?” you ask.

“Oh, that’s a long and boring story. You won’t want to hear it.” you reassure yourself.

“I absolutely do want to hear it.”

“Fine. I don’t want to tell. How’d you get here?” you demand.

“I woke up here.” you concede.

"Strange place just to be waking up." You embrace a full body yawn, "but I won't lie; I've woken up in stranger places."

"Really?" You ask,

"Nah not really. Now how about we help each other out."

You looked over at yourself perplexed, unsure really who this was. They looked like you, sounded like you, hell even kind smelt like you. But spoke words you've never said.

The fire crackled quietly as the two of you looked each other up and down. You looked completely confident in what the two of you were capable of. While you looked entirely terrified of what the two of you were capable of.

“Alright, let's get down to brass tax. I can get us outta here, but I can't do it alone. I need your help,” your clone beckoned. “Alright, so I need you to break these chains.”

"Oh, no fucking worries. Let me pull out my trusty bolt cutters."

"I could slap you."

"The feeling is mutual."

“God am I really this snarky? Look, just grab the chain. This is where things are going to get weird.”

“This is whe-have you seen-.” you throw your arms into the air, pacing around the room. Finally you give up and approach the figure on the wall. “Fine.”.

"You and I are about to change."

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[alchemists-eve]

One room leads to another. Traversing the space, each room grew stranger. Bisected bedrooms, dissociated dining rooms and Kafkan kitchens created cruel chrimeric chambers in a world which seemed increasingly resentful to your presence. But with each room, the fires grew stronger. You could feel yourself drawn onward. 

this place is a message... and part of a system of messages... pay attention to it! 

You didn’t notice the message at first. Walking aimlessly, you didn’t bother to look into each room. But something pulled you back. The ominous message was carved deep into the stonewalls of the room.

Then you saw the room. A pastiche of homely spaces, the room became something onto itself. No longer recognisable as a room-in-a-house, it was a space.

Matte black walls that did not cast shadows. Boundless figures became the space they shared with void. A magic eye puzzle, your eyes twisted and bulged trying to grasp the something within nothing.

sending this message was important to us. We considered ourselves to be powerful.

From the walls of the rooms soft spikes emerged. Small, riddling the walls, floors and surfaces, they all reached for the warnings on the wall. Standing to attention, infinite eyes listening to a message left in hope no one would hear it.

this is not a place of honor. no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here. nothing valued is here. 

The spikes grew. The walls changed. Facial facades laughed at you, cackling to the tune of an open fire. They hate you. Hate you. Hate you. "Leave. Do not return." They shriek in silence. "Why do you carry on?" They carry on, "Why do you keep going?"

You keep going.

what is here was dangerous and repulsive to us. This message is a warning about danger. 

Take photos of the wall. Look unto the messages for clues. What lies beneath what they tell you. What lies do they obscure. Touch the stone. Feel where perfection was destroyed. Where artistry came to die. Blood tips the edge of the message, an underscore mired in pain. 

the danger is in a particular location. it increases towards a center. the center of danger is here.

Hands. Words carved by hand. Grooves for each digit and figure nails to match. A warning before the end, but no body to mark death. You looked on to the next room, the corridor between you and it, long and narrow. 

Someone is humming.

********

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[alchemists-eve]

As you opened your eyes, you couldn’t tell where you were. Frankly, you couldn’t tell if your eyes were open. You reached your arms forward, and grabbed nothing. The good news: you’re not trapped in a box smaller than your arms. The bad news: that’s literally all you know.

What this did determine, however, is that you were laying down. You throw your arms back out to your side and hear them splash into shallow water. You fling yourself upright, and bring with you a wave. The impact was surprising, but not unpleasant, as the water’s temperature perfectly matched your body. You could barely feel it.

There was still no light and no indication of where you were. Rolling onto all fours, you carefully crawled on towards whatever direction felt like forward. You felt ahead with each step, and eventually came to a shallow platform that emerged from the water.

You carried on until you reached a wall. No, not a wall. It was tall, but not wide. You pawed up what you realised was a pillar, and slowly started standing as you did. It wasn’t tall, maybe half your height, but it served as a nice anchor point.

As your hand touched the soft tip of the pillar, you heard the crackle of tinder. The pillar’s top slowly began to spark and glow and from it a mighty flame emerged. Fire giving birth to light.

The pillar and platform were carved from matte black stone, which softly reflected the newfound light. While the water around you reflected what of the world it could, perfectly.

As the first pillar caught flame, slowly others began to as well. They followed along a path, and from them the interior of a grand castle began to light up. Room after room after room. The outside edge blended seamlessly into the abyss behind, creating a smattering of a-glow window arches, like stars across the void of space.

Following the pathway, you enter into a large parlour space, greeted by a warm fireplace burning beside you. Wherever you are, it wasn’t cold, but it's definitely lovely and warm now.

You move onward, nothing but a solid stone table and chairs greet you here. They each seemed to be made the same way as the pillar. Seamlessly cut from a single piece of stone.

********

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