Screaming Obscenities [Alicia]

[amy]

As they approached Castle Town, Amy started fading. She tried to hold Aure's mind dominant with tooth and nail but she was fading. The wonderful clarity of the past two weeks vanished like dew at sunrise until she could barely remember to put one foot in front of the other when she dismounted from her brother's back in sight of the town. She nodded vacantly as plans were laid out and promises were made, and then walked into town alone, leaving Aure to find his own way into town undetected.

When he vanished from her mind, the ache of the loss of his presence was enough to bring her back to herself. Just long enough to remember to slip her Daily Details around her neck with a piece of string. Just long enough to remember the secret details of her time with Aure she'd written there. Just long enough to cry.

You should never have done this. They're all going to be so furious.

And then I was gone again. Lost in a hundred thousand eyes and ears.

I was simultaneously shocked, frightened, disgusted, disturbed and pitied by my appearance. I was covered in layers of dirt, unwashed, my hair a wild tangle, my dress a worn, tattered rag. I was covered in bruises and scrapes, focused especially on my knees and elbows. My shoes were gone, and I had a pronounced limp, though not from any particular injury. I was still sore from Aure and mine's last night together. I reeked of fur and forest, and yet I couldn't stop smiling.

Until I did.

Something horrible was happening. Pain and panic overwhelmed everything else and I heard myself shrieking, saw myself frantically trying to batter away some unseen attacker. Felt the spearing agony of the knife breaking the skin and the spurt of hot blood covering my hand as I raised the knife for a second strike and I felt him grabbing me and tearing at my clothes and grunting and I knew finally that bitch would get what was coming to her.

"RAAAAPE!" I heard someone scream. It was me, I saw. "SOMEBODY HELP ME! HE'S KILLING ME! HELP ME PLEASE SOMEBODY!" Slight unease and annoyance as the mad minish girl bumped into me and shoved me aside the knife goes in and out and in and out goddess yes finally got her out of those pants STOP SQUIRMING YOU BITCH and there are fewer eyes now to watch me stumble screaming and babbling and crying through the streets, begging the air to just spare me oh god that feels so good I bet you like that you little bitch don't you and I'm twitching and dying and drowning in my own blood and crushed by his weight as he holds me down and hurts me as I run towards the psychotic minish woman and feel her grab hold of me and I look into her eyes as she sobs and begs. "Please please please help me I'm dying he's raping me why aren't you helping me HELP ME!"

[alicia]

x x

Pale Watchers

Alicia didn't have too many days off, and even when she did, there wasn't a very great difference between her lifestyle on the job and off of it. She liked to stay around Castle Town, watching the people who lived there, without any real explicit involvement with any of them. Alicia was a touch too passive. But she was also observant, and so when a young girl walked into town, displaying more than a few signs of serious trauma, Alicia was one of the first to notice. But she looked perfectly content--happy, even, from the smile on her face--so Alicia didn't bother investigating just yet. Some people just enjoyed living in the forest. By the looks of her, she was a Minish, which explained quite a bit.

However, to the observant eye, everything was not all right, no matter how you sliced it. First, her content, cheerful smile began to fade, at first slowly, then rapidly. Then, one noticed all the cuts, and bruises on her body ... particularly concentrated around her legs and lower body. Alicia began to worry, began to wonder ... she knew that she was considered too much of a bleeding heart, but she didn't care. If people needed help, she would help them. When the girl began to bat her hands around her, Alicia's eyes narrowed, and she walked away from her shadowy corner towards the girl.

Before she could begin to reach her, things got much worse. She screamed, and flailed, and scared half the people in Castle Town. But not Alicia. The Knight Lieutenant immediately ran to the girl, and took her in her arms, ignoring her wildly flailing limbs, letting them hit her.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. You're safe now."

It was a funny thing, about Alicia. She could be quiet, soft, friendly, delicate, and unassuming: in fact, she was almost always all of these things. She cared more than most people ever word. She felt nothing but the need to comfort anyone in pain. In that, a lot of people would see incredible weakness; certainly, Amy's brother would.

But the truth was, within Alicia there was an iron strength, a will that would never give up, never give in, and never abandon anyone in need. And that included the young girl in her arms right now, the girl who Alicia had never even known: the one she was determined to help.

[amy]

In the few square miles of area I was spread through, not one person was being comforted like I was.

This kindness brings you back to yourself.

Well, as close to herself as she could get, given the situation. Currently dominant in Amy's mind were herself, Alicia, a violated woman crying in an alley, the rapist still basking in the afterglow and a murderer and his victim. Ranking a close second were two children who had gotten lost in the crowd, a thief being chased by guards, the guards chasing the thief, ninety-four people having sex, four taverns, a man beating his wife, the wife, and a fisherman. Then came the crowds, so thick they were like a single mind crammed with a thousand thoughts going on at once. Below that was the constant, thready hum of the animals. Further below that, the incessant whispering of insects.

The murder victim bled out. It was one of the easiest deaths to cope with in Amelia's experience, just below old age. She managed to stop screaming, clinging to Alicia like a drowning woman clinging to a rock, muttering nonsense words and gibberish rhymes and the thoughts and secrets of a hundred people to try and force a separation of the senses. "Thebitchshehaditcomingwhydoyoualwaysdisappoi ntmemommywhereareyouI'mtheonewhostolethatmoney the book the book read the book Alicia Dinhelpmepleasewhywon'tshejustdieandletmein heritshouldIkillhermanI'dlovetofuckthatbitchI'mcheatingonmyhusbandwithhissister" and on and on and on and on, rocking back and forth, biting the inside of her cheeks, shaking her head, blinking rapidly, desperately untangling herself from herself one painful strand at a time.

Meanwhile, the book hanging from the string around her neck called for attention. The first page would explain everything.

Your name is Amelia. Sometimes you get lost. That's okay, because you've got this book. Do what it says and you will be okay.

Addendum: If the one reading this is not Amelia, chances are she's close by and in danger. She may be throwing a tantrum, or attacking someone, or have gone catatonic or any number of things. Look for a fox minish madwoman. Get her somewhere private, calm her down, then contact Ahri in Castle Town. You will be paid handsomely.

[alicia]

x x

Pale Watchers

Alicia was just a little bit alarmed, maybe even frightened, by the girl who was flailing out and weeping and screaming in her arms. Slowly, the screaming stopped, and Alicia didn't let go, still held the girl in her arms. She had no idea what was going on--how could she?--but it was just her nature to want to help. She supposed it could be some elaborate plot to kill her, but ... that was more than a little far-fetched, and even if it wasn't, Alicia was very hard to kill. She tried to make sense of the gibberish the girl was spewing, but she couldn't make heads or tails of it. It only sounded like a thousand segments of a thousand stories, told in reverse order, with a different vocabulary for each one. It was terrifying, sad, and in its small way, beautiful. That was when she noticed the little bag around her neck. She looked at the girl and asked,

"May I?"

But there was no response. She just kept rambling, so, not knowing what to do, Alicia took the book out and opened it, her eyes scanning across the first page. Apparently this wasn't entirely abnormal for the poor girl, who was apparently named Amelia; Alicia didn't pay any attention to the promise of a reward. Alicia quietly put the book back around Amelia's neck, then pulled Amelia to her feet, not unkindly.

"Come on, sweetheart. I'll take you somewhere safe," Alicia promised, guiding Amelia, one painstaking, jerky step at a time, towards the guard barracks across town, where Alicia had her own comfortable, private quarters as a Lieutenant. No one would bother them there, and the Medicae would be nearby and easily accessible if the girl was hurt. Alicia didn't like the way she was limping. They made their way to the guard barracks, Alicia guiding them through an entrance that was as sparsely populated as possible. She took her to her own quarters, which were small, but quiet, and safe, and populated by the few, gentle items that Alicia had grown fond of. There was a little model knight on her dresser, and her bed, while comfortable, was rigid and strong. She indicated for Amelia to sit down there.

"Feeling any better?" Alicia asked, bending down and looking at her kindly.

[amy]

Still quietly babbling to herself, Amy let herself be led by herself to her quarters. She did her best not to be a burden, hating herself for having broken like that. Or at least she would hate herself once she had the headspace for it. Self-loathing took up a lot of runtime memory.

You sit down. Some awareness returns to your center. You remember how to talk.

Amy looked around the room, managing to still her tongue before she said something she'd regret. She tried to pick her first words carefully. "I- Yes. Thank you, Alicia."

You always forget that you're not supposed to know their names.

"I'm not crazy," she insisted, just a bit too crazily. "I'm not."

A pause in the conversation. All Amy really wanted to do was lie down in that bed and sleep forever. Then she realized how filthy she was. "Wow, some of the knights really don't approve of your promotion," she commented, forgetting to keep her mouth shut. She realized what she'd just done. She panicked, just a little bit. "I mean, not that you don't deserve it! A lot of them really like you! They think think you're pretty! I think you're pretty!"

Aaand that was completely the wrong thing to say.

Great job, you.

Shutting herself up by simply bringing both hands up to her mouth and holding it closed, Amy blushed with embarrassment. When she was confident she could talk without embarrassing herself, Amy removed her hands. By then her eyes had escaped her again, flitting to a manservant and a lady's maid rolling about in the kitchens. Her blush didn't fade, and she squirmed as their senses intruded on hers even further, remembering her recent nights with her brother. She realized she was starting to pant. She finally managed to stammer out a request. "Can I- Can I have some water?"

[alicia]

x x

Pale Watchers

Alicia blinked. How did this girl know her name? It was one of a growing number of questions Alicia found were rushing to her mind. She let it drop for now, though ... this girl had very clearly been done some serious harm, and there was definitely something wrong with her head. She was supposed to let these things wash over her, as a knight, and simply do her duty ... but it broke her heart. Not for the first time she wondered if she had the constitution to lead her own division of Knights.

"I believe you. You're very distressed, though," Alicia said softly, after Amy insisted she was perfectly sane. Alicia wasn't honestly sure if she believed her, but she would never say that. She just looked so hurt. Every protective instinct Alicia had--and she had more than a few of them--reared its head, and she just wanted to tell the poor girl that everything would be okay. Then, as though she'd been reading Alicia's thoughts, she started talking about Alicia's promotion. About her place in the Knights. Alicia's eyes flew wide, and she backed away a half-step, instinctively assuming a defensive posture. How in Hyrule did she know these things? Alicia didn't think her name was famous enough to have carried anywhere outside the barracks, and she certainly didn't think that what the knights thought of her was common knowledge.

Who are you? Alicia wondered, her eyes growing just slightly icy as she stared into the girl, trying to determine if she was some sort of spy in sheep's clothing. The remark about prettiness flew completely over Alicia's head, which was lucky, because she didn't really have the brainpower to be both suspicious and absolutely flustered at once. She watched Amy closely, the nodded.

"Yes, of course--let me get you a glass," Alicia muttered, pouring some ice-cold water she kept in a jug into a small, delicate ceramic mug. There were little carvings on either side of it, of birds. "Here you go. Just, please, tell me how you know these things, Amy. Some of it sounds like it could be ... compromising for the Knights. Then I can help you. I promise I'll help you," Alicia said, bending down and smiling. She had a hard time getting angry at anything not actively trying to kill her, to be honest. She couldn't stop staring at those little bruised knees and her dirty face. She was just a little girl who needed protection. Alicia's eyes drifted to the figurine of a knight sitting on her dresser. She smiled.

And who better to protect someone than a knight?

She tried to believe that was true.