Chương 12: Becoming God… as a Rock?!

as a Rock?!

Chapter Twelve Becoming God… as a Rock?! Urd's reaction was more or less what Alice had expected. The child's whole body shook as she turned from left to right. When nobody appeared at either end of the alleyway, she looked up towards the sky, her face a mask of terror. Urd took one trembling step towards the mouth of the alley and then a second. It was a moment before Alice realized the child was about to abandon her!

"Stay in the alley!" Alice was not sure why she wasted cursed energy on the [Serpent's Whisper], but the words spilled from her nonexistent lips all the same.

"Look inside the bucket!" Urd had almost disappeared from sight when her body went still. Alice could see the battle playing out across her thoughts as she stared, wide-eyed and trembling. Ultimately, Alice's whisper won out. Urd crept closer with all the nervous tension of a deer staring into headlights. She peered into the bloody water, and her face twitched.

"Did... Did the rock just...?" Alice knew a moment of victory then, but she had to be very careful with her next [Malevolent Whisper]. She likely only had enough cursed energy left for two. In hindsight, she should have just let Urd run away. All Alice had wanted was to escape the brothel, after all. But now that she had dragged The Girl back...

"I am no rock, but rather a... a god?" Alice whispered with as dignified a voice as she could muster. She summoned some of the words Sorin had used.

"I am Alice of the Merry Weather, and this stone is... is simply my vessel!" Urd leapt away from the bucket as if afraid Alice the Rock might lunge at her like a serpent. What was revealed of her face was white with fear.

"A... A god...?" The frightened words kissed the air but then Urd's face scrunched up with confusion. Some of her fear gave way to the unmistakable signs of doubt.

"I haven't... You said your name is... Are you Zora? Isn't she the... the closest god to Waterhold...?" Alice's mind went blank. It suddenly occurred to her that she had never actually heard anyone talk about the gods before. Sorin had mentioned The Fates, yes, but the gods? And what did Urd mean by the closest? Urd shifted uncomfortably as Alice searched for any helpful conversation she might have overheard at the brothel.

She was brought back to reality, however, as Urd undid the bandages wrapped tight around her head, revealing the horrific scales that covered her like bloody scabs.

"If... If you really are a god..." Urd bit on her lip, which only served to stretch the ruin of her face.

"G-Get rid of my... Cure my dragonrot!" Alice was left even more stunned. Dragonrot? Her mind jumped to the dragonhide gloves that Mittica had worn, but aside from that there had been no talk of dragons in this world.

"Make me... Make me normal!" Urd continued, and tears spilled down her face. Alice had very clearly lost control of the situation. Once more she metaphorically kicked herself for even calling The Girl back into the alley.

"That's what I thought..." Urd said, and she quickly covered her face.

"I don't... I don't know what you are... but I do know Dale will k-kill me if I don't bring you back..."

"Nooooo!" Alice shouted inwardly as The Girl hefted the Bucket of Alice off the alley floor. She did not want to be taken back, but what else could she say? How could she convince Urd?

"I-I'll protect you!" Alice whispered with the last of her cursed energy.

"I'll protect you from Dale! I'm a god! He's just... just some human!"

"Shut up," Urd said with a sniffle. She gave the Bucket of Alice a violent shake.

"I don't even c-care if you're a god. The gods have never helped me before. Even The F-Fates have... Just shut up!" Alice's spirits sank. Night dominated the town as Urd crept back the way they had come, her feet carrying her far more slowly than before. Much of the way was cast in darkness, but colorful lights lit some of the streets, revealing drunken merriment and good cheer. Urd slunk through the shadows opposite the festivities, her shoulders sinking lower and lower with each step.

Her eyes filled with fresh tears, but they remained unshed.

"Are you... really a god...?" Urd asked as she continued her mournful trod.

"I never heard of... There isn't a God of the Merry Weather. Not here in Waterhold." It seemed like a cruel joke that Alice had been so excited about doubling her cursed energy. Four whispers was all she could manage before she was dead to the world. It made no sense that [Malevolent Whispers] should cost so much more than [Serpent's Whisper].

"Oh well..." Alice said, trying hard not to fall too deep into despair. While her failure was an enormous disappointment, she just had to think of it all as... as a kind of trial run. She had made it out of the brothel. That was a win. If she had not tried to pretend to be a god, she probably could have just convinced Urd to...

"I could have just asked her to throw me out the window!" Alice said with a flash of inspiration.

"Yeah! I bet I could get one of the prostitutes to do that." Alice's mood was much improved as Urd began to walk down a well-lit street. It would have to be when Dale was asleep, of course, but that happened often enough. [Inevitable Discovery] would make sure she ended up in someone else's hands. The skill would probably work much faster in a town like Waterhold, as well. This new plan could work!

"Well, well, well." A familiar voice broke through the night's quiet.

"If it ain't my favorite little lady." Urd froze. Ice collected in Alice's nonexistent chest. Dale sauntered into Alice's cone of vision. Two thugs trailed behind him, their faces crude masks of violence. Dale himself was all smiles as he looked down at Urd and her bucket.

"Ugh!" One of the thugs took a revolted step away as he seemed to realize who was hidden beneath Urd's bandages.

"Iz that rot child. Why you call out ta her?"

"Ought to burn filth like her," the other thug said as if Urd was not standing right in front of him.

"Spreadin' their nastiness to us good and decent Fate-fearing folk." He spat.

"What're you doin' here?" Dale asked with a smile, pretending as if he had not heard either comment.

"Did Momma send ya on a chore?" This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Life seemed to return to Urd's spindly limbs.

"Y-Y-Yes!" she stammered, almost choking on the word. She clutched the Bucket of Alice closer to her chest.

"Momma... She wanted me to buy some... some more clover!" Dale nodded his head. And then looked around.

"At this hour?" His face was a pucker of scars and smiles.

"And you need a bucket of water to buy this... clover?" Alice could tell the situation was growing more and more dangerous with each breath. She did not think she had much cursed energy left, but she should have enough for a [Serpent's Whisper]. Could she tempt Dale to just leave?

"Head on without me," Dale said to his thugs, and Alice's hopes crashed.

"I need ta have a little chat with this little lady." The two thugs exchanged a look and then nodded without another word. They made a wide circle around Urd as if worried getting too close would sicken them.

"Come on," Dale said, grabbing Urd's arm. It was a miracle The Girl did not drop the Bucket of Alice. As soon as Dale touched her, Urd began to tremble like an earthquake.

"I'm... busy...?" Urd squeaked as Dale tugged on her arm. Dale simply tugged harder, splashing some of the bucket's water onto Urd's oversized gown. The Girl said nothing after that. She did not resist as Dale pulled her down a deserted alley. Alice watched, numb with horror. Was this how Urd's curse would end?

"This should be good," Dale said, and he released Urd's arm. He looked down at her with one of his characteristic smiles.

"What... What do you...?" Urd seemed to be having difficulty speaking. Her voice sounded like the rasp of an elderly smoker as she tried to push out the words. He continued to look down at her. After a few moments, however, his smile faded.

"I ever shown you anything less than kindness?" Dale asked slowly. Alice would have preferred if he had shouted. The Smiling Man wore an expression she had never before seen on his face. Dale looked sad.

"I... I don't..." Urd began to breathe very heavily and harshly.

"What... What do you...?" Dale slapped her. The sound was like a thunderbolt as Urd toppled sideways, dropping the Bucket of Alice onto the alley floor.

"No..." Alice felt her nonexistent heart catch in her throat. Alice the Rock tumbled out of the bucket along with the bloody water. Dale looked down at the black rock with what could have been a pout. Urd made a frightened squeak when she saw the rock. Her face was delirious with fear as she crawled across the alley floor and threw her tiny body over the stone, as if hoping Dale had not seen it.

"You really think I would leave somethin' that valuable just lying around?" Dale asked slowly. He sighed and shook his head as Urd continued to tremble.

"Who was it?" Urd shook her own head in answer.

"Who asked ya ta steal it, Urd? Was it one of them Puck Boys? Was it Karp?"

"I'm shooooooooorry!" Urd burst into hysterical tears as the strength went out of her. The Girl's body collapsed on top of Alice the Rock as if her strings had been cut.

"Pleaaaase, Uncle! I'm shorry! I'm shorry! I-I don't kn-know wh-why I... why I...! Pleaaaaase!" Alice felt like she was going to retch. Why? Why did she keep ruining people's lives? Sorin and Mittica. Ana Widowluck. How many lives was she going to ruin in this fantasy world? Some of Dale's melancholy disappeared as Urd continued to wail. A soft smile returned to his cheeks, and he knelt beside The Girl.

"Come on," he said, kindly. He patted Urd gently on the head, and she dared to look up. There was the faintest shimmer of hope in her eyes.

"I'd prefer not ta torture ya," Dale said as he continued to stroke Urd's bandaged face.

"So, who was it that tricked ya into stealin' from me?" Urd went very still. Even her tears seemed to stop as she stared into Dale's sadistic smile. She pointed at Alice the Rock with a trembling hand.

"The rock," Urd said simply, and Alice forgot all other emotion. Like an unexpected squall, Alice suddenly felt overcome... with fear.

"I don't understand," Dale said kindly, still stroking Urd's face. Alice did not know why, but somehow she knew it would be a very bad thing for Dale to know about her.

"I... I heard a voice," Urd said numbly. She continued to point at Alice the Rock.

"The rock spoke to me. It... It must have tricked me. The rock. The rock." Alice could not decipher the look on Dale's face.

"Don't tease me," he said, very slowly and very softly.

"You sayin' the rock... can speak?" Urd nodded as if she were a doll.

"It said it... it wasn't a rock," The Girl began.

"It said it was a god." Urd may not have noticed, but something dangerous sparkled in Dale's eyes. Urd might have said more, but Dale clamped a hand quickly over her mouth.

"We shouldn't talk about something this... interesting here," Dale said. He patted Urd on the head a little more roughly than before.

"You were tricked. I forgive you." And life returned to Urd for a second time. The Girl's doll-like body went limp with relief as she began to shake uncontrollably. Tears sprang once more from her face, and she pressed herself against Dale's chest.

"I'm shorry! I'm sho shorry! I never shoulda! I never shoulda!" Dale simply patted her on the back as she continued to weep.

"Thank you! I'm sho shorry, but thank you!"

"Don't cry, little one," Dale said, disentangling himself from Urd's miserable delight.

"Everything's fine... But since we're here. Will it be your left or your right?" Urd sniffled noisily and looked up at Dale's horrible smile.

"I... I don't..." She stared in confusion as Dale reached for something behind his back.

"Stealing has ta be punished, little lady." He withdrew a familiar knife and flashed it in front of his face.

"So, you want ta keep your left or right hand?" Alice thought she had known hate. She thought the red emotion she had buried so deep was the depth of her fury. But as she watched the miserable transformation of Urd's face, Alice felt black with a want for annihilation. Urd wept. She threw herself back onto the ground. She begged. She screamed apology after apology, but Dale would not listen. He was shaking his head, and Alice wanted to rip it off his shoulders! She could see how happy The Girl's misery made him.

This inhuman monster seemed to be enjoying himself far more at this moment than he ever had thrusting in and out of his whores back at the brothel. Perhaps that was why he did not notice the man approaching from behind. Perhaps it was Urd's horrible wail, but Dale did not hear the clomp, thud, clo m p of heavy feet. The man was covered from head to toe in blood-spattered pelts such that he almost looked like a bear.

An unwashed beard covered his face as thickly as a mask, but Alice could see the man's eyes, and they were full of hate. Petre Bearblood raised his battleaxe high over his head. Dale seemed to notice him then, but it was too late.

"This is for the Little Master!" The ax cleaved through Dale's left arm in a mist of blood. The lump of flesh fell wetly onto the alley floor, sprinkling Alice the Rock in a triumphant shower of crimson. Skill Progress: Bloodthirsty [6 /10] Alice had never seen anything more beautiful than the snarl of pain that spread across Dale's scarred face. She had little time to savor it, however. Dale thrust his familiar knife at Petre with alarming speed. The blade buried deep, but Petre merely roared away the pain.

With a bone-crunching headbutt, the bear-like man sent Dale stumbling away. The knife wrenched free from his hand and was left embedded in Petre's neck.

"For Mister Goldtooth!" the bear-like man roared, and the animal shout snapped Alice free from her trance. She doubted she had enough cursed energy for a [Malevolent Whisper], but she pulled on Urd's ear and filled her head with the first desire she could think of.

"Run away! Get away from here!" Urd did not need much encouraging. She leapt to her feet, but she did not dart away at once. Alice blinked in surprise as Urd knelt and grabbed Alice the Rock. Only then did she disappear down the alley, her breathing heavy and her face white. The melee soon disappeared from Alice's cone of vision. The sounds grew fainter and fainter. Alice wondered if she had made a mistake telling Urd to run away. But then... A curse has reached its end. Received experience! Received cursed energy!

Skill Progress: Echo of Misfortune [6 /10 0] The notification gave no mention of whose curse had ended, but somehow Alice knew. She was stunned beyond belief that Petre had still been alive. She had always assumed the curse had claimed him days ago.

"... truth..." Alice snapped back to Urd as the frightened girl exploded out of the alley. She looked left and right and then began to sprint up a night-covered street.

"They were... telling the truth...!" Some of the bandages came undone as Urd continued to run, and Alice saw an expression she had never seen before on The Girl's face.

"They... They protected me...!" Urd said through deep gasps. Her face was a radiant smile.

"They... They saved me...! They must really be... must really be...!" A notification flashed across Alice's vision. Legendary Achievement Unlocked: It Always Starts With One Alice studied the notification with wide nonexistent eyes. She was not allowed even a moment to think about what could make an achievement legendary, however, as a second notification erased all other thoughts from her head. Requirements for a new class have been met. Would you like to become an [Object of Worship]? [Y/N]