Chapter 196: The Old Ones

Jumping on the bed, Alice couldn’t help but let out a loud groan and fall backwards, slamming on the bed.

’Another, another, another, ANOTHER! He must be lying. There can’t be another. It told ME to make the world my own; why would it need another?’ Grabbing the sides of her head, her fingers dug into her fiery red hair, her nails nearly clawing at the skin below, ’But he had no reason to lie; he said it in passing. There is another, who. Who are they.... Why?’ Staring at the ceiling, her eyes narrowed as the question dawned. The anger at potentially not being special transformed into confusion. "Why would another need to exist? It doesn’t make sense."

"Isn’t the answer obvious?" A playful voice called out from the window. Sitting on the ledge, leaning against their fist, Chesh appeared, her feet dangling as she stared at Alice with a small grin, "You’re so silly soemtimes, always doubting yourself and thinking too deeply"

"You don’t even know what I’m thinking about?" Alice snapped, making Chesh chuckle.

"Something stupid probably. Alice, I don’t need to be there to know what you think; I know everything about you. How great you are, but also how silly you can be."

"YOU KNOW NOTHING!" Alice screamed, "There is another Chesh. Someone else was told things by that being."

"So?" Tilting her head, she gently placed her hands to gather and smiled, "It’s just like a story." Alice huffed and shook her head.

"Chesh, there is another."

"Every adventure, every story, there is always a bad guy that must beat the main character, Alice. Isn’t it obvious? No one was good enough to be the bad guy, so that being had to do what they did for you."

Alice scoffed and crossed her arms. Staring at the ceiling, she thought on Chesh’s words and began to nod, feeling it made sense. "Still, there is another. It’s not right."

"Well." With a devious grin, Chesh softly chuckled. "You can simply make it one again."

"Yeah, I guess." With her mood returning to normal, Alice pushed herself up and spread her arms, Chesh appearing next to her in the opening and falling into her side and making herself comfortable. Having to wrap her arm around Chesh to be comfortable, Alice picked up the book and opened the first page.

At first she was disappointed; the book was thin compared to what was around it, fearing she may finish it far too quickly, but seeing the first page she couldn’t help but be intrigued. It wasn’t a vast amount of informaiton rather a list of titles.

’Eldest One, The Incomprehensible, The Creator and Dominator, The Ever Present, The Cycle, The Beginning and End, The Void, The One Outside of Time, The Paradox.’

Staring at the page, there was hardly any more information besides the titles. Yet they didn’t help her much either. Some were clear to understand, such as Primordial, but others left her confused.

’The Void. So is it the night sky then?’ Tilting her head, she read the four lines of text that weren’t titles associated with it. ’It created all and decides when all shall end. It can never be known nor understood. It cannot rule death, for death is foreign to it. Worship and fear are meaningless, for we are insignificant to It.’

"That’s it?" Flipping the page and seeing it move on, Alice was stunned. She remembered the books her teacher had given her on different Gods and thought back to it. Her eyes widened as she stared at the book before her, remembering the differences between this one and that. ’It had its name, but the page itself was blank? There is truly nothing on this being.’ Thinking back to that and her confusion and disappointment when the teacher told her it was because none had seen it, her lips instinctively curled up.

"Chesh, this must be it." Looking to Chesh, her smile widened. "The thing that spoke to me. Imagine, no one knows what it is. If I could be the one to comprehend it." Looking at the page, a mocking light flashed through her eyes. "Imcomprehensible." Laughing at the name, she turned the page, a plan already forming in her mind.

’That guy with the red eye will know more. If he is the one I am being taken to see, then I will ask him. Maybe I should ask the Old Ones as well when I see them.’ With a proud smile at her genius plan, Alice refocused on the next page. Unlike before, the new page was thick with information.

Alice stared at the title first; this time, the beginning only had one name rather than a list. ’Cloaked Maggots. Gross.’ Flipping the page before, not wishing to read about soemthing so disgusting-sounding, she smiled in satisfaction seeing the next one. ’A Thousand Eyes in One.’

Looking at the book, it went into extreme depth about the being. A creature who saw all, a creature that drives one insane from seeing it. A being that shouldn’t exist but did. Scanning the page, she paused. ’One who sees all but the truth.... It just said it sees all. This book is just like the dead Magi. All riddles to be solved, never saying anything properly.’ Groaning, she flipped the page. ’The Marble that Never Moves... boring.’ Fliping, she read the next, ’The Grin in Shadows...’ Looking to her left and seeing Chesh staring at her with her usual smile, she couldn’t help but laugh. "It’s like you."

"How?" Chesh earnestly asked, and Alice opened her mouth but stopped, tilting her head, making Chesh do so in the opposite direction.

"Well, it’s obvious. You always smile." Thinking, Chesh nodded, happy with the answer. Flipping the page again, Alice saw the next.

’The Hand with Many Fingers.... Many fingers?’ Looking down at her hand, she clenched and unclenched her fist. ’If I had more fingers, things might be easier to do... maybe the body modification rune craft could do it... I hate that guy; why couldn’t he just leave behind everything in one place? I could know the answer already.’ Flipping the page, she read the next, ’The Snake Devouring Itself. How do you eat yourself?’ Flipping the page, she read the next and saw the one she was mistaken for.

’The Creature Wearing a Child’s Skin.’ Unlike the others that didn’t really interest her, she held off on flipping and read the entire page about the being. ’Horror that doesn’t realise the truth. A monster that pretends to be otherwise. The innocence of humanity tainted and distorted. Do not worship it, for it believes it is a child, appease and play, but never mistake it for one, for the creature is the truth, and the child is a lie.’

With a scoff, Alice turned the page, getting the core of the information, and couldn’t help but be offended at having been mistaken for such a thing. She wasn’t even a child, let alone a monster, and yet someone had believed she was the things written about. ’She was very rude for thinking that.’ Shaking her head, she read the next one. ’The Flayed Cross. Is it made of wood or skin or what? How is a cross even flayed?’

Shrugging, she turned the page and was even more confused. ’House Raven. A house? A person? How does that make any...’ Realising she had the word Raven used as a name, he thought cut off as she closed her eyes and desperately tried to think about who it was.

’The Old Man, no.... the guy with red eyes. Isn’t it?’ Looking to Chesh, she stared back and smiled, neither confirming nor denying her Alice thoughts. ’Is he an Old One? No, the teacher book never included this as one of those beings.’ Reading, she couldn’t help but get even more confused. Even the book made it clear that the house was different. ’The Incomprehensible can be known because of House Raven. Had they never existed, we would have never known it. They did not comprehend it, but it revealed itself to them.’ Alice’s eyes widened as she stared at that line.

’They looked at It, but even then they couldn’t understand. How does that make any sense?’ Shaking her head, she flipped the page and quickly slammed the book shut, seeing it move on from the living Old Ones to those who had been slain in an ancient war. There was no point in reading about the dead when living ones still existed, after all.

"What a terrible book." With an annoyed tone, Alice fell backwards, chucking the book to the side. Chesh fell down next to her and took a deep breath, continuing to stare at Alice’s face.

"You hardly read it." ℯ

"There isn’t any point. Skimming it, I could see it was a bunch of useless information that didn’t explain anything and was filled with contradictions. A lot like that guy’s research, only why should I bother studying theology? It’s boring research."

"If you make the world your own, shouldn’t you know those things, though?" Chesh asked, making Alice chuckle and shake her head.

"When I do it, whatever I want is right. I don’t need to study to know what I will want to do?"