Tale of Four

"Its brain is rather strange." Talking to herself, Alice poked around at the creature’s open skull, finding the tiny brain that made up a fraction of its head. "It’s so small, but it could soemthing as complex as mimicking another. That doesn’t explain how it managed to even read my soul in the first place." Using the quill, she carefully cut it free, making sure not to damage a single part of it. Holding it up, she looked around and frowned. "It’s not much different from a normal bird’s brain either. So if not the brain."

Taking the quill, Alice carefully cut into the body next. Although she expected it, she was still surprised to see that the majority of its organs were completely mismatched. The stomach was tough, the toughest part of the body, whilst also being the largest. Poking a hole into it, she saw black liquid ooze out, and touching it with her finger, she quickly pulled back and winced when it burned her. Other than that, the rest of the organs were tiny in comparison, bar the heart.

"A massive stomach, likely to eat humans and a big heart to fuel it." Frowning, she couldn’t help but sigh. Taking out her glasses, she activated the magnification rune and scanned each section she cut free, trying to see if there were any runes or anything that allowed it to read the memories of others. Once again, she was left baffled when she found nothing.

"So it’s not the brain, nor anything within the body. It must be the soul. There can’t be any other explanation. But how did it know about Chesh? It makes no sense." Taking the glasses off, she let out a deep huff and crossed her arms, staring at the picked-apart carcass.

"Hello." A soft voice called out from beside her. Looking up, Alice saw a young girl a few years younger than her, with violet eyes, wearing a white mask with a red flower pattern. Looking at her, Alice couldn’t help but stare deeply into the girl’s eyes.

"Your eyes are cool." With a soft chuckle, the purple-eyed girl laughed and knelt beside her. Looking at the mimic’s corpse, she showed a slightly disgusted expression that quickly turned back to normal.

"My mother said that, out of all the Clans, ours have the prettiest eyes." Looking between Alice and the corpse, she turned to the festival going on and finally looked back at Alice. "Why are you sitting alone? Don’t you want to dance?"

"No," Alice said with indifference, not sparing a glance at the festivities, instead focusing back on the corpse, picking the brain up once again and analysing it. "The mimic is far more fascinating. I still can’t work out how it read my memories. Its brain is far too small, and there is nothing on or in the body. The only way would be the soul, but how do you even check that? And if it’s the soul, it must be done by the arcane, but I would have felt that when it used it, so it can’t be."

"You’re wrong." The girl said, her mask moving, hiding the bright smile underneath. Alic looked at her, tilting her head in confusion. Reaching over to poke the corpse, the girl stopped, looked around and picked up a stick to use instead. "My clan usually camps around the Mimics ’ territories, so we learnt a lot about them. They don’t just pull memories from another person, but are also able to mimic the person themselves. It isn’t just their appearance but also... what did father call it?" Closing her eyes to try and remember, Alice realised and spoke.

"The feeling of the arcane power?" The girl quickly nodded.

"Father calls it soul energy. But I heard people from the settlements have different names for it." Alice covered her mouth, unbothered by the bodily fluids she wiped on her face, staring at the body as the conclusion rapidly formulated in her mind.

"So it copies the feeling of my arcane power, so I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, and then used that to breach my mind. No wonder I didn’t notice, especially when I was already using the arcane. It would have just registered in my mind as a fluctuation" Furrowing and unfurrowing her eyebrows, she took a deep breath. "But it has such a small brain; how is it able to do soemthing so complex?"

"Wow." The girl said in amazement, staring at Alice. "But you misunderstand. Mimics are not stupid. Well, for most things, they are, but this is how they hunt. They have existed for centuries, and only the best mimics survive. To them, copying the image of a person is as easy as it is to breathe."

"But it was so stupid. When it tried to copy Chesh, it was nothing like her. And it was so fixated on me being scared, when it was so pathetic." The girl poked the body again with the stick, slightly annoying Alice that it might damage the body. Grabbing it, she stopped her, making the girl sigh.

"This one is young, so it likely wasn’t good at doing it. But even so, mimics aren’t perfect, bar the really old ones. They can’t make things exist that they don’t own. It’s why the whistle is the best counter to them. If you blew it, then of course it wouldn’t be able to blow back. As for making you scared. It’s like seasoning your meat to give it a better taste."

"But I didn’t." Alice proudly said, "It just tried to be Chesh, but everything was wrong. Chesh would never say the things it did, nor do them. And its smile was different." Alice looked at the girl and poked at her lips until she felt she had copied Chesh’s mischievous smile perfectly. "Hers is more like this." The girl froze, looking at Alice before backing up ever so slightly, her violet eyes shaking.

"You’re a person... right?"

"Of course. What a stupid thing to ask." Huffing, she turned away. "I don’t get why you people say this place is so dangerous. It’s a cool place, but nothing has been dangerous."

"Your face." The girl ignored Alcie’s question and continued to stare at her. "How did you do that?"

"I don’t understand what you’re talking about. I just copied Chesh." The girl’s eye twitched, and as she got up, she tried to be polite but quickly ran off. Shrugging, Alice looked back down at the creature and rubbed her chin, talking to herself one more time. "Its power must still exist inside its body. The stomach acid is useful to burn things, so." Taking a vial, Alice poked another hole in the stomach and carefully poured it inside. Feeling the glass heat up, she watched and waited, and seeing it wouldn’t break, she completely filled it.

Moving on, Alice got to work. "The heart for a potion." Carefully, she cut it free and discarded it, knowing it was the most important and that she didn’t have enough room for the rest. "The bones and eyes will be good, not too many, though." Cutting a few of them free, she finally looked at the brain. After a moment of thought, she took out another leather bag and dropped it in before activating the preservation runes on all the bags with organs. "Perfect." Looking at the rest of the body parts before her, she shrugged and held her hand out. "Mimicry. Voices are easy to copy, and the appearance can be done if trained well enough, but how do I read memories?"

It was a puzzle to be solved, one she wasn’t too sure where to start. With a small chuckle and happy smile, she couldn’t help but be glad that she finally found something interesting to ponder on her travels.

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"Perus." A man walked over, holding the young girl’s hand, his eyes darting towards Alice in the distance as she chuckled to herself. Looking at Randolf, his eyes narrowed. "What are you escorting?"

"Coro. Do not be rude to our guest." Perus said in a deep voice, his voice enough to make the man lower his head in apology.

"I’m just asking, because Vicana said the girl was strange."

"We know." Randolf said with a deep sigh, "She is a Magi, one Lord Raven wishes to see. I’m sorry if she caused trouble-"

"It’s not that." Coro said, "She changed her appearance."

"She is a Magi. Although I do not wish to admit it, she is rather talented in the arcane arts, it seems, even if she is delusional." Coro narrowed his gaze, looking at Randolf before looking at Perus.

"I do not want my daughter sleeping here, Perus, with that thing here. Even if he claims she is a Magi, I do not trust it."

"Lord Raven is the one who has allowed her presence here, my friend." Randolf rose. "Do you not trust Lord Raven’s judgment?"

"We do not exist by the same laws you do." Coro angrily replied, "My people will respect all terms the Ravens made with our forefathers, but we are not under the same obligation as you. I do not trust it." Turning to Perus, he sighed, "Can we leave? We are already far from home and with that creature over there-"

"No. Coro, I udnerstand your concerns, but how do you expect me to tell our people to pack up and prepare to travel? They are celebrating and will wish to rest, as do I. If I suggest what you want, they will refuse anyway." Looking over at Alice, he carried on, "If you fear she is not human, then do not. She is human. Maybe belonging to those arrogant people, but she is a human. What she does with her power is not our concern." Seeing Coro wish to speak, Perus smiled and stood up. Grabbing the back of his head, he pulled it down and lowered his own, touching their foreheads together. "You are on edge because of that mistake. Do not worry, old friend. The mimic is dead. We will return to our lands soon; just be patient."

With a deep breath, Coro pulled back, nodded, and grabbed the back of Perus’s head, bringing it down and touching his own against it. "I understand."

"Good." Smiling, Perus knelt down, took Vicana by the head, and did what he did to Coro. "Be brave, young girl. She isn’t what you’re scared of. Enjoy yourself. Look." Indicating towards a wagon where numerous children were playing a board game, he smiled. "Join them. Forget your worries for tonight."

With a small nod, Vicana slowly turned and walked off, followed by her father.