>>46458081
You returned to the bodies of your old friends… intent on burning them to keep them from ever returning home themselves… when you saw your cousin across the field.

Stepping out of the tree line, calm, collected… he was probably there since the start. You wanted to make the bastard suffer, and you were the best at what you do.

But as the world already knows… he cheats.

He doesn’t kill you immediately after cutting your hand off. First he cuts off your other hand, then your legs, then your arms at the shoulder. After he’s done making you incapable of harming him, he starts to gloat, saying this was the most fun he’s had in a long time but that he’d hoped you would do better than this. He debates to himself whether to burn you, or keep hunting you down every time you return. He tells you he’s already killed your father, and does you the “service” of starting the fire you had prepared for your friends… his pawns… since they've outlived his use for them..

He’s underestimated you though. He left Your Dagger too close to you… and isn’t expecting it when you fling it at him with your teeth… isn’t expecting you to cheat too.

He’s dead now… but he’ll be back… and so will you… it might take a while though, humans that share your body type don’t typically make use of your talent… while for your cousin, humans cheating is going to give him an early and quick refresher on life, he just has to wait for old age to return home and take over… you hope the body you possess isn’t too willful… it could make shutting him down difficult...

(cont.)

>>46458094
Your name is Lucy Cook.

In the back of your mind you can see and feel yourself standing up and wiping blood away from your mouth where you bit your tongue, starting to dig through the dirt and mumbling something you can’t quite catch.

You’re pretty sure you aren’t doing it though. You feel more immediately like you’re floating in some black void… with another girl… one who has to be Mary with her pure white features… staring blankly at you from 5 meters away. She has an ornate dagger in her hand, and seems to be clutching it tightly.

What do you do?

>>46458120
Speak to her through the void, "you're Mary aren't you?"

>>46458198

Your body stops moving, sitting down in what feels like a meditative stance before Mary responds.

"Yes... and you are the one I possessed. I am surprised you're still here." Her vision glances over your shoulder. "You remembered as I did. You know what I must do. Begone."

You can see the voices now... sort of. They're like shadows in the blackness, whispering directly into your ears.

Your body rises again and is shuffling through the dirt. Mary is absentmindedly fiddling with Her Dagger, almost identically to you earlier.

What do you do?

>>46458362
Frown intently. "I'm not going anywhere. I get what you have to do, it might even be worth doing, but I'm not just going give up on my life. it's MINE." Take a step towards the vision of her.

>>46458362
>>46458735
"You can only possess me because I'm somewhat like you, isn't that right? You should know better than to expect me to just fade away then."

>>46458735

You're frowning alright. If she expects you to give up so easily she's got another thing coming. You tell her that you know and understand... but to hell if you aren't going to go down kicking and screaming.

Mary herself frowns right back at you, though it looks more puzzled than peeved. "What in the name of..." she doesn't seem to make a sound... rather... she makes a sound but it hurts to think too much about it. "are you trying to do? I have control now. The only thing you will accomplish by challenging me is certain permanent destruction." She raises Her Dagger.

Your left hand is itching, you notice that your mind-self doesn't have a brand, but Mary does. She's confusedly looking at her own hand now.

What do you do?

>>46458899
We're in our mind right? Then it's going to damn well do what we want.

Why does it need to be a void? Maybe she's standing at the edge of a cliff. If there's a cliff, she can be pushed off it.

We aren't alone either are we? The voices are with us. Rush her and push her off, together.

"This isn't your mind, this isn't your body. If you want me to do what needs doing you'll have to steer from the back seat!"

>>46459098
You're practically sneering here. She's the guest... no, she's the invader here, and this is your mind you're in.

You imagine a cliff with an unstable precipice right behind Mary, stepping forward with purpose, intending to bull rush her.

The voices give you their support. They're behind you totally.

Then the scene changes. You're in an ornate castle courtyard, cherry blossoms blowing around you on the wind. Mary slowly steps towards you, walking along a pathway periodically engraved with a symbol you're familiar with from her memories. It's her father's symbol.

"I have as much claim to this body as you do if not more. I do not prefer these meaty shells but if they are necessary then I will take them. You are beneath me."

She remains unfazed as what appears to be a child sized version of her run's straight through her and proceeds to phase through you as well.

Your hand is itching and... there's something almost in your boot... you don't think you can quite grab it yet, but you're starting to notice it.

What do you do.

>>46459416
Growl and grit our teeth.


"Beneath you? I don't think so. You were surprised I was still here. You can't get rid of me, not so easily anyway."

Concentrate and pull our knife free of our boot.

Try and shift the scene to her memory of her brother dead at her feet.

>>46459569

Mary is within lunging distance now. A fact you're made aware of when she pulls her dagger back to strike and then gets a scared look on her face as you suddenly imagine plunging a knife into your own collarbone.

Your Knife is finally in your hands as well. You spit your rebuttal at her and recall what you saw. It almost catches you off guard yourself, but it certainly has Mary stumbling.

He looks peaceful, almost angelic, his body only has a small pinprick on his neck to indicate anything was wrong with him.

What does catch you off guard however, is the veritable river of blood you're standing in. Spilled from about a dozen individuals... and kneeling at her brothers head is Mary... painted almost completely red.

The Mary who's in the here and now growls at you, a low guttural sound and you know for a fact she's imagining tearing your throat out. You can see it in vicious detail. Accompanied by frenzied glances at her hand, which doesn't seem to have anything unusual about it at all.

Your itch is becoming a burning sensation. You remember this from a couple of days ago.

Your body falls over again, no longer in a meditative position...

What do you do?

>>46459921
This itch seems familiar, like when the brand first appeared.

Grin madly, "You're not taking my body, I'm taking your powers."

Lunge at her heart with the knife.

>>46460277

The brand... your mark now... appears on your hand, right where you left it. Right where it should be.

Mary seems broken and confused. the ornate dagger falls out of her hands. You think she starts to cry as your knife plunges into her and you wake up.

Your hands are covered in mud and dirt. It's started to rain... and there's a glint of metal coming from a hole in front of you, the stone with your symbol knocked over and shattered. The ranger station looms invitingly behind you.

You are alone with the voices.

What do you do?

The QM remembers that he didn't link the previous thread. Like a dolt. So here it is for what it's worth. >>46394015

>>46460493
See if she still is present somewhere in our mind, or if she's quiet at least for now.

Start moving in some direction.

>>46460493
go back to the ranger station grab phone wait till its charged then leave. ( take the battery out when where not using it if we can ).

>>46461379

You stand up and wipe as much mud off you as you can... you examine your feelings and find... they're mostly yours. You find re-entering your mindscape to be a simple affair and see a small trail of blood... leading to a room sized white box with a door in it among the black void. Knocking has no response.

Mary might still be in your mind... but she seems cowed. For now at least.

>>46461582

The ranger station promises to get you out of the rain, at least until your phone's finished charging. You enter and look at the mess again. Ugh, papers scattered, books thrown about, a guy tied to a chair knocked over into a pool of his own blood.

This place is just unpleasant, but at least your phone is charging.

You think about where you would even go from here... returning to the city seems like a bad idea... and the cave really isn't a long term solution... this ranger station probably isn't good long term either...

Your thoughts are interrupted as the clock chimes midnight. Someone's... calling you? Not on the phone just... you. It's like they want you to come to them.

What do you do?

>>46461706
Are we still super sickened by the sight of all the blood?

Try to call back. Do this on our terms.

>>46461706
Answer, but be cautious.

>>46461706
it's probably one of our extended family, we should go and meet them.
Whoever it is, including our new adoptive cousin harry, we should hear them out. Murder seems to be part of who we are now so no reason to judge the man for killing someone else family.

but first watch the VHS tape if we can

>>46461753

Well... you're getting used to it... but it's getting sticky and cloying. Not pleasant, but you feel like you must have bathed in the stuff several times so you're dealing.

>>46461826
>>46461842

A silvery window, with your symbol in blood on all four corners, appears in front of you. Through it you can see a peaceful man in a three piece suit. Cousin... your mind tries to pronounce his actual name as represented by his symbol from memory... you think you almost have it... but Harry is much easier to say it would seem. Behind him is a corpse, wrist slit over a bucket of blood with a paintbrush in it. It looks they're in a bathroom somewhere.

His grin shows too many teeth. "Cousin! Joined me in the land of the living... pardon the expression I know you feel so above humanity... once again? Are you ready for round two? I noticed you're getting your complexions back."

You feel you could probably climb through... but it's also a one way trip... more a summoning than a call.

You glance at the VHS. You feel this window will stay open as long as you want... you probably have a bit of time to kill, make sure you have all your effects in order... that said, Harry is talking to you at the moment, and should probably be attended to first.

What do you do.

>>46461706
>Ugh, papers scattered, books thrown about, a guy tied to a chair knocked over into a pool of his own blood. This place is just unpleasant, but at least your phone is charging.

fricking awesome. kids these days. never pay attention to anything save their phones.

>>46462008
>I'm not "Mary", Let's say I...overwhelmed her. Thanks for the ranger, by the way.

>>46462008
Go through, you have nowhere else to go anyways.

>>46462008
"the other is in a time out right now they seemed rather surprised to be ... cheated out of a body." we should play the VHS during this it might not have been from H, also the intruder in our mind doesn't get a name, they live off belief it's best she feels forgotten.

>>46462108
>>46462218

He stops smiling and cocks his head. "I see. Yes this has happened before. Though the last time was... well, almost forever ago. I bet Mary doesn't even remember."

He seems to get lost in thought and you use the lull to put the VHS in... it's a recording of the news report, mentions the three bodies found... a picture of you as the prime suspect... not giving away any leads on where you are... and then a short recording of Harry, mentioning that this "ranger station" isn't on any maps, and that it's a safe place until you figure out what's going on.

After the tape finishes Harry speaks again. "I have no trifle with you newborn... though I suppose... no... we'll see to that eventually. What exactly became of Mary then? You said she was 'in time out'? And please do no feel obligated to come over just yet. The place is a bit of a mess... and I might be using your awakening as an excuse to get away with a bit of carnage. Sorry about that. I could ring again tomorrow somewhere safer in the long run."

What do you do?

>>46462388
Say your goodbyes and laze around the ranger station.

>>4646238
" we'll talk more about her tomorrow then". we should just laze around see how our body is diffrent like if where actually hungry or if life-blood is the new all in one diet fad of the outer rim.

>>46462388
Demand at least SOME answers. Ask what we are and what we can do.

>>46462632

"Very well. You've replaced my ill advised and ill informed cousin as a spirit slash demon of folklore. You probably have similar abilities to her... but with your own twist on them. Beyond that, it's pretty much trial and error. My predecessor was able to read minds and predict actions... I... well... that would be telling." His wink looks a little out of place.

>>46462465
>>46462592

He nods. Peaceful expression frozen to his face. "I'll call on you tomorrow. I simply need time to come to terms with this myself. Alongside the human authorities that are pounding on my door."

A policeman bursts in on his side and he disappears just as the portly man enters the room. His eyes practically bug out seeing you and he stumbles backward as he let's out a startled "Bloody Hell!"

You end the "call" on instinct, and kick the dead guy out of the chair to claim it for yourself.

You feel kind of hungry still... thinking about it brings it to the forefront of your mind... you didn't really eat since... was it this morning? Feels like it's been longer. You find yourself fantasizing about both a big juicy steak... and the sensation of Your Knife in another persons flesh... huh.

You also take a look at the facilities... there's a bathroom with plumbing, the place is somehow hooked up to power though you can't find where... all in all, without the dead body this could be a nice place.

What do you do to pass the time?

>>46462863
if we feel tired then go to bed we've had a long day, taken over the role of a spirt of murder, and killed four people. If not maybe we can make it five

>>46462863
Eat some of the food we brought with us. Then browse the Internet on our phone to find out how the search for us is going. We can`t afford to loose our grasp of mundane matters over this whole demon business.

>>46463098
>>46463121

To be honest... you don't really feel tired at all... the rain is settling... you feel you could maybe go out in a bit, but first, a snack!

Your backpack got soaked while you were fighting Her for dominance... you remind yourself it probably isn't a good idea to think of Her name, just as a habit.

As a result, the cereal is soaked in a disgusting way, so you throw it out. That leaves you with granola bars and peanut butter... if this guy that's just lying on the floor hadn't somehow unplugged the fridge while struggling, that stuff would be good too... as it is, your meal tastes good, but it's only mostly satisfying. You're pretty thirsty.

Checking the web, beyond a general warning that there's a dangerous psycopath out there, and that families with camping plans might want to reschedule... the police aren't sharing too much info... don't want you to catch wind you suppose, there's the open call to people with evidence to help find you, and plenty of people claiming to have witnessed you in ever more extravagant escapades... but nothing really solid.

You make sure you're armed, leaving the majority of your things here and head towards the trail... you notice as you keep brushing it out of your face, that parts of your hair have gone shock white... you're probably pretty distinctive now... but look almost nothing like yourself... that could be a double edged sword.

The path is pretty long... and as you get closer to the other end it becomes a traditional hiking trail... a bit of a hassle to get over but you end up coming out at a campsite in an unmarked area. There aren't a lot of people out here, must just be the people that haven't gotten the memo... that includes a site with a couple of tents set up, and a trailer or two.

What do you do?

>>46463374

Actually, given the time, I think I'll call this one for now. Thank you kind anons and not so anons for sticking with me in this endeavor. It's a real treat to try and reveal this story to you... and it's also really interesting to see the path you guys took Lucy down. I won't be here tomorrow, so I'll see you lovely folk on Wednesday, noon central time, ttfn! We'll see what happens at the campsite then.

>>46463865
thanks for running it's fun to be on a quest like this before the general reaction of the MC is set. Also props on how you've adapted to the whole , chat as semi real in quest it feels a lot better then it did reading the first two threads.

>>46463865
Thanks for running!