[Testing, 1. 2. 3. Congratulations you have gained unstable prophetic voices in your head, for additional information wait 1 chapter]

“Who said that!?” Ophelia asked loudly and looked around. No one seemed to be talking to her, though she caught a lot more glances now. Most were a mix of pity and revulsion.

[Achievement unlocked!]
[First contact.
Acknowledge the voices in your head.]

Words in square boxes suddenly flashed before Ophelia’s eyes and just as suddenly disappeared.

“Ack!” Ophelia startled at the images in front of her eyes, recoiled and now found herself on her butt instead of her knees.

A bipedal creature with a head of a crocodile stopped a few feet away from Ophelia and crouched to her level. It had a leather cowboy hat on its head and a cigar in its pointy teeth.

“You feeling alright?” The crocodile spoke with the voice of a chain smoker. “If you are that desperate for attention, I can keep you company.”

The croc let out a puff of black smoke in Ophelia’s face and snickered. It smelled of burnt compost.

“Ew! Stay away!” Ophelia snapped at the crocodile, pulled out a dagger and cut through the air where his long, green jaw was a moment ago. The croc easily avoided the attack, and Ophelia instinctively backflipped to gain some distance, landing in the shadow of some tall structure behind her.

“Cheap trick, bitch!” The croc growled and slowly stood up while taking a long puff on his cigar. He was at least seven feet tall. “I oughta teach you some manners—”

Then the croc froze in place, stared past Ophelia for good five seconds and finally said, “Bah, you’re not worth the trouble!”

With another puff, the croc adjusted his hat, turned around and casually strolled away down the street.

[Hello and goodbye!]

“Bye...” Ophelia muttered slightly confused and only after that wondered who did she reply to.

Turning around, Ophelia realized that she was in the shadow of an absurdly large black knight. The knight towered over Ophelia, well over ten feet tall, at least double the girl’s hight. The knight wore full plate armor with black plates roughly bolted on top of one another, a close helmet with a narrow slit at the eye level that revealed nothing inside but ominous darkness. The gigantic shoulder pads—that would make an American football player jealous—nearly completely hid a wide obsidian hilt of what must have been an absurdly large broadsword attached to the knights back.

“No combat within city walls,” a robotic voice came out of the slit of the black helmet. It sounded more like an automated speech software than a human being. “This is your first warning, being number... A021389764.”

Not waiting for a response the black knight goose-stepped past Ophelia, with all the steadiness and grace of a robot run on batteries. Each motion the knight made was accompanied by the sound of a squeaky door hinge. Every single being—human or otherwise—made sure to move out of the knight’s way.

[Find Felicia]

Another voice startled Ophelia. She looked around but, again, could not find the source. Each of the voices was different so far, that she could tell.

“Ah, that’s right!” Ophelia exclaimed, finally processing what the voice said. I have to find her! Ophelia was determined and—adjusting glasses—walked into the Adventurer’s guild.

“Does anyone know where Felicia is!?” Ophelia shouted the second she was through the door. As a response Ophelia was again bombarded with text in square boxes in front of her, which showed up and disappeared one after the other.

[Achievement unlocked!]
[Obediant girl.
Comply with the voices’ suggestions for the first time.]

[New skill acquired!]
[Insanity lvl 1 (3%)
Passive.
Doing what sane Users would not do, will not make User saner.]

“Ah!” Ophelia flinched and leaned against the door frame for a moment. Her head hurt.

“Where Felicia is? Is that girl insane?” Ophelia heard a female voice.

“What the hell is she wearing?” A rough male voice spoke.

“Didn’t you hear? Lord Rauf is into some freaky shit,” another voice spoke from across the room. “He must’ve gotten tired of this one and threw her out.”

Ophelia opened her eyes. This time she knew who was speaking. The room was filled with... creatures. Mostly humanoid beasts, like from those fantasy tales Felicia was so obsessed with. Ophelia found herself at the center of their attention, though it quickly passed and most returned to their business.

The room Ophelia was in was actually a hall, surprisingly large one at that, it needed to be to fit in several dozen of the creatures that were currently here, with room to spare. The ceiling was high enough that even the Black Knight could fit without slouching. Though he would have to break down the door and a good portion of the brick wall.

The place felt like a mix between a bank reception and a medieval inn. The few windows the building had would not be nearly enough to light the hall as brightly as it was lit. The many chandeliers hanging from the ceiling supported half a dozen glass spheres each, which shined brighter than any candle would, despite there being no signs of electricity so far in this strange place.

[Your first task should be to strengthen yourself and acquire general information.]

Ophelia looked around. It had to be someone here, speaking to her! She walked deeper into the hall, the voice remained the same, not louder, not quieter. Ophelia kept looking, ignoring the feeling that it was futile.

[Once you have a stable situation you must start to focus in acquiring methods to INCAPACITATE and BRAINWASH Felicia, since supporting her resulted in your demise you must make her your PROPERTY by force, no that was poorly worded, she was yours from the start and as her OWNER It’s your DUTY to punish her misbehavior and control her MIND and BODY, but do not be hasty an untrained dog can be dangerous after all...]

Stable, yes. I have to—Wait, brainwash? Incapacitate? No! Ophelia objected. She understood! Felicia was the only one who understood! But why did she—

Ophelia’s eyes watered. There was a time when everything made sense. A short time when everything was good. Now, nothing made sense. It hurt. Her heart ached.

[Also, you should be cautious of our advices each of us has different goals in giving them, in my case I despise betrayals and am a ally of love, I assure you that nothing would make me happier than see you and your loved one achieve happiness, even if she must be domesticated first...]

Each of us? Goals? An ally of love? The faintest of smiles appeared on Ophelia’s face. Happy... Yes, I was happy. I want to be happy again!

[Ah yess hello there I am am D̴̨̡̢̡̛̛̛̛̛̛̳͓͉̬̟͔̘͖̗̬̝̙̣̠̙̣̩̫̫̒͒͊̅̈͒̈͂̀̔́͑͆̀̋̈́̅̈́͐̊̒͐͗̐͆̓̋̓̏ṷ̯͕͔̬̞̮̠͕͖͚̗̙̘͍͎̩̘̟̙͍͈̗̼̤̮̖͖̜̦͙̳̙̰͔̬͈̗̠͖̜͖̤͓͕̥͓͓̈́̓̿͂̿̈́̈́̿́͆̇̒̋̆̍̍̍́̒͐̂̇͑̂̉̑m̵̢̧̨̧̨̡̛̩̮̮̯̟͙̩̤̣͚͎͉̻͕̞̠͎̠͔̜̤̗͓͕͎̮̥͚̥̬͇͔̖̾̎͋̿̐̃̑̊̂̌́̈̓̈́͋̓̄̃p̴̡̢̜̼̘̦̬̻̖̪͈͎͇̖͈͖̘̖̟̠̦̰͈̑͒͆̈́̏̑̐̂́́̂͐̐̂̌̀́̍͒͌͋͗͒̀̀̐̋ļi̶̛̦̹̺̫̬͖̫̹̮̍͂̍͌́̿̒͋̏̐̈̽̐̋͆̽̃͑ñ̷̨̨̢̨̢̢̡̡̨̛͉̰̙̼͚̻̙̙̞̗̦̩͚͚̺̺̟̭͓̟͓̠͚͈̙͕̘̱͇̺̹͙̤̪͇͚̱g̴̢̨̧̧̮̘̗̮̭͖̭̣͈͚̜̗͚̖͚̦̩͕̦̞̞̱͍̺̠͈̟̻̘̲͔̱͕͔̼͈̦̖̼̥̦͔͚̬͙͎̜͚̹̦̠͔̣̟ one of the the voices you are hearing but on to the main issue: WE don’t like traitors as you most likely will hear from the other voices so: Find Felicia, A̶̢͖̫͎̮̞̬̣͇̯̦͙̩͍̠͇͂̏n̷̢̬̹̫̗̹͉̪̠̹̦͕̗͈̭͖̜͙̾̂͜͠d̷̛͍̩͓̿́̓̈́͋̂̈́͑̐̏̐͝͝ ̷̛̜̫̤̱̊̑̊̎͗̀̔̂̑̏́͝m̴̢̨͈͇̣͚̖̪͕͓̥̖͚͚̝̫̩̻͇̞̹͔̼̠̆̑͋̅͆̇̆͊̆͝a̸̛͙̦̮̙͙͗̊́̌͗̿̍̈́͆́̉̄̍̅͑͂ḵ̸͗̒̾́̕ẽ̵̥̗̯̉̊̎̄͋̾̓̀́̍͑̅̃̚ ̴̡͖̳̲̘͙͍̜͎͚̦̺͙̒͐͂̌̿̽̒̆̍̏͛̽̈̽́̑͂̋̃͐̆̐̕̕͜͝s̵̨̖̙͕̔̏̉͑̒͋̽̂̿̋̑͆̐ư̴̢̨̧̢͇̺̖̳̘̟͈̯̗͐̽̇̑͐́̍̿̌̀͑̎̇̓̊́͆̅̀͑̆̚r̸̛̼̣͖̯͔͍̱̘̟̥̱̪̰͚͖̩̰̝͍̣̥̱̖̆͗̾̚ͅé̸̢̧̢̛͍̬̙̝͆̊̒̋̈́̍̋͛̂̃̃̈́̈́͗̚͝͝͝ ̷̡̛̱̩͚̏̔͆s̸̞̟̹̠̘͖̪̈́̾̊̃͋͑̕̚͠h̷̛͚̏̀́̀̽̒͑̔͊̅̈́͑̊́͠͝ȩ̴̨̢̘͕̠̳͖̱͆͝ͅ ̵̡̧̛̛̛͚̗̹̟̮̮͔͊́̌̄͛͋ͅc̶̨̨̧̛̬͉̩̪͈̫̱̞̩̗͓̳̪̲̳̯̘̦̓̏̏̀́̏̽̌̈͌̂̔̀͛̈́́̈́̚̕ͅḁ̴̛̲̮͈̖̎̒̋̄̍͑̏͛̈̈͂̏͆͆͑̉̑̾̎̆̏̏̆͘͠͠n̵̡̧̨̨̛̟͚͈͎̲̤͙̳͔͓̟̜̳͇͕̩̯̦̽͐̄̃ͅ ̷͇̞̝̳̩̞̲̰̮̲̖̩̖̰͍̠͔̒͑͐̿͐̒́͊̊̏͐͊͌͆n̶̨̛͕̣̘͓̒̾͊͌̎̒̓̔̆̀̀̊͛̋̃̋́͐̚͝͝ę̶̗͚̦̬͍̩͓̞̯͓̜̱̇̽̀̈́̊̓ͅv̴̧̩̠͖͗̿̈́͗̌̃̈́̔̂͒̈e̶̡̡̟̱̦͙͎͍̞͖̟͙̳̗̮̣̟̞̩̱̍̈́̑̎͂͑̈̆̓̽̄̔̇͌̽̑̐͂͂̕̕̚͝͝͝͝ͅŕ̸̡̧̤̘̖͚̠͚͍͕̭̪̠̱͚̟̹̤͇̦̪̮̠̟̳̥̅͐͊̉͒̈͜ ̶̧̨̨̖̬̝̬̫͚̣̪̥͚͉͈̘̦̦͙̜͈̬̜̯̺̈́̊͊̉̀͑̔̃b̵̨̨̥̬̝̲̹͈̙͕͓̣͑̀̾̔̈́̒̓̑͂̃̑̌́̈́̾̓͐̉͋̚͝e̶͍̪̍͗́̏̔̋̆̈́̌̆ţ̵̨̛͎̮̮̙̬͓̥̝̰͖̫̔̉̂́͆̑̌̅́̀͛͑͛̓̓̔͌̊̚̕͝ͅr̷̨̲͑̍̈́͋̍̐̈́̑̒͂̿̍̒̽̀́̽͛͑̕͝ą̵̘̞̞̲̭̱̫͊͝y̶͎̞̟͈͎̖̞̪̱̹̩͈̙̣͎̖̽̿̉́̓͗͒̉̃͂̌͂̍͘ͅ ̴̫͑̈͗u̵̫̺̤̘̙̤̩͖̪̞̯̙̟͙̤̺̍́̑͂̍s̸̡͕̰̞̗̯̮͈̜͉͊̈́̎͆“]

“Ah!” Ophelia gasped and leaned on the edge of a round wooden table next to her. She would’ve flipped the table had she actually wieghed more than a hundred pounds.

The “Dumpling” had a particularly... unpleasant voice. Not at all like Felicia’s. Her voice was... Perfect! Ophelia recalled with a dreamy smile. The unpleasant feelings passed. Where are you, Felicia?

“Would you mind getting nyor ass out of my face?” A female spoke.

“Felicia!” Ophelia turned around and saw a pair of fluffy cat ears sticking out of long, voluptuous, purple hair, that resembled fur. Though, otherwise, the girl seemed to be human.

I must be going crazy, Ophelia thought. The vocal cords are not the same at all! Why would I ever compare this... thing to Felicia? She looks nothing like—

Ophelia’s eyes opened wide in horror when she realized she couldn’t recall Felicia’s face. It was blurry... distant, like from a fading dream. H-how... how could I? What is going on?

“Again with that nyame!” The catgirl slammed her hand against the wooden table. “Do you want to bring misfortune upon nyowr heads?”

[The first rule of the world is to find a fluffy beast girl to travel with.]

“You know her!?” Ophelia exclaimed and dropped to her knees in front of the catgirl. “Please help me find her!”

YuujiEveryleaf

Thank you all who participated and commented in the previous chapter! I'm glad we got this ball rolling and I hope we can continue working together moving forward! You provide the comments, and I write! :D

For those just joining us:
This is an interactive novel so a crucial part of it is the interaction with YOU, the reader :).
Just type in the comments "voice: ..." and that will be what Ophelia hears and it will impact her action.
Obviously the "voice" from the previous chapter will only affect the next chapter that hasn't been posted, so post the "voices" for the latest chapter!

 

P.S. The dumpling voice was cute but had to edit down the "creepy" because it was obscuring a bit too much of the text even with all of the free space XD