Falling (repeatedly)

32- Past Interactions

Espresso manages to yell "Get one of the other mages!"

The Voice takes over, making sure Espresso can't talk.

'Everything is fine.'

Madeleine takes a step back as The Voice makes Espresso stand up.

'Come here, Madeleine.'

Madeleine only backs up more. "You don't sound fine."

Espresso is holding himself in place, but The Voice is pulling more.

He stumbles forward. Madeleine runs. "I need to get help. Something is very wrong."

Espresso is getting tired, while The Voice only gets stronger.

It forces Espresso to chase Madeleine.

"STOP!"

'Why should I? You were complaining a lot about him.'

"I DON'T WANT HIM TO GET HURT!"

Espresso trips and falls down, landing face first on the sidewalk. It hurts a lot, but he doesn't care.

Anything that can stall The Voice is helpful.

'Fool, I cannot feel any physical pain that you do.'

"I don't care."

He slowly gets up. Madeleine is further away.

The Voice forces him to chase Madeleine again.

Espresso manages to trip himself a second time. Everyone around him is concerned.

The Voice tries to make him run again, but when he fell, he hit his knee hard on the sidewalk. He's limping.

"You may not feel the pain, but my body does. That slows you down."

'I will get what I want eventually.'

"You would kill me in the process."

'You would prevent yourself from dying.'

The Voice makes him stomp once with his more hurt leg, which makes him yelp.

"I would rather die than let you use my body to kill someone I care about. The plan you have? It's not going to work."

Espresso stumbles more as the pain gets worse.

He sees Madeleine talking to Alchemist, Latte, and Wizard.

At least, he's pretty sure it's them. They're very blurry.

Madeleine turns and makes eye contact with Espresso, despite the blurriness.

The Voice tries to make him run again, but he trips himself a third time. He hits his chin on the sidewalk.

He can't get up, no matter how much The Voice tries to move him.