'Seed of Chaos' System

"Welcome, Sentient Blade," the voice said, its words projected into her mind with a dignified tone. "My children know me as the Mind, but you may call me Kelly."

Alesha blinked, surprised. Kelly? What kind of mainstream name was that?? Her preconceived notions of what kinds of cool, otherworldly-sounding names monsters should have were shaken by this revelation. A brain monster in a tank… was named Kelly.

"Uh, hi Kelly. You wanted to see me?"

Her perception of "Kelly" was further demystified by the monster's next words, which were in a much more casual tone. Her words tumbled out one after another in rapid succession. "Indeed! I am very, very curious about you, who you are and how you came to be! I never imagined this world would have sentient weapons! If you'll just tell me a bit about yourself, then I will help you leave my Colony, if you want."

Something in the monster's words stood out to Alesha. "Wait, what do you mean 'this world?' Are you not from here either?"

Suddenly, the brain monster bobbed up and down in its tank, its tentacles wiggling excitedly as bubbles from its motion floated upwards. "Wait, wait, wait, no way! Are you a cursed, extraterrestrial being that stowed away from another plane, was forced to take on the form of a weapon in order to escape the eyes of the gods, who deceives the wielder into using you, but then when a critical juncture hits, you take over and are able to manifest yourself in the world of mortals?!"

Alesha didn't know what to say. Some parts of the Mind's theory were close to the truth, but the whole premise of it was way off. She shook her (borrowed) head and gestured for the overexcited creature to calm down. "That… is nowhere near the truth. I'm not from here, I was forced here as part of some stupid demon's games. What about you? You didn't answer my question."

A shock of pain ran through Alesha's body, her vision suddenly blurred and she staggered, tightening her grip on her sword form. What was going on?

The Mind, or rather, Kelly, slowed down greatly, her adjusted movement somehow coming across as somber. Her mentally-projected voice was quiet. "You couldn't mean Zorhellian's Storytelling Games, could you?"

Kelly shuddered as if in pain, drifting downwards. "Damn penalty," her voice said quietly.

"I do," Alesha replied, Kelly's offhanded remark reminding her of the penalty for speaking in a way that didn't befit her "role." Had the whole-body pain and vision darkening been the penalty? If that was the case, then how much worse was Kelly's? She'd said a lot more "out-of-character" content than she had. 

"I hate that demon," Kelly's voice hissed. Her brain-body and tentacles were trembling from aftershocks of the penalty.

"Me too," Alesha agreed with a sarcastic laugh. "So, you're a Player too, are you? Must really suck to be a brain monster."

Two of Kelly's tentacles moved upwards as if to imitate a shrug. "Not really, actually. I kind of enjoy it. When I think about what my original self would have thought about it, I would have been terrified by the idea of being okay with turning into a floating brain. Which only makes me hate that demon more. Seems like you were tossed in here as a sword? What a sucky draw."

Relieved to find another person to talk with who understood where she was coming from, Alesha chuckled darkly. "Oh no, I wasn't sent here as a sword. I was 'summoned as a Hero.'"

Kelly jerked at the mention of "Hero," but Alesha failed to notice and went on talking without missing a beat.

"But the King decided I was a suitable 'sacrifice' or whatever, and turned me into a sword. I freaking hate him now. And actually… I have no idea why I woke up after all this time. Before I accidentally took over this body, all I found out is that it's been 5 and a half months since the King betrayed me." 

Realizing that her still-ingrained habit of accidentally saying too much might have kicked in, Alesha mentally raised her guard, watching for signs that Kelly would attack. After all, she'd just made the mistake of telling a monster that she was a 'Hero.' Did the monster 'role' require attacking Heroes? It was possible.

"Interesting," Kelly said, tentacles fluttering. A moment of silence followed.

Alesha didn't like how Kelly's only response to her ill fortune was calling it interesting. Anger surfacing in a rush, she snapped, "Hey, what's your deal? I just told you the King betrayed me and all you have to say is that it's 'interesting?' Did turning into a brain rob you of your empathy or something?"

"Not at all, fallen Hero, I was just thinking about something. Since the King betrayed you, what do you say to joining the Demon King's Army?"

"No, thank you. I don't want to get stuck in this stupid world forever."

"Wait, why do you think switching sides would get you stuck here? I'm not the only Player -"

That was the last thing Alesha heard Kelly say before everything went black.