Alicia Y (『アリシア・Y』) is a Cthulhu Mythos manga series, written and illustrated by Juan Gotō. It was originally published as a serialized story by Tatsumi Publishing, before being collected into a trade paperback volume by Akane Shinsha in 1994. It was later released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle and Manga Library Z, which also featured two bonus chapters.
The story appears to be primarily written as a sequel to "The Dunwich Horror", while also incorporating many elements from H. P. Lovecraft's other works.
Synopsis[]
Chapter 1: "Jack the Ripper in the 111th year"[]
While performing a human sacrifice in London, a cult of fishmen are interrupted by a mysterious girl who tries to interrogate them about the gate to R'lyeh. The cult members attack her but are quickly defeated, with the girl introducing herself as Alicia Y Armitage, the one who will unseal the Gate to the Netherworld. Alicia tries to force the only surviving member to reveal the one who gave them information regarding the Seal; however, he quickly dies from spontaneous combustion, leading to Alicia realizing that she's being watched. Elsewhere, an old man is watching Alicia from his crystal ball, coming to the conclusion that he needs to find out her true identity, as well as targeting her friends.
Meanwhile, a woman named Satsuki is at the airport where Alicia was supposed to pick her up. A dark-skinned man named Nyar explains to Satsuki that Alicia could not make it because she had some urgent business, before an airplane crashes into the building.
Chapter 2: "The Magician of Crystal"[]
A man named Inumaru saves Satsuki from getting caught in the plane explosion, followed by him scolding Nyar for not doing anything to help her. In response, Nyar demonstrates his powers by causing both of them to fall and catches them before they can hit the ground, causing Inumaru and Satsuki to float in midair.
Meanwhile, at the British Library, Alicia gets confronted by the old man, who is the head of the cult from earlier. While seemingly under a hypnotic spell, Alicia explains that she is a descendent of Henry Armitage, the man who thwarted the summoning of Yog-Sothoth. After getting that information, the old man tried to use his hypnosis to kill Alicia; however, she was actually immune to the spell and was just faking it the whole time. Alicia then attempted to force the old man to identify himself, only for him to quickly retreat.
With no more threat in sight, Alicia lets Satsuki enter the room, along with Inumaru and Nyar. Inumaru reveals that he is a Japanese journalist who was investigating recent events but claims that the occult-ish story would be unusable for the newspaper, unless a giant monster went on a rampage throughout London. Alicia tells him that it could actually happen, as there was an incident in 1925 where a volcanic eruption awakened Cthulhu for a short period of time, causing people to suffer from mental illness around the world. Shortly afterwards, Alicia finds a record that identifies the old man as John Dee, the greatest British mathematician and occultist during the Renaissance era.
Back in his lair, Dee orders his henchman Errol to retrieve Alicia, informing him that he can kill everyone else except her. Meanwhile, some fishermen discover a giant star-shaped stone in the River Thames.
Chapter 3: "Full Moon"[]
At the pub, Alicia overheard a discussion involving the star-shaped stone, with some strange things happening in the river after it was removed.
Meanwhile, Satsuki was taking a shower before being kidnapped by an army of ghouls. Inumaru also gets attacked by the ghouls but is able to easily fight them off. When Errol tries to use Satsuki as a hostage, Inumaru punches away the ghoul that was threatening to kill her, catching Satsuki in his arms. Promising to leave Satsuki alone, Errol decides to face off against Inumaru himself. Errol is able to quickly overwhelm Inumaru, and seemingly kills him after punching a hole in his chest.
Nyar senses that Inumaru might be in trouble, with Alicia thinking that it was unwise to leave him and Satsuki behind; however, Nyar says that it can't be helped, as it is necessary to tempt the other party into action. The stone was taken to a building under construction in the docklands, with Nyar speculating that they are luring Alicia into a trap. Shortly afterwards, Errol is shocked to see that Inumaru has survived his injury and transformed into a werewolf.
Arriving at the construction site, Alicia finds it strange that there is so much sand, with a mysterious figure watching over her from afar.
Chapter 4: "Memories of the Sand"[]
The giant star-shaped stone turns out to be the seal that cuts off the power of the Great Old Ones, which is why Alicia's power didn't work on it. Using the negative light from the Trapezohedron, Alicia attempts to get rid of it; however, she is interrupted when a mysterious woman causes her to sink into the sand.
The woman claims to be a servant of the Faceless God, who lured Alicia in order to confirm that she's a descendant of the Great Old Ones. Trapping her underneath the stone, the woman tries to sacrifice Alicia for the resurrection of the Great Pharaoh Nephren-Ka. Shortly afterwards, Nyar briefly takes the form of the three-lobed burning eye, revealing his true identity to be Nyarlathotep, the same god that the woman claims to worship. The woman is left confused as to why Nyar isn't helping her unleash the evil gods to dominate the Earth, with Nyar explaining that he is actually here to protect Alicia, before killing the self-proclaimed servant by crushing her head.
Despite still being alive, Alicia was severely weakened by being trapped beneath the stone; Nyar would be unable to communicate with her for some time but still promised to save her.
Chapter 5: "Randolph Carter"[]
Errol tries to attack Inumaru again but is quickly defeated, losing his arm in the process. Inumaru decides to spare Errol, letting the henchman run off so he can track down the enemy's lair using his keen sense of smell.
Meanwhile, Nyar figures out that he needs the Silver Key in order to free Alicia. Although Randolph Carter was not eager to see Nyar, he agreed to help due to the circumstances. Using the Silver Key, Carter is able to access the past and create a reflection of the Trapezohedron before it was cut off, allowing them to pull the current Trapezohedron by transmitting a command to the reflection that will draw a U-turn in space-time. Carter manages to free Alicia, at the cost of losing her clothes.
Back in his lair, Errol apologizes to Dee for his failure; however, Dee does not seem to be very concerned about that, informing Errol that they need to head towards R'lyeh in order to prepare for the resurrection of Cthulhu.
Chapter 6: "Fantasy of R'lyeh"[]
During the time he was serving Queen Elizabeth I, Dee acquired the book of Necronomicon, which granted him immortality but also showed him the limits of being a mere mortal. Because man's ability to comprehend is limited, it is impossible to acquire the knowledge of the gods while maintaining their personhood, with Alhazred eventually being consumed by his own knowledge.
Upon arriving at R'lyeh, Dee is confronted by Alicia and Nyar. Using the power of Azathoth, Dee easily defeated Nyar and was impervious to Alicia's attacks. It is then revealed that Errol was actually a homunculus created by Dee, before his creator sacrifices him as both a punishment for his failure and to break the seal that will resurrect Cthulhu. After the seal is broken, Dee explains that his goal is to gain omnipotence and omniscience, with Alicia telling him that he clearly has no idea what he's doing.
Meanwhile, Inumaru and Satsuki arrive at the London Tower.
Chapter 7: "Cadence"[]
Alicia explains that it is not actually Cthulhu but merely the dream seen by Cthulhu. All things are nothing but a dream seen by the gods, and the entire world would be extinguished the moment they are truly awakened; with Dee being no exception, as he is unable to comprehend the gods. The only way for a human to become truly eternal is through obtaining divine wisdom, such as the popular writer H. P. Lovecraft, who did so by assuming himself as Randolph Carter, a dweller of the Dreamlands. Her lecture was unable to enlighten Dee, with Alicia being reminded of another man; the one who thought of himself as a seeker of truth and created Alicia through his distorted desire but only had resentment towards the world.
Meanwhile, Inumaru speculates that there may be an underground tunnel that extends beneath the river, as Errol's scent is gone exactly around beneath the London Bridge. Sensing that it is too dangerous, Inumaru tries to go by himself but fails to convince Satsuki to leave; even after warning her that it might be Cthulhu, Satsuki only becomes more eager to see the monster herself.
Back at R'lyeh, Alicia reveals that she used to share the same resentment towards the world until she met Nyar, leading to her understanding that Dee's actions are the result of his swelling ego and not wanting to be inferior. Dee continues to disregard her lecture, proclaiming that he will still win while some giant tentacles burst out from behind him. Shortly afterwards, Inumaru and Satsuki start heading through the underground tunnel, with Inumaru turning into a werewolf after sensing some danger.
Chapter 8: "King of the Sea"[]
Inumaru and Satsuki escape as the tunnel is being destroyed, heading for higher ground before witnessing the arrival of Cthulhu, who has Alicia caught in one of its tentacles.
During a flashback at Miskatonic University, a woman named Maria tries to put sulfuric acid on Alicia's face but is interrupted by Mr. Whateley. Despite her young age, Alicia was enrolled at the university while Mr. Whateley orders her to steal the research results left by her mother's great-grandfather, in order to avenge the Whateley household; however, Mr. Whateley dies after using an incorrect summoning technique. Shortly afterwards, Alicia meets Nyarlathotep for the first time, changing her surname to "Armitage" instead of Whateley before taking the role of her guardian.
Back in the present day, Nyar watches over Cthulhu from the distance.
Chapter 9: "Dreams"[]
Alicia had begun dreaming for the first time, putting her in a state between reality and dream while being unable to be subject to either side. Inumaru tries to convince Satsuki to get away from Cthulhu; however, Satsuki refuses to leave Alicia behind before both of them are nearly crushed by Cthulhu's tentacles. After being scolded by Inumaru for not helping Alicia, Nyar told them not to worry about Alicia and that they should leave immediately, with Inumaru demanding answers.
Teleporting them to the top of a distant building, Nyar explains that Alicia is a half-breed between god and human, created to get revenge on Professor Henry Armitage, the man who thwarted the Whateley family's plan to destroy the world by summoning Yog-Sothoth in the year 1928. The descendants of Whateley continued to hold a grudge, using spellcraft to make the offspring of Armitage give birth to Yog-Sothoth's daughter, the girl known as Alicia Yog Armitage. However, Alicia is different from Whateley or Dee as the gods have never asked for humans to remove the seal, with the mortals simply thinking that they represent the gods for their own good.
Alicia has never slept before, in order to maintain the equilibrium of the world by putting herself in a perfect gap, as the world is like a dream from the point of view of the gods, and from the point of view of man, the world of the gods is only a dream to them. Because of his power and lifelong delusion, Dee is threatening to destroy the balance between dream and reality, due to Alicia dreaming for the first time in her life.
Dee orders Cthulhu to destroy and massacre everything in London but keeps Alicia alive for a bit longer, planning to make use of her body, in order to merge with the ultimate wisdom, Yog-Sothoth. Nyar speculates that it probably wouldn't happen if Alicia desired to maintain this world before Satsuki tries to strike an argument with him, alleging that the screwed-up world would be to his liking due to him being the God of Chaos. Shortly afterwards, Cthulhu begins heading towards Stonehenge, as a ring-shaped circle of stones is usually used to summon Yog-Sothoth.
Chapter 10: "Stonehenge"[]
Upon arriving at Stonehenge, Dee is confronted by Inumaru while Satsuki has a plan to save Alicia. However, Nyar claims that it might be impossible, as Dee's power may not belong to a true god, but the same thing is applied to Nyar himself due to him also merely being a projection of a god in this world.
While the moon resonates with his power, Inumaru is able to distract Dee long enough for Nyar to approach Cthulhu; however, Cthulhu insists on being left alone, as the time is not right to be awake yet. Despite this, Cthulhu eventually agrees to free Alicia after Nyar proclaims that she is their king.
Chapter 11: "Guardian of the Seal"[]
When Inumaru reveals how powerful he really is, Nyar figures out that he is the Guardian of the Seal, part of an ancient tribe bestowed with power so that nothing would disturb the gods in their deep slumber. Inumaru seemingly destroys Dee in a massive explosion; however, it causes the surrounding space to tear apart, freeing Dee from his bodily prison and revealing his true form as a massive temple rises from the ground. Liberated from his mortal self that had been bound to this world, Dee was now in the process of awakening as a true god, with Alicia being the only one who could stop him.
Chapter 12: "Advent of the Evil God"[]
As the light begins to erase the surrounding area, Dee proclaims to be the one who chooses Yog-Sothoth, the god whose true form encompasses everything, with even the universe itself being a mere infinitesimal bubble looming momentarily inside the ocean of Yog-Sothoth, along with the beings that were referred to as gods like Hastur, Cthulhu and Azathoth. Using the interface of the world that was formed for a brief space and time, Dee prepares to reach Yog-Sothoth and become the subject that exerts its infinite wisdom, taking Alicia with him before leaving, in order to use her as the key to open the gate of Yog-Sothoth. Despite doing nothing to stop Dee, Nyar warns him that he will witness something unexpected.
After the surroundings went back to normal, Satsuki angrily questioned why Nyar didn't stop Dee; with Nyar explaining that fighting in the interface would have destroyed the world, as well as reassuring her that Alicia would return. Meanwhile, Dee reaches the domain of Yog-Sothoth, where he is greeted by Carter. Dee sets his sights on becoming the head that manipulates Yog-Sothoth, but quickly finds out that it is impossible, when Carter reveals that Yog-Sothoth has already attained his subject. Shortly afterwards, Dee is shocked to see Alicia, who now identifies herself as being Yog-Sothoth.
Chapter 13: "Alicia Y"[]
Dee freaks out and transforms into a more monstrous form before attempting to kill Alicia, in order to take Yog-Sothoth for himself. Although Dee seemingly destroys her, Alicia quickly reveals herself to be unharmed, explaining that she was Yog-Sothoth himself from the very beginning due to him already knowing beforehand about the knowledge to be obtained.
While others had reached Yog-Sothoth before, none of them could perform the role successfully because Alhazred went mad from being unable to resist the infinite wisdom; Nyar was just uninterested and Lovecraft limited himself to utilizing the place as his personal library. With no one assuming their responsibility for such a boring task, Alicia knew that she had to bear that role, deciding to convert her consciousness to the side of the mortal world, while detaching from dream and reality. Due to this, Alicia could have an existence different from Yog-Sothoth, as a father or daughter; with Yog-Sothoth only being able to become conscious when Alicia loses her will. After Cthulhu was summoned by Dee, Alicia's consciousness shifted, and she took the role of Yog-Sothoth.
When Alicia claimed that she didn't really need the power of omnipotence and omniscience, Dee demanded to know why she wouldn't give it to him; despite initially taking it into consideration, Alicia ultimately chose not to after Dee referred to her as "Alicia Y Whateley", the surname of the man that she hates the most. After taking Dee to the grave of the London Tower, the place where he had been sleeping for 111 years before being awoken about half a year ago, Alicia kills his past counterpart in front of him, as well as tormenting Dee's spirit with never-ending agony while being unable to lose his mind for eternity.
Back in the mortal world, Inumaru has breakfast with his family before going outside to encounter Satsuki, who discusses plans for a trip to London, indicating that the conflict caused by Dee had never happened. Elsewhere, Alicia finally returns to London, where she professes her love to Nyar.
Side Story: "The Research of Robert Godrum"[]
In the year 1997, Miskatonic University professor Robert Godrum became obsessed with solving the "formula of the universe", while obtaining knowledge from wearing an onyx gemstone taken from the Plateau of Leng. However, due to his brain being unable to understand the formula without the stone, Godrum failed to maintain his body, which had undergone transformation before meeting his demise.
Satsuki suggested that Godrum's thesis could become a new grimoire, but Alicia did not want to have anything to do with it.
"Alicia Y 20th Anniversary Bonus Comic"[]
While having an interview for her next idea of work, Satsuki brings up that Alicia and Nyar are in love with each other; however, Alicia claims that their bond is like a teacher or family, rather than being romantic. Satsuki ignores her claim, further adding that the fact that she is in love with someone is a bond stronger than anything else, including their friendship, as things like friends can be dumped at any moment. Despite this, Alicia still considers Satsuki to be an irreplaceable friend, and would have forsaken the world a long time ago if they had not met each other.
Gallery[]
