Author's Note: This is sort of Joker no Kuni no Alice. More of an Author's note at the bottom, more information as well.
"How long has it been?"
I mused aloud, gazing blankly towards the ceiling overhead. Thoughts were flying through my head; how long has it been? Was it an accident I ended up here? Why am I even in this place? Is it real? Am I positive I'm not dreaming or in a coma? I'm positive that stupid dream demon is amused with all the confused thoughts riling around…
A sigh heaved from my lips, slowly removing myself from the bed. I grabbed my uniform-the red and black dress required of the maids who worked at the castle. After dressing, I pulled the head piece on, securely tying it, and skipping off out of my room. I felt unusually chipper today, like nothing could go wrong~
Unlike most of the other maids, I was allowed to have a personal touch in the styling of my hair. It wasn't anything too fancy, just a soft mix of curly and wavy that went to my mid-back. Every 'role-holder' is permitted to have a specific maid for their own personal uses, and for some reason or another, I was picked to be Peter White's.
I couldn't help but be confused as I noticed the maids and guards I passed giving me odd stares. I know some of them thought odd of me, seeing as I was usually overly optimistic in the morning, but never as bad as today. What's wrong? was all I could think. I started doing my usual morning routine, preparing tea and heading towards Peter's room.
Standing just in front of his door, my head cocked to the side at a loud exclamation.
"Peter! This is uncalled for!" A whine emitted from the white rabbit.
"But Alice, my dear, it is you I want near!"
I quietly knocked on the door, hearing a shout from inside the room.
"I'm busy, can't you see? I do not want your… tea?" He seemed to ask, glasses lazily resting on the bridge of his nose, staring at me quietly.
"What's the matter, Sir Peter? Have I done something wrong?" A small bit of shock crossed my features, my gaze turning to the blonde female standing merely feet behind Peter.
"You…" His mouth was a gape, not seeming to be able to form a sentence as he stared. I flinched as pain surged through me, seeing the female more clearly.
"Kiana…?" To both our surprise, it was not Peter who spoke, but Alice.
I dropped the tray I had been using to hold the tea, the sounds of crashing echoed in the hallway behind me.
"Yes, that is her name. How about this is it you came?"
Alice pushed forward, ignoring Peter as she held her hand out towards me. Everything in my being screamed at me to run, but I just wasn't able to… Slowly her fingers traced over my cheek, as though to see if I was real or not.
"Kiana!" I felt her arms grasp tightly around me, causing me to nearly fall backwards with the new weight forced against me.
"Alice…" I spoke softly, pain stinging within my chest, remembering how long it had been since I last said that name.
"How did you get here…?" Alice questioned, her blue eyes staring into my... Oh my Nightmare!
"Ahh…! No, no, no," I groaned audibly, "n-no wonder all the maids were staring at me…"
My forefinger gently trailed along the area around my eyes as I let a small whimper escape my lips. Any other moment I would have a flesh-like mask covering around my eyes, making me look no different than any other faceless person… I didn't really want to be known as an outsider...
"What's wrong, Kiana?" Her head tilted, staring at me.
"W-well…" I spoke, explaining the situation at hand. "But today… I must have forgotten to put it on…" I couldn't lie to Alice. I've never been able to lie to her.
Peter still seemed to be awe-struck, mumbling out, "Two outsiders…? Alice, do you know her?" His ruby hues were filled with such confusion as he glanced between the two.
"Yeah!" Alice nodded happily, "but…" A sly grin crossed Alice's lips as she put her hands on my shoulders, preparing to bolt out the door before Ace popped up in the doorway.
Covering my eyes, I quietly squeaked out, "S-sir Ace!"
"Hu~h?" He seemed to 'ask', leaning in dangerously close to me, "You've never been embarrassed to see me~. What's wrong with you today?"
His face lit up with a grin as he looked at me, blinking at the scene of the three of us huddled together in such a tight space.
"Oh! Alice, I was going to come see you. Didn't think I'd find you with…~"
Alice laughed nervously, successfully cutting Ace off before he had a chance to finish his sentence.
"W-well," she stammered to start, "Kiana and I will be hanging out! Come on!"
I squeaked as I felt her arm around mine, dragging me forward.
"What's this?"
My eyes widened, feeling Ace invading my personal bubble as he put his face an inch or two away from mine.
"S-sir Ace… P-please… This is making me uncomfortable…"
Alice's brows furrowed, probably from Ace's pushiness in the situation, and used her free hand to push him aside.
"We'll be going now, bye~" she sang out before managing to escape the castle with me.
"Where are we even going?" I whined softly, a smile crossing my cheeks despite the former whining. It reminded me of when we were little... Alice would always drag me around the garden, pretending we were in some huge jungle far away from…
"I want you to meet everyone!"
"I have been around the different territories, though…?"
"So?" a pout crossed her lips, "you need to 'officially' meet everyone! They don't know the real you!"
"Officially meet…?" I muttered softly as the view of the Amusement Park approaching caught my attention.
"So I take it Boris and Gowland are first up on the list for me to, uh, 'officially' meet?"
This wouldn't be the first time I had met them, even if it was only once prior to this, but I was sure they wouldn't remember a random maid from the Heart Castle.
"Hey, Alice!" Even I recognized the voice who spoke, belonging to the one and only chesire Cat, Boris. He greeted the two of us with Dee and Dum tightly at his sides. His ear gave a light twitch, leaning uncomfortably close to me.
"Aren't you that little maid who works for Peter?"
A nervous laugh escaped my lips, awkwardly looking down as I rubbed the back of my neck.
"Y-yeah…" Before I could finish, Alice quickly interrupted me.
"I mean, she's not really a faceless person."
"I can see that."
"No, no, I mean she's like me… I guess you could say…" It was obvious that it seemed more than a little odd for her to say that. I was sure if I had to refer to someone being… 'like me'; I'd feel a little uncomfortable too, especially being around the people of Heartland…
"Lady!" Dee began, looking to Alice, "Who's this lady?" His head cocked to the side with a natural curiosity.
"Yeah, who's this pretty lady?" Dum asked, moving over to poke my side gently.
"M-my name's Kiana… I'm Peter White's personal maid," I responded in the manner I had been used to introducing myself for so long now.
"Eww!" the two of them groaned out in unison, "Why would you work for him?" Disgust riddled their faces, showing obvious dislike for the white rabbit.
"I'm not honestly sure how it happened, to be honest, it just sort of… did? Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Dee… Dum…" I responded quickly, giving each one a gentle pat on the head as I spoke out their names. This reaction caused them to frown.
"E-eh…? Did I do something wrong?" A frown crossed my lips. Only moments passed before there were two older boys standing in their place, about a head taller than me.
"Don't treat us like we're kids!" Dum said with a frown, leaning in as our foreheads almost touched.
"Yeah…" The one I had guessed was Dee, by his blue eyes, spoke, reaching to grab my hand.
"W-what the?!"
Alice soon shooed the two away from me, brows furrowed in annoyance.
"Don't harass her! I'm sure you don't want her to hate you!"
As had happened before, the two were soon the same children that had previously been standing in front of us.
"But, but, lady…" Dum whined, an obvious frown plastering his lips.
"You don't hate us… do you, lady?" Dee spoke with a slight saddened pout, blue eyes looking towards me for any signs to contradict the statement. Alice and I looked between the frowning pair and one another, giving a heavy sigh.
"No," I said with a small smile.
"It's hard to stay mad at the two of you when you're in this form," Alice said with a smile as well. She was right.
Neither of them appeared… particularly happy about our statement, but seemed to accept it none the less.
"Anyway, I'm sure you want her to meet the old man, right?" Boris piped up, soon taking a step closer towards me. I looked to him, blinking softly.
"Yeah… 'officially' anyway," I mumbled to myself, which seemed to make him chuckle.
"Alright, well then, my name's Boris Airay," he spoke with his trademark grin. I gave him a small smile in return.
"I know," I started, "my name's Kiana Li Mariveil. It's nice to meet you, Boris."
It didn't take long before he started walking us off into the Amusement Park towards where Gowland was. The twins stuck with us as we went, muttering something about not wanting to be yelled at by that... 'pissy hare'? I wasn't quite sure what they were talking about. I hadn't really visited any of the other territories, and I only knew Dee and Dum by the fact they were usually hanging out with Boris.
"Well, well! If it isn't my Alice! What brings you to the park today?" Gowland greeted with a grin, another male sitting nearby at the table.
Does he have mouse ears…? I thought as I looked at the figure, tilting my head a bit. It wasn't so much that I was shocked, just curious as what his role might be. I mean, I only really knew Peter and Boris. I was actually quite shocked when I first met Peter, to be fair. Alice laughed nervously in response to Gowland's question.
"I wanted you to meet my closest friend from my world, Kiana…" Her blue eyes seemed to brighten when she looked over at me, causing a soft blush to cross my cheeks. She had always had such high thoughts of me… I never saw what she meant, though.
"Haven't I met you before?" He asked, rubbing his stubbly chin. I was a bit shocked he even remembered what I looked like, considering it was only once!
"Yeah!" Boris jumped in," remember that maid following Peter? That's her." His tail swished softly as his thumb jabbed through the air, pointing back at me.
"Y-yeah… I never really wanted to be known as an outsider, but once the cat's out of the bag, why try to shove him back inside?"
The twins snickered at my statement, staring at Boris with new found interest in an idea. I blinked curiously, deciding it was better not to ask what was on their mind.
"Oh, is that so? Well! Any good friend of Alice is a friend of mine!" I squealed loudly at the feeling of his arms around me tightly, being picked up off the ground by a few inches. After gently placing me back upon the ground, he grinned brightly, pulling his violin-looking creation out.
"I should play something for this joyous occasion!"
Boris shook his head quickly, adding in, "No, you shouldn't."
Gowland couldn't help but give a small frown before putting it away. A short bit passed as we talked, Gowland asking how Alice and I knew each other prior to coming here. She began to explain as I watched Boris eyeing the sleeping figure, the one I noticed had mouse ears. His tail swished extremely similar to when I would see my cat about to pounce on his prey—"Uh oh," I murmured quietly.
"Come here little mousey, mousey~" he purred softly, sneaking up to him.
"Eep!" the figure squeaked, jumping up from his seat and swiftly making his exit from the area.
The five of us watched as the two ran all around, being a game of cat and mouse, before the unknown male hid behind me. I laughed nervously as I looked between the two, knowing what happens when there's an obstacle blocking a cat from getting to his prey.
"Boris!" Alice shouted, causing a quick flinch from the feline. "What did I tell you about chasing poor Pierce?!" she asked with a frown, crossing her arms over her chest.
He seemed to give his attention towards her, scratching his cheek sheepishly.
"I know, but… it's so hard. I'm a cat, he's a mouse… It's in our DNA, Alice," he started to explain, "I'm meant to chase and he's meant to be chased."
His attention turned in my direction again—more like looking through me—as his tail began swishing at the thought of chasing him.
I laughed a bit nervously once more, not entirely sure what to do in this situation.
The visit to the Amusement Park, overall, was quite interesting. Gowland, friendly as ever, seemed to instantly like me. Boris and I seemed to click pretty well, at least that was the vibe I got. Pierce, well… it was hard to tell since he was usually hiding when he wasn't being chased around. Both Dee and Dum had this fascination with making me blush, so they would switch between their older and younger forms. They knew I wouldn't yell at them in their younger form…
I seem to have picked up a few nicknames from the visit to the Amusement Park. At one point when I was talking with Boris, he mentioned how I would make a great cat with the behaviors I seemed to show—thus calling me "Kitty Kiana". Alice felt that it didn't quite fit, changing it to 'Kiki Kitty', which was partially in part to her giving me the nickname 'Kiki' when we were younger. Dee and Dum decided upon calling me 'Pretty Lady' to differentiate between Alice and me. I'm pretty sure it's mostly because I fell for all of their stupid tricks while Alice usually doesn't…
Alice is now insisting that I stay with her at the Clock Tower, so we're on our way there next—something about not being around that perverted freak. Peter? I believe it was she said, I don't remember exactly. I'll get to meet a certain—stupid— dream demon face-to-face. I'll also be able to meet Julius and Gray for the first time. This should be interesting.
Author's Note: Pretty much I wanted to redo the first chapter. (I'm planning on rewriting the whole thing and hopefully finishing it.)
I'm hoping this seems less rushed than it had been before? It felt that way to me anyway and I got a lot more out of it!
Not sure how many people would re-read it, but if you do; I hope you enjoy the new revamped introductory chapter!