Alice's Wonderland

by Fimnbulvetr

A fictional story inspired by the Vocaloid song "Alice Human Sacrifice" that also includes a variety of other songs sung by the Vocaloids to easily develop the plot. I wrote this years ago and have finally decided I should put it somewhere. It is the first thing I ever wrote, I know it's not the best. I have left it unchanged from it's original final state.

There once was a little dream.

No one knows who had dreamt it.

It was such a small dream.

This made the little dream think:

"I don't want to disappear, how can I make people dream of me?"

The little dream thought, and thought, and finally came up with an idea!

"I will make people come to me, and they will make my world."

And so my world was made…

The First Alice

The FIRST Alice was a red and gallant one,

Wielding a sword in hand throughout the wonderland.

Slicing down everything that stood in her way,

She was followed by a bloody red path.

This NEW Alice fled deep into the woods,

Hiding there only as an outcast would.

If it weren't for the Red Path that she had made,

No one would have known she even came to this place.

The Second Alice

The SECOND Alice was a blue and fragile one,

He sang to the wonderland with many false-created notes.

All of these were of a crazy and blue world.

This new Alice was that of a rose,

He was shot and killed by a cross-eyed man.

It left a flower blooming sadly red,

Ever since this blue Alice was found dead.

The Third Alice

The THIRD Alice was a green little girl,

Very cute and dear throughout the wonderland.

She charmed the people who answered her every beck and call.

She made a very strange, green country.

This NEW Alice was the country's queen,

Taken over by a distorted dream.

She wasn't afraid of losing to black death,

She would forever rule her strange, green country.

The Fourth Alice

During this two children had gone into the woods.

They had a tea party under two rose trees.

An invitation from the castle for them was:

The trump card of hearts.

The FOURTH Alice was two twin siblings,

They curiously wandered throughout the wonderland.

Going through many, strangely colored doors,

Coming not too long ago on their yellow boat.

The stubborn big sister,

And the smart little brother.

Though they were extremely close to the wonderland,

They were soon found very dead.

They never woke up from their deep dreaming,

Forever they wandered throughout the wonderland.

The Fifth Alice

The FIFTH Alice was that of the darkest dream.

He had kicked the queen down from her throne.

Burnt the rose forest straight down to the ground.

All the criminals were slaughtered one-by-one.

Every mirror within sight was swiftly smashed.

He found the four cards that he had sent forth,

And set them unto his crown.

The souls of his victims he forever thought of,

For as he slept all he could hear were the moans of the damned.

His smile was the most beautiful of the land.

His subjects answered to his every plea.

He was loved for even his injustices.

And they will forever be the only king.

Introduction

Once upon a time a woman with dark brown hair was walking through her small home. She was wearing a bright blue dress that fell all the way to the tips of her matching blue shoes. She arrived at the back of her plain house and walked out its back door to a sight which was not as plain as her house. She passed over the threshold of the door and emerged on the outer border of a forest. She walked down the three steps and landed on the brown path which wound its way through the forest. She started down the path while pushing her hair out from in front of her deep brown eyes. The woman whose name was Beatrice sighed as she looked up at the sun through the canopy of leaves hanging over her head, "Today's a perfect day for a stroll!"

She hummed while she walked, she wasn't humming a song, she was only humming for the sake of humming. She kept moving swiftly along the brown path when she heard a slight rustling behind her. Beatrice turned around trying to spot what might have made the noise. What she saw confused her, there was a snow-white bunny trying to hide itself between to bushes on one side of the path. She took a step towards the rabbit and it suddenly darted out from between the two bushes and down the path, knowing it had been seen. Beatrice followed the rabbit, running after it as quickly as she could. Beatrice turned a corner and suddenly the path she was on was blocked, not by a rock or a tree that had fallen over, but by a door.

The door was dark red, and it was glistening seeming to drip with blood. Beatrice was disgusted by the door, so she turned around and was about to head back to her house along the path, but she spotted something sticking up out of the ground. She slowly bent down and grabbed the rounded corner of whatever paper thing it was. She pulled slightly at it and it was freed from the brown dirt of the path. She lifted it up to her face to observe it, it was a card. The card didn't seem to be a playing card, all it had on it was a dark red spade. Beatrice didn't like the card either, so she threw it at the ground only to find that she was, again, facing the demonic door.

Beatrice sighed deeply and shrugged, "What harm can it bring?" she thought. She reached her hand out and grasped the door's golden knob and had begun to turn it, but something on the back of her hand distracted her. She held her hand up to her face; it was a dark red spade, just like the one before. She removed her hand from in front of her face and stared forward, there was no longer a door there, only strangely colored things resembling plants from where she lived. "Hello, Alice," she heard a voice in the back of her mind say, "and welcome to your wonderland."

1. The First Alice

Alice spun around to find she was dressed as a warrior and on the other side of the door. She was wearing a bright red jerkin with leather pants to match. She took her right foot and thrust it forward to march; she swung her left hand back and then brought it forth, brandishing the sword in her grasp. Alice's mind was filled with hatred of this new world. She saw a man walking towards her; she cared not what he had to say to her, she hated him. He finally reached her, and opened his mouth to greet her; she thrust her silver blade into his gut.

"That'll teach him to confront the queen of this forest as if she were a peasant!" laughed Alice, yanking her sword out of the man who now lay before her. One foot in front of the other, Alice dragged her glistening ruby blade behind her. She crushed flowers as she walked each one letting out a small crunch only she could hear. She slaughtered everything that dared step in her way. Every step she took in this strange, new world was fueled by her hatred of it. As night grew closer, she began to tire. Alice thrust her sword into and lay on the blood-stained ground.

She dreamt of the rabbit. "Why?" she asked it, "Why did you bring me to this place? I hate it with every fiber of my being, yet I feel I must stay. Something's keeping me here, is that something you?"

"Yes, I am the one who is keeping you here, you are doing quite well with the job I want you to do as well. Go every which-way, just make sure you lengthen the path of red with every step," explained the rabbit.

When Alice woke up she grabbed her sword and looked to what she believed was north, "A house?" she thought. She ran over to it, wondering who would live in a house in the middle of nowhere. Alice quickly leapt over the log fence that marked the house's perimeter. A woman exited the house and chided, "Quiet! My daughter is asle-" She didn't finish. Alice had cut her throat. Alice opened the door to the house and scanned its insides. The woman's lucky little girl was hiding underneath the table, and could not be seen by this woman of red. She held bounds of her own green locks in a great bundle in her arms, she needed to do this because it was incredibly long and would appear underneath the table's cloth. Alice took a step back, turned, and left the house, slamming it behind her. As she turned around, a blue-haired man appeared on the path she was forging, he said, "Woman, please do not kill me, I wish to see this line grow until it reaches the city!"

"Kill him!" yelled the rabbit, "This man of blue should mean nothing to you!"

"B-but, what has he done to me?" inquired Alice, "This man of blue has nothing on you."

"Hello? Miss? If you are going to sit there mumbling 'till the moon rises I am going to continue on my way!" said the man.

"Oh? Sorry, I hadn't noticed you were there! I was thinking hard on something."

"Don't you dare shut me out! Just as easily as I gave it to you, I can ta-"

"Quiet!" Alice yelled, "He may be useful later on!"

"Miss, what is your name?" questioned the man of blue.

"Alice. And yours?"

"My name is Joseph and I am glad to have made your acquaintance, Miss Alice." Commented Joseph, as he bowed before her.

The green-haired girl's eyes widened when she heard the name "Joseph" spoken by a familiar voice, "Daddy!?" She whimpered.

2. Purpal Trees

And

Bra-un Flowers

"You are a very beautiful young woman, Alice, how could you be so dangerous?" complimented Joseph. Alice just shrugged and started walking in the direction her path led. The green-haired girl flew to the window of her house and gazed out in shock. "Daddy!" she almost yelled. Joseph just started following Alice, ignoring his dead wife who lay on the ground.

The duo walked forward in an unknown direction for quite some time, Alice cutting down multiple types of beasts that got in her way. There were small ones, big ones, and even smaller ones. They were all of many different shades and she had even sliced a few of the gigantic flowers growing among the bushes in half. The red path grew and grew for quite some time, the stench of death winding itself between the fibers of Alice's clothing. The smell, like none other, could never be washed off her skin.

As they walked the scenery around them became stranger and stranger with every step. The trees turned to many strangely bright hues, and the flowers grew darker, until even their stems looked black. The odd new trees seemed to sway in the awfully light breeze that surrounded them, while the flowers were stuck in the same position, only the petals moving a tiny bit. Alice wove her way between the trees then suddenly swung her blade at one, cutting clear through one without a challenge. "Well, how the hell is that possible?" Alice asked particularly no one.

"We're in the Fuzia Forest, trees and flowers switch personalities." explained Joseph.

"Oh, is that so?" contemplated Alice as she continued walking. She tried cutting a flower, but her blade, instead of cutting it, got stuck in the side of it, as if it were as hard as a rock. Her frustration heightened and she cut three more trees to bits. She was running at a fourth when she heard something hit the ground hard. "Ouch!" said Joseph, rubbing his shin, "I must have tripped on a Bra-un flower while trying to keep up with you! They're stiff as stones one instant and dust the next!"

"Well, I guess we'll rest here then, moving forward while you're hurt won't help!" The rabbit snickered as Joseph manipulated Alice.

"'Kay, guess you're right." said Joseph sheepishly.

Joseph woke in the middle of the night because of the sound of violently rustling leaves. He sat straight up on the ground and felt something in his lap shift, "A card?" said Joseph, confused. He picked it up and examined it in the moonlight seeping through the trees, it was a playing card. It was a strange playing card; it was blue, like his hair. It was a diamond card, but it didn't have anything except for a big blue diamond on it. "Don't playing cards normally have symbols on the corners?" thought Joseph to himself. He turned the card over, but he was more interested in the newfound mark on the back of his hand. Joseph saw a light blue diamond on the back of his hand. The second he saw it he heard a voice in the back of his head say, "Welcome, Alice, to your wonderland."

3. The Second Alice

He looked to the right, towards the bushes, "A rabbit! That's what woke me!" The rabbit just ran back into the bush, without a word. "Mr. Rabbit? Oh, Mr. Rabbit, I know you did this."

"Then follow me, Alice."

"As you wish Mr. Rabbit!"

The blue haired Alice crawled through the bush, almost falling into the hole that was behind it. "Push her in." commanded the rabbit.

"Mr. Rabbit!?" gasped the blue haired man.

"Just push her in!" compelled the rabbit.

"As you wish, Mr. Rabbit." obeyed Alice, as he bowed his head.

The blue haired man crawled back out of the bush and stood up. "Miss?" he called, "Miss!?"

"Oh! There you are!" He said as he looked downward.

"Now, Miss Alice, I am sorry for what I am about to do, but Mister Rabbit told me to do it, and I don't think he'll like it if I don't do what he asks." He opened his eyes," Miss? Where did you go Miss Alice? Oh well, wherever you are, it's probably better than standing at the mouth of a deep hole like me! Mister Rabbit! I can't seem to find Miss Alice!"

"That's okay, Alice, we'll find her sooner or later." mocked the rabbit.

What seemed like only two seconds later, Alice opened his eyes, "Oh poo, it's morning already? Miss Alice, I am ready to go! Miss Alice? Oh, well then! Apparently I've become a nuisance!" He followed the red path a few feet with his head held high until he could no longer smell the scent of death. "Huh?" he mumbled as he looked down at the ground. "This isn't the right way to town!" He instantly turned around and began to follow the red path backwards, in the actual direction of town.

"Hmm… I'm bored, why is it that there is never anybody anywhere near me to help keep someone like me entertained? People just love to disappear, don't they?" whined Alice. "Well, I am in the perfect setting to sing a song, and I haven't sung a song in a while… Now would be a better time than any to sing a song that needs to be sung!"

And so he began to sing.

"In the midst of the light

Things no longer seen again.

In the midst of the dark

Things float to see something else.

The pitch black forest is

In the middle of the dark.

Tomorrow is yesterday

Pitch black, how dark, dark.

A fish flies in the sky

A bird swims in the water.

An egg that prances around

A mirror that sings along.

The pitch black forest is

A truly wondrous place.

The morning always is:

Pitch black, how dark, dark.

When you try to listen

You won't be able to hear.

Looking back at the clock

You'll see it turns backwards.

The pitch black forest is

A labyrinth in your heart.

Run fast, it's running slow

Pitch black, how dark, dark.

Everyone always knew

Where exactly that place is.

Everyone always knew

Where that place is now.

The pitch black forest is

Something that keeps on moving.

Is it near, or is it far?

Pitch black, how dark, dark.

Is it near or is it far?

Pitch black, how dark, dark."

4. Mister Rabbit King

"Oh? What a beautiful song," snickered the rabbit, "if ONLY I could have come up with such a song as demoralizing as that one, Alice!"

"Why thank you, Mister Rabbit!" said Alice as he bowed, "Ever since I found your card, I have felt special!"

"Well, that's got nothing to do with me! All you needed was someone to listen, someone who understood."

"Honestly and truly, Mister Rabbit, you are my king! I am your humble servant and your wish is my command!"

"You flatter me, Alice, but I just want to please you! What is it that you want most? Tell me what you want and I'll grant it to you!" Spoke the rabbit.

"Well, Mister Rabbit, my king, I have always wanted to sing for the king at one of his balls in the fall! I have wanted this ever since I was a little boy, but the King of Emmeruld does not like commoners, such as me." answered Alice.

"Well, I shall change that, Alice."

"Thank you, my king!"

"Now, hurry to town Alice! As quickly as you can muster!" exclaimed the rabbit.

With that Alice took off running down the road of red. After two steps the clumsy blue Alice tripped over the body of his wife. "What a silly woman! Miss, why do you sleep outside, on the ground?" laughed Alice. When he heard no answer he shrugged and continued running his way to town.

The sun's disappearance from the sky eluded Alice as he ran and ran. "I'll soon be there!" exclaimed Alice. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten steps. I'll soon be there!" Alice skipped as he walked, spinning in circles anytime he felt one was necessary. "I shall see the king, for I am almost there! I am almost to town!" Alice dances in his happiness, spinning around, and around, breathing in the world around him. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten steps. I'll soon be there!" Danced Alice, his feet making pit-pat sounds on the cobblestone path he was on. "The sun's only just… rising? And I'll soon be there!"

"When exactly will you be there!" shouted the rabbit.

"When I get there then I'll be there!" replied Alice, in a sing-song voice.

"Okay, just checking…" grumbled the rabbit.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten steps. And now I'm here!" sang Alice at the top of his lungs.

5. Songsmith

"My dear king, Mister Rabbit, we are here!" sang Alice.

"Good work, Alice, now don't you think you should find the castle?" asked the rabbit.

"It won't be that hard, Mister Rabbit! It's the biggest building here, see, you can see it from here!" answered Alice, pointing off into the distance.

"Just find it, Alice."

Alice walked into the city on a grand cobblestone path made of only small gray stones, they all seemed to be the exact same color and shape, "It must've taken a long time to build this…" thought Alice. The sides of the road were lined with a multitude of buildings, all of them various shapes and sizes. There were little ones that had bread in their windows, there were big ones that seemed to be houses, and then there were ones that were in between those, regarding size, which had bars on the windows that held a multitude of gemstones in view. "This place is very beautiful!" thought Alice, "I would LOVE to live here!" The sounds of awakening filled the city; birds chirped from the trees along the sides of the road, windows opened, and stove fires were lit so that breakfast could be started. As Alice walked along the road, a man exited his house and saw him. "You're late!" he shouted.

"I'm late?" Alice asked.

"Well, you are the great songsmith Alice, aren't you?"

"Yes my name's Alice, but -"

The rabbit cleared his throat suggestively.

"But where am I supposed to be headed?"

"Up to the castle, of course, where else would you go when you need to sing at a royal ball!" laughed the man.

"Thank you! I guess I'm late!" said Alice as he ran off in the direction of the castle.

"You're welcome, now don't get lost!"

"Mister Rabbit, how did you make word travel this quickly?"

"It's not hard when you know the right people, Alice."

"Thank you, very much, my king!"

"Hurry to the castle, Alice. You're late!"

With that Alice took off, full speed, down the road, "I'm late! I'm late! I'm very, very late!"

"You're late!" shouted an old woman.

"I'm late!" screamed Alice as he ran.

"You're late!" yelled an ornately dressed child as he played.

"I'm late!" exclaimed Alice as he ran.

"You're late!" growled a castle guard.

"I'm here!" shouted Alice as he burst through the castle's gate and into its courtyard.

"You're late, Sir Alice." Whined the king's assistant.

"Oh leave him be! It's not as if he was told he was supposed to be here." stated King Helric.

"Thank you for the opportunity to sing at your ball, King Helric, it is quite the honor!"

"Think nothing of it! It's not every day that the great songsmith Alice opens up his schedule to sing at a mere ball!" explained the king, coughing afterwards.

"A-are you sick, my king?"

"Yes, but don't worry, Alice, it's just my allergies. Damned roses just love filling the air with their pollen! Jiles, please take Alice to his quarters so that he can get ready for tonight's ball."

"As you wish, my king." said Jiles in a monotonous voice.

Jiles then lead Alice into the great, stone castle and through many, many velvet-lined hallways until they reached a black door with a rose made of solid sapphire on it. "Someone will summon you an hour before the ball begins." explained Jiles as he left. As soon as he opened the door he saw himself in a mirror that covered the entirety of the opposite wall. As he moved closer to it he noticed there was a rose etched into it. He turned to the right at the end of the hallway and opened the door to what seemed to be a study. Alice looked around the velvet-covered room for a place to write. In the very back of the room there was a small desk with paper, quills and inkwells covering its shelf. He sat down at the desk; grabbed a slip of paper, a quill, and an inkwell; and wrote. Alice did this for an hour: he wrote and he sang, and he sang and he wrote, and he wrote what he sang, and he sang what he wrote, but Jiles came back not long after Alice finished writing his piece of music. "Sir Alice," he said, "The ball will begin soon, please come to the main hall." Jiles left the room immediately. "Did you hear that Mister Rabbit! The ball's about to start!" cheered Alice. "Go, go and dazzle them, Alice, with your beautiful music."

6. The Bloo Ball

Alice left his study, then turned to the right, and almost ran into the wall-size mirror. "Oh, silly me, the door's at the other end of the hall!" laughed Alice. He turned around to see the rose-etched mirror on the other side of the room. "Sir, how do I get to the main hall?" is what Alice asked the man in the mirror. He just pointed to the doorknob protruding from the mirror. "Poor man must be a mute," he whispered to himself, "Thank you!" He bowed to the man in the mirror and then ran across the room. Alice looked around once he left his hallway. He turned and walked to the left, that being the only way that seemed to go out of the long hallway; he ended up at the top of a staircase in the main hall. "It's Alice!" whispered a short, green-haired girl who wore a maid's outfit. "Alice!" gasped a fat, chef-like man, "Sir Alice! Would you like to eat before the ball? I can't let you sing on an empty stomach!" Alice thought on it. "Sure, I am rather hungry." He answered. Alice rushed down the stairs to where the main and chef were. "What are your names?" He asked them.

"I am Head Chef Gústav!" laughed the fat man.

"I-I'm Lucinda, Matron of the Maids, S-Sir Alice." stuttered the little green girl as she curtsied.

"How can you be at such a high post?" He asked as he followed Gústav into a large dining room with a low-hanging chandelier in its middle. "You're so young!"

"Well… I came to the castle because a mean lady killed my mommy and my daddy ran off with her." Sniffed Lucinda as her eyes started to tear up, "I came to the castle because I didn't want to starve. The king said I was so cute that he wanted me to always be able to be the one that served him. And… well… Here I am."

"How long have you been working in the castle?" questioned Alice.

"She just started yesterday!" interrupted Gústav, who was holding a rather large platter in his hands.

"Well, that sure smells good!" complimented Alice.

"It had better! They're my mom's recipes!" laughed Gústav.

"I-I should go find t-the king, goodbye and good luck, not that you'll need it, S-Sir Alice." said Lucinda as she ran off.

"My, my, I think that little girl's got a crush on you! She hasn't acted like this until she saw you!" Laughed Gústav as he lifted the lid from the platter he had just set on the table.

"R-rabbit!" thought Alice as he looked at the first place of three that were before him. Alice turned the platter so that the bowl of leek soup was the dish directly in front of him.

"Which room does she sleep in?" asked Alice.

"She sleeps in the white rose room, in the same hallway as you."

"Let me guess, that door's flower's made of diamond!"

"Wrong, it's one gigantic pearl with a rose carved into it! That girl is so small, I have no clue how she opens it!"

Alice lifted the bowl of soup up to his mouth and drank the rest of the soup. "That soup was delicious, Gústav!"

"Why thank you, Alice!"

"What're these in this bowl?" Alice asked as he pointed to the third plate on the platter, "They look too cute to eat!"

"Those are my favorite thing to bake! They're yellow cream lemon biscuits! That's a lemon flavored cake covered with a sugar-cream that I mixed with some lemon zest and juice. It's my sweetest, most famous concoction!" explained Gústav, "After that, I covered them with powdered sugar!"

"That sounds delicious!" said Alice, drooling.

Alice took one and popped it into his mouth and chewed. It was so sweet, but not too sweet, thanks to the lemon. The yellow cake in the center was so moist it felt like he had just drank it rather than bit into it. "Oh… Wow… That was, I'm speechless! It's impossible to describe how good that was, Gústav!" Alice said as he shoved two more yellow cream lemon biscuits into his mouth.

"Yes, his mother was the best chef this castle will ever have had." said King Helric as he walked to the very end of the long, table clothed table. "She, of course, invented that divine concoction you enjoy so much. Lucinda?"

"Yes my lord?"

"How long until ten o' clock? The ball starts then!"

"The clock will chime the ball-bell in 15 minutes, my lord." said Lucinda, glancing at a clock standing against the wall behind her.

"Lucinda."

"Yes, my lord?"

"Stop with this "My lord" nonsense, though I am a king, I do not like my workers acting as if they are slaves!"

"S-sorry, King Helric."

"That's better, though you're still using a title… You see, Alice, I don't rule like every other king this land has seen; I rule over citizens, not slaves."

"I did not even think as much, King Helric!" blurted out Alice.

"Oh my!" Shouted the rabbit as it leapt onto the table to observe their conversation. "Who could have done such a thing?"

"He did not know, Mister Rabbit, I swear! Mister Rabbit! Your fur… it seems to be darkening!"

"Hmm… Alice? What are you mumbling about over there?" asked King Helric.

"Uh… oh! I'm just talking to myself!" answered Alice.

"Well stop, it's creepy!"

"Time for the ball!" yelled the rabbit and Lucinda at the same, exact time, and, not even a second later, the ball-bell chimed.

"To the ball room!" yelled the rabbit and Lucinda, again, at the same time. The rabbit just glared at Lucinda.

About twenty men and women dressed like waiters filled the staff's entry hall, followed by a multitude of people wearing chef's attire who were each carrying a dish. Then there was Alice, lined up directly behind them, across from Alice was a man dressed exactly like him, the pianist. Standing directly beside Alice was one of the castle's many guards. Alice observed his shiny, metal armor until his eyes reached the location of what he thought looked too strangely shaped and small to be a sword. "Sir?" asked Alice, "What might this strange contraption, which is strapped to your waist, be?"

"Well, it's an Auto-firing Missile Launcher! You see, instead of having to grab a new bolt after every firing of a crossbow, this thing can be shot five times without having to be reloaded!" answered the guard.

"Amazing! I wish I could investigate it!" said Alice, poking at the weapon.

"Well, I could lend it to you."

"You can? I can't wait!" cheered Alice, "Thank you, Mister!"

"No problem!" just as soon as the guard closed his mouth, there was a fanfare of trumpets and all of the idle chatter stopped.

In the distance, Alice could hear someone say: "And now presenting King Helric!" And with those words, King Helric started down the hall as cheering could be heard from the ball room.

7. Bringing the Rain

"Thank you all for attending this Bloo Ball, please, enjoy yourselves, eat, drink, have a great time!" said King Helric with a boisterous voice. He sat down and waved his arms towards the staff entrances on the walls parallel to him, "Please, serve our guests."

Back in the hallway, Gústav said hurriedly, "Go! That's your cue!"

The rabbit, who was sitting next to King Helric, watched as about forty waiters flood into the great room from each door with a platter of enough dishes for a table in each hand. "This event is very well planned." Said the rabbit mischievously, "This calls for some madness." As the last waiter shuffled out of the servant's entrance, Alice walked towards it and was the new leader of the line against the wall.

As soon as Lucinda walked up to King Helric carrying a platter with a plate of roasted rabbit, a bowl of leek soup, and a small plate of yellow cream lemon biscuits on it, the king said, "And now for our entertainment!" Lucinda's entire face turned red.

"H-here's your food, my l-" King Helric looked at her, "K-king Helric." stammered Lucinda.

The guard next to Alice asked him: "Hey, what's the hold-up?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention!" replied Alice.

Alice rushed out of the servant's entrance just as the pianist was taking his seat. "Sing with all of your heart, Alice!" yelled the rabbit. Alice took his place next to the piano, on the platform King Helric was seated on, and looked out unto the room. All he could see were faces masked by darkness adorning bodies of various shapes and sizes which were wearing a variety of clothing, all different hues of the color blue. The waiters were all lined up against the walls, waiting for someone to call them over; but all Alice saw were the walls, up and up they rose. Eventually, Alice's eyes met the ceiling and followed it towards himself until he reached the monstrous chandelier, which hung from the middle of the vaulted ceiling.

Someone behind him coughed and Alice spun around, it was the king. "Sorry!" Alice mouthed. "Let's do this!" Alice whispered and then began to sing.

"Hands held together, getting colder

Washed by flowing water

Your eyelids, melted white."

Then the piano began to play.

"This is the place you reached…

This is the place I reached…

The path will continue endlessly on your back.

The long, long canal, falling along…

Ever since that day, we have come far…

These separate roads are intersecting again.

It came to an end here, no one can stop it.

The road we walked together was not wrong.

The road we split up was not wrong.

Transparency!

Transparency!

Crossing over!

Over a finger in the pampered beating.

Transparency!

Transparency!

You're melting!

In the rain of a straight, soft scarlet.

Your remains.

I won't cry.

Streaming eyes, getting colder

Covered by the overflowing earth

That empty shell of yours, return to flowers

This is the place you reached…

This is the place I reached…

This road will endlessly connect our dreams.

Far away, far away, our souls pile up

Aah~ this widening meadow

The overflowing smells of you…

I'll never forget it

It cannot be forgotten

Ever since that day, we've come far

These separate roads are intersecting again

It. Starts. Here

Transparency!

Transparency!

Crossing over!

Over a finger in the pampered beating

Transparency!

Transparency!

You're melting!

In the rain of a straight, soft scarlet

Transparency!

Transparency!

Melting confusion…

In the shadow of a stain, a brilliant green.

Transparency!

Transparency!

The sky is melting!

In the cloud of a straight soft light…

Your prayer… I will bring…"

The pianist played the same string of notes a few times over which was followed by a long silence. The crowd's shadowed faces were now glistening with sparkling tears. A great, thunderous applause filled the room. The pianist stood and both of them took a bow. A replacement singer and pianist took the stage as well as a few violinists and flautists. Alice was pushed into the blue whirlpool of dancing couples as he was rushed off the stage.

"That was beautiful, Alice." They said.

"It truly was amazing, Alice." They said.

Alice took a seat at a table as quickly as he could. Just as soon as he sat, the clock stuck twelve. "It's already so late?" said Alice, surprised. "Lucinda," Said King Helric, "I'm starting to feel tired. Will you help me back to my room?"

"Yes, m- King Helric." replied Lucinda.

Upon seeing this Alice thought it strange, "Shouldn't a host stay until the end of his own party?" A waiter walked up to Alice's seat and placed a tray of food on the table, in front of him. "That was a beautiful performance, Alice." whispered the waiter. Alice looked at the food before him; it was the same food as before. Disgusted, Alice moved the rabbit away, and pulled the soup in front of himself. Before he began to eat, Alice looked up to the platform, the king hadn't come back.

When he was done with his leek soup, he pulled the golden treasures in front of himself. He could not wait to taste them again ever since he swallowed his last one. These yellow cream lemon biscuits were something Alice would live off of if it were possible. He put one in his mouth, and just let it melt, he did not chew, and he just let it disintegrate. Alice loved the flavor that covered the inside of his mouth, it tasted as if someone had taken a lemon and let it sit in sugar for an entire lifetime.

Alice's daydream was interrupted by a sporadic thought, "I wonder where Lucinda is?" He picked up the dish of yellow cream lemon biscuits and headed off through the staff's entrance.

8. Clockwork Doll

"Do you know where Lucinda is?" Alice asked a man who was sitting on a box, peeling potatoes.

"Shouldn't she be with the king?" he replied.

"Yes, but he's nowhere to be found either!" answered Alice.

"Ah, Alice! Looking for Lucinda are we?" asked Gústav, winking.

"Yes, I'm looking for her, her and the king left at midnight, yet the ball continues?"

"Hmm, the king must not have been feeling. Well, he has been sneezing a lot lately." commented Gústav.

"So…?"

"So, you should go and check the king's room, why didn't you go there first!"

"Well, you see, I have no cl-"

"Hurry!" yelled Gústav.

Alice jumped up and quickly walked out of the kitchen. He turned back to see Gústav instructing the poor man on the box how to properly peel potatoes. "Why are you making such deep cuts? When you cut potatoes like this you lose a lot of the meat of the vegetable!" he said as he said as he picked up a potato to show him what he means, "You're supposed to make your slices as thin as possible so that all you take away from the potato is the skin!"

"Sheesh, he sure is bossy!" thought Alice, "Now, I wonder where the king's room is."

Alice kept walking until he made it to the main hall, but could not decide where to go after that. So, he spun in a circle, and the direction he was facing when he stopped was where he would go. He closed his eyes as he spun, "One, two, three, four, and five!" When he stopped he was facing the stairs, not skipping a beat he started to climb. Alice didn't skip any stairs as he might have if he wasn't so tired. Never before had walking up stairs taken as long as this, Alice wondered if the staircase was growing.

When Alice reached the top of the stairs he had three new paths to choose from, "Straight, left, or right? I wonder, should I spin again? Well… maybe not, I know it's not to the left, that's my hallway, and why would it be to the right? That direction looks so bland while the hallway directly in front of me is so bright and beautiful! I shall go straight!" Alice began to walk forward, down the brightly lit hall, closing his eyes. "Left, right, left, right." He found himself thinking as he walked. "Boy – left, right – this hallway is incredibly long!" said Alice to himself as he walked into the king's double doors at the end of the hall.

"Come in." Alice heard King Helric say from behind the doors. Alice turned the knob on the right door and pushed it open, "Um… King Helric, where are you, exactly?"

"In bed, Alice." replied King Helric from behind a blanket of darkness.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Did I wake you? I was just worried because you left so early and didn't come back and… I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay, Alice! I had only just lain down! What do you need?" asked King Helric, sitting up in bed.

"Well, now that I've found you, all I need to do is find Lucinda!" said Alice, eagerly.

"Alice, after she helped me back to my room, if she didn't return to the ball or the kitchen, she is probably in her room." said King Helric rubbing his forehead.

"Thank you, sir."

"Oh, and Alice."

"Yes?"

"Please take that bowl back to the kitchen when you're done!"

"Bowl?" said Alice, looking for a bowl, spotting one in his hand, "Oh! Right the bowl! I'll make sure to take it back! Good night, King Helric, have a good dream!"

"Thank you, Alice, and good luck finding her!"

Alice spun around, left the room, and softly closed the door behind himself. "Now where is Lucinda's room… oh yeah! It's in my hallway! I guess I'll have to check every door for a giant rose made of pearl!" Alice sped down the hallway, almost tripping multiple times. When he reached the end of the hallway in which Lucinda's door resides, he put his hands on his knees and bent over as he panted. Alice stayed like this for a short while.

Alice stood up straight, faced the rose covered hallway, and walked down it. With every step a siren song of instruments got louder, Alice stopped coaching his steps, but did not stop walking. The most prominent sound that Alice could hear was that of an accordion, he had always found the sound they made mesmerizing. In what seemed like seconds, Alice reached the pearl-rose door he was searching for, but he did not open it, he only listened as a familiar voice started singing along to the circus-like music:

"In the woods where the fog is most profound,

Lies a world where artificial people are found.

Orange and emerald green parading,

An elegant yet simple circus tent.

A gorgeous place with just a few subtle clues,

To suggest that everything just mixes in.

While it's wearing a tiny, little pale-blue dress,

They won't decorate an automatic doll.

While those eyes will open, not even once,

That smile will forever stay the same.

Dancing in circles, keeping on, round and round,

Until the spinning wears her down.

Little girl in a beautiful body,

How she longs to cry but she is mechanical.

So again she dreams of her loneliness so again she must dance until she can no more,

There is no beginning or end inside.

The chest of the lonely little doll,

The place where her heart is supposed to exist has only a great big cogwheel turning.

Guests that pass by the big flaming ring of death,

Also marvel at the flickering blaze.

Running past sheets of iridescence,

They give into the sound of waltz.

The old clock is beaten and scratched beyond repair,

Wagon tracks that cause time to turn backwards.

The stage that has been closed for it no longer works,

Still holds onto a dream she wants to have.

While wearing a tiny, little pale-blue dress the hem of the skirt flutters in an arc,

Starting to forget something you don't know.

How to bring in hopes and wishes to hold,

All she does is she bows and then starts to dance.

In circles, round and round and round again,

She cannot stop dancing, no, not yet, not yet.

Not until all of her screws are unhinged,

Missing the point so that she will work well.

But in truth that scenario was never there,

Whatever flows on the surface is just something that drips on every single day.

And so here is the end of her little world,

Distant recollections of street corners.

Always will the sound of that place continue,

The circus continues to ring forever."

The shrill sound of the bowl shattering when it made contact with the ground snapped Alice out of his trance. He ran to his room as quick as he could, entering his mirrored hallway as Lucinda left her own.

9. Little Ladies

Love Lemons,

Apparently…

Alice rushed into his study, it was his first choice, it being the only room that he actually knew existed. He jumped over to the desk and practically fell into the chair pushed into it. He grabbed a few sheets of paper, a quill, and an inkwell and began to write.

"One shiny sh- no, no, no!" he sang as he scribbled out a few words and wrote something new.

"You steal a loo- no!" He shouted as he corrected another line.

"I think that's all that sounded strange…" said Alice as he scanned over his newest creation "Yup! That's it!" Alice dusted imaginary dust off of his hands as he said, "Phew, I'm tired." He spotted a couch a wall parallel to him. "Well, you look soft," complimented Alice.

"Why thank you, Alice." Said the rabbit as he appeared, as if, out of nowhere.

"Now whe- Mr. Rabbit! You're fur is so dark!" gasped Alice, astonished.

"Hmm… is it that noticeable?" asked the rabbit, acting as if he felt self-conscious.

"Well, you were snow-white yesterday just a few days ago!" answered Alice.

Alice yawned very loudly. "You really are tired! But why not go sleep in your bedroom?" asked the rabbit.

"I have my own bedroom?" gasped Alice.

"What did you think was behind the only other door in this room!" mocked the rabbit.

"Well, to be honest, I didn't really notice that door…" answered Alice, sheepishly.

"Maybe you should investigate your surroundings, Alice. They may inspire new songs." said the dark rabbit sarcastically.

"You're right!" exclaimed Alice as he moved towards the door and then opened it, "I really should pay more attention!"

"Goodnight, Alice." said the rabbit.

Alice closed the dark-wooded door softly behind himself, turning to face the great, new room he just entered. There was dark red velvet everywhere. The room smelled fantastic, the aroma of clean linens filled the air. The bed, which was centered on the furthest wall, was made of the dark black wood of a Purpal tree and its sheets were made of water spider silk, the alleged softest thing in all of the land. The canopy atop the bed was made of the same soft silk, but it was dyed to be a darker shade of red than that of the velvet. "Beautiful!" yelled Alice. He ran over to the bed and jumped onto it, the sheets flying upward as if they had just been blown by a breeze. Then, Alice drifted off to sleep.

Alice awoke to a knock on the door. "Come in," mumbled Alice.

"Good morning, Sir Alice. King Helric asked me to tell you we are expecting a guest from the Kingdom of Ghold, and she wants you hear you sing. We will be hosting another, smaller party tonight, so you will need another song." recited Lucinda.

"What luck!" shouted Alice, "I just finished writing a song last night! When will she be here?"

"She should arrive later today!"

"Okay, then I will practice. Oh, and Lucinda."

"Yes?"

"You're going to be singing with me!" cheered Alice.

"B-b-b wha-what are you- I-I can't sing!" stammered Lucinda.

"Oh, please, Lucinda! I have heard you sing, I know you can do it!"

"Wh-what! H-how have you heard me sing?"

"Last night you were singing. It was very good!"

"Th-thank you…"

"Now let's get started!" Alice exclaimed.

"Gústaaaaaaaaav!" screamed a blonde haired girl that was almost as tall as Lucinda.

"Yes, Miss Clair?" said Gústav.

"I want some of those incredibly scrumptious lemon cakes that you make! Now!" yelled Queen Claire of the Kingdom of Ghold.

"Coming right up, Miss Claire!" said Gústav, rushing off to the kitchen.

"My chef will never be able to duplicate those delicious little things," said Claire, to no one in particular.

Queen Claire of the Kingdom of Ghold is an incredibly short woman of nineteen years. She's always skipping around in a dark green dress. She has short blonde hair and piercingly bright green eyes, and everyone loves her. "Now where is that pesky, little, servant girl that Helric is always talking about in his letters? Hell! Where's Helric!"

"Right – ahem – here, Miss Clair." said King Helric through a fit of coughs.

"What happened to you? You look as if you were living in a hole in the ground for a week or two!" laughed Claire.

"I have no clue what happened, I just feel horrible as of the late."

"Well, just because you're sick, don't you think for a second that I'm going to be hearing Alice sing any night other than tonight, Mister! I am going to hear him sing tonight even if you die right where you stand, ha-ha-ha!"

"M-miss…" said King Helric, shocked,

"Oh, come on, Helric-dear, did you lose your sense of humor in the short time that I've been gone? Loosen up!" howled Claire.

"Miss Claire, I've got your yellow-cream lemon biscuits!" called Gústav as he walked over to her and place the large tray on the table.

"Yay! Yay! Yay! Thank you Gústav! I swear, as soon as this old geezer croaks, I'm coming back over here and snatching you up all for myself!" teased Claire.

Claire took the large tray and skipped out the door and down the hall, with Helric following close behind her. She turned right and walked through another doorway, knowing exactly where she was going as if she were in her own home. She tossed the metal tray onto a small table set between two plush couches. The room they were now in was a sitting room; its floor was a soft red carpet and its walls were made of a dark-colored wood. "Hmm… So, when exactly am I going to hear Mister Alice sing?" asked Claire, popping a yellow cream lemon biscuit into her mouth,

"Well, since the only person attending his concert will be you, a small stage is being built in the dining room, so whenever that is finished you can hear him sing!" explained King Helric as he reached for a yellow cream lemon biscuit.

Clair slapped his hand away, "Well, I wish it would be built faster!"

"I-I suddenly feel ill, I am going to my chamber, I'm sorry to leave you like this, Claire." apologized King Helric, covering his mouth as he coughed numerous times.

"Oh, don't worry about it old man! It's not like you were entertaining anyway!" murmured Claire as King Helric left the room, "Guard! Take me to the dining room! I want to know how long it will be before I can enjoy Alice's beautiful voice!"

"Yes, Miss Claire. Right away, Miss Claire." answered a guard instantly.

"Mister Alice?" asked the person knocking on his study's door.

"Come in." said Alice from the other side of the door.

"There's no need for me to do so. I put the auto-firing bullet launcher on this table outside the door, be careful with it, it's very dangerous!"

"Thank you, very much, I'll be sure to be careful!" Now, Lucinda, back to practicing!"

"Oka-" a bell rang in the distance, "Actually, it's time for us to perform!"

10. A Clear,

Glass

Slipper

"We had better hurry to the dining room, Miss Claire will be mad if you're late!" warned Lucinda,

Lucinda rushed out of Alice's study with him following directly behind. She wove her way through the castle's velvet-lined halls, but did not head to the main staircase; instead, she went to a servant's passageway. It lead to a room Alice had never seen before. It was as dank as a cave, as dark as one as well, but in the furthest corner was a staircase, and down the staircase they went. The staircase ended in another dark, dank room which Lucinda rushed across and went through the door on the other side of it.

When Alice went through the door he found he was in the kitchen. Lucinda led him through two more doors and then they were in the dining room. "About damn time!" shouted Claire, "I've been waiting for ages!"

"We're sorry, Miss Claire…" whimpered Lucinda.

"Oh my! Alice, I heard you were handsome, but I had no clue you would be so… magnificent! Your beauty astounds me!" said Claire, curtsying so low that her hair almost touched the floor. Lucinda's face turned red from both envy and embarrassment. "Lucinda, are you ready to give this wonderful lady an incredible performance?" asked Alice, enthusiastically.

"S-she gets to sing with you?" screeched Claire.

"Yes, I'm ready." answered Lucinda with renewed enthusiasm.

Alice gracefully walked his way over to the newly built stage and leapt onto it effortlessly while Lucinda had to use the staircase on its side. Alice held his hand out for Lucinda as he stood in the center of the stage. Lucinda ran over to him and grasped his hand with hers.

"Just like we practiced?" asked Lucinda.

Claire's face turned a deep red.

"Just like we practiced." answered Alice.

Lucinda began to sing.

"It seemed like only a dream when we danced 'till morning.

The clock ticked away with a magic ring.

Fingers calling me to escape down the stairs.

Three steps at a time to hide the dark truth."

"The bitter coldness of a horse-drawn carriage." sang Alice.

"Dancing with clothes that would turn back into miserable rags at midnight.

Finding a stranger with a masked face,

A person that whispers softly to you.

Holding onto the hilt of your sharp blade,

It will cause sadness and ruin.

Orphans gather inside the castle,

Each with their faces with a fake smile.

The wings of an angel don't hold the answer,

They will not help you to know the truth." sang them both.

"The glass slipper that was left behind slowly melts into a red flame's ashes." sang Alice.

"I see that you're trembling as you wish to go home,

You take a glance at the clock tower.

My dancing shoes fell down a slope as I kicked them off,

My fingers slowly wrapped around his neck." sang Lucinda.

"I tried to remedy her falling tears." sang Alice.

"All the electrifying impulses flowing through my nerves were too much.

I never want the bell to ring,

I let out a cry and said goodbye.

With my knife I stabbed you violently,

Even though that was a dilemma.

The princess that wears perfume that had the scent of deadly gunpowder,

My mask of ice with a flaming gaze that broke,

It was too much to handle!" they sang.

"I could still feel his breath on my skin,

But it's only a dream from long ago." sang Lucinda.

"The silver moon, it drapes her in a shimmering glow,

Then she shines like one of the brightest stars." sang Alice.

"Rip this dress with your running legs,

You no longer need to wear your crown.

A quick glance into your eyes,

It sparks a flame that could warm two lonely souls.

There is no satisfaction in playing the only one who is not

Able to stop your flooded eyes from flowing from now and forever.

I just wish that time would stand still,

I just want to savor this moment for all time,

I want to be able to store it away,

The sound of your beautiful breathing heart.

This sensation fills me with joy,

This wonderful warm feeling.

Now my whole body is immobilizing,

It makes me feel like I'm in a fairytale." They sang.

There was a long moment of silence; Claire was sitting in her chair, dumbfounded. She snapped out of her stupor and began to applaud them with great vigor. "That was amazing Alice, truly beautiful, you're such an amazing singer, I don't know anyone with a voice as awesome as you!" complimented Claire at the fastest speed she could muster.

"Thank you, Miss Claire," said Alice as he grabbed Lucinda's hand so that they could bow, "I rather enjoyed your audience."

"I'm getting sleepy," said Claire rubbing her eyes, "Guard!"

"Yes, Miss Claire?" asked the guard.

"Escort me to my room, cutie." Ordered Claire, winking,

"Right away, Miss Claire. Anything for you, Miss Claire." said the guard as he rushed to her aid.

"See you later, Alice-dear." said Claire as she left the room.

"You sang beautifully, Lucinda! It was great singing with you!" complimented Alice, "But I'm going to sleep now."

"Goodnight, Alice! I'll see you tomorrow!"

Alice then began the not-so long walk back to his room. "Hmm… time to investigate that odd contraption." thought Alice. He walked out of the dining room and into a hallway, each step he took added to the anticipation that was building in his mind. He figured the amount of power harnessed in that weapon would be incredible, awesome, too great for him to fathom. Alice found that the speed of his steps was increasing dramatically, for he had already reached the end of that hallway, and he was now headed up the grand staircase. It wasn't much longer before he found himself staring at the giant sapphire rose inlaid in his door. He let himself in and rushed across the room, and then he grabbed the auto-firing bullet launcher.

The first time he held it, he knew he held it correctly; there were three bullets on the table against the wall for him to use. He picked one up and put it down the barrel of the auto-firing bullet launcher he then swung his "loaded" weapon around, the bullet slid out of its barrel. He was confused, "How do you put those in so that they shoot out at a dangerous speed?" when Alice finished saying that he spotted a latch on the top of it. He pulled the latch and a small compartment opened, "So this must be where you go!" Alice picked up the bullet from the ground, dropped it into the compartment, and then closed the latch.

Alice spun around and pointed the auto-firing bullet launcher directly behind him, straight at the man in the mirror. Alice yelped, "Ah! I never thought you would be someone who would be dangerous, lame, mute man! Where did you acquire that tool of destruction which you eagerly point at me?" Alice yelled angrily at the man in the mirror, "Did you think you had found an opportunity to strike, just now? Well you had thought wrong! I just so happen to have a weapon equal in power held in my hands. If you are going to just sit there and threaten me with your false show of courage, then I may have to make the first move. Attack me, coward! Do your worst!" Alice waited a minute without moving his aim away from the man in the mirror. "Very well then, you had your chance," and then Alice pulled the trigger. Not a second later did he feel something puncture his skin, pass through his chest, and burst out his back. Blood spattered everywhere on the rose-etched mirror behind him. Alice fell to the ground, all life gone from his body. "What a shame, and I was starting to like him, too." said the pure black rabbit.

12. Tools

Of

Destruction

Mayella, Joseph's daughter, was surrounded by tall, flimsy, multicolored trees; she was lost in the Fuzia Forest. "Daddy!" she yelled, "Daddy, where are you?" Mayella had gone to search for her father when night fell; she did not think to follow the red path that would lead her halfway to the castle, where he was. Instead, she decided to wander aimlessly throughout the forest. "Daddy… I'm scared…" she whimpered. Then her father's words came to her mind, "When you're scared and alone, sing of something cheerful and scary. Your mood will lighten and all the monsters will stay away." So, she sang something cheerful and scary:

"An old building out of the sun's reach,

Hallways, with decay, beginning to leach.

Behind the door in the dark, back room,

Were children remembered by what, by whom?

They had been waiting for you to visit them for a long time,

'We're so happy! We're so happy! Please play with us for a time!'

Circle you, Circle you,

Please don't try to run from us.

Circle you, Circle you,

What games will we play, can I guess?

Before the moon sets again,

You can play with us 'till then!

Circle you, Circle you,

Who surrounds you everywhere?

Orphanage deep in the forest greens,

So no one would find the dark machines.

Made from a little child's brain,

Immortality built of children's pain.

The children in the orphan place,

Circled their teacher with a smiling face.

Singing a child's play song, 'Circle you, Circle you.'

Circle you, Circle you,

Children, 'You just lost the game.'

Circle you, Circle you,

Don't run away, you're the same.

Before the moon sets aside,

Cut their neck off as they cried.

Circle you, Circle you,

Who surrounds you everywhere?

Even if your head is crushed in,

Even if your arm is taken.

The children who never die,

They laugh at you sweetly.

Circle you, Circle you,

Don't run away, you'll be missed.

Circle you, Circle you,

Please stay with us, we insist.

You should come play with us,

Play forever with us.

Circle you, Circle you,

Who surrounds you everywhe-"

Mayella tripped and hit her head on a boulder right before she finished her song.

"Little girl? Little girl are y-" she heard a voice fade away in the distance.

13. The

Third Alice

Lucinda calmly talked to Gústav while sitting on the kitchen's island. "Hmm… what time is it?" asked Gústav.

"I don't know." shrugged Lucinda.

They sat in silence for a few minutes then the bell of the grandfather clock in the kitchen rang, and right after it stopped ringing a sudden thud could be heard. "Oh no! Is my mother's grandfather clock breaking?!" Gustav rushed over to the clock and opened the glass door on its front. "Oh, good, nothing's broken. Maybe a cogwheel got stuck."

"So, what time is it?" asked Lucinda, giggling.

"Oh! I had almost forgotten! It's eleven o' clock!" laughed Gústav.

"I should probably go and check on the king sometime soon…" said Lucinda, wondering if he's okay.

"Come on, Lucinda! He's a strong man! He can fend for himself for longer than two seconds!" commented Gústav laughing harder.

"I know that Gústav, but he sounded sick the last time I had talked with him, and that was early this morning!"

"Wait… you weren't with him every second of the day? What were you doing instead!" asked Gústav, surprised.

"I was singing with um… Joseph! I was singing with Joseph."

"Ugh, his performance this evening was horrible! So you were the other voice that was singing, you sounded beautiful!" complimented Gústav.

"Yes, that was me… thanks…" blushed Lucinda, "Now; I'm going to go check on the king!"

"Okay, Lucinda. You have a good night."

Lucinda rushed out of the kitchen and went quickly to the main hall, when she got to the grand staircase she jumped up the stairs. She stood on the bottom step and jumped over a step, landing on the one above it. When she landed at the top of the staircase she skipped down the middle hallway of the three that were there. She skipped quickly, and very easily found her way to the end of the king's hallway. She opened the door to the king's room when she reached it. "Good evening, King Helric," she whispered, "I'm sorry I wasn't able to be with you today, I was performing with Joseph." The room was silent. "King Helric?" Lucinda walked over to her king's bed, confused. "King Helric?" She shook his arm softly, but the motion was enough to make his head roll over and face her. "Odd, usually just my talking wakes hi- King Helric!" She screeched as blood slowly trickled out of his mouth. "King Helric! Who could have done such a thing! Why would anyone want to kill such a good king?" Lucinda flung the covers off of the bed, uncovering King Helric's woundless body. "How could you have drowned in blood if you don't have a single wound? This is impossible!" cried Lucinda. She cried for almost an hour leaning up against King Helric's bed, and then she fell asleep.

When Lucinda woke up she sat up straight in the bed she was in. Deep, blood red colored sheets fell around her. "What a strange dream." She heard something softly hit the ground on the side of the bed. Wonder what it could be, Lucinda leaned over the edge of her bed, and looked for what could have made the sound on the ground. She saw a rectangular piece of paper on the ground slightly underneath the side table on the right side of her bed. She pushed the deep red covers the rest of the way off of herself and hopped down off of the bed. Lucinda bent down, her hair falling to the ground around her head as she looked at the piece of paper. She reached with her right hand slowly for it, and then when her hand was close enough it darted out and grabbed the paper. She looked at it with big, curious green eyes as she flipped it over, on its other side were a giant green club. "Hmm… Who would make such an odd playing card?" She put the card down, and as soon as it hit the side table next to the bed she just left she heard a voice in the back of her head say: "Hello, Alice, and welcome to your wonderland."

14. Rotting Stench

A door behind her opened and someone entered the room that used to be King Helric's. "Good morning, Queen Alice, how did you rest?" said the voice of Jiles. Alice's face only drew back in a mischievous smile as she said: "I had a splendid time sleeping! I am happy to start another day." The rabbit sat on the regal bed next to her grinning. "Oh, she's going to be fun." thought the rabbit.

Jiles walked over to Alice's bed and began to make it, forcing the rabbit to jump off of it. Jiles made short work of fixing Queen Alice's bed as he walked to the other side of it. Jiles fluffed the four down pillows as his last step of putting the bed in order for Alice to sleep next. "Now, Queen Alice, shall we get you ready for the day?" Alice was confused, but nodded anyways, she would have to get used to being queen. Jiles walked over to the right side of the room which had a large armoire against it and began to search through it for something for Alice to wear. He chose a light red and black dress for Alice to wear today, and took it over to her. He brought the dress over to Alice and asked her to lay her arms against her sides, and when she obliged he dropped the dress down over her, then walked behind her and laced up the back of the dress as she stuck her arms into the dress's sleeves. Jiles then walked over to the opposite side of the room with a great mirror on it and set a plush looking chair in front of it. "Now shall we start on your hair?" asked Jiles. Alice sat in the chair as soon as she thought she should and Jiles instantly started brushing her hair. He ran the brush through Alice's hair easily; somehow it had lost its matted form that came along with the life of a servant. She felt her own hair and gasped at how soft it was. "Queen Alice! Did I hurt you?" asked Jiles, surprised. "No, I was just amazed by how soft my hair is!" answered Alice, giggling.

Alice smiled as Jiles took a handful of her hair in each hand and began to braid it. There were 6 braids in her hair, not all of it taken into the form of a braid, whenever Jiles was finished braiding. He took a black silk ribbon up and began to weave it into her hair. When he was done with the first one, he took up another and did the same thing on the right side of her head. Now Alice looked as if she had two great, long ponytails on each side of her head. "You look beautiful, Queen Alice." complimented Jiles after he finished his work. "I feel beautiful, thank you Jiles." answered Queen Alice. She looked up in the mirror at Jiles' smiling face. As soon as her eyes met it, it was covered in blood. Alice looked away, holding in a shriek as she quivered. "Queen Alice, what's wrong!" said Jiles almost yelling out of fear. "Nothing, Jiles, I thought I saw something scary above you, it must have been my imagination. Sorry to worry you." said Alice looking back up at Jiles' clean, blemish-free face.

"Now, where are we off to next?" asked Alice as she hopped off of the plush chair. "Time for your breakfast, Queen Alice, Gústav should have it about finished now." answered Jiles. At that, Jiles walked to the door of Alice's new room and opened it. Alice skipped through it and continued to skip down the middle hall of the three to the grand staircase with Jiles following close behind her. She walked down the grand staircase with one hand on the rail to her right. When she reached the bottom she heard someone say: "Good morning Queen Alice!" and she replied with "Good morning." in a beautifully firm tone. She continued skipping down another hallway that leads to the dining hall; she could smell delicious food every time she walked down it. When she got to the other end she saw Gústav walking to the end of the table and placing a large platter of food onto it. "Good morning, Queen Alice!" is what he said as soon as he saw her. "Good morning Gústav!" said Alice happily as she hopped into the great chair with food in front of it.

Gustav lifted up the lid to the platter and the sight in front of Alice disgusted her. There was a bowl of blood with fingers in it, a plate of flesh dripping with blood, and another plate but with a head of a baby on it. Alice squeezed her eyes shut, trying to erase what she saw, and opened them again to see the scene before her change. Now there was a bowl of soup with carrots in it, some of Gústav's famous yellow cream lemon biscuits, and on the last plate, a baked chicken breast. "This looks delicious Gústav!" said Alice as she gulped. "Why thank you, Miss Alice." Alice's face was covered in disgust; he had called her "Miss Alice"! She was the Queen! Not some shop owner in the commoners' section of the city! Alice just smiled as she picked up a spoon and began to eat the soup.

"Queen Alice, today Miss Claire will be coming to discuss something unknown to me with you." announced Jiles. "Good to know Jiles, but do you know when she will be arriving?" asked Lucinda. "When WHO will be arriving, Lucie?" asked Claire as she traipsed around behind Alice, "Never mind, Jiles." said Alice as her eye twitched, "It's good to see you, Claire, now what is it that you wanted to discuss with me?" "Oh, you really think I'm going to discuss something private with servants about us! Ha! You really aren't too bright!" laughed Claire. Alice slammed her hands down on the table in front of her making the dishes before her rattle as she said in an angered tone, "Leave us. Would you?" Claire stumbled from the sudden noise. Jiles and Gústav left the room, startled, never before had they seen this face of Alice.

"What is it that you wanted to discuss with me, Claire?" asked Alice, snarling. "W-well… I am repealing our truce. You're insane, Alice! Insane! You have lost your mind! What is wrong with you recently! You used to be sweet, but now you're twisted!" yelled Claire. Alice turned around, smiling, so that she could look at Claire while she talked. Claire's entire body was covered in blood, she wasn't bleeding though, she was splattered in blood. "You want to know what happened to me? I learned about money, I gained it! I love it. I'll do anything to keep it, and get more! And if you want to destroy the only thing keeping me from crushing you under my foot, then go ahead, do it! You'll just be forced to watch in your high tower as your kingdom is burnt to the ground. Do you really want that Claire?" said Alice as she smiled wildly. "Y-you're mad!" yelled Claire as she quivered. Alice just giggled madly. "What has gotten into you!" yelled Claire as she slowly moved towards the entrance.

"Why, nothing has gotten into me, Claire, I'm perfectly fine. Now, you on the other hand, I think something's wrong with your head. Do you feel okay?" Alice picked up a knife off the table and hid it behind her back as she held her left hand out for Claire and moved towards her. "W-what are you doing? What's this all of a sudden? I… I feel fine." Claire was surprised and confused. "I'm sorry for the way I acted; I haven't been feeling myself lately. You look pale, are you sure you're okay?" Alice moved closer with her right hand behind her back making sure the knife stayed hidden. "I am fine, Lucie. I'm sorry for yelling at you like that, but… you have been acting weird lately, and I just thought- I just thought you were plotting against me." Claire said, tearing up. Alice was close enough to Claire that she could now touch Claire with her outstretched arm. She leapt and pulled Claire into an embrace. Claire just cried into Alice's shoulder. Alice pulled her right arm above Claire's neck, and Claire said, "I'm sorry." Not a second later did Alice thrust the knife downward and into Claire's back.

Alice laughed madly, being as loud as she could. "Oh Claire, you sure are funny, thinking that you would be safe here all alone. What a silly little girl. Well, Claire, don't you worry one bit, I'll make sure you get back to Ghold safely; you'll make it back before tomorrow. I'll make sure of it!" said Alice as she stroked Claire's blonde hair. "Good job, Alice, good job!" congratulated the pitch black rabbit as it jumped off of the dining table, "but what shall we do about the body?" "I say we tie her to a horse and make it ride straight into Ghold! Ha-ha! That would be perfect!" laughed Alice. "That would be perfect, indeed, but what do you plan to do about the kingdom of Ghold itself?" questioned the rabbit. "Well, I've slain their ruler, the kingdom is mine! Ghold and Emmeruld have mixed! My kingdom… my kingdom has just grown! Ha-ha-ha! More money for me! Yes, more money for me!" laughed Alice as she dropped Claire's body and proceeded to dance around the dining hall while singing: "More money for me! More money for me!"

"Well, you seem awfully excited about this! But, riddle me this, how are we going to get rid of this body? Before someone notices it, that is." asked the rabbit. Alice's eyes darted around the room looking for a way to hide or remove the body from view. "The table cloth!" laughed Alice, "We can wrap her in the table cloth, have her taken to the stables, then have her strapped to a horse and launched at Ghold! Yes, it's perfect!" Alice pranced over to the long table and pulled the clean white cloth from the table's top. She tore its fine threads apart at an interval granting just enough of the fibers to wrap Claire's body in. She lifted the table cloth into the air and let it fall over Claire, red staining the bright white fabric where it touched Claire's stab wound. The table cloth tented where the knife protruded from Claire's back, "Well, that won't do me any good, now will it!" Alice lifted the table cloth to find a knife stained in blood stabbed into the ground. She grasped the knife's hilt and tugged it until it gave and freed from the ground. "Oh, Claire. Where have you gone? Mr. Rabbit, might you know?" giggled Alice. "Why don't we go check the stables?" said the rabbit in a satirical tone.

Alice lifted up her dress in front of her so that she could move more quickly throughout the castle she called her home. She rushed down the hallway leading from the dining hall to the main entrance her hair fluttering madly behind her. With the rabbit hopping along beside her she made it to the front door of the castle, but she heard people's voices behind her. She turned around and she saw a tall blonde boy and a young blonde girl staring at her with bright blue eyes. The boy grabbed a small candlestick off of a small table near him and walked over to Alice. "Queen Alice, if you're to be headed outside you should take this with you." Said the blonde boy handing her the brightly burning torch. "Thank you, boy." murmured Alice. "And do be careful!" yelled the blonde girl as Alice closed the door behind herself. She turned around and held the flame out in front of her thinking, "How could it have become dark so quickly? How long was I asleep?" Alice walked around the castle staying close to its great walls. She rounded a corner and could see the stables a ways away in front of her, so she rushed towards them, no longer following the wall. When she got to the stables, Alice slid one of the giant doors on its front open and examined its inside. A stall's gate had been left open. Alice went over to close it, but stopped when she saw Claire inside of it. She looked around for the rabbit to thank him, but he was nowhere to be found.

Claire's body moved and she groaned loudly. Alice was terrified; she dragged Claire's body out of the stall she was in. She looked for a place to put her body and she spotted another stall, this one with a horse in it. Alice dragged Claire's body over to this stall and opened its gate. "Good horse, now do you know where the kingdom of Ghold is?" the horse just snorted, "I thought you would. Now that's where you're going to be taking this girl. It's past her bedtime, but she needs to be back at her home before sunrise, do you understand?" again the horse just breathed out promptly, "Okay, good horsy." Alice pet the horse's a few times. "Lucie… Lucie is that you?" asked Claire to the world surrounding her, "Yes, Claire, it's me." answered Alice. "Why did you do it, Lucie?" asked Claire. "I told you already, you're in my way. But don't worry your pretty little head! You're going to be home very soon!" laughed Alice. She walked out of the stall and returned a few seconds later with a bridle and saddle. She put the bridle on the horse's head and strapped the saddle onto the horse's back, then she picked Claire up, looked her in the eyes, and said, "Now just make sure you hold on nice and tight."

Alice threw Claire over the horse's back and turned her around so she was sitting correctly in the saddle. She put each of Claire's feet in a stirrup then grabbed the horse's reins and led the horse out of the stable. This time Alice didn't have a light with her, she closed the stable's door, but she walked on anyway, following the great castle walls back to the front door. When she got back to the front of the castle the moon was uncovered and could guide her path. She walked to the front gate of the castle and opened them. She waited for the horse to get completely outside before she said, "Well, Claire, it seems that I must leave you now," Alice tied Claire's hands together with the horse's reins, "Make sure you hold on nice and tight!" laughed Alice. Alice drew her right hand as far back as she could and threw it forward at an incredibly high speed, it met the horse's behind with a sickeningly loud slapping sound as she shouted, "Go!" Because of the stinging smack delivered by the green little girl, the horse stood on its hind legs and neighed loudly whenever gravity had returned its forefeet to the ground it took off at an alarming speed through the streets of Emmeruld aimed perfectly at the main gate of the city. "Good riddance, Claire." murmured Alice.

15. Wide Knowledge of the Late,

Madness

Mayella opened her eyes and saw what she saw every day since she was lost in the forest. She was in a blank room, with only a bed, a door, and a window. The door was locked from the outside and the window was barred, there was no way out of the room unless she was taken out by someone else. But, the door had a thick glass window in it. The door's window was so high in the door that Mayella had to stand on the tips of her toes just to be able to see through it, which is what she was doing right now. A man in a plain white coat passed the window in her door, just like he did every day since she was lost in the forest. After he passed, Mayella stopped looking through the door's window, turned around so that the door was to her back, and then began to sing, just like she had done every day since she was lost in the forest.

"Late one day, in a clean white room,

They bring me here, always.

Clean corridors, many clean rooms,

Every night, one person is removed."

Mayella heard a door slam and someone began to walk down the hall.

"Pit-pat goes his feet, walking down the hall.

Pit-pat goes his feet, walking down the hall.

Pit-pat goes his feet, walking down the hall.

Pit-pat goes his feet, walking down the hall.

Pit-pat goes his feet, walking down the hall."

Another door slams and screaming can be heard everywhere in the building.

"Pit-pat goes their feet, walking down the hall.

Pit-pat goes their feet, walking down the hall.

Pit-pat goes their feet, walking down the hall.

Pit-pat goes their feet, walking down the hall.

Pit-pat goes their feet, walking down the hall."

A little boy was walking with the man in the plain white coat walked past her window, but Mayella didn't see.

"Beautiful flower, in bright red bloom,

One flower garden room,

No one's allowed in.

A lovely sphere comes rolling down,

Poochy eats very much.

Tomorrow is my turn; I look forward to going.

Tomorrow is my turn; I look forward to going.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow,

Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow,

Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, to-"

16. Golden Engagements

Alice woke up and sat straight up in her soft bed. She pulled the numerous, soft blankets from her body and let them fall at her side. She turned her body and let her legs hang over the edge of the plush bed and then pushed herself off of it landing on the ground with a soft thud. As soon as her feet touched the floor, Jiles walked through her door and said, "Good morning, Queen Alice, how did you rest?" "Oh, I had the most splendid dream, Jiles! I was running around the city surrounded by the smiling faces of my kingdom's peoples," lied Alice, "Jiles… Do you think I could head into town today?" Jiles only laughed, "Well, I don't see why not! Then what will you be wearing for today's outing, Queen Alice?" Alice explained what she wanted to wear very particularly to Jiles, "I want to wear a nice, soft black silk dress, but I don't want anything flashy, none of that frilly nonsense. I just want a nice dress for my parade around town." "Yes, Queen Alice." answered Jiles with a low bow. "Oh, and Jiles, I'm not going to be using a horse today, so I'm going to need some comfortable shoes." Said Alice, surprising Jiles, "What? Is a queen not allowed to walk around her own kingdom? Does she have to ride in a carriage everywhere surrounded by guards? Oh! And no guards either! If you want, you can accompany me, but no one else!" Jiles only stood looking at her with his mouth agape, but finally answered, "Yes, Queen Alice."

Jiles walked over to the right side of the room and opened the armoire that was resting there. He quickly found what his queen had requested, a plain silk dress of a deep black color without a frill in sight. He brought the dress over to Alice and asked her to lay her arms against her sides, and when she obliged he dropped the dress down over her, then walked behind her and laced up the back of the dress as she stuck her arms into the dress's sleeves. Jiles then walked over to the opposite side of the room with a great mirror on it and set the same plush looking chair as yesterday in front of it. "Now shall we start on your hair?" asked Jiles. Alice happily skipped over to the chair and hopped into it. Jiles then started to brush her hair and asked his queen, "Is there any special way you wish for me to do your hair in for this stroll around town?" "Hmmm…" Alice thought, "Well, I don't want anything too flashy, and I want it to be put up, instead of letting it hang down." Alice smiled cutely as she said, "Can you put my hair up in a bun and braid what would hang down?" "Yes, Queen Alice." Answered Jiles, doing what she had asked. A few minutes later Jiles was done and asked his queen, "How is this?" Alice turned her head as she looked in the giant mirror. She stood up, and walked over it, her hair hanging behind her. Alice attempted to put her hand against the mirror but her hand passed straight through it and she fell to her knees. Alice screamed out of terror, and Jiles was alarmed, "Queen Alice! What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Alice just lifted herself up off of the ground, "Silly me, I'm so clumsy, sorry to worry you, Jiles." Alice laid her hand against the mirror as she answered Jiles's question, "I feel beautiful, Jiles, thank you."

"Are we ready for you to head- oh yes! Your shoes, I almost forgot!" Jiles rushed over to the huge armoire on the opposite side of the room and opened it to search for some comfortable shoes for his queen. He spotted a pair of flat black shoes, and thought they would be perfect, so he grabbed them and brought them back to his queen. She was sitting in the chair when he was back beside her, so he got on his knee and put the shoes on her feet. "There, now are we ready for you to head off to town?" "Why yes we are, Jiles." answered Alice smiling, "Let's go!"

Alice hopped down out of the soft chair and skipped towards the door, but didn't hear Jiles behind her, so when she got to the door she turned around and asked him, "Well, are you coming or not?" Jiles smiled and nodded and rushed to her side. "I thought I wasn't wanted, ha-ha, sorry." apologized Jiles. "Not a problem at all, Jiles." said Alice, "Now let's go!" She opened the door and skipped down the hallway and when she got to them she skipped down the stairs, never faltering. "Please tell Gústav there's no need to cook anything for me, I'll be eating in town." said Alice as she passed one of her many servants. She continued skipping over to the front door of the castle and opened it. "Queen Alice, are you not taking any money with you?" questioned Jiles. "Oh… I'll… I'll stop by the bank! It's not that far away from here!" answered Alice. "Splendid idea, Queen Alice." said Jiles.

Alice opened the front door of the castle and skipped out of it, quickly stepping down the three steps leading to the stone-paved ground of the castle's courtyard. She looked back at Jiles and said, "Well, are you coming?" who replied, "Yes, Queen Alice!" in a hurried tone. Alice just huffed and skipped down the path leading to the castle's front gate. As her little feet made pit-pat sounds, she dodged to the right side of the great fountain in the courtyard's middle. "I have a good feeling about today, Jiles." said Alice as she opened the main entrance of the castle. The view before Alice was one she had rarely seen as a servant, for she was always stuck inside the castle's walls as she cared for her old king, but now that she was queen, she could look upon it in a new light. It was all hers.

Every building's roof was a dull shale color, but it held a sort of homely warmth, the walls of every building were painted a creamy white color and every so often a dark brown beam would protrude from the soft colored buildings. Then Alice turned to the left, the direction of the bank, and her view changed. A shiny golden glint caught her eye, "Gold?" she thought. A rich locale was in that direction, there were only 7 houses in that direction and yet it covered about half of what the commoner's district did. There were more than ten times as many people living in the commoner's district than in the imperial district of the city, and yet the imperial district covers so much land. "How is it so big?" thought Alice, but her thoughts were interrupted when Jiles asked in a concerned voice, "Is everything okay, Queen Alice?"

"Oh? Everything's fine, Jiles! I was just wondering why the imperial district covers so much land and yet the commoners, who struggle to get by, barely cover double the amount that it does. I might have to see to changing that, Jiles. But, that's in another day's work, I'm going to be enjoying this day! Now, let's get going!" Alice skipped off in the direction of the big bank which was not too far from her grand castle. Her feet made dull slapping sounds against the large boulders that made up the pathways in the imperial district as her destination swiftly neared her. The section of the city that Alice was in wasn't ever full of the hustle and bustle that you'd expect from a big city. It was almost covered in an uneasy silence which was only broken by occasional snide remarks that would have been exchanged between men who owned conflicting businesses. Alice hopped up the five steps leading to the vaulted porch of the bank, and then walked between the two far-spread ionic columns that held up the porch's roof as she walked into the bank.

Alice heard whispers from various people moving about the interior of the bank. She put a smile on her face even though she was annoyed by the secrecy of those around her and walked directly down the middle of the great bank until she reached a teller's desk. The teller was a wrinkly old man who wore glasses with lenses thicker than the glass in the bank's reinforced windows. "Why hello there… erm…" the old man squinted his eyes trying to identify who was on the other end of his dark wooded desk, "Lucie! Hello Lucie! How may I help you today?" Alice cringed unnoticeably, "Another person who calls me Lucie! Am I going to have to kill him too?" she thought to herself.

"Hello Dobson, I'm going to be going around town and checking up on things, and as I was leaving I realized I forgot my purse, and I figured I hadn't been here in a while, so it'd be a better idea to come here! Is there anything you can do for me?" Alice batted her eyes as she finished talking. "Why of course I can Lucie! And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Dobs?" Dobson turned around in his chair and spoke in a loud voice, "Alexandra! Please go retrieve a coin purse worth of gold coins from Queen Alice's account, would you?" Alice giggled, "Thank you, Dobs." Dobson's face filled with joy as he smiled at Alice, "My, my, little Lucie, you are growing! And your hair is still especially beautiful no matter how it's done!" Alice smile was no longer a façade; it was an actuality expressing her feelings of pure enjoyment. "Thank you, Dobs." Said Alice as the beautiful young woman whom Dobson had called Alexandra arrived at his side and placed a small pouch of coins on his desk with a small chink. "Thank you Alexandra, now let's have a look see at how much of this precious stuff you feel like handing out today, hmm?" Dobson poured the coins onto one pan of the small scale on the right end of his desk and began to place small counterweights onto the scale's other pan. "Hmm… Little Lucie is going to be withdrawing thirty-nine grams of gold from the Emmeruld Imperial Bank." Dobson scribbled the amount down in his ledger, replaced the precious coins in the purse, and removed the counterweights from the scale. "Make sure you don't spend it all in one place!" laughed Dobson as he handed the small purse to Alice. "I won't, Dobs." laughed Alice as she turned and left, "Have a good day!"

Alice left the bank with a genuine smile pasted onto her face, and was looking forward to the things she was going to do once in town. She swiftly stepped down the five steps which ended on the flat, stone street of the city. "Where should we head first?" Alice asked Jiles as she walked down the path at a normal pace rather than skipping like she usually would. "You haven't had your breakfast yet, maybe you should go to tavern and eat?" advised Jiles. "Jiles… you say this like you aren't going to be doing it with me?" corrected Alice, "I don't feel hungry right now, I feel like having fun! Where would we go to have fun?" Jiles thought for a minute as he walked alongside Alice on their short-lived journey to the commoners' district. "We could go to town square and see if anything interesting is happening." suggested Jiles. "That sounds splendid!" exclaimed Alice.

Alice and Jiles arrived in the town square where the stereotypical hustle and bustle that is thought to make its home in cities lived. There were people all around her, yet none of them paid attention to her because they had much more important business to attend to and could not afford distractions. Children chased chickens about the square, great men hawked their goods to the deaf crowds of people in the square, and Alice stood beside Jiles perplexed in the square. The only building whose door seemed to be centered in the square had a large message board posted outside of it. "Let's check that." said Alice tugging on Jiles's arm and pointing at the message board. The message board held details for odd jobs, advertisements, and a picture of a mad looking woman whose eyes seemed to take in every detail of the square.

One advertisement of all of the postings on the board caught Alice's eye. It was an advertisement for a circus which had just opened up a short ways outside of town. It was called Le Cirque de Ca'lourbinzen. Alice tugged on Jiles's sleeve and pointed at the flier, "What about that?" she asked. "Le Cirque de Ca'lourbinzen, hmm… sounds interesting. It seems to be a freak show, though. Are you sure you'd want to go and see the hideous monsters born into this world?" asked Jiles, concerned. "I'm sure, Jiles. I wouldn't have mentioned it if I wasn't sure." answered Alice. "It is going to start in…" Jiles looked around for a clock, spotting the great clock in the center of the square, "In about three hours, at seven, that gives us a perfect amount of time to eat and look at some shops!" Alice giggled, looking at Jiles's childlike expression, "Sir Jiles! That sounds like a plan! I think you should choose where to eat, lead on!"

Jiles chose a small tavern not far from the town square that had advertised on the message board. It had a very homely feel about it and had only ten tables in it. Jiles led Alice to a table in the corner opposite the door, the bell on the door chiming as it shut. A little red headed girl appeared not two seconds later at their table to ask them what they would like to eat, but when she was about to do so she was distracted. "Miss," she said, admiring Alice, "You look very pretty!" Alice giggled and said, "Thank you very much!" The little girl fluently asked, "What is it that you would like to eat today? We have the best ingredients fresh from the market! My papa and mama can cook almost anything you want!" Jiles and Alice thought for a minute about what they might like. "I would like bouillabaisse and mushroom soup." said Jiles, astounding Alice with his wide knowledge on food. "I would like the same." said Alice, intrigued by a new dish. The little girl was confused, never having heard of bouillabaisse, but still replied with ease, "Your order will be ready shortly." She walked towards the front of the building and turned into a door which had gone unnoticed until know, Alice could hear the little girl say, "A pretty woman and her friend want some bouillabaisse and mushroom soup." An older woman's voice said, "Only one bowl of soup? That's strange." A gruff man's voice replied, "Well they're getting two bowls of soup!" The woman laughed as she began to cook.

"What do you expect the circus will be like, Queen Alice?" asked Jiles breaking the silence between them. "It will probably be very fun! I've never been to a circus before!" exclaimed Alice with a huge grin. "This will be my first circus as well." confessed Jiles. "Well, I hope we have a lot of fun! I can't wait to get to it!" The silence returned as the pair had nothing more to talk about. A few minutes passed, the noise in the kitchen stopped, and then Alice looked towards the door leading to the kitchen. The little red-headed girl didn't return, but instead a woman wearing a brown dress with a yellowing apron over it came through the door. Before the woman even reached the table Alice and Jiles were sitting at she was already talking to them, "Oh my, you two really are the nicest looking people I have ever seen! Are you two travelers? Where are you coming to our beautiful city from?" she said making her way to their table. The woman placed two bowls of steaming soup and two shiny metal spoons in front of Alice and Jiles and waited for the answers to her questions.

"Actually miss, he-he, we're not travelers." giggled Alice. Jiles held his hand out in Alice's direction and said, "This is Alice, Queen of Emmeruld." The woman's eyes grew three sizes as she stepped back out of shock, "T-the queen!? Th-the queen in our… here!? Sh-she is…" she was silent for a few moments regaining her composure, "Queen Alice, what brings you to our humble eatery this fine evening?" said she, curtsying deeply. Alice giggled into her hands, "I decided to come out to town and see how everything was going today!" after a few moments of silence she then said, "This soup really does smell delicious!" The woman smiled, "Well you should eat up! I'm sure you have important matters to attend to!" then she rushed off into the kitchen.

"Well, that sure was exciting!" laughed Jiles as he picked up his spoon and began to eat. Alice looked down at her bowl and found that she loved the creamy color of the soup. She picked up her spoon and started to eat as well. She could hear the commotion from earlier continue in the kitchen as the woman announced to her husband and daughter that the beautiful lady just so happened to be the queen. "The queen!?" shouted the man. "No wonder she was so pretty!" said the little girl as the family laughed together. Alice's smile only widened as she put another spoonful of soup in her mouth.

Whenever Alice and Jiles had finished their soup, Jiles took Alice's bowl and put it on top of his then carefully place the two spoons in the top bowl so there weren't any loud noises. "Ah~ that was nice." said Jiles loudly. "The queen's done eating!" announced the woman to her family in a hushed voice. She picked up two slices of coffee cake and her husband grabbed two saucers with cups of coffee on them then they left the kitchen. Alice's smile was almost too large for her face to hold. "Queen Alice, if your smile were any bigger it would surely fall off of your face!" laughed the great man holding the coffee. The woman placed the two small plates in front of Alice and Jiles and her husband did the same with the coffee.

"How was the food?" asked the man as he picked up the bowls that held soup not too long ago. "It was delicious!" exclaimed Alice as she looked around for a fork to eat the small cake with, "Um… Miss, there's no fork to eat this with." The woman only giggled, "If you were to try to eat that with a fork it would only fall to pieces! You pick off little bits of it and eat it then sip your coffee to get the best flavor." Alice's face lost its incredible smile as she thought of having to get her hands dirty. Alice pick a small bit from the top of it and place it in her mouth and closed it. Her smile returned not two seconds later as she said, "Mm~ that is delicious!"

17. Fading Souls

Mayella hit the back wall of a small cage as she was thrown into it. "And don't try to get out!" shouted a man's voice as he slammed the cage's door and locked it. As the man walked away he laughed and said, "As if you would be able to get out!" Mayella only laid there in the back of the cell she was put into and let her tears fall soundlessly unto the ground. She grasped the bars behind her with her small hands and pulled herself off of the ground. Her hooves made it sound as if a horse was walking around in the big room the cells were in. "Why did they have to turn me into a monster?" asked Mayella to no one in particular as more tears fell to the ground.

The man returned and Mayella looked in the direction of the entrance to the room and glared. He came into the room holding a pale blue haired boy who hung limp in his arms. The man shifted the boy to one arm and opened the cell to the right of hers and threw the boy in, his body making a sick slap sound against the ground. Mayella glared at the man until he left the room. She made her way to the bar wall that she shared with the boy and reached over to his body and petted his head. "Poochy, are you okay?" she asked. "Yeah," said the boy in a weak voice as he breathed roughly, "I'm… fine." Mayella petted his head a while longer, until she heard the man returning.

Mayella removed her hand from Poochy's head and turned to glare at the entrance to the room. The man entered the room and looked at Mayella, "Wipe that look off of your face before I do it for you!" He pulled the person who he was holding behind him so that they were in front of him. He unlocked the last cell, the one to the right of Poochy's and pushed the person in. They stayed close to the floor until the man left the room, and then they stood up. "Are you okay?" asked a boy's voice to what seemed like himself, then a girl's voice replied, "I'm fine." "Jane, James, are you two okay?" asked Mayella from two cells away. Mayella would have been scared of them if she wasn't a monster herself, two heads attached to the same body turned and smiled at her, "Yes, we're fine." replied both of them at the same time.

Mayella sighed and said to the three of them, "Looks like it's time again. Let's do our best so we can actually please him." Poochy sat up and leaned against the back of his cell, his face made Mayella tired just looking at him. "Why did… this have… to happen to us? What did we ev… ever do?" Jane's smile left her face as she said, "We didn't do anything, we were weak and some disgusting person took advantage of us!" James put his hand on Jane's arm and whispered, "Calm down." A few moments passed and Jane whispered back, "Sorry…"

The man walked back into the room holding clothes this time and ordered them, "Put on these clothes, I'm not going to have you performing in those rags!" He threw a pale blue dress into Mayella's cell, a white jacket which had the sleeves tied together at the end with matching white pants into Poochy's cell, and a wildly colored shirt that was half one color and the opposite half was another with black pants that were as plain as can be into Jane and James's cell. "Make sure you don't damage them!" snarled the man as he left. A few minutes after he left they dressed themselves and a few moments later the man returned saying, "It's almost time to start, let's go." The man ordered unlocking the cages one by one, "and don't you dare sing your stupid, little song again, someone heard it and whined to me after the show!" Mayella winced as she followed the man, and Jane and James helped Poochy walk to wherever the man was leading them.

They ended up at a room with a thin, cloth wall hiding the stage on which they were going to be performing their show. There were three chairs set right next to the wall facing it for them. Mayella sat in the one on the left, Poochy sat in the one in the middle, and James and Jane sat in the one on the right, "Good, you remember what to do; at least I don't have to teach that to you again!" He walked through the wall and Mayella saw the outside, there were hundreds of people seated inside of the great room that seemed almost like an arena. Mayella knew that she was told not to, but she did anyway, she began to sing in her voice that sounded almost as if it were crying.

"Deep in the woods,
further and further in,

There you will find,
a lonely circus

The ringmaster
with his enormous eyes,

stands towering,
almost ten meters high

All of us here,
put on a happy face,

Though we are all,
different than you'd expect

But isn't it,
such fun to be with us?

Come and explore,
the dark woods circus!"

When she had finished that verse, Jane and James suddenly picked up the song themselves, "A two headed person what a freak show!"

Mayella sang, "The diva who's a deformity…"

And then Poochy sang in his rasping voice, "A monstrous person who craves delights
far too cold for you to realize"

Mayella began to cry, "Does anyone want a girl like me
to be alive in the body that I am in?"

Poochy whispered as a tear fell down his face, "Why do all of you look at me like that,
While this sick face of mine slowly rots away?"

Jane sang as loud as she could in her high voice as tears streamed out of her eyes, "It really hurts,
It hurts,
and it hurts,
but the pain won't ever go away."

Then James picked up the song after she was done, "Her words are strained,
but despite this we will,
Keep the circus, continuing on."
He began laughing as the tears fell down his face.
"Don't you think it's fun!
Don't you think it's fun,
This circus is really wonderful fun!"

Mayella frowned as she sang lowly, "Like rotten fruit, my eyes dissolve and my
fate, like skin, festers within their sight"

They all began to sing at the same time, "Please kill me,
Please kill me,
please, anything to release me from here"
Every voice died down except Poochy's as he whispered to the wall as tears violently fell from his eyes,
"I once had asked, and God replied with, "No, that's asking the impossible."

They heard the man's voice yell out to the people in the crowd, "Thank you all for coming tonight! We have quite the spectacle planned for you tonight! The monsters you came here to see are all behind this curtain and will be released one by one so that you can observe their disgusting features individually! First, I give you The Diva Chimera! She was born with the legs of a goat and the voice of an angel! Quite an unfortunate match, yes?" Mayella got up out of her chair and walked up to the cloth wall, looked back at James, Jane, and Poochy, then headed out onto the stage and began to sing as a piano played along in the distance.

"When night arrives, lights are lit in this town.

The sound of creaking wheels,

They echo as I walk with no destination in mind.

There is no where that I can go!"

Mayella breathed in suddenly and sang again, holding back her tears,

"For what reason was I born?

Why is my heart this color of silver?"

She could no longer hold them back, tears fell down her cheeks and dropped onto the ground as the piano played alone.

"A long time ago that person told me,

'You are a special girl'

So that I may be praised by him, I must dance and sing,

Even now, I will continue to sing!

I will sing even if he never wakes up and opens his eyes again."

Mayella paused momentarily as she took a deep breath, watching a tear hit the wooden floor.

"For what reason was I born?

Only to sing for all of eternity!

Someday I will fall into slumber

And go to the same wonderful place to which he has gone!

My wish was not granted,

Living to sing alone has broken me."

Mayella stared down at the ground listening to the distant piano.

"As time flows on,

I may forget how to sing,

I need to hurry to the place in which he sleeps.

While dragging along my broken body,

How many times have I already fallen over?

I longed only for your precious smile,

And so I tried to answer you with this broken body.

I think of you so often that I might forget to sing!

And now there is nothing I can do to repay you for what you've given me!

To be together with him,

Let that wish be granted now!

I've lived alone long enough in this place,

I hear his voice from somewhere near.

The voice that I've heard many times in my dreams,

It echoes gently in my heart.

I am immersed in a soft, bright light,

I can smile now,

I can smile now."

Mayella looked at the ground as her tears stopped flowing and a final one hit the ground. The crowd in front of her burst into cheering and applause. They were shouting and hooting and hollering. "That was amazing, wasn't it?" asked the chairman as Mayella returned to her chair behind the curtain, "The next thing in our show would have to be the cannibalistic monster tied up behind the curtain! Marissa, would you please bring him out here?" A few seconds later a woman wearing a small shirt that showed her stomach and a skirt barely covering her legs emerged from behind the curtain holding a leash attached to Poochy's neck who crawled out from behind the curtain on his hands and knees after her. All of the men in the room cheered before Poochy even did anything. "Now, little doggy, what is it that you want to eat?" asked the woman as she bent over in a provocative fashion and petted Poochy's head, "Do you want some food?" Poochy nodded his head, too weak to say anything. The woman dropped the leash and walked off the side of the stage and emerged a few seconds later with a large platter covered in a bloody mess that used to be a pigs body, but was made to look like a child.

A few women seated in the audience cried out at the sight of the bloody body on the platter. The woman on stage placed it in front of Poochy and said, "There you go, Poochy, a nice cold meal for you." The woman went back behind the curtain and didn't emerge again. Poochy gulped, looking at the tray before him regretting what he was about to do. He dipped his head down and picked up a small piece of the cold flesh that had been presented to him. A choral gasp could be heard by everyone in the room. Poochy continued his feast, it was the first time he had been allowed to eat in two days, so even though he regretted what he was doing it would be unnoticeable with the way he engorged himself. A little while had passed and there was nothing left on the plate in front of him. Poochy only sat there; staring at his red reflection in the tray, and the woman emerged from behind the curtain again, grabbed his leash, and dragged him back behind the curtain.

"Wasn't that disgusting folks? The puppy has been chained up again in his cage behind the curtain. What could be worse, you ask? Ha-ha-ha! What couldn't be any worse than two people trapped in the same body! They were born stuck together, a body with two heads! You know what they say, but, are two heads really better than one?" said the tall chairman sitting at the end of the stage. James and Jane got up from their chair and walked through the curtain before them. They burst through the curtain with a cartwheel that lead them out into the middle of the stage, and then the chairman took three small balls out of his pocket and threw them to the pair. James was holding two and Jane was holding the other.

Jane threw the ball she held into the air and then James passed her one of the balls that he held. She threw that one into the air then caught the first one and launched it back into the air. James passed her the last ball, caught the second ball, and then passed it to Jane. The balls always held a triangular shape as the two juggled them. "One, two, three, one, two, three," repeated James quietly so that only he and Jane could hear. The chairman took another ball out of his pocket and threw it to the pair. "Here we go," whispered Jane as she caught the ball with expert timing and threw it into the air. They changed the pattern in which they were juggling the balls, Jane passed them low to James and he threw them higher than their head so that they'd fall down into Jane's hands. A few seconds later, they caught two balls in their hands and their mesmerizing juggling act was over.

They bowed lowly as the room erupted in applause. "Thank you, thank you, ladies and gentlemen we are done for the night! Again, thank you all for coming! I hope you enjoyed the show and come back another time to watch it again!" as the chairman said this James and Jane did another cartwheel and walked back to other side of the curtain to find Mayella cleaning up Poochy still. She wiped the blood off of his face, and he smiled at her. "Thank you so much Mayella."

Mayella turned to look at James and Jane but was distracted by what she saw through a crack in the slightly open curtain. She squinted and thought she was seeing her own reflection staring at her. Sitting on a bench in the front row was a little girl with the long green hair that was staring directly at her. Mayella's eyes were glued on this mysterious person whose eyes seemed to be glued on her. "Mayella!" Poochy's weak voice shouted. Mayella's stupor was broken and she turned to Poochy who was in the process of falling into her lap, having used a great amount of energy to produce such a loud sound. She looked down at him and petted his head, he was trying to say something. "I…" Poochy started, but was hushed by Mayella, "Don't speak." Poochy furrowed his eyebrows and said, "I love you."

"Oh well isn't that sweet." mocked the chairman who had just walked through the curtain, "the little puppy's got a crush on the goat lady!" Jane winced as Poochy tried to hide his reddening face. "Well guess what my little monsters! I could hear your stupid, little song from the end of the stage! And I'll be damned if you think you're going to get away with disobeying me!" the chairman snapped the whip which he held tightly in his hands, "So, which one of you wants to go first? How about the puppy's little goat princess!" Poochy's eyes were filled with rage. "No!" he said in a strong but wavering voice, "B-beat me instead. Enough for all o- all of them." Jane gasped as James turned to Poochy, "You're insane! You'll d-" "Now, now, don't let the puppy dog's act of chivalry go to waste! Since he's offered I'm going to take him up on that bargain, but if you also want to be beat, then I definitely won't mind arranging that as well." The chairman laughed as both James and Jane's gazes dropped to the ground.

Mayella was in her cage, and James and Jane were in theirs, but Poochy was leaning against the bars of his cage, standing against its door. "Take off your shir- no! Hmmm…" the chairman said looking at Mayella. He unlocked Mayella's cage door and said, "Take off his shirt." Mayella's eyes widened as she stood in the back of her cage, her gaze quickly shifting between the chairman and Poochy. Mayella took a step forward, pausing because she was unsure whether she should do it or not, and found her answer when she looked at Poochy one more time. Poochy looked at her, his eyes strong with fire burning brightly in them, she took another step and paused, and then Poochy nodded. Mayella's steps didn't waver any longer; she firmly walked towards Poochy as he leaned against his cage. Mayella's eyes were full of tears when she reached out to Poochy's chest and grabbed his shirt.

She pulled Poochy's shirt up and over his head, then finally it no longer had any contact with his skin. Mayella looked at Poochy one last time and said, "I'm sorry." A tear fell from her eye, slid down her cheek and dripped off of her chin. As soon as the glistening, wet droplet hit the dirt floor, the sound of a whip cracking could be heard everywhere around them.

18, Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Alice stared through the crack in the curtain at a little girl who looked exactly like herself from her seat. "Who is she?" she wondered. A few moments later, the green-haired little girl fell over suddenly and her hand flopped outside of the curtain. Blood seeped out from under her and dripped through the almost invisible cracks in the planks that made up the stage's floor, but it still made a large pool around her. The green-haired little girl struggled and writhed on the ground, and then she turned her head to look at Lucinda. "Help." she mouthed.

Alice woke up and sat straight up in her soft bed. She pulled the numerous, soft blankets from her body and let them fall at her side. She touched her face with her right hand as tears fell from her eyes, "Just a dream?" She sat in silence as she stared at her hands which were in her lap. An abnormal tapping sound could be heard everywhere around her, at first it started out slowly and softly, but then it grew in speed and volume. "Am I going mad?" asked Alice to herself, "No! That's preposterous! A queen doesn't go insane!" She turned her body and let her legs hang over the edge of the plush bed and then pushed herself off of it landing on the ground with a soft thud. As soon as her feet touched the floor, Jiles walked through her door and said, "Good morning, Queen Alice, how did you rest?"

"I had the strangest dream, Jiles. I don't want to think about it any longer." Alice answered his question instantly. "As you wish, Queen Alice. Is there anything you wish to do today? I advise you against leaving the castle, for it raining very hard outside." warned Jiles. That must be what I hear, Alice reassured herself, I knew I wasn't going mad. "I am going to be staying in my room today, Jiles, I don't feel very well." said Alice as she stared at one of her hands. Jiles bowed deeply and then said, "As you wish, Queen Alice, I will bring your lunch to your room in about an hour." "I slept through breakfast?" wondered Alice as she turned to where Jiles had been standing only to see the door softly click shut.

Alice went over to a corner of her room and picked up a brush and sat in the chair it was on. She began to brush her hair, staring idly at the ground almost directly in front of her, just a dream, she thought. She began to look around her room, observing every aspect of it, and then she spotted something strange in the corner opposite the one she was sitting in. She walked over to what seemed to be the phonograph from her old room, but that's not what was strange about it. There was a large piece of paper on it that had a blue diamond on it, Alice picked it up only to find that it was a record case. She turned it around, inspecting every side, trying to find the large disk until she heard something hit the floor. She looked at her feet to see a large black disk at her feet.

She picked it up, "Strange, there's no title on it." There was a knock at her door, and it startled her causing her to drop the disk to the ground. "Yes?" she said loud enough for it to be heard on the other side of the door. "Queen Alice I've brought your food!" replied Jiles from the other side of the door, "But I can't open the door myself, could you please come get the door?" Alice picked up the black disk and tossed it onto her bed, and then she hopped over to the door. She opened the door to find Jiles holding a smaller tray than usual, "Thank you, my Queen." Jiles walked past her and put the tray on top of the small bench at the foot of her bed. How many times have I eaten in my room, wondered Alice. "Is there anything else that you need?" asked Jiles, breaking the silence. Alice thought for a few seconds then answered, "Nope! Thank you Jiles!" Jiles nodded and said, "Then I will be back in another hour to check on you, Queen Alice." Jiles walked over to the door and left Alice in silence yet again.

Alice hopped over to her bed, grabbed the record, and then hopped onto her bed. "I wonder who could have left you here?" said Alice to the disk. She hopped off of her bed then tossed the disk back onto it and sat on the bench. She lifted up the tray's lid to see what food she had the pleasure of eating today. The tray had a bowl of split pea soup and a small dish of Gústav's yellow-cream lemon biscuits. "Yum! I doubt I'll feel bad after I eat this!" laughed Alice as she picked up the spoon and began to eat. A few minutes passed and her soup was gone, so she put the spoon in the bowl and turned the tray so that the yellow-cream lemon biscuits were directly in front of her and licked her lips. She picked up one of the delicious little morsels and put it into her mouth. The feeling in her mouth was pure bliss. She loved these little snacks that Gústav had created; they were the most delicious thing she had ever tasted in her short life.

When Alice was done with her food, she put the lid back on the tray, hopped back onto her bed, and crawled over to the record wondering if she should play it or not. She decided to play it, so she hopped off of her bed and darted over to her phonograph and put the record on it. She turned the knob on it a few times and placed the needle lightly on the disk's surface as a strange sounding voice began to sing.

"There was once upon a time in another place
An evil kingdom who no person dared to face
And the ruler was a little girl so mean
A tiny little princess of only age fourteen!

So much furniture littered her abode
Her loyal servant who's likeness surely showed
Josephine was what her horse was named
All the riches of the world is what she had claimed.

If you're short on money that's no fearful thing
Just take it from those who you dangle on a string
To those who feel that they want to bring me down
You'll just tidy up my gown.
Now, bow to me!

Evil flowers
Steadily bloom
With an array of colorful doom
But the weeds who feel that they want to stay
They'll just die and feed me the same anyway."

Alice turned away from the phonograph and looked at the distant mirror which was on the wall opposite it. She began to walk towards the mirror as the music creepily played.

"The princess held a love for a man
Of blue who wasn't very much her fan
But instead he chose his neighbor's girl
Of gold who's eyes shone like a pearl.

The princess knew this and was filled with rage
She called the minister locked in her cage
And said in a soft voice to not be heard
"Make sure the gold country is badly stirred."

Houses of the people were burned to the ground
So many voices would no longer make a sound
The people who had suffered so much pain
Didn't get pity from the one who'd slain.
"Oh, it's tea time."

Alice finally reached the mirror; she was entranced by her own reflection. Its devious smile, its beautiful face, its gorgeous hair, its soft-looking skin. She just stood there, staring into the mirror as the music creepily played.

"Evil flowers
Steadily bloom
With an array of bloodied doom
Even though the flower is so very refined
The thorns had driven it's garden to decline.

To defeat the princess was no easy task
But the people could no longer wear their mask
Like a flock of birds they were led by
A red lady mercenary into the nigh.

All the anger that had built up over the years
Now consumed them without any fears
But the army was battered from the gold war
Their attacks were not much of a chore.

Once they fell the countrymen surrounded the court
The servants ran away as time was short
Little woman princess would not pose a fight
And she was finally captured in the night
"You're such a disrespectful man!"

Evil flowers
Steadily bloom
With an array of funnest doom
How the paradise that she made for herself
Put this broken doll right back on the wooden shelf."

A knock at the door made her stare falter, she turned towards the door and opened her mouth to speak, but no words escaped her mouth. Two hands reached out of the mirror and covered her mouth and pulled her into the mirror. Alice fell through the mirror and landed on the ground on the other side of it. She looked up at the glass wall to see herself standing there, staring at her with a huge smile on her face.

"There was once upon a time in another place
An evil kingdom who no person dared to face
And the ruler was a girl so mean
A tiny little princess of only age fourteen."

Alice stood up and beat the mirror, she slammed her tiny hands against it time and time again until she heard a cracking sound. This caused her to stop, she looked through the cracked, glass wall to see herself opening the door for Jiles. "Jiles!" she yelled, but nobody heard her.

"She was to be punished at three o' clock
When the church bells resounded a tock
The person who was once royalty
Was bored in jail with no loyalty."

She watched as her other self coerced Jiles, he picked up the tray of food he had brought earlier, then left the room. Alice began to cry.

"At the time that eventually came
The church bells to her sounded rather lame
Without looking to faces of the crowd
Said she with eyes in a shroud
"Oh, it's tea time."

She suddenly yelled, "No!" and slammed her hand which was clenched into a fist against the mirror a final time. Alice heard another loud crack and looked up at the top of the mirror as it shattered. It all seemed to happen in slow motion to Alice. What seemed like thousands of shards of glass suddenly began to fall to the ground. Alice's eyes grew in terror as she fell backwards, but she did not hit the floor, she only fell, darkness surrounding her.

"Evil flowers
Steadily bloom
With an array of colorful doom
Now the people speak of her without a second thought
That daughter of evil had received what she sought."

Alice hit the hard, dirt ground with a sickening slap sound. She looked feebly into the sky to see thousands of twinkling shards of glass falling out of the sky. "No…" she whispered as the first one fell and easily pierced her skin. All of the others fell down either around her or unto her, piercing her skin easily and soundlessly. A pool of blood spread around her quickly. There she would stay forever, lying under the starry sky covered in her own blood in that mirror world.

18. Again, and Again

Alice woke up and sat straight up in her soft bed. She pulled the numerous, soft blankets from her body and let them fall at her side. Her face was unchanging, it looked like her face was painted onto her head it showed so little emotion. She turned her body and let her legs hang over the edge of the plush bed and then pushed herself off of it landing on the ground with a soft thud. She stood up straight and turned to look at her door, "Odd." She turned towards her mirror and stared at it, there was no reflection in it, she only saw straight through it to the wall behind it. She walked up to it and tried to tap it, but her hand passed straight through it and hit the wall behind it. "Odd." She said.

She walked over to the nearby chair which was seated in the corner of the room closest to the mirror still. She picked the brush up off of it, stiffly turned around, and sat in it. She began to brush her hair while staring at the floor directly in front of her. No matter how many times the brush passed through her hair, its current state remained unchanged, it always looked the same and felt the same. After only brushing a small amount of her hair she stood up, stiffly turned around, and placed the brush back on the chair. She then turned and looked at her armoire which was on the wall opposite the mirror.

She slowly walked over to it, taking an even amount of time to move each leg both swiftly and without a sound, her face never changing. She grasped both of the cold, metal handles on both of the doors, turned them, and flung the doors open. Alice stared at the inside of the armoire, her eyes focused on one point even though she was observing everything that made up its insides. Her hand darted quickly inside and grabbed a small, deep-red sundress which she slid over her head and let fall down over her body. She squatted and observed the shoes nicely lined up in the bottom of the armoire, and then she slipped on a pair of matching dark red flats.

After she was done getting dressed, she stiffly turned around until she was facing her door. She slowly moved towards it with even steps and didn't take very long to reach her door. She stood in front of it, took in a deep breath, let it out, and then grabbed the door's knob. Alice opened the door and stepped to the side of it as it swung outwards in the direction opposite the one she expected. She took a step outside of her door and smelled something strange. She looked at the floor to the left of the door to find Jiles lying on the ground impaled by a great saber of glass. "Odd." she said.

Alice began walking down the large, brightly lit hallway swiftly, it only taking her a few moments to reach the end of the hall to emerge in the main entryway of her castle. She walked over to the banister and observed the state the room was in. The bodies of her many servants littered the floor, all of them impaled with large sabers of glass. She draped her hand over the banister and slowly walked down the main staircase, landing in a pool of blood when she reached the bottom of it. She turned to the left and began to walk towards another hallway, this one leading to the dining hall.

When she reached the end of it, she came to a room which did not hold the stench of death. The table was set with her breakfast already waiting for her. She walked to the far end of the table and sat in her chair and lifted the tray's lid. What was on the tray was Gústav's head, with an apple in his mouth. "Odd." said Alice as she place the tray's lid back atop the tray. She hopped down from her seat and walked back towards the main entryway.

Upon reaching it, Alice headed for the main door, so that she could see the state of the world outside. She opened the door and walked outside of her castle to find herself laying on the ground just beyond the third step, impaled with a thousand tiny glass shards. "Odd." Said Alice as she walked around the sparkling, glass-encrusted ground and then returned to the cobbled stone path that lead to the main gate of her castle. Even before she opened the gate she could smell the wafting smell of death that filled what had once been a peaceful town.

She opened the gate and walked down the small hill that lead down to the main square of the commoner's section of her city. All around her, people were strewn hither and thither every single one of them impaled by a lone glass saber. When she reached the main square, the amount of death that surrounded her was atrocious, every single animal and person that she could see was lying on the ground in a pool of blood impaled by a lone, glass saber. She walked towards the main entrance of the town, passing by every single building as if it didn't exist.

The tall gate neared her quicker and quicker, soon it was towering directly above her as she left the city. Instead of following the main road and heading into the countryside, she turned right and walked along a newly made dirt road that she knew led to the circus she had visited not too long ago. Trees grew taller and taller as she traveled down the path quickly. A few minutes passed and she saw the clearing that held the circus tent slowly coming closer. The dirt path ended as she neared the green and orange circus tent and the luscious green grass made it feel as if the ground was carpeted. Her pace quickened as the makeshift building came closer and closer because of how anxious she was.

Alice entered the circus tent and was surrounded by darkness, but she saw a distant light and walked towards it. She followed along the side of the arena-like seats as she walked towards the light which was shining down onto the stage. When she reached the stage and saw what the light was shining on her facial expression finally changed to one of confusion. The singing goat girl from the circus was lying over a blue-haired person; she assumed it was the boy from the circus as well. Suddenly, the girl on the stage looked up at her, tears falling from her face, and asked her, "Why?" Alice became even more confused. The girl repeated her question, but it slightly changed this time, "Why? Why did you do this?" Alice looked away from the girl on the stage and down at her hands. They were covered in blood.

Alice woke up and sat straight up in her soft bed. She pulled the numerous, soft blankets from her body and let them fall at her side. Her face was unchanging, it looked like her face was painted onto her head it showed so little emotion. She turned her body and let her legs hang over the edge of the plush bed and then pushed herself off of it landing on the ground with a soft thud. She stood up straight, turned to look at her door, and cocked her head, "Odd."

19. Replaced

Alice laid in her bed flat on her back with her arms at her sides. This was not Alice though, this was her reflection. This was the evil of Alice. "Good morning, Alice." Said the deep black rabbit as she sat up in her other self's bed. "Good morning, Mr. Rabbit, my king." said the other Alice as the numerous, soft blankets fell at her side, "What are we going to be doing today?" The rabbit pondered what he was going to have his puppet perform today and finally said, "We're going to be cleaning up some loose ends today, Alice."

She turned her body and let her legs hang over the edge of the plush bed and then pushed herself off of it landing on the ground with a soft thud. As soon as her feet touched the floor, Jiles walked through her door and said, "Good morning, Queen Alice, how did you rest?" The mirror Alice slowly turned to Jiles and when she was facing him she smiled a perfectly wide smile, "Splendidly." Jiles found his queen's awkward movements amusing, thinking they were a symptom of yesterday's affliction and said, "Well, that's good! Do you feel better today?" Alice held onto her fabricated smile stiffly, "I feel perfect, Jiles."

"Are you going to be heading out again today, Queen Alice?" asked Jiles heading over to the corner of the room and moving the chair in front of the mirror. Alice walked over to the chair and sat down into it, staring into the gold-framed darkness in front of her, "No, I want to stay in the castle today, I have the feeling it's going to rain." Jiles began to brush her hair, having to tug every so often to get the brush to move through her hair. The mirror was like a case that held the darkness, there was nothing in it, yet it held a whole world. Jiles dropped his arm to his side, finishing his job and looked in the mirror, "You look beautiful, Queen Alice." The fake smile returned to her face as Alice said, "I feel beautiful, Jiles."

Jiles's smile widened as Alice stood up from the chair and he moved it back to the corner. "Is there anything special you'd like to wear today?" asked Jiles as he walked over to the armoire on the other side of the room. "No, surprise me." said Alice as she walked up to the mirror and held onto its frame as she leaned against it. She looked down as she tried to see something in the mirror, in the distance, far back in the mirror she saw a red smudge. A genuine smile crossed her face as she turned around to find Jiles standing right next to her. She lifted her arms and let the red sundress fall over her, she thought it was an odd choice for staying inside all day, but did not say anything. She looked down as Jiles placed two dark red flats in front of her and she stepped into them.

"Now you're ready for the day." said the black rabbit as he hopped down from the bed. Alice turned to look at Jiles and told him, "Can you go ahead and tell Gústav I want him to surprise me, Jiles?" He bowed deeply and answered, "As you wish, my queen." As Jiles shut the door, Alice knelt down and patted the rabbit's head, "What is it that I am going to be doing today, my king?" The rabbit immediately answered, "Kill him." Alice showed no reaction, her face returned to its plain state as she said, "As you wish, my king."

Alice sat in her other self's usual seat at the far end of the table as Gústav emerged from the neighboring kitchen with a platter in his hands and said, "Good morning, Queen Alice!" in his booming voice. Alice replied with, "Good morning, Gústav." Gústav placed the tray in front of her and removed the lid. There was a bowl of carrot and steak soup and a small dish of his yellow-cream lemon biscuits. "You won't need much more than a light meal today, my Queen, with the humidity how it is, the air is heavier than usual." Alice picked up her spoon and began to eat, "That's okay, Gústav, I'm going to be heading into town, alone, today."

Alice polished off the soup and the yellow-cream lemon biscuits easily and hopped down from her chair and said, "Goodbye Gústav." She didn't wait for a reply from Gústav before she started walking towards the front door of the castle. "Goodbye!" Gústav shouted from across the room. Alice walked to the front of the great building and opened the double door walking through the opening and emerging outside of her castle. She stepped down the three steps that led to the cobblestone path leading off the castle grounds and followed it. She walked through the front gate of the castle and was now in her bustling city.

Alice walked down the hill in front of her that led to the main square of her city. When she arrived in the square she became a spectacle, people all around her whispering, "It's the queen!" all of them seemed to be scared. She walked across the square, a tunnel in her people being made as she walked towards a tall building which was centered in on a side of the square opposite the direction of the castle. She walked past the large board near its outside and headed up its steps which numbered five. She opened the door of the building and the square returned to its normal activity, as if the queen had never walked through it.

The building's inside was as boring as it was outside; the floor was a plain, dull black tile and there were a few benches strewn about the wall to her right. Alice walked to the wall on her left, which had an opening that started at her shoulder and a fat man sitting in a seat on its other side. The man was snoring as he leaned back slightly in his stiff, wooden chair. "Excuse me," said Alice in a soft voice. Alice slammed her hand down on the bottom of the window, "Excuse me!" she shouted. The man was shaken from his sleep as his eyes shot open and he looked for the loud noise which had startled him.

"Good evening, Queen Alice, I'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep. What is it that you needed?" said the man as he spotted the little green queen standing in front of him. "An executioner." said Alice lowly. "Why in the world could you possibly need an executioner, Queen Alice?" asked the man in shock. Alice only stared at him wondering how she should answer then said, "I have a conspirator living in my castle, I want them to die the most embarrassing death possible." The man's mouth dropped, "Who in their right mind would conspire against you! I will make sure they die the most gruesome death possible! Where would you like the beast to die?" Alice smiled and pondered, "The town square, I want everyone to see and understand what happens when someone tries to overthrow me."

Alice walked into her castle with the man, now holding a halberd and wearing a mask which hid everything but his eyes. Jiles walked up to Alice and opened his mouth to speak, but Alice spoke first as she pointed at Jiles, "Him." Jiles froze in his spot, not moving any further as his eyes grew in terror. The man held the halberd in his left hand as he grabbed Jiles's arm with his right. "Let's go, slime." whispered the man into Jiles's ear. He pulled Jiles in front of himself, and then he pushed him forward as he walked outside the castle and headed down to the town square.

Jiles knelt with his hands tied behind his back and his head on a chopping block in the middle of the town square. He was crying, looking down at the chopping block as tears fell on top of it. A hundred or so people were all crowded around him in a circle all wondering what was going on and why an execution was taking place. Alice sat in a plush chair about ten feet from the chopping block with her legs folded and her head resting on her hand, and the fat man from before stood at attention with his halberd hovering above Jiles's neck.

The man with the halberd looked at Alice wondering when she was going to give him the signal, barely a moment later Alice nodded signaling the man to commence with the execution. He lifted the halberd above his head and began to slash it downwards. Before the sharp blade connected with his neck, Jiles asked, "Why did you do this?"

Jiles's head fell from his body, and rolled a foot from the chopping block while his body slumped to the floor, dying instantly. Blood began to pour from his neck, pooling on the chopping block then dripping down its sides. A small pool of blood was already forming around his head when Alice got off of her chair and began to walk off towards the castle. "This man was a conspirator against the queen; this is what will happen to any usurpers that are discovered." Alice heard the man say. She kept moving closer and closer to the castle, though now she had a smile on her face.

20. Tea Time

A blonde boy jumped onto the shore of a lake from the bright yellow boat he had been sitting in. The boat shook violently causing the girl inside to squeal, "Kayden! Don't jump out of the boat you're going to make me fall in!" The boy turned around and reached his hand out to his twin sister as he teased her, "I'm sorry, Kayla. Will you ever forgive me?" Kayla reached her hand out to him and held his for a second before she pulled him into the water. "Now I will!" she laughed, almost falling out of the boat herself. She pushed her long blonde hair out from in front of her bright blue eyes and hopped out of the boat as Kayden surfaced. "What was that for?" he yelled from the water. "Pay back." Kayla answered matter-of-factly as she stuck her tongue out at him. Kayden laughed as he dragged himself out of the water, "You sure are evil!" Kayla only laughed.

Kayden turned towards to boat and took their rucksacks out of it. He tossed Kayla's rucksack at her without telling her he was going to and she yelped as it hit the back of her legs and shouted, "What was that for?" Kayden laughed and said, "Pay back." Kayla just pouted as she checked the contents of her rucksack. "You're lucky the water jug didn't break!" said Kayla as she lifted up a clear, glass full of crystal clear water. "Oh save it, Kayla, you know we'd still have mine even if it did break!" said Kayden pulling the boat onto the shore. "Yeah, but I'm the only one who has tea, what do you say to that!" shouted Kayla, thinking she had won. "I'm not addicted to that stuff like you, Kayla, I would laugh if it was ruined and you had to last two days without tea." laughed Kayden taking a piece of dried meat out of his rucksack and began eating it.

"You had better not eat all of our food!" shouted Kayla as she lunged at the strip of meat. Kayden held it behind himself so that she couldn't reach it. She finally gave up and crossed her arms in front of her as she pouted angrily. Kayden just laughed and handed her what was left of the strip of meat. She snatched it and shoved it into her mouth as she got up to walk around and observe her surroundings. She started walking along a path of what looked like dark brown grass, and was soon out of Kayden's sight. Kayden laid down and closed his eyes as he let the bright sun dry him off.

"Kayden!" Kayla suddenly screeched, "Kayden! Come quick! I need help!" Kayden was now completely dry, "How long did I sleep?" he wondered as he noticed the sun setting in the distance. "What is it now? See a spider?" laughed Kayden in his half-awakened state. "Get over here! There's a woman lying on the ground!" ordered Kayla from not very far away. Kayden jumped to attention, hurrying to his feet and rushing into the bushes that he had seen his sister disappear behind earlier. "Hurry up!" yelled Kayla, she wasn't far away. He turned right and ran between two more bushes, turned left and passed a large tree. After he had passed the tree he saw his sister, "Kayden!" she said, motioning for him to come to her.

"Let's carry her back to where our bags are." said Kayden in a rush as he picked up her torso. Kayla picked up the sword that was stabbed into the ground next to her and lifted the woman's legs off of the ground. Kayden walked backwards on their trek back to what could be considered their camp. They got back to their camp and it was already dark, they laid the woman down in the grass a little ways away from the shore of the lake. "I'll make a fire, you check to see if she's hurt badly anywhere, I packed some bandages." said Kayden, who rushed off to a nearby bush pulling twigs from it. He pulled the leaves from the twigs and laid them on the ground then began to search his rucksack for his flint and iron. He pulled each from small pockets on the front of the bag and returned to the pile of leaves.

He smacked the flint stone against the iron and sparks danced to the ground from between his hands. He did it again and again until the leaves caught fire, then he quickly placed a twig on top of them. After the twig caught fire he placed more on top of the leaves and eventually was out of twigs. He dusted his hands off and walked over to where his sister and the woman were, "Did you find anything?" Kayla lifted her head away from the woman's chest and said, "No, but she's breathing, so she's alive." Kayden only laughed, almost falling backwards, "She's one heck of a heavy sleeper!" he paused a moment and looked at Kayla who was obviously still worrying, "Let's go to sleep, she's okay, so we can only wait until she wakes up to find out more." Kayla wasn't moving so Kayden grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet, "Come on." Kayla looked away from the woman, "Fine."

Kayden was the first to wake up, at first he was confused as to where he was but when he looked towards the lake and saw their yellow boat he remembered. They had run away from home. They had heard about a kingdom that was prospering on the other side of the ocean-like lake that they lived near, so they ran away from the slum that they lived in. Kayden turned to look at the brown-stained grass path, "Is that where that path leads?" he wondered. Just then he heard a twig snap and he turned to look at the lake again, the woman was awake. She stood next to the water holding that sword in her hand as if she was going to drop it in the water. "Good morning." said Kayden from where he was sitting. The woman only turned to look at him and said, "Oh. You're alive."

Kayden was taken by surprise what the woman had said, "W-well, of course I'm alive! When my sister found you just lying on the ground in the middle of nowhere she got scared, so we decided to take you back to our camp! We thought you were dying." Kayden smiled sheepishly as the woman laughed, "Me! Dying? You're a fool, boy. I'm the person who rules in this forest! If I were dead then surely you would be too!" Kayden was confused, "Rules? Is this the kingdom that is prospering on the other side of the lake that we heard about? Why is a queen out in the wilderness when she should be in her castle?" The woman smiled a large smile, "My peoples are all dead; either that or they fled." Kayden's eyes grew in fear, "Why did we have to save this woman?" he thought. He turned to his sister and shook her, "Kayla, wake up, the woman you saved is awake."

Kayla's eyes shot open as she sat straight up and started looking around. Her eyes finally locked on the woman who was now facing the twins. "Good morning!" she managed to get out. The woman returned the greeting then said, "My, you sure are pretty." Kayla looked at the ground, embarrassed by what she had said. It was silent for a few moments then Kayden broke it by saying, "What's your name? We've gotta know it if we're gunna be traveling together!" The woman smiled another evil looking grin, "Alice. My name is Alice. But I don't think we're going to be travelling together, the place you are headed is just down that path." Kayden looked at where Alice was pointing, she was pointing at the brown path. "Thank you Miss! Kayla, we should head on our way if we want to get there before sundown!" said Kayden as he stood up and kicked sand onto the fire which had burned out during the night. "But Kayden!" whined Kayla, "I haven't had my morning tea!"

Kayden sighed deeply and said, "Kayla, I just kicked sand onto our fire, and unless you're going to make another one then I don't think you're getting any tea until we make it to the city!" She just stood up and through her rucksack over her back, and then said, "Fine!" in a huff. Alice smirked, "Maybe I will travel a small ways with you, but I must always remain in my forest to guard it from people who might do it wrong." Kayla looked up at Alice in awe, "You're amazing!" Alice only laughed, "Thank you little girl." Then Alice's face went blank, there wasn't any emotion in it, it was as if she was carved of stone. Then all of a sudden, Alice gasped for breath, she hadn't been breathing while in that trance. "Are you okay?" asked Kayden, shocked by what had just happened. "Yes. I'm fine." replied Alice in a monotonous voice.

Kayden slung his backpack over his shoulder and said, "Well, let's get going." Kayden started walking towards the brown path when Alice said, "You're leaving your boat here?" Kayden was confused, "Yeah? We don't plan on coming back, and why would we take it with us?" Alice smiled a huge smile, "You don't plan on coming back? I see." Kayla grabbed Kayden's arm and started walking towards the path again, rushing them along, "Let's go." They followed along the brown path, the grass crunching under their feet as if it were going to turn to dust with the lightest touch.

21. The Fourth Alice

The trio walked along the path for a while, it was surrounded by the stench of death and carcasses of both people and animals could be seen everywhere. "I think this is far enough," Alice suddenly said and Kayla and Kayden turned to look at her, "Oops, did I say that out loud?" Alice giggled and brandished her sword, "I'm sorry kiddies, but I believe you're trespassing on my land, and do you know what I do to trespassers?" Kayden's eyes narrowed as he said, "Kayla, take out your knife." Both him and his sister reached into the side pockets of their rucksacks and took out hunting knives. "It looks like we need to sing someone a lullaby before we put them to sleep, Kayden." Kayla giggled as she moved the blade to her right hand. A playing card with two yellow hearts on it flew in between the twins, as Kayden's right eye and Kayla's left eye turned gold. "So this is how you play the game, rabbit." Laughing could be heard everywhere around them, "Indeed it is, Alice, indeed it is."

"Deeper, deeper, you come into the forest, pulled by a voice so sweet
Come on, come on, you want to go even deeper in to meet." Kayden said in a low voice.
Kayla laughed as she said, "Quickly, quickly, come as fast as your little legs can run to the dark
Come on, come on, it'll be so fun, let's play a game, on your mark!"
Both of the twins circled around Alice, easily dodging the swings that she made at them. They both lunged at Alice who jumped backwards so as to not be impaled. She landed with her back against a tree as the pair closed in on her.
"This cinnamon stick is a wonderful magic stick!" laughed Kayden.
"Imagine that you're drowning in the sweetest syrups
Dreams relieve of you of problems and sorrows that make you weep." giggled Kayla.
"Because they are heaven-made, have one and fall asleep" continued Kayden.
The rabbit appeared in front of Alice as she quickly looked from one twin to the other, "Don't fight back, dear Alice, you brought this on yourself." the rabbit said as both Kayden and Kayla drew closer and closer, continuing to sing their song that had been brought on by outside forces.
"But they're only good if you are surrounded by hallucinations
When you take the blindfold off, there's no more pleasant creations" sang Kayla brandishing her blade.
"You will see that your hands are tied and bound, dragging at my heels
You've already given up, don't take it back, it's a deal" sang Kayden, pointing at Alice.
"Sometimes we see the shine of doubt flickering on the double edged knife
A faultless love does not exist, there's no perfect feeling in this life" he sang again as he laughed.
"Through a hole in the blindfold, there was something I thought I'd never see
Lantern shadows that grew at night unconsciously frightened me" giggled Kayla as she took a step and was directly in front of Alice.
Tears began to fall down Alice's face as she looked at the ground to hide the fact that she had given up.
"My, my, you bad kid, how dare you wake up so early!" laughed Kayden as he stepped next to his sister.
"If your blindfold comes off, then should I blind you instead?" Kayla put her blade in front of Alice's face.
"Hey look, you're laughing, now isn't that the cutest sight?
But you still wear lies, so let's go back to our play tonight!" laughed Kayden.
"Hey!" shouted Alice as Kayla took the sword out of her hand and threw it away. "Give me that…"
"Why are you trembling in front of me like a scared little mouse?
Is milk what you want because it made you well at your old house?" asked Kayla.
"This is my domain, my place where it's just as warm as any other place
I'll just toll what's in your pocket, now you should not lose any face!" laughed Kayden as the two walked to opposite sides of Alice and grabbed her arms.
The rabbit who had been standing in front of Alice was gone, now there was only a shadow of a man. He was tall, but he had no face, he seemed to be made of darkness. In his right hand was a glimmering silver sword with a red hilt.
"Don't ask why or when or where, you don't even to need to know how
Eat these sweets, they tempt you into believing fake hospitality." sang Kayla and Kayden as the shadow lifted the sword into the sky. "Good night, Alice." said the shadow in a distorted voice as the sword was brought down upon her.

The shadow materialized and filled in with color. A pale man with a black suit on stood where the shadow had been, he looked up and balked, "My hair looks disgusting!" He wanted it to be shorter, so it became shorter, it was cropped and a smile glued itself onto his face, "I love this place." Kayden and Kayla let go of Alice's arms and her dead body flopped to the ground. The dark man started walking along the brown path, but soon faded into the shadows and was gone. Kayden and Kayla just looked, they didn't move, it seemed as if they didn't even breath they were so still. Then, their yellow eyes turned back to their original, flawless blue as they suddenly gasped for air. They looked around trying to see where they were and why Alice was dead in front of them.

They were both at a loss for words, all that was running through their minds was, "What did we do?" Suddenly Kayla threw her hunting knife to the floor, disgusted with the metallic blade. Kayden put his medium-sized blade back into the side pocket of his rucksack and knelt down to pick his sister's matching blade off of the ground. He stood up with the blade in his hand and held it out to her, "We might need these later." he said. Kayla's eyes started the fill with tears as she nodded and grabbed the blade, replacing it in its pocket in her rucksack. Suddenly she jumped at Kayden and wrapped her arms around him as tears fell from her eyes as she repeated the words, "What did we do?" again and again. Kayden held her close, trying to get her to stop crying when he noticed that Alice was felled with her own blade.

He said to his sister, "It looks like she did it to herself, Kayla." Kayla turned slightly to the side so that she could peek between her own and her brother's bodies and look at the corpse. The bloodied woman dressed in red sat sitting against the tree with a red-hilted blade splitting her head in two. She turned to her brother again and continued to cry. "Let's go, we won't make it to the city until tomorrow afternoon at this rate." commented Kayden trying to change the subject. Kayla removed herself from her brother's embrace and grabbed his hand as she pulled him towards the brown path. They eventually came to a cottage in the middle of a clearing in the woods that was lit by the moon. They walked over to it and saw the rotted body of a woman lying on the ground next to the door. Kayden looked at his sister whose eyes were wide and full of fear and said, "Should we stay here for the night, or should we continue on?" Kayla didn't respond, she only stared, but after a few moments she nodded and started walking towards the cottage's door.

She opened the door to find there was no one inside, alive or otherwise. The one room of the cottage was cheerily decorated, even though it was unkempt. The sight of a happy place lifted Kayla's spirits, "This place should be fine!" Kayden spotted a fireplace on the wall opposite the door with a stack of firewood next to it and went over to it. He took a looked for a kindling box, and found it atop the fireplace's hearth. He took out two pieces of kindling and out them in the fireplace then took the flint and iron out of his backpack. He smacked the flint stone against the iron repeatedly until a spark finally had managed to catch the kindling on fire. He waited a moment for the fire to spread to the other piece of kindling then he took a log from the stack of firewood and put it in the fireplace. He stood up and dusted himself and looked around for his twin sister. He finally saw her laying on the large bed in the corner which was big enough for a small family, she had fallen asleep. He walked over to the table-clothed table and put his backpack next to his sister's. He then walked over to the front door of the cottage and closed it.

22. Once Again

Kayla sat up straight in the bed; she looked around, confused as to where she was. The room was filled with flickering light, and she tried to find where it was coming from. There was a fire burning in the fireplace. The room wasn't very warm, so it must've been started recently. She looked around for Kayden, but couldn't find him. She got up from the bed and walked over to the closed door at the front of the cottage and opened it. There was nothing outside of the cottage; all that Kayla could see was blackness. She turned around and saw Kayden had been directly behind her. "Oh! Kayden I've bee-"Kayla had started to say, but she was cut off when Kayden strongly pushed her out the door and she fell. She was falling endlessly into the darkness, looking up as the only source of light in the darkness, the door, shut.

Kayla sat up straight in the bed, "A dream?" she thought as she looked to her right and saw Kayden lying next to herself. She looked straightforward and saw a light, there was bright light shining into the cottage through a window. She shook her twin brother trying to wake him from his slumber. "What is it Kayla?" asked her annoyed brother as he rubbed his eyes. "Well…" said Kayla as she played with her hands, "I thought you might want to get an early start today…" Kayden looked at her then breathed out roughly, "That's a good idea." He got out of the bed and walked over to the table and grabbed his rucksack and reached inside as he said, "How about some tea first?" Kayla giggled as she hopped off the bed and ran over to the table to search through her own backpack as her brother took out his flint and iron. Kayden walked over to the fireplace and began to make a fire as his sister took out her dried tea leaves and the glass jug of water. She also took a pan out of her rucksack that was big enough to hold half of the water she had brought. "There you go!" said Kayden as he stood to the side of the fireplace.

"Thank you Kayden!" said Kayla cheerily as she knelt in front of the fire and set the water jug down next to herself. She put the pan on the hook hanging from the top of the fireplace so that it would hang above the fire. She took the lid off the jug and poured enough water for two cups of tea. "I wonder if there's sugar somewhere in this place." said Kayla, not really caring whether there was or not, but her brother didn't like tea unless it was sweet. Kayden's eyes narrowed at the challenge his sister presented, "They had better." He immediately turned to the left and headed towards the multitude of cabinets. Starting at the top he made his way from left to right, checking each and every shelf of every cabinet. He was almost to the last cabinet, when he spotted a glass container full of white granules. "Got it!" shouted Kayden triumphantly as he held the container above his head. "Good job." said Kayla as she laughed, "Now find me a jar and some cups."

"Why didn't you ask me to find them in the beginning?" yelled Kayden as he faked tears, "I went through all that trouble already!" Kayla just burst into fits of laughter as Kayden went back to the beginning of the cabinets. He found the cups in the first cabinet; they were tea cups, just like he had been looking for, so he took two out and put them on the table. He continued on down the line of cabinets and came to a cabinet full of crystalline jars. "Those are pretty!" said Kayla, appearing behind Kayden as he took one out of the cabinet, but he dropped it as he jumped from being scared by his sister. "Kayla!" he screamed as his sister burst into another laughing fit. The jar shattered as it made contact with the hard wood flooring of the cottage's floor, and Kayla kicked the glass shards into the corner of the cottage, away from where anyone might step on them. Kayden reached back into the cabinet and took out a second jar and put it on the table. The water in the pan was boiling angrily, so Kayla tore a strip of cloth from the bed sheet and wrapped it around her hand. She then grabbed the pan's handle and unhooked the pan from the fireplace.

Kayla walked over to the table and poured the hot water into the jar, so that she could finally brew the tea. She reached across the table and grabbed her packet of tea leaves. She poured them into the jug of water and watched as the clear liquid turned brown. When she felt that the tea was done steeping and the water was still warm but tolerable, she unwrapped the cloth around her hand and fastened it to the top of the jar as a makeshift filter. She tilted the jar slowly and poured the tea into the two cups. Kayden immediately poured almost a handful of the white powder into his cup and began stirring it with his index finger. "You're so silly!" giggled Kayla as she took a sip of her tea. When Kayden felt he had sufficiently made the grains dissolve he took his finger out of the tea and stuck it in his mouth. His face immediately turned to one of disgust as he looked at the container of white powder. "Let me guess," laughed Kayla as a little bit of tea spilt from her cup and fell to the wooden floor, "That was salt!" Kayden took his finger out of his mouth as he nodded, the grimace glued to his face. "Well! You should have checked, and I'm not making any more for you!" said Kayla as she continued to laugh.

Kayden only sighed and picked up his tea cup before walking over to the fireplace and dumping it on the fire, putting it out. Kayla finished her tea at the same time as Kayden had put his cup on the table. "Ready?" asked Kayla as her twin brother pulled more dried meat from his rucksack. "Ready!" affirmed Kayden as his sister stole the meat straight out of his hand. She stuffed the strip into her mouth and fastened her own rucksack's straps before slinging it over her back. Kayden fastened his rucksack's straps while pouting at his sister, and then he threw it over his back.

Kayden knew what awaited them right outside the cottage's door, a woman's long-dead corpse, he needed a way to cheer up his sister, and he knew that nothing cheered his sister up more than her favorite song. He would wait until her mood started to turn sour, and then he would attempt to cheer her up. He grabbed his sister's hand then walked towards the front door of the cottage and opened it. He waited for her to step towards the door and then, Kayla suddenly grimaced. Kayden walked in front of her and held her shoulders, shaking her lightly and telling her, "We need to get going." Kayla sighed deeply and said, "I'm sorry, I had a bad dream last night and I just remembered it."

"She's already in a bad mood." thought Kayden as he silently sighed, "She sure is efficient." He suddenly hopped outside of the cottage so that his entire body was enveloped in the sun's bright light and pointed at his twin sister and started to sing: "The first mystery is: why was she alone in her room drinking a poisoned bottle of wine?" Kayla's face suddenly brightened as she smiled a huge smile. "Silently listening to the one-armed detective speak as he continued on in front of the girl." Kayla walked outside of the cottage and closed its door, ignoring the woman's body as she listened to her brother's song. "The reason is simple, at that point in time! He was destined to die!" Kayla giggled as she walked over to the brown path that was in the middle of the brightly lit clearing. "So who is the culprit?" Kayden asked his twin sister as he pointed at her, "You know the answer to that question! Because it all happened right in front of you!"

"So who is the culprit?" repeated Kayden looking at his sister, "Even if you don't say the answer, I will answer it for you!" Kayla lightly smacked Kayden's head as he jumped around her, "I know how this crime will end." Kayden suddenly stood straight up and acted like he was lecturing her, "The second mystery is: Why did they fall into the ocean? And was the culprit really among them?" Kayla kaughed as she pretended to reach into her rucksack, "The girl grabs the knife hidden inside her pocket, but the detective doesn't realize this and continues talking." Kayden pointed at his twin sister and said loudly, "The one fatal mistake in my plan, was the other detective dragged into this!" Kayden laughed for a few seconds and then asked, "So, who is the culprit? The detective easily hits the knife out of her hand, the girl's last resort. So, who is the culprit?" Kayla shrugged, pretending not to know. "Come on now, it's the person who's standing right in front of you, just say my name!"

"I really didn't want you to find out, I will be merciful. Hurry, if you want to run, then run away quickly. Just call my name." Kayla darted further down the path then turned around to see Kayden slowly following her, "So, who is the culprit? There just may be more than one answer to that question, but the means to confirm that is about to disappear! So who is the culprit? Come on, if you don't hurry up, my hands just may kill you too." Kayden pretended to hold up a pocket watch and point to it, "You're running out of time, so, who is the culprit? You know the answer to that question! Because everything happened right in front of you! So who is the culprit? The person standing right in front of you! Come on say that person's name! Just say my name!"

Kayla rushed up to her brother and grabbed both of his hands, "Why do you always insist on getting yourself hurt? And why do you think you can protect someone this way? In the beginning it was you, who blindfolded me wasn't it? There were actually two glasses of wine weren't there? Even if he didn't die by 'poison' he would've eventually died by the 'knife'. I will solve the riddle, even if it's in your place." Kayla ran ahead of her brother on the brown path and pointed at her brother, "I won't let the crime end in this way! Let me undo this rusted curse, a curse cast by a mean culprit. I can only think that everything you said was a lie, were you really the 'detective' investigating that crime?" She ran even farther ahead, but didn't turn to face her brother and still continued to sing, "Even though you say that it's over because it's in the past, what is it that's making you so anxious? You would only be able to kill them one-by-one, but still, you couldn't be the culprit!"

Finally, Kayden appeared right behind her while she sang lowly, "I will whisper it in your ear, I will solve you and your riddle: the atrocious criminal is anyone but you!" Kayla turned around to face her brother and grabbed his hands, "That arm you saved me with was used to play the piano. If I had known that, I wouldn't have…" Kayla paused, it would have seemed she had forgotten a line to anyone but the twins, she suddenly said, "I will cast upon another riddle! If a person who can solve this riddle appears, I will trap that person inside this story: welcome, to this world." Kayla let go of her brother's hands and turned around to continue along the path, but it had ended, right at the corpse of a man who seemed to have been run through with a blade.

A little ways away from the corpse was a bright yellow door; it seemed to be calling to both of them. They both walked up to it, right next to each other both of their legs moving together, like clockwork. They both stood in front of the door, just gaping up at it, but then Kayden's right eye and Kayla's left eye suddenly turned gold. A booming voice could be heard all around them, "Only one of you can enter, and whichever one that is, they will take the place of the ruler in that world." The voice laughed as the twins stood like statues in front of the door. "Fight for it!" urged the voice, "Fight for the right to pass through the door!" Again, the twins moved like clockwork, taking their rucksacks off of their backs and setting them on the ground in front of themselves. They both reached into opposite side pockets and grasped their hunting knives in their right hands. They only stood ready to fight, waiting for permission to begin, it didn't take long to be given, "Go!" yelled the voice.

The battle was incredibly short, the male counterpart didn't stand a chance against his swifter twin. Kayden had lunged directly forward, but it was easily dodged by Kayla. Who then thrust the silver blade upwards, it gouging its way deep into Kayden's skull. She let go of the blade, and then Kayden fell forward, the blade's hilt colliding with the ground and moving further into the boy's skull. "Congratulations, Alice. You won the right to go through the door and take place as that world's ruler," said the booming voice, "But, from the time you turn the door's knob until you hear it click shut, you must keep your eyes closed."

Alice remained silent, she only reached her hand out to the door and turned it. As soon as she couldn't turn the knob any further, Alice closed her eyes and opened the door. She began to walk through the door, and as she passed over the threshold she heard a voice say, "Have fun in Wonderland, Alice." As soon as the voice vanished, the door clicked shut behind her. Alice opened her eyes and sat straight up in her soft bed. She pulled the numerous, soft blankets from her body and let them fall at her side. Her face was unchanging, it looked like her face was painted onto her head it showed so little emotion. She turned her body and let her legs hang over the edge of the plush bed and then pushed herself off of it landing on the ground with a soft thud. She stood up straight, turned to look at her door, and cocked her head, "Odd."

23. The Fifth Alice

A deathly pale man with cropped black hair's eyes slowly opened as he lay in a plush bed. When his eyes became accustomed to the darkness of the room which was only lit by a lone candle's flame he sat up in the bed in which he had slept. He pushed the blood red sheets from his half-naked body and turned so that his legs were hanging over the side of the bed, feet almost touching the ground. He lifted himself up, off of the bed, and he expertly landed on the carpeted floor next to the bed he had slept in. He walked over to the wall that was closest to him and gazed into the mirror which hung there. After a long while spent in silence, the dark man finally smiled and said:"Hello, Alice, and welcome to your Wonderland."