Julius sat at his table, working on his clocks, as usual, when Ace walked into the room.
"Hello, Julius" he greeted him.
"Ace. You're here for Alice, I assume?" asked Julius, not bothering to look up from his work.
"Oh, I was! How did you know?"
"Well, since I didn't call you to collect a clock, it's the only other reason you'd come here", he said with a small smile. "She's in her room."
"Thanks"
Ace walked into Alice's room quietly and stood behind her, so she wouldn't notice his presence, so he could surprise her. Or so he hoped.
"Alice!" he said loudly, enjoying watching her jump up with surprise.
"Aaaaah! Ace?! When did you get here?" she asked, looking up at him. "Don't you have the basic manners to knock? What are you doing here, anyway? "
"I came to see you, Alice" he explained.
"I get enough visiting from Peter. He's so convinced he's in love with me…" she said, shaking her head.
"Oh, and I have something to tell you. Actually, something to remind you of, really" he said quietly.
"What?" asked Alice curiously, wondering why he was so serious all of a sudden.
"Remember? You promised to go camping with me again!" he said happily.
Alice sighed. "No, as far as I remember, I didn't say anything. So I'm not going camping with you, Ace."
"But still! Even if you didn't promise….you know the consequences!" he said with an evil look in his eyes.
"I don't want to die" Alice reminded herself out loud.
"That's right, you don't. That's why you're going camping with me today. Even if you didn't agree, you know I never give up!" he said.
Just then, the door burst open and Boris walked in.
"Seriously, don't any of you knock?" said Alice, frustrated.
"What? You're actually going with him? You said you wouldn't!" said Boris pleadingly.
"I have to. I don't want to face the consequences if I don't…" said Alice miserably.
"Then at least let me come with you! I'll protect you from him" he said, with a suspicious look in Ace's direction.
"Eh…" she said, wondering what Boris was thinking of.
"I'm sorry, Kitty-cat. It'll be only the two of us" said Ace, before Alice could reply.
"Please, Alice?" asked Boris, disregarding what Ace had just told him.
"Ace, just let him come" Alice said. She couldn't stand to see Boris so worried.
"Fine. But my tent is small" he said stubbornly.
"Then you can sleep outside" retorted Boris.
"No thanks. I think YOU can sleep outside."
"How about this?" suggested Alice. "I'll get another tent and we'll work it out there. When are we leaving, Ace?"
"Eager, are you?" said Ace wickedly.
"No. I want to get this over with quickly" said Alice.
And then, for the second time within minutes, the door burst open, and Peter White came in.
"Don't ANY of you have the decency to knock?" asked Alice, yet again
"Tent? Going? Where are you going, Alice?" asked Peter curiously.
"Oh god. Do I have to tell you too?"
"I'll come with you!" insisted Peter.
"You don't even know where we're going!" laughed Alice.
"We? What do you mean 'we'?" demanded Peter.
And so, Alice told him the details of their camping trip.
"What? And you agreed? That's dangerous! At least let me come along to protect you from these two monsters!" said Peter resolutely.
"Absolutely not! We have Boris tagging along as it is. We don't need another animal in the mix!" said Ace.
Animal? This gave Peter an idea. A flash of bright light later, he was in his rabbit form.
"Alice? Please?" he asked, widening his eyes to look extra-cute.
Alice picked him up and hugged him. "Of course you can. Right?" she asked, looking at Ace.
"If that's what you want…"
Peter smirked at Ace behind Alice's back, still in his rabbit form. He could get anything he wanted in this form.
A little while later, they had all left, happy about getting what they all wanted. Alice sat on her bed and frowned. She didn't know why she let everyone get their way so easily today. Then, there was a small knock on the door. "Can I come in?" she heard Julius say quietly.
"Wow…the only person with manners" she said to herself. Then she added out loud "Yes, you can."
He came in and stood in front of her, with a solemn expression on his face.
"Are you going on that trip with them?" he asked softly.
"Yes, unfortunately, I'm forced to. Why? Let me guess. You want to come too?" she asked.
"No, I don't", he chuckled, "but I just wanted to tell you to be careful. Those two - Peter and Ace – are very-very aggressive."
"Aggressive?" she asked, again wondering what he was thinking of.
"You know what I mean. They won't stop at anything to get what they want" he said embarrassedly.
"You", he clarified, when she continued to look at him with a blank expression.
She blushed and looked away. "I know. They're frustrating. But my life is at risk here. And not all of us can simply get our hearts (or clocks) fixed" she said wryly.
"Be careful, then", he said, patting her on the head and walking out of the room, avoiding her curious gaze.
"Well, that was odd" she said to herself.
How was it, my first attempt at a Heart no Kuni no Alice fan fiction? Read and review!
