Rook groaned as he woke up, expecting to be in his bed, the sun shining through his window. Instead, he was staring at a ceiling that was clearly not his own: It was dome-shaped, and it gave the impression that Rook was in a tower of some sort. Instead of lying in his bed, he was lying on the cold, red and black-checkered floor of this strange place.
"Where am I?" He asked himself as he got up from where he was laying. He looked around. He was clearly in some sort of tower, although he couldn't see outside the window for the light coming from it was a little too bright. But the general shape of the room indicated that it was so. The room was a whitewashed stone color, and had elegant drapes of red around the window and the entryway behind him, which revealed a staircase leading down, from what he could see from where he was. The room itself was a large circle shape, with a table at the end of the room.
That's when Rook saw her for the first time. A woman with long white hair and wearing an elegant white dress with a large opening down the front was sitting at the table, legs crossed, sipping tea. She looked harmless enough, so Rook approached her. "Hello?" He announced to the woman, who seemed to not hear him. So he tried again. "I'm Rook." He called to the woman, "What's your name?" The woman this time stopped sipping tea, and set the teacup down on the table in front of her.
"Sit." She commanded Rook, uncrossing her legs.
"Pardon?" Rook asked as politely as he could, being the gentleman he was and not processing this woman's command.
"Please," The woman commanded, motioning to a chair across from her at the table, "Sit." Rook, with no other choice, went over to the table, passing bookshelves of creepy-looking dolls on his way, and sat down in the chair, pulling himself up to the table.
"Um…" Rook started to say, but was silenced by the woman raising a finger, indicating that he shouldn't speak. The woman's upper face and eyes were hidden by her bangs of her face, a sly smile creeping up on her lips. Rook suddenly got the feeling that this woman may not be so "innocent" after all, and that she was something much more, maybe something not human, the way she grinned at him.
"My name is Alice." The woman finally said through a sly grin across her face, and brushing the bangs away from her icy-purple eyes that seemed to stare into Rook's very soul. "Rook," Alice announced, "Do you know why you are here?"
"Um…" Rook stammered, still terrified by the Alice's eyes staring intently at him, "I-I'm-". Alice suddenly leaned in closer to Rook, staring into his eyes even more. After a while of staring, she leaned back to her chair, a confused look on her face.
"That's strange…" She mumbled, crossing her legs again and folding her arms across her chest. "You don't seem to have a contract's blood in you, and yet you end up here…why is that…?"
"Contract's…blood?" Rook asked Alice. She nodded.
"Everyone who has came here before me has been an illegal contractor with a chain." Alice explained, "I'm surprised, no, astonished that you haven't formed a contract with a chain…this is very odd…" Rook suddenly got up from the chair, a very puzzled look o his face."
"Wait," Rook said, trying to figure out what's going on, "Did you say 'Chain'? But aren't those just monsters of fairy tales? Or myths?"
"Please, sit down" Alice commanded once again. Rook sat down again, an even more confused look on his face. "The creatures you know of, the chains, are very much as real as you are. They reside here, and I am the will of this realm." Suddenly it hit Rook, and he stood up, backing away from Alice.
"If you say that you're the will of this place," Rook stammered, shocked by the pieces lining up, "and this place is where chains reside, then that means…oh god…" He then started to make a break for the entryway, but was stopped by a wall of force on the doorway, slamming into it and falling to the ground. "Oww…" He groaned, standing up with some effort.
"No one escapes the Abyss…" Alice said with a very large grin, "Especially from here; this is the deepest part of the Abyss. And even if you escape from here, you'll never find a way out." She then motioned toward the chair again. "Sit down, I'm not done with you yet…"
"Why should I sit with a creature that is the will of a place of madness?" Rook snapped hashly. Alice then sighed, and the chair moved on it's own, moving behind Rook, sweeping him into it, and then slamming into the side of the table. Alice then gave Rook a menacing look that scared Rook to death.
"We are all mad here." Alice remarked, "And if you are here, then you are mad as well. So get used to it." She then seemed to calm down a bit, the sly smile returning to her face. "Now," Alice announced, "Since you were taken from the human world without a contract partner's influence, I offer you this…" She then stood on her chair, and placed a foot onto the table, her hand lifting Rook's chin to meet her face. "You will be released back to the human world." Alice stated, and Rook's eyes widened.
"Really?" Rook exclaimed, excited that this creature has the power to do such a thing.
"But in return,"" Alice continued, "You must agree to relinquish your humanity, as humans cannot return from a place like this on their own. And those that do must give up something of great importance in return to make up for it. In this case, it will be your humanity." She then held out her hand. "It's a good deal, yes? If so, why don't we shake on it? That way we can seal the deal properly." Rook looked at Alice, and then at her hand. With some hesitation, he reached out for it.
Only to have Alice suddenly grab hold of it despite Rook's thoughts of resentment on this decision. A very large, evil looking grin then spread across her face as chains appeared from the ground under Rook and secured him to the chair by wrapping around his torso. An unseen force then pulled Rook to the center of the room, where a large purple seal was glowing on the floor. Alice then started to laugh maniacally as Rook felt agonizing pain course through his body, as if something was being sucked out of it. He then suddenly felt very weak, and slumped in his chair as much as he could, since there were chains securing him. Rook then felt an immense amount of energy course though his body, and he suddenly felt very, very strong and almost god-like. Rook then uttered an inhuman roar as his eyes started to glow with orange irises.
That's when the first chain broke with a loud "SNAP!"
"What?" Alice exclaimed, astonished at the unforeseen outcome that was unfolding right before her eyes. There was another snap of a chain as another inhuman roar emitted from Rook's lips. Alice, thinking quickly, raised her hands and more chains sprouted from the ground to secure Rook to the chair. But it was no use, for with every new chain that came forth, a chain was broken in its place, and the pace was increasing with every second.
The last of the chains then broke, and a gigantic shockwave emitted from the seal, knocking Alice backward and into the wall.
"This power…" Alice muttered, trying to stand up, "…what is this new power?" Rook, eyes still glowing red, then got out of the chair, and raised his hand, an obsidian-crystal scythe appearing in it.
"You have failed yet again…sister." Rook unwillingly said in a voice that wasn't his own, as if someone was taking control over his body and speaking through him. Alice's eyes then grew wide with fear.
"Brother?" She exclaimed, almost screaming in terror. Rook then laughed maniacally as he advanced upon Alice, his scythe's blade pointing straight at her. Alice scooted away as far as she could before she felt her back hit the wall. She screamed bloody murder as her brother advanced upon her, his eyes still glowing red with malice.
"You thought you had killed me, eh?" Rook taunted, a few feet away from Alice, where he stopped. "And I was just trying to have fun with you too…oh well…" He then raised his hand, and chains sparking with red lightning appeared from the ground and secured Alice to the wall, binding her hands and feet to it. "Ah, now this looks familiar, doesn't it sister?" Rook taunted, readying his scythe to cleave her in half.
"Rook! WAIT!" Alice screamed loudly, tears of fear crawling down her cheeks, "I'll do anything you want! JUST LET ME GO!" Rook then lowered his scythe at that statement, and a greedy smile appeared across his face. He laughed loudly as his chains released his sister and his scythe disappeared into red sparks. He then grabbed his sister, and lifted her high above the ground with one hand clenched around her throat.
"Oh, so you'll do ANYTHING?" Rook taunted again, his grip tightening. Alice could barely breathe at this point, and was gasping for air.
"Y…yes…any…thing…" Alice gasped, trying to breathe, but without success.
"Hmph." Rook emitted, releasing his sister, who fell to the floor gasping for air and coughing. Rook then knelt beside her, a wicked smile spreading across his face. "Let's then discuss our terms…" He said, raising two demonic, throne-like chairs in the middle of the room from the ground and sitting in one of them. Alice gulped in anxiety at what was to come for her, and feared for all of existence for the first time in many, many years.