Ace laughed like a madman as he pranced around with a new cape. Julius looked at him weirdly, as he was genuinely chipper for once.
"What's up with you? You're more of a cheerful idiot than usual." The hired murderer smiled at him.
"Can't someone just be happy? It's a beautiful day, and the ones you wanted put up more of a fight. It was pretty interesting, haha!" Julius shook his head. He could never understand his friend's joy about slaughtering the others. They were Faceless, and therefore, not of much importance, but still. Alice's influence had taught him to at least think of them as organisms higher than bugs.
"Oh. Alice. Do you know where she is? I've been preoccupied with work since 5 time periods ago." Julius didn't know how he hadn't noticed her absence, but he was running really low on coffee. Ace, still wearing his asinine smile appeared to think about his question.
"Well, I ran into her while I was picking up the clocks." The mortician's face morphed into one of worry.
"Is she fine? She didn't get caught in the crossfire, right?"
"No, of course not. She got in my way, but I helped her out." Julius sighed with relief, not realizing there was an amused grin in his friend's words.
...
Alice stood off to the side as Ace annihilated the men who tried to attack him for "revenge". Of course, they were dealt with, but Ace drew it out, just to punish them for daring to think they even had a chance against him. It was at times like these that she remembered what a monster he was. Outside of these massacres, she could fool herself from believing that he was just a normal, high spirited, mentally disturbed individual.
"Well, Alice, how did you like the show?" His dark chuckle betrayed his intent–he wanted to terrify her. He wanted to make her run away screaming. She wasn't about to fall into his trap, as this was the second time she had witnessed this.
"It was fine. But is it really necessary to do this?"
"Ah, how nice it must be, to have the innocent mind of a Foreigner. Yes, it is absolutely necessary. We all have assigned roles in this world, and while the other mindless drones of Wonderland may be content with theirs, I prefer to challenge mine and go against the rule. I find that my short lived, meaningless life is much more interesting that way." She could see where he was coming from, and she always had. Ever since she had first seen his true self, she had understood him.
Being quite the angsty teenager in the world she once knew (and wasn't quite sure she knew anymore... was it a dream? Was it even real?), she felt the same way. Her elder sister was the golden sibling of the family, and all of the Liddell's hopes had lain on her. It seemed as if everyone she knew had been pushing her to be like Lorina her whole life.
Oh, you're enrolling in that course? I do hope you'll be able to follow in Lorina's footsteps.
You're planning to play the piano? Your sister is simply a prodigy. Maybe you'll be the same.
I'm sorry... your sister is simply the most enchanting woman I've ever met. I'm afraid I can't continue our relationship anymore. Perhaps you can aspire to be like her?
From the beginning, she was meant to be a younger version of Lorina. She loved her sister, but she didn't want to be like her. She didn't want to be a carbon copy. So, she lost herself in dreams instead. She found they were much more fun than reality, anyway.
"I understand where you're coming from. What I mean is, why? Why all this stuff about roles, and war and whatnot? Wouldn't it be easier if all the territories just got along and had no conflict?" Alice sincerely didn't get why they had to fight. It wasn't like anyone was forcing them to.
"No one knows. As long as time has existed, it's always been this way. In my perspective, I think this is a sort of hell. We're all dead, and the only reason you're here is because you're extremely emotionally upset. You have the chance to return to your world, or stay here, and become a Roleholder. It's a way for us to repent for our sins, and we've been stuck in this cycle as long as the beginning. It's a curse that we can never escape, unless a Foreigner deems one of us worthy to return to Earth reborn again. In the end, we don't really have a choice. Someone else decides our fate in the end, so there's no difference." His grim smile conveyed that he was well aware of how little control anyone had over their lives.
"Why in the world would I be upset? I find your hell theory interesting. It makes sense, but also doesn't." Seemingly returning to his "normal" self, Ace smiled enigmatically.
"Why do you think? It has to do with a certain sister, and her death! Hahaha, isn't it fitting that she should be killed by the very person who loved her the most?" Her heart came to a crashing stop as the memories came back to her.