Chapter one: Following the white rabbit
"She's not mine! I want her out of this house!"
"You raised her, she's every bit your daughter as she was yesterday!"
"Whore! You have no right!"
"I have every right when you threaten to abandon OUR child!"
"YOUR child! Yours and some druggie you found on the street's child! She has nothing to do with me, and as far as I'm concerned, Kiya too!"
"Don't you bring her into this! Kiya's just a kid!"
They argued into the night, and through to dawn, and eventually noon the next day. Rima sat wide awake on her bed, her walls doing nothing to mollify the harsh slap of words that resounded through the house. She'd been that way for so long, she wasn't sure she could unravel the tight ball of limbs she had become if she wanted to.
Kiya sat on her bedroom floor, large headphones balanced on her small head. Before their parents had begun fighting, Rima had made sure to grab everything they'd need to sit it out like they usually did: a bag of cloths, some of Kusukusu's toys to keep her busy, and enough supplies to make a dozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Kiya reached up to remove the headphones blasting classical music, but Rima instinctively stopped her small pale hand with her own, shaking her head so her golden locks twirled and caught the light streaming through the open window. She picked up her note pad and handed her an orange marker. The first thing Rima had taught her was how to write. Only the basics: I'm hungry, I'm tired, and I'm cold. But she'd picked Rima's least favorite phrase that she was most reluctant to teach her.
"What is happening? When can we go back down stairs? Kusukusu misses Mommy," Kiya held up the pad and Rima hesitantly wrote back: "I don't know, but it won't be much longer."
Rima really had no idea. They had never fought this long, and even though every word had seeped through her walls, and sunk deep into her conscience, she had no idea what they were fighting about.
It obviously wasn't the usual about money, and it couldn't have been about her mother's disappearance. She knew well what those arguments sounded like, and she knew how dire it was to get herself and Kiya out of the house during either one of those fights. But now she was in the dark, she wasn't sure what she was going to do, what she was supposed to do.
So she waited, and hoped, but how much longer could she wait? So she made the decision to leave, while Kiya was still unaware of the severity of the situation. Before the shattering of glasses and the clattering of pans got past the oversized headphones. But Rima knew that she would never escape the screams, that they would haunt her in her dreams, and plague her thoughts for years to come. The memories had already been engraved into her mind.
She scribbled a quick explanation and started gathering her duffle bag of necessities. She scooped up her little sister and slung the bag over her shoulder as she scuttled under to the stairway her mother had showed her for emergencies. She hopped down the twelve or so stairs, Kiya bouncing on her hip, Rima's muscles straining to carry her weight. It lead to the back garden, and from there she let Kiya down and they walked together down the path to the deepest part of the garden.
Rima looked back at the house, more a mansion than a house, and noticed for the first time since making her way down the stairway that all was quiet. Eerily so, in fact. Then she squinted into the light coming from behind her huge house and saw something smeared onto the kitchen window. It looked like a bloody hand print, but to sooth the chills that prickled the skin running down her back, she decided she couldn't trust her eyes, being in such an emotional state.
They walked deeper into the brush and Rima saw out of the corner of her eye Kiya's stumbling walk and reached her hand down to grasp her smaller one. Rose thorns pricked her cheek, drawing a lone drop of blood. They stepped into the courtyard and Rima brushed Kiya's hair back from her forehead and kissed her gingerly, then pushed back the headphones so they hung loosely around her neck, slightly disturbing her zombie like trudge. Her eyes fluttered open from their half lidded position and she yawned. "Mama? Kusukusu's tired," Kiya told her almost mutely.
She bent down, dropped the bag, and slung her limp body onto her back. She carried her over to a white washed gazebo and laid her on the bench, her head resting on Rima's lap. She never fully understood why exactly her sister insisted on being called Kusukusu, but it didn't matter. She'd rather call her Kusukusu; calling her Kiya was something reserved for only her mother.
As Rima stroked her sisters long straight hair she admired her handy work, remembering how long it took to sew Kusukusu's clown suit pajamas, how her back was sore from bending over the sewing machine, and remembering her face all lit up as she stripped on the spot and put it on. Kusukusu almost never took it off, and fought her tooth and nail when it was so dirty she had to scrub it by hand. Remembered the pure adoration in her sisters eyes as she watched her patch it up countless times.
But that all seemed so far away now, and she sighed into the wind as it tousled wisps of golden hair around her porcelain face. The wind carried the sweet scent of roses and exotic flowers, but it wasn't right somehow. She knew the sweet and bitter perfume of the garden well, and had since she was small, but blended into this mix was something foreign, something that just didn't belong. But it was a familiar fragrance, she recognized it vaguely, and a silhouette appeared in her mind, of a man with flowing hair and a lean build.
She awoke to the sound of a chiming clock, which was quickly joined by a violin, then bells, and finally a voice, deep and melodic. She looked up and noticed someone in the garden with her, it wasn't Kusukusu, in fact, Kusukusu wasn't anywhere in sight, it was just her and the strange man who's features where masked by the beaming light coming from behind him. She opened her mouth to ask him something, anything to silence the now deafening music, but no sound came out.
Rima then noticed that the man had his back to her, and she reached out to tap his shoulder when her hand was stopped by a large plate of glass. Her eyebrows furrowed and she withdrew her hand. What was left behind was a crimson print, the peculiar liquid dripped down the glass, staining it red. It slowly made its way down until it was just inches from the floor, then randomly flowed up and across, twisting and turning and making abnormal loops on the glass, her eyes followed it, not really comprehending the shapes it painted.
When the droplet had finished its rounds, it dripped casually down the glass. Rima took a second look at the patterns it had made, and realized suddenly that it was a face. But it wasn't anyone she knew, she hadn't even remembered passing anyone with that face on the street. It was beautiful, a sharp, defined nose with bright eyes and perfectly proportioned lips. But the most defining feature was the hair, which cascaded down wards and framed the breathtaking face. The sun shimmered across the painting, and she suddenly understood that it was the man. But the face was so feminine, it was hard to believe. The only thing that gave it away were the gleaming eyes that stared emptily and still meaningfully towards her.
She was so absorbed by the face on the glass that she hadn't noticed the stray bead of crimson fluid run dangerously close to the end of the glass, nearly brushing against the tamed grass. It taunted her mercilessly once it caught her eye, and then lazily dripped into the forest of bladed grass. It turned red on contact, then the color rippled outward and scaled up the trees until the garden was completely consumed. Rima looked around, startled, her hair tumbled over her shoulders and the wind kissed her pale complexion.
"what?" confusion was written all over her face, and it was only amplified when the music stopped just as abruptly as it had started, and a purple hue flooded the garden. The color rippled out in a similar fashion, this time originating at the steps of the man with the flowing dark hair.
Her dark full lashes fluttered open without a sound, and she squinted against the soft light of the half moon. She shifted slightly on the stone bench, her nose catching the fading scent of her sisters shampoo as it swayed against her back. Where was Kusukusu going? Rima wanted so badly to reach for her sister, to grab hold of her frail hands and cuddle her close, but her limbs were stiff and wouldn't budge from their current entanglement.
She slowly lifted herself, propping her body up with her thin pale arms. Her cotton button down shirt as crinkled unattractively and it slipped off her shoulders as she stood. Her hands snaked under her waist band, and fingered the tender flesh that had been pressed against the many buttons and threads of her jean shorts during her restless slumber. "Kusukusu?" she called into the garden, her only answer was the cold wind and dancing shadows.
She blinked rapidly and her lips pulled together to form a thin line of stress. "Kusukusu?" she called just a little louder. A faint giggle reverberated in her ears, and she tightened her long fingers around the cloth of her long white sleeves. "Kusukusu, where are you?" she was running now, towards the taller trees in the garden.
The sound grew louder as she approached the lining of oak trees that marked the outer edge of the garden. Just beyond was uncharted territory, and Rima's mother had warned her countless times not to play outside of the garden's perimeter. Kusukusu wouldn't dare defy her mother, would she?
She pushed through the sweeping vines and felt the thorns catch and pull at her sleeves. She couldn't be far now, she thought, I can hear her. "Mister, can Kusukusu play with your glasses?" the familiar whisper of her sister's voice didn't slip past her ears, and neither did the stranger's response.
As she cleared the cobbled stone path to the outer ring of stone, she could make out a figure she recognized as her sister, small and frail, and one other that was unfamiliar.
But at second glance, it was, memories of her dream that seemed so far away flooded her mind and she was now in a panic. Kusukusu was with this strange man, who knew what he could do to her.
"Please do not touch, they were a gift," a steady and precise voice answered her sister, and the way the words rolled off his tongue seemed to be directed at her, telling her that he was no threat. It sent chills down her spine, but it worked, and though she was no longer concerned for Kusukusu's safety {to her surprise} she still felt the urgency to hold her, and know for sure she was unharmed.
Rima stepped into the low light of the dusk and saw clearer the scene before her, her honey eyes adjusting to the difference in light. "Kusu...Kusu…." she hesitated, why did she hesitate? Was she that afraid to call out to her sister, or did it have anything to do with the stranger next to her? His glasses caught the light of the moon and reflected in her eyes, temporarily blinding her.
"Ah! Rima Chama! This is Kairi-pyon! He was looking for us!" Kusukusu was literally jumping up and down with excitement.
"Looking…for us…." Rima was unsure of everything. And as soon as the man stepped closer and extended a hand that she instinctively grasped, she was sure she was still dreaming as an electric shock was sent through her from her hand up.
"I'm Kairi, my senpai sent me. I'm here to take you home. Well, my home that is, but I think you'll enjoy it there…." Kairi went on and Rima began to worry like she SHOULD have been from the start.
Home? Was he here to kidnap them? How were they supposed to get out of this one? "Who are you? What do you want with us?" she asked skeptically.
His brow furrowed and he gave her a look, "Were you not listening? I am Kairi; I'm here to take you home. Didn't your mother tell you about Wonderland?"
Rima backed away and withdrew her hand from his as if burned. "No, you can't know that, your some criminal aren't you? Some rapist escaped from prison? A mental patient, that's it," she decided.
Kairi sighed and launched into a detailed explanation that was cut short by a small whimper.
Rima froze and turned towards her sister, curled in a ball. That's right, Kusukusu hates any kind of conflict, and she'd never actually heard their parents fight before. Big mistake, taking the rug that promised a happy world right out from under a child like that….
"Kusukusu, don't cry," Rima inched over to her, arms extended as she temporarily forgot about the stranger in their yard. Rima captured her in an embrace and she shied away from her touch. Kusukusu's shoulders shook and her slow and raspy sobs were muffled against Rima's shirt.
"….you lied…." She said into Rima.
"What?" she looked down at her confused and hurt. She would never lie to Kusukusu, not directly at least, and never on purpose.
"YOU LIED!" she screamed as she wrenched herself out of Rima's arms and tore across the garden, into the forests.
"Kusukusu!" She yelled after her, running to catch up. At the wall separating the two territories, a hand clasped hers and stopped her mid step.
"Rima, wait," Kairi said, perfectly calm.
"Don't touch me!" she ripped her arm away and chased after Kusukusu with tears gathering in her eyes. She ran deep into the trees and had lost the sound of Kusukusu's sobs somewhere in the howling wind, but she ran on anyways.
"Kusukusu!" she called into the night air, her warm breath appearing in puffs in front of her to show her just how the temperature dropped in the night.
Rima slowed to a walk, searching between the large roots of the trees for her sister. It had to have been twenty minutes until she found a piece of bright orange cloth, covered in dirt. It was stuck in a low branch of the smallest tree there.
"Kusukusu?" Rima leaned over the root to find a large hole in the ground, with a small shoe that she'd recognize as her sisters anywhere. Had she fallen in?
She made her way around and looked down the endless hole. Crouching down so her knees and palms pressed hard into the rough ground.
"She's safe, you know. Right now she's probably met with Nagihiko, we must go now, you're making me very late, you know," Kairi told her in a matter of fact voice and pushed his glasses up his nose.
"What do you mean? What are you saying, that she's really somewhere down there with your freak friends?" Rima shouted, rising to her feet and swinging her arms wildly for effect.
"I don't care who you really are, but you have to get her back! Please!"
"I cannot…" he started and Rima froze. "But you can."
Before she could question him, he muttered a quick "excuse me," and pushed her back towards the gaping hole in the tree.
Gasping and choking on her own saliva, her hair flying in front of her face, she reached out for a hand she never found. Squeezing her eyes shut, it was twenty feet down before she realized that she was stillfalling, and opened her eyes.
What she saw boggled her mind, and she wondered if Kusukusu had had a similar reaction, if that Kairi person was telling the truth. All around her were large and unbelievable random objects, seemingly suspended in air.
An old wooden rocking chair, a piano with moving keys that cried out of tune, a Victorian styled bed, and stuffed kangaroo all floated around her as they fell.
After what seemed like an eternity of falling and expecting the worst, Rima was surprised to find that she did not pick up speed, and nearing a narrowed opening with old mattresses with broken springs, she hoped they would break her fall.
But as she got closer, she could feel the tug of gravity pulling her in, and she slipped through, bouncing on the ratty mattresses as she did.
She looked down and saw a brilliant light at the end of the tunnel, she hoped that it wasn't the "white light" that everyone told her took people away when they were old.
She dropped down and landed in the softest grass she'd ever felt, and the sun beat down on her back, amplifies by the dark color of her tattered dress.
How was she in this position, after falling so far?
"Hello, you must be Alice, you look so much like him," someone said from behind her, and she lifted her head off the ground just enough to watch the bulky boots walk over, crushing the beautiful grass beneath them. It almost made her sad.
He crouched down low and held his pale hand out to her. She recognized the slender fingers from her dream and shot straight up, then falling backward from the dizziness her brash movement had caused.
Lucky for Rima, the man had reflexes like lightning and just as she neared the floor, he caught her wrist and pulled her back up.
"I'm Nagihiko, it's a pleasure to meet you, I will be your guide" he said bowing low without ever letting go of her hand, his long purple tainted hair covering his face.
With no time to ponder the formality of this stranger or who this "he" that she looks so much like is, she quickly jumps into a full scale interrogation.
"Have you seen a girl about this tall," she put her free hand just a few centimeters above her hip "with an orange clown costume? She has long blond hair and…." As Rima continued the boy just chuckled and rose.
His hair parted to reveal the familiar face and she stopped breathing for a moment.
"Like I said, I will be your guide, so please don't worry, your sister should be fine."
"Should be!" Rima shouted before processing what he had just said.
"But wait, how do you know she's my sister? I didn't mention that," she turned her nose skeptically
'Great, another mind reading psycho path, just when I had gotten rid of the last one. What was his name? Kairi…pyon?'
Speak of the devil, because at exactly that moment, a white coat clad rabbit hopped over raucously, feverously glancing at his watch. His glasses were balanced oddly at his stubby rabbit nose but his posture gave away the fact that he was human.
"Oh dear, Nagihiko-san, we must hurry, we cannot afford to upset the queen again, and Alice knows you've done enough of that…." He went on, and when he looked up at Rima he blushed beneath his fur and excused himself, returning from behind the thick tree as the green haired boy she recognized as
"Kairi-pyon, have you seen Kusukusu?" Rima asked in a rush, no longer concerned with what this place was, that would have to wait until she found her sister.
"Oh, dear, she wasn't here when you arrived?" he asked, "Oh dear, indeed…." He said again and began pacing and mumbling to himself.
Nagihiko snorted and flicked his long hair out of his face.
"Rima Chan, I'm sure she's fine, Amu Chan wouldn't hurt her if she's been captured. She may not look it, but she has a kind heart. And the only way she could be hurt is if he got her, and I don't think the queen would let him so much as look at one of her prisoners."
Prisoner?
"Prisoner?" she asked dubious.
"Yes, but as I said, she's not in any danger what so ever, we can go and clear things up with Amu Chan after tea. Do you take milk or sugar?" he was so calm and confident, Rima almost didn't notice his hands shaking as he poured her tea from a floating tray.
"Neither, I don't drink tea. And I really don't think we have time for your afternoon tea seeing as my little sister is MIA {missing in action}."
"Don't be ridiculous, if there's one thing my master has taught me, it's that there is always time for tea," he said, shooing away the tray with his hand.
He held out the deinty tea cup for her to take but her arms remained at her sides.
"I told you I don't drink tea," Rima said petulantly.
"Nonsense," he told her with a smile and put it in her hands, as she looked down into the cup with disgust, she was surprised to find not tea, but hot chocolate.
"Alice was the same way you know, Hatter told me so."
"Hatter?" her head snapped up at the name.
"Yes," he said, finishing his tea then drinking hers as well and vanishing them into thin air. "We should probably start heading towards the castle if we want to find your sister by tomorrow.'
"Is it really that long of a journey?"
Yes, evidently it was. Longer in fact.
Rima was beginning to accept that this place was just a dream, and she wasn't fazed when a large insect that breathed fire flew by her face.
Nagihiko waved it away, "pesky things."
With all of the strange things in this world, couldn't they make something to get them there faster?
Rima's legs wobbled and she stumbled over herself.
They were walking along a cobble stone path, her, Kairi, and him.
She refused to say, even think his name.
"Should I carry the wittle baby Rima Chama?" he answered sarcastically and laughed at his own joke. But instead of walking on ahead, he actually bent down in front of her.
"Get on," he said. It wasn't a question.
"No," Rima crossed her arms and stubbornly walked ahead. She could see Kairi shake his head and a moment later she was draped across his strong arms.
She blushed, but had no energy to protest any further than a quick "I hate you…."
"Love you too, RiRi tan," he smirked at her blush.
"Are we almost there?" Rima was tired, and her position in Nagihiko's arms was making her muscles stiff, though he didn't seem to notice her weight and walked casually.
"Uhuh," he said without blinking.
"Really?"
"Nope," he laughed.
Rima sighed.
Nagihiko looked down at her sympathetically. "Don't worry so much." He said comforting, then added as an afterthought "you'll go bald."
"I will not!" Rima looked up at him shocked, leaping out of his arms and flicking his nose, having to stand on the very tips of her toes to reach him.
"I just need to get Kusukusu and then…." Rima thought. What then? She'd never really had friends, and she was enjoying her time with Kairi and Nagihiko. Not that she'd ever tell him that.
"you don't need to think about it just yet, even after we get there, it might take a while to get her back, and then you can't leave until you meet Hatter- sama," Nagihiko matched her pace with long strides.
"And why not?" Rima demanded, resisting the urge to stamp her foot. She never did like being told what she could and couldn't do.
"Because I said so, now hurry it up prawn."
It wouldn't be long until they reached the red queen's palace, and even if Rima desperately needed to hold her sister again, she didn't want to think about going back to the house.
The memory of the bloody handprint sent chills down her spine.
"Kairi slowed until they walked next to each other and asked her without turning his head in a low tone "Rima san, are you quite alright?"
"No, but its fine. I'll get over it." She answered in a similar fashion. Kairi had been blissfully quiet throughout the walk, and only opened his mouth when there was something to be said, none of that meaningless chatter. For this she was grateful. But there was something about him that made her feel awkward.
"Kairi-pyon, you don't have to keep up with this formal "san" thing. Even with purple freak," she giggled at her new name for him, "how long have you known him anyway?"
"About seven years…."
"You're kidding…. And you STILL address him so properly?" Rima spoke just loud enough that it reached Nagihiko's ears.
"What are you two gossiping about now?" he rolled his eyes.
This was going to be a LONG trip.
She smiled.