Where am I?
She looks around, squinting in the strong light. She's in a field, one that seems to expand far past her vision and continue endlessly into the distance.
Everything is exactly the same no matter where she looks. Endless field as far as the eye can see. Strangely vibrant colors, overly bright, as though everything is fake, or perhaps from a cartoon.
It's boring. Lip curling slightly, she flops down onto her back, choosing to stare at the sky instead.
Now, this is something she could be interested in. The clouds are almost cartoon-like, their shape far too defined to be a trick of nature. Even as she watches, the clouds drift into formation, forming words.
Welcome, Alice.
Alice? That's not her name. Obviously, the clouds are crazy. But that in its own way is interesting.
Welcome to Wonderland.
She ponders this for a while. Wonderland? Where's that? She's never heard of it before.
As though reading her thoughts, the clouds answer her questions.
This is a land made especially for you. You may go where you please, you may do what you wish.
It sounds like heaven. She has never wanted anything but freedom like this. But there has to be a catch. Somewhere, there has to be a catch.
There is no catch. If you don't like what you have done, just start over. This world will always be waiting.
Enjoy your stay in Wonderland, Alice.
And with that, the clouds dissipate into nothing.
"If I don't like what I've done… start over? Sounds like a lame video game." This is the first time she's spoken out loud in this strange place. Despite her words, she can't help but feel some excitement. She can go where she wants. She can do what she pleases. She can talk to who she wants, when she wants-
And that's when she realizes she is completely alone.
Her thoughts grind to a halt as she comes to terms with this. She has never been alone in her life. And yet, she is alone now.
Should she be scared?
She smiles slowly, confidently. No, she is not scared.
Because being alone is being free.
She sits up, stretching her limbs leisurely. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots something, which is strange, since she remembers that there was nothing there before.
Less than a meter away is a sword, gleaming in the sunlight. It's been stabbed into the ground, as though just waiting for her to take it up.
She stands, and wrenches the sword out of the ground. She inspects it closely.
Even knowing nothing about weapons, she knows this is a fine one. The metal is shiny and even, the same gleaming silver all over. The blade is double-edged, the edges curving into a pointed tip. The hilt fits her small palm perfectly, as though it was made for her. She hefts the sword, noting that it's also the perfect length for her.
She swings it experimentally. She has no idea how to use this thing. But it's fun to try. She's always wanted to be able to wield a weapon like those action heroes on TV.
To her surprise, the sword seems to have a mind of its own, and gently guides her through the movements. She blinks.
She should be startled, really. What if the sword is possessed or something? What if it will turn on her eventually?
But somehow, she's not frightened at all. At least this is something interesting, compared to the boring occurrences in her ordinary life. Besides, it's a sword! Who doesn't like swords?
Rin grins as she spins freely with the sword. She looks around again, wondering if anything else has changed. Her eyes immediately focus on a patch of forest only a few hundred meters away.
It's kind of nice that the scenery changes whenever she gets bored. A smirk growing on her face, she begins to walk towards the forest.
The darkness of the trees is a welcome change from the glaring sunlight. She sighs in relief, not realizing that the sun had been bothering her so much. Her lips twist into a grin.
It seems that she is far more suited to darkness.
Humming happily, she starts to stride through the forest, swinging her sword. The more she uses it, the more comfortable it seems to feel in her hand. She begins to have some fun, twirling and slashing like those action heroes she used to watch on TV.
There's a sick, wet thud, and she pauses, glancing at where her sword is.
A rabbit, a tiny, cute, white rabbit, at the base of a tree, is bleeding.
Not just bleeding, but… more like gushing blood. There's a huge gash across its belly. If she thinks logically about the actual girth of a rabbit, it's quite possible it's been completely bisected.
But she's not too worried about the rabbit right now. It's just a rabbit, after all.
She's far more interested in her sword.
It's branched a bit. Now, instead of the single straight blade, near the base, there's an attachment. Another, smaller blade, splitting off at an angle.
She stares at it. It reminds her of her split ends in a way. Fighting the odd urge to laugh, she continues on her way.
It's a quiet forest. There aren't any other creatures she has seen. It's an unnatural quiet, as though something- or someone- has taken every living thing away, leaving only the trees to mourn silently.
But she doesn't mind the silence. It's kind of nice. It's a welcome change to her, to one who has always been surrounded by noise. The darkness, too. She's always been in the light, but now she finds that she loves the dark.
And of course, there's the other fact that there's no people around. How had she not noticed how much she hated people before? Now that there is nobody, she feels at peace. She can go where she pleases, do what she wishes.
And for right now, she wants nothing but to wander in this sanctuary, this sanctuary from sound, light, and humanity, for a little while longer.
Unfortunately, that seems to be something this place cannot grant her.
A young woman appears before her, holding a basket full of fruits and vegetables. Her short red hair shines in a well-placed ray of sun, and she is friendly and open. She smiles and begins talking.
Noise. Human. She wants to be alone. Why isn't she alone?
Enraged, she swings the sword at the nuisance. Stupid woman. Desecrating her holy sanctuary. Even now, she is spilling red blood all over the peaceful green forest floor, red like that lovely hair she has.
See? Other humans ruin everything, even the scenery.
She leaves the body behind her, never noticing that her sword has grown another prong.
She is growing tired of seeing other things in her forest.
What happened to the lovely silence? What happened to the wonderful darkness? What happened to the peaceful loneliness?
These people took it all away from her. She scowls. She wants her sanctuary back.
Her sword has grown even more now. With six prongs, it has become even more lethal than before. But it's missing something.
Somewhere, somehow, the tip has gone missing.
She frowns. It looks incomplete now. She doesn't like it. It doesn't look right.
Even as she contemplates this, two young kids appear before her. The girl seems uneasy, hanging slightly behind her brother as he leads the way.
She doesn't think, just swings.
The girl staggers back, staring at the boy who has just fallen. She looks up, fear in her eyes, before running away.
As she withdraws her sword, she notices with satisfaction that it has its tip now. It looks right. It looks complete (1).
It looks like it's glowing.
Her eyes widen. All seven tips of the blade- the main one plus the six branches- suddenly light with a strange flame. She doesn't understand. What is this weird light?
Without warning, they flare, sending streaks of bright light across her vision. She shrieks, dropping the sword and covering her eyes.
When she opens them again, she's caged in light. The sword is a mere meter before her, stabbed into the ground as it was when she first found it. The six tips still showing are still glowing brightly, forming the bars of light surrounding her.
She screams in fury, trying to reach the sword, but the light burns her skin when she touches it. Unwilling to give up, she starts digging at the ground, only to hit a sheet of light just below the surface.
She is trapped. Trapped in light. She hates the light.
She shuts her eyes, trying to escape the light, but it doesn't work, it's too bright, the light is too much, and she hates it, she hates it, she hates it-
"Rin! Time to wake up!"
Her eyes snapped open, and she groaned at the bright light piercing her eyes. Of course. There was a crack in the blinds, and of course the sunlight was shining right on her eyes. No wonder her dream had been full of hatred for light.
She glanced at the clock. 7 AM. Time to get up and go to school. She sighed, stretching on her bed.
That was a strange dream.
Yawning, she ran a hand through her hair as she clambered out of bed, stumbling towards the bathroom. As she did so, she passed by Len, who glanced at her oddly.
"Hey, did you sleep well last night?" he asked, still scrutinizing her closely. "You look... tired."
She shrugged, not willing to share her dream with him just yet. "Really? I don't know, I slept pretty well though. I don't think I've ever slept so well actually."
Well, it was partially true. Right until the very end of her dream, at least.
Len continued to stare at her as she continued into the washroom.
She shut the door behind her, then turned to stare into the mirror.
Her eyes, a bright aqua, stared back at her, peering through a mop of disheveled blonde hair.
Even her own reflection was too bright for her.
See? Too much light. Too much noise. Too many people.
Her dream world had been so much better than this. There, everything was perfect. Or at least, she had been able to make it perfect.
Something had gone wrong though.
But the dream had said she could try again, right? And it had said that it would always be there for her.
She smiled, even as she pinned her hair back and began to prepare for her day at school.
She couldn't wait to go back to her dream world.
(1): The "complete" form of the sword is that of the Seven Branched Sword.
A/N: Yet another interpretation of Alice of Human Sacrifice. Sorry, this idea has been eating at my brain for a while now.
Sorry for the confusing use of pronouns, I wanted it to be unclear who the first Alice was (since it's supposed to be Meiko), but that means that sometimes it's hard to see who I'm referring to as "she". As for the tense switch halfway through, that was pretty much to emphasize the switch from dream world to reality.
Next chapter, as you may have surmised, will be the second Alice. What will Rin do now…?