The ant told me that the frog is bad…the frog told me that the cat is bad…the cat told me, no…the rabbit is worst of all…so I…

"…so that's roughly how life will be here for you." A tall man with black hair tied in a ponytail reaching all the way down to his lower back say to a blonde boy, smiling.

The boy remained silent as he had been through the man's talk about the rules and code of conduct.

"…if you don't understand, there is a list in your room that explains it all again…" The man said gently, the sleeves on his long black coat swinging as he brought his hands to rest on the desk the two sat in next to.

"No one will ask anything of you here. There are few things to keep to, but it should be a peaceful life here…" He said, suddenly reaching for a few books and pulling one out.

"In addition…here." He said, handing the book to the boy. "Your own personal notebook...use it however you like. For sad or happy times…just write down whatever feeling you have and give it to me, would you?"

He turned back, chuckling. "Haha, but some children like to just doodle in it…but that's fine by me, too." He glanced at the clock. "You have a little time before dinner, why don't you go and meet the other children?" He said as they both stood up.

"It may not be immediate, per se, but they're all good children. You'll get along fine…"

The boy looked up at the man. "…What do I call you?" He said quietly.

The man paused. "Ah, me? Just call me Teacher…I look forward to having you stay here, Allen…"

He pushed the boy towards the door. "When you leave this room, go straight left until you get to five rooms. That's where everyone will be."

Allen nodded, turned and opened the door, looked out and closed it behind him, trying to remember what Teacher had said.

When you leave this room, turn left and walk straight until you find five rooms…that's where everyone will be…

Allen gulped and walked forward into a big lobby. It had a lonesome looking telephone in the corner on top of a dresser. He decided not to touch it and move on.

On the far side of the lobby, there was a small corridor that led to another hallway. Allen went through it and peeked around the corner to see five doorways, all with signs on them.

Allen could read pretty well so he took a look at them. The door closest to him had a sign that said: Stella.

These must be the rooms Teacher was talking about…

He knocked and entered, seeing a girl in the middle of her room staring at Allen.

The girl had long black hair that wasn't exactly as long as Teacher's, but close, wore a hairband, and a dress with long sleeves.

He walked forward as her eyes bore into his. "Um…hello…my name is Allen…" He said quietly, hoping for an answer.

The girl remained silent until she realized that he was expecting her to speak.

"…Oh. That's…odd. Odd that you can speak anyway…probably because…you don't really…feel alive." The girl smiled slightly. "Allen, was it? I'm Stella." The girl stopped talking again and began to stare at him like she was when he first entered.

Allen backed away and out the door. He closed it and walked a few feet to the next door. The sign on this one said: Joshua.

Allen smiled, for he was relieved because he assumed this child was a boy. He then knocked and walked in to find a boy pacing around his room.

The boy had light blue hair and a brown hat that covered most of his head.

"Sup'." The boy said.

Allen smiled and told him his name.

"My name's Brown." The boy said. Then he became confused.

"Or wait…was it Marcus? Might've been Nichol…" He stopped. "Allen, huh?" He smiled and shook his hand. "Or maybe it was Helen?" He asked himself.

"Oh well. Nice to meet'cha!" He said.

Allen smiled. "I thought your name was Joshua?"

The boy's eyes lit up. "That's right! Thanks pal."

Allen walked out and closed the door, preparing himself for the next meeting.

The next door he came across had a sign that read: Chelsy.

He entered and practically tripped over some teddy bears that had been placed in front of the doorway.

He stopped himself from falling and looked around the room to see teddy bears scattered this way and that.

He spotted a girl in the midst of the stuffed animals and swam through the sea of teddies to get to her.

The girl wore a red skirt and red poncho that looked handmade, and her brown hair was cut short. She jumped when she spotted him, but remained silent.

"…my name's Allen." Allen said.

"…um…m-my name's Chelsy…" She responded.

Allen was quite surprised to find that her voice was quieter than his own.

"N-nice to meet you…"

He bowed and swam back through the bears, going out the door and to the next one smoothly.

The sign on this door said: Letty & Rick.

Two children share a room? Strange.

Allen walked in to find a girl in the room.

She had long white hair and a pretty black bow tied in it. She also wore a long-sleeved dress.

Her eyes lit up when she saw Allen walk in. "Wow! I've never seen you here before!" She exclaimed. She thought for a minute before piping back up. "Oh! So you're the one Teacher mentioned! My name's Letty." She introduced herself.

She straightened up. "There's also Rick, but he's not here right now. He's a very nice boy!" She grinned wide.

"You're name's Allen right?"

Allen nodded.

"Great! I'd be really happy if we could play together sometime! Nice to know you!"

Allen smiled and exited, stopping at the last door.

The sign read: Allen.

Oh! This must be my room! He exclaimed, opening the door and seeing how much space he had to himself. He didn't know why that made him so happy, but he shrugged it off.

He closed the door back up and decided to head back to Teacher, since Teacher had warned him to never go up to the second floor only for study time when Allen was with Teacher and the other children.

Teacher saw him walk in and turned. "Have you introduced yourself, yet?"

Allen nodded.

"How did it go?"

"…it was…interesting…but I was able to talk with them and get their names…" Allen said.

Teacher closed his eyes and opened them again. "I see. I'm glad you were able to carry a conversation with them. You're just in time for dinner, so let's round up the children and head to the dining room."

LATER:
Teacher gathered up the last plate and said, "Now what do you say?"

"Thanks for the meal Teacher!" The children said, cheerfully.

"All right, return to your rooms and get ready for bed!" Teacher said. "You can go to each other's rooms to talk until bedtime." He smiled. "Dismissed!"

Everyone stood up and began to clear out of the big dining room hall.

"Uh, Allen? Will you stay here for a few extra minutes?"

Allen turned his head and nodded, sitting back down at the table and Teacher sitting from the place across from him.

"You haven't been here long…but you sure seem to have gotten used to everything already."

Allen smiled and nodded.

Teacher did as well. "…how are your memories doing, by the way?"

Allen stopped smiling and shook his head.

Teacher faltered and little but he remained smiling. "I see…Well, don't push yourself to remember. Just take it nice and slow, alright? I'm sure you'll remember everything in good time…"

Allen remained silent, but nodded.

"Say, do you want anything. I can buy you whatever I can afford

Allen looked up and said, "What about XXXX?" (Sorry about this. We never really know what he says, so I'm just guessing here. And the XXXX is a "Censor" in a way.)

Teacher closed his eyes. "That's not something you can buy. Sorry…but I'll keep that in mind." Teacher rested his head on his hand. "What about some new books? You like to read don't you, Allen?"

Allen brightened up again.

"I'm really impressed about how many words you can understand already! Teacher's…not so smart. I don't' really get difficult things."

Allen cocked his head to the side.

Teacher smiled. "Oh, it's nothing…" He paused for a moment before speaking up again.

"Allen? If I told you there was another World unlike our own…would you believe me?"

Allen sat forward in his seat. "Is that for real?" He asked, intrigued.

"No, it's just a fairytale..." Teacher said.

Allen looked down and sat up straight again.

"But…should you be invited to such a World, I'd advise against opening that door…"

Before Allen could say anything, Teacher stood up. "All right, Allen. You can head to your room now…I need to lock up anyway. Get to bed quickly!" He said, pushing Allen out of the dining room door.

Allen looked at him over his shoulder before heading back to the rooms. He opened the door to his room before closing it again without going inside and decided to pay a visit to Joshua.

He opened the door and saw Joshua sitting down at his desk.

Joshua heard the door open and looked behind to see Allen.

Joshua smiled and began a conversation almost immediately. "Hey, have you talked to Rick, yet? He's around right now."

Allen shook his head. "There's Letty…then there's this other guy. He's sort of just there all of a sudden. Sorta freaks you out. Pisses me off to no end, honestly." Joshua said, turning back around to his desk.

Allen walked back out and headed towards Rick and Letty's room.

He opened the door and saw someone standing in the middle of the room, looking around like it was alerted.

Allen shrugged and was about to walk out the door when a hand was laid on Allen's shoulder.

Allen turned his head and saw the person who was standing in the middle of the room.

"Hello there." They said, holding out their other hand to shake.

Allen raised an eyebrow and looked up and down at the person.

"…aren't you Letty?" Allen asked.

They shook their head and chuckled. "Oh no. I'm Rick. This is the first time we've meet so I wanted to properly greet you."

Allen turned and shook his hand.

"I do know that Letty and I look alike, but we're very different. You're Allen, right?"

Allen nodded.

"Letty told me about you. When she goes to bed, I watch the room for her….well, maybe it's not quite that…oh well. It was nice to meet you.

Allen nodded and walked back out the door and back to Joshua's room.

Joshua was up and pacing again.

When Allen entered, he struck up a conversation.

"Hey, you know, at night, there are these voices that drift down from the second floor. They're all like 'help'."

Allen widened his eyes. "Why don't you go check them out?"

Joshua backed away. "No way! If you're so curious, why don't you go yourself?" He said. "Oh! But don't tell Teacher! He'd get mad at me…"

Suddenly the overhead light went out and the only light in the room was Joshua's lamp on his desk.

"Well, that's the signal for lights out! Goodnight, Allen." Joshua said, escorting him out of his bedroom door and closing it.

Allen stood outside the door and heard the door become locked, along with the rest of the doors except his own.

He sighed and opened the door to his room.

It was pitch black.

Allen puffed out his chest and closed the door. He turned and headed for the lobby.

When he arrived there, the only light was the dim light of the moon shining through the windows.

Allen turned and took the first step up the stairs and then the rest of them until he reached the top in a hurry, like something was going to get him.

He heard someone speaking, but couldn't make out what they were saying yet.

He walked into the room next to a double-door room and could finally understand what was being spoken.

"Help me…."

Allen's hair stood on end and he turned to leave and just forget about what he had heard, but he was too curious about the voice and he turned back around and walked forward.

He continued until he reached the back of the room, where there was a picture frame with butterfly specimens in.

One of the butterflies was opening and closing his wings.

"Help me…" It said.

Allen furrowed his brow and decided to help the poor butterfly.

He put his hand on one of the corners of the picture frame they were encased in and pulled. But the frame must've been bolted to the wall because his struggle was in vain.

Allen let go of the frame only for it to come crashing down by his feet.

Teacher flung himself through the door and shouted, "Who's there?!" When he spotted Allen, he let his tension melt as he went over to examine what happened.

"Allen? What in Heaven's name are you doing on the second floor after lights out?" Teacher began to scold.

Tears welled in Allen's eyes. "B-but the butterfly told me to help it so I tried. But then the picture frame suddenly came off and crashed down. I'm so sorry!"

Teacher's eyes filled with wonder. "The butterfly asked for your help?...I see…" He said, forgetting all about his scolding.

"Well…while the butterfly may look alive, it has long since passed away…something without a soul cannot speak, correct?" Teacher asked, bending down to examine the fractured glass from the frame.

"What a mess. Are you hurt at all?" Teacher asked Allen. When Allen shook his head, Teacher sighed.

"That's good. These glass shards are dangerous, so I'll clean them up. Now please, head to your room and go to sleep."

Suddenly, Teacher held his head and he groaned for a second.

Allen dropped down next to him. "Are you alright, Teacher?"

"I-I'm fine…just a little headache."

Allen hung his head. "I'm sorry…"

Teacher looked over and pat Allen's back. "No need to apologize, really. Just, please don't do it again. There there…it's alright…"

Teacher stood up and pushed Allen towards the door. "Goodnight, Allen…"

Allen nodded and headed back to his room. When he opened the door, he paused in the door way.

Suddenly, Allen heard the loud meow of a cat. His eyes traveled around his room before finally setting on a black cat staring at him from in front of his closet, which was open.

When Allen's eyes met the cat's, the cat jumped into his closet and disappeared inside, the doors to Allen's closet closing behind it.

Allen stood, wide eyed and terrified in the doorway before mustering up enough courage to walk to his closet.

He opened it and stepped inside.

Allen's head began to throb as a loud noise boomed through his brain.

He closed his eyes and prayed for the pain to stop. He suddenly felt better and Allen felt a cold, hard ground underneath his shoulder.

Allen opened his eyes and found himself lying on the same type of hardwood floor like at the place he began to live at with Teacher and the rest of the children.

He stood up cautiously and looked around.

The walls were pitch black and almost seemed like they weren't there. The hardwood floor seemed to glow, even though the ceiling was also pitch black without lights.

The hallway almost seemed like it was floating out in the middle of space.

Allen walked a couple of steps forward.

Nothing happened, so he continued down the long hallway until he spotted a closet that looked like his own.

As he got closer, a figure appeared beside it suddenly.

"Yipe!" The figure said as it turned around to see Allen, the cat ears on his head perking up in surprise.

Allen fell backwards from the surprise and stared at the figure.

The figure was a person with a cloak draped over his head and shoulders. Cat ears on his hood moved like real ones, the hood they perched upon shielding his face from the light so all you could see was one cat-like eye and a mouth with sharp teeth.

The cat-person frowned. "Jesus! What the hey?!" He shouted at Allen before his eye widened and he smiled mischievously. "Now, if it isn't a strange little human I've never seen before!" He smiled wider.

Allen frowned and stood up quickly, "Is this a dream?!" He asked.

The cat person leaned forward. "What was that?" He asked. The cat stood back up straight without giving Allen a chance to repeat what he had said.

"Why, yes! If you say you're dreaming, Alice, then sure, this is a dream!" He smiled. "Because here; what Alice says and does is everything!"

"My name's not Alice!" Allen shouted at the cat, becoming very frightened.

The cat took no notice. "That's not your name? Oh, no no, Alice is Alice! And that's because I said so!" He said.

Allen frowned. "But that contradicts to what you said before!"

The cat paused. "Is that so? Maybe you're onto something, kid. This place is chock full of wierdos , so I'm just one of them!" He said laughing loudly.

Allen covered his ears. "Please make this dream stop!" He screamed.

The cat's ears flicked. "Oh, don't say that! You don't stop in the middle of a good meal do ya? Well, it's the same with dreams! You gotta savor the taste!"

The cat's ears perked back up. "Opps! Well, I'm busier than I look. Alright, I'll smell ya!" He said as he suddenly disappeared.

Allen stood back up and cautiously walked forward, afraid that the cat might appear to scare him again.

When he didn't, Allen went over and pulled at the handles to the closet. It wouldn't open, so he moved on and saw another door behind the closet; which was open.

He stepped through and had to walk over a bridge to get to the other side. The bridge looked rickety, but it held Allen's weight as he walked across.

When he reached the other side, he came face-to-face with another boy.

He had black hair that reached a little past his shoulders and white rabbit ears, one looked as if it had been torn or bitten in half.

The boy sighed before noticing Allen. "Oh? Another visitor? That makes six." He said, holding out his hand to Allen.

Suddenly, the rabbit-boy became confused by his own words. "Hm?...that doesn't seem to add up…"

"Oh never mind…good evening, Alice, and welcome." He greeted as they shook hands. "I'm the White Rabbit, the guide of the Worlds. It's a pretty big place, so call me if you need anything!" He smiled.

His smiled fell a little as he continued. "Unfortunately…I cannot move from the spot I am standing in. It's a pain, it really is…not to mention the pressing matter of the keys to the World doors going missing…"

He looked down. "Four of the five are simply gone. But, I think I can hazard a guess as to who took them…and as I previously stated, I cannot move an inch…"

He looked up sharply at Allen. "So, Alice…I'd like to ask for your help in finding the World Keys...how does that sound?"

Allen stared at the White Rabbit and thought. Hmm…well, this is just a dream…and I've nothing better to do…maybe this'll be my chance to explore everything, too

Just as Allen finished his thought, he nodded and the White Rabbit bowed to him. "You have my thanks, then…luckily, I already have one of the World keys on hand, so you can already go in. Knowing who we're dealing with, I'm sure he's scattered them all across the Worlds…once you find one, bring it to me, please. And don't be shy about asking any other questions you may have."

Allen smiled.

"But, only once will you get an answer…I do not care to repeat myself again and again."

Well, geez…this guy sure is a pain… Allen thought.

The White Rabbit frowned. "That was 'this guy is a pain' look wasn't it?"

Allen looked at him, surprised.

"Oh well, I hope to have your assistance." He bowed again before Allen walked away.

Allen walked towards a door that was stationed a little ways behind The White Rabbit and opened it, seeing nothing but darkness ahead.

He turned his head back to the White Rabbit, a worried frown upon Allen's face. When the Rabbit didn't look at him again, Allen gulped and headed into the black abyss, the door closing all on it's own.

Allen reached out slowly, hoping to feel something like a wall, but didn't feel anything. Allen gulped again and walked forward a few steps.

Suddenly, light flooded the room he had entered and the Cat stood at the end of yet another bridge Allen was standing upon.

Allen gasped, but before he could speak or do anything, the Cat spoke.

"Yo!" He said cheerfully. "You doin' well for yourself? I'm feelin' fiiiiiine." He sang.

Allen stepped forward with one foot. "Are you the one did this?...The one who took the World Keys?" Allen challenged.

The Cat smiled. "Keys? Not me, no sir. That's the truth and nothin' but!"

Allen frowned, taking it hard to believe him.

"…SURE, I did steal 'em. But that's only 'cause somebody else asked me to!" He shrugged.

"Who asked you to?!" Allen practically screamed.

"Can't tell you, nope. I may be a liar, but I won't lie to you friend." The Cat said. "And there isn't any other way to unlock 'em doors, either." He smiled, sticking out his tongue in a playful fashion. "Hmm…maybe if you told me your mom's maiden name, or the name of your pet….opps! Don't remember, do you?" He laughed.

Allen stared at him as he went on.

"'Sides, I'm just a guide. All I give are hints." The Cat stopped laughing and suddenly appeared by Allen's side. "Hint: It's a trial! One World's Key leads to the next, one by one." He whispered in his ear. He appeared where he had been standing before.

Allen frowned at the cat. "You're such a pain." He muttered loud enough for the Cat's ears to swivel in his direction.

The Cat laughed when he heard this. "I'm no more a pain than that guy!"

"Allen stopped frowning. "What guy?"

"The White Rabbit of course." The cat's ears and the fur on his clothes stood on end. "Just sayin' his name ruffles my fur!" He stared at Allen. "You know, he messed me up bad under this hood of mine…wanna take a look?" He asked, his head suddenly only a few inches away from Allen's face.

Allen shook his head and the Cat laughed uproariously.

"It's a tad grotesque for li'l'un like you anyway! Alright, time's up! See you later." The cat smiled as he suddenly disappeared.

Allen stared at the blood spot on the ground were the Cat had appeared and walked slowly off, still staring over his shoulder.

He walked to the nearest door to him, a door with a familiar looking sign on it.

It read: Letty & Rick.

Allen took in a sharp breath. What's that doing here?!

He stepped in and saw the familiar room of Rick and Letty: Hardwood floors, two beds. Letty stood in the middle of the room, looking around in wonder, like it was her first time in that room.

She spotted Allen and waved. "Hey! Morning, Alice!" She said gleefully. "Hey hey hey! I'm really bored right now, so let's play! Let's play! Play play play!" She sang out.

Allen leaned back, surprised by her sudden enthusiasm, but nodded his head in agreement anyway.

Letty laughed. "Alright! What should we do?" She looked around for something. "Oo! Wanna open the closet?"

Allen shrugged and walked over carefully to the closet doors. He opened one just a crack and peeked inside to find nothing but darkness.

Suddenly, though, that darkness sucked in the whole room, Allen and Letty included. "Whee!" Letty screamed as she was dragged in, the closet doors closing behind them.