CHAPTER II.
LACK OF INSIGHT.
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Alice walked along a dirt path. It was in solitude, and its only companions were the trees whose arms waved with the wind. The young woman took the opportunity to think not only about her situation, but also her options, and solutions to this problem she found herself in.
Alice sighed.
It seemed as though she was easily finding herself in undesirable situations more often. Not only were they bothersome, but some events were enough to end her life if she so as much made the wrong move.
Alice felt a wave of guilt pass her. She'd be lying if she said that she hated everything that has happened to her ever since she's come to Wonderland. She harbored no strong feelings of resentment against her situations, but she did feel lost most of the time. When it came to defending herself and fighting against others, she easily found herself to be the hapless type of woman, and that was what she hated. She might as well be a doll, sitting pretty on the top of a shelf for display.
No, she liked Wonderland. She enjoys the company of the residents in the odd world, and she finds most of her activities in it to be quite fun, actually.
If only there were less fighting. Games of war and territory only bring out the selfishness and greediness of human beings, and in the end, even if there is a winner, the rewards are usually not worth the time and money they have to spend in order to keep their newfound land plentiful and nourished. It's quite a distasteful choice of a game.
Alice was far lost in her thoughts that she failed to notice that the path had taken her onto a large clearing where a small gathering has occurred. Being brought out of her rambling over war through the noise the faceless were making around her, Alice looked up in surprise to see a young man on a white stretcher holding out his arm and talking in an overly dramatic voice about the monster that destroyed the house.
Turning her head to the direction of where the young man's finger pointed, Alice saw the ruins of a cottage. The phrase burnt to the ground would have been an accurate way to describe the house as its walls, roof, and the flooring of what must have been a second floor were all collapsed onto the dirt ground. The wooden building materials were charred and wet with water that must have been thrown on it in order to stop the fire, which Alice guessed must have been the source of destruction.
Feeling obligated to apologize to the slightly hysterical man, Alice maneuvered her way towards the stretcher and shyly walked up the man, who let out a big sigh, and even though he was already lying down on the stretcher, made a movement that let the surrounding people know that his body had collapsed.
"Excuse me, good sir," Alice piped up, "would you kindly tell me as to what is going on here?"
Alice's words seemed to have started the man's energy once again, because he straightened up his body, and sat up from the stretcher. Looking at Alice with wide eyes, he said in a disbelieved voice, "You don't know what's going on?"
Alice slightly shrunk as she bit her lip and looked down. "I only arrived a few moments ago," she said in a small voice.
"That's still enough time to understand what has happened." Stated the man.
Feelings her cheeks flush hot pink, Alice stared hard at the ground. Perhaps I shouldn't have feigned ignorance and just tell him how sorry I am right from the beginning.
"Fine, I'll tell you, since you've clearly haven't learned that seeing is knowing. The White Rabbit's house was destroyed by the monster that had snuck inside it. I tried to go in through the chimney, but it had beaten me out of there."
"It must have been one of those fire wielding creatures," a man nearby suggested.
The man sitting on the stretcher simply lifted a shoulder. "Haven't a clue what it is exactly. But it was big, its eyes were as big as the windows, it was watching me when I climbed up my ladder to the roof!"
The man's companion, a woman with animal features, gasped. "Do you think it's that horrid creature?"
"No, no," the man shook his head, "those monsters only live in the island, remember? And as far as we know, they don't play with fire."
As the three people continued to discuss what type of monster had destroyed the cottage, Alice began to realize the difference between the man on the stretcher and the duo conversing with him.
Waiting for an opportunity to insert herself in their conversation, Alice asked the man if he was a role holder.
The man, with his head crooked to the head and looking slightly taken aback, said, "You really haven't learned anything useful, have you?"
Stumbling upon her words to convey what she meant, the man interrupted Alice said nodded his head in confirmation. "Bill, the Lizard. Now, if you want me to go on my ladder and climb into your chimney for you – no way! I'm done frying myself for other people's home."
Alice darted her eyes to side and laughed awkwardly. How else was she to respond to such an eccentric answer? "Don't worry, I won't." Pausing to let the information settle in her head, Alice's eyes drew close together.
How strange. I assumed the role of the Lizard was already occupied by Gray.
Mulling over Bill's former words, Alice realized that something was off with his explanation. Alice opened her mouth to question the Lizard, only to discover that he had begun talking to another young man about what sounded to be politics. Once again finding herself to patiently wait for an opportunity to talk to Bill without rudely interrupting his conversation, Alice listened to what they were discussing about.
When they had finally taken the time to stop talking and seemed to be immersed in what each other had to say, Alice quickly snatched the chance to ask the Lizard her question, albeit feeling a bit guilty for not allowing him to ponder on what the other man had just told him.
"Doesn't the White Rabbit live in the castle with the Queen?" asked Alice.
Although the question was directed to the Lizard, both men turned to face Alice, and it was the other man that had taken the liberty into answering her question. "He is a servant to the Queen, yes, but that does not mean that he is any way obligated to staying in the same household as her. We all have the right to choose our home, even if it may lack extravagance or the lavish lifestyle one can find in the home of royalty."
"I suppose you're right," admitted Alice.
"Perhaps the young lady finds it difficult to picture the Prime Minister not being at the Queen's beck and call for every second of the time?" suggested the young man, looking at Alice with eyes that suggested he had some insight into the workings of her mind.
"Why, yes, that's precisely it," said Alice, perplexed at the man's words.
"You seem surprised," Bill piped up, "it's all in your intuition." Turning to the man, Bill began to explain about Alice's earlier words in curiousness as to what was occurring around her.
"Did she not learn about the lesson that seeing is knowing?" asked the man.
Bill shook his head in what seemed to be disappointment. "Afraid not, I had asked her the same question earlier, but she looked at me with the eyes of a person that lacks knowledge."
Pressing her lips, Alice felt her eyes narrowing at the two men. "I didn't come here to be insulted, you know."
The two men turned their head to face Alice.
"No, I did not know," said Bill, the same time the other man asked in genuine curiousness, "Then where do you usually go?"
Feeling a slight twitch of irritation, Alice felt heat rise from her neck to her cheeks. A slight growl made its way to Alice's throat, threatening to escape, but before Alice could snap at the two men, a soft voice interrupted them. "My, has the Rabbit's house been destroyed?"
Pivoting to the direction of the voice, Alice found herself staring at a pair of prominent blue eyes. It was a young woman who looked to be around Alice's age.
The man once again took the liberty of answering a question that may not have been clearly directed to anyone in particular. "That is right, Mary Ann, your master's house has been destroyed by a frightful beast. I advise you to stay away from chimneys and roof tops."
Mary Ann nodded her head in determination, taking heed of the man's words. "No need to worry about my well being, Dodo, I understand the dangers presented here."
As Alice watched the duo's exchange with slight interest, the Lizard leaned towards Alice and said in a low, almost mocking voice, "Despite her lack of lessons, Mary Ann can slightly grasp the fundamentals of the logic you failed to display."
Another twinge of irritation passed through Alice, but she decided against acting on her impulses – after all, acting on impulse is a rather un-lady like thing to do – and instead entertained the role holder. "You mean the logic that seeing is knowing?" Alice felt the need to defend her intelligence, and tell the man that she did, in fact, figure out what had happened, but Alice had an inkling feeling that she knew how he was going to respond.
"If you knew, then why didn't you act upon it?" He'll probably tell me that I'm acting irrational, too. The logic in this world can be too much to handle, sometimes.
"Alice?" a familiar voice called out.
Alice blinked; bringing herself out of her reverie as she quickly recognized the voice. Feeling her eyes dart to the source, Alice straightened her posture as her eyes met a pair familiar ones.
"Gray," Alice breathed, feeling a sense of relief rush through her. Her eyes glossed over with daze, Alice silently reprimanded herself for almost forgetting about her goal to make contact with the role holders she knew. However, seeing Gray standing before her, Alice felt as though her worries were unfounded.
This is Wonderland, after all. Many strange occurrences happens here, I shouldn't be too surprised to find myself in another place. As if further prove her point, Alice began to think of the changing between the Circus and the Prison whenever she visits Joker.
Hearing the shuffling of feet, Alice saw Gray walking towards her. Feeling her lips tug into a smile and, once again, her cheeks warming out of embarrassment for being lost in her thoughts, Alice continued to silently chastise herself for spacing out so much without being aware of her surroundings.
"Ah, Gray, what are you doing here?" asked Alice once the man was close enough for her to speak without having to raise her voice so he can hear her. "I thought you were taking Nightmare to the hospital."
"I did, and he should be resting there for the time being. I came out to town to buy some ingredients for a dish I'm going to make when he returns home," explained Gray.
Seeing paper bags filled with what seemed to be herbs and other vegetation being carried in the man's arms, Alice smiled tightly towards him, feeling a bit sorry for the sickly incubus for whatever meal Gray plans to cook up for him.
"If it's a dish to make a beloved superior to feel better, I know one that works fairly well," said Mary Ann.
Alice turned to face the woman. She had been off in her own world, and the trio that kept her company seemed a bit distant to her with their talks of danger and logic that Alice didn't bother to try and comprehend with the little information they gave out, that Alice felt a bit distant from them, and as a result, she had nearly forgotten that they were there.
Looking at Bill, Alice remembered the information she had gotten from him. He was a role holder, no less the Lizard, but that was Gray's role too. Feeling a bit confused, Alice asked Bill if it was possible for two people to have the same role, which he looked thoughtful about.
Gray seemingly hadn't heard Alice's interesting question as he was talking to Mary Ann and the Dodo about the food for the sickly.
Noticing the stark change of daylight to twilight in a matter of seconds, Gray announced that he was going to return to the Tower to drop off the bags of food for Nightmare, and Alice decided to tag along with him. She was supposed to go to the Castle and visit Vivaldi like she promised a few time turns ago, but she hadn't a clue as to where she was and what direction the Castle was at.
As Alice walked along side Gray, who talked about the ideas he got from Mary Ann and the Dodo for new dishes, Alice silently hoped that he wouldn't give any to her. Once again, being immersed in her thoughts, this time of Gray's cooking; Alice was brought out when Gray suddenly stated that the people they were conversing with were not normal.
"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Alice, looking up at the man.
"They're role holders," Gray said, "but I don't think I've ever seen them before."
Alice knew that the man on the stretcher was a role holder, but she hadn't noticed that the other were also important figures. Looking back to see the distant figures of the small crowd and the burnt cottage, Alice became aware of how much they stood out against the other Wonderland resident surrounding them.
Despite being a good distance away from them, Alice recognized the strong, perhaps superior aura of a role holder being emitted through the people keeping her company during the events of the day.
How peculiar. I hadn't even noticed.
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AN:
I apologize if anyone was out of character. I hope you all enjoyed reading this, despite the lack of action.
Special thank you! to Person P for being a great resource of encouragement and motivation for me.