Chapter I

On days like these.

The cinnamon scented candles completely unprotected and assured to not burn the entire castle down should anything go even mildly lined the halls, mounting every piece of furniture in uneven numbers, leaning against the walls in clusters while leaving other vulnerable areas completely bare, replacing the electric lights on the chandelier by taking over the low and the high platforms, like the guards that once did the same, like the good honest men that failed at their sworn duty so long ago.

On nights like these.

Once those candles lining those empty halls like ruby beads on a necklace gathering dust like the memorial antiques once treasured by the now deceased royal family were alight with a flame, giving off life and warmth to any of the more nostalgic and sentimental folk that chose to remain.

But not on nights like these.

Certainly not on nights like these.

On these crescent moonlight bathed hours, those remaining occupants of the royal palace soon found their surrounding memories alight with a new, haunting, far more sinister fire.

The fires of rage.

The fires of misery.

The fires of regret.

The sound of a body hitting the ground.

"You must think I'm a fool, Earl."

"I have neither patience nor time for your games, Wisely. Either he is here or he is not. Which is it?".

"So cold." The dark Meister muttered, a look of excitement passing over his yellow eyes.

"The sooner we get these games over with," I snapped, trying to reason with him once upon this ice cold night, "The sooner we can all return to better things and you can return to your puzzles."

Resting his head of white hair against the mahogany banister, the youngest member of the royal guard, the white rabbit smirked and sighed effortlessly, like he held neither worry nor care in this wretched Wonderland.

"Silly Earl. So cunning and yet so stupid." He closed his eyes like he were to fall asleep, seated comfortable on the stairway, "Didn't you ever consider that it could be both?".

I felt the rush of irritation run through me. I stomped my steal heel against the ground and a sharp echo rang through the empty castle cavities.

"Kindly explain, please." I bit back.

It was then that Wisely's third eye snapped open to glare.

A single bloodshot eye, a bit larger than normal placed just a bit above his eyes, in the center of his forehead. Hardly a human appendage, hardly healthy in any way, but it was not a thing that could fall prey to infection and it was certainly not used for seeing.

Rather, Wisely used it too see what was inside. For telepathy, visions of a future, and reading a man's greatest desire.

A hideous thing, grotesque and sickly, oozing pus and bleeding other disgusting liquids I couldn't even identify in every moment of the day.

It made a sense why Wisely had become such a satirical and sadistic character in this game. If I was cursed to live with such an ugly thing maring my face, I would also find Myer hating everything.

Nonetheless, I envied his abilities.

"Why," the boy choked out in a back in the throat maniacal tone, so inhuman, so unlike him, "I'm talking about the nature of the drift, of course."

His eye squinted in that crescent moon sort of way, like he was smiling without using his mouth.

"What else….?!" The deep voice chuckled, tone riddled with insanity and malicious intent as it rolled up and up and into Wisely's skull, "What else could I possibly be talking about…..?!?"

A cold chill ran down my spine but I assumed it was just a draft of sorts.

Suddenly, the lids closed, Wisely's true eyes snapped open and smacked himself in the forehead so hard even I cringed, like he were trying to force it closed.

The pain soon hit him.

"Oow…." He moaned as he lurched forward, cradling his aching for head in both hands even though the both of us knew he was not injured by such a thing.

"Again," I complained, throwing my head back and running a halls over my scalp and through my hair, "Explain."

"Its the nature of the star….!" He cried, "His being now has a photonic nature…. We both feel it…. Ow….!"

That's when it hit me just as hard as how Wisely hit himself not a moment before.

The eye said he was here but not. Present, but not.

It suddenly made sense. Wisely was right. I had felt it. It was a drop in temperature, a tingling the air, like the very earth itself were speaking to me, warning me of the terrible, the dreadful, the awful things to come that only the Earl could enjoy watching unfold.

I knew why it unfolded this way. A new Jabberwock had been born in a new body.

More specifically, the Jabberwock had been born again inside my brother.

Mana was now the vessel for Wonderland's power source.

The transformation had been completed now Mana was an apparition.

That could only mean one thing.

I could not see, feel, or hear Mana but he was here, lost alone, afraid, and completely unsure of what to do.

The only thing that was left now was for me to call to him.

He knew me, he'd come if I called.

All I had to do was say the right words.

"...M-Mana!!" I screamed out, my own confusion echoing back into my face, like the very castle were laughing at me.

"Please don't yell!" Wisely cried out miserably like a dying email, "You're giving me a headache….!!!"

"Mana!!" I ignored him and screamed all the louder, searching around for any sign that the apparition heard my call, "I know higher here!!! Follow my voice!!!".

"Uuugh….. I feel a migraine coming on….!!"

That's when I knew I should throw away my pride even for a second.

"Its me, Mana!" I cringed at my own words, "It's me, Nea!!!".

I stopped, talking in a deep breath to call for him all the more.

But then, slowly but surely, a new sound filled my ears

Slowly but surely, I heard the familiar sound of a harp.

Joy filled me in that moment.

I found him.

Immediately, my feet took off from underneath me in a frantic sprint and I found myself running as fast as I could in the direction of the sweet almost honey like sound, into the shallow and shadowy caverns of the empty castle.

"Wait!" I heard Wisely shout after me, "Where the hell are you going?!!"

Again, I ignored him and did my very best to block him out as his booming voice collided with the quiet almost inaudible musician I chased after.

I shouted again, hardly able to hear myself over the sound of my own feet hitting the marble floors but I made no attempt to be quiet.

"Mana! Can you hear me?!!"

It never was.

I was deep in the parts of the castle that hadn't been lit in months. Rats and cobwebs infested the once glorious halls like a mold, like a fungus. It was quite unpleasant to look at.

My eyesight was higher than that of an average human so I could see truly the damage abandonment had done to the place.

For a moment, as my pace slowed, my chest heaving with heavy breath, I became concerned when the music began to grow fainter and fainter like the dying of a heartbeat.

I spun around quickly, searching frantically for a sign, anything.

For a moment, all went quiet and all I could hear was my heart own ragged breathe and blood pumping in my ears.

There was silence, but then I caught sight of something.

My eyes caught the faintest fragments of a ray of light emerging from just around the corner.

That wasn't right.

I slowed down. Tiptoeing in the direction of a light so familiar, so warm.

I put my back up against the corner and took a deep breath, preparing myself for what might might happen for I could see easily that Mana was just around that corner, but something else was there.

I steeled myself and peeked my head from around the cvorner.

That's when I saw it.

That's when I saw her.

I called her a she, addressed such a great being as a honourable star as a woman, because she had the appearance of a beautiful woman, possessing qualities like none I had ever seen before.

Her hair was golden, crisp and yet silky. I might have been curious enough to enquire as what kind of soaps and oils she used to make her hair this way if every strand of the golden locks cascading in rivers down her slender body clad in a white gown was not quite plainly weaved of individual strings of pure golden light, the sort visible at a sunset and and sunrise.

Her skin was white, even paler than fresh winter snow and a hundred times more pristine than porcelain.

The Jabberwock's eyes were like two sky blue crystals, pure and polished topaz, the sort that belonged to royalty.

In her delicate and gentle hands was a harp composed of light rays. She was playing a sweet melody for some small shivering creature at her feet.

I wondered what it was when her eyes suddenly met mine.

For a moment, he was fearful. I thought she might attack him but then she smiled at me. There was no malice in her presence and just as quickly as she appeared, she vanished but I could still feel her there.

None the less, I could still feel that I was not alone.

The small shivering form on the floor hadn't vanished with her.

This aura was just as familiar.

I approached it slow like it were a scared animal.

The words left my mouth before I could stop them.

"Mana…." I whispered all too softly, and the form let out a pathetic and muffled shriek in response to my words. That's how I knew I was right.

A new feeling filled a cavern inside me, overflowing and crown in little demons. It was sweet, soft like honey but exciting, like it were caffeinated, like it were dark chocolate.

"Mana, it's me…"

It was not a fondness. I was smart enough to tell the difference, but it was still a good feeling. I was surprised and soon I found myself smiling.

It was so delightful and yet I didn't understand why.

Just what had that brother of mine done, anyway?

I knelt down and reached out a single gloved to touch him, to assure him of my presence, knowing all too well how terrifying the transformation could be.

He shied away from my hand, whimpering, crawling away on his hands and knees.

"It's me, Mana…." I whispered, "You needn't be afraid of me…."

No response. It didn't even seem as though he heard my words. Nonetheless, I kept trying.

"Please."

The form paused.

Relief. He heard me.

But why should I be relieved. I felt nothing for this pathetic creature and anything I did feel were surely just left over from who I once was all too long ago, right? So why did such a feeling seem so real?

He lifted his head and crawled forward so that I could see him.

That's when I became confused.

I knew that when the jabberwock's new vessel was born, their appearance changed to that of who they truly were.

Mine hadn't changed much except for remaining thirteen for several years and having my eyes and hair turn black but Mana's had me confused.

Nothing had changed. Rather he looked exactly how he appeared the day I left him in our origin dimension. Same nightgown, same hair, same age, same everything, but the same scar on his forehead still remained.

Why?

Why was he so small?

Why hadn't even his mannerisms changed at all these past years?

Nonetheless, I reached down and pulled the shaking form into a gentle embrace.

"Why….. Why did you leave me….."

And so the games unfolded under a moonlight as sharp as a knife.