Before we begin please let us join together and pray for the safety of the people in Japan who have encountered a very devastating Tsunami and earthquake

Very Impt A/N **Alright so from now- The little Shun and Alice in the memories will be written in bold as Shuon and Alyce respectively. And those viewing the memories i.e. journalist Shun and apparition Alice will be written in normal spellings and in italics. ***

Path To Rest In Peace

crystal-mist

Chapter 2

Why was this happening to her? Why was she always the one to endure ultimate pain and suffering? Alice had always been viewed as an outcast, a 'thing' that was barely human and whom no one could understand.

The scene before Shun dissolved and another one replaced it. This scene was of a little waterfall which had somewhat of a spring near it.

There standing on the banks of the spring was Alyce; she had her arms tied behind her back as she hummed a soft melody. She swayed a little, in tune to the song that escaped her lips.

Some boys sneaked up behind her and pushed her into the water screaming 'Die you witch!'.

Alyce was taken aback. She paddled desperately as she struggled to keep herself from drowning.. Somehow she managed to bring herself to one of the shallow areas. She spat out the water that had entered her mouth and coughed helplessly.

The boys sniggered and left her.

Alyce emerged from the spring dripping wet. She sneezed once or twice. The water had been bone-chilling cold and she started walking home.

When she reached the entrance of her house she saw her mother sitting on the porch cutting some vegetables. Seeing Alyceshe set the vegetables aside and walked towards her.

When she reached right in front of her daughter she raised her hand and struck her.

Alyce was sent flying to the ground.

"You Stupid child…DO you not know that wandering the streets dripping wet is an ill omen. We have to suffer enough because of you already… Now get out of my sight and don't return until you are dry." She commanded to the drenched girl.

"Yes mother." said Alyce as she shakily got up to her feet and walked away… Strangely enough, in spite of all this ill-treatment, little Alyce couldn't bring herself to despise her own mother.

She sat herself down underneath a tree and sneezed once again. She drew her knees to her chest and rested her head on them as her body trembled from the cold.

"Alyce?" exclaimed Shuon as he saw her figure curled up pitifully.

She raised her head and looked at him, her eyes were blank. But in their depths there was sorrow/

"What happened?" questioned Shuon.

She evaded his question. "It's nothing really…"

"Don't lie."

"You don't need to know."

"And why not? I thought I was your 'friend'. "he said as he sat down in front of her.

"Friends?" she repeated, a bit dazed. "You are my friend?" she repeated in disbelief. She couldn't believe that he actually had seen her as a friend whilst everyone scorned her.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" and then a sheepish expression passed across his face. "Uh…I see… you never considered us as friends, did you?" he said, avoiding her gaze. "Although; I did." He added.

Sheer disbelief crossed Alyce's eyes… "We are…friends." She said as a bright smile lit up her face.

Shuon took out a cloth from the folds of his clothes and lay it upon Alyce's head.

Her chocolate orbs widened as he dried her orange hair for her.

"Fine, don't tell me then." said Shuon, still drying her hair.

She stared at his sincere eyes in wonder. She was not used to this type of kindness.

"Now we need to get your clothes dry….Come to my home."

"I…I can't." she said, her hands trembling. "If your parents see….then-"

"Don't worry...They are out at this time of day."

Saying this Shuon took Alyce's hand and led her to his house.

Whilst seeing this, the apparition Alice looked extremely distraught. She obviously didn't like this trip down memory lane…but why was she so bitter?

Shun was just bewildered, he didn't know what to make of the situation he was in. He could only watch as Alice's memories unwound like a movie in front of his eyes.

It was strange; as he watched the memories he seemed to be able to predict what exactly would happen next… It was like he was recollecting something from a previous experience. But he was doing this subconsciously; he had no control of the memories of his past life.

But why was his heart beating so fast? What was this fluttering feeling inside his chest every time he looked at Alice's apparition? Why did his entire soul ache when he saw her grieving face?

Sure, she wanted to kill him, but still, he had an unfathomable desire to take her in his arms. Why did he feel like he wanted to protect her and himself from something? Why? Why?

Shun watched as more of Alice's miserable childhood unfolded in front of his eyes… She was always alone and scorned by everyone around her. The little Shuon was the only one who was kind to her.

Alyce's parents abused her and everyone treated her like dirt; like an inferior creature who was a curse to everyone around her.

She was beautiful; the girl with orange hair looked like an absolute angel. The priest interpreted this as the devil's trick to deceive them.

People beat her up for no reason and the little girl would say nothing in protest. She would only stay silent and cry herself to sleep almost every night because of the atrocities she had to go through.

Her smile soon faded; that innocent smiled was soon extinct. Even Shuon could nothing to make her smile again. Her face became emotionless and as she neared fourteen years of age she started hating her life more and more with each passing day.

Regardless Shuon still protected her from whatever harm he could. He was the only one who was not scared to be all alone with her.

One day whilst Alyce was sitting on the bank of the river. She turned to Shuon who was beside her.

"Why is it that you are so kind to me?" she asked, her voce emotionless.

Shuon was laying down on the grass. HE looked up at the sky. "Do I need a reason?"

She was quiet for sometime… but then she spoke up. "But why? I am a monster."

"No, you are not….Just because you were born with orange hair doesn't mean that you are a monster."

"But everyone says so."

"Then 'everyone' is mistaken."

Alyce's brown eyes widened. She hadn't expected Shuon to be this sincere in what he would answer.

"You are foolish."

"I don't mind." He answered, sitting up and looking at her with a smile on his face.

Alyce's eyes softened as she saw his smile and a slight pink tint appeared on her pale cheeks.

When she was fourteen Alyce found a little rabbit lying on the ground. The poor thing was almost dead. She felt sorry for it because it was lying all alone in the grass in the last moments of its life. Alyce didn't wasn't it to be lonely; she didn't want it to suffer like she had.

"There is nothing I can do to save you my dear creature …It's alright though little one…I am here for you…You won't have to be alone when you perish..." She muttered as a tear escaped her eyes.

She held the rabbit daintily in her arms and gazed at it with a warm look.

Some kids were watching her from behind a tree…

After a few seconds the rabbit died in Alice's arms.

"Farewell my friend… I hope you rest in peace." She muttered.

The kids behind the trees shrieked. "She killed the rabbit just by looking at it….She's a monster!"

Alyce's eyes widened in horror. She stood up and tried to explain the situation to them but they would not listen.

"Run…Or she'll kill us as well…" they went running to the village elders and told them of what they had witnessed.

Alyce was dumbfounded. What was she to do? She hadn't killed the rabbit…Tears ran down her eyes as she anticipated the terror of what was coming.

When the elders reached the scene Alyce had already ran away.

"Where is she? That orange haired monster…"

Alyce sat curled up in one of the storage rooms, her arms trembling in fear as she waited for herself to be found out. She stayed there for one whole day. In the end she was found out.

"Devil incarnate." They called out.

"Ambitious witch….You shall lead us to ruin with your acidic presence."

They caught her. "We will make sure that you no longer practice this witchcraft."

They tied her up in the town square.

"Your punishment…You will be tied up for two weeks with nothing more than a ball of rice everyday."

She did not resist. She knew that irrespective of what she said she would still be punished. So she did not struggle, she let herself be tied, sobbing silently all the while.

In the morning when the adults were not looking, the kids made it a game to throw rocks at her. She could not move…She would only cry whilst all alone...

When it was about dusk she thought that she saw a figure approaching her. She winced in fear. Whenever someone approached her it wasn't for any good reason. They would either do so to hurt her physically or with their words.

As her eyes focused on the figure, she saw that it was Shuon.

He was standing a good way away; it was as if he was a bit scared to approach her. More tears rolled down her cheeks as she realized that she had lost him as well.

Now everyone would be against her.

After taking a deep breathe he started walking towards her… There was something in his hands. As he reached right in front of her, he opened he box in his hands.

"Keep this a secret kay?" he whispered before he took some chopsticks.

"What-" but she was cut short as Shuon put some food in her mouth.

"Eat up." He said, a smile appearing on his face.

She chewed the food as more tears rolled down her cheeks. He kept feeding her and after he had finished he sat down right beside her.

"What happened this time?" he asked softly.

"The rabbit….I didn't kill it…It was already on the…" her voice cracked as a sob escaped her lips. "It was already on the verge of death…I…I just …didn't want it…to be all….alone." she said.

"It's alright Alyce…I believe you." He said as he stood up and wiped her tears away with his hand. "Don't cry…" he said, now tucking her messy strands of hair in their places.

She just gazed at him in surprise and a blush was on her cheeks.

"I'll come by at this time tomorrow as well okay?"

She nodded and then watched as Shuon left.

Alice, the apparition watched everything with a growing hatred towards the raven who was the guardian of hell. Why was that raven making her remember all this? She only wanted revenge…And after that she could rest in peace…well more or less.

All she had to do was kill Shuon's reincarnation. That was all she needed to do…But now, why relive these painful moments of her life; these happy, yet painful moments filled with deceit? She knew what was coming and she regretted that she had ever fallen in love with that black-haired boy with the topaz coloured eyes and the most deceiving smile.

Alright so my explanations…

raven is the guardian of hell… He is like a gate-keeper [not is true form of course] Being the keeper of hell, he doesn't mind the revenge Alice wishes to obtain….But he enjoys watching others suffer so he adds a little more suffering into the equation. That is why Alice has to live through these days of her past again so that she will remember and suffer.

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