Chapter 2 Part 2

~1: Definitely Awake Now

From an embracing darkness, suddenly Allice felt cold water rush around her form. She gasped as she crested a wave. The salt assailed her taste buds as she accidentally got water in her mouth and nose. She eventually steadied herself and sputtered as she pulled herself closer to the nearby shore. She had no idea what had just happened. Last she remembered, she was going to play a game with her friends, on earth, EARTH! what was this place? The flora and fauna looked rather off and strange. She pulled herself onto a sandy beach. The sand was black. The trees were black. their leaves were such bright colors it hurt her eyes to look. The sun... wait a sec. There were two stars visible in the sky. Everything seemed so bright. This was definitely not earth.

She walked over to a smooth rock and sat for a moment. Trying to recall anything. Anything at all. She looked over her shoulder with a slight shocked expression. She had wings- that was a strange development. But not the strangest thing.
"Where am I..."
She heard rustling in the bushes. an oily looking black beast emerged with a huge grin filled with sharp teeth.
"Are you alarmed?" It spoke in a hissing low tone. Allice scrambled backward and grabbed a stick, thrusting it toward the creature as she squealed in fear.
She heard it chuckle and watched its form turn to mist and reappear a ways away.
"I'm not your enemy." The creature sputtered. Allice dropped her guard a little and the large creature walked calmly toward her. "In fact, i'm just a part of your psyche- I dont truly have a form. But I am a friend, not a foe."It spoke.
It had a bull-like body and a spade-shaped head, as well as strangely patterned tendrils on its head, the same striped pattern on his tails.
"So why am i seeing you? Do you know what happened to me? I woke up in the ocean..."She said to it as she dropped the stick, considering the creature she now knew was a hallucination. The creature turned to mist, an echo of its voice remaining "Follow me, and dont ask questions. I cant answer anything now. Follow." He trailed into the jungle. She sighed and followed the misty trail.

On and on she walked, following the beast and its misty black trail through the woods, until finally she stumbled over a rock and found that the trees finally ended, giving way to stumps in the field ahead of her- signs of civilization and work. About a mile in the distand there was a rising tower-that of a violet stone castle, perched on a sort of mountain above the surrounding land. The creature had somehow dissappeared without her noticing.
She pushed on and walked her way toward the small village of huts and the like that sat at the base of the mountain. She saw people in the fields nearby gathering berries from thornbushes that sprawled out from the nearby jungle. She waved. They all looked like her- Marbled black and white skin. They weren't winged however, like she was. They looked alarmed when they noticed her walking toward them, but they stood their ground.
"Y-you live here right?" She asked, a little apprehensive at the way they were looking at her. The two adult men went down on their knees with their eyes on the ground as she got closer. She stopped. "Uhm.. Why are you guys doing that..." "You're royalty... only the royals have wings like those..." One of the men finally spoke. Allice was confused.
"I just got here, i woke up in the sea across the woods that way... can you tell me where i am at least?" Allice spoke, trying to figure out what to make of all this. The two men stood and one pointed at the castle. "If you're really new here, the castle is the place you need to go. Pardon me for asking miss, but what is your name?"
"Allice is my name." The two of them jolted with an unexpected excitement and gave eachother a look she couldnt figure out. Like they were planning something.
"Really? THE Allice?" the shorter on spoke with a shocked tone.
"Do you know what kind of rewards we'll get if we bring her to 'em?" the other one said.
Allice was pretty dumbfounded at all of this. Royalty? She was a "the"? The what? The who... She sighed and started walking off toward the palace as the two guys whispered to eachother.
"Oh miss! Miss please wait!" One of them said hurriedly, rushing in front of her.
"We'd like to accompany you there, if you want a guide" Allice sighed deeply and shook her head "No thanks man, i'm just gonna go on my own okay? Thank you for the directions but this is too much excitement for me for now. I also imagine things are going to get weirder so... no." She shook her head again and walked around the young man in the direction of the castle. "Oh uh... okay! Good luck, Allice!"
"Yeah good luck!" they both waved as she kept walking. She gave a short wave and continued on her way.

~2: Meeting the King

Allice wandered into the village, bound for the hill the castle sat on. People gave her really weird looks as she wandered off and set to scaling the hill path up to the castle. When the ground evened out she made it to the gates into the courtyard. They looked really rough, like they had crashed there in one piece. But barely together. As she crossed the threshold she saw the entire castle was a bit rough like the gates. She was immediately assailed by two guards who drew their blades and headed quickly for her. She put her hands up and fell to her knees. "Sorry! sorry! I'm just trying to figure out where i am!" She said.. They lowered their blades and looked at eachother "Oy isn't the king lookin' for a girl with wings? What if this is her?"He said and the other guard nodded "He is but what if this isn't her? Best we can do is take 'er to 'em." She sighed and stood up as they sheathed their blades and looked her over.
"Yea whats your name girl?" Something she also noticed was that they were pure black and had no marbled color to them like the others and herself.
"Oh.. Allice is my name." The two guards eyes met then.
"It's gotta be her then." He said "Could you not talk like i'm invisible and not here?"She said with annoyance. The guard chortled "Sure thing girly. But there's someone you need to meet. Come on with us." He said, beckoning for her to follow him into the main gate of the castle. Into the throne room. A dark man sat in the throne halfway sleeping. As they entered he startled back to full awareness and grumbled angrily. "What is it NOW?"He said sharply and allice walked out from behind one of the guards. He gaze immediately changed from anger to something completely different.
"Is that you, allice?" He said and practically jumped out of his throne as he rushed over to her. "It definitely is. It's me, Jack!" He said as he reached to touch her cheek. Allice backed away a bit and he gave a slightly hurt look that faded quickly.
"I'm uh... I dont know, but... I dont remember you.. but it seems like a lot of these people know about me. Sorry about that."
Jack frowned.
"You don't remember... you dont remember.."He covered his face with his hand and hissed under his breath, but quickly changed his composure. He switched quickly from frustration to this dark kind of plotting look.
"Well then. It can't be helped. I'll just have to help you remember, then."He spoke confidently and smiled He motioned for the guards to leave, and took Allice's hand. He had wings, like her, but they were pure pitch black. Hers were both black and white. She could not help but notice how soft and sleek Jack's wings were. They wandered down the hallway quietly, and then soon she found herself in a dining hall with Jack leading her to the largest most luxurious table available. What presumably appeared to be a servant popped her head into the room and then quickly made her way to them.
"Are you hungry milord?" Said the small girl with one white eye and one black eye. Jack nodded at her.
"I'm sure Allice could use something to eat after such a rough journey."He said with an air of command. She nodded back and hurried away to prepare something for them. Allice sat next to jack near the table.
"So what /do/ you remember, Allice?" He asked. the entire room echoed a little whenever someone spoke, it was large and mostly empty at this time.
"I.. dont think me crazy but I remember that i was going to play a game with my friends. up until that point in my life i was a human girl... and I dont remember anything else it's like I just woke up here in the ocean."
Jack sighed deeply and reached over to touch her shoulder. She didnt avoid his touch this time. But everything about this seemed really weird. A couple of servants skittered out of the next room carrying platters for Allice and Jack. "Please enjoy, your Majesty!" said the short servant girl, as she bowed and her and the other ducked out of the room. Allice smelled the enticing scent of berries and what smelled to her like some type of chicken, although this world being so alien from what she remembered, she knew that it wasn't chicken. "What is it? Is it displeasing?" Jack said and Allice shook her head "It smells really good, i'm just wondering what it is."
"It's bird. The birds here are numerous and some of them are flightless, we picked off a few last time i went hunting and lo and behold, they're really good for eating." He said in a silky tone. He smiled as well as allice took a bite. It was a strange combination of salty and sweet, and it was divine. She smiled a little.
"Thats the first time i've seen a smile on your face since you showed up in the palace." He said softly. "Your clothes are really ragged!" He said as allice stuffed her face. After a big swallow she nodded.
"I agree. but i showed up with nothing to my name but this ragged dress and cloak." She said and continued to eat.
Jack waited for her to finish, only picking at his food. The servant attending the two popped into the room again just as allice was finished eating. "Take this please." Jack ordered, and the woman complied, heading back into the kitchen with the plates. "Now Allice.. we should talk." He said "But not here. come with me." He stood and offered his hand to her. She hestated but then took his hand. He lead her across the room, and then down a hall. When they were a short ways down the twilit corridor, he stopped and put an arm over her shoulder.
"So myself and all of the people who are here with us landed what seems to me like about a year ago. They let me be in charge because of you and I usurping the queen before all of this insanity ensued. You... You're by all rights the queen of this place. I let everyone know that if they saw or heard any evidence of you, to come straight to me. However it happened, you've finally come to me in one piece and I'm quite pleased... " He said as he pushed allice against the wall of the corridor firmly but gently. She stood wide eyed and his forhead met hers gently. Eyes locked, he smiled nefariously.
"I've missed you, Queen Allice~" He said with a very sensual tone in his voice. He abruptly kissed her passionately, and she didn't fight it. When she stopped him and turned her head to break the kiss, he uttered a slightly carnal growl.
"What is it?" he said with a heavy, quieted voice. She shook her head.
"This is a lot to handle all at once... We were... together?"She breathed "Yes dear. It pains me you can't remember all we did together... Saving your friends, killing the queen.. maybe some time it will return. But remembering or not, you are mine, and you have been since the beginning." He said. He brushed her neck with his lips, caressing her hair-tendrils gently with one hand, other hand pressed against the wall so she wouldnt try to sqirm away. She whimpered a little as he kissed her neck.
"Come with me." he said with an authoritative tone. He grabbed her hand and the two headed down a series of halls until there were stairs. Up the stairs, she looked out the windows as they ascended. The only remaining intact tower on the castle- and at the top there was likely a room. She followed him until they reached a door and he swung it open to reveal a lavishly decorated room. Tapestries clung to the walls and there were two large windowed doors that led to a balcony. Allice sighed heavily, not knowing what to expect.
"Sit, make yourself comfortable." He may as well have commanded, as he removed his cloak and stretched his wings out a bit. He gave her a smiling sidelong glance and she looked away for a second, inspecting her own wings, which were trembling a little bit. While she looked at and ran her fingers along one of her own wings to straighten the feathers, Jack sat next to her and she startled a little and folded her wing as he put his arm over her shoulders.
She was confused and a little lost but it seemed really nice to have someone who knew her, and who was supposedly a lover. She hoped her memories returned, it would make all of this a little easier to deal with. He leaned his horned head close to hers, and she gave a sort of weak smile. She didn't dislike his touch or attention. But it was all a little hard to take in so quickly.
"Allice, I don't say this to anyone, but I've... missed you. And.. I love you. I want to make you feel that way... Even if we have to rebuild our relationship from your end, I think you'll understand." He said, standing, walking toward the closed windows of the balcony. "I don't want to pressure you into this. I know I've been kind of pushy, but of anyone who deserves respect and kindness from me- and there are not many- it's you. Air whipped around him from the open doors and tousled his feathers a little. She stood up and walked over to him, and she hugged him. "Yeah, i understand. I might feel a little weirded out by all of this but... it seems right." She said and he wrapped his own arms around her. "Let me show you how much I love you." He said. They stood there for moments more before he picked her up and carried her back over to the bed, chuckling a little.
"I was sure i'd never see you again Allice." He spoke as he pulled her cloak off and threw it to the side, leaving her in only her tattered dress. Jack began to paw at the hem of the dress and Allice sort of blushed a little because he was likely going to pull it off of her. She felt strange, this body seemed a lot like it wasn't hers because of the only memories she did have. But she didn't stop him when he pulled the dress over her head. "God damn, you're just as beautiful as i remember." He said, staring as he worked on removing his own garments. it didn't take long before he was close to her again, and he leaned down to kiss her again. Her cheeks had a little redness but she kissed back this time. She felt like this was right as he pushed her down on the bed. She whimpered a bit as he kissed down her neck. She was very aroused too, and he pushed apart her legs and got up on the bed over her. Allice moaned softly as he touched her between her legs, gently rubbing her sensitive clit. She trembled a bit and held onto the sheet, gazing into his eyes for a moment as he positioned himself to penetrate her. As he did, her body squirmed a bit. He smiled a little, chuckling under his breath as he pushed deeper.
Thrusting gently at first, Allice moaned again and again, closing her eyes for a moment, then opening them again to look him over. she pressed her trembling hand against his chest and lovingly touched his carapacian skin. Some parts of it were shiny black like a beetle and other parts were much like human skin. Regardless, she found him to be very attractive and sensual, he had treated her with nothing but kindness. He moaned a little himself as he leaned down, nestling his face against her neck. He stuck out his tongue, and licked her. She giggled a bit- it tickled. He smiled at her and then surprised her by thrusting a bit faster, she was really close to orgasm. It didn't take long before she writhed with pleasure, unable to keep herself quiet now. She moaned louder and louder until she couldn't get much louder.. She burned with pleasure from head to toe and jack pinned her down harder. She grabbed a hold of him, digging her fingers into his shoulders. He moaned softly as he pushed in as hard as he dare, now orgasming himself. Allice panted softly as he pulled away, sitting next to her. "How do you feel about all of this now?" He asked, grinning at her like a fool.
"Oh everything is still pretty weird." She said "But its alright, I guess. I really... that was nice." She said, sitting up. Her wings shook a little and then she pulled them against her back. "So the queen- she had quite the wardrobe. If you like, you can check out the contents of that closet over there."
Allice nodded, she was getting cold now after all. She headed to the closet and rummaged around. There was a nice kind of plain dress that wasnt overly fancy like most of the others. It was black with gold embroidery around the neck. She slipped it over her form and turned to face Jack. He smiled.
"You can wear anything you like." He was in the process of putting his clothes back on and as he finished, he walked over to her, and found a cloak in the closet for her. "Do you like this?" He asked, and she smiled.
"Sure i do, its very pretty." It was also black with gold embroidery. So she tied it on and jack pulled her into his arms again for a moment.
"We don't have much time left before i need to return to my duties. There will be people out there in the throne room waiting for my council and I hate to let you go but it's important to keep them docile." He said, kissing the top of her head. "However in the meantime, you can come and go as you please, and all of the servants will be informed that you are their superior and they will obey you." He said, letting go and heading for the door of the room. Allice nodded, not sure of what she would do in the meantime, but she had an idea. Jack looked over one last time, then left the room. Allice headed to the balcony. She took the cloak off, leaving it hanging on the door handle. She had wings, after all? It was probably a good time to try and learn how to use them. She spread them out and stood at the edge of the balcony. The wind picked up and she teetered off the side a little sooner than she had planned, but it seemed that she had instinct on her side as the wind carried her clumsily around. As she steadied, she looked below to the rest of the castle. People on the roof pointed at her and stared but she didn't really care Onward she flew off, over the village below. She laughed with joy, it was a lot of fun after all.