Originally Posted on: May 19, 2016


Previously:

The dreams had been continuous. Whenever she slept, she'd just pick up right when the dream stopped.

(The two [siblings Haruka and Ringo] lived in America, due to escaping Japan after an incident. They could not show their faces again, could not mention their names, and had to lay low. Ringo's boss helped immensely when it came to concealing their identities, since the boss was a mysterious man himself.)

"My name is Alice, right? But it's Haruka. My parents gave me the name Nanami Haruka. But nii-san gave me the name Alice. In fact, I'm Alice Liddell. I…"

"Ali-chan! Would you like to follow the white rabbit? We could play a game together."

Without realizing it at first, she found herself falling down a large hole. As her golden eyes dilated from the dim light, she found herself alone, on a carpet of grass.

No, Haruka wasn't very fond of Wonderland, if this was what it really was. Maniacal laughter, dim lights, nonsensical scenery – it all couldn't be a dream. It felt way too real for that. But still, slipping away from all sanity suddenly seemed like a good option.

"Why must I… fall down the rabbit hole?"


II

That's the Great Puzzle

Alice Liddell, once a girl named Nanami Haruka, was stuck in a mad world underneath the ground of the woods near her home. The White Rabbit, Mikado Nagi, dragged her to the forest a little faraway from her neighborhood. After a lot of thinking, she wanted to hereby dub this whole adventure as a "harmless dream."

But alas, she couldn't dub it a harmless dream. Because it stung her, shouting that it was reality. She was wondering how often these kind of events happened to young girls such as herself.

Had she gone mad?

And so there she was, frightened out of her mind by the giggling and laughing that blasted in her ears. Haruka backed herself onto a wall and slid down, hugging her knees.

But the laughing stopped. The voice snuck away.

"What are you doing here?" demanded a different voice.

Haruka shot her head up, scanning the room. It was rectangular, filled with doors of the same color, one of them being quite small while the rest being quite large. There was a glass table in the middle of the room with nothing on it.

Leaning on one of the doors towards her was a cyan-haired boy with a disdained expression on his face, his figure clothed in silver-and-white, draping silk. Mist formed around his feet.

Haruka recognized him from the painting in the hallway – and in her dream. "Are – are you—?" She found that she could hardly speak, as if this was the result of screaming for long periods of time.

The boy's eyes narrowed. "I am," he spoke monotonously. He then demanded answers. "Tell me, Alice. What are you doing here?"

Haruka no longer bothered trying to comprehend how people seemed to know her name. Though, what clouded her brain was the fact that she should've recognized him as more than just 'The Conscious.' She should've, like his voice and face; but that was all her memory let on, to her dismay.

"I followed a rabbit named, um, Mikado Nagi… and we fell down a hole…"

The Conscious closed his eyes. "I see," he uttered, yet it echoed in the room throughout the hall. Opening them, he stepped closer to her. "Do you know where you are?"

"I think I'm in Wonderland – though I m-might just be crazy…"

The Conscious' eyes flashed briefly in interest. "If that is what you wish to believe," he said, observing Haruka's figure. Her hands still gripped her knees, but she tried to keep polite eye-contact. And she didn't bombard him with questions, unlike the others.

"My name is Mikaze Ai, being The Conscious. I accompany and explain to an Alice Outsider. That is my role, Haruka."

"Mikaze?" Haruka repeated. That name sounds so familiar… w-wait.

Her eyes widened, similar to when she experienced falling down the rabbit hole.

He soundlessly sighed. "Is something the matter, Alice?"

"I – you—" It was no use. She could hardly manage a sentence. He he was the one from that nightmare I had, wasn't he? Was that not a or was it— She swallowed, her throat parched.

"Well," Mikaze continued, pacing back-and-forth, "as the Conscious, I am to guide you around so-called Wonderland, and arise 'choices.' This is the game you've agreed to play, Alice. The White Rabbit – the foolish dimwit – had to propose the game, or else you wouldn't be here."

He did mention a game, Haruka thought as she looked up at his eyes once more.

Haruka spoke, as if reminiscing, "Mikado-san said something about following him, though I don't know where he is anymore…"

"It's more complicated than that," explained Mikaze, "but it is also very simple. Here are the rules for this very first part of the game. It is more of a test."

"Eh? What – what kind of test?" Haruka warily asked. She started to mumble to herself, and Mikaze let her for a moment.

After a while, when she quieted down to the point that she was mouthing her outspoken thoughts, the Conscious dismissed, "It doesn't matter. This test will prove whether or not your wits and gut will survive Wonderland is all. It'll also let us know if you are the right Alice."

Haruka gulped. My name isn't really Alice. Does he know that?

"Ah, 'us'?" she echoed.

"You surely won't live without cleverness in this world," he said, ignoring her question. "No one will help you in this test directly, including me. If you pass this test, then I'll explain more as you move on to the next game." Mikaze pulled out a stopwatch. "We'll see how long you take. Your trial starts now."

The sound of a door closing caused Haruka's head to whip around, only to turn back to where Mikaze was once, but had disappeared. "He's gone," Haruka sighed. "And I was just about to ask him a few other things too. Not that I have the focus and outspokenness to…"

She rubbed her temple, quite tired and exasperated. Haruka glanced at the doors, furrowing her thin brows. "What do I do in this 'game'…? Eh! I don't even know what to do. Honestly—!" She grabbed a fistful of her hair.

Standing up from the checkered floor, she thought about the doors. "There are so many," she whispered. Thinking about this with more depth, her face forcefully brightened up. "Maybe one of these doors could take me home – maybe I don't have to play the next game."

Twisting her body around to look at each door, her eye caught the small one. But it was quite small. Only something as small as a large mouse could pass through it. Nonetheless, she had nothing to lose seeing what was inside of it.

Haruka just twisted the tiny doorknob without much thought, only to find it locked. With her foot, she tried kicking it open, only to realize how stubbornly firm the door was.

She huffed quietly. Then, she whipped her head at the sound of something hitting a door. It came from the one across from her left side; Haruka opened the door with ease.

And in came a boy the size of Nagi, maybe slightly taller, crashing on top of Haruka's body. "Ack!"

"Eek!"

"What the hell woman, would you stop—"

Deep, cerulean eyes locked onto golden. Haruka, trapped on the floor by the body on top of her, was flushed at the proximity; the boy rolled off of her. His eyes were wide with confusion and shock. "Urgh – sorry! Sorry." He stared at her, as if he'd been familiar with everything in his world except her.

"Oh, um, no! It's fine," Haruka assured. "Really. Though – who are you?" He seemed familiar to her, from the portraits in the hallway, but she forgot who it was.

"Huh?" He stood up, with Haruka finally seeing him better. He had blonde hair, and those blue eyes that reminded her of her brother's. He was short for a boy, but he had cute, furry grey mouse ears on top of his head.

Although he was pretty grumpy for a mouse.

"Well, my name is Alice," Haruka spoke. At this, the mouse boy stiffened. He slowly looked at her, up and down at her appearance, and repeated the action several times. Eventually, a finger lifted up from his side, his mouth agape.

"You. Your name is Alice?"

Haruka blinked, looking down at herself as well. Her name wasn't really Alice, but what would happen if she said 'No' after she said that name was Alice? She didn't want to look like an idiot anytime soon. And she technically was Alice anyway. Why did she even hesitate?

"Y-Yes," was her response. "That's my name. Alice Liddell."

"You don't look like an Alice Liddell."

She decided to tell the mouse boy the truth. Sort of. "I changed my name to Alice Liddell."

"Why?"

"I… had to." In all honesty, Haruka didn't know what she was doing at the moment. She was just blabbering out about herself. So she turned the tables as best as she could. "What – what about your name?"

"Oh right," he said. Jerking his thumb to his chest, he spoke, "My name is Kurusu Syo. But you can call me Syo, if you want."

Haruka was silent for a moment, before she responded, "O-Okay… Syo-kun."

I just realized… we're both speaking Japanese. Mikaze-san and Mikado-san spoke Japanese as well. So the honorifics are okay, right? thought Haruka.

Syo blushed. Haruka didn't seem to notice this, so he went ahead and asked her, "What are you doing here?"

The rosette gasped, "That's right. Well, a boy with rabbit appendages brought me here. We um, fell down a hole. Does that make any sense? Maybe not. Haha." She laughed nervously at this, knowing that there wasn't any way he could believe her.

Oh wait. He had animal ears as well, so there wasn't any way he couldn't believe her.

Syo blinked, then shouted, "Hah? No way, Mikado brought you here?"

Haruka practically jumped. "You know Mikado-san?"

"Yeah I do! Ugh," groaned Syo, scratching his head, "that guy is weird. One minute, he'll act all cute and innocent, and the next thing you know, bam"—Syo startled Haruka with the sudden burst—"he's a twisted psychopath!"

Haruka gasped. "You – you don't mean that! D-Do you?" she sputtered, shocked.

Syo made a face. "What? Didn't you get that weird feeling about him? Other than the fact that he's got these ugly ears on his head?" His mouse ears twitched at this. "I mean, it's not really that unusual to have rabbit ears in Wonderland, but he makes it look creepy. I don't know, okay?"

Haruka wasn't following.

"Anyway," Syo moved on, speaking in a quieter voice, "you haven't met him then, haven't you? Or anyone else, right?"

The girl was befuddled at him. Her mind was elsewhere when he ranted about Mikado, and then it clicked. "You're the Dormouse!"

"The hell I'm the Dormouse! Did you hear me?"

"W-What?" Haruka shook her head to think, and replied, "I've met Mikaze-san. Is he 'him'?"

Syo fiddled with his beige buttoned shirt. Haruka then noticed that his ears were pierced with 10k (karat) gold studs. Red pins were drawn to the side of his head to pull back some bangs. His brown boots were a bit dirty. Say… his clothes were dirty too. What was he doing earlier?

"Did he give you a test?"

"Hm? Oh, well – yes. I'm actually doing it right now… but…"

Syo was slack-jawed. "Wait, seriously? What the heck!" he exclaimed, surprised. He finally glanced around, and rubbed his temple. "You're that new to this place, huh Alice? Well, let me tell you this: this part of Wonderland is dangerous. You could get insane in here real fast."

Haruka gasped. "Really? I – what do we do!"

"You complete the test, obviously!" yelled Syo, smacking his head. "If I tell you anything more, then I'm might as well dead. How long have you been here?"

"A-About ten minutes or so, including that grass area and the hall," she stammered, biting her lip. She fretted when The Dormouse let out a strained noise.

"Listen…" He looked around, then leaned forward to whisper, "Don't stay here for too long. Figure out the puzzles already. I bet they're the same – so I'll give you clues. Though, the rest you have to figure out."

"Syo-kun," Haruka worriedly spoke, "I don't want you to break any rules or get hurt for this."

Syo shook his head. "Nah, no worries. Riddles are the way through Wonderland. There's no way riddles could break any rules." He scratched his head, then said, "Uh, close your eyes, see the gold, walk the way, through the road."

Haruka furrowed her brows. W-What?

The Alice Outsider bit her lip, unsure if he meant that literally or not. She closed her eyes, and then opened them abruptly, shocked. "S-Syo-kun—"

"Close your eyes," he repeated with urge, "see the gold, walk the way, through the road."

Haruka nodded, gulping. She closed her eyes once more, and walked forward, then sideways, as she followed the gold path at her feet. Eventually, she hit a door. Without Syo saying anything, she immediately tried to open the door. Locked.

Syo was watching her silently, wondering if the Cheshire Cat was around toying with them. He cursed under his breath. Though, glancing over Haruka as she tried opening each door got him staring. Her hair was a beautiful shade of reddish orange, and even pink under the light, and her eyes were quite determined like none he'd ever seen. He could really stare at them, and he'd be satisfied for a while.

It was the dress that pissed him off.

All Alice Outsiders wore that same old dress, like it's their only wardrobe. This made Syo briefly consider that maybe this Alice wasn't special at all, and she was just like the other ones before her. Though, he could counter that there was never a redheaded Alice in Wonderland ever.

They were all blonde Alice Outsiders. Haruka, however…

Am I seriously helping her just because she seems a little different? Maybe it's because her name is Alice Liddell, like the first Alice…?

"Hey, Al. Can I call you that? Okay, Al," said Syo, "the secret door that you can't see, will hide the thing that you will need."

Haruka didn't object, as she closed her eyes again and listened. She heard a voice calling her, as she stepped a bit to the side and touched the wall, which made her slip through the wall.

Behind her, Syo tensed. She'll come back out all right, he thought. She can't just fail this part. She better not.

When she walked out, her face was pale, but in her hands clutched a silver key. "T-There were…"

He rushed to her, grabbing the key from her hands and patting her head. "Hey, it's okay," he assured her, walking over to a door. "That room shifts upon an Outsider's fears. Only one Alice Outsider has failed that simple task."

Haruka shivered, then nodded, hurrying to meet up with him. "That makes sense… I mean, what you said about the fear door."

"Funny way to call it." He yanked the door open and drew out the key. Out of curiosity, Syo asked, "What'd you see?"

Haruka blinked at him for a moment. Suddenly, a thought came into her head. I shouldn't trust him completely, should I?

She smiled timidly, and walked in front of him. "I'm sorry, but that's a secret," she said in response, feeling guilty but sounding slightly playful.

"Wha – seriously? This is what I get for helping you, huh?" Syo retorted, crossing his arms at her retreating back. "I'm staying here by the way. You have to find what you need on your own."

"Alright," she answered back, glancing behind her at Syo a final time before breathing evenly. He didn't seem as angry at her response as she thought, so the guilt ceased its feeding on her cells.

Haruka came back with a gold key in hand.

"Good job," Syo praised fleetingly, taking the key and handing Haruka the silver one. "Don't use this for a door."

"W-What?"

"Not for a door, but for something more."

Haruka repeated, "Something more…?" Then, it came to her rather quickly at the sight of the gold key, as her eyes fluttered shut once more. In the darkness, a silver path revealed itself.

She never favored silver, as it reminded her of incidents in her past. The silver dust, the silver knife, and the silver bullets on a silver chain. The silver cuffs that rusted and smelled and stung. The silver coins that tasted like blood.

Haruka took hold of her thoughts before it could infest her brain and cause her to break down.

There was yet another room that found out her fears and simulated them. It was even scarier than the first, since it was dark and no sound could be emitted. Not even her voice. Not even her swallows. Not even her footsteps. She felt blind and deaf.

Hands grabbed onto her shoulders. Haruka fell to the ground on her back, and the figure on top of her started sucking her neck and collar. He smelled like smoke and ashes, and knocked out the air in her breath.

Haruka screamed for help, but there was no sound. His hands roamed her quivering body. She had experienced this before, and had realized this with horror all too late. Gathering what strength and courage she found in her, she kneed him in the gut and rolled him over. She felt a rush of wind and liquid splashed onto her face and front body.

Heart pounding, she felt her way to the body. It was already cold, and from the lack of a feeling on the pulse she concluded he was dead. Something had ran him over.

Outside of the room, Syo understood that the room with the bronze key was much, much harsher. The first room could be of spiders and screams, small jump-scares and chases from childhood horrors, but the this room was psychological and terrifying on deeper levels.

By the time Haruka emerged from the wall, the both of them found blood on her face and body, bruises on her skin, tears on her striped stockings, and a clear plastic key in her hand.

Twenty minutes had passed, and he was about to leave before her return weren't it for his wonder of the outcome.

Syo saw her as a soldier.

He even had (and needed) help from the March Hare to get him out of there. He knew he shouldn't have to go in there if he had a choice, but his curiosity outmatched him. But his fear soon outmatched him as well.

Anyone and anything foreign to the rooms in the walls were capable of being killed there.

But she survived.

"You got the wrong key, you know," Syo slowly began, walking towards her hesitantly. She flinched, her arms raised, and he stopped. He noticed the tears in her eyes, signifying the start of a breakdown. Moving faster, he instinctively flung out his arms for her body to collapse on and wore a conflicted face.

"This is too much, Syo-kun," she wept, clutching his shirt despite its filth. "Am I gonna die? Will I die if I don't complete this? No – will I be here forever?"

Syo let out a shaky breath. "N… no. I won't let you, I…"

He knew there'd be a cost and punishment for breaking the rules, but he did it anyway.

He interfered with her game.

The Dealer predicted this, and won the bet against the Raven. For this, the Raven couldn't write this incident on the strict Book of Woes. He had to write it down with different ink on Haruka's story, Nanami Haruka's Adventures in Wonderland.

How quaint; Haruka was the first Alice Outsider whose name wasn't originally Alice.

But she also shared the name of the first Alice.

Syo drew out a bottle from his jacket, and asked for the key. Gently taking it from her trembling hands, he pulled the cork and sprinkled a bronze powder on the key. "We don't need to go in there," he told her. "This'll turn into the key we need."

Haruka was too frightened to speak. She let go of his shirt and gasped at the bloodstains.

"Ah, it's okay. I'll just… wash them off later, Al."

The rosette faltered, but didn't insist. Syo was relieved of that. He hated that the previous Alice Outsiders insisted on things constantly and annoyingly. Sure, Haruka had help from him, but she didn't push him away when he offered his help nor did she abuse it.

Haruka was just relieved that she could see and hear again, that she found her way back.

When the key hardened to bronze, it shifted to appear like the other two keys. He took Haruka's right hand and placed the three keys on it. "We can get out of this room with one of these. One of them will fit the door right there," explained Syo, pointing to the small mouse door. "I don't know which one, so I can't help you."

Haruka barely managed, "B-But we can't get through that door—"

"Yeah we will." His hand shuffled in jacket and pulled out a bottle sloshing with translucent green liquid and empty vials. "This'll shrink our bodies. Don't worry, once we find Natsuki, he can get us the Hatter's cookies that'll grow us back to normal. But uh, don't eat any of Natsuki's own cookies."

"Who – who is—"

"I'll explain more later, promise. But we need to get this done. I kinda want to get outta here," Syo admitted, rubbing his neck. "Don't you?"

Haruka nodded faintly. The two walked over to the door. Crouching down, Haruka examined the lock and the keys. "What if I get the wrong one?" she barely whispered.

"No questions. Just don't get the wrong one."

She pursed her lips.

"No pressure. Sorry if I gave you some just now."

She went with her gut.

Taking the bronze key, despite it being once an entirely out-of-the-question plastic key, Haruka thrust it into the keyhole. Syo's eyes widened. "Wha – wait a minute—"

The word 'amused' simply could not describe the look on The Dealer's face.


Mikaze Ai ~ The Conscious

Kurusu Syo ~ The Dormouse