Chapter 3
Daughters of the Mad Goddess
Nofina slowly pushed the gargantuan doors of Pandemonium open. One of them ended up collapsing onto the crystal floor, breaking it and sending Nofina down to the lower floor.
"Oi, y'all right down there?" Marisa said.
"Yes. I'll find my way up somehow." Nofina said.
"Wait, can't you just fly?" Mima said.
"I'd rather not use any magic. If the rumors are true, the creatures that have taken up residence here can detect magic, so I'd rather not attract their attention. If they exist." Nofina said.
"Well then, I should probably do this before we get too far in." Mima said, sprouting legs and landing on the ground. "Even for a spirit, floating takes magic, you know." said the spirit.
"It's probably best we split up, anyway. It'll make searchin' through here a heck of a lot faster." Marisa said.
"I'll head to Mother's room, then. You search the middle floors." Alice whispered to the others.
"Got it." Marisa whispered back. "Oi, Nofina. We're gonna be takin' the upper floors, a'ight?" she shouted down.
"Right. I'll search around down here." Nofina said.
After separating from the group, Alice headed to the top floor. As Yumeko's room was closer than Shinki's, that was the first place she decided to check. She opened the door cautiously, and, after verifying that there was no danger, she began walking around the room to check and see if there was anything important. The most notable thing was the utter lack of bedsheets, for some reason. Alice scratched her head at the rather strange lack of said bedsheets. There was nothing else interesting, so she left. She continued down the hallway to Shinki's room. This room was in far worse shape than Yumeko's was. The most striking thing, and something that made Alice feel sick, was the deformed young Alice collapsed in the corner. The other things in the room that would have drawn attention if not for the girl in the corner, were the destroyed bed, broken windows, and ripped pictures. Of course, the pictures being ripped prevented Shanghai from clearly seeing anything about Shinki. Alice walked over to the younger Alice, and said "Alice?"
"Alice. Alice. Alice. Alice. Alice." the girl responded. "Alice. Alice. Alice." the younger Alice said. "Alice. Alice. Alice. Alice. Alice." The girl turned towards Alice, and the sight of her inhuman face caused Shanghai to dart behind Alice's head. "Alice. Alice. Alice. Alice. Alice." The girl's eyes were unevenly set into her face, and one was nearly twice the size of the other. There was no nose, and her mouth was slanted. "Alice. Alice. Alice. Alice. Alice." One of her arms was far longer than the other, and her single leg was bent at a strange angle. "Alice. Alice. Alice. Alice. Alice." Alice slowly backed away from the abomination, and Shanghai was shuddering violently. "Alice. Alice. Alice. Alice. Alice." The thing's mantra followed Alice out of the room, as she decided to head for Shinki's private library. Before going, however, Alice's stomach emptied itself on the floor.
As she approached the library, she heard a similar mantra: "Shinki. Shinki. Shinki. Shinki. Shinki." Shanghai once more hid behind Alice's head. Alice gulped, and opened the door. "Alice. Alice. Alice. Alice." "Shinki. Shinki. Shinki." "Alice. Alice." There were two more deformed young Alices, and they seemed to be carrying on a 'conversation', although, as there was no change in pitch or facial expression, it was likely they were simply responding to each other's sounds. "Alice. Alice. Alice. Alice." "Shinki. Shinki. Shinki. Shinki. Shinki." Alice quietly walked around them to a short desk with an open book on it. Unfortunately, it was not an atlas, as she had hoped. The two young Alices' heads snapped downwards, and they both blurted out their respective words before hobbling towards the door. Although Alice was looking through the books, hoping for some sign of where Shinki may have gone, Shanghai was watching the two young Alices as they did this. Shanghai tapped her master's shoulder, trying to get her attention.
"Yes, what is it, little one?" Alice whispered, still looking at the books. Shanghai yanked on her clothes, trying to turn her around. Alice, following the little doll's advice, turned and saw the two young Alices as they were leaving the room, their heads still pointed straight down. "What? what are they doing?" Alice whispered. Shanghai shrugged. "They seem to have noticed something, but… Wait, little one, do you think… Nofina mentioned creatures that are attracted to magic… Do you think these… 'mes' are them?" Alice whispered. Shanghai put her finger on her chin, then nodded uncertainly. Through the open door, Alice could see the deformed young Alice from Shinki's room hopping down the hallway. Alice shuddered violently, then shook her head and started pulling atlases out of the bookshelves, looking for some clue as to where Shinki may have gone.
Note: Chapter 4 might go up a bit later in the day on Thursday than usual. There's a minor inconsistency that's being stubborn. But, I do already have the chapter written, so no worries about a repeat of the last chapter of Marisa Magica. Also, if I went a bit overboard with the Alices' repetition, please tell me. It'd be something that's easy to fix, and I can see how the amount I have now might be a bit annoying.
