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CHAPTER 11
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Aria was once again alone in the clearing of the frozen lake. It was strange, but she felt that this place was calling out to her. She had asked Sydney about the places in Diamond the prime minister had told her about the main territories. When she asked him about the frozen lake he was surprised that she knew about it but confirmed that it actually existed physically but in the border of reality. He had inquired if she had been there and its state regarding the lake. She had kept that to herself. Now that she knew the rabbit was a roleholder she´d have to be careful what she disclosed. He already knew too much.
This time the sensation was somewhat different, she felt as if this place was "hers" somehow and she could feel her earrings pulsating, probably magnetically and thus resonating with her own components making her feel that.
She took her time examining the barren place before going straight to the shore to one of the big shards that were raised there. Her boots made the ice creak under them as she got close and put her hand on the surface.
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-Ok, if you want to show me something do so clearly. I´m really bad at cryptic stuff. – She pressed when the reflection at the other side was just moving to catch up with her in surprise.
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The figure once again touched the earrings and it was Aria who reached for them not understanding. After a bit of confusion Aria determined that the figure/person or the ghost of all Christmas past wanted her to "turn on" the earrings. It made no sense. Wasn´t the devices active when she wore them? …
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-Think, girl… (Let´s see… what activates or powers them?) –Aria facepalmed.- (Obviously the same thing that powers everything in this world.)
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She then fell herself being pulled towards the reflection and falling somewhere afterwards.
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Ace was standing behind Julius at the entrance of the cave that had held the stairs that had connected the countries in the past.
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-If you wanted to take me to a dark and solitary cave alone Julius, you could have just said so? I know plenty :) - Ace made small circles with his finger in Julius back .
-We don´t have time to waste.- Julius wasn't sure this was gonna work but they had to try.
-Oh? You want it fast? O_o Ok, I would have preferred to take things slowly but if you want me so desperately … :D
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Ace quickly bit the other´s neck on the side while mumbling sensually; He received a hit in the head with a wrench from a flustered mortician because of that.
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-You don´t like me leaving you hikis? You should have said so too! XD How is our relationship gonna progress if we don´t speak this things out. What if she want it slow and likes it rough?
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Julius put his hand on his neck and by the little pain, he knew that Ace had indeed leaved a mark.
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-Ace, this is serious! I want you to go to Diamond and…
-And how am I supposed to go to Diamond Julius? I already tried coming here but it´s blocked. There´s nowhere to reach anymore and no one to execute there either. – Ace´s expression had a serene but fake smile.
-Then you simply have to go to a moment where there was still somewhere to go and someone to kill.
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If anything, at the moment Julius wanted Ace to reach her just so that the knight would be less psychotic. Doing nothing wasn´t Ace´s style and the knave had been acting stranger since the concert event.
Julius had to reckon that the times the knave had gone on adventure with Aria had caused the brunette to be more happy (for real) and stable, and since she was gone, his "friend(?)" had been more lost and needy than normally, which ended up translated as he being harassed by the knight.
They did need her so that clocks could be repaired, but taking that out, her disappearance had been deeply felt, maybe it was because Alice´s game had put on hold all the attraction strength of the potion of hearts for Aria´s game, maybe the fact that Alice´s game had been completed and it had taken forever for it to happen (and secretly everyone was at least a bit jealous of Blood) had strengthened the impulse of the game that they all wanted to win.
Maybe Aria had not given anyone a taste of "love", but she had provided something more, a taste of something different they, especially he, could not exactly describe as he really had little to none idea of relationships or human interactions. Admittedly he wasn´t exactly the most liked person in Wonderland and almost all the interaction he ever got was with some other roleholders like Gowland and Ace, then Alice had come along…. and had go away leaving him. Then Aria had appeared and flipped everything for everyone, destroying what they tough they knew about foreigners (and women) and had made sure to indicate that she didn´t care about human relations either, which was fine with him.
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-(And yet she did opened up in some occasions…)
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She had become more friend to him and Ace than Alice was. In some cases it was more clear; leaving the game aside and whatever jobs she had done, she had become an adventure pal for Ace. Sure, she was (somewhat) crazy too, but that was not it. She liked going camping with the knave and enjoyed the misadventures they ended in (Ace had related all of them… he still couldn´t believe the bear incident … o the angry raccoons…), she didn´t get tired from the long walks and apparently Ace´s inappropriate advances didn´t bother her and neither did his tendency of getting lost (but if you considered that she didn´t seem to mind to wake up with the two of them... half naked…).
It made him blush a bit to think that it was not that someone in this crazy world was perfect for her, but that she might just be perfect for someone in this world… or rather that she "could have been".
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-Oh Julius, what are you thinking? You´re blushing. ;D – Ace said in Julius ear.
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FLASHBACK
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After Alice disappearance was settled when Joker came barging in and claiming that the whore had gone to look for the unicorn seal, the council was dismissed. Things were bad, but now they had become even more complicated. What the prime minister knew the incubus had found out, and he had gone to ask Nightmare himself.
He went back to the tower accompanied by one of the Twiddle twins and leaved the guy at the base to get rid of the attackers. He then waited till he was sure Nightmare had returned from visiting the prime minister in dreams while he pondered on what to do before visiting the other tower to know what the hell the rabbit was speaking about.
Nightmare hadn´t been so cooperative either, but he assured him that what Peter White had said was true.
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-And is that the best for Wonderland too?- Julius was not exactly convinced.
-The prime minister seems to think so, and if he out of all people can trust it then so can we, as long as we get her in time and convince her to let you repair clocks…And don´t tell me you aren´t worried! You can´t stop thinking the possible reasons why she hasn´t left this world already.
-That is unimportant.
-You sound as worried as Grey!
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After that, Julius went back to ponder how they could reach Diamond, it wasnt certain that Alice would get the seal of the unicorn, and they still couldn´t reach Diamond, at least not anymore…
The idea he had at the council came back to him. They couldn´t reach Diamond now, but in the past they had been able to do so, at least some of them and for a motive until it simply became unreachable. And as far as he knew, one of the last persons that managed to go there was the executioner.
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END FLASHBACK
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-Julius? You there?- Ace poked him on the cheek a couple times but without result, so he took the chance to give Julius a kiss in the cheek and…
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SMACK!
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-Ouch Julius, that hurt… But I can take responsibility if you want me to. – Ace said with his stupid goofy trademarked grin and Julius palm imprinted in his cheek.
-I will change the time of the staircase to the point when the other version of me was still alive in Diamond before you accepted the role of executioner. You must find a way to either jump forward to when she is or get us a way to reach her from this side.
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Because time had stopped in Diamond, Julius couldn´t do anything to reach it. But since he could deal with the time of things in Wonderland maybe he could do something regarding a way to reach it to another point in time as close as possible to when she was, but that meant that he needed to stay to keep the passage stable and someone else had to cross. And it might be selfish but Ace was the only person he wanted to go and get her.
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Grey was walking in a careful but fast pace among the shadows of the back streets, away from the battles that still ragged on. He needed to get something quite extravagant and hard to get, but he knew exactly the group capable of getting it for him. If they were still alive, that is.
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FLASHBACK
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-Grey… remembers when we were still in Diamond?- Nightmare asked him after the incubus came back from visiting the prime minister in dreams.
-Yes.
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How could he not remember? The reason he had stopped being an assassin and his current role in Clover were because Nightmare had been called from Diamond to rule this other country and he hd decided to come too and kill his oteher self to take his post. (AN: I made a oneshot story explaining this, it´s called "lizard´s tale" if you want more details.)
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-We cant go the way Alice went. it was Diamond itself who called for her. If I were to get access to a train wagon, if there ever where another train station master or not…. Maybe I can do something to make it work.
-If there is any left in clover or hearts I know how to get it.
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END FLASHBACK
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Oh yes, he knew of a small nameless group that specialized in getting stuff, at least they used to be small.
He stood in what he remembered was one of their bars. It looked closed but he knew it was not. No bar of this kind would truly close despite what was happening outside. He went to the side alley and knocked on the service door. Obviously no one answered.
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-I want something only you can get. – He said completely aware that he was being observed.
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A minute or so later the door opened to let him enter and he did so with discretion.
The inside was different from what he remembered and the business had been very good for what he could see. He was surprised that so many people where inside, all probably pointing their guns at him.
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-So…? What is it that you want? Something that a roleholder in your position can´t get surely must be rare and expensive. – A faceless woman came to negotiate with him making sure to tell him that this was gonna cost him a lot.
-It is. But you are the ones that can get it if I´m not mistaken. Especially since you seem to not be such a small group anymore.
-We got good professional consulting. – The woman said as if it was nothing, but Grey knew what that meant immediately. Aria had helped them somehow and this woman was claiming to be under the foreigner´s good will. A message to any roleholder that messing with them would not go well with the foreigner.
-Indeed. But that is irrelevant to me and to clover.- Grey knew how to convey more meaning to and his words have meant " The foreigner´s association you claim does not impresses me and Clover does not mind your business" . – I seek a train wagon, one of the ones that used to go to Diamond.
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He knew that it was very dangerous to disclose it but he really needed that. It was probably the only real chance they could get to reach the lost country.
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-Huh? Why would a roleholder want that when there´s a war going on in all territories? There is nowhere to scape to. - The woman was keen, but she wanted to ask something too – Tell us first. What happened lady Aria, the 2° foreigner.
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And that was something Grey hadn´t considered being asked. He had known that she had worked for faceless too but no one knew exactly how. They did know about the dancing classes and leasing music, but other than that nothing. However he had seen an improvement in the economy and it had been somewhat similar to the improvements the government (aka: Nightmare´s work… or rather "his" work) had since she started working for them. But it was n time to ponder it, his next works might be what would make this a deal or would close it. So he had to decide if tell the truth or not…
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-The second foreigner fell through the looking glass. – It was unnecessary to say anything more, it was obvious now why he wanted a train wagon for.
-Fine, let´s negotiate and we´ll see if we can get that. As long as you get Miss Aria back. She still has business with us.
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Maybe the ones that had underestimated Aria´s influence had been them.
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Armalite was very anxious. Lady A had fallen unconscious not too long ago and he had left there to get covers and do whatever else he could.
He had been surprised when the bunny came out being a roleholder. He hadn´t think that much about the rabbit having eyes because at the circus there was a stand where people could take a photo with cats that had eyes and costumes. He was told that Joker had created that illusion, and then there were also the bunnies for the magic tricks and the moving postals with pics of animals, so he hadn´t thought much about the black rabbit that the foreigner had used as a pillow and as a pet. At least until he spoke and she got VERY excited.
He remembered Rolf mentioning how she liked weird stuff (and maybe that had been what finally convinced her to keep something like him). And it had been a revelation and inspiration how she had so easily submitted a roleholder to her will and twirled him to her whim. Was that a foreigner power? She even had told him what was probably a secret of the roles. Then she had brought back another roleholder, it was amazing what she could do! Like what she had done to him, it was the most awesome magic ever!
But she had also been somehow upset at it being a roleholder. He knew that she was not happy with the roleholders of Hearts and Clover. He had heard all she said about how they had rejected her in favor of the other foreigner and he had seen how bad had looked. He also remembered that in the kitchen she had warned him that maybe the roleholders wanted to kill her too. Did they want to have only one foreigner? Was that why she had been so sad?
He wanted to give her a nice surprise when she woke up. But what?
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-I know!
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He headed back to get his old bloodstained clothes and then went to the place with the frozen collection where the king had been. She had showed a lot of interest in that dragon, right? Maybe he could get the thing out of the ice so that she could examine it! He didn´t knew if his old clothes still had any of her "mana magic" after Sydney had being freed, but maybe if he used them with the cloth she had used on the king´s ice like she had done, it could work.
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Aria woke up listening to the steady rhythm of a clock´s tick in her ear. Upon opening her eyes she saw that she was top a pileup where Sydney was the king´s pillow and she was using the king´s chest as such. It did reminded her of waking up with Julius and Ace, but less… dangerous? Comforting? Exciting? Weird? Whatever… she was very tired and still very hurt and her brain wasn´t cooperating with her.
She let herself be lost in the comfort of dreamless unconsciousness with one more thing settled. Now she knew what she needed to do if she wanted to solve another mystery of Wonderland and she knew that the place for that was a frozen landscape.
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Sup?
Awwww :3 Julius DO worries about Ace . Maybe only because he is the one that ends up suffering the knight´s harassment XD (I had fun writing that scene, for some reason it seemed funny to me).
But Yeah! Now Ace might have a chance to go to Diamond, from there he just needs to somehow get to "when" she is. And Grey and Nightmare may be on the right track ;)
But what about Alice? Mwahaha, I wonder what kind of crap she´ll face. But we also know that Aria is gonna have a handsome face when she wakes up (Let´s call him… King Popsicle! , no? ) , but what could this King tell her that would be of importance?
Was I the only one that was like – "Oh, oh" O_O " when Armalite had his wonderful idea to surprise her?... well, if it works they´re in it for trouble.
And what about the dodo? As a preview for that… You´ll have Bunsen to blame! (seriously, that kitten is taking too much after it´s owner)