Hope your ready for this weeks chapter. It is longer than last weeks chapter and has a lot more emotion than less weeks chapter. Either way, hope you enjoy.
Chapter 38: Torture or memories ?:
Back in Old Corona, Alice looked around her old bedroom. She was trying to figure out where to start in her cleaning. Everything was as she left it years ago, minus the layer of dust covering everything. Her bed was still covered in it's green blanket with a single pillow, her desk underneath the window, the chair tucked underneath the desk neatly. A bookshelf awaited off to the side, completely empty, and a chest awaited besides that. Many shelves lined the room as well, little odds and ends still lingering on them.
"Okay, first things first, time to take care of all this dust ,"Alice said aloud, reaching into the pocket or the apron she was wearing, and pulling out a dishrag.
She started towards her desk and started to wipe it clean, revealing the aged wood underneath all the dust. She started to hum softly to herself as she worked, reaching into her magic basket and pulling out little odds and ends to decorate the desk. When she was done, her desk looked like it had never been abandoned at all. A fresh inkwell sat besides a leather-covered notebook, a feathered quill sitting on top of it. Her mother's music box sat on the other side of the desk and a few more pieces of parchment sat next to that. Alice smiled at her handy work before her eye caught sight of something underneath her bed.
Knowing she had to strip the old bedding anyway, she headed towards her bed and knelt down, reaching for the object. As she brought the strange object into the light she immediately recognized it. The object was a homemade keyblade, made entirely out of wood. It was very basic in design, nothing like the keyblade that Alice had now. However, there were so many memories attached to this blade that Alice couldn't help but smile when she saw it. Her mind flashed back to one of the many times when she and Ballora had spent time together. They had craved their own keyblades that day, using old logs that were too old to use for a fire, so her parents didn't mind the girls using them for a craft. Both girls had smiled at each other's work, looking forward to the day when they would both wield a keyblade. Alice shook her head at the memory, now was not the time to reminisce about old time. Now was not the time to get sad over what had happened, over what might have been.
"What's past is past ,"the keyblade master told herself as she started to strip the bed, planning to wash the bedding later.
Since Alice had come back to Corona, after the Saporian's defeat, Alice usually fell asleep next to her little brother. Her and Varian spent many nights, since their reunion, catching up on all the years they missed. Also, Alice wanted to be there in case either one of them had a nightmare, both from what happened while she was fused as Aurora and the most recent of Varian's kidnappings. Also, with Varian working on many projects, including his most recent of finishing the deciphering the Demanitus scroll, he almost always fell asleep at his desk when Alice couldn't convince him to go to bed. So, Alice was always there to get her little brother to bed, however, she knew it would be better for both of them to sleep in their own rooms as soon as possible. After all, people could get some crazy ideas, even though everyone in Corona knew they were brother and sister, people where just like that sometimes. Besides, the nightmares had been dying down anyway, so they couldn't keep using that as an excuse forever. Also, Alice couldn't deny that she had been longing to clean out her old bedroom, so it was a win-win on both sides.
"Hey Sweetheart, how is the cleaning coming ?"a masculine voice asked from the doorway, causing Alice to turn and smile at the figure there.
"Hey Dad, things are going just fine ,"Alice said, removing her pillow from the bed, just leaving the straw stuffed mattress on the bed's wooden frame.
"I see you found a little memory already ,"Quirin noticed, looking at the wooden keyblade that Alice had put off to the side.
Alice nodded, but didn't look over at the keyblade. She didn't want to look at it, knowing all the painful memories that it would bring up. So instead she just quietly folded up her green blanket, planning to take the bedding outside to wash it.
"Here, I'll take those outside and wash them for you, and I brought the broom in case you need it ,"Quirin said, as if reading her mind, taking the pillow and blanket from his daughter's hands and exchanging them for the broom.
"Thanks Dad, this room could use a sweep along with some more dusting ,"Alice said.
As she turned back to continue cleaning, Alice's eye caught sight of her homemade keyblade again, and a remorseful feeling took over her. Quirin didn't miss the look of sadness in his daughter's eyes, he sighed as he watched her move it off to the side again. He knew this talk was coming, it would be hard, but it was what was needed to be done.
"Do you want to talk about it ?"He started, looking towards the keyblade.
"There's nothing to talk about Dad, I just want Ballora back. I mean, I get it, I was wrong. I shouldn't have kept something like that from her. But, she's not right either and she clearly know that. I just don't get why she won't come back ,"Alice said, shaking her head.
"Go back to the way she was, or back to being your sister ?"Quirin asked.
"Both, there's not a difference between the two Dad ,"Alice said, fiddling with the broom.
"Allison, Sweetheart, listen... siblings fight all the time, believe me I know, but there is a difference between those two things. Ballora is not going to go back to the girl you knew when you were little, and she might not want to be that girl again either. However, she might want to be your sister again, but she will be different. So, would you rather lose her forever by not accepting who she is, or do you want your sister back, even though she may be different ?"Quirin asked, causing Alice to think for about five seconds.
"If she continues to use the darkness, then her and I can never be on the same side. I made a vow to protect the light... I made a vow to protect my family and loved ones, no matter what happens to me... Ballora and I may have been sisters once, but unless she comes back to the light, I don't see how we can be sisters again ,"Alice answered sadly, looking down at the floor.
This caused Quirin to sigh. He knew what his daughter really wanted, but she was placing her duty to her kingdom, and to her family, before her heart yet again. If there was one thing he regretted passing to his children, it was the stubbornness of both himself and his wife. Knowing he couldn't do anymore for now, Quirin turned to leave, taking another look at his daughter before he exited the room.
"What are you planning to do with your old keyblade ?"he questioned.
"I plan to place it in storage, along with all those other old items that torture me ,"Alice said, referring to the stuff that would remind her of how things used to be.
"Is it really torture, or is it a lifetime of memories ?"Quirin asked, leaving his daughter alone to her cleaning, and her thoughts.
A few hours later, Alice's room was dust free. Alice smiled as she place her clean blanket and pillow back on the bed. It was late in the afternoon by now and Alice had just gone out to get her bedding from her father. Varian had returned home hours ago, and he was currently out in the fields harvesting pumpkins with their father. Alice looked around the room, proud of herself for all the hard work she had done. Her bookshelf was now filled with many books, as well as some scrolls of parchment. The shelves around her room now held many little odds and ends that Alice possessed, including her magic basket with infinite storage. She had also found many things from her past, objects that resurfaced old memories. These objects ranged from old pieces of training armor, to an wither flower crown, to pairs of child sized boots, and many other little things. She planned to put all these away in the small room in Varian's lab, the one he had been placed in when Aurora showed her true colors. Varian had told her she could use the empty room, mainly because neither one of them wanted to remember what happened in that room. So, they decide to turn it into a storage space, a spot to place anything they didn't want to see anymore.
Alice knew that the boys would be back for dinner soon, and she had yet to start cooking, but she was almost finished cleaning her room. All that was left was the chest at the end of her bed. Alice sighed and opened it up, looking at its contents. Everything inside of the chest were things from back when she was in school, back when she and Ballora were still-.
"NO! I can't think like that !"Alice yelled in her head, shaking her head and starting to go through the chest.
The first thing that she pulled out was a pile of parchment, each one covered in paint. Everyone one of them showed painting of two little girls, either playing, fighting, or just being together. One of the girls was painted completely in blue, while the other was painted in green. Alice smiled at these paintings, remembering how she and Ballora would always paint after school. She remembered how their dreams filled every parchment they painted on.
Placing the paintings to the side, Alice reached back into the chest and pulled out a homemade pillow, shaped like a flower. Alice then remembered a sleepover she and Ballora had had for her seventh birthday. Her mother had helped the girls make the pillows and the girls had worked hard to make one for each other. Alice had shaped hers like a music note and Ballora had shaped hers like a flower, and when they were down both girls switched. This memory caused Alice to smile and hug the pillow to her chest as she took a deep breath. She could still smell the familiar mixture of shoe polish, roses, and fresh cookies, along with the smell of dust.
Alice merely shook her head again, throwing the pillow onto her bed. Bad memory or not, a pillow was a pillow. With this logic firmly in her mind, Alice reached back into the chest. She pulled out a homemade crown made out of old spoons, covered in paint and fake flowers and gems, cut out of parchment. She remembered a festival that had happened at her school. She and Ballora had been crowned best friends for life and they had made crowns out of old wooden spoons, weathered down by age. The girls had then proceeded to decorate their crowns by cutting out different flowers and gems from pieces of parchment, making their crowns original. They had painted the crowns as well, and now after all these years the paint was peeling off.
Alice placed the crown off to the side and continued to empty the chest, finding an old necklace. It was similar to the sibling charms that she and Varian shared, however this homemade necklace had the words 'Ballora's Best Friend' written on it. The letters painted onto each individual charm, just like the one that Ballora had, except the letters read 'Alice's Best Friend'. Alice held the necklace in her hand tightly as she reached into the chest to pull out the last item inside of it, mentally preparing herself for sad memory that would come up from seeing what was left and planning to put everything in storage before heading to the kitchen to make dinner.
She pulled out the final object, which was a flat piece of wood, or at least that's what it looked like. Curious, Alice turned it over to try to figure out what it was. She found that it was a homemade picture frame, with a homemade painting inside of it. The picture showed two little girls holding hands. One of the girls had black hair and wore a green dress, the other had blonde hair and was wearing a blue dress. On the top of the frame was the words "Sisters by Chance" were written in purple paint, and at the bottom of the frame the words "Friends by Choice" were written in pink paint. Alice remembered the day she had met Ballora. Their first assignment in class had been to create something that expressed who you were. Alice had chosen to paint a picture to give to her new friend. Ballora had been across the room and had made a picture frame, and she had been planning to give it to her friend, then they could work together to make a picture to symbolize their friendship. Both girls had been surprised to see how they thought alike, and had a great laugh over it. They had placed the painting in the frame that very day and had painted the words on the frame in their second favorite colors, promising that they would always live by that quote, and be there for each other, their best friend, their sister.
Alice couldn't hold it back any longer. Seeing this and remembering that first day, the day she met her best friend, her sister, it was all too much. She sank to her knees, holding the picture frame close to her chest, crying her heart out to the sister she lost.
Yes I may have gotten that picture frame idea, and quote, from Disney's "Liv and Maddie", but can you blame me it fits too good! I don't know about all of you but I almost cried when I wrote this, Alice misses her sister so much and yet she things it's impossible for them to be together again. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this weeks chapter and are looking forward to next weeks. See you soon.