ALiCE in WoNDeRLaND
-22-
"You're lucky it was just taken and not used, or else we'd all be goners right now," Miyka'el muttered.
"Wow," I murmured, amazed. "They were really after us." The guys stared at me incredulously. "All this time I thought the Rabbit was just paranoid."
"So, the mirrors..." Nam began.
"Oh, yeah. The mirrors are both in the Queen's castle. Why didn't anyone use them?" I asked.
"They're afraid to. She probably would have sent some magic person through to get you, but they'd be coming from the other direction, of course, and that would just be a waste of time because of all the concrete, so..."
"The Queen knows who I am? She's after me?"
"Not exactly," Aurick replied. "She's after all the magic people."
"And I just happen to be the one that you guys found left in the gutter, when you thought all the others were captured and gone."
"To put it bluntly, yes," Miyka'el admitted, "but there's a reason why you were just thrown aside."
"And what's that?"
"Somebody saved you."
I looked from one Villikin to the next. "One of you?"
"Nope," Miyka'el continued. "Somebody else. Somebody who rescued you and then went back... somewhere else."
"Well, that's incredibly vague," I muttered back.
"Welcome to the story of your life," he whispered sarcastically with a grin.
"How can you smile at a time like this?" I asked him.
"Humor will save us all, you know."
"Yeah," I laughed, disbelieving his denial. At least he wasn't picking on me anymore.
"So, you guys leave, WoNDeRLaND is destroyed while you're gone, and when you come back, you find me, all bloody and lying in a ditch or whatever, and you take me back here, to the Looking-Glass World, to the Glass House, and..." I was confused again. "Wait, why did you guys leave in the first place, if I wasn't in the picture yet?"
"ALiCE, you know, this is a really long story," Nam pointed out. "Why don't we walk a little while we do this?"
The others must have agreed, because we were all walking once again.
"So?" I asked after some silence.
"We were called away," Zale admitted. "By our anonymous benefactor."
I was amazed. "Doesn't that seem suspicious to you, that you guys would get called away right when you were needed the most?"
"We weren't Villikins then," Zione replied. "This was when we were first being trained."
"Who were you before then?" I wanted to know. I just then realized how much more willing they were to talk to me than before. It seems as if they preferred to speak *with* me, as if we were all putting the mysterious pieces together, you know, together, than they enjoyed listening to me question my existence every time they tried to talk to me.
I could tell they didn't want to tell. Maybe they were supposed to keep it a secret or something. I don't know. But they did begin to tell me, and each other.
Miyka'el started. "I used to be a bounty hunter."
"Thief, and er, uh, a merchant," Nam replied.
Aurick shrugged.
"What, no skills?" I teased.
"I was in training," he explained.
"Training to do what?"
Zale and Zione stared at him. These guys seemed to be masters of nonverbal communication.
"What?" I pressed them.
"To become mages," Zale said.
***
-22-
"You're lucky it was just taken and not used, or else we'd all be goners right now," Miyka'el muttered.
"Wow," I murmured, amazed. "They were really after us." The guys stared at me incredulously. "All this time I thought the Rabbit was just paranoid."
"So, the mirrors..." Nam began.
"Oh, yeah. The mirrors are both in the Queen's castle. Why didn't anyone use them?" I asked.
"They're afraid to. She probably would have sent some magic person through to get you, but they'd be coming from the other direction, of course, and that would just be a waste of time because of all the concrete, so..."
"The Queen knows who I am? She's after me?"
"Not exactly," Aurick replied. "She's after all the magic people."
"And I just happen to be the one that you guys found left in the gutter, when you thought all the others were captured and gone."
"To put it bluntly, yes," Miyka'el admitted, "but there's a reason why you were just thrown aside."
"And what's that?"
"Somebody saved you."
I looked from one Villikin to the next. "One of you?"
"Nope," Miyka'el continued. "Somebody else. Somebody who rescued you and then went back... somewhere else."
"Well, that's incredibly vague," I muttered back.
"Welcome to the story of your life," he whispered sarcastically with a grin.
"How can you smile at a time like this?" I asked him.
"Humor will save us all, you know."
"Yeah," I laughed, disbelieving his denial. At least he wasn't picking on me anymore.
"So, you guys leave, WoNDeRLaND is destroyed while you're gone, and when you come back, you find me, all bloody and lying in a ditch or whatever, and you take me back here, to the Looking-Glass World, to the Glass House, and..." I was confused again. "Wait, why did you guys leave in the first place, if I wasn't in the picture yet?"
"ALiCE, you know, this is a really long story," Nam pointed out. "Why don't we walk a little while we do this?"
The others must have agreed, because we were all walking once again.
"So?" I asked after some silence.
"We were called away," Zale admitted. "By our anonymous benefactor."
I was amazed. "Doesn't that seem suspicious to you, that you guys would get called away right when you were needed the most?"
"We weren't Villikins then," Zione replied. "This was when we were first being trained."
"Who were you before then?" I wanted to know. I just then realized how much more willing they were to talk to me than before. It seems as if they preferred to speak *with* me, as if we were all putting the mysterious pieces together, you know, together, than they enjoyed listening to me question my existence every time they tried to talk to me.
I could tell they didn't want to tell. Maybe they were supposed to keep it a secret or something. I don't know. But they did begin to tell me, and each other.
Miyka'el started. "I used to be a bounty hunter."
"Thief, and er, uh, a merchant," Nam replied.
Aurick shrugged.
"What, no skills?" I teased.
"I was in training," he explained.
"Training to do what?"
Zale and Zione stared at him. These guys seemed to be masters of nonverbal communication.
"What?" I pressed them.
"To become mages," Zale said.
***