A/N: Updated for formatting reasons. Pay no mind. DISCONTINUED
Dear, Alice
I hope you are well. A lot has happened to us. You might not even remember me, or this world. I hope wherever you are you are happy and safe. Hope you are learning well, growing, eating your greens. I hope that you do know us. I hope you do know about our existence, even if you only think of us as fairy tales. If that is the case, I hope our stories comfort you. I hope you are living a normal life with your father. I hope that someday I will have you in my arms once more. It is all a mother could ask for her daughter. I do wonder, everyday… of where you are. I hope you are well and living the happy childhood we hoped for you to deserve….
In another world, one such as ours, there is a bedroom of a little girl's, Alice's. It is a bedroom that has not changed as much, like the merry town the girl lives in. Motorville was a town of development. Though its people and houses are the same the new and shiny hot rods replace the old jalopies. One of the new hot rods was parked outside the garage of the modest house. It took Alice forever to convince her dad to buy it. Luckily, Uncle Phil had her back. Now, she can tell of her friends about it. Though she doubted her dad would approve.
Alice was in her bedroom. The soft white light made the room feel warm and cozy. Perfect for bedtime. Though Alice didn't want to go to bed. Bedtime is for babies, she had told her father before grudging, after much persuasion, going off to bed. Alice stared at her reflection of her vanity/study table. It had been her dad's when he was little. Though it was a little too big for a five-year-old. She yawned. The room did look a little different than when it was inhabited last. The wall in which the ceiling was slanted on had yellow and white stripes and so did the wall opposite from it. A small foldout table was in the center of the room. It was littered with crayons, stick figure drawings, and teacups for tea parties. Not to mention a book opened to page 394.
Alice, of course, was oblivious of the secret her father had hidden her. Of The Other World. Though she had been born in this one, her mother had been from both actually, she was different. Her father had traveled from both worlds and didn't have a soulmate. The same happened to her mother.
Before Alice was even born, back when her mother was 15, an odd phenomenon happened. It was even odd for The Other World. Esther and Myrtle became one and the same. The same happened to her parents. The experience left the Cartwrights utterly confused. They now had memories of two lives within them. It took a while, but they got used to it. As a matter of fact, they were respected because of it. They had knowledge of another world and added that knowledge to The Wizard's Companion. Though they decided to stay in The Another World. They claimed that they had much more to do there. They also went by their names in The Another World. They sent her father, Oliver back to his world to leave a note that the Cartwrights had moved out of town. Ms. Leila was sadden by this but luckily Phil and Oliver took up the mantle of helping her out. They did this along with their car business.
...I hope you get along with the others in Motorville... As well as you got along with us...
Alice sighed. She wondered when Uncle Phil will "babysit" her again. Last time she checked she was definitely not a baby, but she loved Uncle Phil's time with her. He would teach her about cars and mechanics. He would let her do awesome (though dangerous) things that her dad wouldn't let her do. He would let her take some prototype go-karts for "a spin". Uncle Phil lived for cars.
Alice also liked Ms. Leila. Dad would leave her with Ms. Leila more often than Uncle Phil. Probably because of the "danger". Alice could handle danger. Alice could handle anything! Though Ms. Leila had something her Uncle Phil would never have…. Candy. She loved Ms. Leila's cakes, chocolate, and candy. She would be in a sugar frenzy when Dad picked her up from work.
...Your father will tell you our stories...Stories, Alice. Stories that you have to know for your own good...
Then there was her dad. Dad did had some skills on him. He knew a thing or two about cars and car safety. Dad was also a good cook. The wizard of the kitchen, he would say chuckling. Her also knew a lot of interesting fairy tales. They were tales of Another World, of a boy who was from this world who traveled there to save his mother. Dad never seemed to run out stories. Alice's favorite was when the boy and his companions went to the Fairyground to go into her doll, Mr. Drippy's, mam's innards to find out why the littlies were not being born. Alice thought it was funny. Dad told her the story when she asked where babies came from. She knows the stories aren't real, even her dad tells her so.
...You'll dream of us... You'll dream of me... I hope you remembered your time here.. I hope you find me... I hope you are like me...I know you have my attitude...
Alice looked in the mirror once again. Her red-blonde hair was in two ponytails. One at either side. Her dad made it for her. Alice decided to wait for Dad to come to her bedroom for her to go to sleep. People say that she looked a lot like her dad. They're true, she thought. She had Dad's chestnut hair, though with blonde highlights. She also had his blue eyes. Though her dad had told her that she had a temper as fiery as her hair. That, Dad said, was from her mother. She wondered about her mother. She had dreams of a woman with blonde hair and lighter, blue eyes. Alice wonders if she was her mother. Though every time she reaches for her she disappears.
Alice stared in the mirror once again. This time, she tried to look for signs of the woman in her dreams. She yawned. She was becoming sleepier and sleepier. Then, she heard a scream.
...In time you will have to face a foe much more powerful than all of us... We can only protect you for a while... Trust your INSTINCTS...
It was Dad. Alice ran into the hallway. She noticed a gleam of bright, gold light. It was inviting, like the paper lanterns in her room.
"Mornstar," Alice thought she heard Dad say. He was lying on the cold hardwood ground. His hair was disheveled and his yellow button-down was wet, along with his khakis.
Above him, a woman floated in the air. Though Alice could not describe it or rather, her to an outsider she wore a triangular headdress. Her bodysuit was galaxy purple. Her jet-black cape flowed behind her. It seemed to engulf everything in darkness. Her gloves glowed white. She held a lightning whip her left hand. Her face was the only visible body part exposed. She had a scar going through her right eye, making her eyes mismatched. One eye was blood red with a yellow rimmed iris. The right eye was a sickly yellow, with a red rimmed iris.
Alice saw her for a brief moment until a bright gold light engulfed the hallway again. The gold blinded Alice and sent an electrical shock through Motorville.
...The Great Sages, including your father and I along with close friends will try to keep you safe... We'll mask the extraordinary up...
Alice stared at the hallway again. The bad lady was gone. She stared at her dad, who was completely dry. He was still on the floor. Her nightgown fluttered in the wind.
...TRUST in your father...TRUST your friends...they'll keep you safe...
"A-Alice..." Dad acknowledged her. "Are you alright?" The words did you see that were left unspoken.
"D-Daddy," Alice's voice shook. No Alice, you need to be brave. You need to help Dad, she thought.
"Alice. It's okay, Daddy's fine," Oliver assured, reading the worry in her voice. "It's okay, Daddy just tripped on the loose floorboard when the power shut down."
Alice was still a little unsure. Did she just imagine the ordeal? What happened to the lady? As much as Alice wanted to know what happened to her, she was glad the woman was gone.
"Don't cry now, Alice. You don't want Mr. Drippy to call you a cry-baby-bunting, now do we?" Oliver leaned down to Alice's height. "Do you want to sleep in Daddy's bedroom tonight, sweetie?"
"O-okay, Dad, but only to help you!" Alice replied sounding more confident.
"Of course, sweetie. I'll fix up the floorboard tomorrow. As I told you, no running in the hallways," he gave her his signature bright smile. "Do you want me to tell you a story, or do to sing a lullaby?"
"I want a lullaby tonight, Dad. It will help your knee." Alice suggested. Her voice sounding more and more confident with every word. Then she stared at the other end of the hallway again. She wondered if the bad lady will come back. If that was the case, she would be ready.
...Everything, every lie, every cover up we made is for your safety...
"Did the bad lady hurt you Dad?" Alice asked readying herself.
"What bad lady?" her dad asked. "You better sleep now Alice, your brain might be seeing things." Alice still wasn't convinced. Then, she yawned. Her dad chuckled. He swept her off her feet and carried her to bed. He hummed a lullaby to her in a low voice. Alice was out like a light. Oliver sighed. One day, he would tell Alice the truth. One day, his family would be complete once more. All in time...
The woman who recently fought the Pure Hearted One stood, regally in an Ivory Tower once inhabited by The Witch Queen, Cassiopeia. She gazed into a crystal ball that, like the rest of the tower, belonged to Cassiopeia.
"So," she said in a cold, human voice, "that was the daughter of the Pure Hearted One. Poor little Alice. It has been a while." She finished in cold, seductive, malice.
"Yes, and the protection spells the Great Sage Oliver, and the Great Sage Esther casted upon her will protect her from your wrath, Dark One," a strained, exhausted voice replied with a cold edge.
The Dark One whipped her lightning whip. But before it landed on our exhausted friend it transformed into two jet black king cobras with ruby red eyes. They, like everything else, were out of this world. The snakes hissed in unison. The cobras, in sync, slithered onto the kneeling prisoner. Slithering up, wrapping the prisoner's throat and hands. "Uuugh," she grunted. Her head did not bow.
"Poor... naive little Cassiopeia," the Dark One said in a fake sweet tone. "To think that the one who once ruled this world, was just a sweet little princess who loved flowers." Behind her mask, the dark one was smiling. "I have to say, I expected more from you, dear sister," the last two word were spoken with envy and bitterness.
"Evangelina... Eva, stop! Don't do this! Don't go down the road I walked," Pea pleaded, exhausted. Maybe she could do this. Maybe she could redeem her, like Oliver.
"Enough!" she yelled, causing a shock. "You...you know... Nothing! Nothing of me!" she spat. "You, you grew up as a princess and as a queen! You had magic! Heir of The Wizard King!" she paused, she caused sheer hatred and darkness to anchor itself onto her. "And what did I get! I was abandoned! You wouldn't even know my name if you didn't look in my memory, Witch!"
A bubble of hatred flowed around the Dark One. The cobras tightened their grip on Pea. "No matter. Once little Alice travels to this world, the spell would be broken. Time will unfreeze and I will finally have access to all the Great Sages and their magic. Then I will do a little something that I will do to you, little sis," the Dark One said with malice. She glanced up and down to Pea's kneeling form. She grabbed her by the chin. Then, behind her mask, she smiled.
"I will take their magic, one by one until they are regular sentinels... I will watch them writhe in pain and beg for mercy... Until finally, one by one their magic will transfer to me. I will be the most powerful person alive! And I will rule both worlds... Then, I'll trap them in soulsnares. And turn their bodies in ivory," she smiled, amused at her own dreadful words. Pea, then gazed in her eyes, trying to find some humanity. The Dark One returned a smile.
"Finish her off," she told her cobras. With that, Cassiopeia screamed in pain. Though she did not beg for mercy. The snaked dug their fangs into her throat, sucking up her magic. They started to glow. Though some of the magic was not absorbed. Cassiopeia called on her child like persona to separate from her and go to the other world. There was still a little hope. The Dark One grabbed a soulsnare and took Cassiopeia's soul from her body. She let her cobras slither to her and bite her, gently. With that she received The Witch Queen's power. She smiled, contented. With her new found power, she turned what was left of Cassiopeia into ivory.
"A new time has come. A time where all magic shall be forbidden, a time of order, a time where I shall reign supreme!"
The Zodiarchs stood in the shadows next to her. Delighted, to find a new master to corrupt. It was even easier than they expected. In unison they replied, "Yes, your Excellency."
Back in our world, Oliver sang to his sleeping child. He knew his voice was not as lovely as his wife's he thought he done well. He missed his wife. He missed the others in the Another World. He knew that he couldn't go back. Ever since he frozen time there he was unable to age. He also knew that Alice didn't have a soulmate. A side effect of having both parents without soulmates. Oliver dreads the day he would have to tell Alice the truth. Right now, she thinks that the stories are just... stories. She deserves a good childhood. It was what he and Esther sworn to protect before saying goodbye. The portal could only fit two and Esther was cursed by the Dark One.
Oliver rubbed Alice's now loose hair. He held her tight. He had to. It was all he could do. He had to protect her, no matter how overprotective he gets. That is his vow. A vow his mother took when she raised him. He'll even sacrifice himself to protect Alice. But right now, all he could do was hold her close and never let her go. Soothe her nightmares, tell her to avoid boys, and tell her stories. His child's life is more value to him than his own. "Sleep tight Alice," he murmured as Alice drifted off to wonderland.
Alice,... I want you to know that you are loved. Very, very loved... Be strong. Believe in yourself and believe in others. I will forever hold you in my heart. I hope you do inherit your father's power. His power to heal the broken and redeem the lost. I hope that you always keep your head up and stand proud. I hope you drive cars with your Uncle Phil. I hope you beat the boys in every class. I hope you live well. I hope that someday... my dreams will come true and I will hold you in my arms once more...
Your loving mother,
Esther Cartwright
IM_tempA/N: (14.5.22, 11:59 PM) "But no legit, I'll try to have it done and sent by the morning." A deal's a deal ;)
