Well, the first go around for this story was a bit of a doozy, so I'm going to do it again. I actually think that I had a really good idea (because for some reason there are like no stories with a reincarnation or a self-insert in this fandom, which is a really good idea by the way. But, if there are, I just can't find them, so could you please let me know if there are any? Thank you!) I just didn't execute it properly. I've never actually rewritten a story before, so this is cool.
Chapter 1:
Alice had always wanted to go somewhere else, anywhere else than where she was now. She was aware of how ungrateful it sounded, but when life was monotonous and your routine never changed; it is never too out of the ordinary to request something different in your life. Every day, Alice wakes up, eats her breakfast, walks to work at the local library, and comes home. Nothing ever changes; and nothing new ever happens to her. The only good things in her life are her books.
Every story she read was another way for Alice to escape. Her crummy studio apartment wasn't much in terms of exploration, but, when she picked up those unread pages, her world seemed to tilt on its axis and her mind was set alight with new, wonderous possibilities. Of course, then it was ruined when she had to put the book down. Her current means for adventure was a book of fairytales.
Just like every typical bookworm, every once in a while, she gets a curiosity for information. One day Alice was learning the myths and legends of the world, and happened to come across a massive book of fairytales to place on her ever-growing book shelf.
Alice was currently reading the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. "Such nonsense," she mumbled to herself as she lay on her stomach on the floor of her living room. Alice rubbed her temples for the third time that hour. Her headache was getting worse and she knew part of the reason was staring at these pages for so long, but she just couldn't put it down.
Even though she disagreed with most of the teachings in the book, she still loved it. A book was a story told by someone else; and they were never going to look at things in this world the same way she was.
"Bloody hell," she exclaimed as sharp pain was sent straight to her eyes. She squinted as hard as possible, but no matter how hard Alice tried, the headache that had now progressed into a migraine, would not leave her alone.
In and attempt to alleviate some of the horrid pain in her head, Alice stood to try and close the curtains, but as soon as she did, a wave of nausea and dizziness struck her like she ran into a brick wall. She immediately fell to the floor, letting the pain wash over her as there was nothing for her to do at the moment. Hands cradling her head in distress, Alice laid there until the dizziness became so apparent, that her whole world went black...
She could hear mumbling, that much was certain, but it was as if she were hearing the voices from under water. Some words were sharper than others; and some sounded as if there were words of reassurance. 'Maybe Mother came to visit and found me on the floor,' Alice thought to herself. 'Yes, that has to be it!'
There was no other explanation. She lived alone, except for her cat, and her mother came to visit so often that Alice made her aware of the spare key and told her to 'let yourself in whenever'. She never dated or had any friends, really, so there wasn't ever a chance of an awkward morning encounter.
"Mother," Alice mumbled. The words left her mouth, even though she could barely hear them, but her mouth felt dry, like it was full of cotton. Alice did not, however, notice the absence of her English accent.
"I'm right her, my love." She could hear it from right next to her, but everything still sounded far away.
There were a few more voices somewhere in the room, but it took her a few seconds longer than it normally would for her to notice the slight difference in her surroundings. The more Alice was able to gather herself, the more she realized that the voice of her mother, sounded nothing like her mother. Never mind the fact that the woman would never call her 'my love'. It would have made Alice feel uncomfortable and her mother knew that.
She squinted in confusion and tried to open her eyes. Bright light attacked her vision; and she closed her eyes almost as quick as she opened them.
"Be careful," a man with a deep voice said to her left, "The healer said you hit your head pretty hard. You'll have a lot of dizziness for a few days." Alice tried to sit up, but arms kept her from moving too far.
"I told you riding horses was nonsense. Its bad enough Regina does, but neither of you will find a suitor running around behaving like children," spoke the woman to her right, her mother's imposter.
"Please, dear, lecture her later. She just woke up."
"Fine," the woman said with finality, "but don't think I won't give Regina a stern talking to for this. Just because she refuses to act like a proper lady does not mean that she should drag her sister into all this nonsense." Alice could hear the angry foot steps head towards the other side of the room and a door slam shut.
The man next to her sighed before he began to leave as well. "I suppose I should go and warn your sister. Your mother is on a warpath, although I suppose that's nothing new." The man with the kind voice kissed her head, but his words still confused her.
'Who are these people?' The more she thought about it, the less that any of this made sense. A kind man (so far) and an awful woman were with her when she woke up; and said woman claimed to be her mother.
Alice attempted to open her eyes again and this time wasn't all that bad. A minute increase in the headache when she sat up, but it died down a little as she adjusted. She took this moment to take stock of her surroundings and gather her thoughts.
The first issue was–where was she? As Alice gazed around the room, she could tell it definitely wasn't anywhere she knew. She could see a stone floor and intricate wooden furniture; and when she glanced down, Alice could see that she was on a very large, beautifully decorated pink bed–canopy included.
This brought connected with observation number two: she was wearing a pair of brown, leather trousers and an intricate, purple jacket. However, that wasn't her main concern–even though it wasn't what she was wearing when she blacked out. The issue was, it looked nothing like the clothing that would belong in the modern era. 'Did I just time travel?!' Rationally, she knew this was impossible, but everything she had just witness proved otherwise. Alice was reminded of her favorite quote from "Sherlock Holmes": 'When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains–however improbable, must be the truth.' Was she really in a different time period? But how?
The door across the room burst open rather abruptly and in ran a young, brunette woman wearing an outfit similar to hers, only she wore a light-blue jacket and white trousers.
"Oh! Thank goodness you're alright!" The young woman practically threw herself onto Alice in relief and gripped her so tight Alice felt she couldn't breathe.
"I... can't... breathe," Alice managed to gasp out.
The girl in front of her immediately let go. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" Alice looked at her in confusion, her brain still stuck on how she supposedly time-travelled. "I didn't think Midnight would react that way!" 'Midnight? Who is Midnight?'
"What?" Alice's eyes widened. 'Why is my accent gone?'
"Midnight, the horse you were on when he threw you?" It seemed that the young woman was just as confused as she, but for obviously different reasons. Whatever she was questioning must have been resolved in her thoughts, for she sheepishly smiled at Alice. "Of course," she said as she held Alice's hands in her own, "the healer said you might be confused when you first woke up." 'Way to point out the obvious, Captain!' "I was teaching you how to ride astride the horse with Daniel, instead of side-saddle like Mother wants." Apparently, this mother (from what little Alice has gathered) is not a very kind woman.
Alice took a leap of faith and finished the sentence for her. "And, then I... hit my head...?" The brunette in front of her looked guiltily down at their joined hands.
"Yes," she spoke softly as she gazed at Alice. "I was so scared, I thought you were," the brunette's voice broke as her eyes began to gloss over. She turned her head to the right, maybe afraid she would shed a tear "It's all my fault, I know; and you have every right to be angry with me. I've already been lectured by Mother enough," she looked to her hands again as she began mumbling to herself, "just another excuse for her to use against me."
'Right, I have no idea who these people are or where I am, and no way of getting out of here. Maybe I shouldn't blow it...' "Can you ever forgive me?"
"What," Alice asked distractedly, she was too busy gazing around the room again.
"For hitting your head," the brunette looked at her pleadingly, "Can you ever forgive me?"
"I-It wasn't your fault." That's what people normally say, isn't it? Then again, it probably wasn't. God, what are you thinking?!'
"But it was, I-"
Before she could finish her sentence, the door to the room opened again and in walked an older woman wearing an elegant purple gown. "Regina, please," she exasperated, "You've done enough. Its time for your tea, you're already three minutes late."
The brunette looked shocked–and a tad bit frightened. "But, Mother, I-"
The woman scoffed in apparent disbelief. "How do you think it will look to your subjects if their queen is always late?" 'She's royalty?'
The brunette removed her hands from Alice's and stood to look at the older brunette in front of them. "But I'm not a queen, Mother; and I don't want to be." 'Oh... I see...'
The older woman waved her hand, as if it would erase the statement from existence. "Nonsense, you don't know what you're saying." Her answer was automatic, almost as if this conversation had happened before. "Now," the woman came to sit on the edge of the bed at Alice's right. "King Midas has been made aware of the situation and I am sure he will send correspondence back proclaiming his worries and a lovely gift with the courier." The woman in front of her smiled, but Alice felt that it wasn't entirely genuine.
"Mother, please," the younger woman pleaded from her place by the door, "She's too young-"
"Enough," the older brunette shouted over her shoulder, "You will take your tea in the sitting room like a proper lady while I speak with your sister about her betrothed," the woman said with a serpentine smile. "And don't slouch, its unbecoming," she added as an afterthought.
There was a pause before Regina finally admitted defeat and left the room with her head hanging low. "We don't want you to end up an old maid like your sister now, do we?" The brunette's portrayal of reassuring mother was poor at best, but Alice was more focused on the woman's earlier statement.
'Wait... sister? Is this woman supposed to be my mother; and what did she mean 'betrothed'? I'm nineteen, I can't get married!' The woman in front of her noticed Alice's distress, and placed a hand on her cheek to try calming her down.
"Relax, my love," the smile she gave never changed. "Regina has been filling your head with foolish notions. You're sixteen now, a grown woman; and you need to start acting like one. King Midas is very powerful, and once you have access to that power, you'll be unstoppable."
'Did she say I was sixteen? Is she trying to marry me off to an older man, like in the 1500s? Is that where I am? Hold on... powerful, unstoppable? What kind of mother says words like that to a young girl?'
'Just grin and bear it, Alice, until you can figure a way out of here.' Alice gave a hesitant smile and nodded her head at the woman, but stopped because it started to ache again. "Oh," her supposed mother cried, rubbing the back of her head to comfort her, "You poor dear. What was Regina thinking?" 'She probably just wanted to spend time with me, away from you.' Alice could see there wasn't a caring bone in that woman's body; and maybe she only showed affection toward her because she was made to marry a king.
'Right, here goes nothing. Hopefully she won't kill me.' "M-Mother," Alice asked hesitantly.
"Yes dear," the woman answered as she stood to leave, her smile still false.
"The wedding... I-Its not any time soon, right? I'm only sixteen." The look the brunette gave her sent chills down Alice's spine.
"Whatever ideas Regina has filled your head with about love," she stated with a stern expression, "Get rid of it, dear. Love is weakness, but power–power lasts and eternity." The woman opened the door, but before she could move any further, Alice spoke again.
"You still didn't say when the wedding was."
Her 'mother' looked at her in confusion. "You must have hit your head harder than we thought. No matter, I'm sure it will resolve itself. You know the wedding is in a week, dear." With that final statement, the woman left Alice to stew in her shock as she hurried away to finalize a few wedding arrangements.