Chapter 9: Get to Know

Might be late but Happy Valentine! :D

I've been thinking of a Valentine celebration as a side-story. Though it's late but, hey, I think it may be good for a refresher once in a while. Probably gonna do it for other holidays as well but ehh I'll think of those later.

A quite awesome chapter is coming up so stay tune! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own HNKNA or any characters in it, they belong to Quinrose. I only own my characters and this story.

"So it's normal?"

"Yes. So I suggest you stop thinking right now or I won't give you your water."

Remy whined.

He chuckled.

"Please Doctor Patwick, I'm thirsty!" she said. She flailed her arms toward him.

"If you stop thinking, I will. Pap parapa pap. Parara parara. Pap pap parara.." He danced on the floor while spouting some unknown words, while also holding a glass of water. Her glass of water.

She puffed her cheeks and huffed at him. He laughed.

"Why you know Wemy's head hurt?" she asked.

"I told you I know everything." He said smugly.

"No you don't." She countered.

"I do."

"No you—"

"I'll throw away this glass."

"NO!"

They were silent for a few seconds before it was broken by Patrick's laugh. It was fun to tease her.

She's irritated and thirsty, she knew he knew that, but seeing him laugh made her want to laugh too. So she laughed as well. She was always so easy to laugh.

She was eating her lunch-dinner-breakfast whatever it is—her sandwich, tuna sandwich to be exact, when Patrick asked her name. They had proper introduction then and chatted about each other. His name is Patrick and he's a doctor and a scientist. He said he's half ape. She didn't know what is an ape, she only met monkeys and chimvanjees(?) that looked like him at the zoo. And her siblings never mentioned any other animal similar to monkey. But she took it that he's like from the monkey family tree. He said he likes seafood and fruits, and he dislikes meat. Maybe that's why he bought her tuna sandwich. She asked him if he would like eggs, because she likes eggs and they go well with sandwiches, and he said that he didn't mind eggs.

Then he asked her what she was talking about with Gowland that made her thought so hard that her head hurts. She told him everything. That she never saw an eyeless person before and she wondered about the stwangeness(the word she meant was strangeness, which then he corrected as abnormality) in this world. He answered her questions then and she finally knew where she's currently at, even though she still doesn't understand.

She's in Wonderland. He said that her home is so so far away. She was a bit confused at that part, and after Doctor Patrick explained it again, she wanted to cry. She understood that she's so far away. And being so far away from home, it also means that she's far away from her siblings and will not be able to see them. She loves her brother and sister.

She was sad. But he cheered her up by saying that there's still a way to go home. She asked him how, but he shook his head, and said that she had to find it herself. Her sadness was gone after that, because that means she can get home. She was determined then, that she wanted to find the way to go back home.

He then nudged her plate and said, "And you can't go find the answers if you're starving."

She laughed at that, and continued eating which she unconsciously stopped. Then she resolved to find out more about Wonderland and find a way to go home.

"Tell me more about Wonderland!" she said to the doctor.

The doctor smiled. "Aaaaaanything can happen in Wonderland."

Aaand he told her. The eyeless lady was a normal thing in Wonderland and he said that almost all of the people here have no face, or to be exact, eyes. And then he told her that the thing she thought was 'magic' done by Pierce, was actually a potion(something like medicine he said, but with different effects) called 'Drink Me' potion.

"Drink Me potion can shrink aaaanything. But a different potion can grow you back." He said.

It was so strange, so weird, so... Not normal, for her. But she does not dislike it. She's interested. She felt like she was in a storybook, a fairytale, a dream. It was like a dream. She always dreams of these sorts of things, and she felt that being here was like a dream come true. She wondered if there was any dragon in here, because she likes to dream that she's a female knight who will fight and cut a dragon's head off to save the queen. She smiled at her thought and stopped thinking there when she felt another pulse, then asked Patrick to continue.

Patrick might have told her to stop thinking, but he knew she wouldn't just stop, so he went on with his own knowledge about Wonderland. He's careful not to tell her everything and only mentioned the things around what she had told him. About the faceless, the Drink Me potion, and the time changes, also that he knew Pierce and Gowland, that's all. He couldn't have her thinking so much. Even though it seemed only a few things, he still talked a lot and explained so much about the first three because at some points, she said she still didn't understand.

But in the end, it seemed that she's able to accept it even though she still didn't really understand. And he was glad that she looked like she stopped thinking after that. Even though he knew she's stubborn, at least it wasn't as hard as it was before. He could only wonder how many stinging sensations she felt inside her little head after all that thinking. But he didn't get mad at her. She didn't need that.

Now back to present time.

"Please please please Doctor Patwick... Wemy's thirsty." She begged, her lips pursed a bit and her brows dropped a bit.

Patrick smiled at her, "Eheheh... Here you are. Drink slowly though."

She smiled brightly when he finally gave her the glass. She started chugging the water down. Err... Slowly... Gulping it down.

Patrick sighed exasperatedly. "Rebel Gemy. What did I just said?"

Her smile grew. She continued gulping until the content's empty and sighed happily.

"Sorry doctor! I'm berry thirsty!" she smiled happily at him.

"Very. Very." He corrected. "Now get some rest. You still need it. You can walk around the infirmary after you wake up." He took the glass and plate.

"Okay!" she exclaimed. She made her pillow herself as Patrick stood beside her bed and watched her.

She put one of the pillows on the end side of the bed, just a few inches away from her feet, before laying her head on the other one. She glanced at the window, noticing the time change, then looked at Patrick and smiled.

"Good evening!" she said.

Patrick smiled cockily, "Get the hang of it? Good evening Memy." He walked out the door.

"Oh! I forgot!" she yelled.

"Ehh? What what?" he turned back.

She sat up and looked at him with worried look. "Piws's hat!"

"Oh. It's on the coat hanger." he said calmly.

"Can I have it pwease?" she asked.

He frowned. "It's dirty." Well it smelled like dried blood. Faintly though. But he can't tell her that.

"It's okay... It's Piws... I want to see it. I have to give it back."

"It's dirty, girly."

She pouted her lips and gave him a very sad look. He noticed at her expression changed and grimaced.

"Alright alright. Wait here." He went out the door.

Remy stopped the act and grinned. She's a good actress, isn't she? But she put them back when he came back, a black hat with silver decoration in his hand. She recognized it as Pierce's hat and smiled softly.

"Thank you doctor." She said, after Patrick slipped the hat into her grasp.

"Hm." He responded. "Now rest, Lemy. Or I'll lock you here." He said, scratching his cheek fur.

She looked at him, frowning, "You won't do that."

"I can."

"But you won't." She countered.

He blinked his eyes with bored expression and suddenly ran to the door. Remy immediately screamed, fearing he would reeeaally lock her in here. And he stopped at the door and looked at her with serious look. She blinked at him with a pouted face. They were silent for a few seconds and Patrick raised one of his eyebrows.

She blinked. Right right, rest. She got it. She laid her head back on the pillow and turned to her side as she put that hat beside her pillow. Then she closed her eyes.

"Good evening Pemy." She heard before the door closed.

Gemy, Memy, Lemy, Pemy. He's not going to get it right isn't he? And he said he's a doctor. They did have a proper introduction, but again her mistake lied in the pronunciation. She'll correct him next time. She yawned and soon, she fell asleep.

"Will you forgive me?" Nightmare said.

Alice looked at him but didn't answer. She was still irritated.

She was told that the little girl, Remy, really is an outsider like her. She was also told that the hole 'opened itself' without him 'knowing'. Resulting in the little outsider to stumble into it and hit her head on a tree bark at the end of her fall. It was a luck that she fell in the forest near Clover Tower and a guard on patrol spotted her.

Alice narrowed her eyes at the caterpillar. She didn't know why she felt he's still somehow lying. If the hole opened and the little girl fell into it, then Peter might also be the culprit who brought her here. He was, after all, the one who brought Alice here the first time. And it was against her decision either. She waited for Nightmare to say something about her deductions because she knew the caterpillar could read her mind easily.

Nightmare did read her mind. But he was silent because he was carefully choosing his words. He was trying to lie to her again. He couldn't make Alice hate Peter, no, it's a rule he set for himself that no outsiders who joined the game should hate Peter White. If it's playful hate like simple agitation or irritation and self-proclaimed hate without reason, it's fine. But it's hate hate. The white rabbit has an important role in the game. And he can't let that happen to him.

He thinned his lips before answering, "Peter White has nothing to do with this, Alice. The hole opened by itself. I wasn't aware. If you want to blame someone, blame me." He tried to look guilty. Sorry Alice.

Alice was silent the entire time. She's deciding whether or not to believe Nightmare. His words didn't seem trustable, but he could be a trustworthy fellow and he's the one who supposedly knew about the hole. But she just couldn't get that feeling out of her. If Peter had nothing to do with this, then why did he look so sad before the Assembly? Well he could be sad because of other reasons, but Alice felt that whatever the reasons were, somehow they're connected to this. But she couldn't just accuse Peter or Nightmare. What if she's wrong? She'll feel guilty because she accused them for something they didn't do. But Nightmare looked like he's feeling guilty enough. Could she trust his words? They only met a couple times, and when they met, he spoke in somewhat riddle like at the end of it. But mostly, he spoke the truth. She focused her eyes again on him and contemplated her decision.

Pierce stayed silent. He didn't know Alice would be this mad not knowing Lemy's a foreigner. If he knew she would be like this, he would've told her when they met at the forest. Little did he know it's not going to be much different than this. He thought he's the one guilty here because he lost Lemy. But apparently, looking at the situation and Nightmare's facial expression and gesture, Nightmare's guilty too.

Gray studied the atmosphere well and listened to every single word his master had said. He knew it wasn't the truth because he was there when the white rabbit brought Remy in. But he needed to match his master's story should Alice asked him. He didn't like lying to Alice, but if it needed to be done, he will. He gazed at Alice's face and found her still quiet in her seat with a hard expression on her face. Somehow he could understand her feelings, but he silently hoped that she would believe his master's story. He watched as Alice closed her eyes. A minute later, she opened her eyes and her expression turned softer.

"I believe you."

She actually believed it? Gray looked at her with unbelievable feeling inside him, but he kept his stature still and maintained his usual expression. He glanced at his master and waited for his answer.

Nightmare gazed at Alice. After a few seconds, he offered a soft smile. "Thank you."

Alice smiled as well. But she gave an annoyed look after that. "That still didn't answer my question. Why didn't you tell me?"

Nightmare put on a pout and looked away, "I'm afraid you'll get mad when you saw her injured."

"I'll be more than mad if she's injured and you kept me in the dark."

Gray felt bad lying to Alice. But he was glad she actually bought that. He decided to join in to ease the atmosphere.

"We're sorry Alice. It was a simple matter, but we're too scared to tell you." Gray said apologetically.

She sighed and looked at him. "It's alright. At least she's alive. But now I'm very worried. She's still injured. She must be very scared now." she looked away with a frown.

Pierce offered a gloomy expression as well and spoke up, "Yes chu! She must be so very scared right now and calling for us! Oh Lemy..." his expression sad.

"Remy. It's Remy. Short for Remilia. Not Lemy." Nightmare corrected.

"But I called her Lemy and she didn't protest chu." Pierce said.

Nightmare ignored Pierce and touched his own forehead. Problem with Alice solved. He just have to visit the white rabbit later to match the story. It's a good thing Peter kept it all to himself until now. He silently thanked that rabbit. Now Remy. He tried to sense where she's currently at, but he can't find her. He could sense Peter in the castle, but he couldn't sense Remy anywhere. Is it because that she's not part of the game? Nightmare bit his lip. This is bad. He's very worried.

Alice looked at Gray, "Have you searched everywhere in Clover?"

Gray nodded, "Yes. I even widened the searching area."

Alice sighed. "I hope we can find her soon."

Nightmare looked at Pierce, "Pierce."

"Yes chu?" Pierce answered.

"When you left her, was she—" Nightmare stopped and suddenly stayed still.

The other three in the room noticed his pause and looked him.

Nightmare narrowed his eyes after a few moments before slamming them shut and bit his lips. The other three watched as Nightmare's expression morphed a few times from one to another. Then they saw as a tear slid down his cheeks and he smiled softly. This happened for a few minutes before Alice spoke up.

"What is it Night—"

"Shh." Hushed Gray.

Alice looked at Gray, who had his forefinger to his lips and shaking his head, then to Pierce who kept his lips shut. She decided to stay quiet and waited until Nightmare recovered from whatever it is.

Nightmare was like that for about fifteen minutes before he finally opened his eyes.

"She's at the Amusement Park. Gowland took her in."

Bright expression adorned their faces.