Redesign

Alice raised her hand to knock on Henry's office only to pause in hesitation. She dropped her fist and began pacing in front of the door. She knew what she wanted and she had practiced what she wanted to say, but now that she was here she was having second thoughts. Not about what she wanted, as she had thought long and hard about it, but she was nervous about her dad's reaction. What if he thought she was just being shallow? Or that this was just an impulsive decision rather than a thought-out choice? She knew Henry wouldn't think any less of her for her request, but he might not understand why she was asking for it and she wasn't she if she could explain it well.

Alice was startled out of her thoughts by the door opening making her freeze for fear for a second, cartoon icicles and all.

"I swear I could hear how hard you were thinking," Henry teased, though his eyes literally glowed with his love for her. "Why don't you come in and tell me what's on your mind?"

Alice unfroze and gave a nod, subconsciously smoothing out her dress as she walked into Henry's office. She and Henry both sat down on the chairs available, Henry patiently watching Alice as he waited for her to speak.

"I… Iwantyoutodoaritualonme," Alice blurted out, forcing herself to speak past her nerves.

"Um… I'm afraid I didn't catch any of that," Henry replied with a sympathetic smile. "You're going to have to say that again more slowly if you want me to actually properly respond."

Alice took a deep breath to calm herself down before saying more clearly, "I want you to perform a ritual on me."

"What kind of ritual?" Henry asked. There was no judgment in his tone, only kindness, and curiosity, making Alice relax even further.

"I… want you to change how I look…" Finally said, though she couldn't look Henry in the eye. "I want to be different than I am now…"

"Is there something wrong with your current form?" Henry wondered, brow furrowed in worry. "Were you affected by Joey more than we knew?"

"Nothing like that…" Alice easily assured. "I just… Ever since I was raised from the ink in this form, it's never felt quite right. Susie was convinced that we just need to fix the flaws in our form and then everything would be perfect and when you helped shaped us like this I did feel a lot better. But I don't think it… fits… Susie wanted to look like Alice as she was originally designed, but I'm not that character anymore. I'm not Susie, but neither am I the Alice that uses to be on screens. The things I've been through and learned aren't something a simple cartoon would be able to cope with. I'm something, someone different and I want my form to reflect that. I'm not asking for any big changes, just some small adjustments to better reflect the real me."

"You've been thinking about this for a long time haven't you," Henry concluded, getting a nod from the angel. "In that case, I'll be happy to work on a redesigned form for you. But… we're going to have a talk with Bendy about this before we get too far in the process. Just so he understands why I'm letting you go through with this when I denied him the same."

"Right…" Alice couldn't help but wince at the reminder. It was pretty obvious how much Bendy had struggled to accept himself after he devoured the Liar's soul and had wanted Henry to change him. He hadn't been able to be around when the others had gone through their rituals and though he was doing better now, springing Alice's change on him would not turn out well for anyone.

"We don't have to do it now if you're not ready," Henry said gently. "But the sooner we talk to him, the more time he'll have to adjust to the idea before we perform the ritual."

"I'd rather we just get it out of the way," Alice replied quietly. She knew if she waited, she'd just constantly fret over it and try and get out what was more than likely to be a complicated conversation.

"Then let's go," Henry said, standing up and leading the way out of the office with Alice trailing right behind. They found Bendy in his room, reading a book by the window with Ink Blot curled between his horns.

"Hello… did you need something?" Bendy asked, looking at the two curiously.

"Actually… we have something we to talk to you about," Henry sitting on the edge of the bed though Alice chose to remain standing.

"…Okay..?" Bendy said in conclusion, shutting his book.

Henry and Alice explained the situation as gently as they could. Bendy had been confused at first, but once he realized what they were talking about he kept his face blank. It was obvious how much Bendy was struggling with the topic though as they could see his teeth and fingers sharpen ever so slightly. When they finished talking, Alice couldn't help but hold her breath worried about whatever reaction the little ink demon would have.

Bendy didn't say anything for a while, just breathing a little heavily like he was trying to keep himself from lashing out in anger or hurt. Henry immediately, scooped up the devil darling, holding him close and telling him everything was going to be alright. Alice wanted to comfort her brother as well but didn't know how to as it was her desires that were upsetting him. Eventually Bendy seemed to get his emotions under control though Henry didn't set him down.

"You can go through with the ritual Alice," Bendy said calmly, though the demon couldn't quite bring himself to look the angel in the eye. "I'm not going to let my issues stop you from getting something you need. I want you to be happy."

"Thank you, Bendy," Alice smiled sincerely. She wanted to hug him but didn't think he'd appreciate it right now. So instead, she just stayed in the room with him and Henry until she knew the little devil would be alright.

Alice and Henry spent the next few days going over various designs for Alice's new form as she tried to figure out what would feel like the real her. Once everything was decided, the ritual was set up with her family gathered around to support her, even Bendy.

Alice's ritual wasn't nearly as dramatic as the ones for the former toon hybrids, just a brief glow that started from the circle and covered her entire form before sinking into her, leaving behind the changes she wanted.

Starting with her head, her horns were shorter than they had been, looking more like her original cartoon design, and the scar on her cheek was gone, though there was now a beauty mark there to serve as a reminder. Like Bendy and the minis, her eyes were now completely gold and her halo had also taken on a slight golden glow. Her dress now had sleeves, though they were short and hung off her shoulders. Both of her bows were a bit bigger and there was a ribbon around her waist now. Her skirt no longer hugged her body but hung loosely and her shoes were now flats instead of high heels.

"It's just what I wanted," Alice laughed, twirling slightly and enjoying how her skirt flared. "It's perfect! I finally feel like… me…"

"You've always been perfect Alice," Henry said, pulling the angel into a hug. "But I'm happy you were able to find something that fit the real you."

Alice just returned the hug and soon the rest of her family joined in, all showing her their love and support Alice never felt more content than how she did at this moment.