I'll be honest. I'm too sure on how to write Vivaldi's character. Blood...I have a better grasp on, but Vivaldi almost completely escapes me. DX I'm trying, though. I know she favors adorable things, such as stuffed animals and Alice, and likes having tea parties in the evening. That's all I really know. XD

"Eh!? Is that Alexis we see?" I froze, whirling my head around in alarm to see Vivaldi. She was the last person I expected to see in town. I always thought she hibernated in the Castle except for the council meetings. "We have not seen you since the Assembly! When were you going to visit us?"

"Um, I-I was on my way there, actually." At least until I bumped into Ace. And with you here, I really have no reason to go at all! And-no Peter? Indeed, there was no Peter White...So, no shootings. Yes! "H-Hi, your majesty."

"Please, call us Vivaldi. We call you Alexis."

"R-Right...Hey, nice outfit!" Vivaldi looked especially pretty today in her casual clothes. Her curly hair was down and she was wearing lighter make-up than usual, though her lips were still painted ruby red. "You look really nice today." She looked surprised at my heartfelt compliment, and her red lips spread out into a smile.

"Thank you, Alexis. We return the compliment. Though, perhaps..." I tilted my head in confusion, looking up at her with furrowed eyebrows. Her eyes glinted and a blush spread across her cheeks as she clapped her hands together, "We think you are so cute! Simply adorable!"

"H-Hah!?" I was alarmed when she exclaimed that and suddenly tackled me. My face flared red and I grew increasingly uncomfortable when I realized she was pressing my head against her rather large chest. "V-Vivaldi!?" This was awkward.

"We must go shopping together! You must tell us how you get such frivolous men to bow to your will! Men are such foolish creatures; We admire your strong will!"

"Oh, uh...thanks? I-uh, admire your beauty?"

"Oh, but you are such an adorable thing as well! We simply must see you dressed up!"

...Shit. What is up with all these people wanting to stick me in dresses? I looked up at the woman stunned, and asked, "Wh-What do you mean?"

"We must go shopping!"

She's joking, right? I already have more than enough clothes to last me a lifetime! I had, like, ten dresses and twenty shirts and pants each. These "Wonderlanders" are going to be the death of me. Wait; I already used up the money Nightmare gave me, so therefore... "I don't have any money, so-so I can't buy anything...I can help you pick out stuff though." Vivaldi looked appalled and I flinched, realizing I said something bad. "I-I'm sorry!"

Please don't kill me...

"Has that foolish Incubus given you nothing!? A girl's ultimate desire is to look the best, and yet he gives you no money to dress up? Why, we shall have his head!"

"No! I-I mean, please-please don't kill Nightmare?" I flinched again. Damn. I had never realized just how difficult it was around her. "He-He's my friend and-and, well, I'll cry if he dies..."

Vivaldi stared down at me for a moment with her lips in a thin line. Her violet eyes were probably gazing into my soul at that moment before she smiled. "Very well. We shall not kill the Incubus. We, too, know the feeling of caring for another and thinking them irreplaceable. Now come, let us go enjoy ourselves. We shall pay for anything you wish. We are the Queen, after all. Anyone who goes against us shall lose their heads." She grabbed my hand and I was left to follow the adult.

For a moment, I questioned where the guards were, before sighing and figuring that Vivaldi sneaked out of the castle. "Uh, so... what are we doing, exactly?"

"We must get you some proper clothing! A girl should not wear such dull rags!" I frowned, and as we walked, looked down at my outfit. I didn't see what was wrong with it. Yeah, I was covered in cat hair, but... I was wearing my gray jacket overtop a black shirt, and was wearing a pair of black jeans with my red sneakers. I didn't see what was wrong with it. It wasn't cute or anything, but it was clothes and that was all I really cared about. "We shall help you!"

...

"Oh, this is so cute!" Vivaldi squealed, a blush on her face as she hugged the cat toy to her chest. "Is there anything that catches your eye, Alexis?" She looked at me curiously, as I was looking around with a scowl on my face. I couldn't find it anywhere, not even in the pile I found it in before. I figured it would still be here since it was the same store, but... someone must have bought it already during the few time turns I was gone. Children loved stuffed animals, particularly little girls. Who was I to say no to that?

"Not...particularly. They're all cute, but..." I felt more...myself around Vivaldi than Alice. Maybe it was because Vivaldi liked cute things, like stuffed animals, and wasn't afraid to show it. However, that didn't mean I didn't try to hide my disappointment at the missing bear. "Nothing really catches my eye."

"Ah, that's a shame. We would have gladly bought you something."

...Yeah. As if the two dozen bags you made a random person carry as they followed us around wasn't enough. And what's worse? They're all full of clothes and hair products. She's going to be guilt tripping me into wearing them, I can already tell. I barely managed to escape back into my clothes, as she had made me wear this really frilly black-and-red dress that she found. It was cute, but it...looked strange on me. I didn't look bad, but I didn't look like me. I looked like someone else. I didn't like it. The reflection looked like some little girl was trying to play dress up and make herself look younger than she really was.

"We are still disappointed that you chose not to wear the outfit we got you..." Vivaldi continued, frowning lightly. "You have such a figure, too. We would have liked to see you dressed up some more."

"Um...Next time I go to the castle, I'll-I'll make sure to wear it, okay?" Vivaldi brightened up a little and smiled down at me.

"Of course! You are absolutely invited to our next tea party." I tensed a little, having a horrible image of someone dragging away my headless body from a guillotine. I did not want to have my head chopped. I'm sorry, but I wasn't eager to tick off the Red Queen. I quite like living, thank you.

"Uh, when-when is it?"

"It'll be head during the fifth evening time period. Don't be late."

"O-Okay. I-I got it." Please don't kill me. "Now, uh...you like stuffed animals?"

"Indeed! Aren't they just the cutest? By the way, what is your relationship with the cat and mouse?"

I wasn't too sure how to answer that. "Well, uh, Pierce is my best friend and Boris...I think he's one of my friends. I'm not-I'm not too sure. He called me his friend once though, so I think we are."

"Really? We find that really interesting. One usually favors one over the other, yet you befriend both? We are impressed."

"Oh, uh, it's-it's nothing to be impressed over..." I don't see what was so impressive about befriending two people who were practically mortal enemies-Okay, never mind. I get it now. "Ah...It's been two time periods. I should get going." I said, looking out the store window at the evening sky.

Vivaldi pouted. "So soon? But we had merely started! Ah, very well...If you must. But you must come to the tea party. We won't start without you. We should get going as well. Executions await like always...Good day, Alexis."

The Faceless quickly scurried over and handed me my bags, before fearfully following Vivaldi towards the Heart Castle. Poor guy... I thought as I shifted the bags in my arms, trying to hold them all at once. I never understood why women loved shopping so much. It was just a hassle.

However, as I was walking out of the town, I passed by a certain alleyway and stopped, turning my head. The bags nearly fell out of my arms as I stared in silent horror at the sight before me.

Pierce had a completely blank look on his face despite being covered in blood, kneeling down and twisting a knife brutally in a half-dead man's chest. The man let out a small cry, but was abruptly stopped when Pierce pulled out the knife and slit his throat, frowning with dark eyes. The color red dyed them both crimson, puddling around them like a sea of blood.

Obviously an exaggeration, but it was really bloody.

I wasn't even too sure what I was looking at. Pierce was kneeling next to a man he had just killed, and appeared completely unaffected. He twirled the knife in his hands and scowled, muttering to himself as his ear twitched in annoyance. He looked like a whole different person. Pierce then froze and shot his head up towards my direction, fear written in his eyes before he visibly relaxed seeing that it was only a silhouette. I don't think he knew it was me. I knew it was him, though.

I still couldn't get my voice to work. I could only watch as Pierce stood and held the knife in his hand and slowly started to walk this way. I was frozen. It was only when he broke out into a really fast run that I let out a scream and threw the bags I was holding at him, turning tail and running for my life. I heard him grunt, but Pierce's footsteps were so quiet that despite him chasing after me, I couldn't hear his boots clapping against the ground.

Unfortunately, before I could even get out of the alley, I ended up stepping on one of my loosened shoelaces and tripped, screaming as I fell against the cold concrete. I quickly whirled onto my back and held my hands out in front of me, screaming at Pierce to stop as I squeezed my eyes shut.

All I could hear was the clanging ear-piercing noise of metal hitting metal, and a man cursing loudly about a gravedigger. Breathing shakily I opened my eyes, feeling my heart race rapidly in my chest from fear and adrenaline. I watched in confused horror as Pierce stabbed a man straight in the chest before bringing the knife up to the man's shoulders, deepening the wound, and raised a foot and pressed it against the man's stomach, knocking him onto his back and freeing his knief. The man was crying out in pure agony at this point and Pierce quickly knelt down, pressing the tip of the blade against his throat.

"Why were you following Alexis?" I held my breath, unable to comprehend everything that was happening. It was happening way too fast. "Answer me." He pressed the knife against the man's throat, drawing blood.

"Fuckin' Incubus' whore-!" He growled, coughing and causing blood to bubble up out of his mouth as Pierce sliced him in the arm. "We'll get her! We'll get that damn foreigner and there's nothin' you damn Mafia can do about it-!" The man's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he clamped his mouth shut, obviously sensing that Pierce was going to gut him if he screamed. Pierce slowly dragged the knife down the man's chest, over his wound, and waited for the man to explain himself. "She-She..." Pierce stabbed his leg. "She's close to the Incubus-! We-We want to hurt him, just please, stop-"

His screaming came to an abrupt stop as Pierce stabbed him in the forehead.

I...I've never-Pierce just...

Pierce scowled and turned his head to look at me, frowning as he furrowed his eyebrows. He looked like he didn't know what to do.

...I threw shopping bags at Pierce. Pierce was running in my direction because there was a guy behind me. That guy...was trying to kidnap me? Pierce saved me...and I threw shopping bags at him? And holy shit Pierce just killed someone. Pierce just...goofy, silly, adorable, cute, cry-baby Pierce just killed someone...He stabbed them, interrogated them, and killed them...

And I had thought that he was going to kill me...

Well, damn. He really is Mafia...and good hell, Elliot wasn't kidding when he said Pierce often interrogated and killed people.

...Fuck. I hate using that word but...

Damn.

"You okay, Alexis?" I lifted my head up and found myself staring into the forest green eyes of Pierce.

He was a crybaby and a member of the Mafia. I-I need to-I need to remember...Role...Role-Holders can't ch-choose their roles, so-so Pierce...? Instead of comforting me, it just made it worse.

"A-Are you-Are you scared of me now?" He looked disheartened and like he was going to cry. "You-You hate me now..."

I opened and closed my mouth multiple times, just sitting there without realizing that Pierce had me sit up, his hands cupping my cheeks. "You...I...I thought..." Shopping bags. I blinked, stuck in a dumb stupor and unable to think properly. "I...I threw my shopping bags at you..." Pierce blinked and frowned, before wiping his bloody hand on a clean part of his jacket. He then reached up and made me close my eyes, saying,

"Keep them closed until I say open, okay? You don't need to see this." I didn't argue when I felt him move his hands away from my face, but I tensed when I felt something soft and warm press against the corner of my eyes. "No crying. I don't like seeing you sad-Chuu!"

"S-So-Sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry..." I was mumbling softly, trying to hold back the sob that wanted to rip out of my throat. Despite knowing that Pierce was covered in blood, I still wanted to cry and hug him and cling to him for comfort. I just wanted him to hold me. "Sorry..."

"Eh, no crying! No crying-Chuu! Why are you sorry? Just wait here for me, okay?"

"O-Okay-Okay...yeah. Okay..." My voice squeaked a little and I bit my lip. I think I was scared. Not really of Pierce, or what he could do, but more of what he did. "I'm not going to-I'm not going to cry..." I felt a hand caress my cheek and a warm pressure on my forehead.

The warmth near me suddenly vanished as I felt Pierce pull away, and I listened intently for footsteps. I heard none, but I knew Pierce was walking about. I heard chopping-like something you hear when you're dicing up meat for dinner before it's cooked. It disturbed me a little. It took a few minutes, which in my opinion felt like forever, before I felt a finger tap my forehead lightly.

"It's okay now. You can open your eyes." I did so and blinked a couple of times, tears blurring my vision. I blinked them away, managing not to shed any, and saw Pierce staring worriedly at me. I stared at the blood on his face, briefly wondering if any of the blood was his. He caught me staring and smiled, saying reasurringly, "It's okay. It's not mine." For some reason, hearing that made me relax a little. I was still tense however. "Ah..." His nose scrunched up a little. "You still smell of cats."

"Y-Yeah...S-Sorry, I-I know you hate them. B-But Gray-Gray keeps finding them and-and bringing them and..." And...what? "I-I needed to buy my allergy medicine." I'm amazed that I was still able to talk. Pierce tilted his head, staring at me with a cute confused look on his face.

"Allergy medicine? Are you allergic to cats?" All I could do was nod. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tilted my head, looking for the dead man. The only thing there was to show any evidence of there ever being a dead body was the blood.

"Wh-Where'd it go?" Pierce blinked at my question. "Where'd he go? He-He was right there-"

"Oh! Don't worry about that! I took care of them, see? See? I'm a very clean mouse! I'm nothing like a rat!" I didn't know what to say to that. I then noticed something out of the corner of my eye, and saw two very very bloody suitcases. He noticed. "Hm? Ah, I have to bury them later. Then we can go to my house and get you all cleaned up-Chuu!"

"How..." He stared down at me curiously. His eyes then widened in surprise when I reached up and grabbed the lapels of his red-stained jacket, pulling his face down close to mine so I could glare at him, "How are you so calm about this!? Get me cleaned up? I'm not the one that's covered in blood! Were you-Were you hurt anywhere? Did that guy get you? What-What about the other guy? Th-The one before I came? How-How did you even know it was me? I-It was dark! Why-Why were you even killing him in the first place?"

"Why? Because Blood told me too." My glare faltered, and I knew was going to break soon. My grip on his jacket loosened a little.

"Wha-What about-What about the other guy then?" S-Something about Nightmare... and kidnapping me. Did...Did he...?

"He was going to hurt you." He said calmly and then said with a worried frown, "It's not safe for you to go to the town alone now, okay? He said people are after you. We need to go now, Alexis. Can you stand?" I blinked. I hadn't thought of that. Could I stand?

Pierce pulled away from me and held out a hand. I stared at it for a moment, looking at the blood on it, before ignoring my disgust and disturbance and grabbing it. I let out a shout when he suddenly yanked his arm up, pulling me onto my feet and sending me stumbling towards him. He wrapped his arms around me in response before grabbing my shoulders, holding me steady. My mind went blank for a moment before I pulled away, holding my arms out to catch my balance. I waited for a few moments before saying,

"Y-yeah, I-I can walk." He frowned in response but nodded, acknowledging what I said. "O-Okay...Wait, where are my bags?" I spun around, looking for them frantically. I don't want Vivaldi to kill me all because I don't show up in one of her dresses that she bought me. I found the multiple bags spread around the ground, some of the dresses having fallen out of them and soaking up blood. I flinched. Good thing they clean with the time change... I groaned and flinched when the dress collapsed against my hand, covering my hand with red. I quickly shoved it into one of the bags and scowled, feeling chills go down my spine as I picked up the rest of the bloody articles of clothing and stuffing them into the other bags. There were four bags in total for me, two-to-three dresses in each bag.

If Vivaldi and Alice ever paired up and went shopping...God knows how much they'd buy together.

Pierce scrunched his nose up for a second, obviously not liking the fact that I was now covered in blood, before gaining a serious face. Picking up the two bloody suitcases, which I'm certain the dead bodies were in and dismembered, Pierce looked at me and said, "This way. Be careful, okay? His friends might be somewhere nearby, so stay close."

Not wanting to argue with this side of Pierce, I quickly stumbled towards him and grabbed his jacket sleeve, causing him to stare at me in surprise before smiling. I liked that smile. It was better than the serious look he held before... I made sure not to bump into his jacket as he led us into the woods. When we were a good ways into the woods and away from the town, he told me to sit down and wait by a tree. I didn't argue as I sat down, pulling my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around my legs. I watched him dig a hole in the ground for a while before looking at my dirty hands.

The blood had dried already... It smelled horrible. I didn't like it. How has Pierce put up with this? With him being a mouse, his nose must be really sensitive...

It took about ten minutes before Pierce was finished. I refused to watch him dump the insides of the suitcases into the hole he dug. I just closed my eyes and waited for him to tell me he was done. I opened my eyes when I felt hands get placed on my knees. Slowly, I lifted my head and stared up at Pierce, seeing him frowning at me.

I froze when he suddenly leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine, before pulling back and placing a kiss against the tip of my nose. "P-P-Pierce?" His ear twitched again and my left eye closed when he reached up and gently kissed the edge. Pierce looked sad as he cupped my face with his hands, saying,

"Please don't cry, Alexis...You're cuter when you're smiling." Oh, yeah, rub in the fact that I'm ugly when crying. I'm sorry that I'm not you or any of the other role-holder...

W-Wait, what? He-He said...what?

"Stop crying...Please stop crying." My shoulders tensed when his arms suddenly wrapped around me, pulling me into his chest. "I...I don't know what to do when you're crying either..."

My bottom lip trembled as I reached up and gripped his jacket sleeves. I felt him kiss my forehead. P-Pierce...why...W-Why were... I-I was scared...

I didn't realize it until now, but when Pierce suddenly charged that man with such a small knife, I... "I-I thought...you-you were gonna..." He rubbed his hand on my back comfortingly, and it didn't take long for me to completely start crying. "I thought he was gonna hurt you!" Pierce tensed as I said that, surprised. I raised my fist up and bopped him upside the head, causing him to flinch and pull back in confusion. He looked at me in shock when I started to glare at him. "What-What the hell!? You-You can't just charge someone like that! Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid Pierce!" With each "stupid" I said, I punched him in the chest. He appeared unaffected by my acts of violence, but he still looked down at me stunned. "You're so stupid! Stupid, idiotic, retarded, stupid, stupid Pierce! You're so stupid! Don't-Don't go trying to get yourself hurt! You're so STUPID!"

...I wasn't feeling creative. Sue me.

Before I could hit him again, he grabbed my hands and wrapped his fingers around mine. I struggled, still trying to hit him despite the tears streaming down my face. "No! Let go, let go, let go! I'm not done beating you up yet! You're a freaking idiot! Stupid Pierce! You're so stupid! Why did you do that!? Just how dumb are you!?"

"Eh? S-Stupid?" He looked alarmed at my words. "I-I was protecting you!" I opened my mouth to retort, but found I couldn't come up with a good enough insult, or even a decent reply. All I could really think of was Stupid Pierce. Idiot Pierce. Stupid, idiot Pierce!

"S-Still! You-You..." I frowned and bit my lip, before turning my head and scowling. I think my face heated up, but since I was crying it was red to begin with. "I...I was wor-I was worried about you, okay? I..." He tilted his head, waiting for me to finish. His ear kept twitching. "I was...scared." Ugh. This was humiliating. I hope stupid Pierce is happy now...freaking jerk.

Stupid...

"You-You were?" He asked, before a smile spread across his face along with a light blush. I looked at him in confusion, wondering why his face was so pink. "I'm so happy-Chuu~!"

"Hah-!?" I was about to question him and his sanity, but he quickly lunged forward and wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tightly before planting multiple kisses on my face. "H-Hey, P-Pierce-" I stammered, feeling my heart start to pick up the pace again, "S-Stop that-" His lips pressed against mine. "Pierce!" My jawline. "Q-Quit it!" He kissed my nose. He finally pulled away after planting one last kiss on my forehead, saying in realization,

"Ah! We still need to get you cleaned up-Chuu! There's a bath at my place that you can use!"

Before I could ask what he was doing, he pulled out a vial from his jacket and popped the cork, telling me to close my eyes and hold still. "Wh-What are you-?" I started to ask, doing as he said, before feeling the liquid get sprinkled on me. My eyes shot open, crying out in horror when Pierce suddenly started to get bigger. And the trees. And the leaves. And the shovel... "What the hell is happening to me-!?" I felt like breaking down into another wave of tears. I was so confused. I had no idea what was happening. "Pierce!?" I looked up and screamed, seeing a ginormous hand reach down and pick me up by my jacket hood. I screamed, kicking my legs frantically as I grabbed onto the index finger and thumb of the hand. "HELP MEEEE! GYAH! S-Set me down, set me down-! I-I don't wanna die-!" The ground was so far below me now. I kept screaming as I started to cry again. I was terrified of heights.

Suddenly I found my feet placed against something soft, and froze. I stopped screaming and closed my mouth, looking down slowly at a peach-colored palm. Slowly, I released the fingers and felt my hood go back down into its usual place as the fingers released me. I got down on my knees, crawling over to where the fingers were and clinging onto them as I looked down.

The blood drained out of my face. We were...really really high up... I squeaked in horror and threw myself back onto the middle of the hand, curling into a ball and hiding my head in my arms.

"You're so cute-Chuu!" ...Why did his voice sound so much more loud? Tentatively peeking my head out, I screamed in shock at the sight of Pierce's giant ass face staring at me with a smile. "Wh-Why did you scream like that?" He looked like he was gonna cry. "Y-You can't get into my house if you're regular height..."

"Wh-What did you do to me!?"

He blinked at me. "I used a "shrink me" potion-Chuu. I thought you knew all about them..."

"I-I knew a little! I didn't know that they actually existed in Wonderland!" I wanted to stand up and yell at him, but I was too scared of falling and dying to do so. "I-I thought you had to drink them!?"

"Hm? You can, but then you're clothes wouldn't shrink. You'd be naked-Chuu. I didn't think you'd be happy with that." My face flared red. His ear twitched again. He had a strange look on his face, like he was thinking deeply about something... Didn't his ear twitch because he could hear my heart beat faster?

...God damn it, that's even worse. S-So, he knows that he's making me flustered whenever he goes and-and k-kisses me!?

His ear twitched again.

D-Damn it... I scowled and crossed my arms, sitting up on his palm. I sat criss-crossed and glared up at him childishly. "C-Can you-Can you put me down, please?"

He snapped out of what trance he was in and looked down at me startled. "Eh? B-But if I do that, you'll get lost! I-I don't want to lose you! B-besides, my nearest safe house is just a bit away!"

"H-Huh?"

"Hehe...You're so cute, Alexis! B-But now I can't kiss because you're so small...I can when we get there, though!"

...If Pierce tried to kiss me when he's this big, I think his lips would end up crushing me.

So, what do you think?