Well, this took a little longer than I expected. But, here it is! The third chapter!
I don't have a lot to say about this one, so I'm going to start replying to reviews.
KDN's Notepad : Of course you're name's in there! You were the first person to review this story! :)
squigglestheredpanda: Love the constructive criticism! I'm glad you gave this another chance and are enjoying it now. I do realize it's kind of cliche, but I originally started this story just to practice character interaction, which I was really bad at. I did manage to come up with an actual plot after I wrote this chapter, but Lydia's part in it won't come until a bit later, so she'll mostly just be following the original storyline until then. I hope you enjoy it all the same!
RunnyBabbit44: I'm happy you like my story! As for where they will stay... all in good time! ;)
Ink'n'Echo: Thank you for reading! Your review made me very happy because I did try to make the characters unique (especially Rose and her logic). I will figure out something for the swearing, thank you for telling me.
oBseSSiON Is ODd: I'm glad I made you laugh! I've never actually heard that song... *goes and listens to it*. I was thinking sort of the same thing about pairings, except for Pierce. I only read the manga so I don't really know his character... Though, keep in mind that this won't have too much romance in it, because I'm really awful at writing it (...no experience...). I will try my best not to disappoint though!
Thank you all so much for reviewing! It made me smile a lot!
Now, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Heart no Kuni no Alice.
Lydia was very bored. She had been falling an awfully long time. Sure, she had panicked and screamed about how she was too young to die and all that. But after the first few minutes, it sort of wore off. They had been falling a really long time.
"Isn't falling fun, Lydia?" Her captor asked. Larry, as she had mentally dubbed him, was giving her a very enthusiastic grin.
"Eh." She gave him a bored look. He frowned.
"Well, we're almost there," Larry told her.
"Would you mind telling me where, exactly, that is?" She asked him irritably. He shook his head.
There was a bright flash of light and Lydia felt herself land on something very hard and solid. Groaning, she slowly sat up, blinking fast to get used to the light. To her left she recognized a pile of Marie's stuffed animals.
"Of course I land right next to the giant pile of soft, pillowy objects," she muttered to herself. She searched around for her companion and found him standing several feet away, looking completely composed.
"Hey Larry!" She called to him. He turned to her, wearing a confused expression.
"Larry?" Lydia shrugged.
"You never told me your name. Anyway, now will you tell me where I am?" He gave her a sweeping bow.
"I am Peter White, and this," he said while straightening up, "is Wonderland."
"You're a rabbit man, and your name is Peter White. Do you know how clichéd that sounds? I prefer Larry," she told him, "and wait, what do you mean by Wonderland? Like the book?"
"A version of that, yes," he said, ignoring the comments about his name.
It was then that Lydia finally took in her surroundings. They appeared to be on the roof of a very tall tower. In the distance she could see a fancy-looking mansion, a castle that was absolutely drenched in hearts, and weirdly enough, a random amusement park. She returned her attention to the man in front of her.
"So…why am I here?" He smiled widely at her and took a couple steps closer.
"Because I love you, Lydia!" There was a moment of silence.
"Okay then… that's not creepy at all," she responded, while slowly scooting away from him. He pulled out a small vial of pink liquid with a glass heart-shaped stopper.
"Drink this please," Peter told her.
"Hmm," she grabbed it out of his hand and peered at it closely. "What is it?"
"Something you need to drink," he told her vaguely. She pondered this for a moment.
"Nah," she said before chucking it over the side of the tower. Peter was speechless, gaping in astonishment.
"You didn't give me any incentives," she told him. "Larry, you would make a terrible economist."
"Why did you do that?" He was angry. She gave him a skeptical look.
"A rabbit-eared man whom I have never met before kidnaps me down a giant hole, tells me I'm in a fictional world, declares his love for me, and gives me a mysterious substance to drink without explaining what it is or why I need to drink it," she listed off, her voice steadily rising, "and you're really wondering why I didn't want to drink it?" He looked away, uncomfortably.
"Stay here," he ordered, "I shall return soon." He left through a door on a far wall. Lydia was silent for a bit.
"No!" She got to her feet and walked, unsteadily, over to the edge of the landing to see him leave the building and go into the forest.
After a couple minutes had passed, she made her way to the door. She would not just wait around for him to come back with more of that stuff. She climbed down a ton of stairs and opened the front door. There were three paths facing her, all leading into the forest.
Remembering that Peter had taken the path in the middle, she automatically ruled that one out. That still left two to choose from. She was unable to make up her mind, so after a little while she decided to leave it to the awesome powers of fate.
"Eenie meenie miney moe…"
Behold fate's incredible power.
Lydia started down the left path, curious if it led to the mansion, the castle, or the amusement park. She didn't really have any preference. No matter where she ended up, there was likely to be someone who could help her.
As she walked through the forest, she daydreamed about her friends. What were they doing? Were they worried about her? She wondered if they were planning to rescue her.
After a while, the trees opened up to reveal a clearing. She had arrived at the mansion. She approached the black gates and peered around, searching for signs of life.
"Trespassing?" Lydia spun around to face the speaker. In front of her were two boys holding large axes. They were identical in every way except for their uniforms, one red and the other blue, and their eyes, which matched their outfits.
"Or do you have business here?" One of them asked. She opened her mouth to reply, but the other boy spoke before she could explain.
"Well, it doesn't really matter to us, either way," he said.
"Shall we kill her, brother?" Her eyes widened at this.
"Of course," he replied. They both turned their attention back to Lydia.
"Don't worry! This will only hurt a bit," the twins shouted in unison as they swung their weapons at her neck.
At this point, Lydia decided to rely on her instincts. She ducked. What she did next could be entirely blamed on her impulsive nature, the force that often caused her to do things that were very random or incredibly stupid – sometimes both.
She kicked one of the boys in the shin. While he was distracted, she wrenched the ax out of his hands and used it to knock away the other boy's weapon. Then, she bolted.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaa!" She cried while trying to get away from them.
"Get back here!" She could hear their cries behind her.
Now stop and imagine this picture. A short teenage girl, hauling an ax half her size over her shoulder, running as fast as she can, and screaming at the top of her lungs. Chasing her are two flustered twin boys, shouting angrily at her. This was where Lydia's impulsiveness had landed her.
Suddenly, she crashed into something in front of her and fell to the ground, dropping the ax.
"Dee! Dum! What did you brats do this time?" Apparently it was a person. Looking up, she saw a man in front of her. He was wearing a worn-out uniform and holding a gun. Like Larry (or Peter), he too had rabbit ears.
"We found her at the gates! She kicked Dee and ran away with his ax, so we went after her," one of the twins, Dum, answered. They were both panting heavily from the run.
"Hmph," the man grunted, "you two should stop waving those things around and killing everyone. You look like idiots."
"Look who's talking, newbie hare," Dee sneered. The man looked down at her thoughtfully.
"You know, I have been wanting to try out my new gun." He pointed it at her head.
So she kicked him, too. And grabbed his gun. And ran away screaming. Again.
Then, she crashed into someone. Again. Only this time the person caught her and stopped her fall.
"Stop." The three pursuers immediately halted. "Elliot, I didn't give you permission to kill anyone on my property."
"Boss!" The twins shouted together. The man named Elliot just nodded in greeting.
"I'm terribly sorry Miss," the man told her.
"It's fine I gues–," she stared at him. "You!"
That was the third time Lydia kicked a stranger in the leg. As he cried out it pain, she raced away from them into the forest. For once, no one was running after her.
After a bit, she slowed her pace to a walk. She was on the path again, headed back to the tower. Her brow was creased, she was thinking over what had just taken place.
In fact, she was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize that her hand still carried a gun, nor did she notice when a tiny, black object embedded itself in her short brown hair.
...I had a lot of fun with this chapter, if you can't tell...
Thank you for reading! Please review!
See you next time!