Hello again! I know it's been a long time since I updated, but certain things in my life have been getting in the way. I'm sure most of you can understand.

I would like to say thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/put this on story alert. It really is encouraging to see that people enjoy my writing.

Before I begin this chapter, I would like to say two things about my story to keep in mind.

First, I am trying to make this plot original, but there are certain things that I am keeping the same about what happens. I am not changing the initial reactions of the characters because they are in the same situations as in the manga. Also, I am keeping the order that Lydia meets each character the same. This does not mean that I am going to follow the plot step by step, even though it may seem like it at first.

Second, I'm pointing out here and now that Lydia is not some magical "chosen one" or anything. What happens to her could happen to someone else, her case is just an unusual one. She does not have special powers or anything. I just wanted to say this in case anyone got the wrong idea at the end of the chapter, because I don't explain everything about her situation in this chapter.

With that note, I leave you until the end of this chapter. Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Heart no Kuni no Alice.

WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE!

"Rose! It's green!" Marie called across the room. "The light turned green!"

There was a loud crash and Rose appeared.

"Quick! Flip the antenna," she ordered and Marie did as she was told. At first, all that could be heard was an irritating, crackling sound. When that faded, there came the distinct, repetitive, dull sound of footsteps.

"Is that her?" Marie asked, but Rose shushed her. A voice had started talking from the radio.

"Maybe it wasn't him."

The two girls glanced at each other excitedly. It was definitely Lydia's drawl.

"Yeah, now that I think about it, he did look a bit different from that guy," she said. "Besides, if it was him, why would he be here? Or why did he save me and apologize? I know he would never be that nice."

"I wonder who she's talking about," Marie whispered and Rose shrugged.

"I guess I shouldn't have kicked him," they heard her sigh.

"Yep, that's got to be her," Marie snickered.

"Lydia would be impulsive enough to kick someone she just met," Rose added thoughtfully with a slight smile.

For the next few minutes there were only footsteps. Then another sigh.

"I hope Larry isn't back yet. He probably went to get more of that stuff, and I doubt he'd fall for the same trick again."

"Maybe this 'Larry' person is the bastard that kidnapped her," Marie growled. Rose shushed her again to hear what Lydia was saying.

"Well I'm definitely not going back to the mansion after what just happened." For a while there were just more footsteps.

"There's the tower," she said. "Or clock tower, I guess."

They heard her walk to the tower she had mentioned and open the door. After it closed, there were more footsteps. They slowed down, as if she had started going up a staircase. This went on for several minutes. Then came another door and a small gasp, as though she had seen something unexpected. She cleared her throat.

"Um, excuse me?" She asked in a polite tone. There was another gasp, but it sounded farther away.

"What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here. Go! Now!" It was a male voice and he sounded very angry.

"What the fuck is his problem?" Marie asked. Rose just ignored her.

"Why are you being so rude? Wait a minute…," There was a short pause. "Is this about the plushies? Because they were Marie's, I had nothing to do with that, I swear!"

"It was her idea!"

"Shut up. You both were idiots." They quieted when the man started to reply.

"What? That wasn't what I was… wait, you know how these got here?"

"I sure do. It was after I found the giant gaping hole in our backyard. I showed it to Marie, and then out of no where, she decided to throw her old stuffed animals down the hole to see if anything would happen. I seriously have no clue as to where she came up with the idea."

Marie growled slightly.

"Bad dog," Rose said as she whacked her, "be quiet."

"Anyways, the useless things didn't even cushion my fall when Larry kidnapped me into the hole. But that was before he told me he had a clichéd name. Seriously, a rabbit man named Peter White? And then he declared his love for me, which was kind of creepy, and tried to get me to drink some mysterious liquid."

"What the fuck?"

"I guess we know why he kidnapped her now."

"Wait, Peter White kidnapped you? What was it that he wanted you to drink?" The man sounded slightly anxious.

"I called it mysterious, didn't I? He was terrible at economics though, so I just tossed it over the edge of this tower." The two listeners started cracking up at this.

"I'm not sure I understand your reasoning, but that was a very wise decision," said the man. "That potion would have bound you to this world until you got to know the people that live here." Rose narrowed her eyes.

"He said 'this world', which basically confirms my theory, but I wonder about that binding he mentioned." This time it was Marie that shushed Rose.

"Well now I guess I'm really glad that I did that. He didn't seem too happy about it though."

"What happened?"

"He commanded me to stay up here. But of course I didn't listen, I mean, he seemed a bit crazy. So, once he was gone, I left and went into the forest. I came across this mansion, and I thought someone might, you know, help me because I was sort of kidnapped. Then people tried to kill me, I kicked some people, and I ran away to come back here. I figured I'd rather face an insane man who loved me than several who wanted me dead."

Marie gasped and Rose looked shocked. Then Marie started shouting a giant storm of profanity, and it was all Rose could do to quiet her down so she could hear what Lydia was saying.

"Then I came up here, and that's when you yelled at me to go away. Which was so nice of you to do so, I might add."

"I apologize for my poor behavior. I sometimes get intruders with malicious intents. I assumed that you were one of them." Marie had calmed down a bit at this point.

"At least she's with someone sane and half-way decent now," she grumbled. The man continued to speak.

"Why don't you come inside and sit down. There are some things that should be explained."

Meanwhile, in Wonderland…

Peter White sighed as he waited for the dark figure in front of him to stop his insane laughter.

"Quite… an interesting…girl you've… brought us," the figure gasped out as he tried to catch his breath. He burst out laughing again, doubling over from the force of it.

"Yes, well," Peter said loudly over the sound of the other man gasping for air, "as you probably already know, I need more binding potion."

The figure cleared his throat, coughing up a bit of blood in the process, and straightened up. "Well, you won't be getting it from me."

"What! Why not?" Peter cried indignantly. His companion eyed him with amusement.

"Tell me Peter, why did you bring her here?"

"Because I love her," he answered automatically.

"Why do you love her? What brought her to your attention?" The rabbit gave the man a confused and suspicious look.

"Don't you know? It was in a dream."

"Even I have my limits when it comes to the minds of other role holders. Now tell me about this dream of yours."

"It wasn't so much a story, with a setting and everything. No, it was more like a feeling. Nothing but this terrible, dreadful feeling of fear and anxiety, of frustration and exhaustion, all in one. It seemed to be coming from somewhere, and I realized that this feeling was not my own, but someone else's. Someone was drowning, longing for a savior. All I wanted was for this feeling to stop, to go away, so I followed it to the source. Then came the vision of Lydia, a girl longing to escape into another world." Peter's face was filled with sadness and pain, two emotions rarely seen on him with such intensity.

"So you decided be her savior then?" Peter nodded. "Then why do you love her?"

"The only reason I wanted to save her so badly must be because I love her."

The other man sighed. "Peter, the girl was asking to be saved, not loved."

"Well she got both," the rabbit said stubbornly. "I don't see why any of this matters though. Why won't you give me any more binding potion?"

"Peter, Peter, Peter," the figure shook his head, "I won't give you the potion, because she is not here to play the game. It's as simple as that."

"But…"

"You said it yourself. She wanted to be saved. She is here because she wants to be."

"What if she wants to leave though? What then?"

"Then not even the potion would keep her here. Binding potion is only binding in name. It is the game that keeps people trapped, and if she came here for her own reasons, then the game means nothing to her. Your love means nothing to her."

Peter gasped. "Then, it's hopeless?"

The man rolled his eyes. "I can see that you are not really listening to what I'm saying, are you? I did not say that she cannot love here. I said that she is not here to love."

"Then she shall fall in love with me!" Peter happily exclaimed.

"Not necessarily. But before you go thinking that's a bad thing, really take a moment to consider your role as the rabbit and why you had that dream. You could come to realize that you never really loved her at all." The dark figure tried to tell him.

But Peter wasn't listening.

Most of you probably know already who Peter was talking to... ;)

Thank you for reading! Please review!

I'll try to have the next chapter out soon. It will be faster than this one was, I promise.

But until then, goodbye!