A/N: Earlier then expected, but hey, I'm impatient. Plus I can afford to update sooner since I'm working ahead of this chapter. I'm evil, I know it, I embrace my evilness-it gives very good hugs.
Disclaimer: I don't own Alice in Wonderland (2010), but I'm working on it... all I need now is a box of goldfish graham crackers, a car, and several semi-legal nets... oh wait. That's for taking over Canada and Alaska. Never mind...
WARNING(S): story may contain and/or be; crack-pot, contain the yuri/femmeslash/lesbian pairing between Mirana of Marmoreal and Alice Kingsleigh, slight use of profanity, a high score on the cliche meter, tons of confusion, reiteration, violence, drama, man sized pigeons, peanuts and/or peanut dust, and talking parrots.
Chapter III
~•~ Mirana ~•~
"I think I remember my name," The dark haired guest said as she watched Mirana busying herself in the kitchen: her behavior reminding Mirana of Alice, making the queen wish to reach out and kiss the girl who reminded her so of her champion.
"Yes?" Mirana asked, wondering as she tried to restrain herself by mixing up a batch of antidepressants to be sprayed on the weeping flowers outside the kitchen windows, the poor little things had a predisposition to depression.
"I can't quite recall it, so I'm not sure if I'm even right," The girl replied, watching Mirana with the same curiosity Alice had and sending shivers down Mirana spine, then she continued, "Celia. I think. It sounds more right then anything else I could come up with, but I'm not sure. I don't know many names."
"Really?" Mirana asked, thinking to herself that the woman didn't seem like a Celia to her she seemed like someone else entirely, "What names do you know? Have you remembered something?"
"I know that your name is Mirana," Celia said, her eyes gaining a dreamy appearance, "I know that's all I really remembered at first. And-and, I know the white rabbit's name is Nivens McTwisp. I don't want to call him that name though, because I don't think that's what I usually call him by."
"You knew Nivens?" Mirana said, thinking out loud as she added various ingredients to the small cauldron before her, "Perhaps you were living in Crims during my sister's reign, it would explain a little if you were a servant there. But you don't look like a servant."
The last part was said as much to herself as it was to Celia, and she looked over the girl again. Wondering what it was about Celia that reminded her of her champion. From what she could tell, Celia had the same curiosity as Alice had, but less then half the stubbornness of her champion and hopeful love.
"Alice, where are you?" Mirana asked herself, hoping for Alice to return soon so she didn't have to marry some man she didn't love.
"Is something bothering you?" Celia asked, seeing the look in Mirana's eyes and wishing it to be nothing because what Celia saw was pain and though she barely knew Mirana, she knew enough to want the queen nothing but happiness.
"It's nothing to concern yourself over Celia, you've got bigger problems to think of," Mirana replied, meeting Celia's gaze and seeing the concern in the young woman's eyes.
"You don't seem alright though," Celia said, as she looked down and watched the queen continue to brew her potion; what she was doing stirred her memory but brought no fruit.
The mild confused expression spread across Celia's face reminded Mirana of Alice, as so many things did. But she had little time to dwell on what else reminded her of Alice, because Nivens had hopped in with news of the Witch of Wastings' arrival. So the queen hastily finished the potion and grabbed Celia by the wrist to lead her to the throne room. Thankfully, the younger woman had gotten over much of the pains of recollection and remembered it didn't pain if it wasn't skin against skin. That being the reason she didn't shy so much from Mirana's hand upon her clothed wrist. There was no doubt in Mirana's mind that if she was the work of the Witch that the woman would recognize her. If not then perhaps the Witch would recognize the glyph on Celia's chest.
When they reached the throne room, things did not go as planned, as the Witch stared at Celia with eyes. Her hand rose through the air, shock was evident in her eyes.
"Your dead," She said simply, shaking her head back and forth, she looked at Mirana with eyes filled with dread, "What have you done?"
"I've done nothing, I thought this was your work!" Mirana replied as she hurried forward, letting go of Celia's wrist, "I do not practice necromancy!"
"It isn't brought of my hand either! Damned be me, this girl was not brought back by my hand!" The Witch replied, "I loved her, yes, but when she died I vowed not to bring her back-I'd hoped knowing I wouldn't be there to fix things would've knocked some sense into her, you know how children are!"
"Then it's agreed it was neither you nor I who brought her back," Mirana said, watching.
"Someone please explain what's going on! We're not all witches you know!" Celia exclaimed as she backed away from the witch who was approaching her, her words stinging Mirana.
"Show me the mark!" The rather insane sounding woman instructed as she grabbed Celia by the shoulders, "Show me the summoning mark! Where's your glyph-your mortal binding?"
"I don't know what your talking about!" Celia replied, shaking loose and backing a bit away, "I don't know!"
"Your not her," Raven, the Witch of Wastings, replied in a soft voice as she looked inside the woman before her, "You have her body, but not her soul-at least not her complete soul! Show me the mark, please child, show me the mark and let me understand."
"She can show it to you, Raven, but not here," Mirana replied, stepping before Celia and grabbing her wrist, understanding enough to know that Celia's body was that of Raven's lost daughter, "The glyph is hidden, and this is not the proper place to expose it in."
"You do know of the glyph then?" Raven replied unsure, her confidence returned, "I must see it at once, such things as these are dangerous for all souls involved! Why, this girl's soul could be unraveling as we speak!"
"Then let's go, my chambers should do nicely for this," Mirana replied, heading in the direction of her chambers and pulling Celia along behind her, "Not so many books, but no people to see either."
The group left, hurried through the halls to the white queen's chambers. Wherein, the woman shut the door while Raven instructed Celia not to move.
"If you move even in the slightest, then you'll feel incredible pain," The Witch warned as she looked at Celia with cold eyes, "Identifying the mark is not enough, we'll need to know who did this to you and what they did to you-a process which will be painful and dangerous if done incorrectly. Now where's that glyph? I must see it first before anything else."
"It's on her chest, running along her collarbone," Mirana replied as she headed over to the cornered Celia, her hands played in the air, she couldn't touch the girl-she wouldn't: she feared she'd hurt the girl or ravage her body with her hands, and neither was acceptable to her.
"Excellent," Raven replied before instructing Celia to remove her shirt, making the girl's cheeks turn a bright pink and causing the white queen to look away as her own face became heated.
What was happening to her? Why did Celia cast such a spell over Mirana? How? Why did the younger girl blush so when the day before her own nakedness had been trivial? Could it be that she, whom could not stand to touch Mirana, was falling for the woman? She was certain she felt nothing for the Witch of Wastings. No, no. It was impossible for her to love the queen. Yet that was the very thought which ran through Celia's head as she removed her shirt and covered herself as best she could while Raven examined the glyph on her chest. That confused Celia too, something in her head told her that the glyph didn't used to be there. Something in her head told her that her body wasn't as it should be. She had little time to dwell on the half-formed memories floating about insider her head as she noticed Mirana staying a ways away with her eyes hidden by her hand. She would not look, but Celia wished she would before she reminded herself she didn't love the queen and could not stand her touch. But she so longed for it, despite the pain she knew came with it.
"Do you recognize it?" Mirana asked quietly, from her place, "Do you recognize the glyph?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Raven replied, looking back at the white queen, picking up on what was happening, "It's a transformation seal I believe, it's hard to make out though because it's been written over by another seal... She's lost her memory yes?"
"I have," Celia replied, not very much liking that Raven spoke of her like she wasn't there.
"Have you remembered anything? Can you remember anything? Anything at all?" The Witch of Wastings asked, gazing into Celia's eyes.
"Yes," Celia replied, "I remembered her name, and the white rabbit's name as well. Other then that though it's fuzzy and very painful."
"That explains much then," Raven said, "It is a transformation glyph, and written over it is a binding. I believe, little one, that someone's bound you mind to make you forget. That's good in that your soul may be complete below it, but bad because such things are permanent if not broken or faded. Now, you said you remembered things, which came first? How soon did you remember?"
"Mirana's name came first, I remembered it right when I woke up," Celia replied, "Before that it burned in my mind, I couldn't forget it, didn't want to forget it ever, even through the transfor-"
The girl began to shake, the top glyph on her chest glowing a faint blue before fading back to red. She forgot what it was she was remembering, and stopped her thoughts so she could focus on breathing. Both the Witch of Wastings and Mirana stared at her. Mirana rushed to her side, concern in her eyes.
"What happened?" Mirana asked Raven, her eyes wide.
"She remembered, but only for a moment, of what she remembered I don't know: but the seal was too powerful and she forgot. You see, typically when memories are bound the seal is weak enough that it fades nearly immediately and the person gradually remembers on their own. This seal has stayed, so the intent of the person behind it was strong. It likely has a reason for staying," Raven explained, looking over Celia to ensure the woman was fine, "I believe, someone's trying to hide her-both body and soul. But why? Why bind her memories so carefully, when the soul can still be seen and named by one familiar with such magics? Is there anything that brings a violent reaction to her? Any trigger that causes her seal to flare so as it just did?"
"Me," Mirana replied quietly, "She can't bare to touch me but when she does she shakes and shivers just as she just did."
"Your touch..." Raven trailed off, "Whoever this girl is, Mirana must be important to her. To have that name be the first and only thing of your past you can remember... and for it to make it through the binding process... oh dear..."
The Witch lost herself to thought, only realizing how much time had passed when Celia stopped shaking at last. The Witch pressed her hand to Celia's chest, just above her heart, a gesture which could've been seen as inappropriate had it not the purpose it had. She chanted a spell under her breath, and looked into the glyphs on Celia's chest. Freezing both her and the girl.
The motive behind the girl's transformation and binding soon became clear, Celia had been used to hide another. Two other's to be exact, and one was the woman herself. But as Raven delved deeper into the origins of the glyphs, she began to understand more. The glyphs were more complex then she thought, the transformation seal could only be broken one way and only after the binding seal had been destroyed. The trigger for destroying the binding seal, she already knew, but with it still there she could not make out the trigger for the other. She went deeper, found the signature of the person responsible for transforming the woman's body to look like her daughter's. The results shocked her. For it was her daughter who transformed the body and sealed the woman's memories from herself. It was Erika's doing. For such a thing to occur... She could not thing, for in uncovering the signature and bringing memories of her daughter into the spell's path, she'd triggered the binding glyph.
Horrible images came over both her and Celia, memories of the woman's. She was running the halls of the place, someone was chasing her, someone without a definite form. They weren't seeking her, they were seeking another of whom she did not know, but what they were doing demanded that any witnesses die. They were going to kill her, but something came over her and she faded and lost control of her body. She did things, things she did not know she could do, and forgot. She forgot the rest because it was too painful to remember, and soon, it was impossible because of what had been done. But a name screamed through her mind as it had done for so long.
Then Raven pulled away, she pulled away from Celia and broke the hold over them both. She panted and watched as Celia shook and the glyph on her chest glowed brightly. Almost broken already. Almost. Faintly she was aware of Mirana asking her if she was alright, faintly she knew that Celia had fainted, and faintly she was aware that her nose was bleeding. The Witch did not care. She'd seen the truth, she knew all now, she now understood the glyphs completely and through those shattered memories of the woman, she'd come to know what was happening and of what had happened.
"Summon the guards to Marmoreal Mirana, Underlands at peril," Raven instructed as she wiped the blood from her nose and looked at the marked woman with softer eyes, "She's a victim in this, but she will help to resolve it."
As soon as Mirana had left the room, hurrying to tell the castle to be on alert, Raven moved Celia's unconscious body. As much as the spell had taken from Raven, it had taken more from Celia. The young woman's name was so close, but Raven did not dare call her by it then for fear of changing the future. The younger woman would figure it out eventually, just as she'd soon figure out she was the mirror version of herself. Mirana reentered the room, breathless from her short-but quick-run, a tonic in her hand. She gave it to Raven, to calm her nerves, and waited for her to finish before asking of what had been found.
"Not all is as it seems, your majesty," Raven began, looking at Celia with an absent look upon her face, "The seals on her, they must be broken just so. First the binding, then the transformation, and with the breaking of the transformation will come the rest of her memories. Complicated magics. Very strong too-Strong enough to resist the recollection of, before the transformation, just now. But I wouldn't expect any less from my daughter, even in her death."
"What do you suppose happened?" Mirana inquired as she followed Raven's gaze, beginning to understand the situation to a point: for a dead being to do such a thing made her wonder.
"It doesn't matter, all that matters is that this woman was going to be killed and by hiding her behind the mask of her old body: Erika was able to save her. The fact that the seals are as they are merely brings to mind that the danger has not passed, or that Erika did not know when it would pass," Raven continued, "Whoever tried to kill the woman was trying to bring Erika's soul back to a body it seems. Are you starting to understand?"
"The others' no one knows," Mirana said sharply, "Bringing a soul back to a body-necromancing-locks the memory more often then not. To save Celia was to hide her soul through the lose of memory and transform her body into the desired ghosts. Someone's going around and bringing the ghosts back to life, and for them to kill an assumed bystander, their not in good practice."
"Yes," Raven replied, "Exactly, and should they find out that you've got the only person with the key to their identity and possibly even purpose, then they'd likely come here to kill the woman."
"Now I see why you asked for the guard to be summoned, you fear that she'll be targeted if they find out," Mirana replied, "But in order to protect her we must capture the person responsible for bringing the ghosts back, and in order to do that we must capture the newly embodied and hope to find one who knows or bring back her memory."
"Exactly," Raven finished.
"I see. I'll head to tell the guard, I'll send only a small portion," Mirana replied before leaving the room again, hoping for Celia to be alright and alive in the end: for the girl truly did remind her of her champion.
With the queen's going, she left Raven alone with the sleeping Celia, and the witch soon moved toward the woman. She knew the girl, known as Celia, who didn't? She knew of everything which had happened to her, she'd pieced together the memories, the looks shared between her and Mirana. The pain which was brought about from their skin touching. She knew how to break the binding glyph, but she could not do it, only the hand of Mirana could: for only the touch of the one she loved was strong enough to hope to break the binding. Raven was not surprised the woman before her had fallen in love with Mirana, many others had.
"If only she knew who you are, perhaps she'd be more apt to protect and repair you. Until then," The Witch of Wastings mused to herself as she rubbed the cheek of the sleeping woman before her before walking away, "Alice."
A/N: Bwhahaaha! A major twist! And I'm gonna make you wait a whole two to three days before I update.