It's long over due, but it's very long soooooooooo. *gives you thumbs up* Read on!

It was actually really easy to slip away from Rose and Elliot after we had bought everything I needed. They had gotten into another argument about who was going to carry the chair back to The House. While they bickered, I took the bag of sweets we had purchased (on a whim) and slid into the woods surrounding the Clock Tower area. I made sure I was far enough back that they couldn't see me, but close enough that I could see and follow the path.

I felt bad when I heard them call out, "Marina! Marina!" I looked down at Truth, who followed me. He blinked up at me and kitty-smiled. I felt my cares melt off of me. They wouldn't be mad when I got back. Maybe a little agitated that I ran off, but not mad with me. I'd have to tell them why I ran off, though.

"What are we doing, Marina?" the black cat asked. I inhaled through my nose, letting my shoulders slump when I exhaled. "Stressed?"

"A little. Well, we're going to go find that cat, Boris." His eyes sparkled up at me. "You like him?" He nodded excitedly, prancing forward a few feet.

"Nya~ Boris is nice! He's my friend." He twirled around my legs, dodging in between my feet. "He gave me fish, and milk, and took me out exploring in the woods, and bought me a bowtie!" He gasped, "Oh no, I forgot to get the bow from him!"

I smiled and leaned down to pet him. "It's okay. We're looking for him, anyways." He nodded, then excitedly gasped. "What!? What is it!"

"I can help look for him!" he nearly yelled. I stared down at him, confused. He looked up at me and kitty-smiled, "Cats have a great sense of smell."

I tilted my head to the side in curiosity, "But, I thought dogs were the ones with the great sense of smell?" He huffed and rolled his eyes. I started walking again, and he followed. "Don't huff at me, that's just what I've been told."

"Cats and dogs have been fighting about who has the better sense of smell for years now. Now, I know you don't keep up with the news and all, but it's recently been revealed that cats have a better sense of smell. It's been proved scientifically now." I blinked at the kitten; how did he know all this?

"Well. Do you remember what Boris smells like?" I asked curiously. Cats seriously had a better sense of smell than dogs? I couldn't believe it. He nodded enthusiastically, sprinting ahead of me. "Truth, slow down!"

"No, I smell him! Run faster!" I followed the cat, jumping over some tree roots. A particularly large root stuck out of the ground, and I tripped and skidded across it. The sweets fell to the ground, and I hurriedly forced them back into the bag. I watched as Truth turned to the right. I stood up and sprinted, following him. I could see his outline as he ran.

"Seriously, Truth, slow down!" I yelled loudly. I noted the pain in my knee. I must've bruised it, or scraped it, or cut it, or something. I hoped I hadn't ripped my socks. The kitten stopped when we reached a clearing. In the very center of the bright green grass was a lone tree, and I could make out the silhouette of someone sitting among the branches.

"Boris is over there." I nodded, slowly walking into the tall grass. It waved in a wind I didn't feel, creating a ruckus that hid my movements. As I approached the cat, everything else came to a halt. He turned around when I got close to the awkwardly-shaped tree, and his eyes widened when he saw me. He sat up, looking ready to run off and back into the forest.

"Please don't run away from me!" I called desperately. He had information on Alice, I could feel it! And I needed to know it. Besides, I needed to know him if I was to beat my game and get home. My head thumped, but I pushed that aside and continued to approach him. He didn't run, but kept his back turned from me. When I got to the tree, I noticed the bench that sat underneath its branches. I sat on it, setting the bag of sweets next to me.

"Who are you?" he asked, purposefully not looking at me. I sighed and pulled out a cake. I opened the box and frowned. It was crushed~! Truth jumped up onto the bench, curling into my lap.

"My name's Marina Jenkins." I couldn't let the cake go to waste, so I opened up the plastic silverware container and pulled out the fork. I cut into the crushed cake, biting the fork and enjoying the morsel. I usually didn't like sweet things, but the cake was delicious. His tail flicked back and forth as he kicked his legs.

"I'm Boris Airay." I hummed, "You knew that?" I hummed again. "Oh." We sat in silence for a few moments. "You're Truth's owner?"

"Not really. I just take care of him and stuff." I took another bite of cake, struggling to suppress my sounds of satisfaction. I noticed that his tail flicked back even faster, and I looked up. He had a needy look on his face. "I have another piece of cake, though it may be crushed. I tripped following him out here. Do you want it?" He kept his eyes away from me, but nodded. I dug through the bag, picking up the second box of cake (I remembered that it was originally for Rose) and another plasticware container. I placed them next to him on the flat branch, and he grabbed it and opened up. I smiled when he took a big bite.

"It's good!" he said excitedly.

"I know, right?" I responded. We ate cake in silence, and I noticed that his presence was as comforting as Rose's and Elliot's.

"So… why are you out here?" he asked.

"I was looking for you." He finally looked down at me with wide eyes. I stared back at him. He continued to stare (and I noticed that his cheeks got red), so I leaned back and crossed my arms. "I want to know why Alice left."

He whipped his head around at her name, keeping his eyes away from me. His tail stuck straight out, and his ears were straight up. I raised a brow when he opened his mouth. Then he softly said, "No one but Blood and Nightmare know why Alice left… I had an inkling as to why, but I never got around to asking her."

He jumped off the branch, the cake and silverware clattering to the grassy ground. He turned around, facing me. The wind still blew, but I didn't feel it. I just knew it was there. I placed Truth and the cake beside me on the bench, then stood up to face him. "What was your inkling, Boris?" I asked.

He smiled at me, running a hand through the backside of his fuschia hair. "You know, Alice and I would come out here when she got fed up with Blood. He was a big asshole to her, but she put up with because she loved him. I was mesmerized by her strength, even though she was so fragile." He lifted up one of his hands, then closed it into a fist. "She was strong, with a strength I never knew existed. And then, one day, I realized I had the same strength." His smile fell, causing his shoulders to slump. "It was love. And I didn't have enough strength to snatch her up as mine."

I felt a pang of pity in my heart for the cat. He had been in love with Alice, and he didn't know why she had left… I approached him, but he held up his hand. "Boris…"

"But I won't forget her; she was precious, and I loved her." He looked at the ground, "I won't forget the day she left. She was so, so upset. She had been crying, clutching her stomach close." My head thumped, and I could almost see the froofy-looking girl run from the mansion in my vision.

"Hey, don't do that."

My vision blurred, and I collapsed to the ground. I could see her clearly now. She did look like me, with a pointed face and high cheekbones. Her eyes were bright blue I noticed, and she seemed to be staring at me. She took a step towards me, but stopped when someone called her name. She glanced over her shoulder frantically before sprinting off into the distance.

Someone shook my shoulders, and the vision stopped. Boris was looking at me worriedly. I stared back at him. "I look like her. Exactly like her." He nodded, helping me up. Truth had raised his head curiously to stare at me. I pushed away from him, confused as to why I was in Wonderland. Did Peter bring me because I looked like her, or simply because he forgot her entirely?

Again, my vision blurred as I rubbed my eyes. I was panting, and my heart was racing. That's probably not too good. The pain followed, forcing me to the ground yet again. I gripped my pained heart, hoping to reduce the stress. Whenever I got worried, this happened. "Marina!" It felt similar to someone squeezing my heart, their touches burning it. I gasped for breath.

It passed after a few moments, and I was able to shakily stand up. I inhaled testily, then exhaled. My breathing had stabilized. I twisted my mouth; I hadn't had an episode like that in months. Perhaps Wonderland had put some stress on my heart? ...probably. I should find a soothing drink or something. I stood up and placed my hands on my hips. Boris stared at me again, his eyes wide and worried. I held up my hand. "I have a heart condition."

He tilted his head, "Heart condition?" I sighed. How could I explain this to someone that has a clock for a heart?

"A heart condition is sorta like a faulty clock. It still works, just not as well as a good one." He nodded.

"What's the condition called?"

I shrugged my shoulders at his sudden curiosity. "It's a heart defect, actually. It's just a little oddity on top of my heart. The doctors call it congential heart disease. But, because my heart sounds a little weird, my family calls it ticking heart syndrome."

His eyes lit up. "Your heart sounds weird?" He inched closer to me, tail flicking back and forth. I nodded. "Can I listen to it?" Could he listen to it? What a peculiar question… But, I saw no harm in it. He probably hadn't heard a heart before.

"I suppose." He set his head against my chest, purring loudly. I kept my arms on my sides as he listened. His tail twitched back and forth in time with my heart beats.

"Wow! Your heart sounds a bit like Alice's!" He grinned at me, rubbing his cheek against mine. I backed up. So he had listened to Alice's heart? ...why was I surprisingly jealous of that? I shook my head. She had been here before me, so it was only natural that he had heard it. "It also sounds a bit like a clock."

I stuck a finger in his face. "That's why we call it ticking heart syndrome in my family." He nodded, but his ears stuck straight up and he stood at full alert. I turned around to look at what he stared at, only to see nothing. I tilted my head and turned back to him. He frowned, running off after a moment. "Boris! You still have to tell me stuff!" He kept running, leaving Truth and I standing under the tree. I sighed; perhaps I can get him to talk again. I was interested in Alice's last day here. It could explain why she left.

Truth jumped off of the bench, and we both were shocked when it started to walk away. Was that the same bench Blood and I had sat on? I shook my head; ah~ whatever. It probably was. He looked up at me, his ears also perked. "Go-Round was calling his name." I picked him up, heading in the general direction we came from. That reminded me; why did he not like Gowland?

"Hey, Truth, why don't you like Gowland?" The kitten rolled his eyes and buried his head into my armpit. "Truth…"

He pulled his head out and looked at me. "He tried to pet me, and when I let him, he pet too hard." He frowned and whined, "He pulled my tail, too! Who just pulls someone else's tail! Only Go-Round, that's who!" He mewed at the end, expressing his displeasure.

"That's not a reason to hate him, kitty." He hissed at me, then gently nipped my hand. I swatted his head softly, but he reeled back. "All you had to do was tell him you didn't like it." He rolled his eyes and laid his head on my shoulder.

"I was just upset that he pulled my tail…" He nuzzled his head into my neck. "I miss Jacob…" My head thumped at the name, but I was determined not to fall from the pain. Jacob… Jacob… My little brother, Jacob…

"I miss him, too." I was in the forest then, stopping when we were a good distance in. I looked around curiously. The trees were incredibly tall pines and oaks and hickories and other kinds I didn't know. I grinned when a soft breeze drifted through the trees, lifting my curly hair off of my shoulder. It was nice. I absentmindedly wondered why I hadn't felt the breeze in the clearing, but had seen it instead. I shook my head; Wonderland is weird.

We began walking again, soon making our way back to the path. We remained silent as we walked, each of us lost in our thoughts. After a while, I sighed and said, "I should probably visit Julius." He blinked up at me.

"Julius?"

"Another Role Holder here."

He huffed, "Is he that gloomy guy Rose was telling us about?" I tilted my head, but nodded. He was a little gloomy. Truth groaned, "Gloomy people are laaaaaame." I tapped his head, scolding him. "Marina!"

"Julius is nice! He showed me the path back to Rose's House!" I said defensively. He rolled his eyes and curled into my arms. I sighed. He was being ridiculous again.

We continued along the path, bickering with one another the entire way. I absentmindedly noted how comfortable I was with my talking cat. I shrugged; it was a dream, of course I was comfortable with Truth talking. Finally, hit bit into my hand (none too gently) and I jumped. "Truuuuuuuuuuth!" I whined. He kitty-smiled and turned his head. I frowned, batting at his head. "What a bad kitten."

"You're just a bad caretaker," he said haughtily. I rolled my eyes. He was annoying, too. I blinked when I saw Clock Tower on the horizon. I smiled and sprinted towards it, nearly dropping Truth in the process. "MARINA, SLOW DOWN!" he screeched. I giggled; hadn't I been the one to yell that earlier?

We slid to a stop in front of the door. I opened it, calling out, "Hey Julius, I'm here again!" I could hear the exaggerated (at least, I hoped it was exaggerated) groan from the floor above me. I bounded up the stairs, though; I wasn't going to be put off by a groan. I opened the door to the main floor, seeing the long-haired man sitting behind his desk. I noticed the coffee cups surrounding him, then the dark circles under his eyes. I tilted my head; he hadn't slept.

"Julius~ you haven't slept!" He continued to focus on the clocks in front of him. I pouted; he really did off a gloomy feeling. I walked towards him and tapped his head. He glared up at me. "You haven't slept, Julius."

"I've been working." He looked back at the clocks, so I tapped his head again. He glared back at me. "Leave me alone."

"You need to sleep."

"I need coffee."

I blinked at him, then smiled. "I can make you coffee!" He glanced up at me, but continued to work on the clock. I set Truth down on the desk, and he proceeded to lay directly on the clock. The long-haired man groaned loudly.

"You stupid cat!" he yelled.

"Hey!" Truth yelled back. "I'm not stupid!" The cat hissed at the man. The man glared back at the cat. And I stood awkwardly, looking around the room at the few doors here and there. Truth continued to sit on the clock and make himself comfortable. Julius huffed and shoved him off before he continued to work on the clock. I stared at his hands, wondering how they could control such tiny tools.

I blinked and remembered what I said I'd do. "Julius, where's the kitchen?" He glared at his work, sighed, and looked up at me. Then he pointed to a doorway on the right of the circular room. I nodded and walked towards it. Once I was in the thin kitchen, I glanced around and smiled, spotting the coffee machine and coffee. Skipping over to them, I noticed that the coffee beans were whole. So, I'd have to crush them, huh? I looked around for a grinder, but only found a bowl and a weird, wooden thing. I'd have to ask him what it was called later. I figured I had to crush the beans in that, so I put a handful into the white ceramic bowl and started to mash them. It took awhile, but I eventually had a fine powder.

I realized with a start that I should've put the water into the pot so it could get hot. Meh~ whatever. I poured water and the ground coffee beans into the pot, watching as it mixed together to form a hot, dark liquid. As it neared boiling point, I searched for a mug frantically. I found different sized mugs on a stand, and I grabbed a dark blue one with a gold ring around the top. I smiled; it reminded me of Julius. I poured the coffee into the mug and blew on it so it was cooler. Then, I carefully walked out to the man, who was slumped over in his seat and petting Truth, who was purring contently in his lap.

I set the mug in front of him, then nudged his shoulder. He sat up with wide eyes, staring at me. He mouthed something, then shook his head. "I made your coffee, Julius." He nodded, picking up the mug and sipping from it. He made a surprised face as he sat the mug down.

"Not bad for your first go. 73." I blinked.

"73? What?"

"Your grade on the cup of coffee. It's 73." He picked up his tools, once again working on the clock. I stared at him, sighed, and sat in the chair across from his desk. "Don't you have someplace to be?"

"Nah, not really…" Silence. I said, "Rose and I bought stuff today." He remained silent, so I decided to continue. "I found this really cute bow, too. It's blue, and it's got a heart on it." I looked at the cat in his lap, "Truth, what's the color of the bow Boris got you?"

He kitty-smiled, "It's red." I nodded and leaned back into the chair.

"When did you two get so friendly? You were yelling at each other when I left, which was for ten minutes at most." Julius glanced up at me, but quickly returned to his work. His cheeks were slightly red. "Do you like cats or something?"

"No!" He huffed, then said in a quieter tone, "No. I don't." I rolled my eyes; he was totally lying. He probably loved cats. The room suddenly got dark, and I stood up to look out one of the windows (I would later remember it as the window that faced The House). "It's the night Time Change."

"Ohhhh…" But I wasn't sleepy… "Maybe I should go back to The House."

"I have my coffee, so I don't care what you do." I frowned and stared back at the long-haired man. He was still working on the clock. Or, at least, he had been, because he snapped it shut and placed it on the side of (what seemed to be) fixed clocks. He shoved Truth off of his lap, leaning over and grabbing another clock from a growing pile. As I stared at them, it suddenly clicked: he was fixing people's 'hearts'. That would explain his Role as Mortician, But… why did he fix them? They were dead. "You're staring at the clocks."

"Why do you fix them?" I asked, sitting back in the chair. His fingers stopped moving, and he froze. "I mean, I know clocks are the equivalent of hearts here, but they're dead. Why do you fix them?" He grit his teeth. He wasn't going to tell me, I could tell. "You don't have to tell me, Julius." His posture slouched immediately. He really must not like his job. I picked up Truth, who had walked over to me, and headed for the door. "Thanks for listening." Even if we only talked for a short while… "I'll be going. Maybe I'll visit in a few Time Changes!" He didn't reply, so I walked out of the room and down the stairs.

"He's a real stick in the mud."

"You didn't seem to think that when he was petting you."

"As if I would admit to actually liking it."

I grinned at his response; this dream had certainly made Truth a very sassy kitty. Then I frowned; this dream had also made some of the most unique individuals I had ever met. I'd hate waking up if it meant that I'd never see them again… Would I wake up after I beat the game? Huh, so much to think about… I didn't realize that we neared The House until I heard Rose scream, "Get out of here, you perverted knight!" I sprinted the last bit of the path, seeing Ace with his sword drawn facing Rose, who had her umbrella/sword/thing also drawn. He sprinted at her, then jumped and attempted to slash her, but she blocked with her sword. It made a loud clang! sound.

"But Rosie," he giggled, "you're so cute!" He reached for her, and she spun out of his reach. It reminded me of a dance. He slashed his sword again, and she ducked beneath it. "I love you, Rosie!" I blinked; what? He loved her?

She flushed and stabbed her sword forward, nearly hitting his leg. He jumped back. "Don't call me Rosie, perverted knight!"

They continued to fight, and I couldn't help but wonder; if he loved her, why did her fight her? I decided to ask. "Why do you fight her if you love her?" Both turned to me, frozen in stance. Rose's eyes teared up, and she smiled before she ran for me.

"Marina!" she cried joyfully, jumping to hug me. I backed up, since her sword was pointed at me, and she skidded against the ground. "Maaaaarina!" She looked up at me, face covered in dirt.

"Your sword was pointed at me." She jumped up, dropped her sword, and hugged me. She giggled happily, nuzzling her cheek into mine. This side of her was new… She was clingy? Huh… she seemed so independent.

"You left me earlier! I was worried!"

Ace dropped his sword and wrapped his arms around me as well, setting his head on top of mine. "This is fun!"

She immediately flipped into the hot-headed Rose I knew. She growled, "Ace, get off of her right now."

"Naaaaaaah." He played with a lock of my hair. "I like the Foreigner." She pulled from his grasp and pushed me behind her, then grabbed her sword from the ground.

"ACE!" she screamed. He picked up his sword and laughed, scampering off into the forest. She followed him, but not before yelling, "Someone get Marina dinner!" I laughed; so this was the side of her that everyone was afraid of? Her hot-headed, protective side? Chamomile appeared by my side suddenly.

"Are you hungry, Miss Marina?"

"A little, Chamomile. What are we having for supper?"

As she rattled off the menu, I grinned. Maybe this dream wouldn't be too bad.