The new chapter! I should be studying now, but I felt like writing :P

Thanks to my chapter 8 reviewers:

icily-COOL

Comicworm

Le Maistre Chat

Xxdarkness-angelxX

XxMidnightPrincessxX

bunnyjumps

akadabra-kaching (x5)

Kuroichibineko

Smori

CrimsonKuroNeko-chan

Eternal Anime Fan

Evermore888

Mrs. X

HazZel and CriMson

DISCLAIMER: I don not own Gakuen Alice or any associated characters (although it would be nice)

Drowning Out the Echoes

Chapter 9

Alice

"Nullification…nullification…" Mikan rolled the word on her tongue, trying to find some familiarity in them. The principal watched her. "What exactly is it?" she asked.

"Nullification is the ability to cancel out other Alices. It's rather rare, but not unheard of. I believe that you may have a secondary Alice, but we will have to wait and see." Mikan didn't like the sound of the nullification Alice. It was an Alice that would only work against an enemy, and she didn't plan on making any of those.

"So that means I can only stop other people from using their Alice."

"Yes." Disappointment settled over Mikan. "But that's not the only thing I called you here for. Tell me, do you remember that time when you collapsed in this office?" Mikan nodded "Then what did you see?"

"A…a garden. But it was all wrong. Everything was too bright and colourful, it hurt my eyes. And there was a beautiful woman, but…she was all wrong too. She was scary. Do you know who she was?" Mikan watched the principal eagerly, hoping for some clue as to the identity of the woman.

"No." But he didn't meet her eyes. "You are dismissed, Mikan." As Mikan turned around to leave she heard him say in a voice so low she thought she might've imagined it "Be careful."

"So, Nullification, huh? That's a useful Alice."

"Are you sure, Hotaru? I mean, wouldn't it only be useful if I was fighting against another Alice? And stop stealing my chips!" Hotaru just rolled her eyes, the flow of chips from Mikan's plate to her mouth never wavering.

"Don't be so naïve. Conflict happens all the time in the Alice world, just like in the real world. The only difference is that in the real world the worst thing that can happen to you is death."

"So what's the worst thing that can happen to you in this world?" Mikan asked, curious. Hotaru just smiled widely, almost sinisterly.

"Do you really want to know?"

"I might not want to know after all…but there is something."

"Ask away, but just remember that it's a 10 hare fee for every question." Mikan thought she was joking.

"Why do people have Alices? Is it genetic?"

"In many cases Alices are inherited. But there are also cases in which people from non-Alice families are gifted with an Alice."

"And what about the first Alices?"

"Don't you know the legend?"

"What legend?" Hotaru just shook her head in a 'I can't believe she is this much of an idiot' way.

"Roughly 400 years ago a man went deep into a stretch of woodland to investigate a strange light that he had seen. When he reached the source of the light he found a heavily pregnant young woman covered in blood. She went into labour, but died during childbirth, only telling the man that her name was Alice. The man cared for the daughter that Alice left behind, and at the same time frantically searched for the identity of the mother. Eventually he found out who she was. She was the only daughter of a noble family who had disappeared at 17 and had been proclaimed dead. But this wasn't the strangest thing. She hadn't been seen alive in 139 years. It was around this time that the people who lived nearby the woods started to notice strange things happening. They gained impossible powers, or skills that they had never practised. Eventually passing travellers noticed these strange happenings, and they began to talk of witchcraft. But when the witch hunters arrived to burn all of the villages and their residents, they found nothing. It was as if 3 villages had just disappeared overnight. Of course we know that it was probably just the Illusion Alice, but at that time the superstitious fools thought that the villages must have disappeared into the devils domain, and reported that those woods were cursed. For hundreds of years nobody dared to approach the woods, and eventually everybody began to forget about the villages. But the villages had thrived, calling their new powers 'Alices' and creating their city. In fact, it is in their city that we stand right now."

"It would make a great horror story, but it makes no sense. The witch hunts happened in Europe, not Japan." Hotaru looked surprised, and for a moment Mikan thought that maybe she had just outwitted her.

"Mikan, you don't honestly think that we're still in Japan? Haven't you noticed that the campus is bigger than Tokyo?"

"I don't get it."

"Dimensional Benders. Although you came in through Tokyo, the moment you passed through the front gate you were transported to this city in Europe."

"But then why is everyone speaking Japanese?" But the moment the words came out of Mikan's mouth she knew that they were wrong. Because no one was speaking Japanese, not even her.

"Once you enter the boundaries of this city, you automatically speak English. I'm surprised you didn't notice earlier" Mikan took a deep drink from her glass of orange juice.

"I feel stupid now."

"As you should." Mikan tried to hide her irritation by changing the subject.

"So what happened to that girl, Alice, during the hundred and something years she was gone? Shouldn't she have died of old age?"

"No one knows exactly, but it's likely that she was transported to an alternate world where time flowed differently. Many books have been published on the subject. You've probably read one of them, Alice in Wonderland. Trust the most ridiculous version to gain the most recognition." Hotaru's mutterings were interrupted by the ringing of the spire bells.

"Oh, I have class now, see ya Hotaru!" Mikan sped off. When she arrived at the special abilities 'classroom' she almost died of shock. All of her classmates were practising their Alice's, resulting in a deafening din and one of the most bizarre sights. One of the girls was spurting multi-coloured bubbles out of her nostrils as she laughed uncontrollably at a boy's jokes. A web of shadows spread out from Tsubasa as he tried to calm down a horde of angry Misakis (that's plural of Misaki) while a young girl swung from the highest beam by a thin thread. All this while there was the sound of a loud fog horn coming from a senior's mouth. It was like a war zone.

"So you must be Mikan!" The adult had to raise his voice even though they were standing next to each other. "I'm the special abilities class supervisor, Nodacchi! As you can see, everyone's practising their Alices! I hear that you have the nullification Alice, so it would be good training for you to try to release yourself from Tsubasa's shadow bind!" Mikan nodded to show that she understood, and scaled one of the ladders to approach Tsubasa, who was currently being beaten up by many Misakis. She waited for Misaki to finish before relaying Nodacchi's instructions. He nodded and stretched out his shadow to hers. Suddenly everything was frozen, she couldn't move even a fraction of a millimetre. Being frozen felt like falling endlessly. She hated it yet she was helpless. Defenceless. Weak.

"That's enough for today." Said Nodacchi. Mikan finally felt herself released. She realized that the hour must've already passed.

"Don't worry, Mikan! You'll get better!" Smiled Misaki. Mikan nodded but felt inadequate. Everybody else in the class had used their Alices perfectly. She was deep in thought as she walked back to her unit.

"POLKA!" Mikan was jolted out of her reverie.

"Hyuuga. Do you enjoy following me?"

"Got a problem with it?" He asked. "And why are you in such a bad mood?"

"You wouldn't understand." Mikan increased her pace, hoping to lose him.

"Really, despite the fact that I know you better than anyone in the world, I somehow won't understand you?"

"You knew me. Note the use of past tense. I'm different now."

"Just tell me. It won't matter if I don't understand, right?" Mikan stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face him, annoyance evident on her face.

"Fine, I don't know how to use my own Alice. Now what can you do? Nothing."

"Mikan, you can use your Alice."

"No I can't, I couldn't even move a millimetre when Tsubasa used his Alice on me!" shouted Mikan, throwing her books on the ground and pulling at her hair. Natsume grabbed her wrists to stop her.

"You can use it, you always used to use it on me when we were in the orphanage."

"That's impossible; I think I would know if I was using nullification." said Mikan whilst trying to wrench her arms from his hands.

"You did! I could never use my Alice around you, even though I'd used it plenty of times before." Mikan stopped struggling.

"Really?" She asked. Natsume nodded. "Then could you use your Alice now?"

Natsume released Mikan and took a few steps back. Mikan gasped when she saw his hand burst into flames. It was frightening, and it gave her the most horrible feeling; as if Natsume's life was burning up with that flame. It disappeared once Natsume noticed the horrified look on Mikan's face.

"Natsume…don't ever do that again." Mikan said, her face pale and fingers trembling.

"Fine." He said. But he wouldn't meet Mikan's eyes.

"Alright, I'm going back to my unit, don't follow me! It'd be creepy if you knew where I lived.

"I can find out anytime I want."

"Creep. I'm leaving now." She started to walk back, and when she looked over her shoulder he was gone.

Well, there it is! Review because it will take you under 30 seconds, and because you love this story (crosses fingers)

Wish me luck in exams ^^ and thanks for reading!