Chapter 2-Her Name is Alice
"If I had a world of my own
Everything would be nonsense.
Nothing will be what it is,
Because everything will be what it isn't."
Small, delicate hands clung to the tattered cover of the book held in the child's arms. The worn out, yellow, aged pages sticking out at some ends of the cover unevenly while letters long since faded from the cover's front were barely made out from all the dirt and grime collecting over it. Still, though, there was something quite odd and interesting about this particular object; calling out for one's attention to come and read through its contents, revealing whatever secrets it holds in its pages.
Little sounds echoed down in the hallway, the footsteps of a child, hurrying along to the staircase from where the steps creaked under the weight. With a hop, there came a thud, followed by a mad scramble. A soft whoosh of air and suddenly, the little form moved on across the room towards the kitchen, clutching the book closer to the chest as a head was peeked out from behind the wall. Blue eyes wide with excitement and curiosity until landing on the two, taller forms on the other side from where he resides; the grown up cooking up something that would no doubt come to life once again at dinner.
"Mommy…Daddy!" the voice loudly called out, the child coming out from his hiding place and watched as the two elders turned and looked at him, smiles appearing and questions forming in their mouths as to inquire what it was the child wished to ask of them.
"Who's this?" was all that was replied. The book brought over and set down at the table, one the little body climbed up to a chair and opened the object. Flipping through pages before settling down on one and pointed with a small finger at the picture that has entranced the young mind so once seeing it at first. A wide interest and wonder appearing across his face, watching the mother peer down and quirk a brow at the picture, show no sign of recognition on her face.
"I don't know sweetie…where did you find this, by the way?"
"Attic." The simple answered was the only thing provided.
A larger form came over, clad in an orange jumpsuit, with a plate of fudge in one hand. The beaming, ever so childish smile seeming to slip off once gazing down at the book the child brought and a few blinks of surprise before the smile returned once again, wistfully.
"Aye, I know who that is!" the booming voice caught the attention of the other two as the father settled down on a chair next the son, placing a hand on the mound of raven, messy hair and ruffling it a bit. "This is Alice Liddel, your ancestor!"
The boy cocked the head to the side, never minding the ruffle of his hair, and frowned.
"Who?"
A knowing look crossed the face of the father as he looked down at the questioning child.
"Well, you know Lewis Carroll, right? That guy that wrote Alice in Wonderland?"
A nod came.
"He based the Alice from that book with the real Alice Liddell, because he was a friend of her family and they both knew each other. She's the real Alice."
A dawning realization, at least to a certain degree for a child, came upon the face. Then, looking back down at the image of the young woman in a different light, mouth hanging open in a comical way before the eyes blinked and a sudden confusion came across the young mind.
"But…she doesn't have yellow hair….? And she looks…sad…" the child turned to the man, "why?'
A sober look came then but vanished just the same and the father shook his head, shrugging. "Maybe her parents didn't give her fudge when they took her picture!" the playful answer seemed quite forced and not at all convincing to the boy. Just when he was about to ask again, the mother suddenly came and took the book away, garnering the attention of the young one.
"Hey!"
A smile formed on her lips and she chuckled at the flailing arms reaching for the book in her hand.
"Now sweetie, why don't you go to bed right now? It's late and I don't think your teachers will be happy if you fell asleep during class. And also, this is too fragile and old right now for you to keep, Danny." The woman said to the now pouting boy that wished to retrieve the book in her hands. After finding out something so cool and really interesting about his family, the child wished to keep the object close to his person. However, due to his mother holding it out of his reach, the boy frowned.
"But moooooom! Can I have it back, pleeeeeaaase! I promise I'll take care of it!" the boy whined, thinking how unfair it was that the only cool thing that can be found in his family was being withheld from him for whatever reasons the grownups saw fit. Grownups are weird.
"She's right Danny, and besides. Half the stuff in here you can hardly understand! Even I can't understand whatever the heck they're saying." His father said and chuckled at the boy trying to glare at him but failing quite miserably.
"Danny, go to bed. You've got school tomorrow. We'll talk more about this in the morning, hun." A pat to the head and a kiss to the cheek received and the boy sighed. Wiggling out of the strong, fatherly embrace and went on his way, turning the corner. However, before moving any further, the boy hid and listened faintly to the adults sudden whispering. All that was caught were a bit of words exchanged and the concern tone in their voices. Something about keeping the book outside of the house and into a building they call a 'bank' where money usually goes. They even spoke about him getting it back when he was much older to understand Alice more, for whatever reason he does not know. A frown and an upset feeling came to the youth as the travel to the upper levels came much too quickly and the arrival of the bedroom filled with a sense of disappointment and confusion. Wondering why were his parents getting rid of the book even though it was obviously a family heirloom or something. He wanted to know more about his ancestor, the girl from Wonderland.
True, he does not care much for the Wonderland books because they made him confused and a bit lost on where the story goes. Jazz understands it more though, if talking gibberish and confusing riddles that make no sense whatsoever can be understood at all. And the Disney movie faintly caught his attention but not for long, mostly because of the songs.
Snuggling down under the covers and blinking up at the ceiling, the boy checked to make sure the night light will not go out any time soon and sighed in content once reassured of its presence. No monsters will come out tonight. And ghosts are too afraid of the ghost hunter parents to really pose any threat to the boy and girl siblings.
After a moment though, the covers were kicked off and the young form moved over to the wall and turned on the light. Then darting to the bookcase, the child kneeled down and searched for the book, pulling out several Dr. Suess stories, he was finally able to find it. Pulling it out, then going back over to the bed, the blue eyed raven haired boy settled the book down onto his lap and stared down at it.
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass." Was the title read across the cover in golden letters as a girl stood below it, golden hair falling over her shoulders as she wore a blue dress with a white apron; she looked fairly pretty. In her arms, she held a cat-Dinah, he recalled-and behind the girl was one of those big, fancy mirrors.
"Alice…" the mutter escaped from him as he fingered the girl's image, noting her smiling face. "You're happy here…not sad…" a mirror upturn of his lips appeared and a small giggle produced from the throat.
Tucking the book beside the bed, the boy ran over and turned off the light. Then went back his bed from where he grabbed the book and held it close to his chest. A soft, beaming face washed over the youth where the drawing attention of sleep passed over and tugged at him in an inviting embrace, the Sandman promising sweet dreams to come into the night once closing his bright, blue eyes and succumbing to the land of dreams.
"Goodnight Alice…" the whispered words escaped before the clutches of sleep claimed him.
A sudden howl of the wind presented itself. The window shuddering for a moment until stilling, the stars twinkling above outside, the moon hanging by an invisible string beside the laughing lights high in the sky; that is, until it spun around and around until stopping to form a smile of sort. Two twinkling stars shinning brightly down to the Earth below while teeth formed along the moon's form.
A soft whisper echoed off into the night. The whisper seeming to come of nowhere yet came from somewhere at the same time.
The image of Alice smiled, if not grinned, up at the young sleeping boy that held the book in his arms.
"Goodnight Danny…"
"I invite you to a world
Where there is no such thing as time
And every creature lends themselves
To change your state of mind"
That memory…
How long ago was it?
Nothing but a little kid back then…
Forgotten…
He had forgotten…about Alice…
Alice…
Who is Alice…?
Who…?
"Danny…Go to Wonderland…"
What?
"Go to Wonderland…and fight!"
Who are you?
"…"
Who are you? Please tell me.
"My name is…"
"And the girl that chased the rabbit
Drank the wine and took the pill
Has locked herself in limbo
To see how it truly feels"
A gasp of air and a sense of falling come to the senses and in a moment, time seemed to stop at existence, disappearing without a trace. The flashing of colors and lighting swims over the vision and the sound of music drifts into his ears. Then images appear and take on shapes of all kinds before leaving him to fall further and further down the hole.
And then he lands.
Into a soft bed of grass and Earth below from where the whoosh of air exiting his lungs is painfully felt. Blinking away the moisture out of his eyes, the young man sits up and coughs. Trying to regain the oxygen back into his lungs before taking time to survey his surroundings, pausing for a moment in mild bewilderment then chuckled in cold mirth at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. Of landing in a forest of an unknown land from where the tall trees and plentiful green overruns the area; how one finds themselves someplace else than an asylum in one moment span of time is a clear sign of just how insane they are.
"My God, I've finally gone mad…" a giggle was produced that soon turned into a full blown laugh, followed by a mad scream. Full of wretched agony and utter loathing. It is enough to frighten any creature away in fright for the mere sound resembles that of a banshee's cry. Though, in the case of one Danny Fenton, it seems more likely true. Even so, the young man couldn't help but note how real everything felt to the senses but didn't care at the time. For there was an undeniable twist and ache in the heart from where a new bountiful load of despair came forth and tears began to fall freely from the eyes.
He cried.
He screamed.
He sobbed.
"Do quiet child, lest you attract the attention of unwanted guests." A voice broke through the sounds emitting from his throat and startled the young man out of his moment of madness. With nothing to offer more than a stare at the grinning creature before him, yellow eyes boring into his own. A mangy, gray creature that resembled more of a gremlin than a cat, with arcane markings tattooed on the skin and a golden earring hanging from the left bat-like ears of the feline.
There was only one creature that is known to grin such as that and still, there was disbelief from the other.
"Hello there, little Danny. Welcome to Wonderland."
The Cheshire Cat grinned more. At the gaping teen who no doubt thought this was nothing but a dream brought on by his insane mind. And in a way, he was right but also wrong. For one cannot smell the sweet scent in the air of this world nor feel the caress of the wind kissing the skin or the hard ground below to where pain becomes evident from the impact of the fall endured.
When a retort began to form with the doubt in mind, of denying the existence of this creature and this world he has found himself in after being given quite a fright, only a mere slash of the skin can bring about the realization that the reality of this world is in fact real. That whatever may happen here is real. And that the claw marks on his arm are evidence enough that all doubt must fly out the window that very instant as the stinging sensation upon his skin is felt as much as a slap to the face.
Without any words to come up with, Danny merely sat there, staring at the self-satisfied feline who continued to grin maliciously at him with blood stained teeth, dumbfounded and utterly baffled to say the least. At first, nothing but shock of how utterly real this was kept him from further inquiry of how all this was possible and whether this was nothing more but a vivid dream or not. And that is when he felt in his grasp, upon glancing down and feeling the cool handle in his right hand, did the young man take in the appearance of the blood stained blade within his grasp. Then, in further inspecting it, he realized…
It was a perfect fit.
Questions began buzzing into that head of his like bees, seeking the nectar of answers and truths to be devoured and carried on with knowledge that is sought to be obtained. However, the foremost of them comes to the front and the most important of them all leaves his lips without conscious thought. Yet it holds trepidation and fear for the answer yet wishes to know it at the same time. But the curiosity won over, despite the warnings to be weary, and he does little to care for the consequences though his emotions may take over and rule him for a time being before rational thought can be brought about.
"Have I really gone mad…?" the unsure question hung on his lips where as before, he was so certain he had and laughed about it too before breaking down into tears.
"I'm afraid so…"
That was not the answer he wanted to hear.
"To stand outside your virtue
No one can ever hurt you
Or so they say…"
A screech permits the air and a slash through it exposes the raw truth that festers on the wound. A flash of glowing green orbs glare at the feline who vanished at the exact moment the blade came to pierce the flesh and reappeared high above a tree, peering down at the rampaging young man who cries out in utter grief and anger. The yellow eyes lit up in a glowering light down at him.
"Do listen to my advice from before and be silent as death, for the card guards would come once hearing that tantrum of yours so close to the Village, though, they might at first think of a banshee than a descendent of Wonderland's former champion."
"Fuck you! Just shut up and leave me alone!" the young man angrily shouted at the feline, tears falling from haunted eyes.
"As you wish." Was the curt response as the cat began to disappear slowly…
A sudden realization of being left alone in a land unknown and with no one else to come to for help struck his mind and Danny, panting from slashing at air and stabbing at tree while stomping on whatever ground that comes, has a sense of lucid thinking and rationality in that moment. Staring at the creature slowly disappearing from sight, leaving him alone in this strange new place, not knowing where to go or which way leads to home. A sense of dread and feeling of fright at the prospect of being by his lonesome self, with no one in sight, somehow that frightens him even more than any of the perilous battles his faced in his halfa-life. Acting out of instinct and flinging himself below the tree, he dropped the blade in hand, groveling at the ground as he looked up at the feline, wide green eyes pleading up at the cat. A pitiful as he begged in a cracked voice for him not to go, that he is sorry and wished not to be left alone.
"Wait…please…don't leave me alone…I'm sorry…"
"You've picked up quite an attitude, no doubt from dear Alice I suppose. Still curious and willing to learn I hope?"
"Yes…" Danny whispered, sniffling.
The cat vanished then, making the young man cry out only to be silenced when the cat re-appeared before him and grinned.
"Do not fret, for here I provide a service and comfort to any who abandons their ignorance and does what very few do. Ask for help. And help will come to those who deserve of it."
A crack of a watery smile forms.
"You sound a little like Dumbledore…"
"I do not recall ever knowing such a person."
Weakly, in a sudden quick decision, the young man threw his arms over the creature and cried freely onto the feline's furless, gray skin. Of course, this garnered a hiss and a few scratches but the creature grudgingly let the teen hold him in his embrace. Glaring daggers at the quite distraught face while a rare frown comes onto his face; the Cheshire Cat was not used to this sort of behavior, never was actually.
Thankfully, Danny let go of the cat, who immediately sprung out of his arms and far away from him, glowering at the suddenly laughing teen. Yet another thing that seemed to be wrong with young Daniel is that he has become rather bipolar. With emotions that range high and low, with no middle so to speak. That, Cheshire thought, is yet another thing that Danny needs help with.
After a few minutes, Danny was up and about. Breathing heavily with a weary smile that quickly slid of once catching sight of the blade once again, hesitantly moving over and kneeling down to pick it up, admiring the blood stains in morbid entrance. And that's when he caught sight of his reflection and gasped.
"I'm in ghost form…!" Quickly looking down and seeing the new attire he had attained, the boy spun around until finding a nearby stream and jogging over to it. Cheshire watched in mirth at Danny's reaction to his new appearance.
Though he clearly wore his usual black and white jumpsuit, however, it was the new garments on top that caught his glowing green eyes notice. A blue vest that ends right at the black belt with a green orb in the middle around his waist as a white undershirt with a button up neck collar has its ends hanging out at the bottom with bloodstains where two symbols, Uranus and Jupiter, are shown. A black neck collar is wrapped over the white shirt's one and the Omega symbol chain is hanging from it.
After looking himself over, Danny turned to Cheshire and raised an eyebrow.
"You're appearance is of little consequence but your mind is something else entirely and therefore actions should be taken for it. The Vorpal blade aids and will always return to its master's hand." Cheshire gestured to the Vorpal blade in Danny's hand and continued, "You're knife is necessary but not sufficient. Always collect what's useful. Reject only your ignorance and you may survive."
"…Wonderland is very different than what's in books, isn't it Cat?"
Cheshire grinned more, almost leeringly, at Danny.
"How ever did you guess?"
"Her name is Alice!
(Alice!)
She climbs into the window
Shapes and shadows
Alice!
(Alice!)
And even though she's dreaming
She knows…"
"My name is Alice..."