Title: Treasure
Rating: T
Summary: Nick Midnight is a high school girl who's a victim of fierce bullying regarding her appearance and name. On one rainy day she falls into Wonderland and hopes to start a new life. Will she ever find anyone who will accept her for who she is, or will the vicious cycle begin again? Mary Gowland x Original Character
A/N's: Poor Midnight, she feels like everyone in Wonderland is against her, but she still sees the small beacon of hope! Gowland, you goofy old man, go cheer her up!
For this chapter, YAY AMUSEMENT PARK TIEM, l looked up roller coasters to put in the park (so if you guys were curious you could look up the name and find out what the attraction looks like) and there's so many cool parks out there in the world that I want to go to now ;_;
Chapter Four: The Delicacy of a Pair of Glasses
In the wake of the continuously setting sun, the Amusement Park glimmered, shining bright light that is currently holding off the incoming rainstorm all on its own. Loud neon colors of pink, green, blue, and yellow hues are exploding into the rainbow phosphorescent gate that closed off the park from its extending grounds filled with shops, restaurants, and lodging.
Knowing better than to sit around and be angry about my abandonment - I can do that later when I am not in a place that is threatened by rainfall, like some form of shelter - I approach the sparkling gates and walk through the entrance, only to find a ticket center on the other side.
Well, I don't have any money, so… What am I supposed to do now?
I am approached by a faceless man and a faceless woman, both dressed in eccentric garb, complete with antennas and triangular-shaped coats.
"Good afternoon, honored guest!" they exclaimed together in unison.
"He-hello?" I stutter; an honored guest? Are they referencing my status as an Outsider? Wait a minute… how would they know anyways? They only people I've met are Alice, Julius, Nightmare, the Twins, Blood, Ace, and Boris. Well that is a plethora of people, so it isn't hard to believe that word gets around quickly.
"Hello, new Outsider!~" the female says loudly, capturing the attention of a few faceless who are walking around close by, "Rumors travel quite fast around the Amusement Park; I'm a bit surprised there's another Outsider - I can't believe it's true!" she squeals.
The faceless man nods his head quickly in agreement before delving into a description of the park, rides, and organization.
"This here Amusement Park is the largest territory in the Country of Hearts, ruled by Duke Gowland! We have quite the attractions here…" as he continues to speak on, I cannot catch everything he says at the fast rate he spews the information, hearing snippets like: "Our Ferris Wheel is known for being the current highest ride in the park" and "the coaster Bizarro, formerly Medusa, is unmatched in its speed".
I am overwhelmed with the amount of yapping one person can do - when people used to talk to me, I was a very good listener, but even with that skill the Amusement Park workers were hard to follow. However, my attention becomes extremely focused when the female speaks in her shrill voice of war, violence, and Blood.
"Currently," she says, "the Amusement Park is at war with the Hatter, Blood Dupre, and his mansion for various reason including the spread of propaganda yadayadayada and for damaging the Owner's name and reputation-"
"What did Blood say about him?" I interrupt, curiously. In a sick way, I was a bit glad that there was somebody else who Blood has humiliated - maybe this person could be one I may possibly be able to explain myself to and relate to. It's never a good thing to be ostracized by another, but those who are hurt by the same person often seem to come together and form deep mutual friendships.
Blood; I hate that man with a burning passion. While some may say that you can't judge a person on first impressions, they're wrong - people do it all the time, and it is usually the beginning of an unwarranted conflict, but it still happens every day. That man, cruel and spiteful, he's like them - the cold-blooded assholes I attended school with my entire life, the people who waste their time and believe it's good fun and humorous when others are in pain. Blood's a sadistic brat who's never grown up, and I hate him. I hate him for the way he speaks of me, perceives me, and the way he looks at me. Punish me, he says; punish me for what? He's the insinuator in more ways than one. Just thinking about the events, which seem so long ago even though they occurred yesterday, give me a strange sense of foreboding that sends chills down my spine.
"We're really not supposed to talk about it since the Owner gets incredibly mad, but," the male employee begins.
"Since he's testing the new coaster Alpengeist right now, and everyone in the land already knows about it anyway," the female employee pauses and looks around the premises shiftily. She runs to my side with a spring in her step and places one hand on my shoulder, using the other to cup her mouth and direct sounds towards my ear. The other faceless stands with his arms crossed, looking from side to side, presumably for Gowland, the Owner.
"The Hatter," she whispers, "told everyone in the Country of Hearts about Gowland's first name; it's Mary, and he hates it since it makes him sound like the ride," she giggles.
Mary Gowland... does she mean it's like a pun on merry-go-round? I don't know in what language the sound of land equals round, except maybe in a Japanese translation of rando and roundo to land and round, but if he's sensitive about it like I am with my name, then it's not nice for others to inform people about it.
Speaking of his name, Mary is a feminine name, isn't it? Never in my life have I met a man named Mary, then again one would not expect to find a girl named Nick either. Blood just has to find a way to make others feel bad, doesn't he? What a jerk, he's probably running around right now to all the territories and telling people my real name just like he did to Gowland.
The two Amusement Park faceless employees stare at me expectantly as if they were waiting for me to do something interesting.
"I'm not going to laugh, if that's what you're waiting for," I state blatantly. If he wants to keep it on the down-low, why should I laugh with everyone else. Just having one person refusing to give in can make a difference; trust me, I would know.
As if on cue, lightning strikes in the background and rain begins to pour over the town just outside the ever-shining gates. The two faceless look up at the scene and then turn to each other, speaking about how the park may have to be closed.
"We'd love to you show you around, uh," the male trails off, not knowing what to call me. Rumors travel fast across the park, and if he doesn't know, then Blood's words haven't gotten to this part of the Country of Hearts yet.
"Midnight," I helped him.
"Yes, we'd love to give you the grand tour Midnight, but it seems that the weather has taken a turn for the worse, so you'll have to find the Owner on your own!~"
The two skitter off like lizards in a driveway, perhaps to find other employees to alert the customers and close down shop, and I can hear them developing nonmalicious rumors including: "I wonder if she'll stay and they'll get together!~" and "Hopefully we'll have a park romance!".
I shake my head back and forth, laughing slightly at the pair and their comments, before being brought back to reality as a snap of thunder reaches my ears. Deciding as the rain clouds threaten to come closer to go look for this Mary Gowland, I try to think about whether or not the faceless employees mentioned where he was. Currently he'd be testing a new roller coaster... Isn't that quite dangerous in this weather?
I look back towards the gates and find them to be covered in water, generously provided by the inching storm. Well, no going back now - it's time to go find this crazy Duke of an Owner.
Alpengeist, anyone?
_~|TREASURE|~_
Named 'Ghost of the Alps', Alpengeist looked quite intimidating; containing various loops and including various types of rolls, the baby blue coaster looked grey and eerie in the shaded light produced by the incoming black storm clouds and rain. So this is the one tests were being run on, huh? It must be in the latest stages of development as it looks finalized and ready to take in patrons, unlike the Jet Coffee Cup Coaster I passed on the way…
Unfortunate for me, Alpengeist was located in the very back of the Amusement Park so it took a bit of time to arrive at the destination, but fortunately for me, I was able to get a sneak peek of many of the attractions in this place before I get to participate in the activities at a later date. On my way, I passed several 'under construction' areas that looked a bit rickety and definitely dangerous.
Not to mention ridiculous; seriously, a Jet Coffee Cup Coaster? The idea sounds interesting and fun - besides those with weak stomachs, who wouldn't love a tea cup ride mixed with a roller coaster? -, but the design is utterly impossible to make reality and more importantly, safe, if it does not change. I swear I didn't even see a lap bar or seatbelts in the coffee cups… someone's going to get hurt, unless an accident hasn't happened already.
Currently, a car is going around on the track, and it looks like none of the faceless employees in the park have wandered back here yet to let the test group, including Gowland, know that the park will be closing due to bad weather conditions. Shouldn't he have been the first person the workers told? Well, I guess you can't separate a man from his fun.
Tiredly, I shuffle forward to stand under a piece of the ride and look up at it in curiosity. The ride itself is a full-circuit inverted coaster, meaning that the entire ride is one in which the train car is under the track and the seats hang down. So, when a regular roller coaster has the track facing up and the people are sitting normally, when that happens in an inverted roller coaster, the riders are upside down.
I turn to walk towards the entrance to the ride as to catch the group of testers when they come out, to meet the Owner for the first time and inform them that the workers decided among themselves to close the park down, my foot nudges something. I look down to find a pair of glasses resting on the ground in an upside down position - they must have fallen when a tester was thrown in reverse on the coaster.
I pick them up and inspect them: the frames, metal, the lenses themselves experiencing a miracle and are completely free of chips, scratches, and cracks. The spectacles are cold to the touch and are slightly heavy in weight. They appear to be a men's pair, and they're quite nice in my opinion.
A click sound vibrates through the air, originating from past the ride entrance and at the boarding station. I can hear a chatter running about those who have just finished the test runs and exited Alpengeist. I move forward with the glasses in my hand before stopping abruptly only a few feet away and realizing that I don't actually know who these belong to, or what Duke Gowland looks like. This… might end up being a problem.
Maybe I should pretend that I just found these and stand off to the side while waiting for them to come out? It might prevent some awkwardness. If I just lean against this railing and stare at the pair, pretending to study them and shift them in my hands, I may be convincing... Now that I look a bit closer, they seem a bit dirty and covered in fingerprints.
Wait a minute! I won't have to pretend after all.
Taking a lens cleaning cloth out of my backpack, I begin to work away on removing the blurring prints from the surfaces of the glasses. I don't wear glasses myself, but I keep the cloth around for when I have to use a dirty computer screen at school or in the library. I wipe them down so that I can see the pictures better - plus, it's nice not having to stare at someone else's unique marks while trying to research for a project.
Fully distracted by my task at hand, literally, I neglect to hear or see the crowd when they emerge from Alpengiest's exit, their passages of speech hitting my ears but not being recognized or acknowledged.
"Mr. Gowland, are you sure you don't need help looking for them?" asked a faceless employee to a tall, reddish-brown haired man who seemed to be stumbling around a bit on the cool, shaded pavement.
The man, Mary Gowland, waved the concerned male off, "I'll be alright, don't you worry about it," and looked to the sky, "But you should worry about this weather. Hopefully lightning won't strike anything in the park…" An understandable concern that was - if lightning were to hit the metal of the rides or the canopies of arenas and restaurants, then fires could start or mechanical failure could occur. Both possible events would cost a large amount of money in repairs and an even bigger amount of time in setbacks.
"Do you think the front-end managers have decided to close?" he inquires.
A different faceless tester responds, "I would think so; that would be the most logical thing to do. Also, nobody seems to be roaming the park at this current time except for…" he trails off, looking at me.
Still distracted by cleaning the item, I don't notice as the group of people approaches me.
"There's a young woman over there sir," a female faceless employee points in my direction, "And I think she has your glasses if you want to go talk to he-"
"Hm? What's wrong? Why did you stop?" Gowland asks.
"Um, she has eyes sir, either she's the new Outsider or we have ourselves a new role holder."
A hearty laugh escapes his mouth as he begins to speak, "Hopefully she's the latter; we don't need another Pierce running around… What a pain, that kid."
Gowland looks around and up at the ever darkening sky and turns around to face the small group of Amusement Park workers he has with him. "Well, I can't see squat without those damn things on, but I know a storm when one's coming, Y'all head on up to the front and make sure they're closing up. I'll go talk to the miss, alright?"
The crowd leaves without a noise, excluding the sound of shuffling footsteps as they drag themselves back to the far-away entrance to the park.
A thunder cloud booms above me, snapping my attention back to the reality of my situation.
"Aww…" I say aloud to myself, or so I thought, "I just finished cleaning these glasses, and now they're probably going to get water drops on them." I frown, concerned more for the item than for myself. I've had experience with rainstorms and thunderstorms, lightning storms if you prefer, so I can handle myself; I feel bad though - I fixed up this pair to give them back to their owner in great shape, but it's almost as if I've wasted my time since it's going to rain.
Oh would you look at that, I'm wearing white.
Curse you, color spectrum.
Still in my own little world, I lean down to pick up the backpack that I had set down on the concrete while cleaning the glasses, and prepare to leave. This, leaving, was my plan until a large warm hand had found itself clamping down on my left shoulder. Instead of screaming or shrieking out of fear like most girls my age would do, my reaction was to tense and scream on the inside. What the-?
"Hey there, little miss! What do you have there?" asked a tall man with reddish-brown hair and a small braided ponytail. As I look up at him and stare into the sea foam green eyes, I decide he is not one to be afraid of - hopefully, looks can be deceiving - so I un-tense and study him a bit more.
The man who startled me was… well, my first impression is weird. His outfit matches the theme of the Amusement Park - obnoxious colors, neon blue and shades of yellow. His knee-high socks possessed a diamond pattern, another dose of yellow with the vertical line of blue shapes. After taking all of this in, two things about him caught my attention - the music note pattern he had on his jacket and the chain of notes hanging from his necktie, and donkey suspenders.
"Well, I found these glasses over here, and I don't know who they belong to… It's a miracle they aren't broken - they must have fallen off someone's head while they were on this coaster here," I say answering his stated question, trying not to be too distracted by his… abstract and unique clothing choices.
He laughs heartily and gently lifts the corrective lenses out of my hands and places them on his face. "These little buggers are mine - they musta dropped in the loop above us. Thanks for findin' them, little miss."
He blinks a couple times while looking in different directions and shaking his head, adjusting to the change in clarity. After a few awkward moments, he turns out to me and juts out his hand in greeting.
"My name is Gowland. I'm the Owner here at this beautiful park," he pauses and looks up at the sky, "and I'd show you around if it didn't look like hell outside."
I laugh, "My name's Midnight. Nice to meet you Gowland… and don't worry, the employees are closing the park up in the front."
I could see relief pass through the eyes behind the industrial-strength glasses, but it only lasted for a moment as a bolt of lightning violently struck the ground on the other side of Alpengeist.
"Shit, this thing's like a lightnin' rod. We need to go!"
"What!? Where!?" I screamed over the thunder boom.
Gowland grabbed me by the hand and started running off towards a large, not-under construction building, and pulled me behind him as I was failing to keep up. We soon arrived, just in time, standing under the building's off-shooted covered pavilion as the clouds cracked open like water on an overheated car engine to pour out droplets upon gallons upon inches of rain.
Lit dimly by the ceiling lights of the cover, Gowland looked over his shoulder to me and began to speak. "Looks like you'll be staying here, sweet pea."
…
I think I was blushing as he still held my hand while I stared straight out into the downpour of crying skies.