Hello everyone! I'm back from the grave~. XD
Ahh but really sorry I took forever to update... I will try to be quicker with my chapters. x_x;;
Anyways, now that Alex has met everyone (except for Peter, but he did appear in a chapter so works for me xP) I can finally get the gears moving and put the show on the road! :3
And don't let the mysteries blow your brains out~. We need to keep those brains together after all.
Thank you to those who reviewed! Reading your reviews made me really happy. *hearts*
Please R&R. Love you all!
And HAH! Didn't forget you this time, now did I disclaimer! Mwuahaha!
Disclaimer: I do not, have not, and will not ever own Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice.
-Chapter Eight-
-Discovery-
*silence*
I sipped the cup of coffee as I watched Julius work diligently on the broken clock.
"…"
I had woken up earlier, confused as to what was going on. I was on a bed in a stranger's home, and I didn't know the reason why. And the confusion caused me to be stupid enough to roll off of the bed in fright which was quite high from the floor and land right on my head. That ended up getting me knocked out again…
So after waking up again, I was almost stupid enough to roll off again, but luckily Julius threatened to throw me out if I did...
*sweat-drops*
So then Julius explained why I was there, and here we are now.
"…"
"…"
*sips coffee*
"…"
Julius sighed, looking quite irritated.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Hm?"
"Why do you look so disgusted?"
"Ohh… It was that obvious?" I asked in surprise. Normally people wouldn't be able to see any expressions at all considering the fact that my face was covered with my bangs.
"Of course it was! If there's something on your mind then just spit it out," Julius said in that oh so familiar angry voice.
I sighed and looked down at the cup of coffee nervously.
"W-well… You see… I hate coffee."
Julius faltered.
"Why didn't you say something before! ?"
"Why are you yelling at me?" I asked while jumping back in fright.
"If you dislike coffee, then you should have refused earlier when I offered!"
"B-but it's bad manners to refuse," I whined.
"It's even worse when you have such repulsive expressions!"
"R-r-repulsive! ? ARE YOU CALLING ME UGLY?"
"No, but you look ridiculous! Next time if you dislike something, then refuse!"
"I look ridiculous? Exactly how am I ugly?" I cried.
"I NEVER SAID YOU WERE UGLY!"
"YOU SAID I'M REPULSIVE AND RIDICULOUS! ISN'T THAT THE SAME AS BEING REALLY UGLY?"
"I DIDN'T SAY YOU WERE UGLY! I'M TALKING ABOUT THAT HORRIBLE HABIT OF YOURS! NEVER ACCEPT SOMETHING IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT!"
"NOW I'M HORRIBLE? ? ? FORGET UGLY! ALL THAT MAKES ME SOUND HIDEOUS! YOU'RE WORSE THAN BORIS!"
"SINCE WHEN DID I CALL YOU UGLY! ?"
"YOU'RE A JERK!" I cried as I ran out of the room.
"HEY!" Julius shouted as he chased after me.
"What now?" I asked as I spun around and glared at him.
"Do you really want to go out looking like that?" he asked in a suddenly calm voice.
"Huh?" I asked while feeling confused.
I looked down at my clothes.
A bit dusty but normal.
Shoes?
Still there.
Was I dirty?
Nope. I looked clean enough.
Then maybe it's my-
"OH MY GAWD WHAT HAPPENED? ? ?"
-3rd POV-
"Alex! Alex, where are you?" Alice called out as she looked for the missing girl. She had to admit, that girl was very good at vanishing. The time of day had changed from Day to Noon, and Alice was becoming even more worried.
"Well if it isn't Alice my sweet!" came an annoyingly familiar voice.
"Oh no…"
Peter jumped from nowhere and hugged the poor girl.
"Is it I that you have come to meet?"
"Let go of me Peter!" said Alice as she tried to pry the white rabbit off of her.
"But I've missed you my darling and that is a fact. Now let our love blossom. It is time to act."
Peter hugged Alice even tighter which annoyed her even more.
"Peter… LET GO!" shouted Alice as she punched the rabbit with all her might. Poor Peter went flying into a bush.
"But Alice-"
"No buts! Peter. I'm looking for someone right now, so I can't be bothered by you," Alice said as she marched off. Peter escaped from the bush and followed.
"Who is this bxxxxxd you are trying to find? What right does he have to make you go through such trouble?" Peter asked with a serious expression.
Alice spun around and faced Peter with an irritated look.
"Peter… First off this he is a she. Secondly, she has not caused me trouble in any way. I'm just worried about her, and I don't want to leave her alone."
"Why worry over someone so insignificant? You should leave her be and come with me."
"I can't do that!"
"And why not?"
"Well…" Alice started to say as she thought of the reasons why. First off, Peter always brought the worst sides of her. He was seriously annoying. Secondly, Alex was like a lost animal in need of constant care. This little animal wouldn't eat if you didn't present the food before her, and going out with her felt like taking her on walks. Plus if you didn't watch her carefully, she would vanish…
"An animal…" Alice murmured to herself.
"What?" Peter asked with confusion in his eyes.
Alice sighed. Then a thought suddenly appeared. The one who brought her to Wonderland was Peter, right? So then Alex couldn't have come here on her own.
"Peter, there's something I need to ask you."
"Why not ask me at our love nest?"
"NO! We must find Alex!"
-1st POV-
"Oh my gawd, oh my gawd, oh my gawd, how did this happen?" I asked while walking in circles in Julius' room.
"I'm not sure. It was already there when I found you," Julius said while going back to work on the clocks.
I continued to walk nervously back and forth. This was really bad.
"M-m-maybe it isn't noticeable?" I asked while gnawing on my nails.
"I'm sure it wouldn't be noticeable for anyone with poor eyesight," Julius said as he sweat-dropped.
"And stop gnawing on your fingernails. That's another bad habit you need to get rid of."
"Daaaaaarn it," I said as my pace quickened. "What am I going to do?"
"Will it disappear?"
"W-well yeah… after some time. But it always varies a bit."
"…"
"…"
"Could you please settle down?"
I quickly headed to a chair near Julius' desk and sat down, trying my best to keep still.
"That wasn't there when we first met. What is it?"
"…"
"Of course if you don't feel comfortable talking about it, I'll understand."
"U-uhm…" I tried my best to calm down and stared at my hands. "I can tell you… if you… keep it a secret. You know… since you uhh… well… know about it now."
"I have no reason to tell anyone."
"So then you will keep it a secret?" I asked while looking up at Julius with curious eyes.
"Of course."
For some reason, I felt like I could trust this guy.
"Well you know I'm not from around here. And it's obvious to me that Alice and I don't come from the same world. At least I think we don't."
Julius nodded.
"Actually sometimes I feel like I'm dreaming. I might've actually even believed this to be a dream if Alice weren't here," I said then chuckled slightly.
Julius finished the clock and set it aside. I watched as he grabbed another clock then started to work on it.
"Julius, in my world, people with red eyes are hated. Actually we're hated so much that most of us are strangled and killed as babies."
Julius paused for a moment then looked up at me.
"Are you sure this is something you want to be telling me?"
I was taken aback by the gentleness of his voice. He sounded like he actually cared.
"It's okay. As long as you never tell anyone," I said with a small smile. "Plus now that you've seen this thing, I think I owe an explanation."
"But anyways, there is a reason why people with red eyes are hated. Why we have this thing on us. And well…"
-3rd POV-
"So you don't know anything about her?" asked Alice.
"Of course not! Alice my dear. You are my one and only love. I wish you'd understand my little dove," Peter said with perverted eyes that won him a glare from Alice.
"But weren't you the one who brought me to Wonderland?"
"Yes, I was."
"And you're honestly not responsible for Alex being here?"
"Dear Alice, are you jealous? My heart belongs to you. Not to some louse," Peter said with sad eyes.
"I'M NOT JEALOUS! Just… It's strange that Alex was brought here and doesn't even have a vial. And what I find stranger is that you're only stuck here if you drink from the vial, right?"
"That is correct."
"So why can't Alex go home?"
"Maybe she already drank from it?"
"What? But she said she didn't."
"What if she was given the vial in her sleep? You did say that she fell into Wonderland after waking up."
"That would make sense. But she doesn't have the vial with her."
"Then the vial must still be in possession of the one who made her drink from it. There's no rule that states the vial must be kept with you. An outsider can return to their world whenever they desire to. But if the outsider drinks from the vial, then returning to their world will be impossible without having it in their possession."
"So one of the role holders must have it," said Alice, realizing the situation.
-1st POV-
"Is this true?" Julius asked, staring at me in shock.
I nodded in response.
"Then why do you even want to go back? I normally wouldn't say this to anyone, but you're probably better off in this world," Julius said while trying to regain his composure.
I sighed and looked back down at my hands.
"You know why. I told you already."
"Do you really want to sacrifice everything for something so ridiculous?"
"I'm prepared. I know all of this is stupid, but I have the urge to go back. I'm not sure why, but I feel like I'm forgetting something important."
"What would that be?" Julius asked with a raised brow.
"I don't know… But if I don't go back, I feel like I'll always regret it."
-3rd POV-
It took Alice a good amount of time before she finally got rid of Peter. She had threatened to hate him forever if he didn't get back to work.
Alice sighed as she walked back to the Hatter Mansion. She was truly hoping that Alex somehow made her way back there since she wasn't at Heart Castle.
Going over the details in her head, she came to the conclusion that one of the role holders was definitely responsible for bringing Alex into this world. And like Peter, *shivers* that role holder might have feelings for her.
Alice decided that if she was to find the culprit, she'd have to keep a close eye on Alex and anyone who might show signs of interest in her. And she had a very good plan for how to narrow the suspects down.
-1st POV-
"Thanks for letting me use the bed, Julius," I said as I snuggled under the blankets.
"When Ace shows, I'll have him escort you back to the Hatter Residence," Julius said while going back to work.
I groaned in dismay.
"Does it have to be Ace? Can't you do it?"
"Nonsense. I have work to do! Now get some sleep."
"Fiiine."
I really didn't want to see Ace after seeing what he did to those poor people, but Julius promised me he wouldn't harm me. Apparently murder was a normal thing in Wonderland. It would have been nice if someone told me sooner.
The thought of what the twins did suddenly crossed my mind. If they knew that I was the one who whacked Alice at the Amusement Park, what would they have done to me…?
*Freezes*
I must NEVER let them know. I'd take it to my grave! And drag Boris down too if I had to!
And that's the end of this chapter. T_T I'm so happy I finally managed to post it. I promise to not take forever to post the next one! I'm actually 1/3 done with it. Maybe I can get it done in less than a week to make up for the super long delay. Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed. ^^~
Thank you to all who read and please review if you can. Bye bye~