Chapter 16 is here! Yay~. I'm so happy I'm finally updating stuff. T/T

I hope I didn't fail at this chapter orz...

Anyways, please enjoy and R&R!

Disclaimer: I do not, have not ever, will not ever own Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice.

PS: ANSWER REVIEWER CORNER IS NOW OPEN! ! ! It shall be at the bottom of the page, so please look forward to it. *hearts*

You have questions or anything you want to say about the story, then go right ahead!

"I met her, uncle," Aura said while brushing her blonde, silken hair. "But it seems she's forgotten a few things."

"She doesn't remember what happened to my eyes. Nor does she remember what she has done. Strange, isn't it?"

Aura put down the brush and walked over to her uncle. She gently caressed his cheek with her hand.

"Uncle Aswal, why do you think she has forgotten? Is she in denial? Oh but no… She can't be that weak. After all, she has an important role to play."

Aura giggled as she skipped to the middle of the room and twirled.

"It's not so bad not being able to see. I can still feel after all. The lack of sight has caused my other senses to grow."

Aura turned and smiled at her uncle.

"Don't worry, uncle. Alex won't last long. She thinks she's safe there, but she's wrong. Soon enough, they'll call her a monster. They'll see her for what she is. Then she'll come crying to us. She'll come to me. Then I can finally give her what she needs."

"I'll give you what you need, Alex."

-CHAPTER SIXTEEN-

-THE NIGHT OF THE BALL PART ONE-

What to do? What to do? What to do?

The question repeated itself over and over in my head as I walked with Julius and Ace to the ball.

Yes, I was excited that I'd be going with Ace and Julius. Ace was well… psychotic… but not a bad friend. And Julius was currently the person I trusted most. So yeah, this was all good.

But the problem is… well… Dee and Dum…

"Ahaha! Are you okay, Alex? Don't think I've ever seen you so depressed," Ace said as he walked along side me.

"Yeah," I answered with a forced smile.

"Hurry, or we'll be late," Julius said from ahead.

I quickened my pace to catch up with him then sighed.

Just why were Dee and Dum mad at me? I mean, they're going to the ball with Alice. So that means they have no reason to kill me… unless… well unless they were probably planning to kill me no matter what.

I was slowly becoming more and more depressed.

I guess it's not like I ever spent much time with them or anyone else around here to know them well enough. And maybe my missions really did suck. Ahh but I never got to do enough of them. I had so many missions written out for them, and barely any were used. Though maybe I need more research.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Julius asked as he continued to look ahead.

"I want to see them," I said, not wanting to lie to the mortician. "I want to be friends with them." I was finally starting to realize just how badly I wanted to spend more time with the twins.

"With who?" Julius asked, confused as to who I was talking about.

"Dee and Dum," I answered quietly. "But Ace says I should stay away from them. They probably want to kill me."

"Did anyone say they wanted to kill you?" Julius asked with a raised brow.

"No," I said, still feeling depressed.

Julius sighed then placed a hand on my head, patting it gently.

"Don't jump to conclusions. When we get to the ball, find them and ask them yourself what they want."

"But what if-"

"If they do try to kill you, then come to me and Ace. That's all the protection you'll need."

I didn't see any emotion on Julius' face, but I could tell that he cared. I couldn't help but smile. He was right. I was worrying over something that could or could not be true. Best to get the facts first.

"So many people," I said in awe while looking around the large ballroom within the castle.

"That's right. All the role holders are here too. Ahaha!" said a jolly Ace.

"All of them, huh?" That's right. Julius did tell me earlier that everyone would be here. It was the rules after all, and apparently following these rules was a must for these guys.

The sounds of trumpets were suddenly heard from above.

I looked up to see Vivaldi, beautiful in her red dress, standing tall and proud. I could feel the excitement within me building up.

She gave a long speech, welcoming everyone and making it clear that no one was to fight during this event. She then clapped her hands, and the day turned into night.

Beautiful and could change the time of day? How could she possibly be more splendid?

Vivaldi then clapped her hands again, and the entire room became dark. This freaked me out a little.

She clapped her hands again, and the lights came on. But this time, everyone was wearing a different outfit.

My eyes went wide with surprise.

I turned to see that Ace and Julius were now wearing suits.

"Is Vivaldi a magician?" I asked, feeling completely amazed.

Julius sweat-dropped while Ace burst into laughter.

"Of course not ahaha! But we can't just have fun at the ball without the proper dress wear," Ace said with a huge smile.

"By the way, you look adorable, Alex," Ace then added.

I looked down to see myself wearing a burgundy, sleeveless dress with black gloves that went up to my elbows. The burgundy heels were cute with a tiny bow at the top of each shoe. My hair was even tied into a ponytail! I even felt the choker around my neck.

"Now you really do look as young as the twins," Ace jokingly said.

"Not funny," I said, trying to sound angry at the knight.

"Well I'm off. Ahaha," said Ace as he walked away towards a table with a lot of wine on it.

"I better go make sure he doesn't get himself drunk," said Julius. He then let out a huge sigh.

"I'm going to meet Vivaldi," I said with sparkling eyes.

"Just stay out of trouble," Julius said then left.

I hurried over to find Vivaldi when I saw a familiar person slapping some guy with white bunny ears. She marched away with anger in her eyes.

"Alice," I called out, running up to her as quickly as I could. She was wearing an adorable, pink dress. It made her look so cute.

"Alex," she said in surprise. She ran over and hugged me. "I was so worried about you. Ace told me you weren't feeling well. Are you okay now?"

Alice scanned me to make sure I was alright.

"I'm okay. Sorry I made you worry." I looked down, feeling ashamed of what I did. How could I just forget like that and make Alice worry so much…

"Don't worry about it. As long as you're okay."

I looked up to see her gentle smile.

"Thanks, Alice," I said, trying to force a smile of my own. A thought then occurred to me.

"By the way, are you okay? I mean I saw you slap some guy on the face," I asked, feeling curious as to what happened.

"Oh… don't worry about it…" she said, looking quite displeased.

I decided not to ask any further questions. It looked like she really hated that guy's guts.

A smile then appeared on Alice's face.

"By the way, I need you to come with me," she said as she took hold of my hand and led me away.

"Huh?" I asked, then blinked twice in confusion.

"There's two boys who'll be surprised to see you."

"Two boys?"

Alice continued to smile, failing to notice the frightened look on my face.

Did she know she was leading me to my doom? !

Oh but wait… Julius did say that it could be a misunderstanding.

I could see us getting closer to Blood and Elliot.

Oh I hope they don't want me dead!

"Alex! Good to see you're okay," said a happy Elliot as he munched on carrot cake. And he says he's not a rabbit...

"Hey there. Sorry for what I've done," I said while bowing my head apologetically.

"Don't worry, young lady. We understand," Blood said with a smile.

"Sister!" said a familiar voice from behind as two pairs of hands grabbed both my left and right arms.

"We missed you sister," said Dum with a huge grin on his face.

"Yeah, why'd ya go away like that?" asked a smiling Dee.

"I-I was sick, sorry," I said, trying to move away. Unfortunately for me, their grips were quite strong.

"Let's have fun, sister~" the boys said as the dragged me away.

"Don't cause any trouble," Alice said to the boys. Then she looked at me and gave me a thumbs up.

Why would she do that? !

I was beginning to feel sick from all the worry I've been feeling today.

"S-so boys... Aren't you supposed to be dancing with Alice?" I asked nervously, trying to get these two to let go of me and go back to their Alice.

"Let's go someplace private," Dum said merrily.

"Good idea, brother~."

I could feel the blood draining from my face.

THEY REALLY ARE GOING TO KILL ME!

End of Chapter 16. Will Dee and Dum kill Alex? Find out in the next chapter~. XD

Hope you all enjoyed~ Take care everyone.

ANSWER REVIEW CORNER:

Hey people! So I decided that if you all have questions or anything to say that need answers, I shall answer them in the ANSWER REVIEW CORNER! Tada~. XD Ahh but I will not give names. I'm not sure who'd want their name revealed or not. But you'll know it's you when you see the answers. XD

So here we go... Reviews from Chapter 15~. x3

Reviewer 1: Creepy...
My Answer: Yeah, it was supposed to be a creepy chapter. XD I had fun writing the creepy stuff, but then I gave myself nightmares... I actually dreamt of an eyeless girl the other night... *facepalm* So evil!

Reviewer 2: Is Alex a vampire?
My Answer: That is a very good question. Actually, you will be finding out what Alice is when she enters the land of Clover. Which will be in a few chapters. The first chapter of Clover shall reveal what Alex is, so be ready for that~. x3