Chapter 6.

…Back in Vestroia…

"Are you sure?"

"Y-yes."

Alice avoided looking into her mind. She kept her gaze focused on the sky. She tried to stop the tears sneaking out. It was like even they betrayed her.

Everything in her was twisted into nothingness. Her emotions, they were twisted into a new kind of pain. "Masquerade, why the pain…? It's more than torture… dying is better."

"Wait."

"What… why? Masquerade… Being eaten alive is too simple a phrase for this. I…."

"Do not talk. Wait."

Alice let a small gasp escape her. The agony pulled up. Climbing stair by stair…

"M-Masquerade? P-please… I need you…"

No answer.

Alice sobbed freely now. They rolled slowly down and drained through the ground. Hydranoid had hopped off her shoulder. He was now waddling around her head, distressed.

"Alice… mistress… please, pull through, pull through!"

She heard nothing. All she could hear, taste and see were pain. Flashes of hated memories; Hal-G, her betrayal, uselessness, every horrible moment boiled in her heart.

"They came back to bite me," she sobbed, "the past, everything that I hated…it's sucking my soul… help."

She whispered the last word. It drilled into Hydranoid. He was a lonesome bakugan; what could he do?

"Alice, please, PLEASE…" he shrilled. It was useless. Every ounce of her attention had slipped. It was all gone.

He stopped for a second pondering what to do. He stopped short, for a brief, heart-wrenching second, the world's stopwatch exploded.

"Alice, you're…crying blood." In that single moment, confusion and panic filled every cell in his brain.

It was true. Red streaks left her face. Fresh tracks ploughed their way down. Gravity pulled them, soaking to the ground, spots of red decorated an otherwise plain background, a horrifying pattern. Alice, on the other hand, had no reaction. Her face was stationary. She was stationary. No sound or any kind of human movement. The only kind of rousing on the girl was the unnatural movement of tears. Or the scarlet liquid.

"A-Alice…?" Hydranoid asked tentatively. He tried to speak without setting a glance on her. Seeing her in this state… stabbing a broken shard into him would have been less painful.

"I'm sorry, Hydranoid…"

"Alice?"

The slightest of sounds reached him. Her voice merely echoed a breath. Painfully shuffling over, Hydranoid touched a side of her face.

"I'm sorry for making you suffer…"

Alice's breathless reply stopped for a second. The slightest of actions aggravated her. Every layer of the word, 'pain' was explored. To say the entire meaning was covered would be an understatement. But an apology; she owed Hydranoid at least that.

"I promised myself to never do that…" she said slightly.

"I'm so sorry…" she whispered again.

"You never did the world wrong, Alice."

She didn't reply. Instead, her eyes lulled. The parts that were seen glazed with water-droplets.

"I... don't know what's h-happening," she said, eyes closed. "I don't know where all this pain is coming from. It's unexplainable."

"But even under all that pain, you are willing to continue?" Masquerade voiced her head.

"We covered this. Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Ugh…" grunted Alice. "Y-yes. Why is this a matter?"

She received a question as an answer. "From your heart, are you sure?" he repeated.

Alice didn't want to bother with replying, but she did. "Yeah," she breathed. "H-Hydranoid was right, my gut was right. It's too late to quit now…"

As soon as she said it, a small will of courage shot through the suffering. Alice relived in it for a second, and opened her eyes. The pain, it was slowly waning. With effort, she chiseled her eyes open. She had questions, and to have them answered was a priority.

"Why wait then? Why did you tell me to wait?"

"You had to."

"Why? What aren't you telling me, Masquerade?"

"Think of the sufferings of souls before you. Think of lives that were ruined by it, Alice. Be thankful you're not them."

"What so you mean by that?" she cried desperately.

"You had to experience a small amount of true pain to enter here."

Alice blinked. The cryptic answers subjected her brain to confusion. Masquerade sensed this. "This cave is purely emotion based. Your emotions had to be tied securely and mind-wise. Speaking simply, this place is of brave hearts."

"And the pain…?"

"A way to train. Your emotions, Alice, though disorderly, have the ability to sense."

"Okay…" said Alice, sitting up. The pain was predicted to a bearable forecast. "And so now that the pain's gone…?"

"You learned. I, for one, knew this was a task set for emotional standards. You, instead, proved yourself beyond your capabilities."

"What do you mean?"

"Others; caring for them, even when torture holds you in a python's grip." Masquerade said grimly. "You have shown other precious qualities. In a situation such as yours, most would usually throw every other care than their own. You managed to hold on. You went beyond limits to forgo the odds."

"Masquerade, how would you know? Compassion is below you. And what exactly am I trying to prove?" More questions were not what she expected.

"I don't need to feel compassion, I just need to observe it," said Masquerade. He slipped away.

"Masquerade, come back, I need to know-!" she cried.

You needed to prove to enter, you will see, Alice. Bakugan is not something truly explored.

"Masquerade? How…? You're talking to me… through my head?" asked a disbelieving Alice. How was this possible…? Months of communicating verbally. Hosting another personality, that was what it felt like. Separate emotions, thoughts, now they could communicate through thought? How?

Alice, insecurity fills you. Even in the battle with Shadow Prove, you still had a miniscule layer of pure insecurity concealed. This insecurity grew, but the spurt was gradual. You did not acknowledge it, in your mind at least. Sub-consciously, you did. This insecurity was clever. It merged with your everyday emotions. A little bit for emotion. So, obviously, it did not make a sudden jump at any time. Because it was always there. Your sub-conscious grew used to this change. You were happy with it. Fear and unhappiness oiled it. It is now that insecurity has grown to a level in which you cannot enter the cave. When all that pain hit you, the insecurity was in joy. That is why you felt the need to not go on. But that is why you proved yourself worthy. Even under all the pain, every emotion you ever felt stroked with insecurity, the one you hated, you still pressed on. You realized the importance, sub-consciously. Just that small will of pure courage was enough to abolish the insecurity, and break the barrier between our thoughts. This barrier was the insecurity. I felt it, subtlety, but did not realize what it was completely. Now this is my theory.

Alice shut her eyes.

So now… you and I? We can...wow. But how would you know?

Remember, I am you.

Alice was speechless. Was this what happened the whole time? It seemed so.

Before Alice could explore this new-found connection, dissolve this knowledge, her feet carried her towards the cave opening. It was like they had a mind of their own.

Shock bolted her brain, so letting the events proceed.

So now Masquerade and Alice can now speak to each other- thought-wise. ;) Thanks for all the reviews, guys. You don't know how much I appreciate it. :)

GivingYouUp: Don't worry about reviewing late. :P I'm just glad that you did. :) And yeah, Klaus/Alice is okay with me. I don't EXACTLY see how Klaus and Alice could be a couple. Because from my point of view, Alice likes Klaus in a 'best-friend' kinda way. Why, do you ship them? :P And thanks SO MUCH for reviewing!

crystal-mint: So happy you liked the story! ^^ And really, I don't mind what kind of reviews are given. I just want to know what everybody thinks of the story, is all! Thanks for reviewing! :)

JetravenEx: Thank you! Glad you liked the chapter, I thought the story needed a bit of humour! :P be prepared, when Dan and the others come in, there's going to be a whole lot more silliness. :) Glad you liked the device. Klaus is the scientist-romantic, lol. And don't worry, I was just a bit upset nobody seemed to read this. But when I saw the amount of reviews, I decided I wouldn't stop.

xXPhantomGirlXx93: Thanks for reviewing! Are you a new reader? I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

shadowwing1994: You loved it? Really? SQEE. :) No prob about the late review! I really don't mind if it's late! And, I really hope you liked the chapter!