shadowwing1994: I hope it's not too confusing! Thanks for the compliment!

InnocentDiamond: Shooting fingers was just for fun. Masquerade is going nuts, I promise you that. You'll see the point to be prove soon enough.

GoldenPiggy: It's okay. Take your time.

Cup of Violet Tea: I will continue to disprove that idea until the truth comes out! Masquerade will never get the bracelet.

MagicxMusicxMelody: You'll see the connection between Alice and her friend soon.

Cherry-Tree: There's a reason why Alice's friends took Alice's body. But two out of three parties need the bracelet to do good!

Amazing TEEN Authoress: I'm trying my best to make characters not too OOC. Thank you!

SSR: It's been a while since I updated this, and I see that most people are still confused.

Dan: Tell me about it.

Runo: Don't listen to him.

SSR: I've been trying my best to do that, but it's not working!~!~!~ Okay, maybe I'm having too much fun in South Korea for vacation right now. I don't own Bakugan!

Shun: The chapter title should be interesting...

SSR: Coming from you, that sounds so sarcastic. ^-^

Chapter Twenty-Three

Unexpected Killer

...

...

What in the world did I just go through?

Did I really go back in time and save Alice's life?

Or was that just an inexplicable illusion?

Why did she take me back?

Did Masquerade really not kill her?

Why didn't Alice want me to save her?

And what exactly is she-

"Shun... Wake up..."

Shun opened his eyes, sat up, and saw Alice sitting in a chair in front of him with her hands on her lap. The room was dark, except for an unknown light source shining on him and her. "Alice? Is that you? Where am I? You're not dead?"

"Dead? Am I supposed to be-"

"Let me talk instead." Alice gasped and looked up to the side as a bracelet floated above her shoulder. The invisible person wearing it shook her wrist, lighting the bracelet up and revealing her face. "Did I scare you?"

"Your invisibility creeps me out, if that's what you mean." Shun answered. "Who are you? What's your relationship to Alice?"

"Invisibility wasn't my choice. You can thank Masquerade." She tapped her fingers on the back of Alice's chair. "I've been with Alice since the beginning but never showed my face to her until now. You must want my name."

"Clearly, you two can't be Alice at once. Masquerade confirmed that."

Alice's friend nodded and introduced herself. "True. The name's Celia. You're probably wondering we look so much alike, and why everything is the way it is."

"I only want to do two things: find out why Alice died, and to save her from it."

Celia snapped her fingers, and the jangling of the bracelet startled him. "You're so naive, just like how Alice is so gentle and nice." She walked up to Shun and created a chair. "Sit down. I want to ask you something."

Shun took a seat like she said. "What?"

"Why do you want to find out why Alice is the way she is?"

"Because Julie said it wasn't accident. She gave me an empty bracelet and took me back in time, which led to all this happening."

"But that was all after Julie met you and told you her story about being a Guardian of Time. That's supernatural interference. What about before that?" Shun's face went blank, and Celia bent down to whisper. "Think about that dangerous scene you just when through earlier."

What I went through earlier... Shun gasped and answered, "Because Alice didn't pin that bad fortune on the pine tree like I told her to! Maybe that's what she was trying to tell me, but I interrupted her answer. Twice. But that stuff is just for fun and a part of our tradition. I didn't think it was serious."

"But you already saw it coming. The cat, the raven, the bad fortune...intentional or not, they got your inner instinct going, as well as Alice's."

Alice glanced at Celia confusingly, which Shun noticed immediately. "Does this Alice know about this? When is she from?"

"Her in the yellow dress? You talked to her not long ago after picking identical fortunes."

"So if picking bad fortunes in the future killed Alice, then would picking good fortunes in the past nullify it? One came before the other, and Masquerade didn't erase that part." Celia walked slowly back behind Alice's chair. "Celia, what did Masquerade do to you?"

"To me?" She lower her head so it was level to Alice's. "Or to us?"

"Celia, you're not making sense here!" screamed Shun suddenly. "I know Masquerade is the bad guy here, but I want to know how and why. Marucho and Julie said something about Guardians of Time and Space cooperating, but that's clearly not the case. You're an expert on utilizing clock hands and this shifting stuff, so you must be a Guardian of Space, too. But what's the reasoning behind your actions?"

"Please tell him, Celia. He only wants to help." yellow-dressed Alice pleaded.

"It's a long story, but I'll try." She created a tall stool to sit on and crossed her legs "Yes, I'm a Guardian of Space. So is Masquerade. I've always been the one up top until he came along. First, I thought he was just an ambitious junior, but he actually wanted to throw me out."

"But he couldn't fully eradicate you because you were the original guardian appointed by...fate." Shun continued. "Is that why you're invisible? To hide from him?"

"That's correct, plus the fact that I lost most of my powers and couldn't materialize completely in the human world. If I stayed there, he'd find me either way. I can't risk that. Then I met Alice about three years before you two were supposed to meet, so that's a total of four years before present day. Unfortunately, every burden has its consequences. Masquerade came looking for me here."

"And that explains all the weird things that happened to me." Alice added. "I think I'm starting to remember. Shun, we met at the beach, right? When we shouted out our deep inner thoughts at the ocean?"

"You remember it all now?" Shun stood up and reached for her but an invisible barrier blocked him. "What the-"

"Sit down. I'll let you get to together when the time is right."

Shun glared at Celia but sat down. "Alice, remember your horse? I forgot its name, but it was Russian for 'life'."

"You mean Zhizni? She's still here but under my grandfather's care. You followed me to Bayview after I gave you those tickets, didn't you?"

Shun's face turned red, and Celia snickered and sighed. "I was scared that something would happen to you because Julie, the Guardian of Time, encountered a dangerous person, most likely Masquerade, who later boarded that boat. I even went to the house where Alice's friend lived to make sure Shun came."

"And after Shun told me I was in danger, Celia got worried and slowly took matters into her own hands." Alice added.

Shun then remembered Alice's coughing fits that he never witnessed in present day. "Did Celia also cure your asthma, Alice? I first found out during that trip in downtown Wardington. You tell me that you were talking to yourself scared me the most."

"In away, she did cure me. Like many other things, I couldn't tell you what was going on, but slowly revealed hints to you. Too bad most of that got erased, and I would've lost control of myself if not for her. But her ability to exist in our world weakened over time. If Celia stayed too close to me for a minute, we become two-in-one because she's unstable."

"And that is why Alice seems to be forgetful and have multiple personalities, Shun."

Shun breathed heavily but nodded. "It's all making sense now. You were waiting for me to help but couldn't risk changing time, either. I already did so by coming back. I'm actually glad that Masquerade erased the way Dan ridiculously introduced us to each other."

Alice smiled. "And we finally picked identical, good fortunes in the end. I'm scared that fate will change everything because I don't want to forget all that."

"But now it's up to me to erase all that or else you won't meet Shun the way you two were fated to." Celia announced. She held her fingers to her mouth and blew Alice a kiss. "Good night."

"Celia! Please don't-" A set of purple lip prints hit Alice's forehead, and she fell into slumber immediately.

"Why did you have to do that, Celia?!" Shun stood up to punch her but was detained by the barrier again. "I hate you! It's your fault that she's been living an incomplete life! It's your fault that she's had to suffer these undeserved consequences! Just when I was starting to appreciate you-"

"Shut up!" Celia snapped her fingers at him, easily throwing Shun back into his chair. "Fine, have it your way. I'm the one who interfered with her life by making her carry these burdens. I'm the one who put her life at risk of suffering by Masquerade. I'm the one who pushed her to her limits by driving her to suicide. Are you happy now?!"

Shun didn't respond. He didn't yell. He didn't cry. He didn't sigh. His mind was filled with one word that changed everything.

"Suicide...?"

SSR: Copying what one of my friends said, I bet none of you saw that coming!

Dan: Saw what coming?

Runo: (smacks him)

Alice: I refrain from speaking.

Shun: Why...?

SSR: Since it's a rather controversial thing, I won't say much, but Alice "remembers" those past events now! Okay, now I'm just being creepy.

Julie: As creepy as Celia.

SSR: Ssh! That's supposed to be a secret! Cliffhanger or tide-turner, please still leave a review?

Shun: From the first day of this story, I knew you were going to scare people away...