Author's Note; Well remember in chapter two? Well here you go! This whole chapter has only Kiana and Alice (and briefly one character at the end). Italics are usually memories if there's a large group. I'll also be switching between POV's. Not too often, but sometimes. Typically I'm used to writing in third person, which is why I'll tend to do it in situations where I want to show everyone's emotions and how everyone is acting, but I'm going to try to keep it as first person as I can. I just want to draw the chibi-Alice and chibi-Kiana (but I can't draw ;w;) *w* they're sooo cute! Anyway, for those of you still reading, enjoy~ Also, when there's a longer seperation, it's probably a different memory.
Ace; -
Kiana; NOT YET.
Ace; I was just going to remind them she doesn't own C/H/JnKnA~
KikiKapriix; Yeah, yeah. You heard the cute pyscho! Oh, and this is an apology for making you wait so long for chapter two~ (Did anyone else watch the preview? I got confused~ ;3;)
Chapter Three; Onee-chan
A little girl skipped through the green grass, giggling happily. She wore a pale blue dress with her hair tied up with a ribbon. "38… 39… 40…! Ready or not, here I come!" The small girl who had been counting with her arms covering her face yelled. This one had shoulder length black hair, a long bright pink ribbon keeping it from falling in her face. Her dress was white, a pink floral design trailing around the bottom of it.
It only took ten minutes for the seeker in the game to get frustrated, placing her hands on her hips as she frowned. Giggling could be heard in the tree above her, forcing her gaze to go up. "Alice! What are you doing up there?" Alice just giggled, shifting so she could look at her friend. "We're on a safari, remember? I'm hiding from the lions!"
The girl sighed, not knowing how to respond to her statement. Struggling to climb the tree, the two sat on the high up tree branch. "Kiana, when you look at the sky, what do you see?" The young girl's head tilted, blinking to look at the bright blue sky. "Well," she started, "I see blue, with white fluff, and a bright yellow ball… Is there more to see?"
She spoke, her finger pointing to the clouds before turning to point at the sun. Alice blinked at her response, soon giggling. "That's the sun, silly… and those are clouds!" Leaning on her, Kiana mumbled. "I know that… Why such a random question, Alice?" Her shoulders shrugged, causing the other to groan. "You're so weird sometimes…"
The sounds of crying were filling the air, Alice sobbing at Kiana's bedside. It seemed there would be no end to her crying, that was until Kiana's eyes slowly opened. "Huh? Why are you crying? Don't tell me you scraped your knee again…" A concerned look filled her bright cyan eyes, attempting to check if her friend was alright. Pain surged through the young girl's body, tears forming as Alice forced her to lie back down.
"Don't! The doctor will be here soon!" She whimpered, pleading her to stay in bed. Frustration took over the girl, pouting. "I'm fine… Just hurts a bit… What happened anyway?" Alice pulled her seat closer to the bed's side, fidgeting as she thought of how to word the situation. "O-Onee-chan… You got hit by a car…" A loud groan escaped her lips, not noticing the last part.
"I've told you fifteen million times, I'm not really your sister…" Her brows furrowed, protesting against her statement. "I don't care! You're like a sister to me!" Her eyes widened, taken back a bit by her yelling. A sigh heaved from her lips, thinking over what she had said before their short fuss. "E-Eh? I got hit by a car? Oh, I thought it was worse…"
Frowning, Alice leaned over to hug her tightly. "I thought you were dead!" She said through sobs, shaking as her tears started over flowing again. "I'm thirteen, I can handle myself." Her arms wrapped around the sobbing female, gently stroking her back. "Besides, I promised I'd never leave you… So if I have to make a deal with the devil to come back, even if I'm a zombie, I'll be right by your side!"
Her eyes wandered away from her, staring at the ceiling in thought. "Unless you try to kill me, then maybe I'll be chasing you down for your brains… But you get my point~" She smiled at her which caused Alice to smile back. "R-Right! I'll go tell everyone you're awake then…" She nodded, watching her run out of the room to retrieve the others.
I watched quietly as the video frames seemed to fade in color, turning black and white, continuing on now with no sound. I knew I was dreaming there was no other way to explain it. It wasn't often I thought of the past… Especially not such random moments that were completely different from one another.
"She still yells at me for taking that so lightly…" I laughed softly, thinking further on the car accident memory. I had been walking along the side walk when a car swerved to avoid hitting a dog, and, well they hit a girl who was barely a teenager. My parents hadn't cared much about me; they were more concerned with the medical bill…
Alice was the only one who did… Well, Lorina did… but she and I were not that close back then… As I momentarily closed my eyes, another video frame appeared before me, playing yet another memory.
There stood three girls, a black haired girl who looked about nine, a blond haired girl who was about eight, and an older one with similar blond hair to the younger. The two younger girls stared in awe, leaning over as far as they could over the railing that they were barely taller than. "Alice… Isn't it beautiful?" The black haired girl asked bright cyan eyes filled with amazement.
Alice nodded in agreement, her blue eyes carefully watching. Today Alice's older sister, Lorina, had said that she'd take them both to the zoo, which was what held their attention to tightly. Alice wore a white sun dress, while Kiana had a hot pink one. They looked practically the same, with the exception that Alice wore a blue bow, and Kiana wore a cyan one, refusing to wear a pink one.
"I wish I could pet it…" Kiana spoke, intently staring at the creature below. It was a large feline, widely known as a 'white' tiger due to the white covering what was normally orange. The cubs were playing in the water, their target being a large ball that floated about. The elder tigers were taking a nap after the meal they had just eaten.
"Kiana, you said you wanted a black cat didn't you?" Alice questioned her head turning towards the girl. Kiana nodded. This caused her to giggle lightly. "Well I told onee-chan that I want a white one! How about we have your black cat and my white cat have babies so we can have black and white cats?" Her head tilted in confusion, but giggled. "Sure!" Lorina laughed softly at their odd way of thinking, grabbing their hands and walking to the next exhibit with the two.
"We never did get to…" I frowned. It was a stupid idea, but I did want a black cat… What can I say? I'm not superstitious… Everything soon started to grow black, the video frames of my memories disappearing. "Is it time to wake up?" I asked, an odd feeling rushing over me. "Well, it's better to go with it than to fight it…"
No One's POV;
Alice sighed lightly, pushing the dirty dishes into the sink. It had been a week since she brought Kiana there. It had only taken her about three days to get over whatever Pierce had given her. Which was good, but she was still worried. "Onee-chan?" Her voice rang out, peeking into the room. Small stirring was seen in the bed causing her to smile.
Kiana's head slowly erupted from the sheets, dull cyan eyes staring at her. Her eyelids slowly dragged down, falling back onto the bed with a small thump. Soon she lifted herself up again, giving Alice a small grin. "I'm awake, I'm awake. What's up? You look exhausted~" Tilting her head, she frowned.
"Did Gray…?" She nodded with a small sigh, plopping herself down on the bed next to the sleepy girl. "Not only did he do that, there was a small fire! It took me a bit, but I eventually put it out… Here…" Picking up the brush from her bed side, she slowly began to brush the knots out of the black mess. "You know… I don't have any clothes besides the dress you let me borrow…"
Silence filled the air for a moment, Alice thinking quietly on the subject. She couldn't wear that maid's outfit… She was nevergoing to be working there again… If he tried to bring her back, she'd just tell Vivaldi.~ She was sure Vivaldi wouldn't want Kiana, had she met her for her and not just another faceless maid, to work under that perverted sicko…
"Well I have some extra money; we could go shopping after you get dressed… I went there once; the clothes totally seem like your style! For me, well… it all seems either really girly/frilly or the type of clothes you wear…" She explained with a nervous laugh. "What's wrong with the clothes I wear?" The short tempered girl yelled out, pulling her hair back into a lazy bun.
She waved her hands in front of her. "I didn't say there was anything wrong with it, just not exactly the type of clothes I feel comfortable in…" Her anger seemed to die down, leaning on her shoulder with a yawn. "Alright let's go then… but I'm totally getting a job to pay you back… since I can't go get the money from the Heart Castle…"
Alice's POV;
After Kiana got dressed, I pulled her with me out of the Clock Tower. Gray was busy helping Nightmare and Julius was working on clocks as usual… I had planned on trying to bring him to the Amusement Park but since she wanted some new clothes, I decided it'd be okay for it to wait another day. "It's just up ahead." I said, walking forward into the small city.
I looked to see her thinking intently, looking around quietly. "Huh? Is something wrong, onee-chan?" She shook her head with a usual grin plastered across her face. "Nah, I was just remembering the people who helped me. They lived around here…" My eyelids fluttered, watching her. She lived with faceless people? I was curious on who they were…
"Hm? Oh, I'll tell you about it later. No point in worrying about it now, it's not like I'll be looking for them… For all I know they may not even be the same people…" She spoke sadly, looking down at the ground. I frowned at her last sentence, which seemed to cause her to groan. "You need to stop worrying about me! I'm fine, I'm fine! I promise~"
I laughed lightly at her effort to cheer me up, lacing my left arm around her right one. "The store's just this way!" After a short walk, the two of us walked into the store. "It's gotten bigger and has more inventory than last time…" I said as I looked over all the new clothes. My hands traced over a white sundress with a floral design going from the left hip down to the bottom right of the dress.
"You should try it on, Alice~" I blinked a little, not realizing Kiana had slipped away from me to look at clothes on her own. "I'll get some stuff for me after you get your things, okay?" She muttered an 'okay', giving me an oddly evil grin before disappearing back into the clothes. I could usually make out what was on her mind, but sometimes it seemed so wild that I'm sure Nightmare has a hard time understanding…
Kiana's POV;
My hands slowly trailed along the fabric of the various clothes. They all felt nice, but none seemed to fit 'me'. Eventually my eyes locked onto the perfect outfit. It consisted of a pair of black shorts with a white shirt. There wasn't much to the shorts, the shirt was short sleeved, the collar of the shirt lower than most so it hung around the top of one's shoulders when worn.
It may not have been the perfect outfit, but it was the only outfit I could see myself wearing right now. Grabbing the two pieces of clothing, I ran into the changing room. Coming out I grabbed a pair of black flip flops with blue sunglasses. "Alice~" I cooed skipping over to her side. "Huh?" She questioned, looking to me. "Wow! You look great… Though it's not really that sunny out…"
I pouted, crossing my arms over my chest. "Let me pick out your outfit~" I said with a grin which caused her face to turn a bit blue. "N-No… I can find something on my own…" She responded with a nervous laugh. "Aww~ don't want your onee-chan's help anymore? I'm hurt!" I sniffled, pretending to be hurt. My right eye opened, looking towards her.
"Fine…" She said with a defeated sigh. "Yes!" I squealed running away from her. My finger tapped against my chin, thinking as I looked over the clothes. "Which one… Which one… Which one should I choose? Alice doesn't like the frilly stuff, so that knocks out a whole aisle of clothes… She doesn't wear pants or shorts…"
Alice's POV;
I sighed with a bit of impatience. I could normally wait but she was taking a while… I felt hands on my back as I was shoved into a dressing room. "H-Hey! What's the big deal?" A giggle was the only response I got. Recognizing it as Kiana's I turned my head to look at the outfit she chose for me. I swallowed a little, pulling the skirt on first after undressing.
It was a blue jean skirt that ended just above my knees. The shirt was a plain blue T-shirt in a similar color to the dress I usually wear. It felt weird… It wasn't that I didn't like it; I was just so used to wearing the same thing… "Oh, this also~" I sighed at her method of giving me the new clothing; throwing it through the small hole at the top of the door…
There was a bow similar to mine with no gold trim or heart, just plain blue, and stockings in similar manor to the ones I was wearing except the white areas held a lighter pale blue color. "What can I say? You look good in blue~" With the tone she spoke in, I could tell that she was shrugging her shoulders.
I sighed, changing into the stockings before securing the bow in my hair. "I'm coming out…" Opening the door, I flinched to see Boris standing in front of me. "B-Boris? What're you doing here?" His tail swished as he looked over me for a second. "Not bad, Alice. I assumed you liked dresses, so I figured you'd be wearing a dress, but it looks good."
A giggle erupted from behind him, Kiana leaning her chin on his shoulder, standing on her tippy-toes to look at me. "Doesn't it? I just knew it'd look good when I picked it out~ For as long as I remember she's always worn dresses… but she looks good in anything she wears, really~" My cheeks flushed with a small pink, blinking. I smiled, shaking my head.
"No, onee-chan is the one who can look good in anything!" I protested with another smile. It was true… She was like Lorina… Elegant and beautiful… Smart and radiant… I just wish she could see it herself. A sigh heaved from her lips, giving me a small glare. "What did I tell you about that? I'll accept the compliment of me being smart, but I'm not elegant or beautiful…"
Boris' head tilted in slight confusion, blinking. "Did I miss something here?" I giggled lightly, waving my hand as I shook my head. "No, she's just hearing things." I teased. "No, she just thinks things that aren't true… Every time you stare at me with that blank expression, you're thinking that~ You should work on that." She teased back.
We giggled lightly, getting some more clothes and heading back to the Clock Tower with Boris helping with carrying the bags. "Bye, Boris~ I'll try to come around with Julius tomorrow or the next day." He gave a small nod before saying bye and disappearing. "Come on, before Gray starts cooking…" Kiana spoke, her face flushing. I laughed softly, walking into the tower with her.
Wasn't that interesting? Now we know Kiana's –slightly– older than Alice, not by much! We also see Kiana's favorite animal, which is kind of mine too… White tigers :3 Well, since all the important stuff has been said up top, or in previous chapters, I DON'T HAVE MUCH TO SAY! How sad…
Next up; Alice decides it's time for Kiana to meet everyone in the Hatter's Mansion. She's already met Dee and Dum, but what will she think of Blood Dupre and Elliot March? What happens when things go a stray and Kiana runs out?
Stay tuned and see!
Yaaayyy!