Why does this thing say it's shorter? I worked hard on this shit. BT

I've been playing a lot of PMD recently. Really hyped up for when I post the first part of my trilogy (possibly in June?).

Alice's room was weirder than the girls had initially suspected. Upon first look, it looked too big for a single person, but this must be normal for Celestrians; however, upon looking closer, there were a few areas of concern. First of all, there was no sources of light, except for a faint orange light that just seemed to be radiating from an orb encased in glass that rested on a pedestal in the middle of the room. Secondly, all walls were painted pitch black, giving it an eerie feeling. On the back wall, there was a small mural that consisted of an enormous tree, with two little children lying underneath it on the green grass. The child on the right was a bright yellow, while the one to the left was a bloody red, and they were holding hands. Where there hands connected, there was orange. Underneath the mural were these words painted in a ghostly white:

One day, we'll stop being ORANGE, and go back to being YELLOW and RED, together.

Next, there was a gigantic glass casing of numerous vials, each being individually labeled. The labels were written in an ancient language similar to the writings in the Quarantomb that Alice had deciphered. Next to it was a small bookshelf filled with unlabeled books (or were they something else? They didn't really want to go through her stuff). Finally, there was a fluffy canopy bed in the far corner of the room, much too large for a single girl. Resting on it was a single doll with no face (if you don't count the creepy grin stretching across its cheeks), but it was wearing a nice little red sundress-sunhat combo. Half of its head was shaved, save for a few strands of hair that framed the face, and was a pleasant platinum blonde.

Marine let out a low whistle, and looked at the orb with great interest. "Wow, this little thing is able to let out light?"

Sheila wandered over to the specimen containment case, incredibly intrigued by all the different objects and ingredients inside. There were mostly liquids, along with jelly-like objects, some solids, a few gases, and... one beaker, that was twice as big as the others, looked like it actually had something LIVING inside of it, with miniscule holes poked into it near the top so that it couldn't escape. It had the appearance of a tiny serpent, with a strange device at the tip of its tail that jingled beautifully when it moved. There was a tiny, fluffy bed with a warm-looking blanket in the middle of it.

"Fascinating! I haven't even seen half of these things!" Sheila squealed, delighted. Even back at the academy, where she had excelled beyond expectations, she hadn't been able to accomplish everything she had wished. Maybe if we travel just a bit more, I can see even MORE things! We'd have to find a way to cross the ocean, though... Ferries don't come to our continent very often.

Iris, on the other hand, leafed through a few of the books on Alice's bookshelf (despite Marine telling her not to do so), which, as it turned out, only had a few, fat books, the rest being odd journals. There was rarely any writing in the passages, except for the smudged dates; there was mostly just bad drawings. Iris couldn't quite tell what they were for, but in the first (or so she assumed) journal, written in clear, bold letters underneath a pair of small, but majestic wings, was the only thing written in English.

TODAY, I WAS BORN A TRUE, PURE BEING.

Iris chuckled, Miss Alice is quite amusing.

Columba kneeled before the monument, her head bowed in solemn concentration. "Oh Mighty Corvus, please shine your guiding light upon your apprentice, Aquila, and young Alice, that they may return safely unto us..."

The door opened, and in walked Alice, looking the same as she had always had, except for the feather-band the girls had handed to her. It made her feel good about the actions she had taken. Columba looked up, startled, but nearly cried in joy.

"...Alice!" Columba stood, and enveloped Alice in a tight hug, twirling her small body back in forth in excitement that was unlike her, "Oh, praise the stars above that you are unharmed!"

After five minutes of such actions, Columba noticed Alice's quietness, and realized what she was doing, she set Alice down, thoroughly embarrassed. Coughing, Columba asked her main question, after she looked around.

"Where has Aquila gone?"

Alice shrugged, "I dunno. You're guess is probably as good as mine. I haven't seen 'im."

"...I see." Columba looked down, her shoulders sagging slightly, "...I was certain that you two would be together..."

"What do you mean?" Alice rose an eyebrow. Sure, the two of them were kind of close, but they weren't siamese twins.

"...You mean no one informed you?" Alice shook her head, "Aquila descended to the Protectorate immediately to search for you, but, like others... he has yet to return."

Columba let out a depressed sigh, and gestured towards the monument that Alice had been ignoring with all her might, "And that's why you have found me here. I have been praying to Corvus to assist the two of you in your return. As you know, Corvus-"

"-Was the most noble and compassionate Celestrian there will ever be, and who will never be forgotten, even though several hundred mortal cycles have passed since he disappeared. I know, Columba!" Alice snapped, scowling. Columba could feel the tension around the girl steadily grow heavier, and put her hands up in apology.

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry. That was rather unintelligent on my part, and I apologize. It's just that... he was Aquila's master, y'know? He just... didn't want you to disappear like Corvus did. Even now, I don't doubt that Aquila is still scouring the Protectorate, just for you." Kneeling back down in front of the grave one last time, Columba clasped her hands extra tight, and bowed her head, "...Oh Corvus, legendary mentor of Aquila, please cast your guidance upon your apprentice in his most desperate hour of need."

Alice watched Columba go through the proper prayer rituals, and felt her stomach sink. She had to get out of here. Apus Major had told her to go pray to Yggdrasil, right? I guess I'll go do that now.

Alice stood beneath Yggdrasil, which still looked as green and beautiful as it had the day of the calamity. Flowers still bloomed amongst the roots, and Alice smiled as she saw them sway in the breeze, although it was rather strong. In fact... it was really strong. The wind wasn't supposed to be like this up here on the Observatory; there was a spell on the Observatory so that it would have clear weather, which allowed normal Celestrians to be able to peer down on the Protectorate. Oh well, not my problem.

Alice went to the very base of Yggdrasil, and got on her knees, tilting her head forward so that her forehead was touching the bark. She scowled slightly, doing her best to concentrate on praying to Yggdrasil.

Soon enough, she fell asleep (praying is hard work)...

Alice watched as a dark, red force shot a beam from above at the mortal realm, intending to destroy it, with but a small amount of interest. This was, after all, most likely just a holy dream. Nothing would actually happen to anyone.

The hand behind the force was dissing the mortals, listing all the bad things they had done (which were all true), and ignored the potentially good things they had managed. Just as the beam was reaching Protectorate-air, a light purple beam intercepted it.

"I beg you! Stay your hand!"

The hand's voice droned on about how it couldn't believe that the good force was doing this. Why the hell wouldn't it, you're batshit crazy! Alice shook her head. More words were exchanged, and Alice almost thought that she recognized the good force's voice from somewhere...

Before she realized it, she was nearly blinded by a white light, and found herself just sprawled out over one of Yggdrasil's roots. She got up, and dusted herself off, slightly put off by the fact that she had moved so much in her "sleep". Remembering her reason for coming in the first place, Alice patted her shoulder blades and her head, but there was nothing there, just as she expected. She was not gifted with the reappearance of her wings.

Alice sighed, and was about to walk away, when she heard a faint voice calling out to her.

...Alice, long-term Celestrian and Guardian... We are immensely relieved by your return to the Observatory...

...You, who were able to return without your wings or halo... Fate has chosen you, child.

...I shall open the way before you, Alice... but first, I must... give you motivation...

Instantly, Alice felt herself be enveloped in a bright, blue light, strengthened by a strange power. At the same time, she felt half of her soul be ripped away, and shrieked, curling into a ball, gripping her left arm hard enough to draw blood. Her body shook violently, wanting to just cave in and die right there.

Alice was alone.