Aquarius pulled Alice along the street towards the Wonderland House, rolling her eyes when Alice's drunken behaviour took a rather amusing tone.
"Red!" she squealed, using the affectionate nickname she had dubbed her spirit with, "It's a bird."
"Yes, it is," Aquarius confirmed.
"It flies," Alice squeaked, seemingly amazed by the blue bird that was chirping in a tree nearby.
"You are seriously weird when you're intoxicated," Aquarius commented, opening the front door with her key.
Alice burst into a fit of giggles, and Aquarius couldn't help the small smile that graced her features as she pulled her master up onto the second floor that was her apartment. Alice was like a rag doll, allowing Aquarius to all but throw her into her bedroom, subconsciously the Wonderland Mage reequipped into her nightclothes as Aquarius shoved her down onto her bed and yanked the covers over her.
"There!" Aquarius declared, "Now sleep."
Alice wanted to argue, something about how she didn't like being told what to do.
But she was already asleep.
-X-x-X-
A spike of fear shot through Alice's body as she opened her eyes, taking in the white room with a solid floor beneath her feet but no walls in sight. It was then that she caught sight of Andromeda, standing across from her, the spirit's arms were crossed tightly over her chest and she was staring down at Alice. In silence Alice pushed herself up off the floor, not moving her gaze from Andromeda.
"You let me stay in control," Alice stated, recalling what the spirit that possessed her body had done for her, "I… I saw you… How could I-"
"We're closely linked," Andromeda cut her off to answer her queries, "Two minds in one body, we'd have to be if we wanted to survive."
"Thank you," Alice whispered, but Andromeda just shrugged her words off.
"You… You made me do some thinking," Andromeda admitted, and her hands filled with the handcuffs that encaged her wrists, "Maybe… No. I shouldn't have… All those people…"
"Why do you wear chains?" Alice asked her.
"What?" Andromeda responded, startled by the unrelated question, but then her gaze softened as she recalled the answer, "Oh. They were… When they came to imprison me, they had to restrain me because I fought back. I mean, who wouldn't fight back if a group of men came up to you and grabbed you. They locked me in these chains, and when… When I had my body, I could never get them off. I guess even in my mind I could never be free of it."
"I'm sorry," Alice apologised.
"I don't want your apology," Andromeda snapped, and then took in a deep breath, "I want your help."
"Help with what?" Alice questioned.
"I want… I need…" Andromeda tried to get the words out, "I need to… To be redeemed. I can't live like this, after everything I've done I know I have no right to ask this but I can't… I just-"
"I understand," Alice assured her, moving forward, placing her hand on the younger girl's forearm, "What were you thinking of?"
"I was hoping you had an idea," Andromeda confessed, "I-I don't even know where to start."
"Hey, this is good," Alice told her, "You wanting to make amends, it shows that… that you're moving on."
"Promise you'll help me?" Andromeda whispered.
"I promise," Alice swore, "The next time we speak, I'll have a list."
Andromeda let out a giggle, such a soft, young sound that contrasted too vividly with the dark woman in front of her. This was obviously the woman that she had been before she was falsely accused, this sweet little girl who just wanted to make things better.
Alice opened her mouth to say something, but she felt as if she were being pulled somewhere else.
She was waking up.
She could only manage to give Andromeda a smile before her body awoke.
-X-x-X-
When Alice woke up, Aquarius had gone. Aquarius wasn't as strong as Loke, none of the spirits were. Loke could stay out for days, weeks even if he used all his stamina. The reminder of Loke sent a pang of pain through her heart, but she tried to ignore it as she pushed the covers off her and moved out of bed. She walked over to her kitchen, making some tea, and decided to tune into the bond she shared with her keys, to check Aquarius was alright. She sensed the familiar warm whirlpool of water that she knew belonged to the water spirit and was just about to focus back on her tea when a voice rang out.
-rry. Please just let me explain. I didn't mean for it-you-me- I didn't want it to-No I just wanted-
Loke.
Their bond was so strong she could hear him, even though he was in his house in the Celestial World, she could hear him.
She instantly blocked him.
Trying to distract herself, she focused on making her tea for a moment before going onto the topic of Andromeda's redemption. After a minute long debate, in which she tried to ignore as Loke hammered on her barrier, she decided to summon Crux. He appeared a second after she had mentally called to him, and she took her mug of tea in her hands as she greeted the old spirit with a smile.
"Hey Crux," she greeted.
"Hello Alice," he responded.
"I was wondering if you could find out the name of every village that suffered because of Zeref, or any of his predecessors," Alice explained.
"That may take some time," Crux warned her.
"I have all the time in the world," Alice answered, and he nodded in acceptance, his mind retreating to his memory banks as he started to snore.
-X-x-X-
After deciding that Crux would take a while, at least a few hours, to draw together the mass of information that she needed, Alice had left her apartment in favour of a walk Alone, wandering the roads, greeting the people as she went, as they all knew who exactly she was. After buying her groceries, even though she could have just gotten Virgo to bring her some food from the Celestial World where she wouldn't have had to pay, the shopkeeper was a kindly man who had a family, so Alice snuck in a couple thousand more jewels than he required.
She delved into her bond with Crux, only to find he was still searching.
Humming a soft tune under her breath, she turned to take the shortcut back to her apartment, a small, dark looking alleyway that when she had been Lucy of Fairy Tail, she would have shied away from it. But if anyone was in danger in a dark alleyway, then it would be the people hiding in the shadows.
Of course, that doesn't mean Alice was expecting someone to attack her.
No, she was certainly not expecting a man to jump out of a darkened corner and grab her.
But she was grateful for her sharp reflexes.
A swift elbow jab into his gut sent him flying backwards, gagging for air. She decided she shouldn't beat him up too bad, he was probably a non-magic man who was wanting to prey on some poor little girl who had the misfortune to walk this route. But then her eyes caught sight of the marking on his upper arm.
A guild mark.
It looked vaguely familiar, and Alice was about to demand he tell her what guild he belonged to when a needle was jabbed into her neck.
She could barely make out a sound as she crashed to the ground, forced into the world of unconsciousness.
-X-x-X-
Aquarius was having a good meal, sitting opposite Mother Pisces, listening to her talk about something her son had done. She had been sipping her drink, subconsciously flicking her mermaid tail from side to side as she listened to her friend talk.
But then he had come in.
Scorpio.
He looked terrible, dark circles under his eyes and his clothes were rumpled, his hair messy.
He wasn't alone either, Loke was following him, looking even worse than the spirit of the Scorpion.
"What is it?" Mother Pisces asked, before turning around and catching sight of the two males, and seeing how quickly word spread around the Celestial World, Mother Pisces already knew exactly what had happened between Aquarius and her former lover, "Oh. Come on. Let's go."
Aquarius could barely manage a nod as she got out of her seat and went to move out of the coffee shop.
It seemed fate was not on her side.
Scorpio looked up.
Scorpio saw her.
"Aquarius!" he cried, bolting off his chair to run to her.
Aquarius debated running away from him, she could easily slip through the door, he wouldn't be able to follow her, he wasn't quick enough. But if she wanted Alice to project this image of coolness, if she wanted to pretend she wasn't bothered with him anymore, bolting at the sight of him might not be the best thing to do. So she stood her ground, giving Mother Pisces a smile and hugging her goodbye before she turned to Scorpio, who had Loke a metre behind him.
"Aquarius," he murmured, repeating his call of her name under his breath.
"Yes Scorpio?" she asked him, trying to seem indifferent, and from the way he blinked in confusion she could tell it had worked.
"You… I thought… Angry?" Scorpio bumbled, letting out an array of words that didn't seem to work well together.
"Scorpio, if you want to sleep with every slut in the world, I don't have a problem with it," Aquarius announced, and went to turn away, but Scorpio grabbed her wrist.
"I'm not-I wouldn't-It's not-" Scorpio seemed unable to think properly from his disjointed sentence.
"Let me go," Aquarius hissed.
"I'm not with Vulpecula," Scorpio stated.
"And should I care?" Aquarius countered.
"Yes!" Scorpio exclaimed.
"Well I don't," Aquarius shrugged, torn between heartbreak at her words and pride at how well she was acting.
Scorpio's mouth hung open like a fish, and it seemed Loke took his opportunity to ask the question burning on his mind.
"How's Lucy?" he demanded, "Is she okay? She won't let me see her… Why won't she let me explain?"
"Maybe kissing your master wasn't the best idea," Aquarius retorted, "And besides, I'm sure you just wanted to add her to your long list of kisses, so at least you accomplished something."
"No! I wasn't try-" Loke denied.
"Yes you were," Aquarius growled, and pulled her wrist out of Scorpio's grip.
"Wait!" Loke yelled when she had started to move away, "You didn't tell me how she is! You don't understand! I need to know."
Aquarius let out a small groan in her head as she stopped to turn around and answer the spirit of the lion. She closed her eyes, focusing on her bond with her master, knowing that she would be able to feel what her master was feeling.
Darkness.
Her eyes bolted open.
"Wha-" she managed to get out before Loke erupted.
"What is it?!" he shouted, "What's happened?!"
"I don't know…" Aquarius breathes, her eyes wide as her gaze met Loke's.
And then it happened.
The bond, that feeling of warmth that Aquarius always felt for the master who was practically her sister…
Disappeared.
-X-x-X-
When Alice regained consciousness, her eyesight was bleary as it adjusted to the little light. She could feel the familiar sensation of rope burn on both her wrists and ankles, a sign she was tied up, and had been for a long time, as if the aching in her body and the chair that she couldn't separate from weren't clues enough. After letting out a small moan, she focused on the dark figures that stood in front of her. There was five of them, each wearing dark clothes with their guild marks proudly displayed.
It was only then that she recognised the guild mark.
It seemed so long ago that the others had come back, that Levy had stayed in her room, that they had tried to catch up in every little thing. Alice had told her of her many adventures, of her training, of her new friends. And Levy, in return, had drawn a guild mark and explained about the Dark Guild that had attacked them.
Grimoire Heart.
She had tried to hunt the remains of their guild down to no success.
But obviously these were the last of their minions.
"Alice in Wonderland," one of them stated, "S-Class mage of Blue Pegasus. Would-be Wizard Saint."
"I never answered any of their messages," Alice shrugged.
"We give you one chance," another of them spoke this time, "Allow Her control and you shall pass unharmed."
"I don't think so," Alice shook her head as she denied them.
"You're not the first one to refuse this," a male voice remarked, stepping forward, parting from the rest of them, "But eventually they all give in."
"Ooh… Scary," Alice taunted them, and received a slap across her face in return.
She had just about had enough, and was going to snap at them, to use, only a little, of her magic on them to make them go away. She reached out to her magical supply, and shut her eyes to focus on taming the energy that was always so wild.
But it wasn't there.
She could hear the people laughing as she tried to desperately find it.
"What the heck have you done?" she snarled.
"A simple chemical formula was injected to you soon after we knocked you out," the male answered, "It has a rather remarkable effect. It cuts you off from your magical supply."
It was like a punch in the gut, hearing him say those words so casually, as if he hadn't just ripped her family from her, as if he hadn't just stolen her world. Curse words flew out of her mouth at a rapid pace as she struggled against the bindings, only preceding to make the rope dig into her flesh and make her burns even worse.
"From past experience," the male continued in an even voice, ignoring the insults she had just thrown at him, "We have learnt that the most effective way to make you release your control is through pain."
Alice swore at him, but again he ignored it.
"When you're in pain your body automatically lowers its mental shields," he stated, "So, as I can guess She is fighting you, this will assist her to take control."
"Andromeda doesn't want that!" Alice shrieked.
The man just shook his head sadly, somewhat mockingly, as if she were a child that could not understand.
"She is our saviour," he declared, "And you are her host."
Pain.
She should have guessed they had magic.
Screams tore through her body as the man used his all on her. It was as if she were burning, like the fire was melting her flesh and setting her insides alight. But it was so dark, she couldn't see.
The darkness, the one from before, Andromeda.
She could feel her, fighting for control.
Alice could even hear her voice, in the back of her mind, and she was strangely grateful that she could still communicate with the lost celestial Princess.
But the dark, twisted words that she was hearing were both comforting and alarming.
Kill them! Burn them! Slaughter them! Make them pay!
As much as Alice wanted to let Andromeda free, to let the spirit control her body and kill all these fools with a simple death wave, she knew what the repercussions would be. Andromeda would have more blood on her hands, and Alice would have to live with the fact that she let her do it.
So she did her best to keep Andromeda at bay, even through the pain.
When the male mage deemed it enough, Alice was gasping for breath, her throat hoarse and raw from the screams that she had released.
"Give in," the male suggested.
Alice could only manage a feeble glare at him.
"Boss, I think she might be too strong," one of the other figures hissed, "She's an S-Class mage of Blue Pegasus! A Wizard Saint! We've never had one of them before!"
If this guy hadn't been her enemy, Alice would have hugged him.
"And what do you suggest we do?" the leader, who had used his magic on her before, asked him.
"Well, aren't there legends that She can control even the dead?" the figure responded, "So why don't we just kill her and see what happens?"
Scrap that, Alice would definitely not be hugging this guy.
"Yeah!" one of the others shouted in agreement, and it was followed by numerous other cries of agreement.
"Hm… Let's make it swift," the leader decided.
Before plunging a knife into Alice's gut.
She let out some sort of choking sound, and she felt herself begin to choke as blood rose to her mouth. The familiar feeling of death, the immense pain, the dark surrounding her, engulfed her.
She could barely fight for consciousness.
Yet alone control Andromeda.
It was like a pulse, ripping through her every cell as it radiated out of her, and she watched with wide eyes as something black, reeking of foul things, tore through her body and was released. It mowed down the figures, killing them in a split second.
Andromeda was free.
Alice blacked out.
-X-x-X-
It took the majority of Loke's strength to get himself to the Human World, and then to get to a location near Alice, it took nearly everything he had. She had grown so strong, and they had grown so close, that she could restrict him from even entering her world.
He staggered forwards, blindly searching for some clue as to where he was, where Alice was.
And then he saw her.
She was still, not moving a muscle as she stood completely straight, surrounded by a group of dead bodies.
Loke froze, unable to understand what had happened.
Until Alice turned around.
And her blue eyes were gone, replaced with those soulless black pits that he would remember from anywhere.
"You!" he snarled.
"Wait!" it cried, its voice so much younger than Alice's Loke faltered for a moment, "Just let me explain! I need your help! Otherwise she's going to die!"
Loke paused, and decided to let it explain, barely holding back a growl.
"I know little about half breeds," it explained, "But I know that when her physical body dies, her spirit goes to our world. But it's like us in this world, isn't it? She can't survive in our world long, on her own spirit energy. That's why you have to pull her spirit back to her body."
"Yes," Loke hissed, "What about it?"
"She was killed," it answered.
It was almost comical that only now Loke realised the gaping hole in Alice's middle.
Stabbed.
She had been stabbed.
And she hadn't called on him to save her.
"She couldn't," Andromeda answered his unspoken question, "There was this chemical that cut her off. But that doesn't matter now, you need to save her. I'll let go of control, I promise, I just need you to save her."
Loke regarded the being that possessed his beloved for a second, analysing her.
"Why should I trust a word that comes out of your mouth?" Loke snapped.
"Because Alice did," it responded, "Because she fought to save me from myself, from… from killing these people. Even though it killed her."
That sounded to be a very Alice-like thing, and after a split second of thought Loke realised that was something that Alice would most definitely do.
Loke moved forwards, remembering how to revive her, she had to come into contact with something from the Celestial world. Although Loke could, if he wanted to, just give her a sip of water from his world, he never had. He was mere millimetres away from her as he leaned in, and brushed a soft kiss against her forehead.
Alice's body convulsed, the dark, soulless orbs of Andromeda fading as Alice's bright blue returned.
Loke had never been so grateful to see that familiar shade of bright blue.
A gasp fell from her lips as she stumbled to the ground. Blood was pouring out of her mouth at a rapid pace. Loke surged forwards, gently picking her up off the ground and pulling her onto his lap. He held her body close to his chest, her head over his shoulder as she vomited up a mass of red liquid. His head was by her ear as he whispered soothing words to her, holding her close, tight, as if another reassurance that he was there.
When the tremors were over, Alice was shivering, huddling closer to Loke by instinct, as if forgetting completely that they had been fighting, that she had been ignoring him.
"Shh..." he assured her, "It's over now. You're okay."
"I-I c-couldn't…" Alice murmured.
"It's over," Loke repeated.
"A-A-Andromeda…" Alice whispered, "I-I c-couldn't stop-p her…"
Loke at the surroundings bodies, their eyes wide, taken by surprise, their forms spread out as if they had just fallen to the floor. He could guess what happened. Andromeda had gained control and killed them with a death wave, and Alice wold blame herself for not stopping the spirit from saving her life.
"You did the right thing," he told her.
"No…," Alice denied, and then she buried her head into the crook of Loke's neck, making his heart perform some sort of flip in his chest, and he barely caught the words that left her mouth, "Take me home."
"Anything for you," he responded with a small smile as he teleported them.
-X-x-X-
A/N HEY GUYS! Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter, I thought that was a good ending point. Responses to reviews are coming shortly! And by shortly, I mean I'm going to do them right after this, I just wanted to post the chapter as soon as I finished. Actually, I might start writing on the next chapter, if you don't mind, before I respond to review, because I've got a writing vibe.
Guest: Hello! Ooh, I don't know. You might have, but lots of people just have 'Guest' so sometimes it's hard to tell them apart unless they use a name. Thank you! You're too kind! Really, I'm flattered. I was worried about making people too out of character/OOC and I'm so glad you don't think I went overboard. I wanted to make Alice strong, but not unbelievably so, and I still wanted her to be Lucy. Again, thank you! Oh don't worry, this story is definitely not abandoned! Thank you for reviewing!
THANKS EVERYONE!
Becney :P