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Chapter 11 - Where to now?
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At the prison, the jester was quite angry. Earlier on, he had suddenly sensed a rift in the dream realm. Something that wasn't exactly a dream, and when he was unable to enter that space, he confirmed it was her. It was one of her liminality spaces and surely part of whatever she was planning. But he damn couldn't get in. She had either found a way to block him or her stupid order to his role to not approach her had prevented him from entering.
Worse yet, the damn warden was still blocking him and was somewhere probably drunk, drugged, both or else. He was really hating himself.
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The warden meanwhile had been in the middle of a shootout near the amusement park, dreading the destruction that he'd find there. On his way, he had found what remained of the corpses of the knight and the cat. The cat had been chopped to pieces and the knight had been slashed all over and used as a pin cushion for knives.
He had approached the corpses when a predictable ambush crashed on him. Unlike normal ambushes, he had been forced to flee as fast as he could after recognizing the tactics. HER tactics. This screamed her involvement. Stupid faceless had heavy weaponry and rather than attacking him directly, were trying to keep him in the zone while blowing up the whole area.
Black had no idea when or how she created this level of artillery. But he had no time to waste here evading the barrage of artillery, or worse, getting killed and then waiting for a part of Joker to regenerate. He had to move on. There was more shit happening and more rules being broken. The rules and laws of reality of this world were breaking. This world was breaking. And … the fucking nightmare realm was connecting!?
"What shit is she doing now!?" (And where the fuck is the jester!?)
Seeing his options, he had no choice but to force his way into the nightmare realm both to escape being blown up from the bombs that were falling from above and to chase the rule breakers. Even if those rules were the rules of the fabric of reality, he, the warden, could get involved; and he would if whatever was blocking him that wasn't Nightmare just fucking let him through!
With no choice, he reconnected with his counterpart only to learn that the stupid Jester couldn't get into that dream simulation or the dream realm … but there was an unstable opening in the nightmare realm. He entered it, wherever it would lead him.
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On another side of Wonderland, the hatter's mansion was basically under lockdown as one of the last areas this side of the mirror that wasn't ablaze. Every single person in the mansion was on high alert and with orders to shoot anyone that came near except for the resident holders, but neither the gatekeepers nor the march hare had come back yet and the smoke in the nearby town could be seen at a distance. It was only a matter of time till the mobs reached the mansion's grounds.
Everyone was nervous. Blood made sure that even the escape routes were ready and he too was as ready as he could be.
"What's the situation in the remaining territories?" Blood asked one of the cards that had been of the last ones to come back alive before he bunkered down.
"After the castle, the clock tower and the park fell, the last information was that the tower of Clover was on the defensive. No one knows anything about the circus or the prison." The card answered, clearly very nervous too. "It's bad, Sir. Worse than ever before."
Blood knew how bad things were or so he assumed. "Even my territory is being encroached like never before; not by random groups but a whole large and united coalition the size of an army of the likes that shouldn't exist in Wonderland." His smile was forced. He tapped his cane over the desk.
"Sir… all the factions… they aren't fighting each other like always. They were moving around in unison and capturing or destroying objectives. It was unnatural. Like a swarm. A perfectly coordinated swarm."
"Or a hive of insects. Small and meaningless alone but too troublesome now that they found a queen to mobilize them." Blood knew which variable had triggered change. In this world, a change so big could only happen due to a foreigner and his own beloved Alice had been with him all along. "The second foreigner must be related in some way. But how exactly?"
"Maybe.." The card gulped and then almost whispered in fear. "The madness?"
"I wish it was something so simple." Blood twisted his lips. A maddened foreigner was unpredictable except for their predictable rush for destruction; that made madenned foreigners easy enough targets. "Send a couple cards to find information and if they see the second foreigner, if there's a chance, eliminate her." Blood couldn't go on his own to do something personal about this. His priority was to protect Alice and, as arrogant as he was, he was not as stupid as to fall into the trap of going himself. Various holders had already fallen because of that.
A knock on the door interrupted them. He knew that soft knock perfectly. His priority had come.
"Blood?" Alice entered. She looked uneasy.
"Go back to our room, Alice. I'll come entertain you soon enough." Blood let his gaze linger on Alice. She was looking older. Like when she took the winxy pistol. She remembered everything … and she still had decided to stay with him. He would protect her no matter what.
In contrast, Alice didn't seem happy with his response. "I need to find her and speak with her. She was taken to the prison, right?" She said with worry before her expression turned to annoyment or maybe even to anger. "And tell me what is really happening, Blood. I have never seen you or the mansion like this."
Blood smiled his charming smile, ready to respond and redirect her attention when a servant came rushing in.
"Sir! The dormouse is here!"
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As buildings burned in the distance, Aria was calmly reading a book while resting her back against a wall under the shade of a closed business's awning. In her hands she had the last book the king of Hearts wrote.
Her armor had retracted the gloves so her fingers could easily pass the pages that detailed the record of her own interactions with this world from the perception of the holder in charge or seeing and recording the important events of history that others didn't bother to notice or remember.
It seemed that even the king didn't know much about what she had been doing or achieving. At least not her true achievements and goings.
There were records of when she had purposely presented herself to the holders, her business interactions with the various territories, the time she was abducted and almost cut open during an event at the castle and her subsequent disappearance and the likes, and there were notes on various rumors that had lingered around her. Many which she herself had spread as misinformation.
All that didn't matter to her. She barely had skimmed through all that. The interesting stuff started during the karaoke contest at the amusement park where they had sent her to die. It was the moment where the revolts began too. More brutal, coordinated and focused than Wonderland's normal chaos, and partly her fault too. Irrelevant. Then the part of her falling to Diamond, no one knowing where she was at first but later hunting her down to force her to let the mortician repair clocks, surely to kill her afterwards… and Diamond. Her fight with the Jabberwock and her fall to Spades. Then the king of Diamond telling the other monarch of her brief stay in the frozen country.
That last chapter was basically about the holders running like chickens without heads, rolling in violence and only notes after that were of her falling over a meeting and Joker apprehending her, then her coming to get her heart sealed.
This was what he was looking for. It was only a small personal note of the king mentioning that the key to the seal of her heart was somewhere in Wonderland, most likely in the place where the sealing situation started, and some notes of what he had read from past king's about such an occurrence. It was brief but useful.
Aria closed the book and let it drop on the ground as it didn't matter anymore. Now she was sure that there was a seal and a key to it regarding her closed off heart. She needed to take care of that just as a measure to reduce the possibilities of unexpected annoyances. And she could do it while tying up some loose ends.
The time to pay Joker a personal visit had come, and she was not going alone.
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The warden had no idea what was going on. He could hear NIghtmare's screams somewhere, but he could only sense, see and even feel traces of horrible tortures done to Aria. Moments of terrible dread and pain she suffered. This was definitely the nightmare realm, and it was entirely resonating with her, searching for her. And as horrible as all these were, this was his chance to find the missing key in the core of her darkest memories. He ignored the screaming incubus in the distance and broke through the chains of nightmares and horrible memories to find himself dropping into a portal that opened up in a strange place he had never seen.
The place was eerie silent, even time stood still in this great building. Tall ceilings and architecture styles he had never seen before but in images that Aria had shown him of her world covered the ample gallery where he stood. It could be a museum. One dedicated to Aria as all he could see was art, paintings, frescoes, carvings, murals, mosaics and statues depicting her, or more specifically, her battles… in quite idealized ways and nicely with little to no clothing. He had seen and even been in some of those fights, and these depictions were real, just the aesthetics were idealized.
It might have been nice were it not for how disturbing it all. Even by just breathing he was getting a forelooming oppressive sensation. The place wasn't cold but he felt chills on his skin, his spine and his being. This place felt entirely lifeless while at the same it was crushing him with the weight of life. His clock was being…charged. Forcefully. This was not a place even he should be, it was as if he was breaking some rule not even Joker knew about.
He wandered about, scurrying his way trying to find the main hall of this place, always ready for anything to jump him, but the fact that nothing did freaked him more. This place would devour him soon, he was sure of it, but there was also the possibility of finding the damn key. That was how he discovered the mirror. A great mirror at the end of the main hall between stairs, a mirror which surface was pure darkness.
Black approached the mirror to examine it, and another figure appeared at the other side; its presence was overwhelming and intimidating even for Joker, he felt a primordial fear, an instinctual need to run away. He felt it but could not explain it; not yet.
The man at the other side of the mirror was not that tall but he was towering. He had black hair and his swampy green eyes with slitted pupils were glowing at Joker with evident malice like a great predator looking down on a smaller one and therefore a prey.
Joker broke the silence before the presence of this creature and of this place cut through his resolve. "And who might you be? Someone trying to come for a late tea?" He noticed that the man's clothes seemed to be made out of shadows, and Black knew only one other person who could do that.
"Tea of endless darkness and despair as snacks I'll take. But more importantly, what the fuck is Joker doing while that side of the mirror is collapsing? Shouldn't Joker be catering to the most special of guests instead of frolicking around as the world ends?" The man answered with a sneer. His factions were kind of angular, and even if he stood still and straight, it seemed as if he was ready to pounce. "I couldn't care less about that side of the mirror, but something really fucked up happened to the real star of the game, did it not?"
Joker crossed his arms and faked some teasing calm. "And who wants to know I wonder? It's rude to not even present yourself before asking for information."
The guy laughed, showing rows of fangs inside the back of his throat. "Shouldn't Joker know? I am her best contribution to this world after all."
"Best contribution? Speaking a little fucking highly of yourself, don't you think?" Black asked with a crooked smirk, but he knew that most of his own bravado was fake..
The man returned the equally fake smile that hid a primeval danger. "A contribution so grand that neither this world or I would let her go away."
"Has she made some extra donations to help those in need that I should know about?" Joker felt the cold anticipation approaching. What had she done?
"She doesn't give anything away for free, so rather than a donation, it was a deal. A deal with this world and a deal with the oldest one of this world. She chose to enact her will for me and for Spades, therefore she rightfully belongs to Spades and to me."
"She belongs to Wonderland - and to whoever is lucky enough to land their connector onto her." Joker kept his smile, but he was dreading the implications of this stranger mentioning Spades and dreading whatever she had done there.
With a dark chuckle the man beyond the mirror waved Joker off. "But she already has mine. I mixed it with her existence in ways that will keep me entertained with her game and ways that she won't and can't reject. Ways that give her the proper power to keep enacting her will. She gave me a connector. So of course I used it on her."
After a snap of his fingers, the strange man's figure flickered. For a breath's moment, moving shadows gathered to show the dark form of the greatest nightmarish creature of despair and destruction from this world.
Joker's eye widened and he took an unconscious step back. "Th-the Jabberwock…"
A cold shudder struck Joker's body as an unnatural fear managed to grab at his clock. Cold sweat ran down his back. The Jabberwocky. Aria had freed and reformed the Jabberwocky! The thing that had caused the destruction of spades, the thing that could erase the existence of this world!
"The real one." The man's grin widened beyond his jaws. "Who else would I be? And I'm not sorry to cut you off… in fact would very much like to cross and literally cut you off, rip you and all apart, tear and crush, slash and devour." The dovah laughed, a scaled stingered tail of shadows slamming the ground and disappearing into darkness afterwards. "Save for her, nothing would make me happier than to knick and knack all the holders on that side of the mirror, but I'd prefer to bring her back to my loving side. This game is for me to win her after all."
"The Jabborwocky winning a game? Wonderland won't stand for it." Joker tapped his whip to his palm. The creature shouldnt have a connector, much less use it on Aria! If he did, her game should have ended, but it was still going on, in all of Wonderland. And at the moment everyone in Wonderland was suffering from it and from Joker's own fault in it.
The malicious smile of the Jabberwocky was plastered on his face. "Didnt you know that she fixed me and made me a proper holder and role? Trule as I said, her greatest contribution to this world."
The Jabberwocky snapped his fingers and a memory played on a cloud of darkness beside him. An image of the man grabbing Aria by the throat, but Aria's grin was maniacal and her voice was clear and confident even if she was under mortal peril.
"My proposal to you is this: I will forge the Jabberwocky as a true role…"
Slowly, the grip on her neck loosened and the darkness that had been ready to tear her apart released her.
"How?" The old darkness spoke with the echo of timeless greed.
She smiled devilishly, not taking her eyes off him; she then took a step forward to lean closer, and very slowly and deliberately, put her hands on his shoulders, making her chest collide with his torso as she leaned forward. She then moved one hand to caress his chest and gently whispered…
"Like this."
Her lips crashed over his, softly kissing him in the mouth. She separated her lips from his and lightly pawed at his chest while looking at his non existing face. She didn't pull back from the closeness. "A deal?"
Joker's breath caught in his throat as he saw the young woman offering herself and enticing the Jabberwock with her life at stake. He was flabbergasted by the mindblowing, godly power of what she intended to do and that she had apparently achieved.
"None of you deserve her, you all are so terrible at the game that even in Spades I can feel that side of the mirror collapsing. I wouldn't care, but the moment is ripe. Even I can't eat that many nightmares anymore. They should have been leaking to me slowly as she overcame her nightmares, but they just exponentially grew beyond what possibilities should allow." His visage contorted for a moment, melting into a form of darkness and nightmares that almost lashed before recomposing itself into the young man's form.. "Something happened to her. And you, Joker, what have you been doing!? Or not doing. If you can't get your job done then get replaced already."
"She defeated you in Diamond." Joker spoke in a low, hard voice, gritting his teeth. He couldn't believe what Aria had done. That stupid foreigner!
"That old avatar in Diamond wasn't the me of Spades, much less the 'me' from when I met her onwards. And I wouldn't say she defeated me." He scratched his chin with fingertips that ended up in claws and ripped some darkness from his recomposing flesh. "I would say she completely conquered me."
The Jabberwocky snapped his fingers again and a new memory played. A memory of him and the second foreigner carnally fighting to top each other, tangled in wild, brutal and unhinged passion.
A cold shiver snapped down Joker's spine, seeing the foreigner bucking her body against the darkness of the Jabberwocky. He was, in fact, partly to blame for this. He failed since the start of her game. He was a terrible friend and he failed to set up her game, so after a long chain of steady mental crumbling and shit occurrences, she ended up in spades doing this. Then she came back terribly traumatized and the only person she trusted, Joker, had only made things so much worse. No wonder she had sealed off her heart.
"She was very convincing in her proposal as you can see." The man reappeared as the image faded. He was fanned by a hand made out of darkness that came from the void. "Her terrible memories would have crushed many, but to me they were a delicious treat offered by the most delicious of lovers."
Realization hit Black as hard as a slap from his ex-friend. Even beyond what Aria may have done, this creature knew her. He knew far more about Aria than anyone but himself should know and he, Joker, didn' know the full story of what may have happened to her at the other side of the mirror. But she knew the Jabberwocky … deeply and the ancient creature knew her. She had done something to it and it now had a role, a role she gave him, that she created or reformed or some shit. She had attained the power to do it. And it wanted her. He was now playing her game!
"Oh? Even Joker can look surprised?" The Jabberwocky laughed darky. Mockingly. "Perhaps you thought you could win? How pathetic. Joker remembered he can participate in the game, but did you know that even if you can you should not? Long ago, Joker decided to not even participate because Joker has nothing to offer a foreigner, and being the minor villain of the story, Joker was just there to serve as a plot point for the other players and lose the game anyways. So why bother becoming a double loser?"
"The Joker role is still a player - unlike the Jabborwocky, fuckwat." If Joker could shoot this thing he would just shut it up. He had chosen to participate in the game in order to go and get his friend to fix the shit about not fixing clocks and to bring her back from a lost country. He had failed and had almost being killed himself, left with a wound that said friend had healed before breaking their friendship because he had fucked up her game. She was such a damn delicate toy and he now knew why her little beating heart and her completely fucked up mind had been completely shattered.
"And you only know that Joker can actually play the game because she told you. you wouldn't have even known otherwise. What an ungrateful twat." The dragon spat. "Not that it would have mattered. You don't even know how to play the game, much less for a foreigner like herself. I know her better than you'd ever tried, I knew her before any holder even saw her." The man tilted his head to crack his neck just like she had always did. "I've seen and tasted everything about her. Her joys and despairs, her wishes and desires. What do you even know? She might have deemed you a friend at some point but you don't even know what a friend is. You should have just played your role and get the game on the path to its conclusion. A conclusion without you or any of the losers on that side of the mirror."
Black steadied himself, forcefully ignoring the truths the dragon had told him. The Jabberwocky would be the one knowing her nightmares and worse feelings before she reappeared. He had to risk giving this frumious beast information to get at least a clue. "You claim to know her, but do you know about sealed her heart? I, Joker, of course would unlock it and get the game back on track. I just need to find the key to it as I already have the seal."
"Who would have thought that Joker was such an idiot." The Jabberwocky pointed his finger at Joker accusingly. "You are undeserving of ever being considered her friend. A key?" He snarled. "Don't you know that Lady Aria already has the key of the way? That it is part of her now? Embed in her very flesh and being?"
"And who would have thought that the Jabberwock would be a dumbass too. Whether the key of the way exists or not, or if she has it, it's irrelevant. I want the key to her sealed heart to unlock a little meowing seal that is already in my hands so the game can resume. You at least should understand that without a heart the game can never conclude." Black didn't trust this creature at all, but he didn't have a choice. He needed to find that stupid key and he was willing to even make a deal with the Jabberwocky for it. Time would turn back once this fiasco was over anyways and there was nothing the dragon could do from the other side of the mirror.
The Jabberwock bursted out laughing, secondary fanged jaws forming inside his unhinged jaws. "Such a good friend Joker is to not even know that whatever creature that is, it's not a seal but the sealed heart. Ha! What else could it be? A foreigner's heart is alive, imbecile. And only her own heart would be responsible for the key to itself. Only a foreigner can grant her heart in this world, so without its owner the heart is the only one who can grant access to itself, you idiot, shouldn't you know it already!?"
Black wanted to smack his head on a wall. He has had the stupid heart all this fucking time! It was the stupid feline all along, and of course it's sealed! It was so obvious, he, Joker, should have known it! It's the heart of a foreigner after all, for Wonderland's sake! Obviously only it can grant access to itself! How did he miss it!? Dammit!
"Clearly Joker wouldn't know how to play the game, much less the current incompetent one that couldn't even set any holder on her path. But it was better for me. I won. You are nothing but a fool destined to lose. Your role was to set a foreigner so her heart could be taken, but you were never meant to even be able to partake in the taking. You can give nothing but pain and despair, while I can eat those away from her."
Black's fists were clenching. "Regardless of what you think, I do have a duty towards the foreigner and her game. And I will set things straight. I just need to find my way back."
"Is that so? Then why don't I offer you a deal?" The Jabberwocky grinned. "I can let you pass through the nightmare realm to get back to your crumbling piece of crap side of the mirror…however, and this is a special offer only for one such as yourself, you will have to pass through the tortures that my dear Lady Aria has experienced. She survived them multiple times and thrice, so surely you'll enjoy them even more. Or is Joker merely good at inflicting tortures, than capable of taking them on?"
"Oh yeah? Now that's generous. But can you? If you could, you'd be already here, dumbass." Joker was unsure. Because the Jabberwocky was darkness that now governed the nightmare realm. Even if he was still confined to Spades, he would still influence and alter that realm, so much that Black was now sure that he was speaking with an avatar and not the real thing. That was scarier still. The real frumious one was definitely more powerful than this visage.
"I'll eventually be. But for now you have more urgent matters to ponder and you need to get back or you'll be late. I wouldn't count on you finding any other way away from where you are. You are in an unknown territory that wonderland owns to her. It is not connected yet, so you'll die there wandering before you find a way out or fail your duties and kill yourself. Or maybe that place will just kill you instead for your intrusion." The jabberwocky seemed amused, but there was some urging in his malicious gaze. "I'm quite generous even if it's only for this moment and this situation. I will not eat you while you suffer my lady's experiences, but I will encourage the nightmares to remind you of your failures and your unworthiness. Will you take the offer?" Suddenly, all fake smiles dropped and his figure began growing into shadows, showing a glimpse of his terrifying real form. "Go and get her so I can play MY game as it is meant to be. Go get back MY foreigner."
The dragon snapped his fingers and the surface of the mirror began wavering, becoming like muddy dark waters on a pitch black night.
"Why not? Sounds fun." Of course Joker couldn't trust this creature, but there was no choice or alternative at this point. He was used to dying every so often anyways. And if anything, this would not only take him back, but it would give him all the information he needed to unravel what the fucking details that cracked her recently and specifically beyond his counterparts stupid actions and might give him clues regarding how to unseal that heart.
Not wasting more time, Joker jumped into the dark void, braced for the trip back.
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Aria calmly strolled towards her next destination. She didn't have that much time in general but she had to let everyone gather and organize. So she was taking her time going around. There was no point in going directly to her next destination. It also gave her a respite to think.
For what she had found out, she could ignore the seal of her heart or whatever. She just needed to find the key and destroy it if at all. Since this was Joker then she should consider that he knew about the key and the seal and was actively looking for it. She doubted that Joker had found it yet or else he would have tried to use it on her already. It was logical to assume that 1 joker was looking for the key and another for the seal., in which case, the most likely to be searching inside their territories was the jester since he couldn't approach her, giving the warden a smaller advantage in comparison to the other joker.
She spat on the floor, frowning with a harsh, unblinking gaze. This was going to be a bothersome detour, but also once Joker was taken care off, the population would be able to truly let go of the last remnant of restraints and any possible opposition from any remaining holders would disappear, or at least the remaining population would truly believe such and by then it would be too late for anyone to stop her plans.
"Hey, Aria!" The voice of the march hare called loudly.
The mercenary stood and turned around, looking confused and even conflicted. She stopped in place and raised her hand to unenthusiastically wave. "Elliot? Hi."
"Surprised to see you out and walking about," Elliot curiously noted, keeping a few paces back from the young woman.
"Ahhh…well," she scratched the back of her head and then sighed. "I'm supposed to be in a hurry. I need to go get something from the prison, so everything can go back to normal. Or so it seems." She frowned, relaxing her posture and clearly showing no signs of wanting to run away or enter any conflict. "Apparently I will have to face Joker to get … a seal or something of the like."
"A seal?" He echoed, not liking hearing her mentioning Joker's name. Blood had mentioned it, but he had not expected to mention it aloud so easily.
"Hey, Elliot…" She looked sideways for a moment. "You know I normally wouldn't ask, but… I may need help this time." She frowned. "There's shit happening around and I don't have many supplies left. And this is Joker. That's 2 holders. It's going to be hard and deadly." Her frown deepened, showing some sadness and regret in her expression as she looked away for a moment. "I don't want to face him. Much less fight him. I just want to find that seal or whatever. That's all."
Elliot's ear flicked, verifying her honesty. "You sound off," he noted in a careful tone, sounding a tad suspicious. She seemed completely steady, but that was common for her.
"Of course I sound off. And don't I always?" She sighed. "Fuckign Joker betrayed me and then I tried to seal off my heart, but now it turns out I can't go back to my world until this seal thing is fixed." She then attempted a smile."I don't really give money to pay the hatters now… but I can at least promise you some drinks after I get that from the prison."
"Why don't we go for those drinks first? You can tell me what happened there." He suggested, wanting more information,which for some reason she was apparently willing to give easily.
Aria nodded. "Yes… I kinda need it. I do need a drink or two and maybe… kinda… perhaps it would be good to actually tell someone this time. It's supposed to help and be therapeutic." She looked around. "There should be some bar nearby… not sure if they'd be open. Do you know any?"
Elliot led her to a street he knew had many suitable places. She didn't object or try to take him anywhere in particular, but she barely spoke, looking somewhat lost and confused all the while. It didn't take them but a short walk to arrive. This used to be a busy part of town, so it was full of bars and restaurants, but none were open. The area was as empty as the whole town. They stood in the middle of the street and then Elliot spotted the open curtain of one bar in the middle of the others.
Elliot pointed out to the place. "That one is open. Let's go in and grab something to drink."
Arai looked at Elliot. "Do we just go in?" She narrowed her eyes a bit. "Isn't it suspicious that everything else but that place is closed?"
The march hare was actually reassured by her suspicion of the place. "Seems empty too." He pointed his ears towards the palace. "I can't hear anything or anyone inside."
The foreigner nodded and approached cautiously in front of Elliot, placing herself at the side of the door and grabbing a handgun from her coat, ready to storm in. She looked at Elliot and waited for him.
Elliot refrained from chucking but amused her moving to the other side of the entrance, also with his weapon in hand. He motioned and at the count of 3 they jumped in, aiming their guns forward, but the place was indeed entirely empty and without signs of struggle or anything. There were a few bottles left behind the bar on the shelf at the back. It looked normal. Just abandoned in a hurry.
Aria let out a deep breath of relief. "Well, it is empty." She left her gun on a table and went to the bar to look around and behind the counter. She took a couple bottles and set them over the counter before turning around to sit on a tall bench. "It is still suspicious." She took a flask from her coat and gave a sip before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, soundly swallowing. "I mean, the bottles seem fine, but what if they are poisoned and left behind?" She looked at the mafioso and offered her flask.
Elliot's ear flickered, clearly seeing and hearing her take a gulp of the drink. Seeing it was relatively safe, then, he took the flask as she took a seat.
Aria exhaled with a tired expression and leaned on the counter, crossing her arms and keeping her hands clearly in view. "I… I don't know where to start…"
"Maybe start by the beginning?" Elliot suggested, carefully looking at her and trying to listen to her heart. Weirdly enough he listened to the beat…but it was greatly muffled. He didn't know what happened when a heart was sealed, but certainly it hadn't ripped the organ out of her chest.
After a little tilt from her head, the mercenary took the flask from Elliot's hand and took another drink before giving it back to him. She swallowed the liquid. "I think I need the alcohol to start making an effect first. It's whiskey by the way. Can't say it's the best but isn't the crappiest either."
Elliot weighed the flask, it felt lighter and already half empty. She had taken a big gulp out of it.
"Take a drink before I empty it." Aria chuckled. "And damn, I feel as if I need not just a drink but to get completely and utterly piss drunk."
"We can do just that if you need it." Elliot smiled back, thinking that getting her drunk and taking her to the mansion was the best plan. She was cooperating, but he doubted she'd like to go to the mansion easily. He took a drink from her flask and a second later he changed into his animal form. He was in shocked surprise for a second, but a second was all it took for her to grab him and break his lil bunny neck.
Aria's face dropped any indication of her previous emotional acting as she twisted the neck of the hare again just to be sure it was completeñy broken and left the corpse on the counter. "I need it, yes, but I have priorities." She picked up the flask and emptied its remaining contents on the floor before she took one of the bottles of liquor and opened it, taking a long drink before using the rest to rinse and refill her flask.
"Too bad that a potion to change to your real form doesn't affect me cus I'm already in my real form." She chuckled, taking a gulp from another bottle."It would have been fun if my time accelerated even more, but I suppose I'm already beyond humanity already." She finished her drink. Stood up, and stretched.
After a swift press to the communicator in her neck, she began walking away. "There's a hare corpse in the open bar on Feisty street.. You can skin and roast it or drag it along the streets, maybe show it near enough to the hatter's for them to see. A fluffy flag with a purple scarf could be a nice and noticeable decoration on any pole."
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MWMWMWMWMWMWMW
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