"Mother! Continue that story!" Alice beamed. Her mother, sitting atop the bed, opened her mouth to speak.

Burnt.

Alice fumbled with the sword, much too heavy for someone of her stature to hold. Her sister, clad in a maid uniform, smiled at her 'cuteness'.

Crumbled to ash.

"Y'know, you should wear something other than that uniform sometime," Alice said, stretching across the table. Mother giggled, offering her support at the idea, while Yumeko blushed slightly and said she shouldn't. "I think you'd look cool in a cape! Like the heroes from my stories!"

Flames spread across her memories, crumbling to ash like pages of a book.

"You should make some dolls sometime, Yumeko! I'm sure you'd be great at it!"

Screams echoed.

"I'll call it Wonderland!" Alice exclaimed, looking at the space Mother had created for her. "It'll be a perfect land! And whenever I dream, I'll always come to it!"

The tears from her eyes only fell into the fire, fueling its rage.

Alice looked at Mother and Yumeko, smiling. Everything felt perfect. Like they'd always be a small, happy -

Silence.

All screaming ceased. A blurry red sea met her when the pages vanished. Her body wouldn't move, only twitch, as if some wicked witch bound her in place and forced her to watch this sick joke play out beneath her. The heat was like a cage. Black smoke rose to her, infesting her airway until she couldn't fight back the choking. Bodies lay amongst the flames. Bodies of her sisters, those just like her. She choked, until no matter how hard she forced it, the breaths wouldn't come out.

A red figure grabbed her, taking her up and away into a cave. The cave was untouched by flames, restoring Alice's breath. The blurred image of Mother greeted her, kneeling down, crying, hands on Alice's shoulders.

"Mother…!"

"Alice, you, I… I'm sorry…."

"So…rry? For what?"

Yellow light shone beside her.

Mother took her into a loving embrace.

"I love you, Alice. I…."

"I love you too… but what…"

Mother took her closer to the light, the gate which Alice had entered through a long time ago.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… please… don't cry…."

"Mother…?"

Mother's arms twitched.

"I love you… I always have… so please don't cry… don't ever cry, you don't deserve it. You never… deserved this…. You're… you're the only one I can save… please live well…."

"Mo-"

The world around Alice changed after one gentle push. She stumbled onto her back in a different cave, the light from the gate now in front of her. Alice scrambled to her feet and tossed herself towards the light, towards Mother.

The stone gate slammed shut, and Alice smacked into it.

She remained in that cave for two days and two nights, time that she could only tell thanks to the light from the cave's mouth going bright then dark. Her stomach rumbled in anguish, her throat suffocatingly dry. And all the while, she cried. Cried, cried, cried, betrayed Mother's word, the only thing she told her not to do. Her eyes threatened to drift close. Perhaps, if she was lucky, they'd never open again.

"Aww… it's closed!" A male's voice said, prompting Alice's eyes to drift lazily open. She saw a group comprising seven men approaching. One of them looked to his side, spotting Alice curled on a rock.

"Hm? Who are you?" He asked, crouching down. Alice didn't have the energy to answer with more than a whisper.

"Al…ice…."

The man placed a hand on his heart. "Hey, Alice! We're thieves. We came here because we heard Makai had a load of brilliant treasures. Too bad it's closed, huh?" The man chuckled, Alice registering his tone as that of someone trying to cheer her up. "What kinda thieves are we, eh? Stopped by a locked door?"

What kind of thief admits they're a thief, either? If nothing else, they were honest.

"She looks like she hasn't eaten anything in days. We should take her with us."

Honest, kind thieves.

Alice didn't have the energy to resist. They took her with them and forced the last bit of food and water they had onto her until she accepted.

She had nowhere to go, and the thieves were far too kind to let her go back to the cave and starve, so she stayed with them. All the while, she cried, and cried, and cried. One of them said it was okay to cry. That it was human nature, proof you weren't a youkai. So Alice cursed her humanity.

The group called themselves the 'eight honest men', despite one of them not being a man, thanks to finding a comment from Alice about their honesty funny. Alice wasn't good at thievery; she was too afraid of the consequences of being caught. As a result, the others called her cowardly.

One day, the eight honest men found themselves in the basement of an abandoned house in the middle of the 'Forest of Magic'. The target of their thievery: a book.

"Agh, I can't read any of this." An honest man complained. He glanced at the grimoire gifted by Mother at Alice's hip. "Hey, Alice, that's a magic book right? Maybe you can read this, then?"

Alice took the book and skimmed through the pages. It was a magic book, filled with curses and rituals that made the air around her feel murky. Until her finger stopped on one page. A ritual for a human to become a youkai. In an area filled with magic, if one human proves their lack of humanity by gathering and killing seven others, then themselves, in specific, tragic ways, they would awake as a youkai magician. As the honest men said, youkai didn't cry.

Alice turned to the seven honest men. One stepped forward. "So, can you read it?"

Alice glanced back down at the book she could read flawlessly. "Not very well…. Can we… stay in this house for a while? Just while I try to decipher it."

The seven honest men agreed.

And then became six honest men.

Five honest men.

Four honest men.

Guilt racked within her. Plagued by second thoughts, she tried to escape. Yet the rope was too weak. There was no choice but to continue.

Three honest men.

Two honest men.

One honest man.

Zero honest men. And a dishonest murderer reborn as a youkai.