but as I told you... I didn't chase the white rabbit!

[heartgatherer]

Who: The Alices and Clock
What: Open the first door and see what you find. Hopefully it's a key... maybe it's something more.
Where: World One - The Country of Clover
Warnings: General violence and disregard for life.

 '▒▒▒▒▒, you fool... it was all just a dream'...

If she could have thought that to herself, then she might have believed it. Here were the high vaulted ceilings of Clover Tower that she'd grown so used to since the shift to the Country of Clover. And yet her name was still lost to her. She could not think it... could not say it... It was as though someone had stolen it entirely, as odd of a thing as that sounded. That was all she needed to know to prove she wasn't dreaming. Then that meant it was as the rabbit and cat said-- in order to retrieve the rabbit's keys, they needed to enter the doors and the door took them straight into peoples' hearts.

This one no doubt was supposed to be her own. How else could this place be replicated so accurately? None of the others should know a thing about Wonderland. After all... this was her dream. Her messed-up, embarrassing, dangerous... oh no.

Outside the window the forest, the castle and the Hatter Mansion were all as they should be. But what had happened to the others? If they had been split up, there was no telling what manner of characters they might have met. While they should be safe as Outsiders, Clover has never seen any other Outsiders. Like this, there's no way to be sure they're safe.

Whatever's happened - this is no time to be sleeping. She needs to verify what's going on in this world and the whereabouts of the people that entered with her. If this was a true and accurate reflection of the world that she knew, then she needed to warn them of a great many things.

Down the tower stairs she goes... to investigate the fate of herself and those who had gone with her.

Comments

[zinit]

[An axe; what a weapon. Qilby finds himself wishing he had his other arm (or the Eliacube, so he could approximate one), just so he could wield his own axe - or any sort of polearm, really, would do. There's something satisfying about swinging around a scythe during a fight, the swish it makes slicing through the air... Or slicing through the skin of someone he despises.]

[But he doesn't have his arm, and so he probably looks like the perfect target. That's how it goes.]

Indeed it does - but nobody's heart is really a kind place. [A little hum.] Myself, I'm wondering what those keys are made of, that they could open interdimensional 'doors' like these.

[mearry]

[ Hah, look at this man. C-ta basically wants to laugh at the easy target that he's been given. A hundred images go through the back of his head, the image of an axe breaking through skull, blood and brains spread across the ground. ]

Deep dark secrets-- it never does bring any nice things to mind. [ Now if only C-ta could remember. ] This person's heart though-- it's definitely screwed up. Look at what they're asking us to do, for example.

It's a good question. Maybe it has to do with whatever they took from us? It sounds a bit weird, but this whole situation is unbelievable.

[mearry]

Oh? What's this that you're talking about? It sounds like you're going to do something bad.

[ It's a bit awkward, really, but C-ta has never been good with talking with girls. Nevertheless, there's something unsettling about this, goosebumps rising on his skin. ]

[bakegarasu]

He tries to choke out a response, but it's obliterated in a burst of pain. He reaches out, tries to drag the Hatter's foot down and off of him, but the pain is too much. The pain spreads through his body, and he can't move.

He can't breathe. And the tick tock tick tock in his ears... is fading.

NOTEBOOK SCRAP 2

[worldkeys]

Shadowy figures will congregate as Otoha's life draws to a close, coming out of the murky darkness. Qilby can neither touch nor interact with them. They stand at varying heights, faceless and eyeless, with small hands that look like they should be quite unable to grasp at anything.

Several of them surround his body, and then disappear with it, leaving behind simply a clock, no longer ticking. A few remaining creatures stare at Qilby, blank-faced (how they do with no eyes is a good question) as one picks up the clock with its tiny hands.

Qilby can attempt to take it, but it will prove futile; the creatures will simply disappear, taking Otoha's clock with them.

Otoha will awaken later on the ground floor of Clover Tower, body intact, aside from a few small changes. Inside Clover Tower, a scrap of paper will appear by Otoha when he reawakens. It is penned in unfamiliar handwriting, and reads:

"The frog told me
that the cat is bad."

The paper cannot be removed or damaged. It will remain there, next to the paper Sebastian found prior, making a pair.

Loud coughing can now be heard emitting from the Locked door at the top of Clover Tower as well, periodically.

[zinit]

Qilby scrabbles to take the clock from the little shadowy figures (why? what in the hell?), but it's to no avail; they slip right through his hands, and Otoha's clock with them.

Fuck. Well, that must be the 'other half of the puzzle,' then.

[notsogreedy]

It's amazing how little there is coming from this one person. As far as he can tell, this place is amplifying everyone's violent urges, and it's a rare person who doesn't have any to begin with. He doesn't see any issue with letting him come closer, at least. For now, he doesn't say anything, just watches from his spot up in the tree.

[frozentear]

He looks around. There doesn't seem to be anyone there, which is... a bit of a relief. Walking through the forest, he turns and... that flash of color doesn't look like part of the tree. Curious, he goes closer, trying to figure out what's up there.

[notsogreedy]

Hm. [Fair enough. And even if he can't help but be affected by how this place is, he does know on some level that it's affecting him; he idly wonders whether she'd say the same thing under other circumstances.]

Is there a war going on or something where you're from, then? [It's his first thought, being most of his personal experience with humans trying to kill each other, and what seems like the easiest way to get bored with the idea of people dying. He did.]

[notsogreedy]

"I guess you saw me." He looks down at him, meeting that curious gaze, though he seems a bit indifferent to having been spotted. It wasn't as if he expected to be completely hidden; he doesn't look like part of a tree, after all. Though if anything, his clothes here are actually less flashy than usual. Still, it's to his credit that he noticed; most people don't ever bother looking up.

[frozentear]

He recognizes this man from back where the rabbit was. Another of those who followed the cat, then. Sebastian himself may be somewhat less recognizable, now that his hair is blonde.

One hand moves back a bit, towards his gun - after dying, and having realized his own tendencies for violence were increased beyond normal levels, it's a lot harder to just trust the others here. But he doesn't draw it, even though there's a small, barely cognizant thread inside him whispering that he should hurt this person before he's hurt - dying is fine, but the pain that comes with it is terrible, and he'd rather avoid that. Still, the fact that he wasn't immediately attacked is a good sign, right?

"I did." That much was obvious. "What are you doing up there?"

[notsogreedy]

"Sitting." An obvious and unhelpful answer, but he can't be bothered to come up with anything more descriptive. It is the truth, though; that's about all he's doing right now. Ankh doesn't have much desire for violence, either.

It takes a moment, but he recognises the man's face as someone who was in the room with the rabbit. Something is very clearly different, though. "What happened to your hair?"

[frozentear]

...No kidding. He never would have guessed. Anyway, his hand drops when he sees that the man is staying in the tree and not reaching for a weapon.

He shrugs, nonchalant about the fact that he died. "One of the others stabbed me. After I woke up, it had changed."

[notsogreedy]

He notices the way the other's hand moves from his weapon. He wasn't concerned to begin with, since there hadn't been any real desire to use that weapon in the first place. Something about what he says is interesting, though.

He gives the man a curious look. He was stabbed, and the way he talked made it sound like he might have died. Did he revive from the dead, or just recover somehow? Either way, if someone stabbed him and they knew to take the clocks (or whatever that is inside everyone here--he never confirmed with the door--but that's what it sounds like), it's hard to imagine they wouldn't have. It's obvious that right now he's alive, though, and presumably that means the supposed key functioning as a poor excuse for a heart is still ticking away inside him. "You still have a clock?"

[frozentear]

[You still have a clock?

He narrows his eyes a bit. So this one presumably knows about the keys being within them, then. Yet he's not attacking. Interesting.]

"Yeah. I'm not sure why. Maybe he didn't talk to Hanna."

[notsogreedy]

"Who?" Clearly this guy had also learned about the keys but who the hell is Hanna?

[frozentear]

"The door."

Didn't you talk to her? is what he's thinking. But to be fair, Hanna only gave him her name after he asked.

[notsogreedy]

"That annoying thing has a name?" Not that he's really surprised, considering it was talking to him earlier.

[frozentear]

"Don't you?" As if it's obvious that the talking door would have a name. It made sense now, anyway. Almost.

[notsogreedy]

"I'm not a door." Though if he wants to go that path, he's also not any more alive than a door depending on your point of view. "People here seem to think everyone should be called Alice, anyway."

[frozentear]

Well, that door was very alive, so what does that say about you?

"You mean the rabbit and the cat call everyone Alice. I'm Sebastian." Definitely not an Alice, no matter how much those two insisted on it.

[notsogreedy]

"Yeah, that's what I meant." So maybe if anything, it's surprising that the door's name wasn't Alice, since it seems to be more natural to this place than any of them are. But whatever. "I'm Ankh." Very definitely not an Alice.

[frozentear]

Nice to meet you... except not really, given the circumstances. Still, he's more amiable than anyone else he's interacted with so far - although considering that's the rabbit, the cat, Hanna, and the guy who killed him, that's not saying much.

"Cool... Ankh. Have you found out anything about this... heart?" It was worth asking, probably. He'd already shared most of what he knew, anyway.

[notsogreedy]

"You already know about the clocks and the door." That's most of everything he's run across that seems worthwhile. He shrugs. "This place seems to amplify violent desires. That's about it."

All of which begs the question of why Sebastian seems to have so little interest in attacking him, but then, he supposes that goes both ways. If he was that interested in killing Sebastian, he would have shot him before he found him in the tree.

[frozentear]

...So it really does amplify them. Maybe sword guy wouldn't have killed him under normal circumstances. Though, it's hard to be sure. He tilts his head slightly.

"You seem very calm despite that."