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]

[Things that are not good for an aging back: hard floors. Qilby remembers, though, that the floors aren't the only reason he feels like he's been hit by a couple of meteor showers.]

[He opens his eyes, readjusts his glasses on his face (taking the opportunity to feel that his brain is still in his head, too), and looks down at his hand. Huh; his skin and hair are still as they were, and he certainly still only has one arm, but he has the skin markings indicative of fusing with the Eliacube. (Or, well, indicative of taking in a large amount of wakfu.) He doesn't feel different, though. Strange.]

[... And then another ball of confetti opens over his head, as if to congratulate him on getting shot. Confetti rains all over his face, in his beard, on the dumb crooked top hat. It'll probably be there for awhile, too.]

[He sits up and emits the most unamused groan known to man. It's like a hangover, except thirty times worse.]

He's still here so he's going to just poke you

[apatheticguide]

[ ... He's totally not hiding a snicker behind his face, not at all.

Oh, did we mention he's here? Yes, the White Rabbit is here. Trying to suppress a rare snicker. ]

... This World really... likes you.

[zinit]

[Goddess, everyone's so rude.]

[Qilby blinks, looks at the Rabbit (head still covered in confetti), and says flatly:] I'm glad. [And that's all the pretense he can keep up for now. He's still irritated about being killed.]

[But not a second later, he turns to the Rabbit and speaks again.] You'd said that you couldn't retrieve the keys for yourself; I'd assumed it was because you couldn't come into these doors.

[apatheticguide]

I cannot.

[ He'll run a hand through a nearby wall--incorporeal. ]

This is a projection. ... I came because you all are taking so terribly long. And when I finally found out what was going on... goodness me, Alice. Whatever is the hold up?

[zinit]

The hold-up-- [Qilby manages a smile, but it's strained around the corners--] is that people cannot control themselves.

[Frankly, Qilby's finding it harder to control himself. He could kick himself for not extracting more out of Otoha - not taking his sword and asking all the questions he could. Something in him just told him to get it over with, shoot him and be done, and have him out of the way. Something in him liked how bloody it was.]

[That's a little scary, admittedly.]

[He gets up and dusts off the back of his pants.] As we agreed, and surely you've known, others' hearts are not the friendliest of places. It's even less so when you're given weapons and a hierarchy.

[apatheticguide]

Well, I did warn you all. Going into these places... that anything could happen. Most of you took my warnings lightly. I told you that it could potentially be difficult. That an unknown would lie before you, and that only the people around you could really say for certain what might be inside themselves.

[ He wasn't joking, you know. ]

Prying open someone's Heart... and the rebound of it being projected from inside the World... the effects can be quite nasty. I do hope you will be able to get my Keys. I will not be able to open the pathways to the remaining Doors without whatever Keys are hidden here.