Be brave enough to burn

[notsogreedy]

Who: All the Alices (and Ankh, his name is Ankh)
What: Just a mysterious castle built on top of a restaurant. What could possibly go wrong?
Where: World Two – Wings to the Sky
Warnings: Who even knows? Will update as necessary.



Ankh wakes up at the edge of the water, his arm draped over a rock and his face cushioned by a bed of sand and seaweed as the edges of waves wash over his body. The first thing he notices upon waking is that it's uncomfortable. The second, upon lifting his head and starting to pull himself out of the water is that it's familiar. Awareness dawning, he scrambles to his feet and looks around wide-eyed half expecting Eiji to be there somewhere. Of course he isn't.

But this... this is his last memory. For a moment he wonders if somehow this whole thing came to an end and he wound up back home, but that's wishful thinking. No, this is just his world. His heart, as the guides like to call it. It's only more obvious that this isn't real as he scans the horizon and finds Cous Coussier where it shouldn't be. And then on top of it... that's-

His eyes widen, and then narrow. He's not sure what to expect out of this other than nothing good.

But, after wringing the water out of his clothes as best he can, he makes his way to the restaurant and curiously to the freezer, where he finds the ice pops he expects to be there. Pulling one out, he gives it a skeptical look for a moment—does he dare assume it's really the same or even safe to eat?--but ultimately pops it into his mouth and discovers it tastes exactly like he expects. That much is something he can appreciate. But as for the rest of this...

With popsicle in hand, he continues exploring.

Comments

Final Puzzle

[worldkeys]

[ Within the chapel are six stained glass windows, all depicting Alice Liddell. She is performing various tasks in them, all with varying clock and heart motifs. In the first, she is pulling another woman's hair while laughing cruelly. In the second, she's openly flirting with a man while the same woman looks on. In the third, she's walking over the broken clocks littering the ground of the now-familiar Land of Clover. In the fourth, she's crying over a grave while a man in an obnoxiously plaid jacket turns her head, as if trying to distract her. In a fifth, she's quietly standing by while two people with guns fight, as if she refuses to do anything or doesn't care. In the sixth, she sits alone under a tree, seeming content with this turn of events. Like all the others, the truth cannot be spoken or otherwise communicated in Ankh's presence. ]

Re: Final Puzzle

[notsogreedy]

[Ankh comes here after solving Rei's puzzle. He knows the answers to the rest, assuming their owners weren't lying when they marked them, but this one is a bit of a mystery. He can eliminate a few based on what he knows of Alice, but not all of them. He ponders them for a moment before finding something to hit the windows with. He'll try the image with the grave first.]

Puzzle: Solved

[worldkeys]

[ When the window shatters, so, too, does Alice. She will awaken in the hub, aware of a painless death, but not hurting for it. In her place is a third medal. With it is another chunk of memories. This time, Ankh will lose his sense of smell. A third light on the lock will brighten leaving only three more to go. ]

Re: Puzzle: Solved

[notsogreedy]

[It seems he was right on the first try. He's pleased with that. This time, though, there's nothing in the room. That's the problem with not having found Alice in advance. Sebastian is still following him and Ankh tells him to keep an eye out for that medal.]