The Lost One in Alice's Garden
ARC 02 Clover Forest
Chapter 15 Waiting: Unwillingly Meeting
"Hi, my Alice~" Just like their first meeting, the nameless girl gave Elise her cold glare and then sighed disappointedly.
"You actually exist, huh...." she nonchalantly spoke. Elise pouted and angrily threw a tantrum, whining about how rude, cruel, and unladylike the other was, but she didn't seem affected, much less care.
"You make me exhausted!" The taller girl stayed quiet, not really caring. "Anyway~" Elise's cheery and childish tone resurfaced, "You are something! You've found Alice so quickly! Amazing!" Again, no response. "Although you are kind of boring~" Elise sighed, giving up on making a proper conversation with the other. "Please continue your good job, and soon you will find all the Alices, and we'll kic—bring you all back to your world!" Elise sighed; she purposely slipped the word 'kick' to get a reaction, but yeah, she was talking into the air.
"Hey..."
"Yes!" Elise answered instantly, with a little bit of panic.
"Caterpillar told me that the memories of Alices can be revived if they are called by their real names. Is that true?"
"Yes!"
"Then give me all the names of the other Alices."
"That's..." Elise traced the empty space next to her while avoiding eye contact with the slightly taller girl. She was hesitating, fidgeting.
"So, you are literally useless." She dropped a cold truth on the pink one.
"You're horrible!" Elise protested with a pout. "To tell you the truth, I've been working hard to send those memories to you!"
"Why the roundabout way?"
"Because the story would be finished, and it would be an anti-climax—"
"What the fuck are you talking about? Just tell me the damn truth, you—useless summoner!"
"That hurts, you know! The reason I can't give you their names is because—" Elise traced something even she couldn't see.
"You—you actually forgot who is who." There's a black aura emanating from the maiden that makes Elise whine and shrink. The instant the aura manifests, it dissipates. The eleventh Alice sighs and mumbles a string of curses under her breath. "Fuck, I was right all along, shit! This girl is practically and entirely useless!" It's at a low volume, but it still reaches and hurts the summoner.
"Oi!" The nameless one sounds very mad.
"Ha—hai!!" Elise is on the verge of crying.
"Don't tell me you even forgot their names entirely?" Elise couldn't answer, which makes the other person facepalm and let out a loud curse. "Just how many people did you summon that you've forgotten such an important thing?"
"Well... in the first place, I didn't expect I'd need those; I mean, they are supposed to stay and live here in eternity..."
"Then kick them yourself!" she spat.
"I told you I can't!"
"How can you not?! You practically brought us here!"
"Because I've already used the last of my power to summon the last Alice! The power that I've been using to send those dreams is a very small fragment! But I don't want to dump all the work on you! I want to help in any way I can! But this is the only thing I can do!" Elise cries.
"If that's the case, what about your promise to send me home?" The maiden still tries to keep her calm, though hints of anger can be detected.
"One of the Alices has half of my power. If you are able to convince that Alice to go back home, I can—maybe—take back my power..."
"Do you have other ways to take that power? I'm the worst person when it comes to convincing people."
"Nothing. I'll be honest, this is all new to me."
"That's why you don't know anything..."
"I'm sorry... I really want to lessen your burden, but I just can't." An exhausted sigh escapes from the nameless maiden.
"While I'm searching for Alice, find some alternative way to extract that power of yours."
"I will..." Elise answered weakly.
The silence consumed them.
"Ahm..."
"What?"
"Well, you see, I don't know if all of them did it, but... some Alices engraved their names in some place in their creation world. One of them carved their name into a tree, and there is one who carved it into stone—what I'm trying to say is you might find clues to their world, and if you connect their world to the dreams I'm sending, it might lead you to their names..."
"What makes them do that?"
"One Alice said the Caterpillar advised her to do it."
"Caterpillar... huh..."
"Caterpillar is my very first creation; he has consciousness of this world. I made him to guide the Alices. But just like everyone else, his memories are also disappearing when an Alice loses their right as Creator."
"I see... hey, is there only one Alice to whom you gave your power?"
"No... I gave all Alices a fraction of my power so they could create their desired world. Except for you."
"Since you're powerless now..."
"Not entirely, but yes..."
A moment of silence as the taller one thinks, "Continue doing that. It's fine if I don't have power, but at least use that to help me."
"I will..."
"Still, you're useless..."
"I have nothing to say..."
•••••
The eleventh Alice let out an exasperated sigh upon remembering her annoying, disappointing, and exhausting conversation with the Little Dream.
Currently, the travelers are on their way to their next destination, but they all stop when White and Cheshire tell them to. Hatter, as usual, scowls at the cat.
"What is it?" she asks the shapeshifting tiger.
"Something is approaching us at high speed," White answers worriedly, while Cheshire shrugs with a smug expression.
"Can you tell what it is?" Hatter asks.
"Nope. Although the scent of soil is being carried by the wind, which tells us that it'll be here any moment now."
"It's not a golem... right?"
"What is it?! You finally have something to be scared of!" Cheshire cheers.
Ignoring the cat, she focuses on the tiger, who is better to talk to.
"No," White answered honestly. "Golems have the smell of stones."
"It is because they are made of stone?" Hatter guessed, and the lad nodded.
"Maybe..."
"But this one has the smell of soil."
"Then it is made of mud or something?"
"May... be?" The maiden and White tilted their heads at each other, unsure and confused.
"Attention, fellas~" Cheshire called, "It's—nope, she's finally here," he declared while narrowing his eyes in excitement.
"Is he alright?" White asked.
"That's normal," she replied nonchalantly.
From the bushes jumped out a little girl donned in a white short-sleeved collared shirt with a green ribbon, a dark green checkered skirt, white knee socks, and dark green Chelsea boots. She had green lop ears, green eyes, and her long hair was green from the roots to the middle, fading into white at the tips.
Everyone stared in awe except Cheshire, who was more excited about the expected appearance.
"Who?" the nameless one mumbled.
"Hi~" Cheshire gleefully greets the lop-eared rabbit girl. "I'm Cheshire. You are Green Rabbit, yes?" The little girl, who is obviously much shorter than the one being called Kitten, stares at the cat man silently. "It's an honor meeting you—" He is cut off short when Green Rabbit ignores him and walks past. Cheshire turns to the rabbit, who is going to find his companions. "Wow, rude~"
Green Rabbit stops in front of a nameless, much taller girl and stares at her face for too long.
Hatter and White watch them in silence.
The curious stare coming from the nameless girl has changed into a cold glare as the contest goes further than it should. "Aren't you being rude? Someone else is trying to have a conversation, yet you ignore them."
"You're one to talk..." Cheshire quietly protests.
"Hey~ aren't you thinking of yourself too highly?"
"You—" For the first time since she appeared, Green Rabbit spoke her first word. "What are you?"
"A human. A normal one," the taller one answers, tilting her head to the side with a lopsided smirk, as if to tell the other how proud she is.
Green Rabbit's eyes land next to the human-tiger in their group; her breathing stops for a moment as her face slowly darkens, and off she runs, screaming, "I'll be eaten!"
This reaction makes White really depressed. "Told you it's a bad idea having me."
"Forget about her," Hatter tells him.
"But—" Before White can say more, Cheshire runs off on the same path Green Rabbit has taken.
"What the fuck, Stupid Cat!" Hatter yells, but he and the other two receive only silence. "That fucking waste of space!"
"So, what are we going to do?" White hesitantly asks.
"Let's wait, I guess."
"Not going after him?"
"And why?"
"Or~ we could just leave him," Hatter injects another choice.
"That's good too."
"Ehhh?!" White sighs. "Really... these two are so cold-hearted!"
They waited for minutes, which soon turned into hours, but no annoying (according to Hatter) cat came back.
"Let's go and leave that bastard!" Hatter suggested after stretching his arms.
"But isn't he going to be mad?"
"He's the one who took off!"
"Let's wait a bit longer; if he's still not back by then, we'll leave," the nameless maiden suggested, to which the two guys agreed.
"Alright then, I'm going to do some fishing," Hatter declared while picking up a long stick that was not too thick but not too thin, then took out a long string from his pocket.
"Is there even a fish in that river?" White asked.
"Who knows?"
"For now, let's rest, White," she suggested, arms crossed over her chest.
"Right..." White agreed hesitantly, while Hatter, who had finished his impromptu pole, started fishing.
"What are you trying to catch, Hatter?" the maiden asked after a moment of silence, sitting beside him.
"Anything that would bite the bait." That's what he said, but the sooner it gets out of his lips, the sooner he takes back the rod.
"Why stop?"
"I already caught someone."
"Hmm…" she hums softly, "I thought you were waiting for Cheshire to take the bait…"
"Huh?!" Hatter scowls. 'Just what the fuck does this girl think?'
It's a quiet and peaceful rest, but it is all ruined by the appearance of two big tummies that seem like twins.
"I'm Tweedle Dee!" the girl introduces proudly, with a smug look on her face, clearly looking down at the three travelers.
"I'm Tweedle Dum!" the boy introduces with the same high pride.
The nameless one narrows her eyes, completely unamused by the two's attitude; Hatter lets out an exhausted sigh; White feels wary, afraid that these two will scare him as soon as they learn who he is.
"What should we do?" White whispers to the nameless one and Hatter.
"Ignore them." She turns back to the river; Hatter does the same, and White follows suit.
"HA!!!!! WHO TOLD YOU YOU CAN IGNORE US?!?!?!?!" the twins scream, which gets ignored by the trio.
Nameless sighs, "It'd be nice if I knew how to destroy a world or at least destroy them."
"You know we can do it," Hatter suggests.
"I can't!" White protests in a low voice.
"Hatter! Are you still mad at us?" Dee asks while standing tall behind the man. "You shouldn't. You see, we're just being honest~"
"What is it?" White mumbles.
"It is bad to say that your treats at your tea party are nothing but awful!"
The nameless maiden narrows her eyes, displeased; she doesn't like what will come out of their mouths next.
"You guys are a mess, the table was a mess, and the treats and teas are awful! It is wrong to be honest~"
"Woah, look at this guy over here, Dee!" Dum calls to his sister merrily. Nameless and Dee turn to the lad. "This is the ferocious tiger! What the fuck are you doing here?" He doesn't sound like he is scared of White; no, he sounds like he is happy but in an entirely ugly way.
"No way! You should have stayed where you are! Go away! Shoo! Shoo! Hurry up and crawl back to your nest!"
The nameless maiden feels even more infuriated.
"Hey!" The twins stop bullying the Hatter and Tiger and turn to the shortest, scanning her whole being.
"A human?" Dee narrows her eyes. "So... ugly."
"Sorry." The nameless maiden smiles a really bright one, turning her head to the twins. "But I'm not a mirror!" Dee and Dum feel offended but try to hide it, while Hatter and White snicker.
"What is an ugly creature doing here?" Dum questions. He may try to hide it, but his voice fails him.
"I would like to ask the same! Why are a pair of ugly, big tummies here in front of us? Is heaven punishing us by making us suffer through the sight of ugly toads?"
"Who—who are you calling ugly?"
"Pair of ugly toad twins!"
A wide smile spreads on Hatter's face, and if Cheshire were here, he'd definitely have the same reaction as him.
"She's angry!" White mutters under his breath.
The twins took steps back, shocked that someone actually had the nerve to insult them. "Ehhh~ it's bad, honestly, to you two~." A gentle smile is present, but Alice's words are spitting poison.
"I'm not—"
"You guys are! Like, literally! Hey~ who the hell made you? I should have a proper conversation with that person about how they have no taste at all, creating a pair of stupid faces, ugly features, and bad attitudes. Right... you guys are just a 2 out of 10, and when you open those stinky mouths, you guys get lower, like zero—ah no... sorry, it's not zero, it's negative ten."
"Aah~ ah! We cannot just stay here while you guys make our friend angry," Hatter chimes in, standing and turning to them. "Right~?" Behind him, various sizes of rocks float. White stands as well, hands turning into tiger's legs.
"Wait, listen to us first!"
"No way~," the nameless one chimes in, still wearing a poisonous smile. "We have had enough of your stinky breaths and annoying sh*t. You guys better disappear now, or else—"
The twins dash away.
The three let out sighs of relief, finally freeing themselves.
"You sure about this?" Hatter asks suddenly. "They might be Alice."
The maiden sighs. "Then I'll literally kick their asses when the time comes." She looks at Hatter. "What shocks me is that you're not trying to fight back. What's up? They're literally annoying."
"I'm choosing my battles," Hatter answers, crossing his arms.
She blinks. "So, you always choose to quarrel with Cheshire?" Her eyebrow perks up in curiosity with a smirk.
"He's just insufferable," he sighs. "Moreover, like I said, those two might be Alice. You might have a hard time with them just because I didn't keep my cool."
"Don't tolerate those kinds of behaviors. If you want to kick their asses, do it. You have your free will. You too, White!"
"I'll try..."
"Don't try! Just do it! You weren't born to tolerate them!"
"Right..."
"You are really upset. Did they remind you of something?"
"No. It's just that I hate narcissistic people like those two."
"But Cheshire is also narcissistic," Hatter said, putting his wrists on his waist.
"Right, but at least, like you said, he's just insufferable."
"It's actually entertaining—is what you really mean, right?"
"Wow, you read my mind, White!" White narrowed his eyes with a lopsided smile.
"Entertaining, huh? So those two aren't entertaining at all?" Hatter asked.
"Nope. They're fucking boring and annoying."
"Aha~ so we're not boring?"
She smiled, and that smile screamed her answer, which made Hatter smile as well.
"By the way, that stupid cat really likes calling you 'kitten.'" Hatter's sudden topic piqued White's interest. "Are you really alright with that?"
"Ahh~ now that I think about it, you never call me 'kitten' like Cheshire."
"That bastard calls you 'kitten' because you are short. We're in the same club; look, White is taller than I am."
"Oh!" She just realized that fact. "I simply don't like to be called Alice."
"It's been your issue since coming into this world, right? Up until now, you still don't know why you hate that name?"
"Yes. Anyway, call me whatever you want; I'll try not to mind it."
"So, you've really minded Cheshire's name for you."
"Kind of."
"Name, huh... so it's fine if I give you one?"
"Go ahead." She shrugs.
White doesn't know what he should feel; the girl is literally letting other people name her. Plus, as long as it's not Alice, she will tolerate it, even if it's a discriminated name—like 'Kitten.'
"Let's leave now." White hears Hatter's voice.
"Eh? But Cheshire might—"
"Let's go..." The nameless one ignores him and starts walking with Hatter.
"Wait up! Are we really leaving—" White cuts off his own words after realizing where the two are heading. They both halt and turn to him since he didn't follow.
"Want to stay here alone?" Hatter asks curiously.
"That twin might come back and bully you again," she warns with a smirk.
"So, we will—"
"That stupid cat is taking his sweet time for far too long. We're going to check if he still wants to come or not—well, I prefer the latter."
The maiden remains quiet while she rolls her eyes secretly, and none of the guys are able to see how done she is with that claim.