(The Prologue is Written in Third-Person Point of View. The rest of the chapters will be in the first-person point of view)
Prologue-Where it all began.
A figure of a petite girl wearing a jet-black gothic dress roamed around the cave. She had her silver-coloured hair tied up in a twin tail style. The girl maintained this manner so she can work efficiently by creating something on the board.
The smell of minerals lingered in the cave, filled with strings, spare clothes, and dolls. The pocket-size clothing pressed with pieces of cotton and wool stuffing jammed the insides of the puppet. There were thousands of needles aligned near her hand. It meant to stitch the dolls together, connecting all the stuffings to their rightful place.
A smile emerged from her face as she fiddled with these dolls lying around in her make-shift room. There was nothing more that she loved other than these lifeless figures keeping her safe from becoming insane.
She roamed around the place, finding various materials she needed to make something out of her league. These materials include: porcelain, paper clay and super sculpey. The procedure required her to create the doll. It was the giddy girl who planned on making a ball joint doll for the male puppet.
She went through her dull-looking chest and found glass eyes and artificial hair or a wig contained inside. She schemed to create a life-size puppet to her liking and marvel at her creation. All the lass wanted was to interact with the doll within her eye's length, a presence of somebody to be there when she felt alone inside the cave.
"I want to have company," the girl murmured. Her eyes drooped while looking toward the ground.
She wished to converse with someone other than her voice ringing in the encasement. The girl grew tired of the empty room. She would play all by herself with no one to talk to. Sometimes, she would get rabbits outside of her home as pets, but the girl needed to eat them soon. With the cotton clothes used as skin, the little girl tried desperately to make the doll as human as possible.
It was her only glimmering hope that she sought after living her life in the shadows.
Outside of her cavernous house was an uncharted forest, brimming with feral animals beyond her imaginations. She never dared to leave her shelter, knowing that the girl cannot defend herself when danger would arise. The only time she could go out were times when the lass needed food.
The woman used her [astral space] (a magical ability that stored anything that anyone thinks) and took a meal that her father gave her when he was still living in this world. It only lasted for a couple of days before she needed to go out and hunt for more.
With every crunch she made, the sound reverberated inside the tunnel. Her breath became loud, but not enough to alert the vicious creatures outside. It was the only noise that kept her company.
After finishing her meal, the woman placed her trash on the side and burned it using her fire magic. The viands and leftover rice crisped as the temperature increased. She fanned the flames and watched the smog coming from the food.
The barrier outside prevented that smoke from escaping. If the monsters knew where she was, the girl would have been dead before she could finish making the doll. The little lady preemptively placed the translucent shield to ward off any monsters in her vicinity. There was a hole in the ground that linked towards the outside. It was her only escape, entrance, and exit from the cave. That was where the smoke would flow through, with the artificial fan guiding its way.
The lass revealed another set of snacks she saved from yesterday. She harvested fresh nuts before accomplishing this project. These kernels gave her the energy she needed to work more than her usual hours back in her previous life as a princess.
The girl returned to her desk and fixed her 1.8-meter tall doll. She planned on making the puppet a boy, since the girl yearned for a different gender. Right beside her board was a picture frame of her family, with her standing in the middle.
It was the last vestige from her parents that the girl had after the fall of their kingdom.
"I miss you, dad. I love you, mum." A tear fell from her eyes as she braced the frame around her chest. She needed to be tough, but the girl did not know when that feeling would last.
Time passed by, and the girl finally finished setting up her masterpiece. It took her a month to complete the model. The stiff doll stared at her with still pupils and hanging limbs as the doll nestled on the chair. The puppet wore a dark suit and a purple bow tie near his neck, creating a royal ambience around him like the girl. She covered the puppet's clothes with subtle violet hues every time a light basks its skin.
"Violet, just like your coat!" the girl announced, and curved out a grin.
She placed an insignia at the doll's chest and named it "Mask". The girl believed the colourless mask protected his facial features and his unrealistic expressions. Deep inside, the girl knew the people would claim that the puppet was not real. But she thought otherwise.
Now that the puppet looked alive, she heaved out an exhale and went to her bed and caught some snooze.
The girl woke up from her twelve hours of sleep. Despite her rest, her muscle ached and sent her tumbling on the ground. The rumbling sounds of her stomach jolted her awake, begging for something to eat. She checked her [astral space] bag for any nourishment she could take. However, her inventory had nothing left to offer her but the residue of nuts she had from earlier.
The girl grunted and went to the bunny hole, contemplating if she needed to do it. She knew going outside was not ideal, but she had no choice. Instead of starving inside the cave, the lass steeled her heart and dove through the tunnel. It was a narrow passage, but enough to cater for her slim body. As an eighteen-year-old girl, her body fitted the slender hole.
With all her might, the girl trekked the slim road. She did not have any means of telling the time, so the girl widened her eyes when no sun or any bright light paved her environment.
The girl used the moonlight to discern her surroundings. She pushed the pile of twigs aside, paired with the rock meant to block the ingress of her hideout. After inspecting the forest, she perceived not a soul wandering around her.
She got up from the ground and searched for any hares or young boars roaming within the woodland.
The gothic woman only knew the place within a kilometre of her hiding hole. If she went astray, the girl might not return in time and get lost inside the sea of trees. Their leaves had an abnormal growth, reaching from fifty feet above and their tip touching the ground.
After a few seconds, a bush from a few metres away wiggled. The girl leapt behind the bark and hid for the time being. She needed to know if the creature was a rabbit or something sinister.
The girl learned a set of spells from her time spent inside the castle. The royal guards and the court magicians taught her defences that proved applicable in the field. She had been using these skills to hunt animals and eat them inside her temporary house.
However, those spells were not enough against those monstrosities lurking behind the shadows.
The girl was fortunate enough to discern a white hare roaming around the forest. It was an alone animal as big as a chair that wanted to find mammoth-sized bushes and grass.
The beasts refused hunting during the night. They were afraid of the bats dangling around the branches. Every time these monsters saw the winged beasts, they all scurry away, regardless of whether it was a rabbit or a ferocious tiger. These bats were in search of food like the rabbit in front of her.
They were humongous beasts that reached the height of a bungalow in a kingdom. Its wings were pointy enough to pierce through any minerals aside from metals. But over time, these winged beasts learned how to hunt for humans and other domestic animals. With their coal-black appearance, those bats had the advantage during the night, hence their hunting schedule.
Those bats only locked their eyes on gigantic monsters and rarely ate miniature mammals such as the rabbit and the girl.
The thought made her spine shiver in fright, but she brushed those ideas aside. The girl had her eyes on the prize and will do anything to grab that rabbit. She needed to if the lass wanted to survive.
The girl used her wind abilities to inflict damage on the rabbit. Her usage of spells was enough to surprise the little hare and kill it with one strike. However, she knew the consequences of her actions.
As soon as the rabbit died, the animal's scent would attract the monsters within the forest. The girl had limited time to escape and bring her meal back to her hiding hole without drawing the monsters near her shelter.
And that was what she did. The girl snatched the rabbit's corpse, placed it inside her [astral bag] and raced back to her haven. She had done this occurrence a dozen times, so the girl knew the drill.
But today was not her special day. The bat, who was resting upside down from a branch, opened its eyes and glared at the running lady. With the food laid in front of the monster, the winged beasts plunged from its nest. It aimed for the wandering girl.
The lass was fortunate enough to sidestep the bat's fangs and went to the sides. However, the bat's assault did not stop from there. After regaining its balance, the winged beast returned in the air and hovered behind the towering leaves. Those green pads concealed its presence, making it strenuous for the girl to detect the bat's whereabouts.
The girl careered through the bushes and tried hiding her presence. She knew about these bats and their echolocation. So by standing still at a place without uttering a sound might give her a chance to survive.
And the girl did just that. She covered her lips using her hands and prayed for any luck that she could have. The bat flew by and searched for its prey, hiding beneath the covers of the bushes.
However, no matter how hard the bat tried, the girl stood still like a rock. She was motionless and did not utter a word. The bat lost its interest and flew away from where it had left. The branch swayed back and forth as the winged monster nestled itself on top of a tree.
The girl heaved out a sigh, knowing that she was safe at last. She trudged towards the bushes-careful enough about alarming the bat and went on her way. After a few dreadful minutes, the girl reactivated her barrier and went inside the bunny hole and had a feast with her catch.
Her name was Alice Pleasance Liddell, and she stayed in the land of Wonderland.