Alic followed Oz's directions and to his relief there were indeed clothes.
The guest room wasn't particularly the nicest with its blank walls that had the wallpaper peeling off, revealing the wood underneath. The four-postal bed had its canopies torn at the end and a musty scent coming from the sheets but it was still better than nothing.
Alic opened one of the cabinets to reveal a few sets of clothes.
Unfolding them, he found they were simply baggy twin pants, a button-up shirt and suspenders. A pair of leather monk shoes were also placed on one of the shelves.
"Talk about old fashioned" muttered Alic as he took the clothes and shoes into the oak wood door that led to the bathroom.
The bathroom looked like a Victorian bath or similar.
While it had most of the modern day facilities, it was notably old. With the toilet leading to a water tank that had a long chain connected to flush it, the bath tub was also connected to a tank via a long metal pipe. It was most likely the water heater.
Putting the clothes down, Alic turned the knob on the tub and put his hand into the water. He had to step back because it was far too cold. Turning the faucet off, Alic rummaged through the medicine cabinet and found a box of matchsticks hidden behind a couple of bottles containing unknown substances.
After wasting a couple of matchsticks, Alic finally had one lit and threw it into the burner at the bottom of the tank. Slowly, the flames grew and the water became warmer. Happy with his accomplishment, Alic removed all his clothes till he was bare naked before dipping himself into the tub.
"Aaahhh.." sighed Alic as he let his head lay at the edge of the tub. There were a couple of bruises and dried blood covering his arms and legs, he didn't know about his face but knew he needed a patch or two. Washing away the mud and blood, Alic thought of what had happened.
This was no ordinary world, it was a wonderland but why did it seem so different? The wonderland he remembered wasn't a town but a wooded land ruled by a heartless queen, not only that but why did Oz call him Alice? Sure it was his name but he never told him about it, was it an allusion to Alice?
These thoughts ran through Alic's mind but it made him even more confused. Why did Oz let him in? What was the reason for it? Unless it had some sort of benefit but Alic barely knew the latter and yes, it felt stupid trusting a stranger but…
'He looked a lot like Ru.' Thought Alic as he buried his head into his knees. It was most likely the nostalgia talking and since Oz was the first person Alic found familiar in this new world but what he needed now was a way to go home not stay and be Alice.
Suddenly, there came a knock at the door " Alic! Are you alright? You've been in there for a while now."
"Uh yeah, I'll be out soon!" Replied Alic as he quickly got out of the tub,stumbling a little as he felt his legs go numb. Shaking his head, Alic cleared his mind. There was no use thinking of it now.
Getting dressed, Alic had to fold his pants up as it was too long and it was either that or wearing his pants up to his chest like a pair of overalls.
Picking the mound of dirty clothes up, Alic ran down the stairs. The only sound in the cottage was the sound of his new monk shoes clacking against the floorboards. Oz stood in the hallway already wearing his trench coat and top hat.
"Where are you going?" Asked Alic as he stared at Oz, puzzled.
"Oh, I was about ta' leave to get yer papers. After all, here in the wonderland you're need a visa.'' Explained Oz
At the mention of Visa, Alic grabbed Oz's arm, scaring the latter a little, begging him to let him go with him. Oz, unable to hold his eyes against Alic anymore, relented albeit reluctantly.
🐈⬛
"So where do we go?" Asked Alic as the duo walked down the crowded streets.
"Well, we need to head down to the administration tower to fill in a form and from there it's up to the queen." Said Oz as he guided the younger one through the thick sea of people.
The cheering from before still went on as far as Alic could tell, it was like a parade.
Curious, he couldn't help but ask, "Hey Oz, what's the occasion today?"
Oz, not looking away from the front, simply sighed, " It's the end of Monday celebration. Every Monday is considered a new day for the people of wonderland and because of its importance to time, there is a parade to signify that another year has begun."
'So a year is equivalent to a week, then that would mean next week I'll be nineteen.'
Oz was astonished by this new revelation of rules but it did make him question the ages of everyone.
"Say, oz. How old are you?"
"1248."
Alic mentally did the calculations and found Oz was twenty-four since there were fifty one weeks in a year, although it might differ since this was wonderland.
"Here we are." Declared Oz, shaking Alic out of his thoughts.
'That was quick,' thought Alic.
The tower was well a tower, it's design was very gothic with the gargoyles statues at the top of the pillars near the entrance as well as the intricate details etched into the stone.
Taking Alic by the hand, Oz led Alic to the entrance. Greeting the guards with a tip of the hat. The tower on the inside was more like a church. Stain glass windows covered the ceiling of the tower illuminating the occupants in various colours.
"IS THAT A FROG?!" Exclaimed Alic, pointing a finger at what was a humanoid frog dressed in a three-piece suit.
"Ya. What, you've never seen them before?"
"Not in my place."
Oz promptly headed to the counter, dragging Alic by the wrist.
There was another frog behind the counter. Putting an arm on the counter top, Oz tried to play it cool although if it were up to Alic, he was putting way too much weight in it.
"Hi, I'll like to fill out a-"
"Please hold. Any fulfilment of any kind of settlement please refer to Rule (Inaudible number) of the queen of hearts and the wonderlandian council of rule breakers, also here." The frog croaked, handing a slip of paper to oz.
Reading it, Oz's eyes nearly dropped, " WHAT?! WHY AM I NUMBER 5 GAZILLION-BILLION?!"
The frog 'rolled his eyes' before pointing at the very long line of people.
"Are you serious?" Grumbled Alic, he was internally surprised that there was no revolution yet. Only to be reminded of the Queen's iron clad rule.
The duo were pushed aside by a torrent of people and somehow ended up in the street.
"You know, why don't look around the stalls here. I'll go and find a reservation form." With that, Oz turned to go back into the tower, leaving Alic behind.
"What a great guardian….yer asshole." Snarked Alic.
Having nothing to do, Alic did end up exploring the stalls. They were strange and whimsical, there was a stall selling specifically eggs and not just any eggs, eggs of all sorts of shapes and sizes.
"This could save world hunger." Commented Alic as he looked in awe at the elephant-sized egg seated on a conveyor belt.
"Excuse me, I think you dropped this." Someone called out from behind Alic.
Turning around, Alic found himself face to face with possibly the most beautiful person in the world.
They were very androgynous and slender, their hair was like the night sky, not black but not grey either.It was more purplish, or was it ultramarine blue. Their skin was dark which was further accentuated by the gold bangles on his wrist, leg and neck. They wore a simple tunic over his dark attire and in their hand was the gold pocket watch.
"Oh! Thank you very much!" Exclaimed Alic in relief, grabbing the pocket watch without second thought.
The person smiled, walking past Alic as the latter was putting the watch into his pocket, they whispered something in his ear.
"Don't look back."
Alic was too stunned to move. What did he mean by don't look back? Without even registering the words, Alic felt a tap on the back. A girl with long blonde hair stood behind him.
"Excuse me but could you help me?" Asked the girl, mirth forming from her baby blue eyes.
"Um, alright." Answered Alic, something was not right.
"I'm sorry but I can't find my family. Can you help me?"
Before Alic could even say a word, the girl quickly latched on to him letting out silent sobs.
'Great , now I feel bad.'
Ruffling her hair, Alic could only smile and reassure her, " Let's go find your family."
Unfortunately, the moment Alic spun around the atmosphere changed and to his horror was the girl before, her face now bloody staring at him with blank eyes. "Can you please die, Alice?"
Before he could even react, a pair of hands pushed him down onto the floor and harshly, the girl kissed him. Their saliva mixing caused Alic to start to feel nausea as she continued to press on.
'Help me!' Screamed Alic internally. Feeling himself grow weaker, Alic used all the strength he had to kick the girl right in the stomach. Slamming her into the alleyway.
Huffing and puffing, Alic felt blood dribble down his chin. His stomach was lurching and he felt bile start to form in his throat. Weakly, Alic stood up but he was too slow for a loud crash was heard from the alley and in the darkness was the girl.
Gone was the sweet girl from before, now all that was left was the look of killing intent. The girl's face was now marred with mysterious black substances, the blood before continuing to fall from her head. Her puffy blue dress was stained with the black ink and dried blood.
Looking at her, Alic immediately felt like vomiting.
"Say Alice. Can you give me your name?" Asked the girl, her voice echoing off the walls.
"I'm not Alice!" Retorted Alic as he attempted to run. It was odd why nobody was interfering, the crowd was right there but no one seemed to notice.
Suddenly, black jets of ooze shot towards Alic causing him to duck behind a trash can.
"Shit." Cursed Alic. Peeking out from behind his safe zone, Alic looked in utter revulsion as the girl's form began to change even more. She looked like a girl yet she was not, it was like something was taking her form, feeding it to maintain the very image of the girl herself.
"Alice, come out, come out wherever you are," Turning mechanically she gave a malicious smile before launching herself at Alic, pushing him down, dainty hands wrapped around his neck, "Now give me back my name."
Small ragged gasps escaped from Alic as he struggled against the girl but it felt like she had the weight of a heavyweight champion. "What…Gh..do…you want?!" Alic gasped as he felt more pressure pressing against his throat.
The girl's expression didn't change, " I WANT MY NAME BACK! GIVE IT BACK! GIVE ME, ALICE! GIVE ME BACK MY NAME, ALICE! ALICE ! ALICE! YOU IMPOSTER! IMPOSTER!" Screamed the girl, her voice amplifying by a thousand, all different but still one.
"I'M NOT ALICE!" Cried Alic, his vision growing blurry and his head spinning as he tried to gasp for breath.
The girl's blank voice broke out into a sinister smile, opening her mouth; she answered in a sickeningly sweet tone, " THEN DIE! AFTER ALL, WONDERLAND DOESN'T NEED IMPOSTERS LIKE YOU."
Alic's vision grew even more bleak, the girl's smile growing even wider as Alic started to feel weaker and weaker as well as more blood starting to form at the corners of Alic's mouth.
Just when everything became too dark, a resounding bang could be heard and the girl stopped releasing Alic from her hold.
"ALIC!" Shouted Oz, running towards the unconscious boy. Kneeling down, Oz anxiously checked his vitals and to his relief Alic was still breathing but a ugly purple mark had formed on his neck.
"Hahahahahahuahauhhahaha!"
Shooting a couple more bullets at her, Oz glared at the girl yelling at her to disappear. The girl didn't stop laughing even when more cracks started to appear and simply taunted Oz and Alic.
Oz, having had enough, shot a last bullet at the girl right in the head cursing her, "You lost the game so just accept that and disappear already."
The girl's form then shattered away like glass, dissipating in wisps of black oozes.
Panting, Oz put his gun back into its holster before carrying Alic in his arm.
"Welcome to wonderland, Alice."