Alice's mind wandered, lost in space and time.
After a strange trip among a bunch of different events, one specific point in time was chosen.
A point in time where the City of Flowers was still inhabited.
Alice saw the streets of the city full of people: old people, young people, rich people, poor people, women, men...
The City was incredibly lively.
Alice could only watch, not interact with the world around her. Nobody seemed to noticed her, and she was unable to move.
Just as she begun to think that, maybe, she was going to be trapped like that for an eternity, the scenery around here changed, as if she just teleported.
Now, she was somewhere in the red tower she saw earlier.
A Golden Door, the biggest she had seen so far, was in the room, and there were also two people. She recognized one of them instantly: it was Stranger, the woman who created the Forest of Glass. The other was a man almost as tall as her, and the sword he used was the same Alice saw before being swept in this strange... dream ?
What was happening, actually ?
Alice had no idea, so she looked back at Stranger and the other guy with her remaining eye.
These two were training.
With swords. Real swords, mind you, not wooden ones.
Each of them used swords bigger than Alice's whole body.
The fight was nothing short of impressive, and the both of them could probably kill Alice easily, even if Killer helped her.
Yet, one of them was overwhelmingly stronger than the other.
Even if Alice had no skill in swordmanship, she was easily capable of understanding which of the two giants was winning.
It was Stranger, and by a long shot.
The Lightbringer was just faster, stronger and smarter than her opponent, outmatching him in every way possible.
The match was rather uninteresting, and ended in a few seconds, when Stranger disarmed the man using the flat of her blade against his wrist.
When Stranger talked, she sounded dissapointed:
"Have you never learned anything ? Your brother is already one of the most prominent warrior in the whole Ring, you know. Why are you so... bad ?"
"I'm sorry to disapoint you, mother." replied the man.
"Excuses are for losers, Brandon. I want you to bring me results."
Brandon bowed with respect towards his mother, and picked up his sword, before leaving the training room.
Stranger sighed.
"Do you think I'm too harsh with him ?"
Suddenly, the angle of view changed, allowing Alice to see that another person had been in the room all along, sitting on a red couch.
Alice had seen a lot of unsettling persons by now: Mirror, the white haired clone, Nikoletta...
But the person she just saw was far more terrifying than all of them combined.
Even though this person was disguised under the appearance of a girl her age, Alice could see it. She could see it in the eyes.
This thing wasn't a human being.
Alice knew there was no way for... that abomination... to see her or hurt her, yet she felt a deep and unnatural feeling of dread.
The abomination spoke in a calm voice.
"We live in a dangerous era, Stranger. Brandon need strenght. I don't think you're too harsh. But then again, I never had a child."
Stranger looked at the window. She looked at the City below, and the people in it.
"Talking about dangerous era, do you think that the City of Flowers is doomed, like those nobles at the capital ?"
"If the City of Flowers is doomed ? Of course it is. The Two-Mouths are tricky foes already, but in large groups ? And in pitch-black darkness ? Stranger, you're the only thing still holding this cursed town together. Unless one of the Seven Weapons suddenly appears out of nowhere to save the day, this whole place is doomed."
The mysterious monster wearing the skin of a young girl stood up, apparently intending to leave.
"If you... If you think the City of Flowers is doomed, then, why did you came ?"
The unholy being smiled.
Instead of answering, she asked another question.
"The Godess of Light and the God of Darkness begun their battles thousand of years ago. It's still going to this day. Why do you think that's the case ?"
"Because they're evenly matched ?" tried Stranger.
"That's what most people think. It's not totally wrong, but if there was only that, the conflict would have ended in less than one human lifetime. Take the current days as an example. The Godess of Light is winning by a long shot, yes, but she was already winning by a long shot three hundred years ago, and the God of Darkness is still alive. "
"What's the true reason then ?"
Once again, the terrifying little girl avoided the question.
She designated a vase next to the couch. In it, there was a single flower, with black petals.
"Stranger, do you like black flowers ?"
"What does this have to do with the endless war beetween Light and Darkness ?"
"There is none. It's just... I was wondering about what color to use. I'll think I'll try black."
Stranger looked lost. She wasn't really understansing any of what the young girl said. Neither was Alice, for that matter.
Well, her strange matter of speech was probably due to the fact that she wasn't human.
Suddenly, Alice heard a sound of broken glass.
A blue bird that Alice had never seen before just passed through it.
Stranger seemed surprised, but the abomination was as calm as before.
"Venerable Isa, what is that ?"
"Urgent news." replied Isa, the monster in a child's skin.
She took a small paper that was attached to the bird's paw and read it.
"What's the matter, Isa ?"
"My condolences."
Stranger frowned.
"What ? What is written in the message ?"
"Your oldest son was murdered."
The last thing Alice saw before leaving the dream wasn't Stranger shocked look.
The last thing she saw... was Isa's satisfied smirk.