Would you speak with a queen? Or a cat? (AUDIENCE HALL)

[twinverses]

Need something? Want to complain more directly to your cute hosts or maybe you want to bargain with your memories? Maybe you just have a favor. Regardless, this is the place to do it! Just knock on the Audience Hall's door or just call for the Alices and they'll answer.

Of course, if you want to speak with a particular Alice just note that in your toplevel as long with the date and rough time it's happening. They can be contacted IC-ly throughout the day.

For the final week, in person meetings with the Storyteller (formerly known as the Cat) aren't possible. Alice, obviously, isn't talking to anyone either. However! The Storyteller can be called to talk throughout the castle so just say where you're yelling at her from.

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[xxxx_me]

[His eyes widen, any suspicion fading away.]

You... you can't leave?

[twinverses]

[She seems surprised that she actually admitted it.]

Well, I can but... [She fidgets.] Nobody would notice me if I left so I stay here, where I can be seen.

[xxxx_me]

Why wouldn't we notice...?

[twinverses]

[She opens her mouth then shakes her head.]

I'll show you but don't tell the others, okay? Or Alice, either. I'm not supposed to let you know yet... it's easier this way, though. Watch.

[She opens the door and steps outside into the foyer. For a couple of moments she's completely gone. For all intents and purposes she can't be seen or heard.

After this time she steps back in and closes the door. (Of course, she made sure no one could see her stepping out.)]

[xxxx_me]

[He just

stares

uh????]

...

[Wait he should probably speak up some more.]

Is it the same for the other Alice...?

[twinverses]

No, it's like this for her. She just likes making sure I don't get lonely in here.

[She shakes her head vigorously.] Believe me, I don't want to live like that again.

[xxxx_me]

What do you mean by again?

[twinverses]

That's how things were for me for a very long time after I woke up from being in the hospital.

[xxxx_me]

Did you get sick?

[twinverses]

No... the soldiers came. From a foreign country, with their planes and their bombs.

[The blitz? Wasn't a fun thing.]

[xxxx_me]

Oh...

[He doesn't know exactly what war she's talking about, but he doesn't really need to in order to understand it.]

So you got hurt?

[twinverses]

[Her eyes lowered.]

Yeah. Real bad. I don't think Mommy or Daddy even made it. I don't remember... the fire and smoke was too bad. [Her own memories might be rough from the time but the airplanes and their constant hum. The alarm bells.]

I remember waking up in a white room. The nurses and doctors ignored it if I said anything, though... They were just as bad as the soldiers with their planes.

[xxxx_me]

[It's hard not to feel sympathetic, all things considered.

Can he... reach out to hold her hand?]

...My parents died, too. They were murdered. [He closes his eyes.]

...That's when I forgot everything. When I woke up, I was in a hospital, and all I could remember was my name.

[twinverses]

[He can! He'll probably notice that her left hand has that weird crest mark that was on the letters earlier. She's a little startled.]

Oh... that's really bad. I just couldn't stand being in that hospital anymore. I woke up and I think a long time passed since then.

[xxxx_me]

[...Huh...]

It's why I really, really don't want to lose my memories again.

[He feels like that needs to be stated.]

How did you get here instead?

[twinverses]

I get it.

[She thinks about this for a while, petting the pink critter with them as a quick boost before speaking.]

When I woke up... I called that place Wonderland. I felt like I was in the Alice books even though most people couldn't see me. It was a long time before I saw a group of people I didn't know. I went to check it out--it was like a school, filled with teenagers and adults that didn't seem real at all.

They... [She swallows. She knows this is hard on Allen but this was the hardest part of her tale.] They just thought I was a ghost and ignored me. I made a wish then not to be lonely and that's when I found Alice! We played a lot there, then, and lost. I dunno what happened after that.

[xxxx_me]

Is that what you meant earlier? About your wish?

You want to grant your wish not to be lonely?

[twinverses]

Yeah. I wished for someone to keep me company and the Grail granted it. That's why I don't care that we lost.

[xxxx_me]

But... what does having people kill each other have to do with granting your wish?

[twinverses]

Well, my wish is granted, right? I didn't say hers was. I dunno the details exactly or what it means but I trust her. She's part of me, right? You wouldn't distrust yourself. That'd just be silly.

[xxxx_me]

Eh-

You're the same person? ...But she has a different wish?

[twinverses]

I think she said it was something like she was my reflection? I never really understood a lot of what she talked about when it came to magic.

[She's just as confused about this as you are, Allen. Trying to figure out what your weird twin/servant/reflection actually is kind of tough.] We're the same but we have differences. Like... a coin. Yeah, a coin! A coin has two sides and even though they're just slightly different you can't say they're different coins, can you?

[xxxx_me]

[They can be confused together. He's still holding her hand even as he tries to puzzle it out, though.]

...Even though you're two sides of the same coin, it doesn't bother you that her wish needs people to die?

[twinverses]

I've died before. What she can do... we'll make sure everyone won't go through what I did.

[She doesn't sound as sure about that as she probably should.]

[xxxx_me]

[!!]

You died...?

[Is. Is her hand cold?]