X No Sekai

o2; The First Alice

“Mr. Rabbit told me I must take the brown path,” Oz muttered to himself, walking down the path. It seems like hours, and still he hadn’t seen the door with wilted and creeping vines. Then Oz stopped, feeling a bit tired. He had entered another forest, and this time, he can’t see the sky anymore. He rested beside the tree trunk. Wait a minute. Where am I now? He thought, breathing softly.

Oz was now recalling the events. He was dropped in a hole when he followed the black-fur and red-eyed rabbit that turned into a gentleman wearing a tuxedo and his name was Mr. Rabbit. He told him about the “ALICE”s and he was in the “Xland”, to what this place was called. And now to go back to their home, he must go to the 1st ALICE and then capture the 2nd ALICE. Oz scratched his head. “I don’t get the whole idea. But I need to get out,” he uttered to himself.

There was a rustle of leaves. Oz’s senses became alert. He froze, his eyes only moving – darting and searching in every bush for another rustle. Then he heard a loud hiss, or even a loud meow, this time. He followed the sound and quickly looked up. And saw a fat cat. But what was weird with the cat was it was black-and-white striped fur and a never-ending creepy grin was plastered on its face.

“Y-you’re the Cheshire cat?!” Oz blurted out, scrawling away from the tree trunk.

The cat didn’t reply, but it sure did a loud meow. Oz looked at it. Then a voice sounded, “You’re rude. I’m not that fat.” Then a body appeared behind the cat. Then hair, then face, then legs and arms then the eyes. Everything would’ve been normal, but the person sitting behind the cat had black ears and tail. She looks like a cat herself.

“Wh-who are you?” Oz asked, too much startled.

“I’m the Cheshire cat,” she said, her tail whipping back and forth. She quickly disappeared and appeared behind Oz’s side. “Now what brings a shaky human being here, hm? Could it be Mr. Rabbit bought you?”

“I was lured here,” Oz admitted. Then he looked at the Cheshire cat. “Don’t you have a name?”

“Cheshire cat,” she said quickly, like meowing. “I find it very fancy to hear. Now tell me. What are you doing in my property?”

“Your property?” Oz asked, looking around. He didn’t argue back, because he just noticed Cheshire cat’s sharp claws. And something red was on it. Was it blood? Oz wasn’t so sure. But it scares him. “I was just trying to find the 1st ALICE.”

With the sound of it, Cheshire cat’s sleepy grey eyes suddenly became wide open. “You’re looking for that thing? Are you completely insane?”

Oz nodded. “Why? Mr. Rabbit said that the only way to get out of here and go back to where I was is to talk to the 1st ALICE, and then with the help of ALICE, we’ll capture the 2nd ALICE.” 

Cheshire cat shook her head disapprovingly. “That is some tough task, little boy. It is not easy to talk with the ALICEs in Xland. They always want something from you in return.”

“Like what? I can give them,” Oz said eagerly.

“Your body,” Cheshire cat snapped.

Oz was stunned. “Excuse me?”

“Excuse me yourself, but these ALICEs would not let you go out of Xland – ever. They want you to stay by their selves and be their ‘toy’. You know what I mean? They might torture you to death. But then again, here in Xland, you won’t die. You’ll only rot,” Cheshire cat said, disappearing then appearing on the tree trunk, leaning against it. “Are you sure you still want to do?”

Oz gulped nervously. “I-I have to. I have no other choice.”

“As you wish,” Cheshire cat muttered. “Don’t go there, that’s a dead-end. Go here.” She pointed at the very woodsy part of her property. “You can go further in my property as you wish, but you will have to get out as soon as possible. My property is only small, you won’t get lost.”