X No Sekai

o19; Promised Lie

† 

“You know…my legs are already cramping. We’ve been walking on hours!” the 5th ALICE’s voice echoed throughout the hallway. True, they have been walking for hours already. To the never-ending stairs that leads them to the “Chamber” of the Red Queen and so. But now, they thought of seeing the Chamber would be hard work.

“We have no choice. If we really are desperate, then we should go further,” Oz shrugged, who was now holding the walls to balance him. He already felt dizzy. The stairs were in circles.

The 2nd ALICE, who was in front of the 1st ALICE mumbled, “We’re not really desperate. We can stay out and wait for you to come out.” He glanced back at Oz. Oz glared at him. But it was true. They weren’t desperate at all; they were just after the time. If Oz stays longer, the Red Queen might turn him into the 7th ALICE – which he doesn’t want to happen. But if Oz is desperate to go home, the Red Queen makes it more impossible for Oz to escape and make it more possible for Oz to become the 7th ALICE if they failed. They’ve only got one choice to make, and they weren’t sure on what to option to pick yet.

So it was a big shock when all of them had turned quiet when the stairs quickly disappeared and they were stopped in mid-air. They looked at each other and quickly, they fell on the bottomless darkness of the chamber, screaming at the top of their lungs of the sudden impact.

Then, they fell flat on the ground. Oz rose up and sat, rubbing his head. “Ow…what the heck happened?” when he opened his one eye, they were in another world. Again. It was already tiring. The pretexts of the Red Queen were still the same. This time, Oz was a bit irritated. “Where are we again?”

One by one, the ALICEs rose up. Then they saw they were on another world, too. “The Red Queen ran out of pretexts for us.” The 2nd ALICE groaned. The 4th ALICE stood up and sniffed the air. “No. We’re still at Xland.”

“Then where are we?” the 1st ALICE pressured.

“At the Red Queen’s outer chamber,” the 4th ALICE said, glancing back at them. “The Queen’s chamber is another world of Xland, can’t you remember? Look, the sky is blue and the moon is replaced with…”

“That ugly grinning of who-knows-who-he-is face,” the 5th ALICE connected, glancing up at the moon. She finally stood up and dusted herself. “But wherever we are, it’s really annoying that we keep falling out of nowhere and then appears at another world. It’s kinda boring.”

After the 5th ALICE said the word ‘boring’, there was a big swirl of wind that shook the trees around them. They closed their eyes, for there were dusts with the wind. And the next thing they felt is that their hands were being held by something and they were being dragged. When the 5th ALICE had the courage to open her eyes, their hands were tied with ropes. The other ALICEs and Oz had their eyes tied in a blind fold. The 5th ALICE felt that someone was still putting a blindfold on her.

She shook her head and glanced up. And much to her surprise, it was the Left Guardian. He smiled. “So you’re awake, huh? You’re not a heavy-sleeper like the rest.”

The 5th ALICE turned around and faced the Left Guardian. “What do you want from us?” she exclaimed.

“What do I want from you guys?” the Left Guardian said, grinning. Then he stopped grinning and turned serious – full of hatred and angriness. “A revenge for my twin sister!” With that, he held out his hand as a giant black key appeared. “Why did you kill my twin sister?!” Suddenly, the ground crumbled up and out came the dead and decayed bodies of the underworld.

The 5th ALICE kicked a body lurching towards her. “I didn’t kill your sister! And it’s your sister’s fault why she interfered with us!” She jumped in the air and tried to break free of the rope.