Chapter Text
I remember being free...
What it felt like to run outside without fear...
What it felt like to have a home...
But I know that can never be...
For I live in a nightmare, for I shall never wake up from...
And in this nightmare, all I see are monsters...
Beneath the dull sky of London 1880, Alice Liddell, the last living Liddell, stood still in a crowded street. Nameless men and women walked past her, not giving her so much as a second thought. They were empty minds drifting in an invisible sea. Alice was the only boat sailing the invisible sea; she had learned to do so not too long ago. It was hard at first, and she didn't know how it happened, but she learned how to navigate the invisible sea and how to pull others out of it.
Alice walked through the street, passing the men and women, with their families strolling beside them, luxuries taken for granted, something that had been taken from her. In another life, she believed things could have been different before the fire, before HIM, however, now she lived in a dark nightmare, and it was her job to set it right. She would soon right the wrongs and avenge others who had not been as fortunate as to slay the demon that had ruined their own lives.
Alice walked up to a quaint little store, "Mr. Archibald's Houseware and Appliances," read the sign hanging above the store. The store was small, crammed like fish between two other much larger buildings, the store had a freshly painted green door and a large, silky glass window that showed off a variety of porcelain dinnerware. Alice, however, was not interested in a new plate; she was here for something else.
Opening the door, Alice was greeted by a fat, pompous man sitting behind a desk. The man was in his late forties, with at least two chins, short, nearly balding black hair, a large pear-like nose, and the world's smallest pair of glasses. The man was more professionally dressed, wearing a large black suit and bow tie. If the man were any fatter, Alice would wonder if he were a tweedle.
"Hello Miss, how may I help you today?" Said the man with large yellow teeth. "Are you Archibald Jessop?" asked Alice with little emotion to show the stranger before her. "Why yes, my dear, this is my shop, we have the finest porcelain and China this side of London." Said Mr. Archibald as he wiped his sweat-covered forehead. "Is there anything that interests you, miss, perhaps a new set of dinnerware for you and your husband?"
"I'm not married," remarked Alice. "Oh, my sincere apologies, miss, I thought I saw a man with you outside," said Mr. Archibald as he stared over Alice's shoulder and out the window. Alice looked over her shoulder and there was no one there. Facing back to Mr. Archibald, Alice took a few steps closer. "I'm not here for your products, Mr. Archibald, I'm here about something else. Agatha Pendow." Mr. Archibald's face turned white. "How... how... How could you possibly know about that?" asked Mr. Archibald. "You thought it would never come back to you, did it, Mr. Archibald? She was your own niece, six at that, what you did should see you hanged."
Mr. Archibald stood up from his desk in fear, "How... Only I... it's impossible how do you know this?" yelled Archibald. "Easy, you told me, in your head," replied Alice. Alice walked up to Mr. Archibald. Before his very eyes, Alice's cloths grey garments turned into a blue dress and white apron. An omega necklace appeared on around her neck, and a skull and ribbon wrapped around her waist. "How..." Muttered Archibald.
Alice smirked as a wooden toy horse appeared in her hand, Alice then jumped up and smashed the horse down on top of Archibald, slamming his head down into the table. Back in reality, Mr. Archibald fell face-first into his desk, completely knocked out. Alice stood there in her grey garments with a satisfied smile on her face. The pervert's mind was no match for hers, with one hit in the Otherland, he was out cold in the real world. Alice didn't know how she formed these abilities to cross into another person's mind, but it did have many benefits that she would use to bring the wicked to justice.
As Alice stood admiring her work she heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps coming from inside the shop, Alice walked over to the corner of the shop where she believed the noise had been coming from. From what Alice could see there was nothing out of the ordinary, just a shelf with an assortment of clocks on it. However, as Alice looked down in her horror, she saw an eye peeking out from a hole in the floorboards. "Oh my!" shouted Alice, the eye quickly vanished followed by the sound of footsteps under the floor.
Alice looked around for a way into the basement, on the floor Alice traced what could be guessed as an outline of some sort of door going from Alice's foot to a red Persian carpet. Alice walked over to the carpet and pulled it up. Alice to her surprise found before her a trap door. Alice bent down and opened the door. Inside was a dark hole with a ladder. Alice grabbed the ladder and slid down into the darkness below. If the Cheshire cat were around he would tell Alice off for her constant need to put herself in unsavory situations. However, if someone were in the building with her, and in such a peculiar spot, they may also know about Mr. Archibald's depraved nature.
Alice entered a dark room. Inside of the room were piles of junk, from clocks to music boxes, and a variety of other trinkets. In the darkest corner of the room was a small skeletal girl. The girl was wearing rags, and was covered in dirt, and her posture had her curled up in a ball. Alice, seeing the sight of the poor girl rushed over to help her. "What are you doing down here?" asked Alice, horrified for the young girl. The girl didn't respond. The silence bothered Alice; she hated to think what unspeakable acts had happened down here. "Did he hurt you?" asked Alice. The girl again didn't respond.
Fearing the worst, Alice thought up a different approach. Before the girl's eyes, Alice formed her blue dress. This seemed to irk a reaction from the girl as her head perked up in shock. Alice leaned in close to the girl and patted her on the head.
A vast meadow formed around Alice, an ocean of bright flowers shot in every direction. Vibrant red, yellow, blue, and green made a large spiral flower bed all meeting up to where Alice was standing. The sky above Alice was a light blue, with a large yellow sun in the sky, though this sun had a face. Two large eyes and a friendly but unnerving smile.
Alice looked at her surroundings. The girl, Otherland, was quite interesting to Alice; its bright vibrance caused Alice to shield her eyes.
Alice tried to walk in the girl's Otherland, but found walking to be quite difficult for some unknown reason. Before Alice appeared, the girl in a cloud of gold dust. In her Otherland, she was more properly dressed, not covered in rags. The girl in her hand had a freshly made watch that she rubbed her finger on. "Who are you, why do you come here, who do you think you are waltzing in where you do not belong?" said the girl. "Well, I did not know I needed an invitation?" commented Alice. The girl scowled at Alice. "That's because it doesn't need to be said, you don't belong in my head. Mind your own business, lady."
There was a tense annoyance coming from the young girl, though it wasn't not Alice's intention to bother her. "Well, it is my business to stop whatever the fiend Archibald was doing. If it impedes your business, then it has to be imposed upon."
There was silence for a brief moment between the two, the girl looked as if she was going to say something, but stopped, it wasn't until half a minute went by before she spoke again. "You killed him didn't you?" asked the girl. "No, I didn't, he's still very much alive. Honestly, I was going to wipe his mind and have him sent to an Asylum. A fitting punishment for such a man." Alice tried to avoid killing, and while she had no problem in Wonderland, and even in the real world she had taken a life, she still held some restraint. She killed Dr. Bumby by pushing him onto a train, he was a disgusting monster who had to pay for his crimes, he was going to get away and she acted in the moment. It was before she truly understood what powers she possessed. She still doesn't wish to resort to murder, with these abilities she has now, she could bring justice to those who would never receive it. Death is too good for some; they need to suffer, a brainwipe or a mental beating is what has befallen those whom Alice has searched for. Yet not since Alice killed Bumby has she taken a life since, it would be so easy to do so, but she feared where it would take her, there is a part of her calling for blood, and Alice fears once she starts killing it will never end.
"What are you?" asked the girl, "I'm just someone who is here to help," replied Alice. The girl didn't respond right away, she didn't really know what to think about it, it wasn't every day someone else entered your mind. "My name is Annie." finally replied the girl. "Annie, that's a lovely name, my name is Alice,"
The girl uncurled herself from a ball and stood up to greet Alice. "Now that you are paying attention, why does Archibald have you down here?" asked Alice. "I'm working over his trinkets. Almost every item in this shop is stolen. He has a thief who every three nights steals valuable or invaluable items from wealthy homes every three nights and brings them back here. He then has me polish them to be sold and none are the wiser. Old watches, lockets, and music boxes, air looms that people pay fortunes for."
Alice stood surprised, that wasn't what she was expecting, she was here because of what Mr. Archibald did to his niece, and it turns out now he was running some sort of fiendish con. "Did, he do anything unpleasant to you?" asked Alice. "He would beat me senseless if he believed I hadn't done a good job; beatings were all he gave me." What a vile man, beating a poor girl, she was practically a slave. Alice thought. However, she at least wasn't harmed in another way.
"If you don't mind, I will head back upstairs and wipe that monster's memory clean, and he'll be in a Rutledge padded cell by the end of the month." But to Alice's surprise, Annie shook her head. "I had a better idea, Archibald made a ledger with all the items he had stolen from very powerful people, some that would have him put away for a long time if they found out. He keeps a ledger in his suit pocket, with the ledger and some items left down here, he can be taken away for a while. All you need to do is get the ledger and call the constable."
Alice stopped and wondered; she had never actually had someone be taken away before. Most didn't leave enough evidence to prosecute or knew the right number of people to free them, but here was a rare opportunity to take someone away. "Hmm, very well, I'll go get the ledger."
Alice made her way back to the ladder and climbed out of Archibald's basement. Back in the store, Mr. Archibald was still passed out cold. It seemed he wouldn't be going anywhere anytime in the near future. Alice walked over to the unconscious man and reached into his left jacket pocket, and just as Annie said, there was a small slick black ledger. Alice took the book and opened up the first page. Inside was a series of names next to items. Looking it over it seemed to tell what item belonged to who and who bought it after it was sold. The book contained the addresses of both the buyer and the victim. It appeared Archibald was planning to have someone steal back the items so he could resell them again.
The book was damnable evidence; however, there was one page that caught Alice's eye. "Taken Arthur Liddell - Gold Oxford Pocket watch, Sold Doctor Edger Willow." It was her father, Archibald apparently had stolen something from her family. Something erupted in Alice's chest, something she couldn't explain, an emotion she couldn't describe. Something of her family was still out there, and not taken by Radcliffe.
Alice had many questions to ask Archibald when he woke up, starting with who this Dr. Willow was. Unfortunately, she couldn't ask him now; he was out cold, and she couldn't enter someone's Otherland when they were unconscious. Alice sighed, she would have to ask him when the police take him away.
Alice walked out of the door to find a nearby officer, as she exited the store, she was hit dead on by another pedestrian. A man, who was a good height taller than Alice, stumbled before catching himself. He looked at Alice with an annoyed expression. "Look where you are going," snarled the man. Alice dusted herself off and looked at the man with equal annoyance. "I say likewise." The man looked extremely tired; he had large bags under his eyes, his blonde hair was unkept, and he had a light, unshaven beard. He also stunk of cigars so bad in fact, Alice thought she would half to plug her nose.
The man grunted and walked off muttering to himself. Alice snorted in disgust she considered altering his head to make him have a better mood. It was people like that which made Alice dislike London. There were always rude and unpleasant people in the city.
Alice ran across the street and past a corner until she met a local policeman. The officer was strolling along the sidewalk, whistling to himself, when Alice got his attention.
"Oh, Alice Liddell, chiefs told us about you, says you're an alright nut, but bonkers, but a decent girl. If you have a medical problem, I can escort you to Dr. Wilson in Rutledge," explained the officer, "Nice to know, but I needed to report something very peculiar".
The police officer nodded, "Alright then, let's have it. No offense by this, but if it sounds too outlandish, I have to take you to see Dr. Wilson," said the officer with a mucus-filled snort. "I see, well, I just wanted to tell you-" Alice stopped and opened the ledger to a random page. "I believe I found a missing China music box owned by one Mildred Cotton."
The officer scratched his head, trying to figure out what Alice was talking about "I believe I heard of that, vaguely recall seeing on the list of items that have been reported stolen." Alice nodded, "Yes, I do believe I have found it, and a few other interesting items."
The police officer looked through the black ledger, and he scrolled through each page for at least half a minute. He chuckled to himself before closing the ledger. "Well, I'll be, half of this list has been reported stolen. Some years back, I guess now we know where it has been." The Officer handed the ledger to Alice.
"I guess I owe you an apology, good job, Miss Liddell, I doubt we would have found this bastard anytime soon, or even at all." A smile formed on Alice's face, and finally, some recognition. "I am happy to help, officer." The Officer gave Alice a pat on the shoulder before turning to the unconscious Archibald. "Now for this sorry cod."
The officer walked over to Archibald and lifted him up out of his chair. Archibald's eyes slid open like a reptile as he began to yell. "What is going on? Get your hands off me!" shouted Archibald. "I think not, I have read your ledger sir, and met the little moppet you keep in the cellar, we have some questions for you." Archibald squirmed like a worm, which Alice found impressive considering his size. Mr. Archibald's gaze reached Alice, causing him to yell murder. "Arrest her, officer, she is a friend, she attacked me with that toy horse of hers!"
Alice stood still, acting totally innocent and pretending she had no clue what Archibald was talking about. "Toy horse, what rubbish are you spewing, sir?" said Alice, "Lies, you're a demon, I swear sir, she had this wooden horse toy, she knocked me out with it, she has set me up," cried Archibald. "Quiet you, I'd save your breath for when we start question'n you," said the officer as he dragged Archibald out of the store. Alice stood there watching it all with a large smile on her face. Justice had been served.
He moved silently in the night, though his unmistakable red uniform would be an eye-catcher for anyone who saw him, though fortunately, stealth wasn't his concern; they were supposed to see him coming. All they would ever see would be his mask, a black sack with white paint in the form of a smiling skull, with a white helmet on top. They called him the slasher, Mr. Death, and other ghost story-esque names, but he himself did not have one; he was just a soldier.
At the end of a long alley, was a wooden door, it was unmarked and had no outer handle. He made his way to the door and gave a hard pound against it with his fist. Footsteps were heard from the other side as a small eyehole opened on the top of the door. "Who is it?" asked a deep, drunken voice. The soldier didn't respond; he just pulled out his hand cannon and fired through the door. A loud thud sound was heard from the other side, and the soldier then kicked in the door.
The inside of the building was dark and decrepit; there were only four candles lighting the entire area, with the only other noticeable sight being a rotting staircase in the corner. In a previous time, the building may have been someone's house, now it was a gang pit. Facing him now were two men sitting at a table playing poker. The two men were huge, thuggish brutes; one had a machete while the other had a bat. The two men immediately stood up from their little game and ran at the soldier.
The soldier stood still and waited for his opponents to reach him. The first brute tried to swing down a machete onto his head, but the soldier was faster; he pulled out a dagger and thrust it into the thug's neck, carving out a large chunk of his throat. The thug fell to the ground, trying to hold in his blood as it poured out like a river.
The second thug ran up, trying to hit the soldier across the head with a bat. However, instead, he found his weapon caught mid-swing and was greeted with a blade going up through his chin and out the top of his head. The thug fell to the floor, lifeless.
Suddenly from rushing down a set of stairs came a thin man with a lead pipe. "What the hell is going on down here?" he didn't even make it to the bottom of the stairs when a chunk of his head exploded. The soldier holstered his hand cannon as he made his way to the stairs.
Walking past the corpses, he headed up the rotting stairs, not even bothered by the decimated bodies, nor did he give them a glance. Reaching the top, he entered a room with dimly lit candles. There he found a rugged man standing behind a table. He was a thug like the others; he had a top hat and a handlebar mustache. Those were the only stand-off features about him. "Who the fuck are you? Do you know who owns this place?" said the man. The soldier just stood silently. "The fuck are you some sort of masked vigilante? I'm not scared of you, red baffoon. If you are here for the morphine, it's already gone." The soldier still didn't respond; he just stared at the man. The man started to show nervousness. "Come on, say something, you nut!" yelled the man as he pulled out a pistol.
The Soldier rushed towards the man, but before he reached him, he was hit in the chest by a bullet, causing him to stop in his tracks. However, the bullet didn't pierce him; it just fell from his body. The chainmail under his uniform proved to be more resilient. "What... what are you!" shouted the thug. The soldier didn't respond; he just grabbed the man's hand and slammed him into the nearby table. The thug yelled in pain, he was bleeding, and his arm looked bent in a direction it shouldn't be. He tried to stand up but just fell face down to the floor.
The Soldier stood over him and proceeded to stomp the thug's head in with his boot. Crunch! That was the sound the first stomp made, but it wasn't enough.
It only took two stomps until the thug's skull caved in. Once he was dead, the soldier turned around and walked away, his task now complete.