VIII-Through the Looking Glass [Inaki]

[Alice Taylor]

Alice opened her eyes slowly. Everything was very bright, but the lighting adjusted quickly as she peered at her surroundings. She was lying down on a green, grassy field with very gentle hills. There was a lush forest behind her, but before her was a giant lake, extending itself to the other side where Alice couldn't see. The blonde picked herself up, finding herself wearing her familiar blue dress. Smiling, Alice dusted herself off and ran to the edge of the water. The water was calm and smooth, like a huge and perfect looking glass. The reflection staring back was that of a young girl no older than six years, her blonde hair dangling upside down as if they were going to grab Alice's face and pull her into the clean and cool water. Alice giggled to herself, both to the silly idea that a reflection would pull her into the water, and that she had arrived in the little space in her complex mind that comprised her moments of peace and Zen: the Wonderland Forest.

Looking up again, Alice checked if she had with her the two most important items she possessed in this fantastic land. In one pocket, she pulled out a hand-held mirror. At a quick glance, Alice saw her own face as seen on the other side, in the hotel room where she resided, fully in her adult form. Putting the mirror away, Alice then pulled out a small hour-glass in her other pocket. The white grains of sand dropped from top to bottom slowly but endlessly. In Wonderland, with the sun directly above her head, Alice figured it was about noon, but the hour-glass indicated that back in reality, it was closer to 6pm. The mirror and the hour-glass were the most important possessions she had, and they were bestowed upon all of Alice's guests to her world. It was a constant reminder to those that enter to never lose who they are on the other side.

Satisfied that she was now fit for adventure, little Alice looked up into the blue sky for signs of her guest. Inaki should arrive at any moment now, dropping from the sky like everyone else that were visitors to Wonderland. Her hope was that Inaki wouldn't land too far from her, either into the nice lake, or somewhere in the forest. But, it wasn't uncommon for guests to drop into an empty space, a sort of unused space within Alice's mind capable of bending into an environment of the guests' choosing. For their visit, it would become their home should they need a break and keep to their own thoughts. It was almost like a suite in Hotel Alice, where her guests can unpack their minds

Alice kept scanning the skies like she was in Roswell, looking for, and looking forward to, Inaki's arrival.

[Helena Rahal]

Don't worry girl you're just in the middle of the ride

Inaki felt the wind rushing past his skin and making his hair fly up above him as he descended downwards at quite the amazing pace. Part of him wondered if he would end up in a not so nice landing, making this entire exercise end quite abruptly. Alice though had assured him that would not be the case, though how he was going to survive the landing when he was descending so rapidly was beyond him. However as he began to approach to the ground and braced himself for what he guessed was the end, he felt his acceleration completely and utterly end, just a few feet off the ground.

Inaki blanked at the very idea that he was suspended in mid air, however that was a brief pause as he crashed into the ground. "I guess that is one way to make an entrance." Inaki groaned to himself as he rolled over so that he was staring up at the sky. The sun was directly above him as if it were high noon but Inaki could have sworn that it was closer to sunset. Inaki guessed that time worked differently within the recesses of Alice' mind than the outside "real" world.

Picking himself up from the ground, he dusted himself off from the crash and took up a view over his surroundings. He was on the bank of what he was guessing was a large lake or perhaps even an ocean since he was unable to see to the other side of the coast. However this side of the coastline seemed to stretch on in both directions for as far as Inaki could see as well. His own reflection however startled himself a bit.

For he looked both himself and not quite himself. There were slight changes in his appearance, a soft facial structure, slightly longer and lighter hair color to a near dirty blonde instead of a light brown. There was also significantly less muscle mass in his arms and chest. However that was the extent of the changes from his normal appearance, except he looked like he was dressed for a day at the beach. Wearing a a neon orange tee shirt as well as Hawaiian blue with orange waves shorts and sandals.

His shorts felt heavy though, like there was something in them. Reaching his hands into each of his pockets, he pulled an object out of each on of them. In his right hand was a small hour glass and in his left was a compact mirror. Except the mirror seemed to being him his regular self, which looked passed out on the bed of the hotel he had met Alice at.

"Alright Alice... I'm here... now where are you?" He muttered to himself as he tucked both objects back into his pockets, wondering just what their purpose was.

[Alice Taylor]

Smiling, Alice's eyes trailed the streak falling from the sky. She couldn't see Inaki's face, but she knew it could only be him. It appeared that he would be landing on the coast by the lake, but not close enough to where she was. The little one took off into a sprint, never taking her gaze off the midday shooting star. It would be nice to get to greet Inaki right away at his landing site, but Alice soon realized her short legs weren't keeping up with Inaki's entry speed. Why was this shoreline so long anyway? Alice knew there was no one that could answer that question.

Concentrating, she tapped into one of her Wonderland powers. Alice felt herself dropping low to the ground as she ran, almost like she tripped. She stuck her hands out to break her fall onto the green grass, but her forward momentum propelled her forward. Alice kept running, never stopping, now on all four paws.

The grass was hitting her face now, but it didn't matter. Alice's ears were hearing a lot better. As she sped through the field, she could hear the soft thud of Inaki's landing up ahead. The young blonde was so excited about having Inaki here, and she was running so fast, she didn't think about how she was going to stop when she finally saw Inaki dressed like he was ready for a trip to Hawaii. Alice tried to simply stop running, tucking in her forelegs and hind legs. Silly Alice... gravity still applied in this world in most cases.

The white bunny form of Alice, with a elegant blue bow tie on her head, came tearing through the open field at impossible speeds straight for her honoured guest. When she stopped running, Bunny Alice kept rolling on the grass like a fluffy white bowling ball, right between Inaki's shorts, and finally stopping when she rolled herself up a nearby hill.

Feeling her body transforming back, Alice stayed lying atop the little mound of a hill. The little girl couldn't see it just yet, but her pretty blue dress was smeared with grass stains and dirt all over. Alice couldn't get up. The world was spinning all around her after the dizzying tumble. Still on her back, she waved her arms about, trying to get Inaki's attention.

"Greetings... Inaki... welcome to... Wonderland..." shouted Alice, tired and out of breath. "Did you... did you see? I'm... a bunny... bunny rabbit..."

It was then that Inaki would see the weirdest thing that doesn't happen in real life. There was a tag floating above Alice's body, denoting she was not part of the scenery, but a fully functional mind and soul in this fantasy world. It read:

<<ALICE>>
[Coeur du Monde]

[Helena Rahal]

Sing along little mockingbird

Inaki was hesitant to do to much by himself in this strange place that he had allowed himself to be drawn into. What with this being the recesses of Alice's subconscious, anything done here could have serious connotations to her personality or something. The last thing he wanted to do was poke around and accidentally turn her into an axe murderer or paranoid schizophrenic.That would just be bad.

Instead he continued to search along the shoreline with his eyes to see if he could see someone or something that resembled Alice. Inaki at least thought it would be Alice he would be running into, she had to be inside her own mind, right? Yet... if he looked differently than what he did in the "real" world, then would she look differently as well? The answer was likely yes which lead him to wonder what exactly shape or form his friend would be in.

Almost as if on cue, something was heading his way from his right side. Pivoting to try and get a better look at whatever was kicking up the dust trail, he frowned. Whatever it was that was headed his way was far too small to be able to see through the remarkably tall and healthy grass. The stuff needed a bit of trimming and cutting, though what that meant about Alice' mind itself was something Inaki was curious about. Maybe it was nothing at all or maybe it was something significant, there was no way for him to really know though!

Then when it was nearly upon him, Inaki's eyes went wide seeing a little ball of white fur with what seemed like a blue ribbon on its head. What the heck? The little bundle rolled straight through his legs though and onto one of the gentle hills behind him before coming to a stop. Inaki frowned again before starting to make his way up the hill and towards where he guessed the rabbit had come to a complete stop.

As he was making his way up the gentle slop though a voice called out, one that was unmistakeably of Alice, though it sounded more child like than what he was used to. So this was indeed Wonderland... but what did she mean that she was a bunny? Could you really do that, could your transmutate yourself into a different form altogether in this land? And if that thought wasn't weird enough, there was a sign above where the voice came from, much like one would expect to see in a MMORPG.

"Okay, that is not something you see everyday, even in a dream sequence." Inaki mumbled to himself. It was like a player card, with her name, and then a title in French that he was pretty sure translated to something like "heart of the world". His own curiosity got the better of him and he looked above his own head....

<<Inàki>>
[Twee geest]

Well... that was... Dutch?

"I saw Alice... I saw. But umm... what are these things above our heads? It sort of creeps me out a bit!"

[Alice Taylor]

Finally catching her breath, Alice picked herself off the grass and dusted herself off. My word, she really was short as a child. Alice looked up at Inaki upon his inquiry, seeing that her guest had also been given a name tag.

"It's not that bad, Inaki. It lets me know you're a real conscience." Alice explained, pointing at her own title. "We are not the only creatures in this land. If we venture on, you'll see this place is full of people... or sort of people. If you don't see the tag above someone's head, you're talking to someone that lives here."

Alice turned away from Inaki and walked towards the giant lake. One thing that had changed since Alice and Inaki arrived at the top of the gentle hill, was that while no one way paying attention, the hill turned into a majestic mountain, overlooking all of Wonderland.

"Our minds are very complex. But it has an immense capacity for storing memories. Through our memories and experiences, we form who we are as a person. Not too many people get to see just how big a world our minds truly are. And, in here, I get to discover myself. Isn't that awesome, Two Spirit?"

Hopping back, Alice excitedly grabbed Inaki's hand, dragging him along to the other side of the small but very high peak of the mountain.

"Look! Right below us is the Wonderland Forest. Pixies live there, and they are ruled by their King and Queen. Very kind folks."

Alice pulled Inaki along once again, towards the side the lake used to be, but now it was a sort of Medieval city made of stone. The only thing that seemed odd was a giant hole in the middle of town, where a castle would normally be situated.

That city is called Pryde, where the Nekos live. They're like people, but they have cat ears and tails. Take a wild guess who their queen is." Alice said, winking at Inaki.

Once more, Alice guided her guest to the other side of the plateau, but instead of the forest, it was a futuristic metropolis filled with tall, oddly shaped towers, and flying cars like those from the movie The Fifth Element.

"Mega Tokyo. It's really sci-fi in nature. I'm still getting used to it. No one rules it, but there's a super hero that flies around and fights crime. His name is just Hero. Isn't that weird?" At this point, it appears that the weirdest part of Wonderland is it never stays still, and direction sometimes really mean nothing at all. Same goes for logic.

Finally, the two turned around and walked to the opposite side, where yet another civilization sprung up. Except, this city was made of glass, and seemed uninhabited. Since it was almost transparent, it was hard to tell the design of this place.

"Each area I showed you represents a part of me, and they all grow, every day. I am who I am because of the experiences I've had with people that are important to my life. That crystal city, however, wasn't like that last time I was here." Alice explained, hand still gripping Inaki's very tightly.

"You have no idea how happy I am to finally get to show you all of this. There's so much here I want to show you, so much I wanted you to understand, but... I can't overwhelm you, else a beam of light comes down and takes you back to your own body."

Smiling, Alice looked up at Inaki with her eyes fluttering. "So, where do you want to go?"

[Helena Rahal]

I love you girl but I am not the answer to the questions you still have

Inaki was genuinely curious as Alice began to explain away some of the mysteries of her world. That things lived here should not have surprised him all that much, considering that an entirely different being had come into existence in his own mind not too long ago. Claudia had since been removed from his mind but the experience should have left him open to such things as Alice was showing. Funnily enough, last Inaki had heard Claudia and Alice were a couple and even engaged. Curious how the world seemed to work out.

The way that the land reshaped itself and how these cities sprung out of nowhere startled Inaki though. Alice's explanations were interesting but it was still an entirely new set of experiences to try and reconcile with his mind. That and the weird crystal city gave him a foreboding feeling, doubly so since Alice mentioned that it was unlike that the last time she was here.

"Do you often visit your inner mind?" Inaki asked a bit casually as he looked around once more at the landscape. If these cities were all aspects of her life and people she had encountered, then was one reflective of their relationship? Based on her little chuckle, it seemed her cat, Monarch, was the ruler of the Neko land, or so Inaki was guessing. The rest were currently lost on him and his ability to put logic and rationality to a world of irrationality and seemingly dripping with the potential for chaos.

It seemed there was even more that Alice wanted or needed to show him, but she didn't want to overwhelm him. Hrmm, being overwhelmed would send him back to his actual body, that was a tidy bit of information to keep in mind. "Perhaps with enough time we can explore everything you want to show me. And it does seem like a place that holds many mysteries and places of intrigue." Inaki calmly mused. In truth, Inaki how time spent in here reflected on time spent in the real world. Was hours here hour on the outside or just minutes or seconds passing by?

Alice's smile was full of warmth and cheerfulness though and Inaki could hardly hold any sort of concerns with that look from his friend. "I am not sure... the city of nekos sounds a bit interesting to see. Yet maybe it would be better off to start with the friendly pixies?"

[Alice Taylor]

Alice gave Inaki some time to process the information suddenly bestowed upon him. There was nothing in the real world that could really prepare anyone for an experience such as travelling through someone else's mind. Well... none that Alice knew of, and she was certain Inaki had never came in contact with another that resembled this. He was thinking, and making the right connections, even if most things were a mystery to him. It was fine, as they travelled he will know more and more of this place where very little made logical sense.

"I understand that the shifting landscape is rather disorienting. But it really isn't that bad. Where you want to go is always in front of you, and where you don't want to go is always behind you. Just forget the notion that everything has to be in one place, and navigation becomes simple. What's important is you know where you want to be."

Inaki asked Alice whether she travelled to Wonderland on her own often. A good question, one that Alice was ready to answer.

"I do, every now and then. Time does not run parallel here with the outside world. I promise you, we can spend a lifetime here, and you'll still leave in time for dinner. It's rather nice. Gives me a chance to be entertained when I'm momentarily bored, such as mid-interview." Alice laughed.

It also gave Alice a chance to explore herself, to piece together the person she was in all stages of her life. Alice had lost a decade of individuality to the Company holding cells, and she tried hard to reconcile that lost time between her brief childhood with her parents, and when she woke from her induced coma. With her memories of her family, along with Charlie's memories of growing up, Alice was able to simulate what it was like to have a proper family, the experience that helped her forge this aspect of who she was cumulated into the part in this fantasy world called Wonderland Forest.

"In due time we can see everything, but even with unlimited time it's quite a daunting task. Let's just check out the fun parts of my head, starting with the Forest. Something about the place just makes every visitor feel right at home." If Inaki paid attention, he would easily see Alice was very content with his choice leaning towards the Pixies.

"Let's head out then, even if we have all time time in the universe. Please remember, with your presence, not everything here is from me. Every visitor brings with them a piece of their own minds, and it does change the make up of Wonderland. Everywhere we visit from now on will be a little different than if I was alone, because you too are helping me shape this world. I think later on we should definitely have a look at the crystal city... it changed drastically upon your arrival. That place was Claudia's."

Alice's face grew serious for just a second, as she actually wasn't sure why this change occurred. Then, she was joyful again.

"Well now, onward to the Forest!"

Letting go of Inaki's hand, Alice dropped to the grass once again, transforming once again into the blue-ribboned white bunny that Inaki first encountered before his very eyes. The bunny took a couple of hops forward close to the mountain's edge. But, by this time, it could no longer be classified as a mountain, as it has morphed into the small rolling hill that Alice and Inaki first saw, and the Wonderland Forest was just ahead.

The white bunny turned around, looking up at Inaki. Alice's rabbit form was used for travelling at great speeds, and she feared Inaki wouldn't be able to keep up in his current form. Instead of leading the way, Alice circled around and got behind Inaki, indicating that he could lead the way into the Forest. Alice was curious how the Wonderland Forest would look like under Inaki's influence. She didn't mind Inaki leading them, knowing they wouldn't really get lost. Every path in the Wonderland Forest leads up to the World Tree, palace of the Pixie King and Pixie Queen.

The white bunny gently nudged Inaki at the heel of his sandal. She wanted to see whether Inaki would take advantage of his Wonderland powers of transformation, and what amazing forms Inaki's mind could come up with.

[Helena Rahal]

I want heal,
I want to feel,
What I thought was never real

Alice seemed so excited about this trip as she explained more and more for Inaki. It was not overwhelming him though, but it was a very slow process for him to absorb all that she was telling him. It also was really hard to apply rationality to it all, which had been his rock of strength in the real world. Anything could be approached from a rational point, even something as crazy and irrational as love. Yet in Alice's Wonderland, nothing at all seemed like it could be tackled with the tools of rational thought and logic.

Though he did have a good laugh as she said she could spend hours here and it be just seconds in the outside realm. Using a boring mid interview as her example, it gave him a new perspective on his friend, perhaps she was a bit more clever and tricky than he thought. It certainly was a surprise, albeit a funny one, that she would retreat into her mind at a time like that. Yet every one was unique, if that was something that Alice did to keep it all together or get in touch with herself, the better for her then.

Inaki was learning though, adapting to the way that Wonderland wanted to create order. It was the will of the individual, not the world or scientific laws, that ultimately ruled the lands. With his own presence then, Wonderland was obviously going to shift from what Alice was used to, as it tried to adapt to two wills. There was a bit of a chill down his spine though as Alice revealed that the crystal city was of Claudia. There was definitely a mystery there to solve and Inaki did not miss a moment of seriousness from Alice' kid form.

It passed quickly though and she was done with explanations and freaking him out again as she morphed into the little bunny. This place and its rules of reality was going to take a lot of getting used to if someone could just change form like that. "Okay Alice, you like to be a bunny for traveling." He chuckled to himself, yet instead of leading the way into the forest, she had circled behind him. Indeed, she was nudging at his foot instead of hopping along, taking him through paths that she would know.

Was she trying to get him to transform as well, was that even possible for him to do? Well, he already did not look like himself to begin with, perhaps it was not a stretch to think that he could morph into something else. Alice was able to it pretty easily as well, yet how could he do it and what form would he even take? Also, how was he supposed to lead the two of them to the King and Queen of the fairies? Even if the path took you to where you wanted to go, all he knew was that they were in the forest!

Shaking his head and letting out a bit of a sigh, Inaki tried to clear his mind of all other thoughts besides his goal. Inaki wanted to get to the King and Queen and quickly as possible. Almost subconsciously Inaki broke out into a jog that quickly became a full on sprint. His body jerked forward and his hands were on the ground, but he was still somehow moving on in a full sprint and his head was staring forward. His ears didn't hear the thud of shoes either but a clippity clap that was more like hooves. Just what had he turned into and how did he suddenly know exactly where it was that he was going?

Lyrics: Somewhere I Belong - Linkin Park
Outfit: Oh Inaki turning into this
Mood: A bit tired and hungry