Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts

((Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts))

The Red King's eyes fluttered open. For 3 straight days he had been working on the masterpiece in front of him, almost taking him to his death. A granite chess board, checkered in red and white, pieces more elaborate than one cold imagine. When you looked at them at the right angle, they gleamed in a blinding fashion. All made out of the finest glasses, gems, rocks and metals.

The King smiled, and the whole court of soldiers bowed noisily to him - Although, they weren't much of soldiers, they all seemed to resemble one of the Tested. Well there was Spark, and oh! Julias! How shiny. With that in mind, it seemed like there were some failed attempts at recreations... or there was a bunch of rubble...

((Umbra's Mansion))

Aita awoke, curled up in front of her doorway. "A-Ara...?"

((The Doll Shop))

Elia entered the doll shop, with a brightly lit smile on her face... even though she did seem a bit bored, at least she also seemed happy!

((The Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts))

"Lost... In this Wonderland? Hah, it's hardly simple to get lost here. Even now you are somewhere!" He bent down to the girl. Upon closer inspection the King really didn't seem all too scary at all. His brightly lit turquoise-green eyes, contrasted his healthy unnaturally-red toned hair. His smile rose more on one side, and his face was appropriately decorated with checkerboard make-up on his left side. His crown that seemed to made out of the finest glass in the whole world, was actually made out of feathers?!

"Now Mariol, normally I would call a trial and have you executed - but since my darling wife isn't present in this Wonderland, and really I haven't had a visitor in what seems like a set of Thursdays, I'll do you no harm. I welcome you to my court, I like to call it The Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts!" His enthusiasm rose as he titled his land, lifting his arm in a gesture that opened up the world. "I spent a great deal of energy making this place, and you're my first spectator! Maybe there's even a statue to represent yourself!"

((Umbra's Mansion))

Aita rolled out of the tackle, and lay belly down on the floor.

She quickly got up, sprinted towards Ara, collecting her in her loli arms, and began mercilessly spinning her as quickly as a loli could.

((Umbra's Mansion))

As Joe's cussing got more fierce, Aita's grip tightened... Uh oh... She seemed to be happily giggling, but it would have felt like she was 'delightfully' trying to bite Joe's earlobe clean off.

She began to anchor her body weight more to the left side, most likely causing Joe to tilt to that side, or start spinning.

((The Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts))

"Hmm, yes. Lots of work, but work and time mean nothing compared to the treasures they create." He began following her, frowning as he passed by a statue that was no more a statue than it was a pile of useless rubble. "Unfortunately with hard work comes disappointments from time to time. The irony of it all I guess! If my wife were here she'd be more furious than the Jub-Jub Bird with a splinter. But... I guess I can't blame myself, there were obvious flaws in the blueprints to begin with."

He moved along. Soon Mariol would come face to face with a statue that perfectly captured her essence - well as much of an essence gold and emeralds could contain. The foggy greens and pastels seemed out of place on the chessboard. "Hmm... Yes, now I recognize you! A wonder of a soul you have, very lost and confused. Reminds me very much of a girl I once met!"

((The Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts))

The King seemed mildly bored. "I do wish I'd have more visitors once in awhile. It's quiet lonely sitting here on this throne while beheadings are left unbeheaded. What's it like in the other areas of this Wonderland?"

((Umbra's Mansion))

AITA YARNED. Because apparently life seemed to go without her while she stood there in defense mode.

((That One Cafe))

Assuming everyone had left at this point in the Test Reality life, Elia figured she'd sit and wait for a FLO to take her order. (:~

((The Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts))

"Be one of 'Them'?" He repeated with the air quotes, "How UNnoble to kill people just for a title like that. A KING! That's a title where the viscous murder and treason comes in. I, luckily, was born into it! Hah. What an idea! My whole life being respected and rich, and now... nothing... This Wonderland does seem to have some purpose to it after all! I see now that it's not all about being rich," he eyed a good round of glistening statuettes, "It's the status that's to be looked for. A-a dear me, what is your status again exactly?"

((Umbra's Mansion))

Aita entered the contest with a glare. How dare a semi-loli look at her? PAH.

((That One Cafe))

Elia ordered a water, as per norm. Although this time it was a tough decision between a double blended half sugar, strawberries and banana frozen smoothie. She stared at the figure contently. Really the idea of manners hadn't ever occurred to Elia.

((The Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts))

"One of Them, but maybe not one of Them, more like a part of one of Them, and the reflection of that part of Them - Curious. I think there is another girl like that here, who is a series of memories, mirrors and hopes. Really the jewels tell me a lot. But she's not like you, she seems to have more direction. You have no direction at all, and that is exactly the way you'd wish to go! I like you, I think I'd rather call you Moi."

The King recollected his thoughts again, which is hard when you consider his past, "Let us go back to the comment before last. You're a mirror - you must have a reflection, yes?"

((That One Cafe))

"H-Hm.. O-oh. Not too much of a problem, you see, I just don't believe I've ever seen you around before - and I dare say I've seen a lot of people."

((Umbra's Mansion))

Seeing as no one wanted Aita around, except a gross big'ol semi-loli, Aita left on her lonesome to the graveyard. Cuz skeletons are good company right?

"Bye guys~" She smiled, not really caring if anyone where to follow or not.

((The Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts))

"I believe we have all the time in the world, which is a lot of time to think about... dear me..."

((That One Cafe))

Elia seemed a little bit startled that the women knew her name. She searched her memory bank for a name to return, but she didn't remember her, her face, voice presence nor smell - maybe she had met this cloaked figure once in a reset, but not for long if at all.

"Mmm, yes. My name is Elia, and yours?" She seemed a bit frantic - she hadn't experienced the situation where someone knew HER, and the idea not returned.

((The Graveyard))

"Oh hi Neren! I almost wasn't even expecting you today - mostly because I was almost going to kill someone, which would unfortunately give you MORE work to do... BUT I didn't, and that's all that matters in the end." She kicked some dirt around in the dry pit.

"Is there anyone interesting down there I can bring up? I want to cause a mess today I think!"

((The Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts))

The King looked at the girl like she was reading from the simplest children's book to ever had existed."Perfect! Nonsense at it's finest! I think I saw something like that in your statue! Hm! Yes, your jewels are rather foggy, and lost! But I think there is a secret potential that not even a person with vision better than perfect could see! Well I guess I can see it. So have you ever met Fray or Nette?"

((Graveyard))

"W-What...? You want us to go back?" She looked down sadly, "We just got here..."

((That One Cafe))

Elia looked overly discombobulated. Her normally bored or uninterested facial expressions were shocked to the back of her face.

"E-Eh...?! A contract...?! Excuse me... I don't think I'd be any help to you."

((The Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts))

The King smiled happily. apparently enjoying the head cuddles for evvarr. He lazily examined the mysterious girl, then turned his head to the chess board.

Two new piles of statue seemed to be speared into a glimmering pit of useless metal and sand. In front of those piles rose a towering female figure with a knife. Her arms stretched above her head, the knife pointing down as if it were about to execute someone. At this point the whole scene appeared to look a little bit more confusing. For a court based on a chess board, there seemed to be more than one side. Characters lingered toward complete opposites or complete mirrors. Everything appeared to make even more nonsense!

"Hm, Moi I don't know about her... Well, we're in my Court now, if she's dangerous - she's smart. She wont attack." SO THE KING WALKED TOWARDS HIS DOOOOOM.

((There))

Aita still mystified by the whole area, looked toward the chair with more shock than spook. "U-Umbra...? Is that you? What are you doing here? It's dangerous for you to be here. Well, I guess it's also dangerous for me to be here..."

The loli took another full look of the room, trying to absorb it all, "I'm here to speak to Opine, you wouldn't happen to know where she is, would you?" Oh poor Aita. ):

((The Doll Shop))

"Leaving for the mansion? You guys can't leave without eating some of my delicious brunch." Her eyes watered up, "How about we all have a pancake and I'll help escort you over there... I-I, I have some business that I'd like to take care of by the time we get there hopefully."

---

Mariol nodded quietly, not taking her eyes off of the girl. Just as they passed passed by her, the girl turned around to face them.

"Pardon me, sir." she spoke up, voice sounding polite and dignified. "Would you happen to be the holder of the Priste Oress?"

---

'Umbra' laughed a laugh that was a 'oh, you silly loli' laugh at first...but quickly twisted into something horrible beyond description. Slowly, the chair turned around, revealing that Opine hadn't bothered to put her mask back on - the absence of her mask was even more bothersome than it normally would have been thanks to the fact that those disconcertingly deep scratches hadn't quite healed (and it looked like she hadn't even made an effort to get that blood off of her face). Neren seemed to tense up a bit upon seeing the unmasked Opine...but it was clear that she knew about this.

"Ah, Aita, I knew you'd brighten up my mood from the second you walked in." Opine spoke up, the hand holding her surreal-looking pipe falling to her side. "For better or worse, I'm not my avatar - I am the person you're seeking." she smiled (goddamn is that one uncomfortable smile), leaning closer.

"So, Aita...how can I, Opine Frazil, assist you today? What is it that you desire so deeply that you found it necessary to place yourself before me?"

---

After shuddering at Fellmund's exit, Tintra turned back to her Doll Shop Gs and fell victim to Elia's puppy dog eyes.

"O-Of course! We can't just waste all of this food! We wouldn't want all of your hard work to be for nothing!" she fgsfgdlgf'd, immediately preparing Seraye's desk for DELICIOUS PANCAKES also I'm hungry now. )':

---

"An olive. That's an olive. That's an...ugh, whatever."

Narelle waved at Charles in response, blinking in disbelief a couple of times before bringing the sword inside. She was a bit weirded out seeing Kresnik just chillin' on the couch there, drinking and watching silly Chillies...but she just saw a hat-tipping olive, so you know. Temporarily choosing to ignore Lorelei, Nette, Garune, and Nago, Narelle waltzed right on over to Kresnik with his sword.

"Hey, you left this outside." she said, holding the sword out to him.

MEANWHILE, NETTE WAITED FOR A RESPONSE FROM NAGO

WHEEEEEEEEE

---

fangirl get minus strikethrough tags

Poice and Kilii immediately hushed Vers once he mentioned Poice's name. Two Shifty Steve faces later, they leaned in closer and made sure no one was looking (totally ignoring Cel, of course, because ignoring Cel is what all of the cool kids do) before explaining themselves in a hushed tone.

"We're not actually Poice and Kilii! Well, we are, but not really...see, I'm Heliotrope, that's Wisteria, and we're on a SUPER SECRET MISSION!"

"It's not the most secretive of secret missions...but, anyways, what can we do for you, Vers~? ♥"

---

Everyone seemed to be rather displeased with Fellmund's entrance...Seraye obviously remembered Fellmund from the previous day, and Dicro and Fray remembered him both from the Cafe and what Soleil told them about what happened at the Random Body of Water.

SO MANY UNHAPPY STARES ):>

"On the contrary, he tried to rip off all of my clothes yesterday, so I turned him into a doll." Seraye explained, readying her bat.

"And he killed Zalika." Dicro pointed out.

"Right, and he killed---wait, seriously?! That's why she died?!"

"Yeah. Almost killed Narelle, Soleil, and that Pokemon we picked up, too."

"And he did a cool magic trick!" Fray butted in out of a desire to be cool and get Fellmund in trouble, too.

...

...

...

"A-And then he stole our stuff!"

oh fellmund, look what you've gotten yourself into now



That was it. That was it. She couldn't take it anymore! She couldn't even take advantage of this moment, or bring herself to attempt rape...I mean, at this point, it wouldn't even be rape! Clearly frustrated, Halyn backed away...and started slapping Julias across the face over and over and over.

"What..." Slap. "have..." Slap. "you..." Slap. "done..." Slap. "with..." Slap. "my..." Slap. "Julie?!" Slap.

Yeah, that's probably gonna hurt.

---

The two were about to comment on how often Mr. Thorren got attacked, but they stopped themselves and noticeably edged away upon mention of Her.

"You...you contracted with Her?" Shan asked, sounding as surprised as he was physically able to. "Why the hell would you even consider that?"

"No wonder you get attacked so damn much! You'd have to be begging for misfortune to even talk to Her, much less try and cooperate with Her! Are you insane?!"

Apparently, She's not cool.

---

The bunnies didn't actually run away...until they were called by Ricardo, that is. Meanwhile, Sprinkles TOTALLY BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF THAT TORNADO YEAAAAAAAAAH.



As previously mentioned, all of the bunnies came rushing towards Brain-Jar, Naj, and Charteuse...all except the one that went into the rabbit hole. Because she's a selfish punk like that, Naj continued making LOLI PUPPY faces at the rabbit hole.

"WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME, BUNNY )':"

"idk maybe 'cause you're a rapist" :3

---

"Nah, FLO was just some crazy Entirety-craving psycho who me and the Gs had to punish her to keep her under control. That was a couple bajillion years or so ago, so FLO's pretty cool now...she doesn't even mind working everywhere anymore! But, anyways, about that connection-blocking..." :3

Bunny pulled out a convenient piece of paper and pen, scribbled something down, and handed (...pawed?) it over to Ignis. It was covered in all kinds of weird pictures and newfangled dream lingo...nothing that looked particularly understandable at first glance. :3

"Just find some way to get that to Dicro, and he'll probably know what to do with it. If not, he'll probably figure it out pretty fast. That's about all I can help you with right now, you've got to do some work, yeah? Any questions before I return to my SECRET LAIR?" :3

((The Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts))

The King stood his ground. He sliced the tension as if it were butter left out on the counter for many-a-day in midst of a drastic heat wave. "At first I didn't see too much point in this place - in fact I took to being the Hermit King in the initial days. I built this beautiful place; everything I could have wanted in my own reality. Still, nothing seemed important no matter how pretty and expensive I made it look. All of these things didn't make me feel like I'd had gained any more worth than what I had before. I grew bitter... Upon Mariol's entrance I realized that wealth isn't what you have, it's what you've learned to have. This competition has meant something to me, and I'm sure it'll mean deal of a lot more as time goes on."

Lessons. (:

((The Doll Shop))

Elia threw on a troll face.

"Well, it's not actually cooking! In fact you're all eating shapes I made out of moonsand!"

Elia placed her clasped hands to her face. "I was once stuck in a shapeless reality, bond to chains. The only thing I could do was watch through a small window. Many would relate it to a TV. The one thing I grew a particular interest in was cooking. Aita had no taste, she threw strawberries in everything. If I had to eat strawberries as much as her, I'd be sick of them. This is why I avoid making contact with strawberries, always. Anyways, when I came to the Test Reality, I learned to cook very quickly. Along with other maidly duties like wiping blood off your best friend. (:"

((There))

"I would imagine it to be difficult to make friends when everyone wants something out of you..." Aita closed her eyes and took a relaxed breath. It seemed like all her problems had disappeared in one swift hour and allowed her to taste a small spoonful of tranquility. She took her other hand to lightly touch Opine's face, appearing to embrace in a delicate flower moment. "This will seem to be a silly first question to ask you as a friend, but, what are these cuts from?"

---

"Hmm." Nika stopped in her tracks as well, facing the King without fear or weakness induced by Mariol's adorable renewed head-cuddling.

"How touching. I'm glad that the Competition has actually had a positive effect on you. Unfortunately, your time in the Competition is up." she said with a smile, not bothering to hide the knife she brought out from behind her back.

"Dreams don't last forever, you know?" she added on with a strangely lighthearted laugh. She didn't sound particularly sadistic...just happy. Genuinely, freakishly happy.

Being a Moi and all, Mariol couldn't quite comprehend the gravity of the situation.

---

"Y-You were what?!" Tintra jumped, kind of surprised with Elia's story. Realizing that being all jumpy and stuff is totally rude, Tintra quickly recollected herself.

"I mean, um...yeah. That's an interesting way to learn how to cook...A-Anyways, I agree with Durnam. M-Maybe we should get going now?"

awkward tintra is awkward

---

Opine quickly grabbed Aita's hand, implying that even the powers of LOLI FRIENDSHIP were not enough to have Opine allow anyone to touch her face.

"Well, let's just say I met up with someone else earlier today. Not to worry, though; they're self-inflicted. I would never accidentally leave my face unprotected." she spoke, not sounding as harsh as her hand-grabbing would imply.

---

"Oh, don't worry about it! We're scientists! We have no fear of disrespecting the personal boundaries of others! How else would we get our testing done for things like this, right?"

MORALS~

"Anyways, of course we'll help! How could I possibly let a friend down? Whatever shall we do first~?!" Poice asked excitedly. And then Vers was like "idk buy me a sammich or something".

---

Flare would arrive just in time to see Arella sending out her attack Chillies on Cinda and Fredericks, and nothing says 'Welcome to the Test Reality!' better than psycho angel cops sending angelic chinchillas after other angelic chinchillas (and a Pokemon)!

As if that wasn't strange enough, Flare's arrival proceeded to surprise...a tentacle monster. A tentacle monster. Stan was just on his way to drag Arella back over There before she did any actual damage, and, bang! Portal opens right in front of him! Of course, Stan had had stranger days...not to mention that Flare seeing a tentacle monster was probably more alarming than Stan seeing some random portal-crossing chick.

Stan decided to RAPE RAPE RAPE play it cool, 'cause that always works.

"O-Oh! Uh, good afternoon, miss...? You look kind of, uh, frazzled...is there anything I can do to help---okay, sorry, this is really awkward. I'm just gonna say that now. Just wanna get that out of the way. But, you know, either way..."

STAN THE FRIENDLY TENTACLE MONSTER AWKWARDLY STRIKES AGAIN

---

Peylet took DBA's hand and got up, brushing herself off.

"Thank you. And, of course. The next room is in the pool area, right? I think there was one in the arcade as well, but your memory is probably working more properly than mine." she Peylet-smiled, leading the way out of the freaky flower tunnel.

---

Nette watched Nago closely, wondering what that crazy punk was up to. Narelle, meanwhile, continued bossing Charles around.

"Oh, don't give me that! You don't look very dead to me! Prove it!"

---

Presumably using Julias' comment as an excuse, Halyn slapped him again. (':

Well, of course, that wasn't the only reason. She was naturally pretty pleased to feel that vibe going down, and immediately started rummaging through her MAGICAL MANIPULATOR HAMMERSPACE CLOAK (well, it's actually more of a stole...) for something more hefty to whack him with. Being a creeper is serious goddamn business.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't worry, Julie, you'll be all better soon! Let's see, what do we have here? Mmm, maybe I should shoot you? Oh, but I've got terrible aim, and that might get messy...ah, I guess I could stab you, that might be a little cleaner, a little easier to heal. Sound good? All right, Julie, just stay still~!"

Halyn produced a pretty pointy-looking dagger from her MAGICAL MANIPULATOR HAMMERSPACE CLOAK/STOLE, which looked so ridiculously shiny and new that it seemed like it was made just for this moment. Just for this romantic, stabby moment.

Without any further warning (of course, I'd assume you'd start getting a hint when Halyn starts rambling about shooting and stabbing...), Halyn raised the dagger above her head and attempted to stab Julias in the shoulder because getting raped is much easier when you can't move your arms.

Ah, love!



Seraye nodded in agreement with Exuro's terrible pun, only responding from the monstrous hate vibes coming from Fray with a quick half-glance. Good thing everyone's all distracted, yeah?

Speaking of being distracted, Fray noticeably froze up upon feeling Ignis' presence. Of course, that's the only natural way for a semi-loli to react when being possessed by some Entirety-grabbing evil god who burns people alive and stuff. Any other reaction (unless it involves panic or passing out) is completely unacceptable!

Once Fellmund started his card trick, Seraye immediately returned her attention to getting her bat in position. Dicro nodded over in her direction and Seraye returned the gesture, implying that Dicro (who was actually looking kind of bored at this point) was ready to get his lazy ass of the couch if necessary.

---

An alcohol stand spontaneously popped up behind the FLO, presumably thanks to her almighty FLO powers.

"Why, right here, of course! What do you need?"

How convenient!

Ciess, meanwhile, seemed surprised with Kim-Ko's response, and actually had to pause before responding.

"W-Well, excuse me! I was just being concerned about your safet---I-I mean, Her messing things up for everyone. Geez! Don't take things so personally!" Ciess huffed, folding her arms.

While Ciess was busy being all tsuntsun, Shan decided to address the problem of Mr. Thorren. In order to prevent the glass from getting all up in their grill, the glass was immediately coated with Shan-brand shadows (brb copyrighting), but it took him a while to do anything further.

"Isn't She one of Them? Wouldn't helping Her technically go against your contract? You should probably do something about that."

---

Code: Select all

Ding!

Surprisingly, the 'password' worked and the group would suddenly end up tumbling into a computer room (so that's where the computer room is!). Well, to be fair, not all of the screens were hooked up to computers...but absolutely all of them were displaying either illegal transactions on e-Bay or current conditions throughout the Test Reality. :3

At the end of the room, a random chair spun around, revealing Bunny with the less-Bunnylicious bunny curled up on his lap (which doesn't make a lot of sense considering their near-equal sizes, but who are we to question Bunny?). :3

"Ooh, I'm just in time for visitors! Man, I'm awesome with timing! But, uh, anyway, 'sup guys? How can the Marvelously Fantastic Bunny help you today?" :3

MEANWHILE SPRINKLES WAS ALL OMNOMNOMNOMNOM

((The Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts))

The King was taken back, but he had to keep the upper hand for Moi.

"You think you can defeat the manipulator of metal with such a primitive tool such as a metal knife?" He chuckled in a nervous laugh, "Well, this is my court, thus, we'll play by my rules. A CHESS MATCH! Except, instead of a real play-by-play like chess, I choose your statuette representation to battle! If you win, I'll accept my defeat. So it's a chess match that's nothing like chess! Beautiful!"

The King shaded his eyes, and talked in a strange tone of mystery, "The trick is, Nika, this statuette is exactly like you in every way," The be-dazzled Nika statue that I described early, with the knife, lifelessly floated it's way to the confrontation. "It knows your every move," it stopped. "Every reaction. Every thought." He looked towards his creation, "It's impossible to kill yourself. So, you see this is only a gamble on my part, as we both know if you can't beat you, than you can't be you either!"

The King closed his eyes, and the statue began moving out of it's execution pose. It's motions beginning slow, and crumbling into more humane gestures. Light sheets of metal started shedding off of her, and before her very eyes an opaque and shiny, deep purple version of Nika appeared. She appeared to look like a liquidy glass jewel. All appearances aside, it was no super-human.

((The Doll Shop))

"Bound in many many many chains. D-don't worry though... it wasn't so bad, I didn't too much know of anything better at the time!" That's so sad. ): "All ready to go!"

((There))

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that... Um, I was wondering if I could ask you some questions so I could get to understand things a bit better!"

((The Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts))

The Amethyst figure dodged the attack with ease, flinging towards Nika with the same speed, and same target - her stomach. A knife identical to hers gripped tight in the female's hand.

Although Nika wouldn't much notice, the other statues had formed a gleaming ring around the skirmish. The King climbed upon his representation, which strangely had the Jade Moi on it's shoulder's. The statues formed two large thrones for the two to take a seat and watch comfortably.

"Do not fret my dear Moi, Amethyst is the most mysterious jewel of them all! Beyond it's rough exterior is a soft and peaceful interior. Common lore says that it even has healing properties."

((There))

"Well, get ready for a few. You can even ask Neren, I'm obtaining all sort of knowledge today! Well, here goes~! How are you enjoying the test reality thus far? I know there are some obvious errors, but I think it's gotten further than many of the other versions of this round - oh yeah, I guess I should explain that I know about all those resets. Those also confuse me, why do you need to make constant resets? Is it not worth watching this round of the Test without it having perfection? And while we're on the topic~, why have I been in this reality for every one of those resets? I mean... I'm sure there is a reason... Unless Elia and I are what she says, an unfortunate glitch in the settings. Being in a paradox in one reality tends to have it's upsets in others - but that doesn't explain people like Ignis who have also had a role throughout the whole thing... but I guess he's not in this one... And my last point; do you enjoy your job? Are there things you regret? Where do you see this going?"

Aita's real good at getting lots of questions out before the questionee has a chance to answer them! (:

((The Doll Shop))

AND ELIA FOLLOWED.

"What are you thinking of?" She asked pleasantly.

((The Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts))

"Well, it's not too difficult, and there are a number of different ways of becoming not ones self. In pokemon, leveling up is often the key to turning into something else. If it's not by experience that you change, then it's with a given item. For example an Oress, but Nika doesn't have that option, now does she. Sometimes a person changes based on their surrounding, for example an Eevee will turn into a Glaceon if it's subjected to cold conditions. Love, and hatred also change who you are, an Eevee will change into an Umbreon if you give it unconditional love in the moonlight.

Alice herself once went from only being Alice, to being much more Alice by the time she was to face my beautiful Jabberwocky. She went through many obstacles, and talked to many of the different beings in Wonderland. Of course, she did have the help of the Vorbal Sword.

The last option, if gaining experience to change doesn't work, then forgetting everything is the last resort. If you know nothing of who you are, or what you're going to do, your inhibitions have changed, your style is different, then you aren't really you - are you?" He looked at his little Moi with a crooked smile, "Or you could just simply wear a mask."

The purple face replicated a cocky smile, "Correct." Amethyst, now going commando, rushed towards Nika with an open fist jab. Her target: under Nika's nose.

((There))

"I understand. I don't like talking much about the world I left behind either." She twittled her thumbs uncomfortably, "In fact I'd much rather be here fighting for my life than where I use to be... Your turn!" Her upbeat voice sliced the tension away, "You ask me a question, and I answer it to the best of my abilities! Now, I know you might not have a lot to ask me, but friends return favors!"

Aita once again smiled towards Neren and her booty-shorts. Dayum she's a sexy fish.

((The Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts))

"Giving up so quick? I thought I was better than that..." Amethyst said, letting the projectile knife penetrate the side of her cheek. The girl didn't flinch. Perhaps she didn't feel pain, although she looked like a sub-par cut of purple diamond. She examined all around the field for any sort of fault, but it seemed the whole place was basically in her favor.

"Check." The girl smiled, WHAT A GOOD TIME TO FORGET WHO YOU ARE NOW NIKA AND WHIP HER ASS.

"There are many natural stages in life where we forget ourselves and change. Some unnatural too." The King sighed, "Looks like this match may be over quicker than I had expected."

((There))

"YOU DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND HOW GOOD Uhm.... Well, me and Neren are real good pals. And when you reach a certain level in friendship, you begin to have thoughts on taking them to the mall. So after feeding her many, many, many burgers, letting her sit in the sun, and introducing her to my friends - I took her shopping! Doesn't she look better than you'd ever be able to imagine? Although, a lot of her new look is obviously from the super powerful force known as looove." Aita beamed. It was about time for them to go.

"Well, I guess we're going to leave you with that, to do your Test Reality Overlord things." She grabbed Neren's arm, and began walking to the exit, "Goodbye~!"

((???))

She nodded to Verity, and saw her way with Durnam. "Wow, Verity sure is a champ. I'm glad she's on our side. Where do you suppose we look?"

((The Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts))

The feared knife came shuttling down, splitting the animation clear in half. Pools of cool pink liquid exploded across the checkered ground.

The King frowned. "No fun! Checkmate!?" He looked down at his poor creation, now a completely different figure. How sad it made him feel to have lost another of his great creations. One he had been controlling even. How could one single and weak woman be able to take down a creation that took his heart and soul to create. It was perfect. Absolute to every bone, muscle and hair. Everything was wrong. Things that didn't make sense were blending into other things that didn't make sense, and soon everything in the King's mind didn't make that much sense. His eyes went frantic, he was already beginning to turn into dust from his heart outward. He tried to grab the sands - stop them, put them back. Everything would be alright. He only lost by a little... But his attempts were futile. The sands pile in his hands, but the clasp of his hands around them was enough to send them scattering throughout the air.

"Y-you'd think..." he heaved in hysteria, "A m-man like... me would die with more sh-sh sh..." The words wouldn't come out as much as he struggle to let them escape, they wouldn't. Looking at his little Moi, he began to tear. That Emerald green in his eyes fading into a dull and lost Jade. "T-there are... always more.... Wonderlands." He tried to smile to reassure her, but the pain was too obviously clear. His heart was breaking.

He held onto Moi's hands gently. He kissed them as if she were the true Queen of Hearts, and disappeared into the soft breeze. His dust more like confetti - colors of all kinds of rare gems filled the air. The dust circled the King's statuette.

The statue began crumbling - Moi you'd better wipe those tears, and get off. ):

((There))

"Yeah I think I'm ready to go home now. I miss Ara and Bunny. I'm thankful you took me here though! I understand a lot now, and my goal has been re-enlightened!"

((???>Castle Oress))

Elia nodded and began on their walk.

"Do you have a plan on what you're going to do if I don't make it as far as you?" Wowie Elia, you need some sort of ice-breaker before you bring questions like that out.

((The Court of Ten-Thousand Hearts))

The King didn't even need to read Sileny's words to know to nod in agreement. He bolted toward the semi-loli. "Moi! Moi! Look up my sweet little Moi! I'm back! I told you there were more Wonderlands for us! Let's go find them! Moi~" The King got down on his knees, resting his hand on Mariol's shoulder. He smiled with his eyes closed, "You don't need to worry about forgetting, I'm here now to keep you remembering. I will always be here."

((Umbra's Mansion))

Aita DID NOT follow Neren right away. She gave Dicro a tender and passionate kiss hug, resting her head in his gut. She seemed to talking into it, perhaps revealing her future sins, into the deaf world. He could defintely tell that she was talking to him, due to the release of warm air from her mouth, however, the murmurs were inaudible until the point where she began tilting her head upwards, "-be fine just as long as I know there's people to come back to." She smiled with wet eyes, letting her arms fall, until they reached Dicro's hands, "Hopefully."

Aita smiled at Fray completely sincerely before letting go and running up the stairs after Neren, letting her eyes dry out in the motion.

---

Once the duo got to Ara's room, she knocked on her door, then let herself in. "Ara! You've missed an adventure, so I'm going to take you on a midnight one! The mission is dangerous, and I really want you to come..."