Chapter 45: The Nameless Forest Part 2
"Hide and seek," Alice repeated with a delighted twirl, her small feet barely making a sound on the paper-littered floor.
"I'll hide."
"You'll find me."
"If you can."
She giggled and darted toward a nearby hallway, motioning behind her.
"Count to sixty! No peeking!"
Rin raised an eyebrow, but there was a strange weight to Alice's voice, like a rule older than either of them.
Riya gave a nod, closed his eyes, and began counting aloud.
Rin joined him, the echoes of their voices bouncing around the floating drawers and caged cards.
By the time they reached sixty, the castle was silent again.
They moved slowly through the corridors, past flickering lamps shaped like doll heads and paintings that seemed to change expression when not directly looked at.
At one point, Cú stepped lightly over a brick that floated midair, part of a shattered staircase suspended without logic.
Rin whispered, "This whole place feels like a dream someone forgot to finish."
Riya only nodded.
Eventually, they reached a strange room — desks floated lazily midair, like thoughts adrift.
One of them spun slowly, and as they watched, a tiny figure popped out from behind it.
"I see you," Riya said.
Alice pouted, then smiled brightly. "You win!"
They approached her gently. "Alice," Rin asked, kneeling to meet her gaze, "are you a Master?"
Alice nodded. "I guess I am," she said, twiddling her fingers.
"Not on purpose, though. I didn't choose to be. I just... ended up this way."
Riya and Rin shared a look as they each reached out, their fingers brushing her tiny hands.
Her skin was cold, but not dead — more like mist.
She didn't pull away.
She looked down at their hands, eyes wide in wonder.
"You can really see me," she said softly. "You can really touch me…"
"We can," Riya said. "You're not alone."
Alice's expression crumpled for a second, like she might cry, but instead, she smiled—so sweetly, it almost hurt.
"Then will you be my friends?" she asked.
The words carried that otherworldly weight again.
But how could they say no?
"Yes," Rin whispered.
"Of course," Riya added.
Alice beamed, and led them forward again — this time to an eerie room filled with giant spinning teacups.
They sat inside one together as it turned slowly, the world blurring slightly beyond the rim.
Rin asked, "Have you been here long?"
"A long time," Alice said. "I've played alone for so long."
"People walk through here, but no one ever sees me."
"They don't remember."
"Not until now."
She looked up with a smile, but her hands gripped theirs tightly.
"But you do."
"You're different."
They told her about their journey — the first floor, the Servants they met, the traps, the fights.
Alice listened, wide-eyed, her legs kicking slightly as if she wanted to dance along to their story.
But then, as they began to mention the third floor's exit, her smile faded.
"You're going to leave, aren't you?"
Rin hesitated. "We have to keep moving. It's the only way forward."
Alice looked down. "But if you do… you'll forget me."
Riya's chest tightened. "Is that part of the floor's rule?"
"Yes. That's what happens in the Nameless Forest," she said.
"If you leave, you forget."
"That's why no one ever came back."
"Not because they died."
"Because… they left me behind."
Silence lingered.
"I don't understand this Grail War thing," Alice continued, "but… I have a wish too."
They looked at her gently, giving her space.
"I want to be cured," she whispered.
"I want to be human."
"I don't want to be a ghost anymore."
Her voice was brittle now, cracking at the edges.
"I remember… when I died."
"I was sick."
"But they didn't help."
"They just… did things to me."
"Painful things."
"All the time."
"Morning."
"Noon."
"Night."
Rin's hand tightened around Riya's.
"They kept hurting me."
"Until I stopped breathing."
"That's when I came here."
"It hurts less here."
"Everything is… wonderful here."
"Endless sweets."
"Pretty things."
"It's not so lonely."
She smiled again.
"This is Wonderland."
"And I'm always happy in Wonderland."
But her smile didn't reach her eyes.
Riya and Rin sat silently.
They couldn't undo her past.
But they could give her this moment.
The warmth of connection.
Even if just for now.
"We'll always remember you," Riya promised.
"Even if the memory fades," Rin added, "we'll hold on to the feeling."
Alice's lips trembled. "Then let's play one more game sometime."
"It's a promise," Riya said.
Alice turned serious for the first time. "Be careful. There's something in the castle… a monster."
"It takes people away. Masters go in, but only the monster comes out."
"What does it look like?" Rin asked.
Alice shook her head. "I don't know. I just feel it. It's always there… watching."
They stood, thanked her again, and began to walk back toward the front.
But as they reached the main hall, something strange happened.
They looked at each other.
"What were we just doing?" Riya asked.
Rin blinked, confused. "I… don't know. We were gathering information."
"From someone..."
Someone?
Neither of them could remember who.
The name, the face, the voice — gone like mist in sunlight.
But the feeling lingered.
The warmth of a tiny hand in theirs.
The echo of a promise.
And the quiet warning of a monster still ahead.