[BEING REMASTERED]The Curiosity Prophesy(An HnKnA Fanfiction)

Chapter 7: The Truth About Liars, Part 2

"Leave me be." The girl growled. It had been much time since her father's death, and she was now a vengeful preteen, hissing at everyone that came near her. 12 years old suited her no better than 6, and she was sure she wasn't part of this world. At 11 she had learned the truth, and somewhere in her memory, she found a faint flicker of something bright and happy and not of the violent and jarring Country of Hearts.

"You have to come with me to the Clock Tower." A man gripped her arm tightly.

"Look, Ace, I don't know what you want, but I need to be alone. I'm going to be alone for my whole life, and why can't these people accept it?" She was still living in the apartment, which was still clean and tidy, except for one thing- the carpet was still stained red. The girl had never bothered to clean it, a stark reminder of the horror that day had brought her.

The role-holders had been replaced, and a new game had started. Not that it mattered to the girl. She lived by herself, but developed skills most girls do not learn until they have homes of their own. It was surprising at first but impressive always.

"No, Julius insisted."

"I've got laundry to get to, Ace."

"Come or else..." Ace's hand rested on his sword.

"What the hell?" The girl hissed, but dropped her shopping list on the counter. "Fine. I'll come with you, but this better be quick."

~Timeskip by peter_the_rabbit, the Prime Minister of Heart Castle and the role-holder in the role of the White Rabbit~

"Soumei." Julius didn't look up from his work as the girl walked in. She was wearing a black long-sleeved sweater and camo-green cargo pants with a brown belt, old tennis shoes on her feet.

"Clockmaker." The girl replied dryly. "I need to get home and do laundry, so make it quick."

"Heh. You never fail to impress me in your likeness to me, Soumei." Julius put a fixed clock into a box on the right his desk and pulled out another broken one from the box on the left. "Anyway. I have an announcement for you. You have turned the correct age, and it is a time where we are supposed to reveal this to you."

"..." Soumei paused, waiting to hear what the clockmaker had to say.

"Here. Take this. There you go, don't drop it! There-" Julius handed Soumei a large brass key ring with fourteen skeleton keys on it. "Attach it to your belt."

The first four keys were very large and heavy, lavishly decorated. The first key was silver with a pretty heart on the end. The second was gold and had a clover where the heart was on the first one. The third was bronze, a large diamond where the silver heart and gold clover had been on the other ones. The last one that was made of platinum did not have a big sign but was inlaid with many tiny spades.

The rest of the keys were made of copper and plain, with no apparent importance to them. But in all, the key ring was very heavy. Following Julius' instructions she clamped the keyring on her belt casually and gasped as a blue light started to surround her feet, moving up to her calves and then to her thighs and waist. Soumei's clothes quickly started to change; The tennis shoes were replaced with blue and white knee-high boots, her cargo pants with black leggings, and her sweater with a thigh-length black sweater-dress that had 3/4th cut sleeves. Her long black hair was pulled back into ridiculously long pigtails held by white and blue bows. A large white and blue ribbon tied itself around her waist, the key ring still clamped on.

"Whoa," Soumei breathed as the ribbon glowed blue a second longer before fading. "What is that?"

"Don't try to take the boots off." Julius said immediately. "They'll shock you. But you might find you've become an incredibly fast runner."

"Um... Okay... Well that doesn't explain all of this."

"Oh yeah, the big valuable keys are to the domains of Heart, Clover, and Diamonds. No one knows what the last one is, and the last Keeper never lived long enough to find out. The other keys are territory keys."

There are several domains in this world, which is where the world totally moves and and the layout is completely different. Usually the world goes through the cycle once every game.

"So... What am I supposed to do with them? Who's this Keeper?" Soumei asked in confusion.

"You're a neutral role-holder, like me, named the Keeper of the Keys, or just Keeper for short. You were chosen because your older brother and sister are already role-holders, the Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter." Julius explained. "You were kidnapped when you were little because your 'father' wanted those keys."

Soumei looked up in shock. How could that be? Her father was her role-model, the one who took her out for ice-cream on Monday, the person who cared for her...

"That can't be true." Soumei said, gritting her teeth.

"But it is. Now, I need to get back to work, so hurry along to Heart Castle. The Queen wishes for you to stay with her from now on. And you won't have to worry about laundry."

"But you haven't explained hardly anything!" Soumei gaped.

"Out." Julius waved towards the door without looking up. "You'll find it all out eventually..."

"O-Okay... I guess..." Soumei walked out the door. With nothing better to do, she left towards the castle.