Heart no Kuni no Brother

Just Icah

To the people actually reading this: I want to get a jump on chapter two of "Heart no Kuni no Alysander" and I can't unless I decide to put in Alice or not. So I would love it if you went to that story and commented whether or not I should include Alice. I'm at a tie, as it stands, and I'm terrible at breaking ties, though I do want to include Alice.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I <3 you all!
...Enjoy?
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"Hey Ezra?" she asked me idly one day, leaning her elbows on my bed.

"I told you to call me Icah, Alice." I flipped the page of my book and tugged on the blanket. I had decided to rest in bed that day.

"But Ezra is such a nice name..." she said softly. "I don't know why you dislike it."

"It's too stuffy for my tastes. You wanted to tell me something?" Another page flip.

"Oh, that's right. Do you remember me telling you about Wonderland?" She laid her head on my knee.

"Of course, Alice." You only tell me every day.

"Well, what if I told you that you could go too?" She played with her fingers. After her disappearance, her mind had slipped a little. Only a little, mind you. "My friend said he would be willing to take you this time." Okay, maybe more than a little.

I looked up, a little alarmed. "Alice, who is this friend?"

She giggled and traced circles on the bedspread. "He's the one that took me to Wonderland. His name is Peter."

"Alice, next time Peter wants to talk to you, take me with you. I don't want you wandering, alright?" Honestly, sometimes it was like looking after a child.

She looked teary-eyed. "But... But he'll be here in an hour to take you to Wonderland. Aren't you excited?"

I patted her head. "Yes, Alice, I'm very excited, only I'm not feeling well today, so you can't see it. Maybe you should tell him to come back another day." I closed my book and rummaged around in my cluttered night-table until I found a paper and pencil.

Alice was getting upset; she climbed fully onto my bed, giving me what I referred to as the eyes. "No, no, no, no, no!" With every word she bounced, and I quickly pulled my legs away from her. "If you don't go with him today, after he came so far to visit, he'll be very cross with me!"

I scribbled out a note and folded it up, searching for a candle. "Alice, what did Peter do the last time he was cross with you?"

"He didn't talk to me for weeks!" she wailed, crumpling her skirt. "And he wouldn't give my letters to everyone else, and I couldn't get any word from Julius, or Vivaldi, or Blood-!"

"There, there, Alice." I patted her head again, found a candle, and lit it. "I'll go today, but you absolutely must listen to everyone in this house while I'm gone, understand? They just want to help you." I dripped wax onto the seam and used my ring to seal it, slipping it under my mattress while Alice looked away.

"Yeah," she sighed heavily. "When you get there, make sure you tell everyone I miss them."

"I will. Alice, should I bring anything?" If she really did have those friends, well, I wanted to be prepared. I couldn't fight anyone off, and I didn't want to be taken away without certain things.

She contemplated it. "Uh, maybe your glasses, or a book, and medicine, and anything else you would never want to part with."

"Then... can I bring you?" I moved forwards and wrapped my elder sister in a hug; she giggled and rubbed her face against my chest.

"No, silly! No people, no no no, only things."

Alice was bad today, acting so childish. On good days, she would even make coffee and read to me, but on bad days she reverted to a child's mindset. A child in the body of a twenty-one year-old woman.

"Alice, can you go tell Cook to make us lunch, please?"

"Okay!" She hopped up and skipped out the doorway, and I heard her laughter echo down the hall.

Heaving a sigh, I pressed a hand to my heart as I stood, steadying my breathing. The room swam, making me dizzy, but I leaned against the wall until I regained my sense of balance. "...Not a good day."

Still, I managed to stagger over to my closet and retrieve a carpetbag of sorts, packing paper and pencils and a book, along with all my medicine and a change of clothes. The medicine was just in case I became seriously ill, as in coughing-up-blood-ill. That happened on occasion, and I abhor being caught unprepared.

Alice didn't come back, so I sat alone with my bag and waited out the hour. She had likely gotten sidetracked by something along the way and forgotten about me.

I grew drowsy and held my bag closer, each time my eyes closed taking longer to open again. "Goodbye..." I murmured, feeling myself topple over onto my bed. "Alice."