"Huh, Psyche said you were a bit of an idiot but you are actually kind of smart huh?" Delic stated.

Theo didn't know whether to be pleased, or insulted that Psyche had told him that. Plus, what was their relationship anyway? Just Guardians of the Forest? Why did she never mention that she knew Delic in the first place?

"Fooled, be not." Hugo said all of a sudden, jabbing an accused thumb at Theo's direction. "What he said just now, I know not, but indeed an idiot, he is."

Theo forced himself to smile and not gut the elf right then. Hugo may be his friend, but there were times that he wanted to strangle him or stuff him in a sack of potatoes and throw him into the sea. Even so, Delic seemed to find it more humorous than serious as he chuckled under his breath.

"Anyway, where was I?"

"Realities." Hugo helped.

"Ah right." Delic said. "There are different types of Realities, all of them still yet to be discovered. There are some special types of Realities though, like a part of the Forest where Psyche acts as a Necronite, Keeper of Souls. That is the Fourth Reality, the realm of the Dead. Then there is the First Reality, also known as the Glass Reality."

"Glass Reality?" Theo asked in a skeptical tone. That was such an odd thing to name one layer of Reality.

"Yep, it's a realm of truth." Delic continued. "In this Reality, you see the world in its true colour, you learn the truth of the past and present. Only a few people can travel to this Reality, but Alices are an exception. They can easily go from one Reality to another."

Theo felt all the nerves inside of him scream in horror as Delic explained. He recalled the time where he was underground, with the heaps of skeletons and the past selves of Hugo and Psyche. He heard learn the truth from them, learned their pasts. Yet, to be verbalized out loud, it sent shivers down to his spine.

This was further proof that his previous life existed, that he was an Alice too. Regardless, he kept quiet and tried to look indifferent, tried to not raise any suspicions upon to himself.

"Alices?" Hugo asked and Theo almost jumped out of his skin. "What are they? Heard of them, only."

"They are just normal people like me and you." Delic answered. "A bit more gifted if I have to distinguish them. They can move from one Reality to another as so they desire, but the one thing that makes them stand out as Alices are their Wonderland, which is Theo's question, right?"

As the young librarian turned to Theo, the blonde lad swallowed a nervous gulp and nodded. He was feeling a bit queasy about the topic of Alice, more so when one of his enemies happens to be one as well, but he needed answers about that particular carnival. There was just something off about it.

"Well, it's a Reality, created by an Alice." Delic answered.

Silence, again.

"Wait, what?" Both Hugo and Theo exclaimed aloud and at once. Before either of the two were about to bombard Delic with questions, the young librarian hushed them both with such ferocity, the two of them leaned back in their chair, clamping their mouth shut.

"You heard me." Delic continued, relaxing back to his chair. "Alices create a Reality called Wonderland. Another name for Wonderland is called Ultra Reality. It's like an invisible room, where everything exists at the same time. Like I said, we are having a conversation in this Reality, but something else is happening in another Reality.

"In Ultra Reality, everything is happening all the time." Delic continued. "Slower, faster of just invisible to the human eye. Because of time, Alice can define past, present and future. You have a different perception of the environment. It's not linked to the definitions... Do you get it?"

For two whole seconds, no one uttered a word.

"Dizzy, I feel." Hugo said, holding his masked head with one hand as if to stabilize himself. Even Theo had to agree, that the information was overflowing in his head so much, he was feeling disoriented, like a hullabaloo of catastrophe was doing a Russian dance in his mind.

"In short, Wonderland is where madness occurs." Delic tried again. "You can't predict what's going to happen, because the Alice of that Wonderland is utilizing all Realities at once. If a normal Lillin tries to do the same, they either are going to go mad, gets Shadow Kissed, or in the worst case scenario, die."

"Oh." Both Hugo and Theo said, once again in synchronization.

"The problem though..." Delic continued. "There used to be an Alice called Obsidian. He was a well-loved figure, and the First Guardian of the Forest."

"What happened to him?" Theo asked, knowing something must have happened to make Delic bring that person up to the conversation.

"He fell into depravity." Delic replied. "That's like giving up yourself to the Shadows. Not like Necronites. Necronites did that to take the darkness away from others. What Obsidian did was he embraced the darkness; let it taint him into Lillin's most great and fearful enemy."

"What do you mean?" Hugo asked.

"Remember that I said Alice are gifted?" Delic asked. "Well, Obsidian was extremely gifted. He could not only create Wonderland, but he is the embodiment of what Lillins called Fate. He can change any single Lillin's fate with just a flick of his wrist. He could make a rich man turn into a poor one with just a few words. He was a single man who can change the course of destiny itself as he has that power in his hands. So imagine a person like that, turning to the dark."

Theo had to suppress a shudder. He even saw Hugo's pointed ears started to quiver.

"Well, funny thing is Obsidian existed at the time when I was alive." Delic drawled on. "Let's say he liked to create stories, manipulating people to become his characters, changing the course of fate and destiny to write his chapters. All of them usually ended up in great tragedy. No one can go against his powers except Alices, since it cancels his magic out."

"So what happened to him?" Theo repeated, again, trying to find the reason why Delic was revealing all of this.

"Well, like all mortals, he died." Delic said but then, his expression grew dark. It was a frightening look on the young librarian, the kind that spelled out he wanted to murder someone. The kill intent was evident in his eyes, clear as glass.

"Hey, Theo." Delic said all of a sudden, breaking Theo's chain of thoughts. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you want to ask about Wonderland?"

Theo blinked and then pondered on how to answer it. He had his second identity to conceal, but then thought a little bit of honesty could not hurt. How was he going to reveal his secret anyway just by revealing why he wanted to ask?

"I visited  a place called Wonderland." Theo answered. "It was a carnival back in my place... uh... in Third Reality."

Almost a second after, Theo felt a surge of pain spread through his chest, like his heart had become needles and when it pulsated, it pricks. At the same time, Delic's face paled and a look of disbelief appeared.

"No way... not again." Delic breathed as Theo clutched his chest. Hugo must have noticed the sudden shift in the air at that very moment. He was soon at Theo's side, patting on his back and muttering something soothing in his ear, something elvish by the sound of it.

"Theo... do you know what your cabin represents?" Delic asked, his voice now calm in a strange way that it sounded dangerous. Theo gulped, trying to recover from the shock of pain while he tried to come up with an answer despite the little bursts of pain where his chest injury was.

"Those who don't fit in with the other cabins?" Theo asked. "The special ones?"

"You are wrong about the first but you are right about the second." Delic said, looking depressed. "They are special cabins for children, cabins to protect them from Obsidian."

"What?" Hugo exclaimed, keeping Theo still. "Said that he died, didn't you?"

"I did." Delic nodded. "But he wasn't gone for good. He reincarnated into this era, wrecking havoc again by changing the course of destiny. He lures unsuspecting Lillins in the Third Reality, and then turn them into Shadows. He is after everyone in your cabin."

"He is after us?" Theo asked. "Why?"

"A long time ago, Obsidian had a startling discovery." Delic continued. "Before, only Alices can go against his plot, go against his manipulation. But in a particular era, when he wanted to create the downfall of a couple of children, he discovered he could not. Soon, he realized they can disrupt the ideal harmony of his power as well, and only one of them was a pure Alice, three others impure, while the rest as normal Lillins. They ruined his story, simply by existing."

Theo felt a small headache as a vision of a handful of children came to mind. A part of him wondered if the couple of children where Alazne and the lot she hung out with. However, deep inside Theo knew, it was them. It had to be. He had no proof, but he was sure that it was them.

"It made him furious." Delic continued, bring Theo back to present. "Now imagine Obsidian now, reincarnated with his memories, slowly building up power, to find that a couple of others still resists his harmony."

"Resist his harmony, us, how?" Hugo demanded, his mask begin to melt as a thin purple mist began to emanate from his body.

"Never met him in my life, I."

It took a long while for Delic to answer, but when he did, Theo felt time stood still and heard Hugo held his breath.

"You did." Delic said, glancing away as if to avoid their gaze. "He tried to kill you when you were in your mother's womb. He changed fate by making the medic give your mother poison instead of medicine when she was ill. What happened though, was your body became a composition of poison instead, thus, you survived. Unfortunately, your mother did not."

Theo almost swore under his breath, the truth crashing over him like a tsunami of the sea's wrath. He couldn't believe it, that the reason Hugo had poison running through his veins because it was done by the hands of another.

All the while, Hugo stood still beside him, not making a sound. He wasn't breathing either, he just sat there, paralyzed, drinking it all in. Theo feared that whatever he was feeling under that mask, it was not good. If Theo were in his shoes, he would have lost control and throw the biggest tantrum ever.

Surprising enough, the elf did no such thing. He remained motionless, like his soul escaped out of his body, leaving the shell of an elf he was. It was very unlike of the elf, who was a usual hot head and doesn't think things through.

"And you." Delic continued, looking at Theo who winced inwards. "You got out of Obsidian's Wonderland unharmed. So far, there are no records of any Lillin, getting out of the carnival alive, and that does not go well with Obsidian. He will do anything, to hunt you down."

Theo shrank into his chair, feeling like a small child once more. The full magnitude of his situation struck him then. He was not safe, not anymore at least. He knew that being an Alice, it will have serious consequences, but he had no idea that it would stretch to this extent.

He had no idea that his very existence was going to be the sole reason that someone, a greater force out there, will hunt him down to kill him. It was all too much, way too much for Theo to bear.

Delic either didn't know how to read the atmosphere, or he didn't know whether it was safe, but he continued on, showering them with the bitter truth of their position.

"Obsidian is hunting down Psyche too." Delic said, crumpling his shirt with his hands in nervousness. "He is hunting her because she was able to resist his magic of manipulation. He is hunting down Melita because she didn't break as he plotted her to. He is hunting down Dahlia as well and then there's what happened to Lottie-

"STOP!"

A voice yelled, and it was Hugo. Theo almost jumped out of his skin, snapping out of his gloomy thoughts and looked up in shock. The elf slammed down on the table so hard, it made a dent and almost split it into two perfect halves. A thin purple mist of poison hovered around him and there were small curls of red-hot fire dancing across his body. Theo knew it was a figurative phrase, but in this case, Hugo was actually going to explode.

"No more!" Hugo howled, his voice breaking. "Don't! No more! Can't handle, I... Not Lottie! Not her! No more!"

Theo didn't know what to do. Here they was, Hugo on the verge of having a meltdown with the flames growing brighter and bigger. Even Delic seemed to be panicking, leaning back into his chair while looking as if he was going to scurry away any second.

Theo tried to scavenge his brain from a solution, coming up with different ways and equations of an unwritten formula. Soon, his usual streaming of ideas in his brain were dried up, leaving him deem useless. He had seen Hugo angry before, he had learn how to calm him down, but this was something beyond he could control. This was a persona thing that Theo can't even fathom what torture it put the elf through.

Then there was a loud crash, followed by incoherent foreign curses. Just like that, Hugo's anger diffused like a balloon being popped.

Theo and the others turned their attention to the source of the noise, which wasn't very far. Psyche on the floor, disoriented and awake with both hands clutching at the back of her head, most likely where had struck when she fell.

Just as he assumed, she was the one who was swearing in another language. Theo betted it was none other than the Old Latin. On the other hand, it could be Italian, whatever language Psyche seemed most fluent in.

"Psyche?" Delic called, getting up from his seat as he rushed to her side. She didn't say anything but brushed him off, picking herself up. She wobbled and Delic almost reached out to catch her, but she was soon standing tall and walked straight to Hugo, who almost stepped back, flames and mist still lingering around him.

Theo watched as Psyche stared at the elf, her stern scarlet eyes glowing while Hugo seemed to stare back. Then without breaking eye contact, Psyche raised her hand and glided one finger over the bells around her neck. She continued to do so until her fingers stopped against one.

It was a purple bell, a pale purple bell that had the same design as the one Theo had. The blonde lad looked in curiosity as his Scabbard removed it from the bundle of bells and gave it to the elf. Hugo remained motionless the whole time, staring at her, breathing into the mask, silent.

"Want me to take it, you do?" Hugo asked after a brief pause. Theo was more than surprised to see her nod, which was close to a conversation she ever made since the Phantom Attack.

The Phantom Attack! There was still that to think about too!

Even so, there was something more important at hand and Theo observed as Hugo plucked the bell from her palm. Then, to both of their surprise, Psyche held Hugo's other hand, brought it to his other hand and made him curl both hands over the bell. Then she released his hands and clasped her hand together, bringing it up to her chest as if in prayer.

At first, nothing happened and an awkward silence reclaimed the air. Then, little by little, white light started escaping out of Hugo's hand. Theo almost snorted to himself when the elf yelped and glanced at once place to another, acting as if he was holding a tiny bomb in his hands that was going to detonate.

Then, the light did something which Theo never knew that it had the ability to do so. It bent towards Hugo, leaving a trail of veil-like light behind and danced around Hugo's masked face. It was faint, but Theo heard something from the light, like a soft song, or a melody, something that was so muffled that it seemed it was made for only Hugo to hear.

After a while, the light ceased, the soft melody gone and nothing but Hugo's hitched breathing was there in the air. Then, with one hand, Hugo clamped it over his mask and pulled it off, revealing puffed eyes and a red nose, as if he was on the verge to cry but can't bring himself to.

"How?" Hugo asked, his gaze at Psyche whose eyes were downcast in avoidance.

"Then, true, is it?" Hugo asked, seeming to get that she would only answer a yes or no type of question. Theo saw Psyche cringe to herself, shoulders rising, as if trying to make herself look small. Still, she nodded in response.

Then to Theo's surprise, Hugo laughed. It wasn't a forced laugh that he expected from the elf after what he had just heard. It was a genuine happy laugh that seemed to shock Psyche as well. She looked somewhat terrified and she seemed to contemplate whether to disappear into the Shadows or just stay there.

Hugo must have thought so too, because in the next second, Theo felt his heart skip a beat when the elf hugged the girl in a close embrace, who stiffened upon contact.

"Really, thank you." Hugo said, his voice mixed with hysteria and laughter. Psyche didn't respond, she remained still like a statue, not trying to return the hug. Theo supposed that at least she didn't push the elf away, which meant she didn't quite hate the elf as much as the elf and others believed her to. The part where wanted to be friends with Hugo must have still lingered to this day.

"Awww." Delic cooed, bringing all of them back to reality. "That's sweet. You guys made up. Yay."

This caused both Hugo and Psyche to push each other back as far away as possible, a look of pure disgust appeared on their faces as they both look elsewhere. Be that as it may, Theo soon caught the corners of Hugo's lips tip up ever so slight and Psyche's expression softened into mild annoyance. The sight made him stifle a chortle. There was the elf and stubborn girl he knew.

Also, Theo had no idea what Psyche did or what she made him hear, but it seemed to mend some of the rift between them. That was good progress.

"Well, is there anything else I can help with?" Delic asked, though he looked a little frenzied. "I am afraid I can only spare a couple of minutes right now. Time flows in a way that it's either faster or slower than Arcadia and I don't want either of you three to suffer the consequences."

"The Phantom." Theo stated, remembering. "Why did it attack us? Why was it there?"

At once, Delic's face fell but this time, a smile didn't come up.

"I am afraid I can't answer that." The young librarian said, as he was forcing to bring himself up to say it.

"Why not?" Hugo asked, then he frowned. "Wait, asked what, Theo?"

"I can't reveal what was the real cause of the Phantom attack." Delic said a bit clearer. "All three of you are not ready to hear such things, not when you all are so close to falling to depravity. If you hear it right now, it's going to break you apart, and I don't want to see that happen, not again."

Then, he softened.

"Don't worry, when the time comes, I will tell you." Delic assured, before he grinned. "Time is a rhythm of your perception after all."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Theo asked, growing desperate but Delic wouldn't answer, not when a circle of light materialized behind him.

"It is time." He said and Theo knew better than to ask any further. Their time was up and the only time he can see Delic again was by solving the Wasd Code. There was no way he was going to let Psyche summon a portal again.

'Honestly.' He thought. 'The girl has some serious self-preservation issues!'

But was it because she still blamed the death of that one girl she called sister?

'...Well...'

There was a moment of hesitation before Hugo took a deep breath and plunged in. Then, to Theo's surprise, Psyche gave Delic a warm hug, who gave her a kiss on the forehead in return, and then dove after the portal.

Theo stayed back. He couldn't help it. The scene continued to replay in his mind as he gawked at Delic.

"It's not what you think." Delic said with an amused laugh. "I love her as I would love a sister. She reminds me of my younger sister back in my days. But, Psyche is a bit scarier and more silent if you ask me."

"Riiight." Theo said, not at all convinced. Then again, Delic did have a sister, whose face that Theo can't recognize. Plus, he must have been lonely in the library, nothing but flying jellyfishes to keep him company. Psyche must have felt lonely in the forest too, and perhaps that was why they were treated each other like siblings, they found company in each other.

"Before you go..." Delic trailed off, raising his hand as he gestured one jellyfishes to him. Theo witnessed the small creature bobbed its way to the young librarian, holding a book in its tentacles. Delic took it off from it, brushed it off with his hands before smiling at the jellyfishes. The creature made a content noise and bobbed away, now glowing pink instead of gold.

Theo decided not to ponder on that.

"Here." Delic said, bringing it to Theo. The blonde lad looked at the book with caution. It had a blue cover and foreign words printed on the front. Theo was about to ask Delic what was written on it when the words began to move, like the time at the board earlier that day.

It rotated, danced across, jumped off the book, twisted ant turned. Once the words turned to English, Theo almost dropped the book as if it was a thousands of degrees hot.

Alazne Leonheart

"It's been a while, Alazne." Delic smiled, the kind of smile that was filled with innocence than hostility. Theo still gulped in response.

"How did you-

"Find out you were her reincarnation?" Delic interrupted to which Theo can't help but nod.

"I am not entirely sure." Delic said, shrugging his shoulders. "You don't look anything like her, nor do you speak the way she does. But I guess you have her aura? What gave you away is how you were able to grasp things so quickly by making deductions from your experiences. And the way you think, its similar. But, you are more Theo than Alazne, whatever that's supposed to mean."

"Oh..." Theo said, feeling oddly happy to hear it from the young librarian when curiosity got the best of him.

"How did you die?" Theo asked, before adding. "Why do you have those eyes? From what I remember, it used to be brown."

Delic shrugged his shoulders, seeming to be uncomfortable with the question. Feeling guilty and regretful, Theo wanted to brush it off, tell him to forget about it. However, the young librarian beat him to it.

"I died because of the beldam witch." Delic said. "She fed me with so much sweets, I got diabetes remember? There was no medicine for diabetes back then. Magic only helped me cope, but after the Lady in White disappeared, so did her magic. I soon died a few hours later. When I came to, I was bound to this Library and to the Forest. I had these eyes as long as I could remember since then. But hey, I get to read all of these memories and get to meet you again. So it's fine."

Theo didn't feel that way. If he were in Delic's shoes, he would have despaired for a long time. It seemed Delic had plenty of time to despair, seeing that he had 'lived' for millions of years and soon had gotten over it. Then, a disturbing thought popped in Theo's mind.

"I don't know what happened back then, but I know it was a tragedy." Theo started. "Are we... are we repeating it again in this time?"

"...I don't know." Delic said after a while in an honest tone. "What I do know is that none of you are in Obsidian's control. You write your own destiny, not him. So I believe it should be fine. But, if you should fall into depravity, I trust Psyche to send half of the dead army to you to get it together."

Theo had no idea whether to be assured, or scared. He decided why not both.

"Don't worry." Theo said, his trademark grin back on his face. "I may not know what's going on, but I am aware that there are danger lurking about and trust me, I will beat the sanity out of them, Theo-style."

Delic chuckled. Theo gave him a salute and clutched the book close to him. With a deep breath, he jumped into the portal and let it whoosh him away, back to Arcadia.

Author's note: Phew! That was part two. I am sorry that this turned out a bit angsty, honestly the story has some of it here and there but I will try to make it light hearted as possible. As I mentioned earlier, my best friend and Beta reader is out of commission at the moment, so I have no idea whether this is a good chapter or not. Honestly, I swear.

Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to because so far he/she (sorry, I don't know your gender! I just realized) was reading through my first work (which is horribly clichéd, filled with plot holes and need massive serious editing) and seemed to enjoy it as it is. Which really makes me happy as he/she (*mentally slams head on a wall continuously for epic failing) accept it as it is. Anyway, if you see any mistakes please notify!

Oh and don't forget to vote!