Theo had a vague idea what an Alice was and he knew that there can be more than one Alice. According to his previous life, Alazne had known and befriended three of them, whose faces were still a blur to him. However, that was in that era, when technology and cynicism didn't overpower magic. Therefore, he was more than shocked to meet one in his present life, where magic was almost fading to nonexistence.

What shocked him even more was the fact that Psyche knew that he was an Alice too.

"How..." Theo trailed off, ignoring how thick his accent sounded. "When did you...?"

"It was easy to tell." Psyche answered as her gigantic axe shrunk back to its former shape. "For someone who was new in Arcadia you picked up things quite quickly. You know things that no Lillin should know. You have too much power inside of you for a student who had been here for a short period. Might I also add that you look exactly like Alice straight out of the book? Only as a guy?"

"You knew just by those things alone?" Theo asked, sceptical and amazed. Psyche was much more observant than he had thought.

"I had my suspicions." Psyche said, crossing her arms as she narrowed her eyes at him. "I was curious as to why we got attacked by a Shadow that day. It wasn't supposed to be unstable so quickly. Also, it kept calling 'Alice' repeatedly. I first assumed it was because of our friendly guest just now, was scavenging through the forest at that time, but after that bathroom incident, I started to wonder if it's because of you. Judging from your reactions, it is, isn't it?"

Theo gulped. The girl was sharp, way too sharp that it was terrifying.

"I'll take that as yes." Psyche said when Theo didn't reply back. "Figures it would be like that. Not only do I have to protect you, but now I have to prevent you from being found out as a taboo. What a pain in the neck."

Theo didn't know why, but her last sentence was a stab straight to his chest. He shook the feeling aside and decided to change the subject when another screamed pierced the air, making him almost jump out of his skin.

"What on Arcadia is going on there?" Theo asked, looking up at where he caught sight of a broken window before turning to Psyche.

"I am just as clueless as you." Psyche answered, when she raised both of her eyebrows. "Do you wish to find out?"

Theo frowned as he stared at Psyche with curiosity. From the way she said it, he could not help but think the girl was planning something, but of what he couldn't fathom. Even so, he wanted to know what all the screaming was about, even if he was a tad bit scared on what to expect.

Not able to trust his voice, he gave one firm nod.

Without a word, Psyche wrapped her hand around Theo's wrist and he ignored the odd feeling. At some time, Theo felt that her fingers were solid. At other times, he could have sworn her hand faded into nothing. It fluctuated, forcing him to wonder if he should get his sensory nerves checked.

Nevertheless, Theo allowed her to drag him to a nearby tree. There, she let him go and crouched down, touching on the roots that were sticking above ground. She looked like she was examining it, testing the texture. Theo was about to ask how this was related to the screaming at all when she turned to him, looking dead into his eyes.

"In order for this to work, you need to trust me." Psyche said, patting on the soil several times.

"The last time I had to 'trust' you was when you let yourself get swallowed by a Shadow." Theo reminded, grimacing at the memory. To this, Psyche rolled her eyes again. She's been doing that a lot for the past few minutes.

"I knew what I was doing then and I know what I am doing now." She said. "It worked out well in the end anyway, did it not?"

"Yea, by us almost getting eaten by an army of monstrous aqueous beasts at the end." Theo said without missing a beat.

"What kind of personal vendetta do you have against fishes?" Psyche asked, sounding infuriated. "And no, we didn't get eaten by them, we didn't drown and we didn't get digested in the Shadow. If you don't trust me then please by all means find another Scabbard."

Theo thought she had a fair point there, but he still doubted that he would like whatever the girl had in mind. Even so, he wanted to gain her trust. He knew that she didn't have as much as an inkling of faith in him as much as he did to her, so he needed to change that. He needed to prove to her that he was not going to shun her like the others.

So pushing away whatever uncertainties he had in mind, Theo crouched down too, mimicking what she was doing by patting on the roots too. Psyche paused for a moment and Theo saw the corner of her lips tipped by a fraction. Cold fingers then touched his wrist again, distracting him.

In an instant, the unexplainable thing happened.

Theo didn't know how it happened or when it occurred but he was certain that one moment he was crouching under a tree and then the next second, he was either falling or floating. All around him, he saw darkness, but not the ink black, rippling darkness that tried to drown him.

No, this darkness was much more calming. It was wispier, mystical even. It reminded him of shadows, but not the black lump of tar he had seen in the forest. It was the normal kind, the ones under his feet. It was as if he had fell into his own shadow. Be that as it may, it ended too soon when light started flooding in, breaking through the darkness like a plague.

When it dimmed down, Theo stilled to find that he was in the hallway, standing on solid ground. At the corner of his eye, Theo saw Psyche sway, releasing her grip from his wrist before she caught herself and regained her balance.

"What did you just do?" Theo asked, amazed. Common illogic sense told him it was teleportation, but Theo couldn't dub it as such. It was too, uneventful, to be a teleportation. Then again, was it not teleportation, he wondered.

Psyche just shook her head several times. Without a word, she pointed to something ahead of him. Theo turned to where she was pointing and saw a couple of students huddled outside a classroom. Some of them looked like they had woken up from a nightmare while the rest sought to comfort them.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Theo jogged towards the classroom and tried to push himself in. He didn't have to work hard. The students parted ways for him when he reached there. He knew that it was more out of fear than willingness. Ignoring the negative vibes from others, he allowed himself in the classroom and stopped short to take in what he saw.

It was a normal classroom, different from the lecture halls. It was the type of classrooms that Theo was used to in his ordinary life, with tables and chairs lined up in neat rows and columns. At first, he didn't notice anything wrong other than one of the arced windows being broken. That was, until he saw several more students standing in a semi-circle around the black board.

From where Theo was, he saw the board crystal clear. The top half of the blackboard was covered with chalk drawn score sheets. On it, several musical notes occupied for each bar drawn. Theo was not known for having musical talent, but he could remember the basics of reading it and what sound each note made back in his primary years.

Reading the one on the top half of the board though, proved to summon a splitting headache. The notes written in the drawing didn't harmonize in sound. It was as if the artist of the drawing got lazy and just placed random notes here and there. If anything, if someone were to play an instrument with absolute no knowledge on how to play it, they would be following the chalk drawn score without making any mistakes.

Regardless, the bottom half was occupied with a single sentence. The problem was that the characters were bizarre. They were not in English, nor did it not look like Greek. He was sure they were not Russian as well as he had seen them first hand. Yet, as odd as it was, Theo felt like he had seen it somewhere.

The most troubling thing on the board was that a dark red colour smeared on it everywhere. He couldn't tell if it was paint or blood, but he was sure it wasn't the typical ketchup to use for pranks. In addition to that, on the walls where the board was hang, there were cuts decorated everywhere.

Most of it looked like it was formed from blades, but Theo saw some claw marks too, tearing the paint from the walls, leaving scars. Just by staring at the claw marks, he began to feel an uncomfortable tug in his chest. The whole setting, it made him recall the day Alazne died, where she was debating whether to bring herself to kill the phantom, the one with knives for wings.

Then it hit him, like a bolt out of the blue. Shock coursed through his body as he mused through his new revelation. The phantom in his previous life had multi-coloured eyes too. They were a bit different, but it was the exact replica to that stranger's eyes.

'Could it be... that the stranger is that Phantom?' Theo thought, his brain streaming with theories. 'Could it be that it got reincarnated as that guy? Now wanting to fulfil his revenge for the past?'

The last question left a bitter taste in his mouth but he didn't let it show. After all, they were just theories, not facts. Yet, Theo couldn't help but think that the stranger and the phantom that Alazne had to face had some connection between them.

No matter, Theo focused back on the foreign characters on the board. There was a nagging feeling in his chest, making him restless. He recognized the feeling. It was frustration; the kind where he was close to getting the answer but still far from having it in his hands.

"Theo?" A voice spoke up. The blonde lad turned to see Hugo, leaning against the doorframe. He was panting, his face flushed with haste as if he ran there. Behind him, Oracle stepping inside as well. Like what they did to Theo, the students part ways for him too. In this man's case, they did more out of respect than from fear.

The few who were huddled before the board dispersed too when Oracle walked towards the board. As he stood right in front of it, he crossed his arms, hummed to himself and nodded his white box head every now and then.

At the corner of Theo's eyes, he saw Hugo did a double take. Snapping his neck to the direction where the elf was at, he found him staring at Psyche in bewilderment. The girl in question was a few feet away from Theo. She gave Hugo a mere nod, acknowledging his presence while he continued to gawk at her.

From Hugo's priceless face, Theo had to cover up his chuckle with a small cough. It was just too funny, but he supposed his reaction was justifiable, as he too, hadn't seen the girl in a long time.

After a while, the elf recovered and nodded back. As he turned towards the board, Theo saw the elf stiffened. Then, Hugo growled under his breath, hissing. The sudden hostility surprised Theo. He knew Hugo was quick to anger, but at that moment, he narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the elf. Something about his anger troubled him.

"What happened?" Hugo asked as he walked towards Theo. His voice was calm, contradicting his facial expression.

"I don't know either." Theo answered without thinking. When the elf blinked at him, he let out a groan as he was once again, reminded of the fact that he was incapable of communicating with others. He turned to Psyche for help, to speak on his behalf, but she just stared and said nothing. Typical.

"Just as clueless as I am, you are?" Hugo asked, raising one eyebrow. Theo just sighed, giving into defeat and nodded.

"Well this is quite a predicament." Oracle's voice piped up. Theo turned and found the Oracle was now inspecting the red stains on the board. He pressed his fingers on it, letting it smear on his finger before placing it close to the front surface of his head. There was the sound of sniffing, as surprising as it was, and a small chuckle could be heard.

Theo didn't know which one was more disturbing. The fact that the Oracle didn't have a normal head or the fact that he was laughing with something red covered on his finger.

"It's paint." The Oracle said, rubbing his fingers together as bits of the red substance fell like dust. "Just a harmless prank made by a rebellious student. Nothing to worry about."

All around them, everyone sighed while Theo gaped at the man in disbelief. A voice in his mind screamed that there was no way that it was a harmless prank.

First of all, the guy with strange eyes burst out of this window and attacked Theo. If it were not for Psyche interfering, he would have been sliced to bits by then. In addition to that, the room was in chaos with those cuts all over the wall, and the man said it was a harmless prank by a mere student?

'No... that's not it.' Theo thought after a while, realization dawning on him. 'He knows it was made from an Alice like me. He is trying to cover it up.'

"Nothing to see here, children." Oracle said, his voice upbeat and cheerful. "I will fix this place like brand new and punish the culprit. So relax and pretend this has never even happened."

The whole crowd hummed in agreement. One by one, Theo watched them scurry out, chattering away in excited voices to each other. It was amazing just how oblivious they all were. None of them stood back to question anything, none of them were suspicious about Oracle. The fact that they all had that much trust in him was admirable.

Theo on the other hand, stayed back to study the characters again just as the last few students moved out. He wanted to study at it one last time before planning to leave. There was just something about it that refused to leave him alone, like an itch that he can't reach to scratch or a mosquito that wouldn't fly away no matter how many times he swatted at it.

Then, the words in the board started to move. Theo blinked as they swam across the board, doing triple flips while some of them swam off the surface. They began to rotate, twisting and turning, doing yoga and diving. They spun, some even leapt on top of other words.

Little by little, Theo realised what was happening. The characters were reforming itself, turning into English letters, rearranging themselves to separate words. It continued to dance around the board until it fixed itself on one spot and then stopped moving altogether. When it didn't move anymore, it formed a single sentence, but the meaning behind those words made Theo almost collapse in shock.

Let us bath in blood and go mad once more, my sweet, beloved, Alazne.

Theo stepped back, being wary of the sentence. When he blinked, he had hoped that it would disappear but no, it was still there, clear as day in his eyes. It washed over him like a bucket of cold sick and he felt nauseous to the pit of his stomach. Before long, images of blood and gore came flashing to his mind.

Theo didn't felt like puking through the images till he saw Alazne, horror-stricken with blood sprayed over her face and dress. On the ground with a pool of blood forming beneath him was a young man, around Theo's age. He had a huge wound on his side, the source of the little pool.

It was too deep for a sword cut but less brutal to be from an animal. Then, disturbing as it was, the young man smirked at the girl, his electrifying blue eyes seeming to dance in glee. However, there was no humour in it. His smile was filled with spite.

When it ended, Theo was more aware of his cracking headache than his surroundings. The room tilted, almost causing him to lose balance and he reached out for the wall. His stomach started lurching, making unpleasant turns. He closed his eyes shut as he clamped a hand over his mouth to prevent himself from hurling out his breakfast then and there.

"Theo?" Hugo's voices asked. With great difficulty, Theo forced himself to look at the elf. He wore a puzzled expression. Behind him, Psyche was giving him a funny look as well, as if she was studying him.

"I don't feel too good." Theo admitted, hoping that Hugo was smart enough to guess what he was saying. He was rewarded with a blank look of confusion.

"Is something the matter?" Oracle's voiced asked. Theo looked up, dazed, to find the box headed man walking towards the three of them. His head was cocked to a side while the front surface of his head levelled with Theo's line of sight.

"Are you hurt?" The man asked. Theo was about to answer but upon realising that the man wouldn't understand him, he shook his head instead.

"Hmm..." Oracle hummed, tapping his fingers on the front surface of his head again. Then he turned his head to Psyche and Hugo.

"I believe, Theo here is going through a phase of shock." Oracle said. "Would you be as kind to escort out of this room and get him some fresh air? Poor child, can't probably even walk after being exposed to so many unfortunate events."

Theo couldn't decide whether he wanted to hug the man or clock him.

Either way, he was grateful when both Psyche and Hugo gave silent nods before slinking one of his arms over their shoulder. He let them drag him out of the class while he tried to clear his head that was still flashing the same image of the young man's smirk in his head over and over again.

"You okay man?" Hugo whispered to his ear as they walked. Ignoring the odd looks they got from the others, he gave a feeble nod. Most of his headache had dissipated away, but his nausea was drowning him bit by bit. He could only hope he was not going to throw up any time soon or he would not hear the end of it from Hugo.

"You know, Lillin?" Hugo asked. Theo could even feel the elf frown at him. "Sometimes, been having weird health problems, you have. Lying that you are fine the whole time, are you? Told you that you shouldn't keep it to yourself, haven't I?"

Theo just grunted in response, not trusting his turned tongue to get his counteractive answer across. Although, he supposed that the elf had every right to question him.

He had been suffering odd things at random times. Day by day, his insides started to feel more like they were being scoured with a radioactive wire brush. He was never concerned about it because the feeling would always come and go.

This time, it seemed persistent in making him feel horrible.

All of a sudden, they stopped. Theo looked up to see Hugo freezing up against his arm. Something beneath his beanie hat quivered and he wondered if it was his ears. Theo was about to ask what was wrong, despite the language barrier, when the elf hushed him. Blinking, he turned to Psyche who just shrugged.

"Hear that, do you?" The elf asked, his voice so low it came out as a whisper. Theo knitted his eyebrows together as he strained his ears to hear something. Nothing but silence greeted him so he shook his head. Hugo didn't respond for a good couple of seconds, a small scowl pasted on his face. Soon, it morphed into outrage.

"Ah klank!" The elf swore and before Theo could react, Hugo threw himself to him. The blonde lad, stunned as he was, tried to handle the sudden weight. It didn't work out well as they both staggered before crashing into Psyche. As a result, it caused all of them to fall over and a series of grumbles filled the air.

"What in the-

Theo didn't have the chance to even finish his question when he felt the ground beneath him rumble. Within seconds, something burst out from the ground a few feet away from where he was, spooking the life out of him. Screams could be heard and he heard all the bystanders flee in terror.

Theo, feeling the adrenaline pumping in his vein on flight mode, scrambled up to escape whatever thing that appeared from the ground as well. However, he stopped and fixed his gaze at the thing looming over the three of them.

It looked like a large, overgrown plush toy of a bear, standing about twelve feet tall. There were patches of different fabric stitched all over its body with a sad face sewn on his large stomach area with rainbow coloured thread.

The head had two buttons for eyes, one black while the other one was white. Unlike the face on its stomach, the head was smiling. Theo would have mistook it as a benign being but something in Theo's gut told him that this creature was far from innocent.

"I am... hungry...." It spoke, its voice raspy and croak. "Feed me..."

"What?" Theo asked, unable to respond with anything smarter. He soon learn that was not the right thing to do when the worn out toy raised both of its stuffed arms over his head.

Just as it descended to their doom, Psyche reacted. She raised out her left hand, her bells flashing before a long sword appeared in her hands. Then with one swift move, Theo watched in amazement as she sliced both of its arms clean off. As a consequence, the monster screeched so loud, Theo thought he was about to go deaf when the girl leapt towards it.

Boy did she jump. Theo knew that Psyche was athletic, but he was more than flabbergast to witness her leaping about ten feet in the air. She looked like she was soaring, almost flying. Then, turning on the hilt of her long sword, she jabbed it square home on the creature's face. This caused the monster to stagger back, a sound of astonishment escaping through its stitched lips.

When Psyche landed on her feet, she turned to them, a hint of desperation and determination evident in her eyes.

"Hugo!" She yelled and Theo felt the elf beside him stiffened up. "Please leave things here to me. Take Theo away to safety!"

For about two seconds, Hugo didn't move.

"Since when did you learn to speak!" The elf exclaimed. One of Psyche's eyebrow twitched. If it were not for the monster that was recovering from Psyche's jab, Theo would have started laughing out loud like a hyena.

He might had forgotten to mention to Hugo that yes, Psyche did have a voice but he never brought himself up to the task to ever say it out loud. On the contrary, he was happy that he didn't after all because the outcome was far too hilarious.

"Now is seriously not the time for that!" Psyche yelled back as she poised herself to attack, her long sword morphing into another weapon of her choice.

Hugo, bless his soul for he recovered from awe over Psyche's ability to speak much quicker than Theo expected, recovered and urged the blonde lad up to his feet.

"Die heroically, you better not bastard!" Hugo yelled, scowling as he grabbed Theo by the arm and yanked him towards Arcadia High's hallways. Theo gave one last glance back, watching as Psyche's back got smaller and smaller as she dealt with the monster.

When they turned to a corner, Theo could not help but feel pathetic about himself. He had run away, leaving Psyche all alone to keep the strange, random monster at bay. He knew she could handle herself, but what did that meant about himself? He wanted to fight too, be able to depend her as a partner than a scared teenager trying to use her as a survival kit. Where had all those months of training magic had run off to?

"Geez!" Hugo yelled, pulling Theo out of his thoughts as the elf huffed. "Supposed to be Melita's Scabbard, I am, damn it! In charge of you, I am! Really be in trouble if you died here, I'd be!"

"Um..." Theo started before stopping himself. He wanted to ask what the monster was but he was still damned with the curse. They started running up the spiral stairs and reached a long hallway filled with pillars of famous people that Theo can't bother himself to remember.

The two of them made a beeline to the other end of the hall, hoping that whatever the thing Psyche was facing wouldn't follow them. That was when Theo felt it, his heart beating in an odd pulse again. It thumped against his chest with such power, Theo grabbed his chest in shock. It wasn't painful to say the least, but it still overwhelmed him.

Small burst of electricity began to spread through his body, pulsating from his chest to everywhere. It wasn't the same tingling sensation he felt when it came to the bell Psyche had given him. It was the same sensation he felt when he first discovered that magic was real, back in Wonderland.

Before Theo could comprehend what was happening to him, a huge explosion happened above and debris started falling a few feet from them. Both the guys screeched to a halt then took several steps back for safety. They glanced up to see Psyche landing on the ground with a gentle thud, looking bloodied and beaten.

Not much later, the monster leapt down as well, landing right in front of them. It then charged towards Psyche who side stepped and sliced her sword against its side. As the body of the monster ripped, Theo blinked in mystification to find threads out of nowhere started reattaching the rip together.

Author's note: I feel like that my writing quality is dropping when my best friend is not here to beta read it Q.Q but I will edit once she comes back. If you see any mistakes or if something confuses you, please notify okay!

Oh and don't forget to vote!