alice sawashiro

Before it became too overwhelmingly upsetting to think about, Alice promptly wrapped her arms around the six foot disaster for the best hug she could muster - like the kind she’d want to be given when she was that upset. It wasn’t the greatest approximation considering that usually, the person giving that kind of hug was taller or otherwise more physically imposing than the person on the receiving end. But sometimes, all you have to work with is being short, being 15, and being the kind of person who’s going to at least try to care, dammit!

Once the words of the ghosts got through to Marquette, they froze in one of the corridors.

They hoped and prayed that it was only a dream, that it was all in their head. Thoughts like that weren’t rare by any extent… it was a bit too colourfully phrased for them maybe. Maybe that’s the true effect of the castle! Makes you think in old English too, haha, how wild! That was it, that was the truth. It was just another one of those days, just another day to show the world they were worth someth–

The titter notification from Dominique threw them off though.

Oh. Oh no.

Why would their host be asking such a thing? Maybe there was something different occurring! More monsters, perhaps? An announcement as to more of the workings of this castle? It had to be… right?

Marquette wasn’t feeling too good and they sure as hell knew it isn’t the spoiled milk anymore. They staggered to the library, keeping closer to the walls and wrapping their arms around themselves as this unnatural wave of anxiety washed over them.

Marquette, stared at the stressed Dominique in wide eyed fear. The fidgeting of their host didn’t reassure Marquette, and although they strained to hear what they wanted- that those groans were just temporary, that only they heard their blasted insecurity- it never came.

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, nO, NO, NO.

Marquette, Well, Morgan desperately looked around at everyone else in the library, visibly shaking.

“N-no, they’re lying! What do ghosts even know?! That’s… not true! I AM Marquette D’airelle! I am! I Have to be! I am Marquette D’airelle, the Ultimate Bachelor. I-I…” They yelled, trying to sound confident like they had done previously; trying to even pull it off as a joke, but the tremor in their voice was enough to crack this fine veil of denial. They ended up stumbling into one of the bookcases on the walls and used it for support.

“I am Marquette D’airelle and I am not anyone else!”

“I am Marquette D’airelle, I am loved and I am worth something.”

“I am Marquette D’airelle… I prefer Cats to dogs? No… that’s not right. I like dogs? Long walks on the b-beach and um… I’m left handed. No wait. I…”

“S'il vous plait, Je m'appelle Marquette D’airelle, et La vérité fait mal, non…?”

“I… Call myself Marquette D’airelle and I…I  h-h-have no sibling. N-none at all. Non-existent, fictitious, fake, no one needs to know!”

That had been the breaking point. 

All their near crazed and frantic statements were made as tears pooled out of their eyes and they tugged on their hair in frustration. But they physically struggled with the final comment. It sputtered out, as if it was tearing them up inside to even utter the words.

And Marquette Morgan??? Whichever name they would go by, didn’t look too good. Alice wanted to pay full attention to what Dominique told them, she really did, but the bachelor’s(?) reaction did little to reassure her that they were okay by any meaning of the word, and even less to assure her that the claim was false. And if that worried her, what on earth was it going to do to them? Even worse, the last time this happened was only stopped by the death of a human in the castle? Everything was happening so much, and she didn’t know how to handle it, and her friend didn’t know how to handle it, they were nice, they didn’t deserve that but what could she possibly do to make this any better at all? Not a lot, probably! Emotions were one of the things that she couldn’t fix! It’s not like cutting yourself opening a rusty can and being able to just wash it off and wrap it up. You can’t put a Hello Kitty bandaid on someone’s feelings and expect it to be all better.

They were frantic, and crying, and god it hurt to watch and probably hurt even more to feel and someone had to do something and that someone might as well be her. Even if she was probably the least qualified person to help an older person work out a crisis or three, she couldn’t just stand by and let it happen. While she did wonder why someone would impersonate their entire brother, she was equally sure that there had to be a reason for it. Nobody here was bad, and she believed in that more firmly than anything. No one had enough of anything to hide that those pesky ghosts would get to them, surely. There were a couple things she wasn’t exactly looking to share with her class, but nothing she wouldn’t be able to face up to if she had to. Probably. But that wasn’t important right now.

Approaching the ambiguously M-named person she considered a friend carefully, wanting to comfort them but not impose, trying to walk the fine line of acceptable conduct with someone she knew and liked but wasn’t especially close with. Why were they talking about themself like that? Who hides an entire brother? Who does that? If Marquette was the one who hid an entire sibling, why would Morgan want to be him? Or was this entire thing beyond her understanding? Even though she didn’t really get it, Alice just wanted everyone to feel okay despite the situation at hand. “... You’re worth something no matter who you are.” With as much conviction as she could muster, she looked up at M______, almost but not quite pleadingly. “You’re my- well, you’re our friend. That’s true no matter what.” Hopefully. It was a little bold to speak for everyone on that matter, but it was what she believed. Marquette, Morgan, whoever, it didn’t matter! The person before her was her friend no matter what name they went by.

Waking up in an odd location? Fine. Skeletons and other monsters? Understandable. Being told to murder the next coming of dracula? Fair. What was NOT ok was the complete lack of a wardrobe this sudden teleportation had left her with. If her stay here was to be short she supposed she could make do, but there was a fair chance that she may be stuck here a while.

Luna had already inspected the living quarters and appreciated what Dominique had prepared on (presumably) short notice. But a desk, candles, and a bed weren’t exactly going to aid in any form of hygiene now were they. Well, there were the fountains outside she supposed. At the very least she could wash her clothes when the water wasn’t tinted red for whatever reason. Food was a whole other thing she would attend to at a later time.

She waved back promptly, taking the gesture to be a sign that it was okay to approach. Alice hadn’t been too sure what Luna was looking at and briefly glanced out past the lack of wall, and-- well, that explained it. It was kind of really pretty, which made sense enough. Pretty girl, pretty view. A flawless, logical conclusion. Maybe the weather was a little brisk, but Alice wasn’t particularly sensitive to the cold. If she was, she’d either wear a longer skirt or longer socks. Or something more sensible like those tights which have insulation in them? Anyways.

Alice remained rapt, attentive to the way Kaoru described Shayler as a goddess. It seemed almost unbelievable that such a good dog, best friend, absolute gift to the world was descended from the heavens. But, what did she know? The dark spirit would probably know better than a regular person like her. After taking a moment to digest the information, she nodded, seemingly willing to accept it at face value. “Huh. Neat.” Dogs really were amazing, weren’t they? Benevolent, loving creatures - if any animal was gonna be a deity accompanying a human, a very good dog seemed to be one of the more probable. Nothing about Shayler seemed to like, radiate godliness, but maybe that was entirely on purpose. Gods in disguise or something? It was entirely possible. Be not afraid and all that.

“I never really understood that book.” Jotaro admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “I….think that’s the point, but its very silly to confuse readers, don’t you think? Or, maybe I’m just not wacky enough!” He gave a light chuckle. “You seem like you’d like those kind of books.” 

That much was a fair point, though. Maybe she’d just stopped thinking about it to ease her own nerves, and had gotten a little too enthusiastic about the architecture. The how and why was pretty important, yeah, but were they gonna get answers anytime soon? She’d more or less figured out that beard guy (who she still hadn’t spoken to) wasn’t any adult-ier than the rest of them, or if he was he wasn’t any more clued in than the rest of them. Alice simply shrugged her shoulders in a manner that could be taken as agreement. “I guess so.” Again, she glanced up at the looming spires of the courtyard. Even though she wasn’t exactly thrilled to be there, the lack of immediate danger probably meant it was fine to appreciate the aesthetic. Other than the “water” which was a little unsettling, it seemed like the kind of place her family might visit after saving up and taking the time off for a trip.

The whole ‘not actually knowing where her parents were’ thing made that a pretty sobering thought.

Say something, anything, don’t just stand there or let him stand there this is getting awkward oh dear oh dear oh dear. At the very least, she still got her answer. “Um… please don’t apologize. It’s okay.” Alice reached out halfway to pat him on the arm but hesitated - did she know him well enough for that? Would it even make anything better? Yikes, yikes indeed. She was very much not sure how to approach this, but hoped to at least try and show that she was invested by carrying conversation. It wasn’t something that came especially naturally to her, but it was worth attempting, at the very least.

Alice’s eyes widened just a bit with surprised enthusiasm when she realized that she had been understood. If this was some kind of anime or, heaven forbid, visual novel, there might have even been some of those sparkles in her eyes and slash or around her head. But that would be ridiculous. The sentiment is here in the narrative and here it will lie, may it rest forever in peace knowing that it conveyed its message to a specific audience. Indeed, might as well try and make some kind of conversation. That, or set a record for the lowest post-to-dialogue ratio, considering how little it seems either of the two would talk if they could so help it. It’s like that sometimes, but the back and forth is helped along easily enough in spite of that. “Alice Sawashiro.” Simple enough. That… sure was her name. She also cocked her head to the side like it would heighten the nonexistent ability to telepathically converse, although she didn’t have as much accessory flair to go with it. “You?”

When she stuck her hand out, his shoulders wiggled side to side. “May I?” He asked suddenly, gently putting his hand against her own. Practically identical, but her palm was just a tad bit bigger. It still made him chuckle happily. 

Given that she didn’t actually know if it was the definitive origin or not, when questioned about the similarities between her name and the eponymous in Wonderland series, all she had to say was “I guess so.” She’s better off probably not knowing that she was in fact named after a video game character. By me. But nonetheless, she took another look around the courtyard as if to affirm that yep, this didn’t look like the kind of place that any of them usually were. Sure, it kinda seemed like some of these kids were the type to hang out in graveyards for the aesthetic - but massive freakin’ courtyards with no discernible way in or out?! Unlikely…

Apparently, she was now cursed! Alice certainly didn’t fancy herself a heavenly being, and wasn’t really sure if any beings, heavenly or otherwise, were currently watching over her. Well, that would be a problem to deal with later. Maybe they were all already cursed and that’s how they wound up in the weird courtyard. The way this information was being relayed was pretty cool - putting a speaker in a dog’s collar and talking through it? Real neato. If she didn’t know any better, she might have thought for a moment that the dog was talking all by itself. Through some kind of thought-to-speech technology in the wonderous year of 30xx. That aside, the last thing Kaoru said seemed to pique her interest quite a bit. Both her eyebrows raised slightly and she leaned in just a little closer, intrigued.

“It’s okay.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “It’s okay.” she repeated a bit louder, though not with any more energy or enthusiasm. She spoke slowly and deliberately, like she was trying to recall an exact script she had forgotten, and was struggling to put the words in the right order. “But I… don’t know. Sorry.” The flat intonation probably wasn’t helping matters much. Cocking her head to the side slightly with her eyebrows raised just a little more than they originally were, she figured that maybe introductions would possibly stabilize things a little? Like, just establish that they were both actual people in this situation which might be a little grounding? Eh. Whatever. It was worth a shot.

@dolljudgements

The people he had met so far were unique and quite nice. He presumed whomever he’d stumble upon next would be just as interesting. He found someone, a small girl who looked fairly timid. She was like a living doll! He just had to compliment her!

She held eye contact best she could, only breaking it to glance down as she wordlessly stuck out her own hand in response, nodding softly at the observation that they were close enough to the same size. The faintest hint of pink flooded her cheeks upon being called cute, more out of surprise than anything else. Well, at least it seemed like she was already making friends? He certainly had more than enough energy for the both of them, and just as well considering that Alice didn’t seem particularly energetic herself. Almost as if reflexively, she signed a quick “thank you” in response, before realizing that whoops maybe he wouldn’t actually understand that.