Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice 1. Chapter 1

The lord of Clover tower was currently bored and hiding from work and his aide in the dream realm. However, he had to be somewhat cautious about all the things that lingered in the darkness and that were no longer under his control.

It had been a while since the incubus Nightmare Gottschalk had lost control over the nightmares reign in the dream realm, and he still had no clue why or how. The only thing he knew was that it had happened after that storm that came and erased everyone's memories of undefined period of time before it. Now that seemed so long ago. How long had it been since the incident happened? Months? a year?

He sighed. It was foolish to bother and count the passage of time in Wonderland unless there was a foreigner... or unless that foreigner's game was a weird as the current.

Alice's game, once so simple to follow, had now become a web of dark roads that had no true ending. He was sure that she would end up with the Mafia head, Blood Dupre, but it seemed that particular ending was never going to come to pass with Alice's current thoughts. ...But there was also something weird about all that. Blood Dupre was probably more than likely aware of Alice's indecisions, so why hadn't he offered the foreigner his connector? The promise of love and stability that she needed? The one thing that would seal the end of the game.

And why was her game going on so strong? It weighed on all the player's clocks with a pressure so unbearable ... The unnatural desire to reach and capture that beating heart felt so overwhelming and desperate. It had become so hard to quelch... Yet, whenever Alice was around, it wasn't as if the desire to win the game pulled the players towards her... How odd.

These had been strange times and he would like to make them end so that their lives would flow forward once Alice had chosen, but meanwhile there was nothing to do but to play the game.

He sighed when he felt something uncommon rounding the dream realm. It was like a bubble in the chaotic space of the realm, and it was somewhat familiar, so he went to check and enter the weird new space. It was a lengthy white nothingness and it didn't felt like a dream. More like the mind from a person in comma. He didn't recall anything like it, yet he felt a sense of deja-vu from it. This was actually scaring him, so he tried creating a more comfortable environment, an illusion of a background, a nicer setting. But he found that he couldn't. Just like with the nightmares, he had no control in this place. Unlike the nightmares, this felt controlled... intended.

Before he could try to manipulate the place again, the opening he had come through disappeared into nothingness, and from out of nowhere, in a cascading mist of numbers and symbols, the space opened to let shadows to crawl in and commence forming a dark humanoid figure of indistinguishable features, surrounded by tendrils and shreds of moving darkness that made Nightmare's skin shiver.

Focusing on the other parts of the dream, he tried to escape but failed and remained locked in the space with nowhere to go. This surprised him. Not only he was unable to act here, but he was also unable to get out. This shocking and scary situation made him lose the second he would have needed to avoid the tendrils of darkness that extended from the creature's shadow towards him, and latched around his body holding him tight and unmoving in the air.

He tried manipulating the space and again and failed once more. His panic level raised and he tried using brute force, which he didn't have, and only caused the tendrils to tighten around him. There was no escape.

The figure began walking towards him and he saw that it had solidified into a human form that wore a full armored suit that merged with the shadows that dripped like flame tongues or mist from it. A hood covered the persons head and tick goggles and some sort of gas mask obstructed the vision of the person's face.

"Who are you and what do you want?" As cliche as it sounded, he had to ask those questions.

The person stood in front of him, and with a mechanically distorted voice, the words came out, not from where the mouth should be, but from around the neck of the armor.

"Hello "test subject 'Nightmare' and welcome to the: "Virtual enrichment test chamber and meeting room dream interface projection", I inform you that in this "Virtual test meeting "in the recently generated "Virtual enrichment test chamber and meeting room dream interface projection " , as you have tested, you possess no powers or any control. And I am not required or inclined to disclose the detailed info regarding such occurrences."

"What?"- Nightmare had not understand all that, but the voice and the words had been disturbingly familiar. -"Do I know you?" - His clock felt that it was so. He twisted around in the tendrils, blood threatening to escape his mouth at the increasing pressure over his body. Whomever this person was, he, or she, was no taking chances or considerations. -"What's doing this? How are you keeping me here?"

The figure chuckled.- "Does it matter?... Not to you surely. Not to anyone really."-The voice was artificial, metallic, almost as if it was played on some kind of machine. The figure shrugged his or her shoulders.-"I didn't create this 'Virtual enrichment test chamber and meeting room dream interface projection' just to partake in a lengthy conversation with you. So let's get down to the point, Nightmare. A new foreigner is need and you 'Caterpillar. Lord of Clover' are going to bring one."

"I've never spoken to anyone who has the power to intrude on dreams like this," He said, no longer trying to fight with his body. "I would surely remember that."

"I'm not intruding and this is not a dream. It's a Virtual enrichment test chamber and meeting room dream interface projection. It's not the first time you've been in a place like this either...and don't try to brag with me Nightmare." The figure said when it saw his mouth open. to retord. "There are a lot of stuff you and everyone else in Wonderland forgot." The figure pauses for a moment as if thinking before saying. "Don't mind me. Not in dreams nor out of them. The only thing you should mind is bringing in a new foreigner."

With a sudden burst of energy he said. "And why should I do that? Alice's game has not properly ended, bringing in a new foreigner would only lead to unforeseen consequences."

The figure laughed with a hint of cruelty, the voice suddenly taking on a more female tone, almost as if it was breaking through the mechanical aspect of the figure "So you say Alice's game hasn't ended? he,he. What you think it's irrelevant. You WILL bring a new foreigner. And nor you, nor any role holder shall interfere with her until the current game is finished."

The darkness released him with an audible crackle and the felt to the non existing floor,while the back of his hand seemed to burn so badly as if it was acid eating away at his flesh. Glancing down at the appendage he saw a mark that signals an oath by his role. One that he must comply. It was part of the rules. He couldn't deny it.

"Alright." The darkness retreated back onto the person and coiled around the strangest form and disappeared into the fabrics of the armored clothes. "I'll let you go then."

Taking a deep breath his mind wandered to the dream realm and he tried to take himself there,to a place of security and assurances, a place that was all his own. Finally, he managed to connect a portal of bright light and energy that opened with a light sound that reminded him of a bag of marbles hitting a hard surface all at once.

"So you're going away so fast?" The figure said." Scatter away, you cowardly worm."

Fear crawled down his spine at the authority and confidence within the voice and at the unnatural shadows that the person had manipulated. However there was still his own authority, the authority to take control of the dreams and the flow of foreigners. This simple thought gave him a moment of empowerment. "Who are you really?"

The person was silent for a moment, once again seeming to think before turning around; the tendrils moving with the fluid movement like a mantle behind the figure."It's not in my plans to establish any form of contact with you again, nor would you recognize my identity even I revealed it. So it doesn't matter, si? Run back to your tower and bring forth a new foreigner."

As soon as the words were said, the air around them crackled and it seemed to fold in on itself. The person and tendrils disappeared while the white space creased at the edges and folded down as if it was some kind of origami paper. Not giving himself a second, he went straight through the portal and back into his precious dream realm, his thoughts turbulent and overwhelming. Heaving, he leaned forward and blood spilled from his lips; the metallic taste making his back tingle and his throat gag causing another round of blood.

When his fit was over, he straightened up and pulled out a handkerchief, dabbing his lips with the soft material. When he was done he folded it up and put it back into his vest pocket. He didn't like this at all, but regardless of his likes or dislikes, it was time to fetch a foreigner.

Not too long after, a figure appeared, alone and unconscious, over a lonesome street. It had just snowed and a white coat covered part of the urban environment of the territory.

Shannon was half awake and almost unable to feel anything from the cold. She barely noticed someone saying something in an alarmed tone and shaking her gently. She struggled to open her eyes, getting a glimpse of blurry white, before they slide shut again as she lost consciousness. When she woke up again she is seated in a tub with warm water, still wearing her clothes and very cold.

She looked around for a moment noticing that she was in a bathroom. It was small and had white tiling and walls. Even the toilet and bathtub she was in was a painfully clean white. Then some movement caught her vision; someone was kneeling down next to her and holding a pile of clothes and fluffy and soft towels over in a way that accidentally covered his face.

"Here you are, Miss. I'm so glad that you are alright. You could have died out there in the snow."

Shannon's eyes took on him for a moment, he was a young man with a happy and relieved tone in his voice. She took the fabrics from him and he turned around to search for something in a cabinets.

Giving her his back he continued talking "Just give me a minute miss foreigner. I know I have some pills here or something... but I think you should get out of those wet clothes first. Don't worry. I wont look."

She blinked for a moment before clutching the cold yet smooth sides of the tub. "Ms. Foreigner? Why're you calling me that, Kid?"

"I'm not a kid miss. I'm seventeen. And you are a foreigner in this world. It's weird that we get a third one while a game is going on. I don't think it ever happened. But she said it would, and it did. " He said apparently quite content while rummaging in the drawers close to the door.

"Seventeen? Sounds like a kid to me." She huffed and pulled herself up, the effort making her body throb and she staggered, almost falling face first into the warm water.

"And how old might you be miss? you don't look much older than me miss... err…"

"Shannon, name's Shannon."She said as she slowly managed to get one leg over the side of the tub. "And I'm twenty. "

He crouched over the lower cabinet door to look for something else. "Well, Miss Shannon. Then I'll introduce myself, Luke Amore Motto Savini. A pleasure to meet you. ..err... sorry if I'm nossy. But do you know where you are?"

"Amore?" She turned to stare at his back. "Seriously?"

The guy stiffed for a moment "Luke, please... Miss Shannon... Have you met anyone else in Wonderland?

She thought about it for a minute then shook her head. "I remember being in the snow...Then waking up here." She brought the rest of her body out the tub then proceeded to struggle out of her jeans. "What's up with the weird names here? Amore, Wonderland? I'm half expecting something like Tootsie Roll Palace."

"Luke , please..." He sighed and kept his back to her while she changed clothes. "And yeah, territories have names like that. There is the Clock tower, the hatter's mansion... Right now you are in Clover tower's territory. In the country of Clover... in the world called 'Wonderland... I know that this might seem weird, but it is so. And my name is not weird. It's just unusual. Just call me Luke."

"Whatever, Luke." She said his name in a solemn and respectful tone as she kept the towel on somewhat and put the underclothes on."How did I end up here? Last I checked I went to that bar off main street…"

Then, from down the stairs, came an angry voice that interrupted her

"Amore! There's water everywhere, you damn kid! You're cleaning it right away!"

Luke groaned and facepalmed. "Give me a second, Shannon" - He then moved towards the door and opened it to slightly step outside, never looking behind to keep his promise of privacy. "SHUT UP AMADORE! We have a wet foreigner in the house! So I'll clean later!"- He waved at her still not looking back."Don't 's just my brother. Marcus Amadore Motto Savinni."

A shout from downstairs answered him- "Stop avoiding chores AMORE! Come down and clean this mess immediately or I'm going up to bring you down and force you to do it!"

Luke shouted back in response-"Told you I can't AMADORE! We have a guest! A 'FOREIGNER' guest!"

"THAT'S IT! I'm going up to bring you down AMORE!"

Shannon did her best to keep her laughter at bay, still clinging to the towel."Oh dear, you two are a mess."

"Wait! Damn it, Amadore!" Luke then almost turned back to the girl but stopped and let his head remain hidden behind the door. He now sounded a bit rushed "Miss Shannon. Before my overly dramatic brother comes up, I will tell you. In this world there are two kinds of people, the role holders and the faceless. Role holders are few but powerful and cruel people that rule and enforce the rules of this world. Everyone else, the faceless are just replaceable pieces in the game. We are people without importance, and as 'faceless' describes, we are not important enough to have eyes or much of a personal face."

"And you're telling me this because…"- Shannon raised an eyebrow not understanding what this little tale was supposed to mean.

"Miss Shannon... you are in another world"

"Are you fucking kidding me, Kid?"She said, pausing completely in her actions to stare at the boy's wiry back.

"No really. This world...!"

Luke couldn't finish his sentence. He was interrupted when the door barged open and someone came pushing Luke inside the room and causing him to turn around and finally look at Shannon.

"Now Amore, you will go down and...!" The man who had opened the door so rashly was in around his mid twenties, but the most distinguishable feature was the lack of eyes on his face. It wasn't as if they had been ripped out, sewn or anything. They simply weren't there. Neither in the man's face or in Luke's.

The girl's eyes widened and she took a step back, bumping into the tub in the process. "Your eyes…T-they're not in your face…"

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_**Here we go, a work made with another write. Say thanks to Chaos-Dark-Lord, if it weren't for her this wouldn't have left my cluttered brain.**_


	2. Chapter 2

Shannon could not believe what she was seeing or rather what wasn't seeing. Like in some horror movie, the men had no eyes on their faces. She babbled while pointing at them and then turned around in fright and headed for the window of the bathroom, the only possible escape route. However, the floor was wet and she slipped, bumping her head on the window's sill, and ended up in the floor unmoving and unconscious.

The older of the two men and accidental cause for the accident stared at the girl and nudged the KO'ed foreigner with his foot. "So she's the oh so special foreigner the boss dragged in?"

Luke scratched the back of his head and looked from the fallen girl to his brother."I don't think the boss will like it if she dies now... Not when she just arrived." He went to the tube to pull the plug and let the water drain.

"Well, the boss didn't said what she was planning for the foreigner she wanted to bring." Marcus sighed vehemently, not that surprised that their beloved boss had actually been able to force a new foreigner to be brought into Wonderland. "But I don't think boss would be happy if she loses her 'test subject' or whatever, before she can even use her."

"We should probably take her to the headquarters in this territory. "Luke picked up the things Shannon had dropped in her flee attempt "The boss will want to meet her as soon as possible. "

Marcus thought about it."That's probably for the best. Specially before any role holder gets wind about a new foreigner"- That would be troublesome. So the faster they took the girl to headquarters the better. However they also just couldn't drag her unconscious body around as if it was nothing. -"We can't leave her in the floor here. She might try to escape again once she wakes up."

"What if she has a concussion or something?" Luke kneeled down and gently held Shannon's head in his calloused hands, carefully maneuvering it this way and in search of an injury. Foreigners were supposed to be in general quite weak and vulnerable, this girl was probably in that case."I think it's better to just take her to the bed so she can rest and recover before the boss knows that we let her get hurt."

Marcus Amadore Motto Savini saw with dread how the sleeping outsider was dripping water all over their bathroom floor."Alright, Amore. Grab her legs and I'll get her arms. We can take her to the guest room..."

Luke deadpanned at his brother. Had he eyes he would have rolled them. "The room we use as a storage crap-room where we can't even enter without something falling over us, 'Amadore'?" Luke countered with that funny tone in his voice that irked his brother. "Your room is closer. Let's take her there."

Marcus crossed his arms. His brother's room was basically in the top floor, so he couldn't counter to take her there."But she's wet. We can put some towel over the sofa on this floor in your 'napping room' and set her there."

Luke frowned and saw his brother take some towels and leave the room. When his brother came back, Luke Amore Motto Savini picked up her legs and his brother took her arms; any of them could have picked her easily by themselves, but neither was gonna let his brother slack while they worked. Both lifted her and went through the along the long corridor until they came to a cleared out room that had a couch, now covered with a few towels, wedged between two side tables. They set the girl down ,and made sure that another towel remained over her. Then the two stepped back away from the foreigner.

A time change or so later, Shannon woke up on an actually comfortable sofa hugging a fluffy towel between her arms. Her thoughts were fuzzy and light pain in her head didn't help. Things began coming on to her and and remembered what she had seen. With shock she quickly opened her eyes and shot up to sit on the sofa to twist her head and look around. There she saw them. Seated at the nearby table where the two guys; Luke, was reading a big black magazine and the his brother a small bright pink novel. They still had no eyes on their faces.

Frowning she pinched herself just in case.-"Ouch"- She exclaimed and the men turned to look at her. She then put one arm behind her and pushed herself up with some effort. -"So...This place is real...It wasn't from something spiked in my drink?"

The older man gave a short nod. "Yes, someone spiked your drink and now you're dreaming….No, you dumb ass, this is the real world!"- He observed her -"You just hit your head trying to go outside in only a towel."- A smirk twisted onto his lips. "Nice legs by the way."

The girl stared down at her well toned legs created after years of track. "Sure, whatever. Flattery will get you no where." Shannon Harris

"Now you believe me, Shannon? You aren't in your world anymore." Luke said with a bit of anxiety.

"I see that…" She said in a low voice. "But, how can you see without eyes? And how did I get here any way?"

Marcus pinched his nose and sighted. -" We simply can, ok."- He then pointed his index and middle fingers to his face and then motioned towards her with more seriousness in his voice - "How you got here is harder. Foreigners come to this world every few generations unless something happens that brings them here sooner. It is hard to explain for us, but we know someone that can explain it to you in detail. "-He dramatically hesitated a few seconds. -" If anything happens... Don't you dare tell this to anyone. But the person who can tell you is someone that is not from this world either"

That piqued Shannon's attention "Someone from my world?"

"Yes. That person can also tell you about going back" - Luke added. Tempting her even more.

"Where's this mystery person? I wanna go back home."

"Then lets head out before the time changes".- Marcus stood up and threw the dress to Shannon.- "Just put that on" - He turned his back on her and slapped Luke to make him to the same and give her the minimum of privacy.

"Can't you lend me some decent clothes?... Why do you have a dress anyways?"

They couldn't answer her question and instead ended up lending Shannon some of their own clothes, though they were a bit big. Once Shannon was dressed, they immediately went out through the long narrow hallway and through their good sizes living room. True to Marcus's words, there was a puddle of water on the carpet that triggered more bickering between the brothers before Shannon called, which made Luke quickly step around the puddle to open up the front door, causing a cold wind make its way into the house.

Shannon shuddered and brought her arms around her chest. "No wonder I passed out, it's freezing!"

"Are you not used to the cold?"Luke asked.

"I'm Canadian," She said. "We practically exported cold."

"What's a 'Canadian'?"- Marcus answered and passed her a scarf and a coat that were hanging besides the door.

"My nationality."- It Shannon looked at Marcus and it dawned on her that there was probably way more differences in this world than she could guess.

With that said they made their way outside and there was a lengthy silence while they walked down the cobblestone road.

Shannon glanced around taking in the scenery of the town. It wasn't too small, perhaps cozy was the right word, and reminded her of a town in Scotland she got to visit with her teacher. She stopped mid-step. She couldn't recall exactly when had been the last time she had seen him… maybe something had indeed been spiked in her drink before she came to this place?

Marcus noticed her moment of hesitation and decided to make some conversation before she changed her mind. If she did then they weren't allowed by the rules to stop her if she decided to go somewhere else - "What did you said was your full name?"

Shannon blinked and came back to earth… or Wonderland in this case. -"Shannon Harris"- She took the chance to ask something that nagged at her because of how funny it was - " Are your names really 'Amore' and 'Amadore'?"-

If Luke had proper eyes he would have rolled them, however his brother was 'kind' enough to put his thoughts into words. "Yes it's a name, you really don't know how ridiculous you sound do you?"

Marcus then slapped the back of his brother's head -"Yes, those are our names, the guys we replaced choose those names for their replacements."-

"Wow, they must have really wanted to play a joke on their replacements then." However she was bothered by the way he said the word replacements. Why did it matter that they chose a name for them in the first place? "So you weren't born with names? I thought you just didn't get faces, no names is down right cruel."

Both brothers stopped to look at her, it was Marcus whom spoke - "People who are 'born' do get names. People who gets replaced normally don't get a name after a while just in case they don't survive that long, and then normally it is the person whom chooses their own name. In our case…"- He stopped a second just to order the words and not let out much about 'her' - " we were given the gift of the chance to choose the name of our replacements in case we need to get replaced. Maybe we don't like how corny our names are, but we honor our names because they are part of who we are and where we belong"-

Shannon remained silent for the next seconds while looking at the brothers. Marcus looked puffed up with pride while Luke had made a grim nod. Perhaps it wasn't in her nature, but just the sound of being so proud of something felt off to her. Being proud of a name, having a purpose, it almost made her envious. She wondered what on earth would have set off a bunch of people who lived within very obvious and restricting rules into such a frenzy. She shook her head of the dark thoughts.-"Alright… but so you know you sound as if you read that from some book"

"He always sounds like that when he is not being a dorky jerk. He is head editor of an editorial"- Luke lightened the mood and continued on the way followed by the other two - " Amadore is always with his nose up a book or a notebook"

"Well, 'Zaratustra editions' doesn't run itself"- Marcus continued -" But you really can't say anything about books Mr. apprentice weapon smith because you are always asking me for those 'special books' , Amore"

Shannon raised an eyebrow. "Special books?"

"Don't you think that's a bit of a low blow, Amadore?" Luke said, irritation clouding his voice. "If anything you probably shouldn't talk about them in the open like this, you never know who could be listening."

Their conversation came to a sudden end when they were rearing a corner when gunshots are heard. From a nearby distance some shouting could be heard.

"Don't mess in the hatters business's Lizard."

"You are in Clover's territory. So you are the ones intruding , March Hare"

For a split second Shannon caught sight of two men, each of them holding weapons that were aimed at each other. One held pistols and the other used knives and she could have sworn that the man with the pistol had floppy rabbit ears. However with a quick tug of the wrist from the brothers she was pulled around the corner of a building to take cover while the faceless brothers took out their own guns. Luke taking out a pair of dual pistols while Marcus managed to make an entire machine gun appear from nowhere.

Shannon could barely keep up with their quick steps and almost slipped over her own two feet. "What's going on?"

"A role holder's fight. We need to get out of here or we're dead."- Luke said while glancing around. A few more approaching shouts could be heard - "Shit! Their men will be here in no time. And if it's the hatters…. damn it!"

"We need to get to one of our own places, but the nearest one is the 'Aconcagua" - Marcus growled. Now some gunshots were heard behind them a block or so away -"Damn it. We have no choice We'll have to risk it. We can get to the tunnel if we manage to cross that alley!"

"Eh?" - Shannon couldn't formulate any questions. They dragged her the side of the street to the back of a building to round the fight and get across the street from a dark alley. "What's that?"

In the corner they were, Marcus yanked her to the side and held her close while Luke kept a look out, keeping his head just peeking around the corner. "Just shut up and let Luke finish getting us in."

Luke nodded in their direction -"Alright. Leave this to me. si? I'll shoot from above and you run for it. I'll meet you at the restaurant. Take care Amadore " - He then ran straight to the nearest wall and, grabbing anything in the construction, climbed it up with all the speed and skill worth a video game character.

"Take care Amore"- Marcus looked at his brother and then turned towards Shannon- "Be ready to run"- He warned the foreigner, and a couple seconds later more shots were heard along some agonizing screams near by.

"All clear. Dive now!"

Luke's voice came from a pin on Marcus's Jacket, and without wasting a second, holding his machine gun with only one hand, Marcus grabbed Shannon by the wrist and ran out of their hiding place and rushed across the street to reach the back alley in front, where then ran till the end of it and around its corner, where Marcus pressed some item in the wall to open a hidden door that led to some stairs and into a dark corridor.-

"Is this Mission impossible?" Shannon asked, just for Marcus to shush her.

"Our boss is a crafty and prepared person that likes to give us ways to stay alive. You'll find that life has no value in this world. At least for us."

Shannon frowned but didn't question it as they went through the damp and narrow hallways that Marcus led her through. Eventually a dim light could be seen at the very end of the tunnel and Marcus leaned forward, and tapped the third brick to the left of the light. With a low mechanical sound the wall opened out. came out behind another building and knocked on the back door with a certain rhythm near the garbage containers of what seemed to be a restaurant.

The door opened and a blonde guy with undulated hair pulled back into a small ponytail, and wearing Chef's attire appeared wielding a butchers knife in one hand. If he had eyes, for some reason Shannon would have thought they could be blue.

The guy stared at the two before raising an eyebrow "And you're here to be part of my meal?"- He then addressed Marcus, who was clearly clenching his teeth and not liking this individual. Which was being completely ignored in favor of the new person looking at the girl and her eyes. -"May I ask who are you?" -

"Shannon Harris," She shifted uncomfortably under his obvious stare. Why was it that even when people didn't seem to have eyes they still managed to make her awkward. "and you are?"

The man made to answer, but Marcus pushed the guy aside and made his way inside with the girl-"Move idiot. The March Hare and the Lizard are fighting near here."

"Really?" He stared back at the two who had just invaded his kitchen with renewed interest. His smile became wicked and he played with the knife in his hand "Maybe I should just finish the job and kill you now."

Marcus's grip on his gun increased. "Oh? Will you make me try some of your 'new foreign dishes'?, you sad excuse for a chef?"

"Of course not," The chef raised a hand with the butcher knife. "I have far more class than that, I'll just cut you off immediately."

Marcus face grimaced with equally twisted grin as he held his machine gun towards the chef- "Like you have a class. You can't even slice a piece of those horrible cakes you make"

Shannon was surprised at how these guys had jumped straight into a killer mode. This was as scary as it was tiring. Did people in this world really didn't cared for their lives? In any case she could not tolerate this when she was in range -"Oi!" - She kicked Marcus in the shin, making the man hiss and look down at her.- "Duke it out on your own time, preferably when I'm not in the way! I don't look kissable as a corpse!"

"Or as a living person either, Miss foreigner"- Marcus spat.

"So you really are a foreigner?"- The chef said and examined the girl again with renewed interest. Then he delicately took her hand and gallantly kissed the back of it while making a short bow fortitude- "Allow me to present my great persona to you mademoiselle. I'm chef extraordinaire, Blaise Baptiste Fournier, the best chef of foreign dishes in all wonderland. I would like to speak to you about recipe's later and would be enchanted to let you taste them and tell me how close they are to the tastes of your world" -

"I wouldn't take his word for it." Marcus spat. "Damn idiot's too busy dissecting the food than actually cooking it. Almost killed me last time I had to taste that shit you called enchilada!"

Blaise looked outraged - "How dare you! "- With a flick of his fingers the butchers knife somehow transformed into a fancy rapier.

"I said to stop it!"- Shannon intervened again - "You said that there was someone who could explain all this to me. So I prefer if you'd take me to that person and then you can kill each other." -By now Shannon was convoluted by the amount of violence she had seen here. Sure she was used to violence, how could you not get used to violence after watching the daily news, watching movies, and going to Black Friday sales, but gunfights in the streets? Guys willing to kill each other just like that? No, she was not used to it on that level and wasn't planning to let herself do so either.

Marcus looked at the Blaise's rapier and at the girl, then growled and made his own weapon disappear by transforming it into a pin that he stuck in his jacket . -"You are right. I need to take you to 'Her'"- He looked at Blaise tensely while saying 'Her'

Blaise lowered his sword in disappointment and it disappeared again from sight. -"You are taking her... where?"

"You know where fool. She needs to speak with 'Her'- Now step aside and let us use the connection." Marcus didn't await any permission. He headed straight for some cabinet demonstrating he knew the way around.-

Just then, the door opened and a railed and panting Luke Amore came in and looked around for a moment, taking in the scene before acknowledging the chef- "Oh, hi Blaise."

"Luke, you should send your brother to obedience school." Blaise muttered. "His manners are as deplorable as is his taste in food."

Said boy glanced at the older man and then to his older brother and finally the foreigner. "I take it he started an argument again?"

At the same time, both Blaise and Marcus responded while pointing their index fingers at each other - "He started it!"- They said that another set of mysterious door opened, however these doors made no clicks or any other sound to acknowledge that they came from a built force and hadn't appeared out of thin air.

-"Can we go now?" Shannon said and walked past them into the hidden entrance to another passageway.

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_**A/N: I don't typically like shoving an Author's Note at the beginning of the fic since all I want to do is read, so if there's anything that needs to be said always look at the end of the story. Everyone, thank you so much for the reviews and the favorites/ follows for this story. I appreciate it all so much even though I can be a bitch at times. **_

_**And here we are.**_

_** Once again thank Chaos-Dark-Lord for all her help, now go read her stories.**_


	3. Chapter 3

Once again Shannon found herself within an endless set of passages that seemed to lead nowhere. Unlike the last time when it had been silent, in this occasion Marcus and Blaise were taking every opportunity to throw insults at each other. Every so often they would drag Luke or Shannon into, but they would do their best to quickly slide out of the bickering. Eventually they made it out of the passages and instead entered into an expansive and luxurious gallery.

The gallery was luxurious and the pieces were of extremely high quality and probably pricey, they are copies of art pieces from her world, however, there was one detail wrong in every single one of them, whether they were paintings, sculptures or anything. They all depicted the same woman, a gal in her 20's with olive green eyes, blond hair cascading in multiple shades and a long sinuous braid at her nape, often depicted wearing some kind of futuristic armor.

"What kind of place is this?" Shannon was confused, there was no one here and the place was obviously a museum of sorts. "Why so many corridors? Is this a maze?" She had noticed that they had taken a lot of care while moving through them and avoiding certain corridors.

"Obviously, girl." Marcus was still very irked by Blaise's mere presence "The entrances to this place was designed to get rid of unwanted visitors."

"Think of this place as a massive series of pipes." Luke said. "You can take one and got to another area, but if you take another you could wind up in the last spot you were at or dead. Each place in this country, no matter how far, is connected. And this is just the upper level."

"This place is like a b-rated movie." Shannon muttered. "And who is she?" She asked, curiosity getting better of her. The girl was repeated in all artwork to the point of sickly obsession.

"Maybe the design is a hassle, but it has saved our lives more than once" Blatantly ignoring the question about the person shown in the artwork, Blaise shrugged his shoulders, knowing that partly the real reason for using the tunnel was that they didn't want anyone getting a hold of the new foreigner before they reached their boss. "Mmmhhh..." Then he set his hands together in a pleading matter. "When you meet our boss please don't mention the art"

"Ok?" Shannon nodded quite confused but going along with it. She wasn't exactly sure why she was agreeing, but the very tone of his voice almost sounded...pathetic.

They walked for a few more minutes, the corridors turning from solid stone into sudden lite galleries until they made it to a large antechamber that was more orb like than anything.

In the middle of the room was a table set up with food and drinks while a person sat at the head of the table. Such person, an elegantly dressed but bored looking woman with glasses, was reading a pink little book. She barely raised her eyes from her book to examine them, and her gaze immediately fixed on Shannon. "I see. Please wait a second." She said and continued reading a bit before carefully putting a satin bookmark in her book and closing it. "And Mr. Amadore… this new novel is quite good. Congratulations to Zarathustra editions, I hope that the next one comes out soon. " She then rose from her seat and went to the back wall where a big impressionist painting reproduction, Van Gogh's 'Starry Night', hung surrounded by various other reproductions. She traced her finger over some parts of the painting and a smaller painting moved aside to reveal a numerical panel. The woman stopped in front of it and covered the vision of what she pressed. After it, yet another painting moved to reveal a passage into a lavish room.

"Is all this really necessary? I mean c'mon, how paranoid can the designer be?" Shannon commented at the security measures. The question was beginning to sound repetitive to her ears, but she doubted that the Prime Minister of Canada had this much security!

"Very, and with good reasons." Said the woman with a raised eyebrow. "Now please keep to your right and go to her office directly. I'll be informing of you... and remember. NO fights. "She said the last part while looking at both Marcus and Blaise. The two grumbled, but both muttered an affirmative.

The group entered the passage and as soon as they did, it closed behind them with a mechanical click. Rather than going into what looked like the main floor of a very big building, they took a service stair into the upper part of the place. It was surprisingly quite plain, yet held a homely atmosphere with a warm Latin or Mediterranean style.

Shannon wrinkled her nose making a few of her freckles crease. "All of this for a living room?" _Just how important is this person?_ She blinked when she noticed that her guides had all become stiff as if waiting for something terrible yet wonderful all at the same time. It reminded her of the students at the old Catholic school she went to when she was a kid. Everyone was terrified of the nuns and would become quiet even when they would finally announce play time, but in grown men it was simply weird if not laughable.

They entered into a simple styled yet homely office. The men all stood rigid and in full attention with their chests proudly out. However when they entered, their expectations seemed to be blown away at the sight of another man sitting in a chair in the small living room near the kitchenette.

For such an impressing building, this office was not impressive at all; however, the man seated, drinking what appeared to be tea, held an air of confidence and business like appearance.

"She is not here." The man said to the newcomers and continued with his beverage, however, his gaze remained on the new foreigner as their chests deflated like old water balloons thanks to disappointment at the man's stoic words. "She went out earlier and they said she'd be back in a while."

Shannon crossed her arms over her not so buxom chest. Although she was rather tall for a girl, nearly towering over Luke but only going up to Marcus's chin, she wasn't very impressive. Her hair was a blonde that could be considered brown depending on the light with some curl to it, but of the messy kind that obviously hadn't been upkept recently, and her confused face had freckles sprinkled here and there as well as a few bruises from an unknown source. Altogether a rather normal looking girl, the only unique thing being the heart in her chest. Which, apparently, was cause enough for curiosity in this world.

"Jude? " Marcus said, after getting over the disappointment of coming all the way here in a hurry, only to not find their boss. "What are you doing here? Your business is in the Amusement Park's territory. Did something go wrong?"

"Obviously something important happened if I needed to come here and couldn't wait for 'her' to go there." The man said, his forehead wrinkling and his body almost haggard. He looked as if he had waited here for quite a while. "There's still plenty to do so let's get on with it."

"Ehem! Presentations first. We have a foreigner dame here, Oui?" Blaise said while putting his hands on Shannon's shoulders and making her take a step forward. The girl nearly tripped thanks to his movements, though Blaise wasn't well muscled like Marcus, he was still rather strong. "Miss Shannon, that no-nonsense guy there is Jude Silvio Roque. He is one of our main business consultants and has his office at the edge where the amusement park's territory coincides with whatever other territories may be in the country at the time."

Jude looked at her with little but present interest and after a second, he nodded his head in just the slightest acknowledgment, but only that. He clearly wasn't that interested in the new foreigner or had more important stuff to worry about.

Shannon was about to begin asking stuff when suddenly…

**_A/N: Yes, we produced a very cliché cliff hanger. Embrace our bitchiness. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter Chaos-Dark-Lord and I produced. If you haven't actually read her stories, you should consider doing so, mostly because she's a good writer. Thank you for taking your time to read this, leave your two cents in the review box._**


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Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice, Mystery, Romance