An Alice Story: Chapter 1

It was another clandestine reunion for Sophie/Sofija and her family. Loki/ChengDu sat with his wife Leila on a table close to the sparkling river as Joseph/Yussaf walked from his usual vending station near the Clock Tower to sit on a nearby table. Solomon/Solomun crossed the bridge with his best friend Charlie to take their seat on another table. Myrna/Muirna is late, her twin missing all these years, is still missing. Myrna/Muirna says that her twin, Alannis, is still alive and well somewhere but still very far away.

Sofija opened her pouch to pull out a large green apple. She offered it to Bola-Bola, ChengDu's pet Poring. Bola-Bola pouted cutely then accepted the offered apple.

"What did I do to deserve such an unripe apple", Bola-Bola cutely asked.

"Because you are such a cute Poring", Sofija replied with a smile before squeezing his rubbery cheeks.

"Thank you very much, Miss Sofija", said Bola-Bola before bouncing off to enjoy his little treat.

"Hello Loki", Sofija greeted ChengDu.

". . . ", ChengDu stared speechlessly at Sofija before breaking into a subtle smile. ChengDu hated being called "Loki".

"Hello Sofija, how have you been?"

The king's edict forbade the men from gathering with the other men of the family but it never forbade the men from getting together with the women of the family and vice versa.

Leila nodded at Sofija and Sofija nodded back before rolling her eyes while smiling. Al de Baran was outside the kingdom of Rune-Midgard but well, they still have to be careful. His majesty's spies might misconstrue Sofija and Leila speaking with each other as an attempt to gather together. (I know it is illogical but please bear with me.-Grey Colored Glasses)

Muirna arrived at the Kafra landing point. She dismounted her Pecopeco and walked towards the family gathering. They're all here except for Muirna's twin.

"Hello Charlie, how's Solomun been doing", ChengDu asked the dark haired Assassin seated just across Solomun. Charlie may be a man but he's not family, again circumventing the king's decree.

"Ss-s-s-o-o-l-l-o-mmm-un's fine. We're keep-p-ping -uhrm- busy." Speaking was a painful business for Charlie. So was keeping still.

"Glad to hear that. Please tell Solomun that he really should quit smoking."

At that, Solomun pointedly puffed his cigar, then gave ChengDu the stare through his purple sunglasses. Then he stood up and walked to Leila at the other table.

"Good day Leila! How's my "big" brother? Is he still a stick in the mud like always?"

Leila giggled at the emphasis on big. ChengDu's family was a family of giants. The women she met, Sofija and Muirna, stood at around 5' 10". Solomun himself was slightly over six foot tall. And Yussaf was a heavily muscled, seven foot foot tall mountain. At only five feet in height, ChengDu wasn't just the runt among his siblings, he was dwarfed by them. Despite this, he was the eldest and in many ways, the head of the family.

"I whip up some wine for him so he'd mellow down a little", Leila replied between her giggles, "but he likes apple cider best. Maybe that's why he and Bola-Bola get along perfectly. You should have heard them singing last winter solstice eve. Then they suddenly disappeared and I found a man in a red suit with a nasty ankle sprain in our barn. He liked my apple cider so much that he said he might stop by again next winter's solstice."

"I love your red wine! You should tell my brother to put a few in my Kafra storage so I could savor them more often. Charlie likes them too, don't you Charlie", Solomun asked his best friend. To which Charlie nodded while suppressing a nervous tic.

"I knew you would ask", Leila giggled, "I brought a bottle for each of you. Charlie, would you be kind enough to pass them around?"

Sofija smiled. Solomun hated being bossed around by ChengDu, even when they were younger. The 12 year gap between them didn't help. The fact that ChengDu was often right didn't help. Sometimes, even she can't understand what Leila sees in her stick in the mud older brother.

She watched as Muirna and Yussaf chatted at another table. Muirna lived in Einbroch, the city of steel while Yussaf is now based in Al de Baran. Falcon, Yussaf's pet Steel Chonchon, a giant fly with bright metallic green skin, happily slurps his (her?) bowl of soup on the floor. Memories of the head waiter's reaction to Falcon's eating his soup on the table during the last reunion made Sofija shake her head. Waiters dislike flies, she guesses.

She walked back to her table where a wide-eyed Six of Seven sat and absoarbed his surroundings. In many ways, Six of Seven was born yesterday. Soliman found him fully grown, in body and knowledge, but empty of memory and experiences. Then he dumped Six of Seven on her as if Six of Seven was a puppy that has overstayed his welcome. That was last month. Sofija is still not talking to Solomun because of that. By the ONE, she's an unmarried woman, even if she's already thirty, even if she's a powerful wizard that noone dares to anger, she feels it is still scandalous. She's only glad that Six of Seven is already toilet-trained.

"How are you Six?"

"It is confusing, Mistress Sofija. What is the purpose of this gathering?"

"Just call me Sofija. This gathering is our family reunion. These are my brothers and sisters, except for Leila, she's my sister-in-law and Charlie, who's a family friend but we consider them part of our family."

"Family", Six of Seven paused to reflect, "family, a group of individuals living under one roof. It does not correspond, Mistress Sofija."

"Oh la la. Try the other definition."

"Family, a group of individuals descended from a common progenitor."

"Close enough. And Six?"

"Yes, Mistress Sofija?"

"Stop calling me Mistress Sofija."

"Yes Mistress Sofija", replied Six of Seven, to which Sofija rolled her eyes.

Yussaf approached her table. He has the same expression that Solomun had when Solomun first brought Six of Seven to her. Sofija looked around. Noone following him.

"Hello Sofija, my beautiful sister."

"Out with it Yussaf. It looks like Muirna didn't want what you were going to give her."

"Uh, you see, my storage and my cart are a little full right now."

Sofija raised her right eyebrow. Her storage is full right now too.

"Would you like to have this Alice as a pet? You don't have to hatch her if you don't want to. Just keep the egg in your backpack, she weighs almost nothing. They say Alice pets are the best pets for for ...."

She gave Yussaf the stare. Solomun may be immune to it but Yussaf isn't. Then she relented.

"Why not? Do you have a Pet Incubator there?"

Yussaf was so relieved, he not only gave her an incubator, he also gave her a year's supply of White Potions, the Alice's food.

"Let's see what she looks like."

Yussaf handed Sofija the Pet Incubator. The contraption was strange. It was all brass and glass, with no hint of mechanism nor runic inscriptions. Sofija placed the Alice egg right in the middle of the incubator then attached the plugs right onto the egg then set it on the floor.

The Alice egg was smooth and pale but irregularly covered by grey spots at the bottom. Sofija wondered why all pet eggs were shaped like real eggs.

Sofija concentrated on the incubator. She felt a slight twinge in her aura field. The Pet Incubator absoarbed a fraction of a unit of her stored magic potential then returned it in a psychic feedback. The pet was being imprinted with her, the same way chicks imprint on their parent after they hatch. Then the incubator began to glow and the glow started to change shape.

The first thing Alice saw when she opened her eyes was her mistress.

"Mistress, I am hungry", said Alice and promptly received a White Potion from her mistress. Alice drank deeply to the last drop. Her hunger sated, she looked at her mistress.

Alice's new mistress was tall, taller than her, with long green hair tied in two knots behind her. Something about her mistress was vaguely familiar but Alice's memory was a blur. All Alice could remember was a strong urge to sweep the floor, which she started to do.

"Stop that -uh- Alice", her mistress commanded.

"Yes mistress", Alice replied and stopped sweeping the floor.

"And stop calling me mistress", said Sofija in annoyance, "I'm not that old". That comment provoked smiles from everyone except for Six of Seven, who wore his usual astonished look, and Alice, who was confused.

The reunion went on for a little while more before they all silently raised their glasses together, each group in their own table, in quiet salute and farewell. And one by one, the groups dispersed.

As Sofija and Six of Seven approached the Kafra girl, Alice spoke:

"Sophie, I am hungry."