• "Catch her, stupid cards!"
    Aria would of been beautiful, if she hadn't earned such an evil aura.
    "Let go, stupid play-things!" a voice cried out.
    Alyss' heart skipped a beat.
    Teddy.
    "We have a catch, now do we?!"
    Aria's voice was menacing, filled with malicious pleasure of her henchman actually catching a human being.
    She ran off, and her cards followed loyally. They all seemed depressed.
    Anyone would, being commanded by that wench.. Alyss thought bitterly.
    Her spell ran out, and she quickly hid behind a tree.
    "Conceal me now
    Until I plead
    To a female figurine!"
    Her body once more became invisible. Alyss had a plan all thought out, and now the only thing left, was to plead to Aria, and make sure something goes on. She ran off in pursuit of the murderer who teared her life apart.
    ~~~...~~~~.......~
    "Wheres Alyss?!" Teddy said fiercely.
    Aria gave off another maniacal laugh.
    "Foolish boy. But the cards could of caught you, a peasant. Full name! Now! Before I kill you at this spot. And wouldn't my darling niece just love to see one of her friends killed!"
    "Teddy. Teddy Anderson...." he mumbled. Teddy was feeling very shameful, as he sold out his identity to the person who killed his father. At the thought, his hatred sparked once more, ready to lash out...
    "An Anderson?! Oh ho! You know how your father was killed, don't you?" Aria hissed. "Unless...." Aria studied Teddy as he struggled in the cards arms. She snapped her fingers.
    "You were that boy!" she cried out happily.
    "Whats your point?!" Teddy's hatred was well noticed in his voice, and no doubt Aria noticed, but she ignored it.
    "That boy..! Your the one who loved my niece since what? The mere age of four?!" Her laughter filled the forest.
    "Oh, she'll be just thrilled! I caught the son of the man I killed about 10 years ago!" Aria suddenly spun around.
    "Let go of me, you freak!"
    "Riika! Matt!" Teddy cried in relief.
    Matt froze, and stopped struggling.
    "Aria," he whispered, hate in his voice, "I never thought I would have to see your face until everything blows up in it."
    Riika, full of energy, continued to struggle.
    "This is child abuse! Let go, let go, let go!! Eh?"
    Finally realizing the tension in the air, she stopped struggling as well.
    "Haven't we caught a deck today? Soon enough, all her hearts will break, and she'll be left with 49!"
    "Your puns suck." Riika piped up.
    Aria's temper flared.
    "Kill her. Her head will be a wonderful example to my niece of giving up the kingdom!"
    Riika's temper flared too.
    "Your would be better, since your face is scarier!"
    The cards holding Matt, Teddy and Riika started to chuckle.
    Maybe... just maybe..! Riika thought.
    "Now! Kill her!"
    The cards were just laughing away.
    "You already kill them. Didn't I just tell you how ugly your face is?!"
    The cards laughed harder.
    Almost..!
    "When you look into a mirror it breaks! When someone tries to fix it, they tell them not to in case it has to see your face again!"
    Teddy was laughing, but he was shocked. Matt was roaring with laughter with the cards. They blindly laughed with Matt, and made jokes of their own.
    "I bet you the maid was afraid to pick up the pieces in case her ugliness haunted them!" Matt laughed merrily.
    The cards almost seemed human. The laughter soon died.
    Literally.
    ....~
    Alyss gave a little gasp. All the cards tumbled down like a card house being blown away. Matt had sensed it, and blocked with his own magic. His magic was lighter, and it seemed pure white.
    "Killing your own followers now, Aria?" Matt hissed. "You never did understand how great it must be to have a bunch of followers that are human-like. Instead you let them drop dead. Was Dodger not enough? Was Alyss' mom not enough? Was my mother not enough? Your heart is so cold, you wouldn't know a thing about love."
    "Love!" She threw her arms up hysterically.
    "Everyone. Everyone comes to the conclusion.." Aria whispered menacingly. "Love will save you. Love has it all! Love feels great! Love is all you need! You can't buy love!" she recited shrilly. "No! If love did anything, my father would of given my the kingdom anyways! My sister wouldn't of abandoned me!"
    "Abandon?" Riika muttered. Aria's attention spun over to Riika.
    "Have you any idea. What its like to actually live on the streets?" Riika's voice rose slowly, like a steady wave turning into a tsunami.
    "You wait there. Day by day. Waiting for someone, something to change in the world. Waiting for a chance to live like a human being, for a chance to be treated like one. Its so hard to come by people who act human! Being abandoned, means having no spare change. Being abandoned, means you have someone, but they don't want you, or need you. It means, you have no real home. I was abandoned by my orphanage in the human world. I was abandoned. You were hated of your own accord, and left on your own. Don't say things, when you've never really felt it!"
    "Riika.." Teddy tried to talk.
    "No, Teddy.. Don't talk."
    "You killed Matt's parents?"a voice said quietly.
    A black ball apperaed in Aria's hands.
    "Show yourself!"
    "Please, don't fight with them.."
    Alyss plead, and she was crying. She appeared. Her face was soaked with tears, and blood. Alyss' hands and shirt had blood all over, and she was dripping with the red substance.
    "Riika. She was abandoned in a world where she knew no one. You sent out someone to betray me. Matt. Teddy and I aren't the only ones who lost someone by your hands. Killing them, one by one. You touched a sensitive part of each of us. Destroying our lives, and saying something you could never understand to our faces.
    "I think you saw our first catch of the day." Aria said smugly. She pointed a crimson red painted nail at Alyss.
    "This is war, Alyss. You live in the image of your mother, and will die the same way!"
    Her black magic went around her body like a spiral. Teddy charged at her with a sword withdrawn. Aria laughed. and flicked the air, like Teddy was right there.
    He fell, and Aria was gone.
    Tears streamed down Alyss' face. She did not move towards Teddy. He moved towards her. The worry on his face, the sadness etched on Alyss', the anger on Riika's, and the spite on Matt's. With different expressions, they all meant the same thing.
    We need to save Dream Clouds, and kill Aria.
    "C-C-Carrotop..." Alyss whimpered. "D-D-D-Dormouse...!" Alyss broke down, unable to say a word.
    "She saw." Matt whispered.
    "Why.." Riika sobbed.
    Teddy teared, and he was just patting Alyss on the back.
    "Don't cry, Alyss. Don't cry.. It'll be alright.. Don't cry..."
    ~~~~
    You never could tell what happened in the forest that day. The wisdom tree spoke wisdom, the birds still sang, the leaves still fell and the trees gently swayed in the wind. The only evidence was a stone that appeared, with flowers, cheese, carrots, and tea.
    Engraved on the stone was words that only the two would understand.
    Tea for three, it turned to four, then six, and now its four again. The battle will go on, and so will our tea and hearts for you.
    Every month, the crew would alternate conjuring the food and tea and flowers. The first time, Matt did it all. The note next to it, was something of a memory.
    On the fourth month, starting next month, beware of the snacks. Alyss will be conjuring those but you should still give them a try.
    -Matt, your friend who has remembered every party we had.
    ~~~
    After Alyss placed her note, snacks and tea, Matt came running up to her.
    "Aria is coming back. You have to flee to the human world with Riika again. Teddy will be with you, too!"
    Before Alyss could say a word, they were at the pool of liquid glass.
    "Come back with these words, and only through a looking glass may you come! Understand? If you forget, you'll never be able to return. Get ready now.
    Through the liquid I went
    Through glass I will go
    Through thick and thin, and I will know
    I am in Dream Clouds
    Present the show!    "
    The new trio recited it over and over again until they could say it at any given time. Riika put on her old uniform, put dirt on her cheeks and clothes so it looked like she was captured for months. She even cast a spell to make her look thinner.
    Teddy was wearing rags instead of his everyday clothes. He packed them in a case only visible to the eye of a Dreamer. He made sure Riika and Alyss had a case like that, so they could wear clothes from Dream Clouds, and never forget.
    Alyss had her uniform on too, and with the same doings of Riika, they looked like they slept in dirt and dust for months.
    They held hands, and down the liquid they went. Alyss felt like she was drowning, Teddy suffocated. Riika felt anger. She hated herself now. She had no family to go back to. Now the three were to live together, and claim to have been brother and sisters. Riika dyed her hair the same chocolate brown Teddy and Alyss had. The newscasters remembered Riika and Alyss clearly. Alyss' family did not. They were all orphans. The reporters did a story on them, and were well known strangers on the streets. They got by with their magic, and their memories didn't fade. They were all anxious, until a somewhat familiar face to Alyss appeared before their eyes.
    "Need a home? I have lots of lodging space."
    I can't put my finger on it. But its at the tip of my tongue..
    Riika and Teddy reluctantly agreed, because Alyss had no response. They had a home with a stranger, but Matt had a home in Dream Clouds that was destroyed...
    The man smirked.
    Talking to a mirror, he said,
    "Aria, the kids are compeltely broken. I got 'em here."
    And the mirror replied with a red eye in it.
    "Good. Rid of them before Sir Hats-a-Lot tells them the plan."
    Aria turned around and smiled evily.
    "Good. Your friends are dumb, and went with a stranger."
    Matt was tied up against the wall, his mouth magically sealed. He had magic restrainers, and his attempt was useless.
    Alyss, Teddy, Riika! Get outta there now! he thought helplessly.