crossover_chick | Thunderstorms Never Came

We were supposed to get some to break the heat, but they never arrived. Got a cooldown period, yeah, but no rain. O.o Weirdness.

Anyway, not too much to report, so let's have another Alice memory, shall we?

Vale of Doom
This was Hell.
Alice felt a fresh surge of misery as she jumped onto the platform that contained the broken remains of the Looking-Glass Line station. Her poor, gorgeous Vale! Reduced to shattered, dying pieces! How she wished she could turn back time, restore it to its former glory. . . .
No time for regrets, not now, she thought, looking up at the cracked stone figure of herself looming over the chunk of earth she stood on. I can’t go back, so I must keep going forward. It’s the only way to save Wonderland. Whatever’s left of it.
She took a quick glance around to see if there was anything useful she should pick up before continuing. There were some boxes to break, and – a crystalline butterfly resting on the train station stairs. Please be a pleasant memory, she thought, smashing her way through the boxes and collecting the fallen teeth before breaking the butterfly. I could really use one. . .
“Some days it feels like my entire life’s fallen apart on me. Like I’ll n-never have a ‘normal’ life again. . .oh, I’m s-so sorry, I shouldn’t be complaining to you! I didn’t mean to s-suggest my problems are – do forgive me.”
Alice stood and stared at the spot where the glittering memory had been. She remembered that day – it had been shortly before Victor’s birthday. She’d caught him in a melancholy mood in his room, staring out the window. She remembered the broken look on his face – and the way it had been replaced with embarrassment the instant he realized who he was talking to. She’d told him it was fine, but she still got the feeling he was a little iffy about complaining about his own life to her. Which –
Which made her feel a little guilty, to tell the truth. Sure, she would say she’d suffered more than he had. Losing her beloved parents and sister, spending ten years locked in Rutledge, being released but still having to deal with annoying hallucinations, dealing with Radcliffe keeping whatever was left of her inheritance under lock and key. . . . But Victor had suffered too. At least she knew that her parents had loved her – she wasn’t sure she could say the same for her friend. And he’d lost two women whom he’d had some sort of romantic feelings toward (all in one day!), and been ostracized by his entire town for a delusion that, though strange, didn’t seem all that horrible to her. . . . Yes, he’d suffered too. And he deserved to have a whinge about it if he liked, without worrying if he was hurting her feelings. She didn’t have a monopoly on misery, much as she liked to think she did.
She continued on, floating to the next platform and fighting her way past the Ruin. And when Caterpillar’s voice told her that it wasn’t all about her, she thought, I know. And I’ll start trying to act like I do. At least for his sake.

Guilty Alice is feeling guilty. *pats her* This memory is actually alluded to in the chapters/chunk of chapters (depending on how it gets split) I just wrote about Victor's birthday -- Alice mentions him having a whine which he quickly retracts when he remembers what she's gone through. It's part of the reason she wants to get him a birthday present -- not only did he get her something nice, she really does want him to cheer up. It's a nice moment.