IMPORTANT TO READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTES! xD

A/N: Hi everyone! GAH, FINALLY I UPDATE THIS STORY! It's been like, what, two weeks? More? o_o Anyway, I'm glad I have, and thanks to all my reviewers. I thought I didn't have any, but I've been proven wrong. Thanks again! xD Eh...I'm afraid I've done horribly, though. This story's gone in a whole different direction, and I might need some help here. :( I can't seem to get the scenes right... I hope you guys can give some ideas; I'm running out! x_x I hope you like it nonetheless, though. Here we go!

Disclaimer: I don't own Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice, but I do own this story and the OC(s).

Enjoy!

I'm Not the Hero in This Story

Chapter Five: The Fall

"On the day I arrived in Wonderland, and after I met Gowland, I dreamed a sad dream, where I ended up falling too far down. When I awoke, something inside told me that it would happen; but I never expected it to be so soon."

A sea of masks flooded the dance floor, the music filling the room acting as the crashing waves. I found myself a seat not far from the musicians, listening intently. It was a nice change from Gowland's music, though I didn't think he was that bad. He just needed some serious lessons and practice.

I gazed at the happy people dancing, their attire clashing and creating a collage of brilliant colors. I smiled to myself, remembering the time Pierce had made a collage of leaves for Alice, and when Boris sprayed it with water by accident. I had been hiding in the bushes, and was thankful they couldn't hear me rolling about in uncontrollable laughter.

"Ah, Jenesa!" a voice popped me out of my distant reminiscing, and I jumped slightly. A soft thud sounded next to me, and I found Alice beaming happily at me with her shiny dolphin mask on. "Boy, I'm glad I was able to find someone in this ocean of colors!"

"Yes, I suppose," I replied, watching her closely. She looked exhausted, for one reason or another, and was waving a hand before her to cool down. I wanted to point out to her that doing that wouldn't work, but stayed quiet. "You look very tired."

"Wow, you can tell?" she laughed, and I found myself influenced by that tinkling sound. No wonder everyone loved her so much… "Well, all the roleholders have either pulled me to dance or have forced me to do something interesting."

"Practically the same thing," I giggled, and for a second, Alice looked at me skeptically. I stopped almost instantly, feeling a jolt. Did she figure out that I wasn't like any of the other faceless, to talk to her so casually?

Suddenly, she broke out into another one of her pretty smiles. "Have you danced yet, Jenesa?"

"No, I haven't. No one has asked me, and I would rather enjoy listening to music and observing the happy faces of everyone around."

Alice looked a bit stunned at my answer, and I felt the heat rise in my cheeks. I was just telling the truth.

"Wow, I never thought about doing something like that…" she said quietly, looking at the shimmering marble floor. I wanted to change the subject; I knew this made her feel odd.

"I don't want to inquire too much, but have you danced with any of our beloved Amusement Park roleholders?" Bad question. How could I be so stupid?

"I have. Well, when I danced with Gowland, after a while he started arguing with the faceless violinists, stating he could play better." Figures, no wonder I heard extensive shouting from the other side of the room… "And when I danced with Boris, I kind of lost him when I twirled around and a huge group of dancers were skidding through. As for Pierce… I didn't see him yet."

I raised an eyebrow almost on cue, the thought swirling in my head. Pierce didn't dance with Alice yet? But why?

"Ah, shoot, I see Peter!" Alice exclaimed, pointing forward, and sure enough, Peter White was scouting the room, as if looking for someone; namely our lovely Alice here. "Oh no, what should I do?"

An idea flashed in my mind, and I stated, "I have a thought, but I don't think—"

"Spill!"

"Okay, well, we could switch masks, and maybe alter your dress…and I have a hair tie." It was a terrible idea, but Alice didn't seem to think so.

"Yes! That's brilliant! And I know just the place." She grabbed my hand, and tugged me to the right. I spotted a door shadowed by the wall, and immediately thought: why the hell would someone put a door there? "This is a secret room that Vivaldi showed me lots of times. We could do it all in here!"

"Okay," I agreed, and we slipped through. It was a marvelous room, decorated with hearts of all different shades, and exquisite furniture. "Oh, there's a sewing machine…"

Alice suddenly froze up, and slowly turned her head to me, a fearful look on her face. "I don't know how to use it…"

I could've burst out laughing right there, but I didn't. Instead, I kept my composure, and smiled. "I know how to operate it. Here, take off your dress."

Alice turned a bright shade of scarlet, and started stuttering. "B-but I-I'm embarrassed…"

"Don't be. You're a beautiful girl, and I won't gawk or anything. We're both girls, and I'll just fix up your dress a little." I tried to sound as honest as possible, and succeeding when she smiled widely and blushed a little.

"Thank you, Jenesa. You're a wonderful person."

I stiffened, and almost burst out laughing at her statement. Wonderful person? Give me a break… I remained calm, and smiled gently as Alice started slipping out of her dress.

After she flowed out of it, she handed it to me, and I started fiddling with the sewing machine. It started up, and to my surprise, there was fabric of different shades and pretty sewing materials on the desk. I took a seat, and started at my work, Alice watching me from the side. I felt proud of myself for being able to do atleast one useful thing, and grinned inside.

But was it worth being proud of?

"Wow…it looks completely different!" Alice exclaimed, twirling around in her new scarlet dress. I probably overdid it; before it was a brilliant shade of blue, and now, it transformed into a burning scarlet with heart sequins.

Yeah, I probably overdid it.

"I'm so sorry…"

"No!" she practically shouted, and suddenly launched herself at me, hugging me tightly. "It's perfect! It's so beautiful, I feel like crying!"

I was stunned by her reaction, and gradually, my lips curved up. I rarely got praise these days. "Well then, I'm glad you like it. Should we switch masks now?"

"Oh…" She seemed sad all of a sudden, staring intently at me. "I wouldn't want to take your lovely mask…"

I laughed heartedly, and suddenly remembered the fact that I was also a foreigner. I faced my back toward Alice, and slipped off the mask. "Take it, it's fine."

"But why are you facing away from me?"

"I have a scar on my face. I wouldn't want to show you something so gruesome," I lied, easily matching the tone. I felt guilty for lying, but it was for the best.

"I see…"

I stretched my arm behind me, and held my purple mask out. "Take it."

She did, and gently placed her dolphin mask in my grasping hand after. I quickly slipped it on, finding it fit perfectly, and turned back to her. Alice had tied her hair up into a pretty ponytail with the thin purple ribbon I gave her, and placed the mask on. She looked beautiful, simply magnificent. And now I wondered: why did I even wear this purple dress gave me? I would never look as pretty as Alice.

"Jenesa, thank you so much," Alice said, breaking me out of my thoughts. I smiled, and nodded, cringing at myself. How could I ever hate her?

"No need for thanks. Now, why don't we head out? I think we've been here long enough."

Alice smiled with me, and we headed for the door, making sure to slip through silently. After we came out without anyone noticing, we departed, and I watched as Alice immediately blended in with sea of masks, disappearing to who knows where. I sighed, and proceeded in briskly stepping to the side, away from all the clusters of colors. I wanted peace and quiet, aiming for one of the open balconies; however, I didn't get to my destination in the way I imagined. In fact, I was pulled far away from it.

"Wha—" I gasped, feeling a pair of arms wrap around my waist, pulling me into the crowd. The force was huge, and I ended up colliding into the hard chest of whoever held me captive within their warm hold. Then I caught a whiff of cinnamon, a texture I knew all too well. I wiggled around in the mystery person's arms, and stared at the masked figure. The red hair with highlights, the jade coat with exquisite trim…and those adorable ears…

"P-Pierce…?"

And suddenly, I was being twirled around onto the marble dance floor, my feet swept here and there. The music was beautiful, flowing with avidity, but I wasn't paying attention. All I was focused on was this man taking my breath away.

"I was right," he said, and my thoughts were immediately proved true, "you did wear the dress."

My eyes widened behind my new mask, and I could feel a pang inside my chest. Or was that my heart skipping a beat? I don't know.

"Say, would you like to escape with me?" Pierce whispered lowly as he dipped me down, our faces inches apart. My breath hitched, and I nodded on instinct. He smiled, and I was sure his emerald eyes were dancing with glee from behind his golden lion mask.

He swept me off my feet again in a slow dance, and we spun our way to one of the nearby white balconies, our steps blending in with the soft music. I was still watching him, my eyes mesmerized by his stunning appearance and actions. It was only when a gust of cool air graced my body that I woke up from my trance, blinking to rid of the spell. What was happening to me?

"Ha…I thought we'd never get away…" Pierce huffed, removing his mask to rib his eyes cutely. "It was so warm in there, I almost couldn't stand it."

"I agree," I said slowly, sighing. I had just noticed my surroundings, and finally regained atleast part of my fleeting character; but did it even matter much? I was just falling in love with him more and more, wasn't I?

"Why did you cut your hair?" Pierce abruptly asked, and I found him before me in a flash. I silently swallowed a glob of saliva in my throat, and felt prickly. His question was hanging, and I fished for a good answer, until he added, "Please don't lie to me."

I gazed into his glowing green eyes, lost in them once again. Orchestral music played in the background softly, and I felt as if things were going too fast, just whizzing by my eyes. I felt like crying suddenly, but held back the tragic urge; I was stronger than this, I had to be.

"I didn't like it anymore," I simply stated, bowing my head down so I didn't have to look at him.

He pulled my chin up, though, and I was back to staring at his eyes. Why was he doing this? It was practically hidden torture, scratching up my insides with desires that would never come true and a wish that was pretty far. "I liked it."

I backed away, drifting silently from his gentle touch. I took a few steps backwards until I was near the rail of the balcony. "What, so I should've kept it for you?" I almost slapped myself; how rude could I get?

At first, he looked surprised, and started apologizing, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound demanding or anything…"

In an instant, I was stuttering out my stupidity, feeling terrible. "No! I didn't mean anything bad, it's just…my hair got in the way." And I believed it would let me hide from you, I wanted to blurt out, but held back the urge.

"Hm…" Pierce's nose twitched, and he was inclined to leaning more in my direction, causing me to back up until I hit the railing head on. What was he doing? He started pacing over to me again, arriving only a foot away from me. "I've been wondering…"

"What?"

"Why don't you smell like a faceless?"

I froze, feeling a cold tingle travel up my straight spine. This was bad; really bad. He couldn't find out, not when I was leaving soon.

As I was about to answer, Pierce stepped forward again, extending an arm out. His hand reached for my mask. "I want to see what's behind your mask."

I gasped, the hard material of the rail pushing against my spine, and suddenly, I found myself lifted off the ground, away from Pierce's grasp. He gasped as well, and I felt the force of sheer gravity pull me down. The mask had slipped off, just when I had started plummeting down. Everything was still, until I finally realized it.

I'm falling, I'm falling…

"Jenesa!"

Our eyes locked, his figure disappearing slowly. I was traveling downer and downer, the freezing wind attacking me. And then I saw shimmering drops flutter up; was I crying?

But all that didn't matter; I was falling.

And I was falling fast.

"Falling isn't such a bad thing, and yet, it is proclaimed as one. On the night I fell off the balcony, so many thoughts were crowding my head, but I could only grasp one.

I was falling physically,

But I already fell mentally long ago."

End A/N: Woot, we got through! :) Gah, I've been watching too much NigaHiga on YouTube...(I don't own either, if someone's going to say something...xD) I didn't exactly 'correct' this chapter, so please correct me if you find anything wrong. xD Add ideas too! Thanks again to my reviewers, I wuv you guys. ;-; I'll try to update soon, and probably soon on my other stories too. Until then...bye!

Happy Reading~