• Alice finally arrived at the doors of their bedroom. She didn't like referring to it as "their" bedroom. The thought of having to share one bed with him sent shivers down her spine. She gathered herself and pushed open the doors, walking into the room.

    Pin Joker stood at the window, leaning against a large marble pillar. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest and didn't seem to hear her entering.

    "Jorik?" Alice called to grab his attention. She walked across the floor and joined his side as he turned around.

    "Alice, I... I did not hear you come in. Do you need something?" he asked her.

    "Do you own a chest?" she suddenly asked, remembering what Chester had told her.

    "Um... yes," his eyes widened, surprised. "What about it?"

    "May I see it?"

    "Yes, of course," he walked up to the armoire and opened it. Alice watched as he produced a small wooden chest and came back up to her, opening it. "What is mine is your's, Alice."

    She gazed into it to find a photograph and a document of some sort. She picked up the photograph and studied it. It was a group picture in black and white. In the middle sat an old man with a long beard that reached his toes. His face was so wrinkled, Alice almost mistaken him for a tree. On his lap was a small girl with shoulder-length light hair. She seemed happy unlike the rest of the people in the photo, who were staring back with a depressing expression. In the girl's lap sat a small kitten with a grin. Was her mind playing tricks on her? The kitten was actually grinning?

    "What... What is this?" Alice's hands shook as something flashed through her mind.

    Shadows dancing on the walls, shouting and crying before suddenly, a shadow landed a blow to another and all the sound ceased except for the mewing of a kitten.

    Was this a memory of her childhood?

    "That is a family photo of the Aena and the Nereida family before the massacre," he pointed his index finger to a boy who stood to the right of the old man in the middle. The boy was no older than eight and had short dark hair, pulled back into a ponytail. He wore a simple dark robe tied by a cord. "That is me and I am sure this..." he pointed to the small girl in the old man's lap, "...is you."

    "How?" Alice stared in disbelief at the photograph. No one in the photo looked familiar but the boy who he claimed to be him. She saw now the resemblance, the pointed ears.

    As he held the chest in his left hand, he pulled out the folded document and unfolded it by shaking it loose. "Look at this," he said, handing it to her. "I knew this had to be you when I learned your name."

    Alice read the document, it seemed to be a list of the deceased.
    Aena, Bryn
    Aena, Aderyn
    Nereida, Abraham
    Nereida, Attila
    Nereida, Anna
    Nereida, Amy
    Nereida, Alice

    "Why isn't your name on here?" Alice asked, ignoring the fact that this Nereida girl was named Alice.

    "I survived, my body wasn't one of those in the count," he explained and plucked the document from her hands. "You survived, yet you are on the list."

    "She does not remember, Jorik," the armoire opened up again and Chester jumped out of it.

    "Mr. Cheshire!" Pin Joker shouted, surprised.

    "What is this!?" Alice shouted at the purple smiling man. She held up the photograph and document to his face.

    Chester only smiled as he took both items from her hands, "This is your past," he walked up to Pin Joker and laid a gloved hand on his slender shoulder, "And he is your future."

    Alice narrowed her gaze at Chester, waiting for an explanation. He smirked and took his gloves off as he paced the room. He put them under his arm and took his hat off before he began to explain.

    "Alice, you came from a very grand family. The Nereida were rumored to be descendants of sea nymphs and legend says that the family owns a treasure, even greater than the treasure of Gol D. Roger."

    "How can that be? His treasure is priceless!" Alice exclaimed.

    "You don't know that for sure. No one knows. I believe it is just a fake. His treasure disappeared the second they killed such a great man," Chester sighed. "But back to the Nereida family, your grandfather was Abraham, whose son was Attila. He married a peasant girl named Anna who had two daughters. Your older sister, Amy and you, Alice. You were always the pretty one. Amy had her smarts but you had the beauty of a sea nymph. Don't you agree, Jorik?"

    Alice looked to Pin Joker, who nodded as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, listening to the story of the Nereida family for the thousandth time. She blushed slightly and turned back to Chester.

    "How can I be sure that you're telling the truth? Am I really the daughter of the Nereida?" Alice asked him.

    Chester smiled at her, his spectacles flashing before he disappeared into a puff of purple smoke. Pin Joker looked up, his eyes widening as he watched the magic trick that even he couldn't perform. Alice stared down in amazement at a purple cat with pink splotches all over its fur.

    "I am that kitten in the photo, Alice. I've been with you since you were born," Chester explained in his cat form. He licked his paw and rubbed his left ear, a cat habit.

    "He's a shapeshifter, Alice. My family gave him to you when you were born," Pin Joker told her, remembering the cat but not the man.

    "This may be too much for you to comprehend, Alice. Maybe another day I will tell you about what happened as to why you don't remember your childhood," Chester leaped up onto the bed and began to knead the covers with his claws. "I will be staying with you two from now on."

    Alice could hear the loud purring of the cat from across the room, she looked to Pin Joker for answers. "Can you tell me anything, Jorik?"

    "No, I can't," he said as he took her hand and walked towards the door. "Come, Alice. Let's go play a game of cards."

    As the doors closed shut, the cat's ears twitched and he opened one eye suspiciously. Jorik was going to tell Alice EVERYTHING.