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The tiles spilt apart with a resounding crack.
She listened as the castle began to crumble and collapse around them, watched as the aquamarine platform began to grind upwards, its passenger choking out sobs and pleas in desperation.
She took off her mask. So this was the end, what all this had built up to. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man in a sharp black tailcoat ebb into existence like an apparition. He smiled through his tears, mumbling apologies, farewells, blessings.
She felt her heart harden. That feeling bubbled up once again in her chest, that feeling of hopelessness, uselessness, that had surfaced throughout the entirety of Alice’s journey; watching as her brother paved the way to his final death, observing as her blissfully ignorant counterpart aided in the process. No matter how much she tried to stop them, they marched onward, disregarding what consequences their actions could bring. Now their deeds had bared their fruit. All they had to show for their efforts were grief and sorrow. Yet...he could smile despite it all. She could steel herself enough to turn away, find the courage to brace herself for the future.
She wondered how they found joy and hope among all this despair.
Bit by bit, the ghost of Hans crumbled away like fragments of glass, slowly dissolving away. She caught sight of his last smile, a soft, gentle one meant only for her as he was lost to the wind. She thought her knees would give way as she felt another wave of grief wash over her, intermixed with a taste of bittersweetness that lingered in her throat.
Eventually, the window’s light engulfed Alice, taking her away from her dream world once and for all. Not a second later the checkerboard floor gave way under Celia, leaving her victim to the vacuum of nothingness. She felt herself plummeting towards the darkness, tears floating away as she made her descent. Maybe she would finally be allowed to rest, remain together with her brother in this endless void.
A bitter chuckle escaped her. She doubted it.
Her eyelids drooped down, as she waited, dreading the morning’s light.