Work Text:
Alice sat under a tree, reading her new book, Of the Church of the Mysteries. She'd bought it with her pocket money, which had taken her ages to save. Soon, she became angry. She felt cheated. At nine years old, she was determined to read some grown-up books. She'd bought this book because it claimed to record the secret history of the church of the most eminent god, which sounded very grown-up like. But it turned out to be filled with pictures. And the very few texts were all dialogue, just like any picture book for children. The language was scratchy and not serious at all. For instance, St. Danitz talked with expletives, which was not even more creative than children's made up speech. St. Wall kept quivering, talking about "The World is scary"… Disappointed, Alice lowered the book and looked around. Then she saw a rabbit wearing a monocle pass by.
Alice had never seen a rabbit with a monocle before. She threw away the book and ran after it. When the rabbit dove into a hollow tree, she followed without thinking. For some reason, the hollow was vast, filled with immense grey fog. It would have been very strange, but she thought nothing of it. She went straight through the fog, till she came to a great hall. There were long tables and numerous chairs arranged around. She looked about and searched everywhere, but saw neither rabbit nor anyone else. Upon every seat, there was a name tag, which read "Amon". It's really wasteful. She thought. At least, it should have written, "Amon 1, Amon 2, Amon 3…"That's right. On the tables, there was a display of pastries of various kinds and sizes, which looked very delicious. Their names were "Jacob", "Jacob", "Zoroast", "Zoroast"… Alice had heard of stories where people who ate ownerless food would get hung up by the Lord of the Mysteries. So if the pastries didn't have an owner, she'd better not eat them. If they belonged to Amon, she would have to find one and ask.
There were doors all round the hall. When Alice pushed against the first one, it opened. Behind was a luxuriant garden, which seemed well maintained. The shadows took a shade of dark grey, and the light tinted pink, like enveloped in the burning glow of a sunset. There were several monocled gardeners, men and women, moving between plants. Alice had never seen a woman with a monocle before. But if a rabbit could wear one, she suppose it was natural.
"Excuse me, Sir." Alice waved to the nearest gardener. "Have you seen a white rabbit wearing a monocle?"
"I didn't notice." Said the gardener. "I've been here growing flowers for Duke Amon." At his words, Alice turned to look. She watched the gardener throw seeds into the earth, and then, somehow, a new plant was standing there. The process was wonderful. She felt she gained completely new knowledge about gardening.
"Duke Amon?" She felt around in her pocket. There was some change left from buying Of the Church of the Mysteries. She could ask this Amon if he would sell her a Jacob or Zoroast. "How can I find Duke Amon?"
"Down this road. You might find him." The gardener smiled kindly, pointing out a path through dense foliage.
"Thank you, Sir." Alice set out along the path, frequently bending down, dodging and pushing away branches blocking her way. She encountered birds, bugs, squirrels, and even snails with black circles around their right eyes.
"They have a bad habit of staying up late, but why do they use only one eye?" Alice thought for a while, and cleverly, she came up with an explanation. "Perhaps they use two eyes in turn, so they keep each eye awake until it has dark circles."
Alice did not feel hungry or tired. She went on until reaching the end of the path, where she found a closed door. There was a question written on the door, one had to answer the capital of Intis to pass. At first, Alice thought the question was wrong. Isn't Intis the capital of Trier? She turned around, only to find the road she came from had become a door, as well. She had to solve an equation to get through. Poor Alice was stuck.
Just as Alice was feeling miserable, a black cat with a white circle around its right eye showed up. "Cat." Alice could not help asking. "Do you know how to find Duke Amon?" She knew, of course, a cat could not understand her. Alice was not that childish. It was just her soliloquy in misery. But surprisingly, the Cat understood, for it said, "What a coincidence! As it happens, I am going to see Duke Amon. You dress up nicely, by the way."
"I'm not dressing up, this is as I am." Alice said, surprised, but she knew there were more important things to care about. "Let's go look for Duke Amon, then. I want him to sell me a Jacob or Zoroast. What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to inform him." Said the cat, gracefully lifting up a paw. It pushed down the door, along with its frame, just as Alice thought it would write an answer. "Amon the Thief sends a notice. Tonight, he will steal all of the Duke's treasure."
"Why does he send a notice?" Asked Alice, as she followed the cat. "Wouldn't the Duke call the police in advance, and wait for him?"
"Yes, it is exactly what he wants the Duke to do." The cat said calmly. "Because the theft will happen tonight, the Duke, in his haste, will of course, seek the nearest police station. However, the policemen there are actually in collusion with the Thief. After the Duke invites them into his mansion and goes to sleep, they will openly take his possessions and ship them off."
"So this is how it is." Said Alice, feeling very excited. Is this a story about sinister conspiracies between adults? "Should we tell the Duke?"
"You decide." Said the black cat, touching the white circle around its eye with one paw. "It will make things more interesting. I believe that's what everyone like to see."
Duke Amon was a tall, polite young man, with a pointed hat and a crystal monocle, wearing long robes reaching the ground. He smiled friendly to the visitors. When Alice asked, somewhat nervously, if she could pay for a Jacob or Zoroast, he answered pleasantly. "It is not necessary. They are ours, after all. We don't need payment." Alice became happy. She decided to tell the Duke about the Thief's plot.
"It does not matter." The Duke adjusted his monocle with a smile. "I have long known that those Amons in police are criminal accomplices. I will play cards and chat with them through the night, claiming a desire to witness their heroic valiancy when they catch the Thief. Let them stew in anxiety, but have no way to steal my property, and can only swallow their ill intentions, keeping up the friendly facade. It will be a game of the best kind. Guard, take down this accomplice of the Thief."
The cat immediately fled.
Considering Alice must be tired, the Duke kindly invited her to stay and rest for the night. Then they could go back to the hall tomorrow, and get her the promised dessert. Alice also watched him play cards with Amons from the police station. This is a game very popular among adults. She'd always wanted to learn. But however she looked, she could not understand how they pull several of the same card from one deck. At last Alice decided, with the Duke's permission, to wander through the rest of the house, as opposed to keep watching. The adventure turned out to be a surprise. While the Duke was busy spending the evening with the policemen, the Duchess was instructing maids to pack up valuables and throw them out of the window.
"Well, you've caught me. Please tell the Duke then." The Duchess said upon seeing Alice, with no shame in her explanation. "It is with the Thief that my true heart lies. I've made up my mind a long time ago. To help him steal the Duke’s treasures. To share them among those poor and oppressed Amons - For this very plan, I married the Duke. Now that it has come to fruition, I will take flight with my lover, never again to come back." Then she took out a monocle, put it on her right eye, lift up the hem of her skirt, and jumped out of the window. Curious, Alice ran to the window, only to see a great flock of ravens fading away into the night, dragging bundles of the Duke's belongings.
"How brave she is." Thought Alice. "To carry out her lover's plans, regardless of her own safety. Though it would be wrong to do so. Duke Amon is a good man. They could have negotiated with him in a less illegal manner." So she ran back to where the Duke was playing cards with the policemen, and told them it turned out that, the Duchess was the Thief's partner. They'd taken advantage of the Duke's distraction, stolen his property, and eloped together.
Shocked speechless for a moment, the Duke gravely accused the Thief, of corrupting his lovely, innocent wife. But the policemen Amons laughed. They explained this was a plan the police worked with the Duchess, all in order to find the Thief Amon's real secret hideout, catch him and his associates once and for all… Sure enough, soon they received a telegram from the office. Thanks to information provided by the Duchess, Amon the Thief has been arrested. The Thief was waiting for trial, but unfortunately, they recovered little of the stolen treasures. The Duchess had not only lied to him, but also to the police. She had actually swept away the treasures, and fled to wherever even the Thief didn't know.
"Then, let's give him a quick trial, and put an end to this." Despondently， the Duke said. Alice wondered whether he could still rightly claim the Jacobs and Zoroasts in the distant hall as his. And whether his promise was still valid. There seemed to be something wrong about all of this, but she could not make the least head or tail of it.
Twelve jurors were present at the trial of Amon the Thief. They were dressed in various clothes, and brought different pens and paper. But they all wore identical crystal monocles. Two police officers dragged the Thief into the dock and sat him down. He looked so haggard that Alice felt a little sorry for him. He must feel very stricken, for not only getting caught, but having his trusted lover betraying him. Many other Amons, dressed in plain, even patched clothes, came to watch. They held up words of support and sympathy for the Thief, scrawled on dirty wooden boards and cloth strips, some smeared with corrections, some still misspelled.
"So heartbroken and lost I am, that I don't have the strength to read the file in public. In summary, we all know your crime. Do you have anything to say for yourself?" The Duke himself, wearing the wig of the judge, said wearily to the Thief.
"I have nothing to plead." The Thief said softly. "I have but one request, a completely legitimate one, that the ultimate mastermind of this case, namely, Duke Amon, your highness, should also be punished - All of this is because you are bored. We Amons spend time busy running around, even paying the price with ourselves, all for your entertainment. The best results we could get is a comment of 'interesting' from you. And most of time, we don't even get recognition, let alone rewards. Admittedly I commited crimes against other Amons, for which I know retaliation would be justified. But ultimately, everything was done at your behest, and it should be you to bear the blame."
There was no vehemence in his accusations. But as his quiet, gentle voice went, the two policemen beside him briefly took off their monocles and wiped tears. They untied his chains. The twelve juror Amons each wrote "not guilty" in solemn silence. They left their seats, walked down to join the Thief's supporters. Some eagerly took over their signs and banners. Some produced new ones, with better materials, and more elegant writing.
In the face of this unfavourable development, Duke Amon, who sat on the bench somberly, became delighted. He adjusted his monocle, and smiled.
"Take them down."
Amon the Thief, who just had his chains untied, handcuffed the two policemen together. He rose from the dock, bowed humbly to the Duke, and smiled exactly the same way as the latter. His supporters took out sacks, wrapped and tied up each of the twelve jurors, and piled them together.
"Come, child, this is the end of the story. I've caught these potential rebels. We can celebrate with dessert." The Duke threw aside the judge's wig, and beckoned for Alice to leave with him.
"It had nothing to do with me at all. I'm a little disapointed to not get to do anything." Said Alice to herself, as she followed. "But I finally understand. Grown-ups are just as naughty as children. That's an amazing discovery."
Then Alice woke up, finding herself lying under a tree, with the half read Of the Church of the Mysteries covering her face. Immediately, she understood. Those ridiculous Amons were all in her dream. No wonder she didn't notice many strange things, like how she could easily spend a night outside, without being anxious to return to mom and dad's side. Now that she was awake, all anomalies emerged. But there was nothing to worry about, because she wasn't there anymore. She was in her good, normal life.
Alice closed the book and headed back home. She was thinking about reselling the book to other children. Perhaps she could trade for a small piece of cake, to make up for not getting to eat Jacob or Zoroast in her dream.
* * *
Somewhere at a height beyond infinity, conversations went unheard.
"Should we reach the Mysteries? It might not be so innocent as it seems."
"'He' has checked. Drama derived from vague nostalgia. Echoes of a distant dream. Harmless things. They'll fade over time, without interference."
END