Melancholia: Remnants - Chapter 20: Alice Room

"Why can't I wear loafers?"

"You can't, you have to match, blend in with the other Alices."

"Alright then."

Kathy had just been told to dress up as Alice and pose, as a new exhibit in the Valerie Gallery. The gallery manager, Mr. Mortimer had seen Alice as a perfect candidate, with the perfect skin colour, height and everything. With her, they could finally complete their collection.

"Put the clothes and shoes in the machine and step inside it. Then, we can begin." said Ms. Bensate, the assistant manager.

"Why can't I dress myself? I'd be the perfect dresser."

"Perfect? No, we want accurate measurements. It's in the contract, remember? Every Alice has to be the same, including skirt length, hair length, hair pattern, etc. We must get you ready in those aspects.

"Fine. I'm going in!"

"Process begin."

Kathy entered the booth, prepared for her procedure. First of all, she was stripped naked, then raised in the air with robotic arms holding her limbs, ensuring that she could not move, could not struggle, and could not mess up or interfere with the process. She was then cleaned with various substances, making sure she was sparkly clean.

Then, her hair was trimmed, coloured and stylized, and various parts of her body was resized and manipulated through various special techniques in order to match the other Alices perfectly. After the adjustments were made, she was coated in a thin layer of transparent wax from hair to toe, covering every inch of her body.

After the wax was applied completely, she was sprayed with a special white fume, giving her a shiny, glossy look. Once the fumes diffused and disappeared from the room, the machines put Alice's clothes on her, from the inside to the outside. First, the undergarments and white thigh-high stockings, then a white knee-length puffed sleeves dress, and a blue pinafore with a small white apron on top of it. Finally, a hairband and a pink bowtie was put on her hair and on her feet were shoes, ankle-strap shoes.

She was then let down, a large mirror being held in front of her. She looked in the mirror and saw her new look, Alice she was. 

"Curiouser and curiouser!" she cried out, so surprised that for the moment, she quite forgot how to speak normal English. "I'm an exact copy!"

Then, she was let out of the booth, where Ms. Bensate was waiting for her. "You look fabulous, darling!"

"Yes, I do. I'm the perfect Alice, after all."

"Alright, time for you to meet Mr. Mortimer. Come along this way, please."

Kathy, now exactly like Alice, followed Ms. Bensate into a room where all her sisters were.

"There they all are," she thought to herself.

"Mr. Mortimer, here is the girl."

"Fabulous," he exclaimed. "Are you ready to be a model?"

"That's what I'm here for. Besides, I'm already Alice! So, there's no turning back for me."

"Alright then. Do you remember the pose?"

"Yes, I do."

"See that last empty pedestal? Climb up on it and pose. Okay?"

"Understood."

She climbed up the empty pedestal and lied on it, ready for the modelling.

"Alright, I'm going to set the machine. How long do you want the transformation to be?"

"She said to be permanent," Mr. Mortimer said, browsing through her contract.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. It's quite an honor to be featured in the Valerie Gallery."

"Alright then. Now, all you have to do is to think, 'I want to freeze, turn into a gallery model.' Then, you will hear a countdown from five seconds, and after five, you will be completed. Understood? No moving at all."

"Understood."

"Process begin."

"I want to freeze, turn into a gallery model. I want to freeze, turn into a gallery model."

"Pose and don't move, pose! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, freeze!"

In a flash, she lost all mobility, and was stuck in her reclining pose on the pedestal. She was finally complete, a life sized figurine of Alice.

"The process is complete, sir. With her as the eighteenth and last Alice, this exhibit is finished."

"She is quite beautiful, isn't she?"

"Of course, but with them all looking the same, how can you compare?"

"Indeed so, indeed so."

"I smile for you," Mr. Mortimer said, "I deeply feel for you." With a camera he has in his pocket, he took a photo of them.

"Let's open this section tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright. It's time for a celebration!"

Melancholia: Remnants - Chapter 19: Carnival Circus Advertisement

Come Down to the Circus!

We are hosting a circus starting this weekend! Come and visit us! See the famous attractions!

Sit back and enjoy the show! We are having a great circus master, so come and watch the performance. Set your alarm, be sure to not miss it!

There are clowns, pizza, pies and more, lion, tigers, and acrobats. We have everything, you won't feel bored.

Venue: Central Park

Time: 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Come and join us! Entrance fee only 2 dollars per person.

Do ask your family and friends to come along, for you can have two people come for the price of one! It's a bargain!

Come along, come down to the City Central Carnival Circus!

Melancholia: Remnants - Chapter 18: Summer Kokeshi Doll

It's the summer festival, nastumatsuri, and Kyoko and her foreign friend, Cherry find themselves at the festival.

Kyoko, having celebrated this every year, is really enjoying herself, but Cherry, on the other hand, not really.

"Ugh! Why did this fish net break again?" said Cherry, annoyed at goldfish scooping.

"Having fun?" asked Kyoko, eating her shaved ice.

"What do you expect? I can't even win this king- whatever you call it, sushi game you recommended me."

"It's called kingyo sukui, and maybe you could try other games and see, then. It's quite easy to me, though."

"Easy? I'll just change the game. What's that game with the tiny colorful balloons?"

"That? That's balloon fishing, yo-yo tsuri. Do you want a go? It's harder than kingyo sukui."

"As long as there's no live goldfish, I'm fine."

So she tried the game, while Kyoko went around the festival, looking to refill her now nearly empty bowl of ice shavings. 

"Ugh! I still can't win this either and it's getting hot in this dress!" cried Cherry angrily, going to the changing room. In a fit of rage, she just crumpled her yukata and threw it into the box of yukatas. This, of course, didn't went unnoticed.

"Stupid festival! Stupid games! Stupid dress!"

Now she found Kyoko, waiting in line. "What's up? You look highly agitated. And what happened to the yukata?"

"I'm leaving!" she cried out. "And I don't care."

"Alright, before you leave, why not visit the mask stall? There's no games there, there's nothing to lose. Come on, I'll bring you. I'll come back here later when there's less people. This is tiring!"

"Alright then. Last stop before I leave."

They arrived at the desired stall with the masks of their favorite anime characters, mainly Cherry's. "Do you want to try this one on?" asked Kyoko, pointing at Cherry's favorite character.

"Hmm... Okay." she put it on, looking at Kyoko.

"Kawaii!"

"Yes, don't get too excited."

"Kakigōri, kakigōri!" a man shouted in the distance.

"Alright, that's my shaved ice! Wait here and enjoy yourself, okay?" Kyoko winked and left.

"Guess I'm all alone now..." Cherry took of her mask. "Hey, what's that doll doing on the floor there?"

She picked it up, looking at it. It had the white face of a geisha, a normal wooden doll, but with eyes suddenly glowed a very white shade of pale. "You disrespectful girl." a voice pierced Cherry's mind, realizing that she was in a place with a white floor and white walls as far as the eye could see. Everything was white, even the sky, which she couldn't ever reach.

"Konnichiwa," she saw a little girl in a red and white yukata say.

"Hello. Where are we?"

"The place doesn't matter. Let me bring you to some place else. Hold my hand," she said, extending her hand.

Cherry looked at the little girl, thinking that she was weird, for the little girl had a white face, a weird hairstyle, a red kimono and a little paper fan she held.

"Why do you have such a white face? And the hair?"

"No reason. Come, come with me!"

Cherry held the little girl's hand and the girl brought her around the white world.

"We're here!"

"Where? It still looks the same."

"To you it might as well be." In the white world, it was always the same, but in reality, Cherry, or her body, was guided to a place with few people, in order now to attract attention.

"What am I here for?" asked Cherry.

"Just wear this."

A cloth of white and very light blue appeared and wrapped around Cherry in an instant, folding itself in the way a yukata is folded, but with a few layers of cloth tightly covering her, her hands now hidden underneath. The cloth being as long from her shoulders to her feet, they covered even her legs, tying them up. The cloth was so tight, she couldn't even move her legs to jump, but why would she want to? She just stood there, her mind in a trance. In reality, the cloth was also there, keeping her standing up, not budging.

Then, to add to her yukata encasement was an obi, a red long one, tying around the white cloth at her waist. The cloth ended at her back, in a beautiful bow.

"I feel..."

"Feel what?"

"I'm getting stiff..."

She found it harder to move, as the cloth got tighter, but in real life, it was slowly encasing her, her shoes, pants, shirt and hands all encased by the cloth, into a cylindrical shaped bolster. The bolster in turn, turned into wood, along with all that it covered.

"Yes. All you need left, is to look the part. Hair!" Her hair turned into that of a typical geisha's, exactly like the little girl's. Then, it was let go off and two buns formed at the front and beside of her hair, bounded by two pink ribbons. Her hair was then decorated by a pink sakura flower.

"Face!" Her faced turned white, her lips painted red. In the real world, her head was facing the same changes, but also slowly turning into wood, with her neck shortening. Her facial features were instead being painted on her face, as her face was just only a smooth piece of wood, losing her ears, her ears, eyes, nose and mouth were just painted, along with her reddish pink cheeks. Her hair turned hard wood, glued to the top of her head.

Then, when the real her turned completely into wood, her wooden body was shrunk down to the size of the doll she was holding earlier, now dropped on the floor. Shrunken, she was lying down next to the red doll.

"Let go!" the little girl commanded the cloth, and they let go, releasing Cherry in the white world. Her crop top and denim shorts that she wore disappeared, and were replaced with a white yukata with a red obi.

"I can move again! Who am I?"

As she was able to move in the white world, hands and sleeves were painted onto the doll version of her, completing her. She was now a fully done kokeshi doll.

In the white world however, she was trapped. "You are just a beautiful girl in yukata. You live here, in this white world, in your mind, looking out from your doll body. You can go wherever you like, and do whatever you want to do, so do enjoy yourself here."

"Alright," said Cherry. "Thank you!"

The little girl faded away, and Cherry was left idling in her mind, posing and walking around, not feeling bored at all, being in a doll's body.

"Where is she?" asked Kyoko, looking for Cherry. "Have you seen a girl like..."

"No, I haven't," everybody said.

"Oh well, guess she must have left, then."

Melancholia: Remnants - Chapter 17: Plush Life

"Anna? Where are you, Anna?"

Anna had gone missing for the whole afternoon and so, Cherilyn was tasked with finding her little sister.

Eventually she came to the toy store, where Anna said she was going to. "Anna, where are you?"

Cherilyn looked around the toy store and could not find Anna. Instead, all she found was a shiny green rock, lying down on the ground in front of the shop.

"What's this stone?" she said, picking it up, as it was glowing. "It's beautiful."

Suddenly, her left hand started to feel soft, as stitches appeared at the sides of her hands, her hand slowly expanding. Her four fingers merged together, leaving only her thumb and merged fingers. "What's happening to my hand?" she asked, not noticing that her other hand was also transforming.

Her hand soon gave in, and she could no longer hold the stone, and it was dropped. She looked at her cotton hands and tried to touch one with another. It felt so weird. She tried to clap, but it didn't work. As she clapped, she didn't notice that the rest of her arms were turning too, and so she continued clapping.

Then, as she was clapping, her legs started to feel weird. It was filling up with cotton too, and stitches forming at the side of her legs. Her socks also got stuck onto her cloth leg, sewed together as well. Her feet, her shoes started to fuse together, her feet becoming the cotton fill in her shoes, and the hard fabric of her shoes turned cloth, wrapping around her feet turned cotton. With her shoes, or feet becoming floppy and soft, she fell down on her backside, sitting down on the pavement.

She tried to move her legs and stand up for she was in the way of pedestrians, but she found that her legs weren't responding. She didn't have muscles. As the pedestrians came by, nobody cares about her, and they just walked by, avoiding her, walking around her. Soon they would have to jump, as Cherilyn's body filled up with cotton, first her intestines, then stomach, then going all the way up to her lungs. Her every organ was turned to soft cotton, and the cavities in her, the thoracic cavity filled up with the same material. Her breasts retracted, shrunk and flattened and merged with her chest, to fit her role as a plushie. Her body was essentially a punching bag with human skin now.

Yet stitches appeared too, from the bottom of her armpits to the side of her hips, joining up with the stitches on her legs. Her body skin turned smooth fabric, she now lied down on the pavement as she could not move her body completely, only able to look around, hoping no one would step on her.

"I'm... a plush," she said, looking at her self.

Soon, she felt her neck shortening, and eventually disappearing. Her head expanded, filling up with cotton, her head cutely large. Her hair turned into strings of thread and yarn, and her ears started to turn into cloth. From the back of her head, to the front of her face, cloth was creeping up, leaving no skin unchanged.

Her nose turned small, like that of an anime character, and her mouth was forcefully stitched into a smile. Her eyes grew larger, looking more and more like an anime character that she was becoming. Once resized, her eyes and all her facial features got transformed as well.

Now she was just a life sized plush, lying on the pavement. Until she shrunk, that is. She shrunk into the size of a normal plushie. Then she felt a strange presence in her body. Inside her plush body, a metal skeleton formed, allowing her to sit upright, if she could move, that is.

Then, metallic parts clinking could be heard from inside her. "What is happening in me?" she thought, unable to speak. 

"Ouch," she thought, as her back began to ache. A white ring with a string came out of her back, and ejected itself with some energy, pulling on the string that it was tied to.

"Hello! I'm Cherilyn! Won't you play with me?" she said, or more rather, her voice box did, as she sat upright on the pavement, arms opened wide. The voice box was perfect, it sounded exactly just like her, save for the slightly higher pitch for cuteness and a cartoony effect. The string soon entered completely, and the ring was just outside her back, thus completing her.

"I'm a real plushie now..." she thought to herself. It was very weird, being that small, looking at the world from a doll's eye view.

Not to mention her unable to move, all this was weird enough. Finally she understood the effects of transforming that so many else have undergone before. "So this is what's it like... I wonder what will become of me... A wonderful doll I will be, for a perfect little girl. Maybe... A... A... I don't remember anymore, and why should I?" She slowly forgot Anna, slowly forgot her life. "I'm just a beautiful little plush doll."

Suddenly, she felt herself being picked up, and her string pulled. This time however, her hands didn't move, saying, "Play with me!" Soon, she heard a bell ring.

"Another one," a man said, putting her on the shelf behind him, as a doll on display. Looking around, she saw her sisters and brothers on the shelf, sitting right beside her. She was not alone, and never would be. Then she looked around the store, and noticed a life sized porcelain doll.

"Anna!" she thought, regaining her senses. "She... She is a doll? What happened to her? Why didn't I think of going in the toy store first? But I can't do anything now, I'm also just a doll, a plushie. I'm... just like her. I guess that this'll be our fate from now on. I'm a cute little plushie... This is my plush life."

Melancholia: Remnants - Chapter 16: Operation: Warlock's Infinity Gems 1

"Lieutenant, what new information do you have from the digging at Morphotamia?"

"General, sir! We have discovered an ancient myth. It states that at the creation of the universe, various stones were produced along with the world. The stones had different colours and properties, and were scattered around the world."

"I see. No wonder the stones have such weird effects."

"Yes, the excavation has shown us documentations, stories of people getting transformed."

"Finally, we can have a grasp on the stones and their powers. Do you have any other findings?"

"Yes, from the documentations, the purple stone turns animals into other types of animals, the green stone turns humans into dolls and toys, the cyan stone sucks people into the digital world, and that's basically it. That's all that the documentation says."

"I see. Well, I see that it is quite disappointing that we have only have information about the three stones. Yet, they are powerful, in their own right. Let us find more documentations and stones, so that we can harness the power of all of them!"

"Sir, our funding is not enough."

"If as such, you have the funds. I will provide funds to you section to carry out research on the stones. Do not disappoint me."

"Yes, sir! General, sir!"

Melancholia: Remnants - Chapter 15: Mice Ballerina and Nutcracker

Peggy had just gotten back from her vacation with her family, and she had so much fun! But it was good, good to get back home again.

"I finally get to play with you again!" she said while picking up her favorite doll, holding it to her chest and hugging it. "Oh, and you guys too!"

"Sweetie, go take a bath first."

"Alright, Mum!"

In the bathroom, Peggy reminisced about her tail, her long and pink tail, and her soft gray fur. She had turned into a gray mouse at the theme park, wearing a gray headband with mouse ears. "What fun it was, to be a mouse!"

Yet the time was over, and she was a normal human girl once more. The headband she kept, as a souvenir of her trip.

After bathing and getting dressed, she went directly to play with her dolls. "I bet you've missed me! Oh, you must, you must!"

"Yes, we did," she made her cowboy doll nod its head, pretending that it spoke.

"How about you? Mister Nutcracker and Miss Ballerina?" she asked the two toys that she had just gotten last Christmas. They were beautiful, the both of them. The nutcracker came as he was, being able to stand as a toy, whereas the ballerina came with a stand, for it was very hard for her to stand on one leg, her dancing.

"Let me tell you guys something. I've brought back a souvenir! It changed me to a mouse girl, and I think you'll enjoy it too!"

She took out the gray headband from her bag and waved it in front of the toys. "Look! Do you guys want to try it?"

"Yes," she made her toys say.

So she tried it on her toys one by one, starting with the cowboy doll. She put the headband around it, pressed the button but nothing happened.

She then tried it on the other dolls, but it wouldn't work. Then, she tried it on the ballerina. It turned her instantly into a mouse ballerina doll. Then, she tried it on the nutcracker, who came along with her. He too, turned into a mouse nutcracker. She then tried a few other toys but to no results, so she gave up.

"So the headband only worked on two dolls, weird! Hmm... I guess you two will be needing new names... For you, my little ballerina, I'll call you Angelina. And you, nutcracker... well, Nutcracker will still do fine."

"Do you guys like the new upgrade of your friends?"

"Yes," she made them say again.

So she played with her dolls like usual, having tea parties and doll houses. It did not bother her at all that her dolls were now mice, but instead she rather enjoyed it.

"I wish I could be like you couple," she said, "but Mum just won't let me be a mouse anymore. I also do wish the rest of you could be the same too. I wonder why those two are special..."

Melancholia: Remnants - Chapter 14: Beautiful Garden Gnome

As Janice was walking down the pavement, she saw a red gnome cap lying on the floor. Tiny it was, and very cute too. She picked it up and examined it, it was made of soft fabric, like a handkerchief.

Wondering how'd it look on her, she wore it. Suddenly, she shrank, and her clothes changed. A red dress formed on her, with white sleeves, a red on her chest, and the bottom red too, reaching to her feet. Her jeans slowly disappeared as her dress appeared, her shirt following suit. Her hair curled into a brown bob, becoming shorter than before. Her sport shoes turned into brown bar shoes, a brown vest appeared around her chest. A white apron formed in front of the wide dress, aligning with the vest.

As she shrunk, she found the world around her growing, her height around just that of a tulip. The gnome hat, once she shrunk, fit her head perfectly. She looked at her newly formed dress, that had colours that looked like they were painted. She looked around, and she saw that she was in a garden, one that was just by the side of the pavement.

In her mind suddenly appeared her voice, saying "Pose and don't move, pose!"

So she did, and posed like she always did, with a victory gesture in her left hand. After a while the voice continued, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, freeze!"

Suddenly, she found herself unable to move. Her body turned into porcelain, her hair, her clothing and her hat too. Once skin, flesh and cloth, now all porcelain. She was stuck in the pose she did, immobile.

"Why can't I move? Have I become a garden gnome?" she thought. She tried moving her limbs as much as she world but they didn't respond. "Hello?" she tried to say, but to no avail. All she could see was the garden, and a big mushroom in front of her, in the midst of the tall grass. "A caterpillar should be sitting there, smoking a hookah," she thought.

Suddenly from amongst the grass, came out a green frog, also porcelain, but mobile, unlike her. The frog looked around, as if it was looking for somebody. Upon seeing Janice, she, the frog, said, "Unfreeze!"

And all of a sudden, Janice regained mobility, even though she was still porcelain.

 

"What happened?" asked Janice.

"What's your name, darling?"

"Umm... Janice. What happened to me just now? I couldn't move a bit."

"Well, Janice, did you happen to wear a gnome cap just now?"

"Yeah, I did. Why?"

"That's a transformation cap. Anyone, or any animal that wears it will be transformed into a garden gnome."

"Why... Why was there that cap in the middle of the pavement?"

"We don't know either, it just popped up one day, and so everyday we come and check, to take it away if there is one. Yet today, you were faster than me."

"I feel weird. My body is so hard and brittle yet I can still move it."

"Yes, I'm afraid so. If you fall down from a high place, or in general, receive a high amount of damage, you'll break and die."

"What!" Janice cried out in shock, her hands covering her mouth. "Is there any way to reverse me back?"

"I'm afraid there's none. There's now only two ways you can go."

"Two ways? So I'll be a garden gnome forever?"

"Wait, hear me out. There are two ways this could go down, ribbit! One is that you remain like this, as one of us, living, mobile porcelain garden gnomes. The other way is that you turn into immobile porcelain garden gnomes."

"Will I still be living, thinking if I'm immobile?"

"I don't know, they wouldn't say. Because they can't talk."

"I see..."

"What do you want to be?"

"Could I go see my friends and family?"

"No, you can't. You've to live with us gnomes. We can't have you going around and telling people about living gnomes."

"Well, if I can't see my old friends and family, what is the point of living? I'll become an inanimate gnome."

"Alright, if that's your wish. Do keep in mind that this is a one way permanent transformation."

"Permanent? I don't care anymore. I'll be a happy, lovely little gnome."

"Alright, I'll say some words and a procedure will go on in your mind."

"You'll first have to think, 'I want to freeze, turn into a garden gnome.' Then, you'll have to pose within 5 seconds. Then, a you'll freeze, be petrified and turn into an ordinary garden gnome. Forever."

"Alright then, sounds like what I did just now," Janice said, while beginning to think, "I want to freeze, turn into a garden gnome."

Suddenly appeared in her mind again, "Pose and don't move, pose!"

So she posed once more, for her final pose she decided to pose her most favorite pose.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, freeze!"

In a blink of an eye, Janice was unable to move once more, permanently a garden gnome.

"I'm a beautiful garden gnome," she thought to herself. "I'll be like this forever, unable to move."

While thinking that, she felt her mind changing, but she accepted the changes.

"I'm a beautiful garden gnome," she thought. "A beautiful garden gnome."

With her mind changed, she had accepted her fate as a garden gnome completely, and was now happy and in bliss. Forever.

Melancholia: Remnants - Chapter 13: You Can't Catch the Gingerbread Girl

Sitting in a gingerbread house, Julia screams, for she does not know if she is made of the house or if the house is made of her. To make matters worse, there was a gingerbread man sitting right next to her on the sofa.

It had been a sunny day, perfect as today was the Girl Scouts Cookie Selling Day. Each Girl Scout had to sell biscuits and cookies to earn funds for the organization. Of course, Julia was to do so too.

The girls were first split into groups, each taking a part of the neighborhood. Then, beyond that, it was up to them. Each girl had a red wagon, filled, no, piled up with snacks to sell. They were to go from door to door, knocking and asking if anyone would want to buy their cookies. Some made their own cookies, and some bought them. Julia, had a combination of both.

After visits about a dozen households, Julia's stock was running low, especially after a guy in an orange track suit bought a lot of cookies.

Soon, Julia arrived at another household, one where the front yard was planted full with tall trees, only the pavement was clear. So she rang on the door bell near the gate, and out of the door came a woman. "Yes, what do you want?"

"I would like to ask if you are interested in buying my cookies," Julia said sincerely.

"Cookies? Sure, do come in, sweetie. The gate is not locked."

Julia opened the gate and walked along the pavement. The walk was quite a long one, in a forest full of trees, or perhaps it was just an optical illusion. Either way, Julia passed by many trees in just a short distance.

"Ah, you're finally here," said the woman. "Sorry about the trees, just testing out some new innovations, like making my front yard like a forest."

"Success you have. Though, are you a witch?"

"My dearie, I am no witch!" shouted the woman angrily.

"I'm sorry for accusing you like that. Anyway, what type of cookies do you want?" Julia apologized, the witch being the second person she had offended, the first was the guy in the orange track suit, for it looked like pyjamas.

"Hazelnut, chocolate chips and gingerbread. Two packets each."

"I have hazelnuts, chocolate chips but no gingerbread. I'm all out of gingerbread. I don't sell any."

"No gingerbread!? No gingerbread!? How could you not have gingerbread!? Firstly you accuse me, then you have no gingerbread!? Come with me, young lady." She dragged Julia inside her house, leaving the wagon outside.

Inside the house it looked quite quaint, paintings from an old time before, yet the furniture were rather new. She immediately saw a black pot cooking on the stove, for the stove was just in the middle of the house.

"What's that pot?" Julia asked curiously.

"That's my pot of soup, dear."

"Where are you dragging me to?"

"Here," the woman said, letting go of Julia onto the chair. "The kitchen."

"Wow, that's a lot of cookies."

"Yes, dearie, and all I need is some gingerbread, and unfortunately, you don't have any."

"So..." Julia ventured to say.

"So I'm going to make some gingerbread cookies." The woman took a rolling pin and pointed it at Julia. With an orange beam, Julia started feeling weird, flat even.

"My fingers are merging together..."

"You'll soon be a gingerbread girl, you brat!"

"I'm... Gingerbread..." her mind was getting muddled up, her thoughts full of candy, jelly and other treats.

Her skin turned to brown, her body flattening, like she was a two dimensional character. Her clothes turned into cream on her body, looking just like her clothes, but edible.

Her hair flattened into what was able to be flattened, and the rest of it broke off, turning into tiny pieces of gingerbread cookies.

Now she was just a life sized gingerbread girl, sitting on a green chair in front of a table. Her mind was still in a trance, unable to escape.

"Let's shrink you down!" white rays cast out from the rolling pin, shrinking Julia down to a normal sized gingerbread biscuit.

Now just a cookie, the woman took a bite out of her just to be sure.

"Tasty," she remarked. And, as predicted, Julia regenerated the part of her that was bitten off. "Another success!"

So, Julia put her into a tiny gingerbread house, with a gingerbread man inside. 

Now a perfect gingerbread girl in a perfect gingerbread house, the woman lifted the trance.

"Ahh! What happened to me? I blacked out for a second. I dreamt that I became a gingerbread girl!" Julia cried out.

Then she looked around her surroundings and looked at her hands. "Ahh! It was real!"

"You're a really screamy gingerbread girl," said the woman, peeking in from the window. "Listen here, you're now my gingerbread girl, and you can't escape your fate, and you can't die. Not by being eaten, anyway. You can regenerate your body parts instantaneously."

"Why am I a gingerbread girl?"

"Well, you ran out of gingerbread, and I did say I was gonna make some, right? Done. Enjoy."

Julia tried to calm down for a second, and looked around the house.

"Hello," waved the gingerbread man.

"Hello."

Not willing to start a conversation, she ignored him and looked around the house once more and saw that everything was made of snacks and candy, mainly gingerbread. Then she looked at herself again, her whole body now gingerbread.

"Ahhhhhh!" Julia screamed in terror of confusion.

Sitting in a gingerbread house, Julia screams, for she does not know if she is made of the house or if the house is made of her.

Feed the Monster

"Feed me," I heard him say. "Feed me."

"No," I replied, seeing him from outside of his cage.

"Please feed me..."

"No! You know what will happen if I feed you!"

"FEED ME!"

I ignored him and ran away from his cage, going back to the ground floor.

Finally, I had gotten rid of that fiend I call Morteyus. I wonder how I got down there in the first place.

Anyway, time for relaxation! After I did the errands, that is. I had to wash the plates, make my bed, sweep the floor, etc.. A while later, I had some time to go check out new games and stories.

Ah... I found one, titled "Metal Hikkikomori". The title seemed weird to me, but due to my weird fascinations, it sucked me in instantly. I read, I read, and I read, realizing the dark plot of the story, with weird elements. I read, and I read, and I read, not knowing that I was by reading, feeding the monster.

After a while of reading, I felt tired and dull, so I went for a nap. When I woke up, "Hahahahahahahahahahahhahhahahahahahhahahahahhahahah!"

The monster screamed. "You are now my prisoner, Morteyus!"

"What?" I said, noticing that I was behind bars.

"You've fed me, finally! Now I am out of my cage! Thanks!"

I saw him go upstairs, shutting the basement door, like I did when he was stuck in this cage.

"Hahahahaha. I'm stuck here again."

Once again, I was locked in the cage, unable to escape. Only over time, will I be able to escape. In the mean time, he will be able to control this entire operation I call "myself".

Melancholia: Remnants - Chapter 12: No Longer Wound Up, No Longer Bound Up

"Do you think the stories are real?"

"Sure, they've got to be. There's no other logical explanation for the disappearances."

"Well... Do you really think that Sam told the truth?"

"How far more is the house?"

"Not far. We're here."

In front of them stood an old wooden house, covered with moss and fungi; green, black and orange.

"So this is the mythical house. Seems abandoned."

"Quite so. The witch who lived here died quite a long, long time ago."

"Should we go inside?"

"Well, no harm in that, I hope."

"Or should one of us go in first? I volunteer."

"Alright, you go in first."

So stepped he, into the old wooden house, with creaky floorboards. As it turned out, they didn't need flashlights, for the sunlight passed through the window frames, lighting up the room.

"It's safe, Tim!"

"Alright, I'm coming inside too!"

In the centre of the living room, they saw her. The centrepiece of the floor.

"Ah, so she is real."

"Yes, the rumors are true."

"Only, how do we be sure about the story?"

"And the disappeared people. Hey, why not start by finding a key?"

"Oh, there's one, sticking out from the box."

"Turn it," said Jim with interest.

"Alright."

Music played, and thus the song began. "What do you see? You people gazing at me? You see a doll on a music box, that's wound by a key."

"She works! She spins around, she sings, she dances!"

"Indeed she does, and marvelously too. What craftsmanship has the maker, for the doll can still spin to this very day."

"She's not a doll, she's a girl, remember? And, that's no craftsmanship, that's magic!"

"Well, gotta hand it to you, you're right. But she is rather beautiful though. I wonder why the prince ditched her."

"You want the girl? You gotta find a way to reverse the spell."

"That seems impossible."

Upon hearing that, Eberwein's heart sank. It had been quite some time since someone had came to the house, and she was always waiting for someone to save her. It seemed like this was not her lucky day.

The song ended, and the both of them looked around the first floor, for the stairs had shattered in age, rendering them unable to go upstairs.

In the corner of the room, they saw a rectangular wooden table, with dolls, toys, playthings scattered across the table.

"These are toys," Jim remarked.

"And so well made they are."

"Hold up. This one looks like one of the missing people."

"Yeah, you're right. Wait. Are all of these the missing people?"

"But how?"

"Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Never mind."

"Hmm... What's your name, beautiful lady?"

"Everwind. Or Eberwein. Surely you do remember the story."

"Sure. I was just testing if she knew her name or not. Dance for me, lady!"

"What do you see? You people gazing at me?" By this time, Eberwein was getting annoyed, as she always did with the tourists that couldn't save her.

"Tim, why did you do that?"

"I'd just love to see her dance. Hey, you think that we could possibly turn her back into a girl?"

"How can you tell? I am under a spell, waiting for love's first kiss. You cannot see, how much I long to be free..."

"I've got an idea!" said Tim. "Let's hug her. Her arms are open wide, after all."

"No, Tim!" cried Jim. "No!" thought Eberwein.

Suddenly, white gloves appeared on Tim's hands. "When have I been wearing these?"

Then, his whole outfit turned into the outfit of a Royal Guard, red suit with a tall black hat. "Oh no... It's happening again," thought Eberwein.

"Wait. I can do this. The song said, 'I am under a spell, waiting for love's first kiss,' A kiss! That must be it!"

"Hurry up!" cried Tim, who was slowly stiffening and shrinking, turning into one of the playthings.

He kissed her on the lips, him being quite surprised and disturbed that he would have to kiss a doll. Yet, as crazy as it was, it actually worked.

"What do you see? You people gazing at me? You see a girl, on a music box, that's free as can be. How could you tell? I was under a spell, waiting for love's first kiss?"

The melody played again, but this time Eberwein sung by her ownself, danced by her ownself. She was finally free of the curse.

"You couldn't see, how much I longed to be free, turning around on that music box that's wound by a key. Yearning, yearning, now, I'm, no longer turning around."

"Thank you for freeing me."

And as the music ended, all the playthings returned to their original forms as humans. They exited the shed, leaving only Eberwein, Tim and Jim.

"So, you're the girl in the story, Everwind."

"Hmph! Don't call me that! I dislike being called that. Plus, I'm not a music box doll anymore."

"No, I was referring to the story."

"Alright, sorry about that. It just annoys me, being called that for such a long time. By the way, how'd you know that that would save me?"

"It was in the song lyrics."

"Hmm, I should have noticed that."

"Alright. So Jim, what do you want to do, huh? Lovebirds."

"What year is this? What has the world become?"

So Jim and Tim told Eberwein about the world. "Wow, that's sounds interesting!" exclaimed Eberwein.

"Let's go out of this place, why don't we?"

"But... I don't have any money. I just arrived in this new world, how am I to survive?"

"We'll teach you to survive in this world. I can let you stay with me."

"Yeah!"

And so they left Melas' old shed, now empty, with Eberwein's curse lifted. Now the story just remains as a fairytale, ending, "happily ever after".

Melancholia: Remnants - Chapter 11: MasterMind's Note 2

Dear Arnold,

I should tell you my progress. I've spread my reign, slowly but surely. Through time, I have entered.

I've seen all of human history, pitiful humans you are. I'll fix that, though. Just you wait!

Signed,

MasterMind.

p.s. Do help me thank your friend who took a part of the core back.

Checkmate - Marilyn Wins Ending

After Marilyn and Nyx got stalemate in the first round, they do a rematch battle.

After few minutes battling, Nyx have a king and a knight while Marilyn have a king, a queen and a castling.

"Oh no! I do a very big mistake right now!" said Queen Nyx.

"Sis, it's your chance to win!" said Jocelyn.

"Don't get too excited, sis. We're both not done yet. We didn't know who win yet. Maybe she had a plan, so I'll try my best to win", said Marilyn.

After a moment, Marilyn got the checkmate and she wins the battle.

"Yes, it is a checkmate!" said Marilyn.

All of the white pieces were very happy to see that Marilyn win the battle.

"Oh, looks like you defeated me! Congrats my darling. Well since I'm lose, as I promised I will free all of you", said Nyx.

"Thank you so much your Majesty! But if can, I have another request for you to grant it", said Marilyn.

"Well alright then. What is it my darling?" asked Nyx.

"If can, I want you to erase all the competition audiences memory about the incident of we all being brought to this universe. We promise we won't tell anyone about this world and we will keep this as our secret", said Marilyn.

"OK. I trust you all. Alright then, I will erase their memory about the incident. Before you leave, this is my advice! Be a good friends and train yourself in this game because this game is very fun and also it is test your mind as well. And also remember! One day maybe I will call you all again to do a rematch", said Nyx.

"I will never forget your advice", said Marilyn.

After that, they all leaving the kingdom and went back to their world. As Marilyn want Nyx to grant, all the audiences in the hall forgot about the incident where they all were brought to Nyx world. For them that play chess game in Nyx world, they will never forget what happened to them and they kept it as their secret and also they will never tell anyone about the incident. They also got so many experience about chess as well. After that, they becoming friends and always playing chess when the free time.

And that is the end of the Checkmate story!

Checkmate - Marilyn Loses Ending

After Marilyn and Nyx got stalemate in the first round, they do a rematch battle.

After few minutes battling, Nyx have a king, a queen and 2 castling while Marilyn have a king and a castling. If following, the probability for Marilyn to win is low because Nyx have one queen and one more castling.

At last, Nyx wins the battle with checkmate and Marilyn is lose. Marilyn was very disappointed.

"Hahaha, well well well. Looks like I win! So, you still remember my rules right or not my darling?" said Nyx.

"Y...yes your Majesty! I do remember it", said Marilyn with fear.

"Well, because you lost I'm going to keep all of you as my hostage and you all will stuck here forever! Muahahaha", said Nyx.

"Wait...can't I rematch again?" asked Marilyn.

"Well, you can't my darling! You can only rematch when it is stalemate or draw my darling. So now you all will be stay here forever", said Marilyn.

"Well...I can't do anything. So I agreed with you. We all will be your hostage", said Marilyn.

"Wait what!? Sis, why do you said like that?" asked Jocelyn.

"I...I can't do anything sis. If me, I want a rematch but she said can't. I can't mad at her. If not, she will me and all of you", said Marilyn.

"Well what she said is right! You all will be my hostage forever. Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. All of your people at your world will be forgetting about you and they will think that you're all not exist. Black soldiers, bring them to my torment room and I will deal with them later", said Nyx.

"Torment room?" Jocelyn cried out.

"Just kidding, my darling," Nyx said while laughing. "Bring them to the dungeon," Nyx said to the black rook.

And so Marilyn, her sister and her friends are stuck at Nyx world. They stuck forever in Nyx world and they all never be found after that day because all of the people at Marilyn's place forgot about them all because of Nyx. While for Nyx, she tried to found someone else that can beat her in the chess battle.