London should have been a city with beautiful scenery, but now it was a mess because of the numerous roots sprouting from the ground. A girl with long blonde hair—almost reaching her waist—and blue eyes stood motionless, lost in her own world.
"Come on, let's climb it." Hearing her partner's crazy idea instantly snapped her out of her reverie; she turned to the girl with shoulder-length blonde hair.
"Red, even if I were to throw common sense out of the window, I still wouldn't go along with such a crazy idea!" she shouted before pointing up at the sky. "Even if we did that, what on earth would we do once we got to the top?"
"I'm just curious what's up there," I said before looking up at the blue sky. "And I'm also curious whether we could sit on top of a cloud."
Hearing that, Alice was lost for words; her hand reached for my wrist before gripping it. "Let's ask Mother first," she said, but even though she was trying to pull me away, I just stood there, completely still.
I turned towards Alice before saying, "Don't stop me, 'cause I'm having a good time, having a good time!" I said firmly, and upon hearing that, Alice tilted her head slightly.
"Isn't that a song lyric—" Before she could finish speaking, I pulled my hand free from her grasp and gazed back up at the sky.
"To infinity and beyond, am I right?" I said before giving her a thumbs-up; seeing that, Alice could only smack her forehead.
"Where did you learn that phrase?" Alice groaned. "There's no helping you when your curiosity takes over, is there…?"
She looked down and saw a grown man crouching down and crying. "Ugh, this pathetic bloke just won't give up," she muttered before continuing our debate. "This is why we always fail at the difficult missions Mother gives us—" when she turned back towards me, I had already vanished.
She looked around before tilting her head back; she saw me climbing that giant beanstalk with both my hands and feet.
"Whoever reaches the top last has to do the housework for a week," I challenged before trying to climb as fast as I could—I was confident about this, because physically I was far superior to Alice.
"Are you sure?" Barely a minute after I'd issued the challenge, I heard the voice of the girl I'd challenged from beside me; when I turned my head—I saw Alice floating, propelled by a draught of wind emanating from the cards attached to her shoes.
"...An extra rule—no using Everafter!" I may have won on physical strength, but when it came to wits, Alice was simply too tough an opponent to beat.
"No way," she said before flying upwards and leaving me here all alone—she's such a cruel little devil!
"Alice, you want to see me whingeing for help, aren't you?" I shouted so my voice would reach her, and upon hearing that she fell silent before turning to face me. "Okay, I'm going to cry now, boo-hoo, boo-hoo, boo-hoo"—I tried my best to mimic someone crying, but it didn't seem to convince Alice.
She didn't react at all—not even the slightest gesture. She flew back up into the sky and tried to leave me behind—there was no other way.
I pulled out my shotgun and aimed it at Alice. "You're a good friend..." I said, but she heard me and immediately turned back towards me.
"YOU'RE MY PARTNER, AREN'T YOU?!" she shouted in protest, and in the end, a card was attached to my shoe that could produce wind, just like Alice's.
"Mission accomplished."
"Shut up, twit."
We flew in silence until Alice broke it with a question. "What do you hope to see up there?" She'd surely already been mulling over many possible answers in her head.
"A giant house!" I replied, and it seemed my answer was the very last thing she'd predicted.
"There's no way something like that could exist up in the sky—" as if my wish had been granted instantly, as we passed through the clouds we saw a building made of bricks; from the looks of it, it was a house with a huge door. "BLOODY HELL?!"
She glanced at me with an expression that seemed to scream, "I told you so," which immediately left her feeling annoyed and bewildered. Just as I was savouring her frustration—I spotted something, or rather, someone.
They were entering through the gap between the door and the floor, before stepping inside the house. "Alice, looks like there's another mad person who's already got into that house," I said, pointing at the door.
"What on earth is going on... Has the Red Virus spread and affected the public? I might need to see a doctor after this."
"Oi!"
After that, we flew towards the house and stopped in front of the door, before lying flat on our stomachs and crawling in through the gap. As I looked around the interior—I was absolutely stunned to see such vast rooms.
I glanced over and saw that Alice was just as surprised as we were; this was the first time we'd seen a painting larger than our own house.
"A giant must live here."
"Figures…"