It all started over something so trivial. Never did I 'dream' that my life would completely change on that very day.

" … Alright. It looks like that's everything I need to buy now. "

"Huh?"

Has there always been a shop here? I take this street all the time. I can't believe I've never noticed it before.

I doubt if it has just opened… I have a strange sense of wonder as if it had always been here… Maybe I should take a peek inside?

I opened the door to the shop and all sound from the outside had disappeared. Instead a mysterious music box like song was playing.

"Wow!" I whispered under my breath. There are so many cute little things here!

Like a hand mirror interlaced with numerous wedges of colored glass, as if it were made out of stained glass. The lucid crystal pendant twinkles as the sun shines on it through the window. The beautiful picture frame, enclosed with its flower-esque design, has a calm ambience unique to wood. Next to the apple shaped sugar bowl lies a glass candy pot with delicate wings designed into it.

However, what captivates me the most out of all the things I see, is the… "Alluring jewelry box…" I say out loud. It is the jewelry box decorated with an elegant relief and glowing in red. Appearing as if it were radiating brighter than any other item in the shop.

Everything here is beautiful… but something about its beauty makes it especially stand out from the rest… On the lid are different colored jewels, each shaped like one of the four playing card suits. As I trace my eyes along the golden rims, I see the jewelry box is supported by adorable cabriole legs. I wonder if it's an antique or something? But I don't see a price tag anywhere… I carefully open it, nervous that I may break it. Inside it, gently lies a heart shaped jewel.

"It's so beautiful…" I say to myself. I've never seen anything like it before… Captivated, I find myself reaching out my fingers as if it were drawing me in. It is that next moment… the moment right after my fingers gently touch the jewels surface… W-what?!

Shoot! I reached out to save the jewel, but it fell through my fingers and it shattered, leaving a horrid sound. Why did it… how did that just?

"I'm so sorry! I'll pay for it!" In a panic, I rush over to explain what happened to the shopkeeper and show him the jewelry box. However, the man who appears to be the shopkeeper, is a dubious looking man with a cat shaped hood pulled down over his eyes.

"Why, thank you, kind visitor. But, if I'm not mistaken, this jewelry box… doesn't appear to be broken at all."

"But… I… the jewel inside, it…"

"Jewel? What do you mean? There was never anything inside this jewelry box to begin with…"

Just what is going on here? I don't know why, but I just can't leave the jewelry box like this and go home.

"How much is this? Please, let me buy it."

"Thank you for your purchase. That will be…"

And just like that, I began to head back home, holding a beautiful and enticing… yet in some way, mysterious jewelry box with me.
When I got home, I set the music box on my bed. I sighed.

On that night, I perched myself on the bed, carefully looking at the jewelry box. "The more I look at it, the more beautiful it becomes… It's such a lovely jewelry box…"

But just what was that entire thing with the jewel cracking? There's no use in thinking about it. For some reason, I just feel so… tired… I let out one last sigh, and I gave up speculating. I decided to go to bed.

I turned off the lights and crawled under the sheets. Then, perhaps not realizing how tired I really was, I immediately fell into a deep sleep. However, this sleep was the whole beginning. I saw a dream full of wonder. I saw something unbelievable, something outrageous… Thats what makes it something 'out of a dream...'.

"Where am I now?" I've never seen this place before. It looks like some sort of courtroom…

"What?! What am I doing in a place like this?!"

Everything just somehow seems so surreal as if I were in some kind of fairytale. I thought these places should be indoors, but when I look up, all i can see is a bizarrely colored sky.

Seriously. where am I now? I looked around me and looked at where I was standing. Huh? Am I… standing in the defendants area? Just when I tilt my head to the side wondering why I am here, I notice something different about me.

These clothes I'm wearing now are not what I usually wear… What in the world is going on? There are so many things I don't get. but I guess that's only to be expected when you're dreaming.

I've never been here before, and theres no way this is real… But there's something strangely realistic about this dream. I just don't know what it is… Maybe it's just because I'm usually not aware that 'I'm in a dream' when I'm actually dreaming.

"Guilty Alice!"

What?! Suddenly a voice echoed across the courtroom. Surprised I look up to see what appears to be a judges bench… And out of nowhere, on that bench, there is a woman dressed in all red. Deep within her eyes, burned deep seated anger… bordering animosity.

"How dare you steal and break my precious heart!" The woman slammed her hand on the railing. "I hereby sentence you to DEATH!" She screamed.

"What? Who's Alice?"

Wait is she talking about me?! She points her staff directly at me. As she continues speaking for giving a conviction. I stand still in shock and confusion.

"Card Soldier… Cardia! Off with the Guilty's head!" Without hesitation, she gives an order. Her order sounds not allowing anybody to resist or disobey.

"Yes, your highness." The cardia man bowed and came towards me. He grabs my arm and tries to bring me to the bottom of a guillotine before I know it.

"No, stop it! Let me go!" I yelled.

"The queen's orders are the law. Disobeying them is prohibited in the country of Protea. Therefor, I must execute Alice. So you, Alice, must be executed now."

A/N: I hope you peoples enjoyed the chapter that sets the story into gear! I was going to make it shorter but then I thought, might as well make it long right?