A/N: Quick note on names. Victoria is Fem!England, Amelia is Fem!America, Lili is Liechtenstein and Sebastian is Switzerland. Thank you for reading and please do leave a review!

A story-teller appeared on the first night. A rabbit appeared on the third. Her brother was stolen on the second day, and on the final day she entered a world that has no intentions of giving neither her nor her brother back.

Part 1: Entering Wonderland

Chapter 1: The First Night .I

The night the story-teller appeared, Lili was working her usual shift in her family's tavern, collecting pint glasses, washing dishes and serving food to the local workers. It was a Friday, and so the little inn was almost overrun with hungry farmers, already singing their cheery drunken tunes, despite the early hours. As the last few workmen crawled in from their fields, Victoria took to the piano and began to play a happy melody which Amelia accompanied with her sweet voice. Lili smiled contentedly behind the bar, occasionally joining in with the banter between customers.

Tucking a stray blonde hair behind her ear, Lili carefully balanced a roast dinner and an ocean broth on a wide tray on one hand, and on the other a tray carrying a medley of the inn's finest ales. Now usually Lili was very graceful when it came to serving the tavern's meals, however this could only be said if she didn't walk into a person who seemed to be rushing out of the kitchen behind the bar. In a flurry of dishes, the petite girl was able to recover quickly from her trip and save the falling meal, but alas the drinks were lost to the tavern floor... and the person's clothes.

"Oh my! I-I'm terribly sorry, I couldn't see where I was going, but that's really no excuse, is it? I really am sorry, sir, I'll get you a cloth, oh my, oh- Oh. Guten abend, bruder." After brushing down the stranger's clothes, Lili was able to look up and find out that the stranger was in fact her brother, Sebastian. In a second her voice changed from extremely apologetic to slight annoyance.

"Was there any reason you needed to barge through the door so quickly? This was a waste of ale, you broke the glasses, and now the food will go cold whilst I have to draw some more!" She wasn't exactly angry, Lili couldn't pull that facial expression off very well, but even a small pout was enough to show Sebastian that he was no longer in her good books. With his usual stern expression, the Swiss man hurriedly mopped up the mess that he had technically caused on the floor. Lili gave a sigh, and knelt down to help him.

"I'm sorry, Lili, but I just saw the time and I was supposed to be in the town hall by now," the blonde man explained, wringing out the cloth in the sink, and picking up the dustpan and brush for the shattered glass.

"Well, give me this, then," Lili replied, taking the pan from her brother's hands, "And hurry up and leave before you're too late!"

Urging Sebastian forward with a push, part of Lili wished her brother would be late to this silly meeting, after all it was only for some controversial discussion over whether or not the men of her town should be conscripted into the army. It seemed like such a worthless thing to be discussing, since she was sure the men would join anyway, if her brother was a fair representation. It seemed that no matter what the final decision would be, Sebastian was going to join anyway. It both annoyed and saddened Lili, but what could she do? He was the man of the house and he could do as he pleased. Lili just waited tables at the tavern.

"Thank you, I'll be sure to get back before eleven, okay?" Lili nodded in return and momentarily left the dustpan on top of the bar in order to fetch Sebastian his jacket. Handing it over, she smiled sweetly,

"It's okay, I think I can handle things on my own." She giggled ever so slightly, though it was a tired laugh. Yes, she could manage very well on her own. Despite her petite appearance, Lili was quite a capable young lady, though secretly she feared the day when Sebastian would depart and leave behind only her and her grandmother to run the tavern. But even with all these underlying thoughts, she could never let Sebastian know.

"Now go on, before the meeting ends!" Sebastian nodded in thanks and murmured a good bye before hurrying quickly out of the door. Lili smiled after him and retreated to the floor to sweep up the broken glass.

After her brother left, a new man entered in his place.

It wouldn't have caused much concern, except the man was hooded, and it wasn't rare for there to be hooded bandits in the country. Lili remained crouched behind the bar, watching the man sceptically, until he took off his hood and cloak all together and draped it over his arm. Now that he wasn't hidden, Lili could relax and picked herself up from the floor, brushing down her dress. The stranger took a seat across the room, and soon another waitress was by his side offering drinks.

"Hey, Amelia, Victoria," Lili called the pair of blondes over, as soon as their song had finished. Once they were at Lili's side, she continued, "You see that man who just came in?"

"Yeah, I see him." Amelia's voice had a strange twang to it, not common to these lands and she slurred her words, whilst Victoria, even though she only nodded in response now, also had a strange uncommon accent. Its relevance, at the end of the day, was that the two sisters were undoubtedly foreign; exactly why Lili called them over in the first place.

"Does he look any familiar to you? I don't think I've ever seen him before."

"What do you mean? We get strangers all the time," answered Victoria, pushing the frame of her glasses further up her nose. The twin-tailed blonde inspected the stranger, but must have thought very little of him and she raised an unimpressed brow. "I see what you mean though, he definitely looks foreign from the way he dresses."

"He looked pretty suspicious when he first came in, though..."

"He looks fine now, rather handsome, huh?" asked Amelia, a little glint in her eyes. Oh Amelia, Lili thought, forever developing these little crushes that never last long. Victoria huffed and shook her head – she'd had to deal with this far too much. Lili laughed and grinned, before returning to her work. In all the fuss of spilling the ale, and now this new stranger, the food she intended to serve was by far cold. A flurry of apologies would have to be unleashed, along with fresh food but it didn't bother Lili too much. She would blame Sebastian for now, and as for the stranger... She would see what became of this man later in the evening.

"He's a little odd, though, since he hasn't ordered anything to drink," Lili pondered, not really expecting an answer but Amelia was sure to give one.

"It's not strange, he's just a gentleman! He obviously doesn't want to end up drunk and disorderly like the rest of these farmers," she explained, pouting slightly. Lili simply sighed in reply and returned to drying the dishes. Satisfied with her work, the blonde draped the drying cloth over a handle and walked towards Amelia, who was staring contentedly at the mystery man.

"I wonder what his name is?" Amelia mused quietly to herself. Lili, who had overheard this, promptly made her way to the man to ask for the answer to Amelia's question. He was sitting at the end of the table, alone, humming a little tune to himself as he aimlessly stirred his soup.

"Hello, sir, can I interest you in a drink?" Lili asked politely with a small but sincere smile. The man returned with a smirk that seemed playful as he rested his head on his entwined hands.

"I think not my dear, I'd prefer not to consume any alcohol tonight... Especially when I have such an important duty to fulfil," he replied with sweet smile. Immediately Lili noted the accent to be quite similar to Victoria's; perhaps she should have recognised this man after all? Other than that it was his particularly thick eyebrows that caught her attention. Unnecessary details however, as Lili had by now decided she did not like this man, and therefore pouted, though it quickly vanished.

Now, with an irritated smile, Lili continued, "But, sir, surely you know that our tavern is infamous for its freshly brewed ale? I insist you try just a small glass, really."

"Young miss, I'd rather you not try and convince me to try whatever intoxicating waste you can pull out of those barrels. I've politely declined so if you would please let me finish my meal." His smile faltered for a second, but steadily retained it's smirk. Somehow, it managed to unnerve Lili.

"Then why, may I ask, are you here? What is this purpose if you do not want to even try the ale?" she asked, trying her best to stay polite even if her patience was wearing thin.

"M'lady, I am a story-teller. I simply wish to share my experience with you and your people."

"A story-teller?" questioned a local man from the corner booth, a regular visitor to the tavern. "We hardly get any of those these days."

The man was correct, story-tellers were a rare species in these modern times.

"Yes, a story-teller. I thought I'd rekindle a dying art," the man said, a look of pride in his eyes. Lili was quite intrigued, but at the same time growing anxious at how this little conversation was beginning to disrupt the rest of the pub.

"Does this mean you're going to start singing?" asked Victoria in a mocking fashion, a grin painted on her face. She was always rather spiteful. Amelia giggled quietly behind her.

"Would you like me to, Miss? I've been told I have quite a lovely singing voice..." To this, Victoria scowled and returned to her seat behind the piano. Amelia, who would usually join her elder sister, instead took a step forward and asked quite sincerely, "Will you tell us your story? Please?"

The man smirked formed into a grin, and he nodded, "Of course, for a lady who asks so sweetly." Lili could almost hear Victoria's internal groan as Amelia face grew red as she grinned.

"Is there anyone else who would care to listen?" he called out vaguely across the hushed inn. Surprisingly, there were quite a few encouraging shouts, and so the man turned to Lili, "Will this be alright with you, m'lady? Maybe afterwards I'll try some of that self-acclaimed infamous ale of yours."

Lili's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but she smiled nonetheless. "We have a deal then, sir."

People had started to gather by then, and the man took a position in the middle of the room, perched on top of one the round tables. As he waited for his audience to gather, Lili noticed he was impatiently tapping against the rim. Finally, the people had settled down and Amelia, who had eagerly leapt over the bar, was now sitting behind the story-teller, leaning forward onto her hands. Lili remained seated behind the bar, wiping the rims of pint glasses as she too listened intently. The man raised his hand, a signal he was about to begin, and the room went quiet.

"Our heroine," he began, "was barely a woman, merely a girl, living in an old bookshop in the East of the lands. As is often said, great things do come from humble beginnings, and what a life this child bloomed from and what a magnificent flower did she bloom into. Her face was neither ugly nor pretty, but easy on the eyes and pleasing to look at. However, her appearance is of no importance, for it is what she did that gained her place among legends."

"What was her name?" Amelia asked, captivated already, just by the way the man spoke. Victoria just raised an eyebrow from behind the piano, clearly unimpressed, though she was probably contemplating whether or not she should play an accompaniment.

"Alice Liddell. A dainty village girl who had no real aspirations or expectations in her life, but is now infamously known as the girl who fell down the rabbit hole."