AN:THIS IS THE SEQUAL TO MY OTHER STORY, MODEN ALICE. DO NOT READ THIS WITHOUT HAVING READ THAT FIRST, YOU WON'T GET IT IF YOU READ THIS ONE FIRST.

Ever since I was little, I never did what I was told.

There was always something I was being told to do or expected to do. And I went out of my way to do exactly the opposite. Rules and expectations. My life was full of them. Whether they were introduced by the kingdom or by my parents, they were always there.

The people's thoughts on how I should dress and behave were what I detested the most. I was to always have my hair brushed twice a day if it was to remain long and if I were to cut it short then It would have to be ridiculously short. I once joked that if I were to keep brushing it so much, my hair would fall out anyway. I earned quite a few annoyed glances from that remark. I was never to have dirt on my face or clothes, it was 'unsightly'. My clothes were always to reflect my station as a prince, therefore, limiting all ability to move aside from walking and shaking hands.

I hated it.

My parent's rules were a little more practical, and according to them, 'for my own safety'. 1. I was never to mention the Queen of Hearts. I had heard stories that the Queen of Hearts was a horrible tyrant that ruled Wonderland seven years before my birth. My mother, Alice DeMuse, well, back then it was Alice Monrey, had killed her with the help of one of my close friends. 2. I was never to go to the surface world. Not that I could on my own. I didn't know where the door was. 3. I was to stay out of the Tulgey Wood. No matter what. The Tulgey Wood was a complete mystery to me. No one would speak of it around me. Not even Vorpal.

Vorpal was the close friend I had previously spoken of. She had helped my mother kill the Queen but, again, no one would tell me the full story. I had once asked Vorpal how she helped my mother when she appeared to be the same age as me. She smiled and told me that she didn't age. I didn't get it but excepted that as an answer. I believed her even more when I looked into her eyes. They were blue and shiny but when you really looked into them, they seemed sad at some points too. And old. Like she had seen so many things in her life. Way more than a 14-year-old would ever be able to.

Another of my friends, and the one I got into trouble with more often than not, was named Ivan Tarrant. He was a year older than me and he was training to be a knight for the White Queen. The chessboard realm was an entire separate kingdom right on the border of Wonderland. The White Queen and the Red Queen had been battling each other for as long as anyone could remember. Ivan had an unbelievable amount of loyalty towards the sides that he takes. I was always welcome in the pale realm, seeing as the white queen approved of my mother's rule. The red kingdom, however, was very hostile towards everyone who wasn't them.

I spent most of my days with Vorpal and Ivan. Occasionally we would climb up onto the roof and tell stories until the sun started going down. Sometimes we would go to the pale realm with Ivan and he would attempt to teach me to fence. attempt. And sometimes we would go right to the edge of the Tulgey Wood and visit Gryph and Max. Both of them had helped my mother. Gryph was the more intellectual type and would spend the visits either playing chess with me and my friends or sitting in a corner, ignoring everyone. Max on the other hand was happy most of the time but would occasionally break out into unexplainable tears. Then he would calm down suddenly and break into song instead. Neither of them had aged since helping my mother either. They explained that they were creature based wonderlanders instead of human or animal based like my father and mother.

I never really saw any of my mother's other friends except for Theo who acted as a messenger for her. Vincent lived in the Tulgey Wood and Amory never left the mansion that used to belong to a man named Sven Hatter. The tweedle twins had gone to live on the surface some years ago. My uncle, Cerberus, was still around but he didn't seem to like me very much.

Oh, well. I had more pressing matters at the moment.

Today, unfortunately, was not one of the days where I was aloud to go out with my friends. Today, there was a conference regarding the war in the chessboard realm. It was straying dangerously close to Wonderland's border but I heard this all before. Nothing would ever get done by sitting around and talking about what to do.

I stood up from my bed and went to the mirror. I hated more and more each day the fact that I looked like a girl. My light brown hair fell over my shoulders, almost to my elbows and into my face which was really pale with annoying freckles over my nose. My eyes were like my dad's. Bright blue with slits for pupils. And I had cat ears and a tail which I never bothered to hide. I glared at my reflection with tired, half lidded eyes. My mother says I might have low blood pressure which is why I'm always tired.

I brushed my hair and flinched as I felt strands being pulled out of my scalp. It tangled to easily. Someone knocked and I called for them to enter. Vorpal smiled as she stepped through the doorway. She walked over and took the brush from my hand. "Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself."

"To late." I said, unamused.

She smiled sadly and started brushing my hair for me. It didn't hurt as much as when I did it because she started by brushing out the ends and working up instead of just pushing all the tangles to the end, making one giant tangle.

Once it was brushed, she went to the door. I smiled. "thanks. Wait for me outside ok?"

She frowned. "Don't you have a meeting to attend?"

I smiled innocently. "A conference, yeah. But I have a better idea."

When she looked at me suspiciously, I rolled my eyes. "just trust me."

She sighed and nodded, walking out of my room. I stood up and got dressed but not in my fancy nice clothes that I was expected to wear to conferences. Instead, I wore a black long sleeved shirt and black shorts with orange and black socks that went all the way up my legs. The shoes I wore were thick leather boots with something in them that made them very heavy. I dressed like this when I went out in the winter. Certainly not when attending anything important. I slung a bag over my shoulder and jumped out my second storey window. I landed on my feet easily and grabbed Vorpal by the hand.

"C'mon!~"

I looked up at the conference room on the third floor of the castle and smiled, thankful that I, Cantharis DeMuse, was not in there. I was, however, going to break some rules.