Becca POV

"Mama, look! That guy has bunny ears!" I point out a boy who looks like he's at least thirteen, wearing a red and black checkered suit, a pocket watch and chain in one of his coat pockets.

She grabs me and turns us around. "Becca, promise me you will never go anywhere with anyone who looks out of place here like that, right now."

I frown, but nod. "Why? Do you know them?"

"I'll tell you when you're older. But if anything happens and you are close to them, get as far away as you can, no matter what it takes."

"Mama, why didn't you tell me then?" I whisper, hiding in the Forest of Doors, silent compared to what it was at first.

"Little girl~? Are you lost~?" a faceless woman from the Hatter Mafia finds me, crouching in front of me.

I nod, a tear falling out of my eye. "I don't understand what's happening."

She stands, offering me a hand. "Maybe Boss could explain, since you're an Outsider~. Besides, he's only a little older than you~."

I take the hand, standing up slowly. "Thank you."

She leads me to the Mansion, guarded by twin boys, who are younger than me, in red and blue uniforms with giant halberds resting on their shoulders. "Password?" the one in red asks.

"Tea time, uninterrupted." She answers, just as the sky turns from midafternoon to night.

The blue one opens the gate, and suddenly stops. I look around from behind the lady to find a boy in a fancy black top hat, black pants, and a white tail coat coming our way, an interesting cane in his hand. "Boss." They all greet him, standing at attention.

"And who do you have here?" 'Boss' asks the lady I'm trying to hide behind.

She looks back at me, pulling me out to the side into clear view of our companions. "The Outsider, I found her in the Forest, and she was upset and lost~."

I glance at his face, finding his black hair kind of hides under his hat and in the darkness, slightly growing over his eyes, a stony green color. "Um, I don't mean to cause any trouble, if you're worried about that."

He finally lightens up. "Welcome to Hatter Mansion, Outsider. I'm not worried in the slightest about any trouble you could cause, you just don't seem the type." He gestures to himself. "I'm Blood Dupre, Boss of the Hatter Family Mafia, and these two gate keepers are Dee and Dum." He then offers me his arm. "Would you join me for a midnight tea party?"

I hesitantly take his arm, giving a quivering smile. "I guess, if I'm not going to be a bother." I wipe my free hand over my skirt, wiping away the sweat and dirt.

He turns us back the way he came, going to a garden decorated with rose bushes and lanterns, with a long table in the middle of the grassy area. "If anything, it gives me a chance to understand how an outsider got here and how you think."

He pulls out a chair for me, and then takes his own seat next to me. Seeing his empty tea cup, I pour him some first, then pour myself a small amount. "Well, what do you want to know?"

"First off, something to call you other than Outsider."

I smile slightly, and touch the silver and diamond pendant at my throat, carved into a 'B.' "Becca, I don't like being called Outsider. It makes me think I'm being judged."

"Becca, a pretty name." He takes a sip of his tea, then looks down at the table. "Tell me, how did you come to the Country of Clover?"

"I was kidnapped by some faceless guy in my world, he was wearing a black suit, and threatened to kill my mom if she tried to come for me." I take a sip of the tea, finding it bitter. "He made me drink some weird potion, and it made me pass out, and I woke up in this world several time periods ago."

He looks at me, surprise in his eyes. "Where have you been staying?"

"I was staying in the woods, and just wandering around, trying to find the tower I saw, and the same faceless guy came after me again, with some of his friends. They grabbed me and stashed me in a cellar, and tied my hands behind me, but I got the rope off and escaped. I only assume it's been several time periods because I slept for a while." I scrunch my nose. "And that guy that talked to me in my dream, Nightmare."

He shakes his hand. "No doubt he will be looking for you, Becca. Did he read your mind, by any chance?"

"He was really frustrated, because he said he couldn't get into my head. I had to tell him my name." I fiddle with a scone. "Is that normal for an outsider?"

He stretches, standing up. "No, but I believe I ought to ask him when I'm out later. For now, I'll have the maids find you some clothes, set up a room for you, and send you to bed." I frown at him, making him smile a bit. "I'm a busy person, and I have somewhere to be tonight."

"Okay, Blood. Thank you." He nods, vanishing into the mansion as I finish my tea and scone.

Soon, a maid comes out to fetch me. "Miss Becca, we have a room ready for you~." I get up, pushing my chair in, before following her into the mansion. She guides me to a room, decorated minimally with a few simple pieces of furniture, a painting of a sunset, and a canopy over the bed. "It's simple, and what we could do on such short notice~. I hope it's alright~?"

I smile and walk to the bed. "It's perfect, thank you."

She smiles warmly at me. "Well, good night then~."

I change out of my slightly dirty brown dress into a clean, light green nightgown, and pull my hair out of its ponytail, letting the mass of coppery brown hair fall down my back. I go to the vanity, and open the draw to find a small brush, which I immediately start putting to use, taming the knotted mess. Once it's nice and straight, with only the slight waves, I crawl into the plush bed, the sheets warm from a recent washing, I'm sure.

No POV

Over the course of a few years, they would become the best of friends, Blood leaving her in the dark of what the mafia did, protecting her from the dangers of the rival organizations, and eventually brought Elliot back from the prison. When she was thirteen years old in this world, she wandered out one day, and never came back. They would later learn that, under the threat of death by her original captors, she grew beautiful white wings, and flew away from Wonderland, finding her way home alone, and returning to her original age of ten. When she turned thirteen in her world, the time came when she could return, but when she did, it was to learn she had been given the role of the Wild Card, and grew to be hated by Blood, whom she had regretted never being able to say goodbye to.

Every time she would try explaining what happened, he would refuse to hear it, choosing to try killing her instead. Over time, his hatred turned her pure white wings into a mix of black and white feathers, more appearing every several time periods. No matter what any of the role holders tried, the black would not vanish. And when April Season came around, the white feathers vanished, and a part of her, the good with all of the white feathers, became locked away in the prison, and her body in the outside world fell to the circus, her wings now pure black feathers. In the prison, the good in her mind wasted away, and she allowed the Joker to bury her memories of the good times in the deepest parts of her imprisoned self.

In the circus, she became a feared guard, and a favorite of the Joker. When the role holders approached her, she held no memories of them, and when Blood finally forgave her, it was too late, for he had already locked her away, and could not fight his own Joker to free her. The hatred he had directed at her was now given to him, and when the Season ended, she went with it. When the April Season came to Wonderland next, she returned the same way she had left, only she had grown into her role with the circus, and nothing could be done to draw her back to who she had been years before.

In her home world, she would be depressed, lose her friends, and never go out if she didn't have to. The day she turned eighteen would be the third circus she would be in, and she wasted away a bit more every time, for her soul would go to the prison, while her body went to the performances. When she left with April Season, the memories of both would haunt her in her home world.