My game had finally begun. Which meant that everyone would lose their memories of me.

I don't think I can take Vivaldi looking at me like I'm a stranger. At least not soon.

I take out two coins and flip them.

"Two heads I go to the Amusement Park, Two tails I go to the Hatter's, and one of each I go to the Tower." I move my hand to reveal one head and one tail. "Clock Tower. I can do that, I like Julius well enough."

With my goal in mind I gather up my things, minimal that they are, changed to black clothing, and prepare to jump out the window. After making sure my bags are secured I look at the ground, a two story drop, which wasn't that bad, and jumped.

I actually ran down the side of the building and made a small crater when I got to the ground.

"Sorry." I whispered sheepishly. Oh well, no time for dilly dallying. I had to get out of here before a guard, or Peter, spotted me.

I reached the rose maze wall as the sky shifted to Night. That had been a pretty short Morning. No matter, I look at the green wall with a speculative eye.

Could I run on top of it with out falling or having it fall?

The view from my room had showed that they were fairly wide on top, but would they hold my weight? I pushed at the plant to test it and it didn't budge at all. Time to actually get on it to see.

I jumped it and waited for it to fall. When I was assured that it would hold I started running and jumping toward the direction of the Clock Tower. It was pretty easy to see since the castle and maze were on a tall hill, or could it be called a small mountain?

It took a few minutes of wall hopping to get to the end of the maze. I jumped down and readjusted the straps of my bags before I started walking away from Heart Castle.

It hurt slightly to walk away from here, but I didn't really know anyone here and Vivaldi wasn't my mother, as much as I might wish and think it. My mother, Lunera Butler, had been dead for quite some time and Vivaldi wasn't her. I had to . . . I have to except that fact.

As painful as that thought was.

To get my mind off of that I started observing that scenery, which was very lovely, even if it was really dark in this forest. I listen to the faint songs of nocturnal birds and the quiet rustling of the leaves in the light breeze. It was so peaceful, but something felt . . . off.

I was on high alert when I started to feel the hair on my neck raise.

I lighten my footsteps and stretch my senses as far as I can. Interesting, a man in the trees is following me. I almost think that I'm imagining it when I hear his foot slip and him catch himself quickly.

"Who's there?!" I call out. I turn around to try and spot him but he's gone completely silent. I can't see him because of how dark the woods are but he's there, I can still feel him watching me.

After a moment I turn back the way I was heading with a huff. Mostly ignoring my tail as I continue to the Clock Tower.

At the thought of my destination I begin to wonder what Julius will act like. He had changed from Alice's influence, at least that's how it's supposed to work. Would he be gruffer? Less patient? Maybe he would be kinder, but with his disposition that didn't seem likely.

Well, at least he likes the coffee I make. I think. I could also cook for him to pay for him letting me stay at the Tower. Clean also, maybe help protect him. Julius hadn't looked that threatening, but he does live in Wonderland so he should at least know how to use a gun.

Julius was such a cute grump, he just made me want to hug him!

My train of thought broke as I entered the town around the Clock Tower, it was completely silent. Like a ghost town, it was really disturbing. Made me think of the horror movies from my world. It wasn't an ominous feeling but it was unsettling to see this place that was bustling to be so dead.

I chose to ignore that in favor of going into the Clock Tower.

The inside was just as I remembered, clockwork everywhere and mechanisms from the clock. It was a clock tower after all. The stone was still smooth and the stairs still didn't have handrails.

"Dangerously dangerous." I sung as I skipped up the steps. Ah well, it's not like the people here care about safety. I don't really understand that, not even the Role Holders care about themselves. I mean, sure when you die your clock gets fixed up by the Mortician/Clockmaker but it's not you that comes back, it's a stranger wearing your skin.

This place has some twisted logic, but then I did too. Probably why I felt almost . . . normal here. It's a nice feeling to be at least semi-normal.

I reached the door to Julius's workroom and knocked on the door. I wait for a moment and hear nothing.

I thought this one the one I had used before, and from what I saw he's a workaholic so he should still be up.

I peek into the room and see a rectangular desk with a dark blue lump hunched over it in sleep. Poor guy. I set my things down by the door and opened up the other two. One of them was a small kitchen, which I could have used the last time I was here instead of using the one on the bottom floor, and the other was a barely used bedroom with an attached full bathroom.

I left the door to his bedroom open, after I turned down the covers on the bed, and went over to the navy-haired man.

"Julius." He didn't stir at all so I gently shook his shoulder and called a little louder. "Julius."

"Hm." he said drowsily.

"You need to go to bed, you'll hurt your back like this." And probably get sick.

"Ngh" Julius mumbles as he moves so slowly stand. After a moment, possibly when it clicked that someone was here, he jerks around to face me, completely awake. "Who the bloody hell are you!?"

I scoot back a bit as I see his hand reaching for a wrench. Please tell me that it doesn't turn into a gun, getting shot at point blank range is not fucking fun, as my shoulder can attest to.

"I'm the new foreigner. I came in here and saw you asleep at your desk, so I tried to get you to bed so your back wouldn't hurt later." I frantically explained. I'm fast but I sure as hell can't dodge a bullet from this range, and that's assuming he's an average gunslinger. "I even pulled back the covers on your bed for you."

His scowl told me that I just said something completely stupid. Shit.

Then it appeared that something clicked and he gave me a stern once over.

"Foreigner?" He grabbed my shoulders in a tight grip. "Have you drank any 'medicine' since you got here?"

"Yeah, I already drank the Medicine of Hearts." Why was he freaking out?

"Curses!" Julius said as he let go of me to run a hand through his hair in frustration. He looked really tempting with his hair tousled like that, but I did have a thing for men with strange hair colors and or long hair

No. No time for that!

"What's wrong?" No harm in asking, right? Wrong. Shit. That just made his eyes turn stony. Double shit.

"You have no idea what you've done, do you?" his voice was hard and cold. I felt chills go down my spine.

No time to be a sadomasochist! The voice was right! Even if Julius was really hot I had to focus.

"Probably not from what you seem to be implying."

Author's Note~

Hello! Sorry to appear like I died, but I work on several stories at once and I use creative inspiration to write. I have writer's block often when it comes to writing new chapters/stories.

I am working on the lemon for my Morticia x Boris story. It is so hard to write her insecurities and Boris's acceptance.

I have a poll for who Morticia should be with third!

GO VOTE!