A/N: Yeah, I'm not dead. Thank you for worrying so much. Sorry about my other stories. I'm kind of dead on 'Memoirs' at this moment. The next chapter in that one shall be the last. I will try to make it very lengthy. Anyways, I've been obssessing over this series for a while, so I decided to write something dedicated towards my favorite non-existent pairing. Yes, I understand most of you will resent this pairing, however, this is a fanfiction, remember? This all happened before Alice comes to Wonderland. Seriously, who knows what was going on before then. Please don't come saying things like 'There's no way Blood would ever love Julius.' I simply support this pairing, okay? I can't see Alice's character ending up marrying Nightmare or Julius, though there's a possibility with Blood. However, I think that they truly have the potential to be a good pairing.
Disclaimer: I can't read Japanese, therefor, I do not own the Kuni no Alice series. If I did, these three would end up together if Alice didn't fall in love with one of them. Also, there would be another character name Jurietto.
Pre-fic-reads: This is, in fact, written in Blood's point of view. Also, if you like my writing, I can take requests if you truly wish. This is meant to be a one-shot, however, there may be a chapter written in Nightmare's point of view. I'm not sure yet. If at least one person likes it, sure, I may write it.
The Hatter was sitting inside his garden. It was quiet for Alice had taken the Bloody Twins, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle dum, to the Amusement Park so that they could play with Boris. Elliot was somewhere doing paperwork while the servants knew better than to disturb their boss. The black haired man sighed, the silence unnerving, almost deafening, for him. Before the foreigner had arrived, each time when he had been alone, the silence was filled with light-hearted chatter or comfortable silence between him and one of his two lovers. However, now was not the case, not since Alice Liddell, a foreigner, had arrived in Wonderland.
The Mafioso let his teacup hovered before his lips as he hesitated for a second. Then he took a sip of his tea. His eyes opened as he gazed down into his teacup, the liquid almost gone. The silence was truly unnerving for him. Blood Dupre's gaze was hazy, though, and vacant, almost deprived of any emotion besides a tinge of sadness that leaked through his careful facade. His onyx eyes tried, though knowing they would fail, to find the truth in the remaining tea, yet there was no answer to be given. His lovers had left him. It had hurt and was right before Alice arrived. There was had been no time to forget. It hadn't been an option.
Blood could only notice the strange coincidence. Once Alice had arrived, the visits stopped and Blood never heard from either of his lovers again. One name was right on the tip of his tongue, a name that he had said many times, used with only a tone that obviously told of his affections for the one eyed person, someone who could only be found in sleep, a dream demon, an incubus, a sweet person. 'Nightmare…'
A sigh escaped his lips as his eyes traveled around the scenery. It was serene, yet too empty. If only he were able to see Nightmare, but the incubus had forbade that. There was no way that Julius would allow him close to the dream demon, right? Blood's onyx-colored eyes once more returned to the cup at this name.
Julius Monrey. The name echoed many times in Blood's mind. The incredible man held the role as the watch fixer and had once been his other lover. He was one of the only three people the Mafioso truly loved in his life, the other two being Nightmare and his elder sister, Vivaldi. True, they usually clashed, but Nightmare was able to keep the trio together. Without Nightmare, the relationship the three had would not have existed. No, the incubus cared too much for the two men to let their differences ruin their love.
Blood licked his lips, wondering when they had become so dry. His onyx gaze turned towards the very tip of the Clover Tower's roof that was visible through the forest. There, in that very building, resided his two former lovers, along with another unimportant man named Gray Ringmarc. The duo had been two strong, kind males, yet both had broken off the precious relationship the three held when Alice first came to Wonderland, kidnapped by Peter. It had been too sudden for the Mafioso to simply forget. There was no time.
The corner of the Hatter's lips tugged downward. Despite the coincidence, he understood how Alice was special. She held a kindness that no one in Wonderland truly possessed and gave an aura that pulled people towards her. Yet Blood couldn't help but wonder if she was the reason why Nightmare and Julius had left him. His teeth clenched at the thought as he slammed down his cup, anger suddenly taking hold of him. His plate rattled at the sheer force his sudden change of emotion brought on. Alice, a cute, kind and smart girl who had made many residents of Wonderland fall in love with her, was probably the reason why he had lost the two people he found most precious. However, Blood found himself losing his love for the two as well.
The Mafioso silently fumed as he grabbed his cane, eyes set straight ahead as if they would be able to kill while he grabbed his top hat, forcing it into his usual spot. He suddenly stood up, hands slamming onto the long table, the legs of his chair violently pulling out grass from their roots as he started to briskly head out of the garden and through his mansion. If only Alice Liddell hadn't come to Wonderland! However, Blood already knew that he, himself, had started to grow affections for the girl, too. Why couldn't it have just stayed the way it was with Julius, Nightmare and himself, alone, keeping their relationship a secret? Why had the two people most precious to him disappear from his life as soon as some girl arrived in their country?
Yet these questions were left unanswered. Neither Julius nor Nightmare would answer. Neither deliberately interacted with him nor responded to him unless it concerned Alice's well-being. Not after she had arrived in Wonderland. Not after she had started to make the residents love her. It made him angry and that anger made him guilty. He felt guilty for blaming Alice, yet he had truly loved the incubus and the clock fixer.
Blood stormed out of the mansion in a sort of graceful way. He would have to pay a visit to the Clover Tower. A small smile twitched onto his irritated expression. The Hatter knew every hiding spot, every hidden passage and even every mouse hole of the Clover Tower. It was a place he was familiar with. However, though he knew the tower's very layout, he no longer felt he knew the people who resided in it. He sighed, entering without knocking as he usually would before. However, he was tense. It was quite strange to be in the tower. It no longer felt like a second home to him. This surprised him. Though he hadn't expected anything to have stayed the same, Blood felt oddly empty at the thought of having lost of such a precious place, and with it, his love for it. Blood silently hoped Alice was not at the tower at that moment and hoped she had not returned from the Amusement Park, however, his pray was short lived when he heard the foreigner's voice behind him.
"Blood? What are you doing here?" The voice was a sweet girl's voice, yet the tone held both irritation and curiosity. This was made her so alike to the Cheshire Cat. Blood turned to face the girl he was steadily falling in love with.
"I which to speak with the incubus and the clock fixer," However, even if he had said this in a monotone, formal voice, a smirk quickly wove onto his face. "unless, of course, you wish to spend time with me." Alice's expression turned from curious and irritated to only the latter emotion. Yet at that moment, Gray Ringmarc decided to pop in. He whisked Alice away, saying something about needing her help and not noticing the Hatter standing in the middle of the hallway. Blood was rooted to his spot, momentarily confused until an overly familiar voice roused him from his state.
"It's been a while, huh, Blood Dupre?"
The melodic voice down to the very tone was familiar to the Mafioso. Though he had been momentarily shocked from the sound of the beautiful, yet slightly sickly sounding, voice, Blood quickly turned to face this new person. Just as he thought, Nightmare stood in the hall, single eye gazing at the man in front of him. A smirk played on his lips, yet his expression remained formal and almost empty. It was then that Blood realized he had not thought about what to say. Contrary to what many thought, Blood was an intelligent man who preferred planning out his attacks. Yet his eyes widened when Julius stepped behind Nightmare. Blood inwardly cringed. The previous time he had visited, he had not been thinking very clearly. The Hatter understood the depth and importance of the clocks and Julius's work. And though he did not support it, he had definitely been taking things too far.
Julius raised an eyebrow, his arms crossed as he watched Blood carefully. Licking his lips once more, Blood shook his head. "Yes, it has been too long, Nightmare, though not too long with you Julius." He bit his lip at the sight of his two ex-lovers. They both held a solemn expression. Blood's façade slipped slightly as he hesitated. His lips trembled as he mouths a simple, single word. "Why?"
Nightmare shook his head. He understood perfectly. It was impossible for him not to understand. "It's the rules of this game we live in. We will all fall in love with Alice eventually. Whether we wish to or not."