Alice in Wonderland is not the story all believe it is. Alice was not a child when she fell down the rabbit hole, met Madd Hatter, and defeated the Queen of Hearts for starters. And her name was certainly not spelled Alice.

Alyss did defeat the Queen of Hearts but not without a consequence - The House of Cards crumbled and Alyss fell along with them.

Before her demise, the Queen had a plan in place if anything should happen to her. When it did, Alyss was placed in a deep sleep - believed never to awaken again.

Unlike in the storybook, Alyss never returned home. In fact, her sleeping self remained in Wonderland – possession of her body being given from one person to the next as the years passed until she ended up in a casket within a storage room of the Casino.

Many, many years have passed since Alyss had her time in Wonderland and it's not until the arrival of a new Alice that The Alyss of Legend finally awoke.

Wonderland was strange enough to Alyss the first time around and now…it's a whole new deck of cards and some familiar faces might not be so familiar after all…

Alyss woke with a gasp and found herself within a box of some sort. It was dark, cramped. and she was quickly finding it hard to breathe. "Hello?!" she called out, pounding on the lid in hopes someone would hear her.

Her pounding efforts were not in vain. Eventually she was able to loosen the lid and push it off completely, causing a loud, echoing, crashing sound as it impacted with the metal floor.

Alyss gathered up her dress and climbed out of the box she discovered was a casket of sorts and tried to take in her surroundings. Unfortunately she didn't recognize anything around her. Among the contents of the unfamiliar room were crates piled high and pieces of a broken flamingo appearing thing in a pile in the corner.

Flamingos were something Alyss was familiar with but…not like this. For starters this particular flamingo was of a metallic nature and not of a living one. Alyss pushed that from her thoughts and went in search of Madd - Madd Hatter. He was the last person she saw before her eyes closed. In her mind, it was still that day. Alyss had no idea that she'd been asleep for a century, more or less…likely more.

Alyss rushed to the first door she could find and after several pulls she was able to get it open. The pure white of the hall she walked into was almost blinding. This was certainly not a place she had ever seen before and yet knew she had to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Alyss took a random direction and started making her way down the pristine white hall. At the end of the corridor she saw two men in black suits with dark glasses over their eyes. She was about to ask for their help but when they heard them saying that an oyster broke free, she had a bad feeling.

Instead of trying to make contact with the men, she turned around quickly and ran back the way she came. The Suits were gaining quickly and once she turned a corner there were even more of them. This was like history repeating itself in a surreal sort of way.

After going into the first unlocked door Alyss could find, she latched it behind her and went to the nearest window. There was no way to open it and all she saw was water far below. Fear and determination fueled her as ripped off the sleeve of her dress and wrapped it around her hand. Alyss punched the glass over and over again before it finally shattered.

The timing couldn't have been cut any closer. After getting the shards out of the frame, she climbed up and jumped out of it just as the Suits kicked in the door and ran inside.

Screams escaped Alyss' lips as she fell the great length and landed into the water below. The water weighed down the dress – the gown – she was wearing and removed it as fast as she could in order to get back to the surface as quickly as possible. Alyss stripped herself down to her long sleeve, ankle length chemise before darting upwards and breaking the surface of the water with a deep gasp of air.

Her long, blonde hair was in wet shambles all around her, but she had no time to bother about that now – nor did she really care. She couldn't tell if she was being followed as of yet but this didn't stop her from diving back underwater and swimming as far as she could until she needed air again. It was now that she started to take in her surroundings. They looked familiar in a vague sort of way. Finally it clicked with her and thought to herself, 'This can't be Wonderland'.

A loud sound from above caused her to gasp and look upwards to see a large, metal, flying beetle with boxes hanging from it. Alyss had never seen anything like this before and so she waded there looking up at it trying to figure out what was in the boxes. It wasn't long before she got her answer.

One of the boxes opened and a screaming woman fell from one of them who landed almost right beside Alyss. Alyss' eyes widened at this after she wiped the water from her face – which was rather a moot action due to her hands being just as wet.

Wading in front of her now was a woman with dark hair whom she had never seen before. "Who are you?" was the only thing Alyss could think to ask in that moment.

"Alice," the woman gasped, trying to wrap her head around all she had just endured, before asking, "Who are you?"

"You can't be," Alyss answered firmly. "I am Alyss."

Alice looked at her like she was insane before scoffing, "It's a popular name, lady," and started swimming away.

Alyss, not sure what else to do, swam along with her.

It seemed they were to be partners in whatever adventure was about to unfold for them. It felt like an eternity as they swam away from the waters below the Casino and into the canals of the city. During this entire time, neither one spoke to the other. They both weren't too sure of the other and they needed all the breath they could get.

The water led into a canal within the city that looked backwards, forwards, upside-down, and sideways all at the same time. Alyss had never seen a city such as this before and even though she felt in her core that this was Wonderland, she couldn't believe that it was. Everything was different and the only way to explain that would be…time. 'How much time had passed?', Alyss wondered as she and this other Alice swam towards an enclosed dock and pulled themselves up.

They both took solace in being able to rest for a moment and both thought they would be able to get answers from one another, but the presence of a man who resembled a rat dressed in fishing gear, approached them enquiringly with a knife in his hand.

Alice got to her feet and took a fighting stance – she was a Black Belt after all – saying, "Don't even think about it, buddy."

The man looked at the green mark on Alice's arm saying, "You're an Oyster."

Now Alyss got to her feet to say, "That is what those men called me." She too looked at the odd marking on Alice's arm. "But I do not have a marking such as this."

The man put the knife away as he said, "I don't want nothing to do with either of you, you hear? I'm a working man." He bent down and picked up his fishing gear. "I don't want no trouble."

The strange whirring of the mechanical, flying bug was heard overhead and soon came into their view. The man grabbed hold of both their arms. "The Suits see us together, we'll all be dead." Without another word, he took off running.

"Wait, sir!" Alice called out. "I need help finding a man who was kidnapped and brought here!"

"Not gonna help no Oysters," he answered and kept on going.

Alyss pleaded for his help. "Sir, I beg of you, I need to find Madd Hatter. Do you know where he is?"

This made him stop and turn to face her. "Hatter, you say?"

"Yes," Alyss answered, hoping she was getting somewhere. "I'm Alyss."

"We both are," Alice interjected, and this seemed to catch his attention.

"The Alyss?" he asked, looking between them. "The Alyss of Legend?"

Alice had no idea what that was but Alyss knew exactly. "Yes, that is I," she answered, since that was something the Caterpillar said to her before – he told her she would become a legend. "And I need to find Madd Hatter. He is the only one who can help me." That wasn't quite true, but she needed to find him before anything or anyone else.

"You come with me," he answered, "and bring the other Alice with you, if you wish." He darted off with a "Quick, quick."

Alyss followed him without question and since Alice had no other options, she followed them as well.

As they made their way through the city, they went up stairs, crossed bridges, and moved over some careful ledges before being led to a white building called The Tea House. Alyss had no doubt that Madd would be there. Granted, it wasn't a Tea Party in the middle of the forest, but it was tea-related nonetheless, and that was one of Madd's domains.

Alyss looked at the Rat-Man and asked him a serious question, "Madd Hatter is in there?"

Rat nodded emphatically. "Yes. Yes. Hatter is in there." He didn't say another word and darted over the narrow path to the Tea House.

Alyss, who was no stranger to the oddness of Wonderland, didn't let the narrow grass lined path from the red box reading 'Telephone' on top to the Tea House deter her. She gathered up her skirt to keep herself from tripping and followed the Rat-Man into the building.

Alice wasn't as quick to move as her counterpart. She was hesitant about following but if someone in there could help her find Jack and return home then this was something she'd have to do – whether she wanted to or not.

After adjusting the cloth that she previously tied around the odd marking on her arm, she took a deep breath and darted after them. She looked around to make sure she wasn't being followed and went inside. Alice turned the corner and almost walked right into Alyss. "What is it?"

"How is this a Tea Shop?" Alyss asked in reply, looking around at all the people who seemed to be bidding on liquid filled vials of different emotions and attributes. "I do not understand this place." Coming from a woman who had endured Wonderland before, that meant something.

"And here I thought you knew what was going on," Alice countered as she looked around for Rat.

Alyss took a deep breath as she did the same, saying, "No, not anymore."

Alice stopped midway through the room, standing on the patch of grass and flowers, and turned to look at her. "Not anymore? So you know what's gone on before? Are you from here or something?"

"From here, no," Alyss honestly answered, "but I was once very familiar with this land. So much has changed."

Their conversation was interrupted when the Auctioneer at the head of the room banged his gavel and called out, "I have a little announcement. A new tea has just come onto the market." With the attention caught, he went on to say, "You ever get that guilty feeling? Huh? Maybe you abandoned the wife and kids and left them without a crumb to split between them? Or maybe you killed someone – a relative or a neighbor – and it's left that niggling feeling in the pit of your stomach that's growing little by little into a dull, throbbing pain gnawing away at you, undermining your confidence and making you feel sick and worthless and fearful?" The Auctioneer tapped his stand in excitement, "Well, fear no longer!" He set a clear liquid filled bottle on his stand. "Because 'Clear Conscience' has finally arrived! The latest wonder of wonders from that remarkable wonder of all wonders – The Hearts Casino!"

"Hearts Casino?" Alyssa gasped. "The Hearts?" Before she could even really process that, Rat came over to her and Alice, saying,

"This way."

They both went with Rat out of the main room and into the back area. This area had white walls, much like the main area, and filled with white furniture. There was a man sitting in a high-back chair, facing away from them. "Would you like a cup of tea?" he asked them.

His voice sounded so much like Madd's that Alyss almost cried in relief, but did not speak. Alice, however, did. "No, thank you. Who you are you?"

He turned around in his chair and faced them. "A friend, I hope."

Alyss' face dropped when she saw the man. He resembled Madd Hatter, but it was not him. She finally found her words. "You're not him." Alyss turned furiously to Rat. "You said Madd Hatter would be here!"

"He is," Rat countered, pointing at the man. "He is Hatter."

"He is not Madd!" Alyss shouted and was about to storm off but gasped when another man walked into the room.

"Everything alright here, brother?" Hatter's brother, Matthew, asked him.

Alyss almost couldn't believe her eyes – this was Madd Hatter. At least, he appeared to be. True, he was dressed differently and his hair was shorter than when she knew him but his face and his eyes…those were his. Without another word she walked right over to him and hugged him with such relief. "Oh, Madd. I never thought I'd see you again."

Matthew chuckled awkwardly and pulled her off him. "You have me confused with someone else, Miss. I'm not who you think I am."

Alyss stepped back and looked into his eyes. It was then that she could see he truly didn't know who she was. This made tears well in her eyes as she whispered, "You were…once." She couldn't bear to look at him any longer, it pained her too much. So when Alice asked what this place was, she answered for them, "This is Wonderland. At least, I think it is."

"It is," Hatter answered as he held out his arms in presentation, "Welcome to Wonderland."

Alice scoffed incredulously at that. "That's a story in a kid's book."

Now this sounded familiar. "Who wrote it?" Alyss asked, needing to know. She went right over to Alice and gripped her wrist, asking again, "Who wrote it?"

Alice thought this other Alyss was a bit on the strange side, but answered her anyway. "Lewis Carroll."

Alyss laughed at this because she almost couldn't believe it. "He did it. Charles made it home, and he did it. He wrote the story."

"I'm sorry," Matthew interjected, taking a seat on the table beside his brother, "but does this look like a kid's story you either of you?" He looked between the brunette woman and the blonde in question. However, his eyes lingered on the blonde one. She seemed to believe she knew who he was and yet he'd never seen her before in his life. The heartbreak in her eyes when he pointed that out hit him in the gut and he couldn't explain why.

Alice answered his question, "No."

"It's changed a lot since then," Hatter pointed out, making Alyss say,

"You speak as if you've seen it with your own eyes."

"We know enough," Hatter explained, gesturing to Matthew beside him, "Me and my brother here – we know enough. Now you, you Oysters don't know how to find it so you tell yourselves that we don't exist and frankly we'd like to keep it that way." By this point he was examining the Oyster Mark on Alice's arm with a magnifying glass then turned to Alyss. "Where's yours?"

"I don't have one," Alyss answered. "What is it?"

Hatter looked at Alice when he answered. "It's not going to come off. Sorry. Only people from your world turn green when burned by the light."

Matthew went on from there, saying, "It's the Suits' way of branding their catch. And you're called Oysters because of the shiny little pearls that you carry inside." He crossed his arms and looked at her. "But you say you don't have one?"

"Perhaps it's because I have been here for longer than you have been alive," Alyss retorted.

"She's Alyss," Rat interjected, waving his hands at them both. "They both are."

"Oh really?" Hatter and Matthew walked around both girls making 'Ooohh' sounds before Hatter clapped his hand on Rat's shoulder. "Ratty here thinks you are Alice – of Legend."

"Not the dark haired one," Rat explained and pointed to Alyss, "This one."

"Oh, really?" Matthew leaned closer with a "Hmm?"

Alyss' posture straightened and she stared him down. "My name is Alyss. I fought against the Queen of Hearts and won with Madd Hatter by my side. She must have done something to me because I only awoke today and have no sense of how much time has passed." She looked straight at Matthew. "And that is why I thought you were Madd. Because you look exactly like him."

"That was a hundred and fifty years ago," Hatter interjected, finding this whole story a bit over the top. "There's no way either of you are the Alice of Legend."

"You best be spelling my name correctly in your mind when you say it." It annoyed her when her name was spelled wrong. "A-L-Y-S-S. That is how you spell my name."

Matthew tapped on his chin as he looked her over while Hatter dealt with Rat's payment. "You say I look like this Madd Hatter of yours. Care to explain?"

"This is Wonderland," Alyss shot back, finally feeling the fire inside her igniting again. "Can anything truly be explained?" Despite her fire, the pain lingered.

Matthew chuckled as he returned to the desk and took a seat upon it. "I like this one. She's feisty."

Alyss took a deep breath because those words were very familiar to her. "That's not the first time I have heard that from someone like you."

Matthew tilted his head to the side with a smirk. "You are convinced I am this Madd person, aren't you?"

"No," Alyss replied with conviction. "Not anymore."

"Well, as interesting as this is to watch," Hatter interjected. "How can we help you?"

Alyss intended to let the other one answer because at that moment, she herself had no idea what to say. There was more she needed to learn about this new Wonderland before she could give him an answer. One thing was certain, though, if another Queen of Hearts was reigning then she would have to do something to stop her – new deck of cards or not. Alyss had seen the terror caused by the predecessor and she couldn't let history repeat itself…she wouldn't.

Since neither lady answered the question right off, Hatter asked it again. "How can we help you? Ratty did mention that you were looking for something, is that right?"

Alice didn't give the fellow Alyss time to answer and spoke with her own desires. "I'm looking for Jack Chase. He was taken by a man with a white rabbit on his lapel."

Hatter and Matthew exchanged knowing looks with one another, each knowing what that particular emblem meant.

Alyss didn't understand what their expressions could mean. "Why does it appear you believe that is a problem? I know a White Rabbit – I knew…"

Hatter cut her off because she could go on her spiel any further. "If you are who you claim to be this ain't the same White Rabbit. The White Rabbit is an organization controlled by the Suits. They travel back and forth through the Looking Glass and vanish people from your world to ours."

"No wonder why they chose that name for their horrid organization. White Rabbit was the one who brought me and Charles here all those years ago." Alyss wrapped her arms around herself as she tried to process all the modern echoes of the past. She had been asleep for a hundred and fifty years at least – no one and nothing was the same as it had been. Not even the man with the face from her past was the same.

Alice seemed to ignore her comment and asked Hatter, "Why do they bring them here?"

"To use in the Casino," Matthew answered as he poured himself a cup of tea.

"Use?" Alyss wanted more clarification on that. "Use how?"

Hatter spoke quickly before Matthew could say another word. "He didn't mean to say use – just a slip of the tongue. They're fine. You know, they keep them alive and moderately happy."

"Alive and moderately happy? That does not sound like much of a life. They may be alive but it does not sound as if they are living at all." Alyss wasn't going to stand for this. She didn't before and she wasn't going to now. "How do we get to this Casino?"

Matthew sipped at his tea as he eyed her yet again. "You don't. It's far too dangerous."

Alyss walked right up to Matthew, looking him right in the eye as she retorted with, "You have not the slightest notion of what I have done – What I have survived. I have looked danger in the eye before and yet here I stand."

Matthew turned his head to sip at his tea again before saying, "And yet you were put to sleep for a century and a half."

Hatter could already tell that pissing off this particular Alyss was not one of the best ideas in the world, so he decided to cut into their conversation before things got even more heated. "We know some people, who know some people, who know some, well, other people if you know what I mean. It's one of the privileges of running a Tea Shop." He popped his lips after saying this and saw neither lady was amused. "Lighten up."

Hatter got an idea then and went to the glass closet in the corner. He turned back to look at the ladies then plucked off items accordingly. For Alice it was a wine-colored velvet jacket and for Alyss he chose a grey ankle length hooded duster sweater.

"Ta da!" Hatter declared as he presented them to the ladies. "You should wear these. They will cover up any glow and stop you from catching a cold."

Alyss accepted the article from Hatter and slipped her arms through. Its warmed was welcomed.

Alice, however, didn't accept the coat yet. "Why would you help me – help us?" She changed it to 'us' since Alyss seemed to want to get to the Casino as much as herself.

Hatter walked around Alice and answered once he was behind her. "Do I need a reason to help a pretty girl in a very wet dress?"

Alice whipped right around and glared at him for that.

Matthew set his tea aside with a bit of a laugh. "Do not bother, brother. It is clear they don't trust us. Especially the dark-haired one there."

"I see." Hatter threw the coat down onto the nearby sofa. "I am genuinely hurt." He moved to stand between the ladies. "Do you know why I am called Hatter?"

Alyss almost answered that but there wasn't a point. This Hatter and Madd Hatter had two very different roles in their respective times of Wonderland life.

"Because you wear a hat?" Alice surmised, since he did.

Hatter shot at a look at his brother when he snorted a laugh at her answer. "No. It's because I'm always there when they pass the hat, so to speak. Philanthropy, generosity – I mean, you can call it what you will, it's who I am. And right now, looking at you there, there's nothing I want more than to help you find…" He totally blanked on who they were looking for and held his hands out for them to answer.

"Jack," Alice instantly added in since it was clear Hatter had forgotten his name.

Hatter nodded in an 'alright then manner' before picking up where he left off, "To help you find Jack and return you all to your land of children's stories."

"That may be what she wants, but I don't want that." Alyss couldn't make that any clearer. "All I desire is to find out what happened to Madd Hatter. I do not wish to return to the land I came from. Wonderland has been my home for a long time and I do not wish to leave it." She deliberately left out the part where she intended to knock down this new House of Cards. Alyss would have to keep that to herself until she learned more about life in this Wonderland.

Matthew went to the shelves off hats behind the desk and plucked off a large top hat to put upon his head. "We make no promises, but we are willing to help find who and what you wish to." He slid his hand around the brim of his hat. "You don't believe us, do you? I bet you're thinking if we're the frying pan than out there is the fire."

Alyss pointed out the obvious before making her point. "This is Wonderland where nothing is as it seems. So how can you expect to us to take you both at your word? Is there not another reason behind your willingness to assist us?"

The brothers shared a look with each other and figured why not tell them. Hatter took the lead on this. "We'll be straight with you. We know people who like to help your kind. And if every once in awhile I scratch their back…"

Alice nodded in understanding. "They'll scratch yours."

"A lot of scratching," Matthew smirked in Alyss' direction. "It can be quite pleasant."

Alyss looked away because it was too painful to look at him. She knew he wasn't Madd and yet already she could see how in so many ways that he was. Alyss was more than ready to accept their help since she wasn't about to go out into Wonderland blind. Now the only question remained was would Alice do the same?

Alice thought for a moment before deciding to accept their help as well. She took the jacket off the sofa and put it on to cover up her Oyster mark as well as to keep warm.

The brothers walked together to the back door. Matthew opened it as Hatter said, "Do try to keep up."

For reasons each of their own, both Alice and Alyss took deep breaths to prepare themselves for their next steps into Wonderland.

End Part 1