Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Kuni no Alice series; QuinRose does. I only own the original storyline and any characters not seen in the original games.
Author's Note: This story takes place during Joker no Kuni, with the borders of the worlds blending into each other.
Breaking Wonderland
Chapter 1
It surprised him when Alice asked, "Does today seem a little wrong to you?"
"Excuse me?"
"Different, I suppose. As if the world has suddenly moved while we slept, came back to the same place, and didn't quite fit back into itself."
Though he was loath to admit it, Julius nodded. "If it's of any consolation, I, too, feel slightly put-off today."
"Perhaps because we've had been having orderly time-turns," Gray said, coming into the room with two cups of hot cocoa.
Alice blinked as she took a cup. "What?"
"For the last six turns, we've had a normal progression of hours. Dawn, day, dusk, night, dawn, and now it is daytime," he said, gesturing outside the window. Sure enough, brilliant sunlight danced off the light snowfall on the ground. "It's always disorienting when it happens."
"Oh, like it normally does back in my world!"
Gray shook his head, as if in disbelief that such a thing could be normal. "I'm not sure I could remember the last time we had more than three orderly time-turns. Likely before Roles were switched."
Julius couldn't remember either, but he simply took a cup of cocoa with a nod of thanks. It was quiet for a while – Alice polishing, himself working the clocks – before she spoke up again.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Hmm?"
"What happened to the previous Role Holders?"
"You've asked me that before."
"And you didn't answer my question."
"As if something has changed between then and now?"
"I decided to stay."
His hands stopped moving, poised to turn a tiny screw in place. Then, with a soft sigh and a careful turn of his fingers, he said, "We live according to the game, playing by the rules. This is the unchanging, meaningless truth of our world. Our lives are spent eternally fighting and dying and being reborn. But you knew that."
A silent nod; she was being oddly patient.
"The previous Role Holders had their own game. Few of them survived; most did not. As such, we were chosen from the faceless to replace those Roles."
"You weren't born into being the Clockmaster?"
"Occasionally, a faceless may ask to take a Role – it is said Dupre did just that. But no one truly knows how the choice is made. Someone, perhaps Joker or Nightmare, chooses the next Role Holder if no one speaks up, but even Nightmare is not the first Incubus."
"Then, what happens when everyone gets killed and one person's left standing?"
"The game ends, and a new one begins."
"Oh…. So was the previous fight over territory, like this one?"
"I don't know."
She looked disappointed, as if his answers weren't enough. But soon enough, her attention span drifted off and she went to gather extra gears and pieces.
"She asks the most fascinating questions," Nightmare murmured, and Julius didn't bother to look up at the previously empty chair.
"She shouldn't. And you should attend to your work, not eavesdrop on private conversations."
"You're as bad as Gray! Neither of you know the meaning of the phrase 'coffee break'!"
"And you don't know the phrase 'work ethic'. Please take your leave as soon-"
A knock on the door, and inside stepped a faceless, out-of-breath messenger.
"I beg your pardon, but I bring urgent word from the Queen of Hearts for the Clockmaster and Lord of Clover," he said, gasping for air between every few words. The man bore two crumpled letters; the wax seal was still warm to the touch as Julius broke it open.
And his stomach fell to the floor as he read the words, and Nightmare took in a sharp breath.
"What's going on?" and Alice walked in, carrying her little box of supplies. "Is everything all right?"
"I'll get Gray," Nightmare said, disappearing in a whisper of smoke.
"Julius, what's going on?"
"We must go to the Castle. War has been waged upon the Country of Diamond."
By the time they arrived, almost every Role Holder was present and talking in frenzied voices, but the first thing Alice saw was the bloodied black rabbit lying on the ground, his head pillowed on Pierce's lap.
"What happened?" she gasped, skidding down next to the mouse and trying to take it all in oh my god all the blood how is he still alive?
"Attacked on the way here," Pierce said softly. "By what, we don't know."
Gowland was sitting next to him, doing his best to patch up the wounds, but Alice knew a futile effort when she saw it. It didn't stop her from grabbing a handful of gauze squares and pressing them on the largest, gaping wound near the rabbit's neck. They turned red so very quickly.
"Found him in the Forest – must'a come through one of the doors."
"Where is the Hatter? If he doesn't arrive soon, we will personally behead him!"
"Did word get to the Queen of Spades?"
"I've not heard from them for at least… two thousand time turns. They may have already fallen."
The doors burst open again, and the four members of the Hatter family entered the hall – with a familiar face in tow.
"Joker!" Nightmare said. "What are you doing here?"
"I was invited, too, Incubus," he smiled, but it never touched his eye. "How is our Black Rabbit holding up?"
He bent over Alice and made a tsking sound. "Harder pressure than that, my dear Alice. You want to staunch bleeding." A firm grip on her hand and a shove downwards made the rabbit cry out in pain. "Oh, he's still alive."
"Yes, you vile ass," the rabbit groaned. "For God's sake, you're lucky I lack the energy and strength to shoot you all."
"Terribly lucky," Blood said blandly. "So there is war in Diamond?"
"More than that – a massacre," and he made the painful shift from rabbit to human with a violent cough.
"Don't talk," Alice said, wiping blood away from his mouth. Now she could see the different injuries with painful clarity against pale skin; cuts over his face, neck, torso, arms, and legs. He was lying in a pool of blood, and she suspected there were wounds on his back. "Don't talk until you're better."
"I'm afraid we don't have time for such kind courtesies," Nightmare said, remorse coloring his words. "Please, tell us everything you can."
A pained chuckle, and unmatching eyes gazed up at the chandelier ceiling. "My name is Sidney Black, Prime Minister to the Queen of Diamonds, and I bring tidings of death and carnage."
"What have you brought for us today?"
"A homeless faceless is requesting an audience, Your Highness."
A beatific smile crossed her lips. "We hope they brought presents."
"She states that it's of grave concern, and is carrying nothing on her person."
Now, a momentary pout. "Oh, all right. We will allow the faceless a moment in our presence."
The young woman brought into the court definitely looked the part of a wanderer. There was nothing special about her – brown dress, brown shoes, brown hair. She didn't look to be terribly well-fed, and seemed to be upon the verge of tears as she bowed her head before the queen.
"Y-y-your Highness," she gasped. "Please, I beg your time!"
"We are listening. What brings you to the Castle in such a ragged state and bearing no gifts?" Crysta Snowpigeon said with evocative softness
"M-m-my city was destroyed, Your Majesty. Fastin, a-a-about three days away. A great evil came and... and a lot of people were k-killed. I don't remember *sniff* everything, but, but I remember all the screams. And I don't think any-anyone but me survived."
The temperature in the room slowly dropped by about twenty degrees as the girl talked. Sidney felt goosebumps rise over his neck, and his ears automatically fluffed out for warmth.
"Who did this?" and the Queen of Diamonds bore ice on her fingertips. "Tell us who wrought such havoc in our country."
"I don't know!" she cried, bowing her head down further. "I just ran away!"
"Tell us what you remember!"
"A horrible sound, like clocks being ripped out of bodies! And…."
"And what?"
"A war cry, and the words 'manxome foe' echoing in the air."
Immediately, the queen stood up and threw a handful of ice at the nearest soldier, freezing and breaking him in the same angry motion. "No! This cannot be! We refuse to believe it! It is too soon!"
Sidney actually stepped back in shock. "Your Hi-"
"Send messengers to Heart, Clover, and Spade! We want all four countries to be prepared for war! Call all soldiers to the castle bearing arms! Send the women and children far from the land! Do not waste a single moment!"
A second to recover, and he quickly turned and yelled, "You heard the Queen! Find me three scribes, three messengers! NOW!" All around was chaos and running, people sending information, noise that could not be broken but for the orders of the queen.
But from the floor came a whimper. "Too late…."
"Speak wisely, child, or you will find your mouth permanently frozen," Crysta hissed.
"You are too late, my Queen. Far, far too late."
When Sidney finally stopped running and looked back, he could only remember three things:
The girl's smile, teeth pointed and glistening with blood
Afterimages rising all around, covering the brilliant gold hall in shade and shadow
And in the moment that his queen died, the Country of Diamonds turned into a wasteland of broken clocks and rivers of blood
Author's Note (04/28/13): I haven't had the time to write in many years, but I found the Kuni no Alice series' full of compelling characters and incredible lands. I love getting the chance to work with such a brilliant world, and I want to see how far I can go in a story like this. And yes, I know – action/adventure based off an otome dating game? *laughs* I'm hoping that people will give it a chance, though.
Thanks for reading!