"Hello, Cheshire. Nice to see you again." "You as well, Tegan." I glanced to the girl's right, and saw a young boy there. He was blonde with blue eyes, and was obviously English. "Who is your friend?" "No friend of mine. Simply a runaway from the red knights. I told him I would take him to the Hare and the Hatter, and I have brought him. Could I have some tea?" "You are always welcome to tea, Fynnegan. What is your name, little boy?" The boy stared at Cheshire, not quite sure what to make of her. Cheshire sat at the table, taking some tea and adding cream, but no sugar. "I'm Austin," the boy said, staring up at me. "Why don't you have some tea with us?" "Hello, sweetie," Maliumpkin, also known as Grace, said too sweetly. "Hullo," he said uncertainly, sitting directly to my right. Maliumpkin sat three chairs to my left. March Hare, three chairs right of Austin. Cheshire, directly in front of me at the opposite end of the table. Cheshire sipped her tea. March Hare threw a spoon. Maliumpkin continued attempting to change form, like she had been trying since the beginning of her time in Wonderland. I played with my hat. Austin sat, kicking his legs and looking around at everything as if it were strange. However, no one spoke. "This is rather, how should I say, unpleasant. What's happened, Tegan? You used to be so much more entertaining, a much better host." "Do you not recall my imprisonment? My forced slavery? I had to create hats for that bloody big head, while she terrorized the people of Wonderland. Then she shoved me out the door and I was stuck out there for months. I couldn't get back in until the rabbit stumbled upon me!" "I wasn't going to go out there. Not even for you, Hatter. That's a death sentence. I don't know how to survive out there!" "Maybe not, but why did you not attempt to free me in my time in that bloody castle?" "My time can not revolve around you, nor any other. I have other things I must do besides attend tea and watch your awkward trio." "Like what? What could possibly be as important as defeating the Red Queen?" "You do not have need of that information. Simply put, I was busy. Besides, I could hardly rescue you on my own, could I?" "What are you talking about? You're a shapeshifting, vanishing, flying, smiling cat!" "That still does not mean I can rescue you without assistance." "You could've asked how to save me from Absolem!" Cheshire's face flashed with an emotion I barely caught, utter terror. She was hiding something very well. At least, most others wouldn't be able to see it. I was not most. I took a pause in conversation to probe her mind. I slipped in with ease, passing the white wall. I weaved through several trains of thought, searching for the right one. I didn't get far before I hit a dead end. She had blocked it somehow and pushed me out. Whatever it was, she had it hidden deep. This would take some tricky conversation and more than a little coercion, possibly by force. "So, why didn't you ask Absolum?" "Like I said, I had other things to do besides looking after all your sorry arses. If you would excuse me, I've been put off my tea." She stood, walked about two steps before she started shrinking, and then in her place was a grey, blue striped cat, with bright green eyes. The cat floated away, disappearing slowly until all that was left was a toothy smile. Then she was gone. "Wait, so is she a cat, or a person?" Austin asked, obviously confused. "Whichever she chooses. Normally she takes her human form around others, and her cat form when she is alone." "Is she always so cold like that?" "In a certain manner. Although she seems more cheery in the grove. Perhaps it's the smoke." "What grove?" "Fairy Circle Grove. It's a lovely place. You simply must see it with us." "Is it safe?" "Of course. Just don't inhale the smoke directly. That is, unless you want to be a little mad like us. In that case, be my guest to inhale." "Are you truly mad? You don't seem it." "Do you think you are mad?" "Not at all." "Then you're even crazier than I am!" I laughed at his confusion and got up. March Hare followed my lead. "Could I ride your hat, Tegan?" Maliumpkin asked. "Um, no. Hat riding is saved for shrunk people." "That's what you always say." "And you still haven't ridden my hat, now have you?" She gave me a mad, pouty look. Then she hopped off the table onto March Hare's shoulder, and the two followed me. Austin walked beside me. "Why is it called Fairy Circle Grove?" Austin asked. "Because of all the mushrooms, and the common mistake of believing Absolem to be a fairy." "If this Absolem creature isn't a fairy, what are they?" "He is a caterpillar. Eventually he will be a butterfly." "A boy butterfly?" "Yes. The cycle is neverending. He is always reborn a caterpillar, and always becomes a butterfly." "Can he be a human, too, like the cat girl?" "Her name is Cheshire. And yes, sort of. It's a difficult world to explain." "Can you turn into an animal too?" "Pfft, I don't have to change into animals to be mad. I am just the Hatter." Austin chuckled at my boldness. "So why are the others able to change form?" I leaned in close and smiled, whispering lightly, "They were born here." His eyes widened, and he gave me a look of disbelief. "If I'd been born here, could I do it too?" "Well of course. But you were not. You are a normal boy from the Over World. The only way you could turn into an animal is if you were gifted with magic, and that is rare in people from your world." "If you were born here too, why can't you be an animal?" "I wasn't born here. But I am now a part of this place. I came here many years ago, but I haven't aged, I haven't changed. Humans don't here. Absolem doesn't truly change either. He simply has a repeating cycle that he must go through." "It sounds like girl problems." I laughed. The boy wasn't terribly humorless, after all. We arrived shortly after. Blue smoke rose in the circle of mushrooms, obscuring a figure within. No, two figures, standing very close. "Welcome to Fairy Circle Grove." "Where is the butterfly boy?" "In the smoke. Absolem! Absolem!" There was no answer. "Koth!" He stepped to the edge of the smoke, and became slightly more visible. Blue horns protruded from his head. A medium sized, dragon-like pair of blue wings protruded from his shoulder blades. Messy brown hair hung in his eyes, hiding his expression. "What do you want?" "This is Austin." "Why do I care?" "He's from the Over World." "And?" "Cheshire brought him to us. We got in a conversation about you and the grove, and Austin wanted to come see it." "Okay? He came, he saw it. Now what?" "Who's here with you?" "Cheshire. She's looking at the Oraculum." "Why?" "I don't know. Ask her yourself." I rolled my eyes and stepped into the ring of mushrooms. The smoke smelled like blue raspberry, and made me a little dizzy. The Oraculum sprawled out across the mushrooms made thoughts of the smoke slip from my already scattered brain. "What day are you looking at, Fynnegan?" "Pricis day. A couple months from now, over here. I don't like what I'm seeing." "Why are you looking ahead in our time?" "Because you got me thinking earlier, about why I didn't save you. While yes, I was busy. I was also somewhat spying on the Red Queen. I thought she was building an army. Now I'm certain she is." "Besides the Red Knights?" "Ever since Alice destroyed the Jabberwocky, the Red Queen has been trying to find new power to destroy us with. I believe she may have found it in the Over World." "We have no weapon against something like that. We don't even know what it could possibly be." "These are my concerns." "How can we stop her?" "I don't know. Absolem?" Cheshire asked. "You act like I study this thing daily or something. I don't know any more than you do." "I thought you were supposed to be wise and absolute, hence the name Absolem?" she asked dubiously. "Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not. We're all constantly changing, even if our bodies don't change and we never age." "So what? You're saying you're not Absolem anymore?" "I'm saying I'm different. That doesn't change who I am." "Absolem is wise and absolute. If you are not wise and absolute, you are not Absolem." "Then who is?" "He ceases to exist." "He can't just vanish from existence like that. Guess what, I'm still him. So deal with it." "Focus!" I reprimanded. Cheshire glared at him a moment longer before turning back to the long scroll, now so thick it was hard to carry. "Okay, well, let's look for a day that shows a champion rising against this new threat, shall we?" "I'll take the future end. Absolem, take the past end and see if anything is repeating itself or if there are clues within the past for our future. Hatter, stay at the present and observe up to a year on either side. See what you can find out." The three of us split, and I did as Cheshire asked. There was no sign of anything in the past, but I followed along into our future in the scroll, and saw that there would be war again. The war would wage for nearly a year. On the eve of the year date, I saw a dark figure rising against a hideous creature. There was no telling who the figure was, or what the beast was they fought. "Guys, I found something." Cheshire was by my side almost instantaneously, appearing in her strange cloud of vapor that always kinda creeped me out. She walked from the present day to the place where I stood. Then she glanced at the next day. It was a funeral. There wasn't a happy face in sight. The White Queen, March Hare, Rabbit, Bayard, even Absolem, wept. Not everybody was present. That, or not everybody was able to be seen. Perhaps there was more than one death in the fast approaching war. "Who is the figure that fights the beast?" "It could be more than one. After all, I thought only Absolem was here when we first showed up. Your figures combined in the smoke. I would think darkness could do the same." "Yeah…" "What?" "Your mention of it being so dark...someone who can see in the dark would have to fight the beast." "Or we could be looking through shadows and it could be daylight. Don't fear for your life yet." "I'm eleven, Tegan. What do you expect?" "Guess you're going to have to grow up quick." "I'll be thirteen by the time this happens. That's it." "Or your aging process could end now." "My point is, this incarnation has not lived long enough to learn everything I need to know. I haven't even finished going through my old journals." "You must prepare yourself. On the chance it is you, you must learn to fight." "Who can teach me to be a warrior? Who's going to teach a girl to be a warrior?" "Ask Alice." "No! I'm not going to ask that ridiculous girl to teach me to fight! I don't know why she ended up a permanent Wonderland being to begin with!" "Well, if you don't want to ask Alice, then ask Bayard." "Okay. I can work with that… I guess I'm leaving now. I'll see you guys whenever." Cheshire turned and walked out of the circle of mushrooms, tail flicking. I caught Absolem watching her walk away. His eyes flicked side to side with her tail. When I knew she'd be out of earshot, I looked at him. He was still staring at where she'd vanished within the smoke. Finally, he noticed my look. "What?" he asked, startled. "Were you just checking her out?" "What? No!" He looked away, his cheeks turning pink. I laughed, and he turned more red. "You really were, weren't you?" "No...it's just...that ass though." I raised an eyebrow at him. "What?" he asked, exasperated. I laughed, shook my head, and walked back to where I'd left the other nutcases. Austin was peering into the smoke, trying to see what we were doing. When I came out, he blinked, focusing his attention on me. "Come with me if you want to meet someone who saved our world once." "Why are we going to them?" "Because I have to learn to fight," I said, a hint of a dark undertone giving my words a sense of foreboding. Austin followed along, taking in more of Wonderland. The nutcases had ran back to tea.
