Hello! Quick intro! I'm back after vanishing for a while... And I'm back with a fic based off of my favorite book/books. Hope you guys will leave a review for me! I have
about three of the next chapters done so, just ask if you guys want the next chapter! Enjoy!
…I had forgotten how long it had been since my last visit to that place…So much had changed…Things seemed darker somehow…And nothing looked the same…The pathway through the rabbit hole didn't look like a rabbit hole should. It wasn't covered in dirt and leaves, but in hard, cold, stone.
I kept trying to remember what it looked like before I left there so many years ago…It's all a blur now…All I really remember was a song… Something about laughter I think….Not exactly a cheerful song…but…maybe hopeful…Yes, that's what it was, though I can hardly remember the lyrics now…
I'd grown up quite a bit after I'd left. It'd been nine years, ten years to the day tomorrow…Exactly ten years since the Red and White Queen threw me a party.
Ten years since the White Knight saved me from being captured by the Red Knight…
Ten years since I'd met the Mock Turtle, The Griffin, Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee, The
Lion and the Unicorn, the Cheshire Cat, the Queen of Hearts, the White Rabbit, and the March Hare, the Door Mouse…
Ten years since I'd met…the Mad Hatter.
It's been ten years since I'd gone into the Looking Glass World, and into Wonderland…So much has changed…I can feel it…
What's happened here? I thought to myself. I don't remember much about this place, but I do remember it being much, much brighter. I remembered walking down a familiar path to the house of the Duchess and her pepper crazed cook and I found myself standing in the hall of doors. My first thought was to check to see what doors are unlocked. I walked to each of the doors, and all of them…every single one was…
"Unlocked. Broken into…All of them are." I turned quickly to find the White Rabbit sitting on his haunches looking sadly at the door. "Why did you come back?"
"Well I…" Seeing the Rabbit so suddenly, . "I'm not entirely sure."
"You must go back Alice…It isn't the same here as it used to be." His ears drooped, falling to the sides of his head. Feeling a sense of sadness fall over the poor animal, I fell to my knees in front of him and lifted his head to face me.
"Rabbit, what has happened here?" He stared back sadly at me. "Won't you please tell me Rabbit? What has happened to my Wonderland?"
"Oh, Alice, my dear girl. We are in desperate need of your help." He covered his eyes with his paws as tears began to fall down his furred cheeks. "Everything has turned upside-down in Wonderland, Alice. No one is acting like themselves anymore. And everything is dying. The Red and White queen have begun a war. The Queen of hearts has fallen ill, so no trials have come about, and things are going missing all over the kingdom. Even the Cheshire Cat has stopped smiling!"
"What of the Mad Hatter? And the March Hare, and the Door Mouse?"
"The Hatter, he's a hatter no more! He's been captured by the Red Queen and is being forced to act as a personal guard!" He suddenly stopped in the middle of his lament and hopped to the nearest door. "Alice quickly follow me!" He rushed through the door, leaving me almost no time to gather myself off the floor and follow him. We were traveling through another rabbit hole and this one too was covered in stone. He led me to an opening in a small grove. It seemed vaguely familiar, except all the trees were bare, and the bark had begun to rot off the trunks.
"Quickly! We need to be quick Alice! There's about to be another battle! You need to stop it!"
"What?! How can I stop it?!" I said nearly panting as we continued to run.
"No time! No time! We'll be late!" The child in me wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the statement. It had been almost ten years ago since I'd heard those words. And had I not seen what was to be seen where we arrived at our destination, I might have.
"Get up! The Red Queen won't like it if you lose!"
"Get up! Good Gooseberries man! What are you doing?!" I pushed my way to the front of the crowd to see two soldiers fighting in the circle, each with a sword. The one wearing white was wearing a large insignia on the back his armor, in the shape of a Unicorn, the other was wearing a heavy leather jacket with a red lion on the back. The red solider was currently on one knee, hunched over with a hand clasped to his side.
"If he's smart, then he won't try to get up." The white solider sneered as he brought the shield across the head of the other man, knocking him to the ground, and sending his helmet flying into the crowd. "What say you, Red Hat?"
"I say nothing at all." My eyes fell onto the face of the man who lie on the ground with a sword at his throat.
"Good. Then I say this! DOWN WITH THE RED QUEEN!" He brought the sword above his head and I could help myself from shouting-
"STOP!" I'm sure my command must have at least startled him, for he dropped the sword behind him and dropped his shield on his foot.
"Who are you?!" He said accusingly as he hopped on his good foot in attempt to spare his bad foot the pain.
"She's Alice." Said the White Rabbit loudly.
"Alice?"
"The Alice?"
"Alice is back?"
"A-Alice?" Dark blue eyes met my light blue ones and instantly I remembered who he was…I could never forget those eyes so full of mischief. I couldn't recognize it then, but that's all it was. Or that's what they used to be. The eyes I looked into at this moment weren't bright and full of magic, but blurred almost faded and full of pain "Is…I-is it you?" I moved from my place in the crowd to kneel by the Hatter, who was bleeding weakly from his side.
"Yes, Hatter…It's me. It's Alice." My heart wrenched at the sight of the man fallen in battle. I stood up from his side and stood with a stern face and stiff back to face the crowd. "I order this battle to be over! Go back to your usual routines and leave here at once!"
"Oh yeah?" The white knight grabbed onto my arm and turned me to face him. "And who are you to order the battle over?"
"She…is…who s-she says…she…is." Hatter began to push himself off of the ground, leaning on his unused sword. "She…is…A-Alice…" I could hear gasps among the crowd. "Queen of the Fourth Square."
"Queen Alice, of the Fourth Square. You were rumored to be dead, killed by the Jabberwocky." A man stepped out from the crowd. "Have…h-have you come back to stop the war?"
"I…" I could feel the eyes of the crowd on me expecting an answer.
"It doesn't matter why she's here." The white knight squeezed my arm tighter and pulled my face towards his. "It only matters that she stays out of the White Queen's way. Or risk her-" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of metal.
"Finish that sentence. Please…" Within the few moments the White Knight took close hold on me, Hatter regained his lost strength and moved quickly to bring his sword to the White Knight's throat. "Finish the sentence or release Alice. But choose now and choose quickly."
"Fine." Said the knight with a loud sigh through his nose. "You best mind yourself Hatter, next time I won't be so merciful." He released me roughly, turned on his heel, and left on his horse. "Believe what I say Hatter!" He shouted as he rode away.
"Hmmph…" The Hatter sheathed his sword as he turned to me. He nodded towards the crowd. "They want an answer my dear."
An answer…an answer to a question I hardly know myself…Why am I here? I wish someone would tell me…
"Here is my answer...For all of you. Leave here now and return to your homes. So long as I am here…"I hope I don't regret this… "As long as I am in Wonderland…I…will do my best…To help all of you the best I can. Now please…return to your homes."
Slowly, the crowd began to dissipate…leaving only myself and the Hatter.
"Well, that's the end of that I suppose." I heard his tired voice say. "I…I suppose I'll be…" He took a step forward and his leg began to wobble under his weight. I moved to help him, but he put a hand up in attempt to stay me. "No…I'm fine. You, you need to find your way back to where ever it is you came from. It's not safe here…Not for you, not for me…not for…any…one…" He fell to his knees.
"Well, even if I wanted to at this very second," Which I do. "I wouldn't know how to. It's funny actually. The second time I've managed to fall into Wonderland, and I still don't know how I got home the first time." As I tried to put an arm around his shoulders, he shrugged me off.
"What are you talking about?" He looked at me tiredly again. "What do you mean the 'second time'?" He managed to get himself standing on both legs, but only managed to get a couple steps until he ended leaning on me almost completely.
"Why, don't you remember Hatter?" We walked a few steps to the nearest tree so that he could lean on it. "I invited myself to your…tea party." Suddenly my memories started flooding back. All of them perfectly clear as if it had only been yesterday that I first fell into Wonderland.
"I don't remember you." He pointedly as he pushed off of the tree and started a slow walk back to what I assumed was his home.
"You don't…?" My heart fell. Maybe too much had changed in wonderland…Maybe the memories had changed too.
"No." His voice surprised me, he sounded choked up. "Just leave, whoever you are. Alice died years ago at the claws of the Jabberwocky. We haven't heard from her since. Just leave…"
"But-"
"Please…please just…leave." A sob ended the request and he collapsed at the bottom of a tree. "P-please, it isn't safe here. If you stay, you-you'll end up like us." I could feel my heart breaking at the sound of his tears. It wasn't right for him to be crying like this. Mad men shouldn't cry. They should…they should…
"Laugh, at every single thing we do.
Just laugh, and we shall all perform for you.
Just smile, and tensions will unwind.
And you'll find, that your mind takes a kind of view…"
"How…? How do you…?" He slowly turned towards me. There were still tears running down his face.
"Though there are times when crying seems the thing to do,
Keep on trying till your dreams come true.
Your heart, I'm sure, knows what is best for you.
So laugh…little girl…just laugh…"
"Alice? Little Alice?" He leaned heavily on the tree and shuffled his way to me. "It's you…it's really you." He sniffed and chuckled. "You've grown up quite a bit haven't you?" He started to wobble on his feet, and this time when I put my arm around his shoulders, he didn't shrug it off.
"I suppose I have. What direction are we going?" I was happy that the man had stopped crying, but I was less than pleased with the fact that throughout this entire ordeal, he had still been bleeding out of his wound, albeit slowly, he was losing far too much blood.
"Down the trail, to your left there." He pointed in the direction of the trail. "It isn't hard to find."
"Is there a hospital down that way?" I said, as we slowly padded through the forest.
"It's...itsa hospital of sorts. S'enough for what we'need." His words began to slur together. "C'n we stop a moment? M'gettin' a bit tired."
"No, I'm afraid not. If we do, you might decide that you'd like to get some rest, and if you do that, I'm not too sure if I'd be able to carry you the rest of the way there." As we got closer to the edge of the trees, a house could be seen in the distance. "Is that it Hatter?"
"Hmmm…yes'at s'it." I could feel him starting to fall asleep whilst leaning on my shoulders.
"Hold on Hatter, we're almost there." As we got closer and closer, I could feel his body getting heaver and heaver. "Your house Hatter? This is the hospital?" We made it a few steps away from the gate before he collapsed. "Hatter? Hatter!"
Bye now!
