Okay...so, I lied _ I don't think this one is shorter at all, and I apologize for that! I just couldn't help myself...I deleted the part about Scarab getting to the Casino and Agent White bringing the Red King the ring..so I guess it made it a little shorter?...I don't know, but review please :3
I jumped in front of Hatter and Alice and was the first one down the ladder. I turned around to see Hatter jump the last few rungs behind me, and I walked forward a couple steps to give him and Alice
room. When I glanced back, I saw Hatter reach up to hold Alice's waist and help her jump down. Once she was down, she looked up at him.
"Thank you." He didn't reply, only readjusted his jacket. He turned around and that's when Alice decided to look down. Fear filled her eyes where suspicion and curiosity used to be; she clung to the
ladder for dear life. I looked over the edge. Sure, it was a long drop, but if you live here long enough, you tend to watch where you're going.
"Would you go help her?" I said to Hatter, pointing to Alice, he turned to look at her and walked back over.
"What's the matter?"
"I got a thing about heights." She said. Figures. "Why couldn't you guys build the city on the ground?" It wasn't really a question, but I still fought the urge to give some sarcastic answer.
"Look at me." Hatter said to her, an almost scary intense look in his eye. She closed her eyes, her hand turning white against the black of the ladder. "Alice." Once he said her name, he held his hand
out to her, and her eyes opened. She slowly released the ladder and put her hand in his. This is taking forever... I knew this intense look he was giving her. He had given it to me many times before in
order to get me to do something. Then again, he would only have to look at me when he asked for me to immediately say yes. That was a habit I was ashamed of having. Once I fell for someone, I did
not try and climb back up. Something sparked in me when I saw Hatter lead Alice toward me. Something I thought for sure was jealousy. Had Hatter slipped it into a drink of mine? I had never felt this
before; there had been no one in Wonderland to challenge me. I thought that maybe Hatter would possibly fall for me...but then she showed up. I felt my eyes narrow, and I glared at her. I sighed and
relaxed my face. There may be nothing I could do, but then again, there was no one here to tell me not to try; and try I would.
Hatter made me knock. Why...perhaps he was lazy. Or Alice was still freaking out about the height. A small part in the door slid open.
"How doth the little crocodile improve his shining tail." Shit. I had forgotten the response to this. Hatter had usually done it, and I never paid attention to him when he did. I turned to look at him; he
was trying to calm Alice down. I rolled my eyes, kicked a rock into my hand from the ground, and threw it at his head. It bounced off his hat and he whirled around to glare at me. I shrugged and jabbed
my thumb at the door.
"Crocodile, Anastasia. Crocodile."
"Oh!" I totally knew that. "And pours water of the Nile on every golden scale." The little window cover of the door slid closed and I smiled triumphantly to myself. The door opened to reveal a bus, but
one that didn't go forward. I hopped in and greeted the old man who ran the bus. For the life of me, I could not remember his name. Hatter hopped on the train behind me, Alice hesitated.
"Hello, Duck." Yeah, that's his name. I looked behind Hatter at Alice, a smug look on my face. I maneuvered around him and pulled her onto the bus.
"Welcome to Wonderland, love." I sat down on one of the seats, Alice standing behind me. Hatter stood in between two poles, one hand on each, bracing himself. He neglected to warn Alice about the
shakiness of the bus, so when it begun to move she fell onto the seat across from me.
"Sorry." Hatter said. Alice looked at him and I looked up in time to see the Great Library come into view behind her head. The bus stopped and Alice made to stand up.
"Wait." I said, holding my hand for her to stop moving. She did, and the bus dropped a little. "Okay, it's good." I stood up and twirled past Hatter to the door. I was in an odd, cheery mood. I wasn't
sure where it had come from, but it was gone once I actually looked out the door and came face to face with a shotgun aimed at my nose. Hatter and Alice had frozen behind me.
"Really!?" I hated having guns pointed at me. I crossed my arms across my chest and walked off the bus, followed by Alice and Hatter, both with their hands up. I looked at Hatter with a why-the-
hell-are-your-hands-up look on my face and he rolled his eyes at me.
"Why don't we just put these things away? C'mon, you know Anya and me well enough." Hatter said, looking straight at Duck.
"We have our orders." They lead the three of us to the small balcony just beyond the bus.
"But keep that right hand where we can see it." Hatter turned, flexing the muscles in his right hand. I looked at the fragile woman holding the shotgun. I had forgotten her name as well. Hatter's eyes
were slightly wide, and showed he was annoyed.
"It's just flesh and blood."
"Right." Said the woman. "We've all seen what you can do with that sledgehammer." She pointed with the gun at his hand. I started laughing, and had to cover my mouth with my hand in attempt to
control myself. Hatter kicked me in the shin, which only caused me to laugh harder. Alice gave us both a confused look. I smiled at her.
"Did you like the box of confect I brought you guys last week?" The two looked confused. "The cured meats and the cheese." They hesitated, like they didn't know what he was talking about. I knew.
Hatter had made me carry the bloody box all the way here.
"Well...they're all gone..." Hatter smiled smugly.
"Well, if you don't treat me with a little respect, you won't get another crumb."
"Okay. Sorry to interrupt, but this is getting annoying. We're just here to see Dodo." I grabbed the shotgun and leaned it upwards on my shoulder. I nudged my head for Hatter and Alice to follow me.
"Sorry, Hatter...everyone's a little jumpy..."
"Everyone's always a little jumpy." With his hand on her back, Hatter led Alice behind me, her hands still up slightly.
"Where are we?" Alice asked.
"The Great Library. There's 5000 years of history hidden here. Art, literature, lore; rescued when the Queen of Hearts seized power."
"She'd like nothing more than to see this place burnt to nothing." I added, my hand tightening on the gun. Alice stopped and stared down at the refugees who lay among the books. Hatter walked up
beside her and leaned on the railing, his fingers intertwining.
"Refugees." He said. "Those who don't want to be a part of the Queen's instant world of gratification. We give them shelter and try to feed them the best we can, but..." He paused. "It is dangerous. If
the Queen found out they wouldn't stand a chance." I looked down at the refugees as well, and my heart twisted. Alone, I couldn't do anything to help them; and it was in my nature to help anyone
and everyone I could. That's one reason why I stayed with Hatter, to help these people.
"Why would she want to destroy all of this?" Alice asked, her face sad and scared for the people she saw below her.
"Wisdom is the biggest threat. She controls people with a quick fix." Hatter's voice had changed. It was calmer, and worried than usual. I sighed. We had to get moving, it wouldn't be long before the
Queen found out about Alice being here. I walked over to them.
"C'mon you guys! You're gunna make me depressed!" I twirled in a circle, hooking Alice's arm with mine, and walked her towards the room where Dodo was.
* * * * * * *
It never ceased to amaze me how positive Anya could be, even in the worst of times. I'm sure she knew that her constant smile would always begin to annoy me, but somehow...it seemed to make me feel better. Even if I had a shred of doubt in my mind about something, like whether to put this type of tea on the market, I could just look at Anastasia and then know whatever I did, it would be fine. I wanted to stop playing both sides of the court, for her sake and mine. If she was going to stay with me after this was over, I wanted to stop this constant demand from both ends. I couldn't imagine how hard this was for her, also playing both sides. I don't know why I cared about her so much, but I did. You could say she was my one true friend in this crazy place. Now, as I watched her walk towards Dodo's office, arm in arm with Alice, a weird thought crossed my mind. "Come on Hatter! You're slacking!" She waved at me from the end of the hall, smiling. I nodded to her, a small smile playing across my lips. what I had just thought and it surprised me so much that I had to reach up and grab my hat. Which I usually did when I was shocked and wanted to know it was still there. I had never thought of Anya in that way. She'd just been a friend. Someone to talk to and laugh with. It never crossed my mind that she might be more than that to me. No, I couldn't think of her like that. If this whole plan of mine was to work, I couldn't be worried about what Anya was feeling. I closed my eyes to think for a minute. Anya had to change...she had to be something other than my friend. It was then I decided she would become a pawn in this game of mine. I would use her for whatever I needed. Maybe she could infiltrate the Hearts' Casino and pretend to work for the Queen? That would be interesting...to have a person on the inside. I swiped off my hat, and smoothed my hair down. I began to walk slowly towards the door to Dodo's office, putting the hat back on my head as I went. I opened the door to see Anya sitting cross-legged on Dodo's desk, chatting away with him about the goings-on of things above the Great Library. Alice was stationed next to her, unmoving, a funny look upon her face. Anya glanced over at me, smiling, and continued chatting with Dodo until he stopped her. With a small pout and a laugh, she hopped off the table and walked over to me, patting the hat down on my head. I glared at her and readjusted it. Alice came to stand beside us and I glanced at her. She still looked scared and curious like she always did, but her eyes showed that she knew something much more than she was letting on. What had she and Anya been whispering about as they walked? I tried to think of something else and ended up watching Anya mess with her nails. Dodo took forever to get ready to speak. I continued watching Anya with little interest in her nails. I was mostly watching the expressions on her face. Concentration, anger, and then triumph. She was funny, this little human-wonderlander. Her eyes showed every emotion that went through her. I finally noticed her eyes were green. A gorgeous green... Parts of her hair fell down into her face, causing her lip to jut forward in a pout. She flung them back up and began messing with the nails on her other hand. she is really quite appealin go smoothly, I couldn't help but to smile back.