I let the winding stairs take me down to the floors beneath the open area of the Tower. I reached the bottom, only to be stopped by the door. I held my ear to it, straining to hear anything from the room through it. Little tinks and tocks could be heard, along with someone sighing. I slowly opened the door.
"Hmm", the person looked up. It was once again a guy, only his aura was a deep, dark indigo, and overall depressing. He was sitting at a table with bookshelves around it, working on something in his hand and by the shape of it, it looked like a watch.
"Who are you?", he questioned me standing up. I back up a bit, that kiss from the rabbit was making me edgy around this guy.
"I think I should be asking you that question, but I suppose since you asked first it's only polite to answer. My name's Kiki Rodolph, what's yours", my voice went over him and I got a clear look at him. He was wearing a long coat, another clock as a tie, and he was tall. He had long, swishing, hair that was tied back by a few strands, with glasses and a ticking clock earring.
"Julius Monrey", he answered, "And why are you here?", he continued stepping closer to me until he was a few feet from me, and by the way his head was turning up and down slightly, he was looking me over.
"Do you mind?", I crossed my arms, he stopped and stood still, "I have no clue how I got here, I fell down a hole with that White-guy". He suddenly stiffened with his back straight. Then he groaned.
"Not again! Alice, come down here please!", he walked back to his table. I cocked my head, Alice? This really was just like the book!
I was suddenly aware of all the ticks around me, and I realized that this Julius in front of me was Time. I started giggling.
He looked up, "And what is so funny? Apparently you just got kidnapped by a childish rabbit, and brought to a strange world", he ended gravely. I shook my head, and squashed my laughter.
"Did you ever get into a fight with the Hatter at the Queen's March Concert?", I recited, remembering the part from the book. He opened his mouth, just as someone came down the stairs.
"Do you need something Julius?", her voice resonated around us in a golden yellow aura. The person was a girl around my age, with flowing hair, wearing a Lolita dress that looked that it was made from decades before.
"Yes, this girl is another outsider that Peter has lured her, could you explain things to her?", Julius requested with a weary voice.
"Hey! Technically he brought me here, I didn't go willingly", I corrected. Julius gave me a look.
"Did you drink anything he gave you?", Alice questioned me. I blushed at the memory.
"More like he forced me to", I admitted. Alice's shoulders sagged and Julius sighed again.
"Damn, looks like your stuck here like me", she said. I looked at her sharply.
"What do you mean stuck here? I'm going home as soon as someone tells me how", I told them in a loud voice. They cringed.
"No", Alice said softly, "You can't because that liquid makes you stay here and play the game". I was once again dumbfounded and stood rooted there as the information seeped into my brain.
"But what am I going to do at home, I mean my mother's going to go crazy, I need me med-", I cut off, not wanting to give too much information. I've had enough experience to know not to outright tell someone you're blind, just let them figure it out themselves.
Julius said in a monotone voice, "Alice will you please start telling her what's going on before she drives herself mad". He seemed annoyed at our presence. She nodded and pulled me to a door, leading out to a small lawn with a bench.
Sitting down, she took a deep breath and began explaining the details of where I was. Wonderland was a different world made-up of three territories, Heart Castle, Hatter Mansion, and the Amusement Park. All three were in a war and hated each other deeply. We were at Clover Tower, which was neutral territory.
"There are two other people here, but I suppose you'll meet them later, for now I think you've got all that you need to know", she ended my mental tour of Wonderland, "You'll learn whatever else you need to know by just spending time here".
"Is everyone here from Alice in Wonderland?", I asked, already knowing she probably had no clue. She cocked her head which confirmed my thought.
"What's that?", she asked. I shrugged, might as well tell her.
"There's a book back in my world, it's called Alice in Wonderland", I proceded to tell her about it, and it delighted her.
"I can't believe I had a book written about me", she smiled. Then she looked up.
"I guess it's about time for us to go inside", she brought me in.
"Julius, do you mind if Kiki stays with us?", she requested sweetly. His mouth twitched in a sudden smile.
"Where else can she stay at this time of night?", he asked her smartly. That was a yes, and Alice brought me up to a floor and led me into a room.
"This is your room, mine is just down the hall if you need me", I took a look around and found that there were several old style dresses, along with a queen-sized bed, with fluffy pillows. I was in heaven.
The night ended with us having dinner, with Alice explaining different people in the other territories, which led her to look at Julius.
"Where's Nightmare and Gray?", he shrugged.
"They said that they were getting papers from Heart Castle, they're probably staying the night there", she pouted.
"Ooh, I wanted to introduce you to them", she groaned to me.
"It's alright, there's always tomorrow", I had a big day tomorrow, we were going to the Amusement Park, and now I was meeting two other people.
We got done and headed up to bed, I jumped underneath the covers and curled into a ball, shutting the noises of the world out completely, leaving me blind and in my own world. I slowly fell asleep.
I felt myself wake up with ground underneath me, I held a handful of dirt in my hand. There was no noises, not even a creaking, just quiet.
"So you're blind?", a voice asked from above. It was a male's, he sounded young, and it had a gray aura that swirled around the land I was on. It was an island and the guy was floating at a height, which he promptly fell from.
"How can you see like that?", I got a good look at him. He was wearing a weird suit that had two pieces of fabric attaching to the arms and legs of it, with somewhat sort hair and a thing across his left eye.
"It's called an eye-patch, and you didn't answer my question", he said, pulling me from my inspection of him. Can he read my mind?
"Yes", he answered, "My question?", I growled, he was being annoying with that question.
"Yes, I am blind, I just see sound vibrations bounce off objects, just like a bat", I told him, in an offended voice.
"I'm sorry if I was offending you , but seeing how you see at first was mind-boggling", he explained. I sighed, deciding that he was okay, not like that White rabbit. Which lead me to wonder who he was?
"Interesting that you know our role-holder names", the grayman commented, "And mine would be the Caterpillar, though I prefer the name Nightmare since I am a dream demon, not a bug". Oh, that smoking caterpillar that gives advice to Alice.
"You know, Alice wanted me to meet you and Gray, whoever he may be", I told him. He nodded.
"Yes, but unfortunately we were talking things over with Heart Castle and it turned to night before we could start returning", Nightmare said.
"But enough of that, I suppose I should ask you if you have any questions about your situation", his head stopped moving, giving me the feeling he was looking straight at me.
"Yes, why am I here, besides the fact that Peter took me here, why me of all people?", I asked, feeling resentment toward the white haired man.
"Because I let him bring you, I am the connection between your world and this one, Peter simply asked me if he could go and get you", Nightmare said carelessly. I felt my anger blossom.
"And why did you let him do so?", I grumbled.
"Because Alice didn't love him back, and he was feeling lonely, so I let him pick out another girl", the demon droned on, almost like he was bored. Meanwhile my hands were curling into fists. I jumped up and marched over to where he was floating.
I grabbed his coat and pulled him down sharply so I could talk to him eye-level.
"You listen here, I'm not staying here under any circumstances, if you want another girl for that perverted rabbit, pick-", I was cut off when Nightmare started coughing, which ended with him spewing something all over us. I stood there motionless which he kneeled on the ground.
"What the hell was that about?", I growled, he was still hacking up a lung. I smelled blood around me, I brought up one of my drenched hands, only to find that it was actually blood that Nightmare and coughed up. I sighed and kneeled down next to him, putting a hand on his back as he finished his coughing fit.
"You know, if you're coughing up blood, that's usually a sigh that you need to go to the doctor", I said slowly, my rage at him diminishing. His head came up at the word doctor.
"No way, I hate doctors, I won't go, you can't make me", he said, his voice sounding childish, I almost chuckled.
"Fine by me, though I hope I'm not the one to find you dead in your bed", I said morbidly. He finally sat up and turned to me, looking me over and pulling out a handkerchief. He started wiping away the blood on my cheek, I let him, though still loathing that he was the one who let that perv bring me here.
"I'm sorry about you're clothes, but I'm a sickly incubus, that sudden jerk was a little too hard for me", he muttered softly. I shrugged.
"It's alright, it's not like this was a special outfit or anything", I said, wondering about what I should do since I couldn't go home.
"Easy, stay here and be happy", Nightmare said cheerfully, I bet if I could make out his face he would have been smiling. He finished wiping my face free of blood and started to put the hanker-chief away when I pulled it out of his hands. Even if the smell of blood was covering me, there was a surprising amount of the scent around Nightmare's face, it was making me uneasy.
I grinned as I thought of the poem Alice recited in the book, and while slowly dabbing at Nightmare's face I began reciting it myself.
"How doth the little crocodile
improve his shining tail,
And pours the water of the Nile
on every golden scale!
How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly he spreads his claws,
And welcome's little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws"
"Lovely poem, a little sadistic though", Nightmare smirked, I could feel his mouth curl up underneath the cloth. I finished and handed it back to him.
"Thankyou, and I'm sorry that you're here, but I know that as time goes on, you'll learn to love this place", Nightmare said sadly. I forgave him, I'm a sucker when it comes to making people sad, it kills me for someone to have a frown on.
He smiled once again at my thought and pulled me into a hug. I pulled away. Then the island started shaking.
"Looks like it's time for you to wake up, I have one more thing to tell you before you start visiting the other inhabitants of Wonderland", I stood up and looked at him, ready for his announcement.
"Everyone here will fall in love with you, as they have with Alice", he said softly, with a calmness radiating off of him. I stared at his form, my jaw open and by the feeling my eyes wide.
"Why would anyone want to fall in love with me? I'm plain, the only thing different is that I'm blind!", I asked, a little skeptical at even the thought of someone loving me here. Well besides Peter, but that love was a little scary and a turn-off. He laughed.
"You know, you have a delightful mind to read, very entertaining", he complimented me, "And yes I am speaking the truth, that's why I brought you here, so you can play the game. Everyone will love you, and by the way Alice acted, you'll love them too", he floated so that he was in front of me, his face inches away from mine.
"That includes me too Kiki, I love you as well", he whispered, a knowing tone to his voice. Then I fell as the island fell apart, leaving Nightmare still floating above me as I fell.
I'm going to be making some references to the book, so I encourage all who are going to read this to read the actual book, "Alice in Wonderland", or at least read the poems. Enjoy!
p.s. the lover in this story is going to be unknown for a while.