Laying in an abyss of black emptiness, Katie slowly started to feel her limbs again. It felt like she just fell from the sky and landed right on top of someone, saving her from her bones shattering.

Ugh...I feel awful...

Though it was curious why she did. Going back through her memories, Katie recalled she was at Liz's New Year's Party. They were having fun...enjoying each others' company after being at three separate colleges and not spending as much time together. It was almost midnight, when suddenly there was a strange sound outside Liz's bedroom. After that it all became a big blur, where the sharp pain in her head only increased the more she thought of it.

As she slowly woke up, Katie began to hear the echoes of a bunch of ticking clocks, the ticking really distracting her from her sleep. She could feel a light weight blanket on top of her, but from the way she was positioned, she sensed that she was lying on a couch.

...Wait, when did I get to a couch? Moreover, when and why did I pass out?!

She then forced herself to open her blue eyes, blinking a couple of times as she stared at the fuzzy cream ceiling. Groaning, she sat up, turning around to see that her glasses were set on the arm rest. She put them on, looking around to see the walls were covered with a bunch of clocks.

"...You're awake I see."

Katie's eyes widened to the deep voice that spoke to her, her heart stopping for a second. W-what?! That didn't sound like anyone from Liz's family! Slowly turning her head, she came face to face with a man with long blue hair and reading glasses, sitting behind a desk with a screwdriver in his hand. Fixing a clock.

"You've been out for several time periods now," Clockmaker Julius Monrey said, almost nonchalant. "You are not hurt, are you?"

It took a moment for Katie to reply, her eyes wide with shock.

...What...what?!

"...I'm fine," she finally said, her voice shaky. "Are you...?"

She could hardly speak, her tongue tied in a large knot.

"I'm glad to hear," the man replied. "I dared not check for wounds while you were unconscious, so I am relieved to hear otherwise."

Setting down the screwdriver, (the maybe) Julius from Alice in the Country of Hearts got up from his desk and approached Katie. He took off his glasses, his cold gaze studying her carefully.

"Do you remember what happened? Were you kidnapped or brought here by accident?"

It took a moment for her to reply, unable to keep herself from staring at him.

"Uh...I think both."

She moved her legs from underneath the blanket to sit up straight, staring at her bare feet.

"Is there a particular reason why you don't have any shoes on?" Julius suddenly questioned, his eyebrow raised. "When you first fell on top of me, I thought they might have slipped off during your fall, but I couldn't find any."

"Wait...I fell on you?!"

Katie's eyes widened, swiftly turning her head to face Julius again. He nodded.

"Yes. I was walking home from some errands when suddenly I heard screaming. I looked up, and saw you falling from a high speed. Alarmed, I tried to catch you...only to miss completely and have you land on my back..."

He groaned softly, as if the memory of the incident caused him great pain.

"You fell unconscious when you landed and I carried you back to my tower hoping that you would wake up."

"...Which I did."

Katie stood up, feeling a shiver of pain go through her arms and legs as she moved. However, she did not seem to care about her physical state. She firmly kept her eyes on Julius's gaze.

"You are telling me that I fell from the sky. Fell from the sky like Alice did?"

Julius's blue eyes glowed with surprise.

"...You know Alice?"

"Of course I know about Alice Liddell. She is the protagonist in Alice in the County of Hearts."

"...The what?"

A mixture of shock and confusion spread across the clockmaker's face. A million thoughts went through Katie's mind as she analyzed the situation.

No way... It is impossible! This...this has to be a dream!

"...And you are Julius Monrey," she continued, subconsciously pacing while she talked, limping as she did. "The clockmaker and mortician of Wonderland."

Julius's face paled dramatically.

"J-just how do you know all that?!" he demanded with a stutter. "Y-you're just an outsider who just now fell from the sky!"

Katie stopped in her movements.

"...I know all this because you're a manga character. Technically video game character, but I'm more familiar with the manga than the original game. And this whole 'country' is nothing more than the setting of a fantasized 'love' story."

She took a few steps towards Julius, feeling the pain come up as she moved her body.

"I am still doubting if all of this is real and I will need some kind of proof to confirm it being real or me gone completely mad. So..."

She took a minute to study the clockmaker for a moment, using logic and scientific reasoning to keep calm while her heart pounded with anxiety.

"...If you don't mind, could you please take one of your wrenches and change it into a gun? Or change my clothes to fit this warmer weather, some kind of magic. That alone can prove to me that you are Julius or not. So...?"

It was extremely awkward for her to request such of thing, and she hated the intense stare he was giving her. Julius glared at her for a long moment, his gaze changing from shock and fear to great suspicion and even a bit of curiosity.

Hesitantly, he reached inside his large Victorian-like styled overcoat and took out a dark metal wrench. His grip tightened on it, where it then morphed into an old fashioned pistol, opening the ammunition and took out all the bullets. Katie's eyes grew wide, feeling the blood drain from her face as Julius walked over to her and brought the wrench-turned-gun to her. Slowly, she took the pistol, feeling the weight of and just staring at it with a million thoughts going through her mind.

T-this... It's real. The warm weather, the mysterious unknown room and man, the wrench now a pistol...

"...You have a lot of explaining to do." Julius finally said, his stare cold and voice emotionless. "You're not an ordinary outsider, are you?"

"...Nope."

Katie looked up at Julius, the Julius, and instantly regretting looking into his eyes. Her pale face became slightly flushed, handing him the pistol while avoiding eye contact.

"...And my friends are the same way, wherever they are."

"...There's more of you?"

Katie nodded.

"Indeed. Though I have no idea where they are. Liz was carried off by..." She paused for a second. "...Peter White, while Katrina tackled him to get to her. They fell down a hole...and I followed them. Without shoes. In like thirty to twenty degree winter weather with frost on the ground..."

The memory of the bottom of her feet becoming numb from the sidewalk and wet grass made them ache.

Julius raised an eyebrow. "You charged after someone who kidnapped one of your friends barefooted? In winter?"

"...You know, it may have been a pretty stupid idea. Didn't think I would be out that long."

She let out a heavy sigh, finding the courage to look at him in the eye once more.

"I...am sorry about...falling on you and all. Um...thanks for letting me stay here and all. I appreciate it."

Julius crossed his arms, his hard expression softening. There was a short silence before he let out a heavy sigh.

"...Whatever. It's a night period and I am too tired to care. The fact that now not only we have one outsider but three more of them is tiring enough."

A small laugh escaped from Katie, feeling slightly amused at Julius's 'Why Must My Life Be So Complicated?' face.

"With that said, and no doubt you are still exhausted and in pain, I'll let you stay in my tower," the clockmaker continued. "I would give an introduction at this point, but you seem to...already know who I am."

Katie gave a sheepish smile, opening her mouth to reply. But before she could say her name, she stopped herself.

Like with any other introduction, she would have said her name was 'Katie,' the name she had gone by for so long. However, a part of her didn't want Julius to call her that. She was in a brand new world, one without anyone to judge her or know her. So why not start out fresh by calling herself...

"...My name is Katharine," she finally said with a shy smile. "Nice to meet you."