Chapter 3

Ten minutes after Aster Sage exited, I was escorted by a couple of the flower girls out the door. I was trying to tell them that I wanted to get my dress back from the dressing room I was in earlier, but the girls didn't seem to actually pay attention to my words. I assumed they were jealous.

I strolled along the path for a while, but my walk came to a stop when I spotted that snooty guy from earlier. "Absolem!" I called, reaching my hand out to pull his shoulder.

As if he sensed my hand coming, without turning around, he slapped it away. "Ana," he stated, facing my direction now. At least he was polite enough to look at me when I'm talking to him. Then again, I didn't really like it- his expression was as if I was a bother, that he was only tolerating my existence, and a hint of disgust.

I sighed and crossed my arms. Even though he was a jerk, he seemed intelligent. So, after a few moments of silence, I finally spoke up. "Do you know Shire?"

Absolem tapped his pipe against his khakis, and then raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Listen, Absolem. I fell down a mile-deep hole, got mixed signals from a cat-dude who won't tell me how the heck I can get out of here, walked in circles through some stupid forest, and got shoved into the dome by yours truly, and am currently hated by at least thirty women I barely know." Anger bubbled up inside. "I'm really not in the mood to play this WHO game!" I shrieked, stepping towards him. My finger wagged two inches in front of his face threateningly. "Now, I'm going to ask you this again. Do you know Shire, the brooding tall guy with a fluffy tail and adorable kitty ears?!"

The boy placed a hand on his hip, smoking in the pipe. After what seemed to be a long pause, he exhaled and then leaned towards me, a sneer on his face. "Why wouldn't I? He's hard to miss."

My eyes lit up as soon as he finished up his answer. "Excellent! So, did he ever tell you about a curse?" I bit my lower lip desperately as I waited for his answer. When Absolem nodded, I was encouraged to keep going. "Is it true?"

"Shire is a sneaky one," he said thoughtfully, his face softening by just the slightest amount. He let out a long, brutal sigh and flicked me in the forhead. "It is true."

"But you're so mean," I whined, rubbing my head. "How could you possibly be in love with me?"

Absolem chuckled, shaking his head slowly. "Just because I don't make it easy for you, doesn't mean I dislike you." He scoffed, beginning to walk away.

"Fine, then, I'm sure all your friends are just as rude." I rolled my eyes and decided to walk in the exact opposite direction of him- just to make a statement. Sure, I could have come up with a better retort than that, but I was too preoccupied with trying to storm off…

And having the last word.

As I ventured onward, I noticed a little wooden gate that had a mail box next to it. When I squinted at the green box, I tried to read the name- but the handwriting was too sloppy to be legible. I knew the first letter was an 'M' and the first letter of the second word was an 'H'. There was no use in knocking, so I strolled through the gate and closed it securely- to be polite. "Hello?" I called out, following the little dirt path that apparently separated into two more paths. The one on the left had a sign that said 'T', while the one on the right said 'G'. Weird. I took the T path and, soon enough, came across a huge, long table. It had all sorts of yummy desserts and beverages. Well, the only beverage that seemed to be available was tea. I brushed my hand along the set up and smiled, realizing how hungry I actually was. T for Table, I assumed. Since there was so much food out, I figured it wouldn't make much of a difference. So, I leaned over to the center of the table, which had a generous platter of cookies, and took a chocolate chip one.

Then, I heard footsteps coming from behind. I jumped and dropped the cookie on the plate, then took a good couple steps away from the table.

"Oh! You're here for tea, too?" a voice cooed. Before it waited for me to even respond, I felt two fingers jab me in the waist.

I squealed and stepped away, squirming around uncomfortably. "I'm so sorry! It's just that-"

"Don't apologize, pretty lady," the same voice said, coming closer.

I turned around and raised my eyebrows. It was a boy. He looked about sixteen, and he had a bit, cheesy grin on his face. He was kind of on the short side, about the same height as me, actually. His eyes were a pale black, and he wore a green hat on his head. It seemed a bit on the large side, but I didn't say anything. Overall, he was pretty adorable.

He turned a faint pink when he saw my face. "Wow!" he sighed, circling around me. "I was just checking out my garden, and when I come here for some tea, I get you instead!" he cheered with delight. "You must join me,"

Even though his voice was not demanding at all, I felt like I had no choice. The teen lead me to the end of the table and sat me down next to him, while he got the seat at the very end. He respectfully took off his hat, and then reached inside. I had a puzzled look on my face as he pulled out two tea cups from the hat.

As he tucked his dark green hat on the corner of his chair, he gazed at me with a lazy smile. "You like tea, right?" He gasped and shook his head, not waiting for me to answer. "What am I saying? Everyone loves tea!"

I nodded slowly as I watched him pour a surplus amount of tea into the little cup. Too much, actually, because the brown liquid was overflowing the cup. He whipped the small amount that fell onto the table with his sleeve, and then plopped three sugar cubes in each cup. "I don't know how much sugar you would like in your drink, but I prefer three cubes."

I remained quiet as he set the cups on their own individual saucer. The boy carefully pushed my tea set over to me, and then grinned down at it. After we both took a sip, I looked over at him and blushed just the slightest. "My name is Anastasia Liddell."

Unexpectedly, Tea Boy started cracking up and laughing like it was his last. Like I cracked the funniest joke in the world. Like I'm actually a funny person. Like my name was funny.

I frowned, annoyed. Maybe I was overthinking the situation, but he was starting to look like a jerk. "Hey! My name is not funny!"

He stopped laughing, letting a chuckle out. "I know, it's not! I'm not laughing cause it's funny!" he said, as if it were obvious, "I'm laughing cause I'm overjoyed!" He took a moment to catch his breath. "My name is Tarrant Hightopp. This is my Banquet Table, and opposite of here is my garden!"

I nodded, smiling at him. Honestly, I was just relieved he wasn't a jerk. "Good to know," I giggled, taking another sip of the tea. It was too sweet, but I had to deal with it.

Tarrant gulped the rest of his tea down in one gulp, then reached for my cup and filled it up again. "So, how is Wonderland? Do you like it?" he asked enthusiastically, taking a scone and biting it.

"Pardon me?" I asked politely, genuinely confused. "Wonderland? Is that an amusement park?"

I could tell Tarrant was trying to hold back laughter. "Wonderland is not an amusement park!" he replied, shaking his head violently. "It's the country we're in right now, Ana!"

"Oh, I see," I nodded. "It's lovely, it really is. Very interesting." I was actually telling the truth. "Met a lot of…unique people. And not just people, I met a talking cat guy too."

"The Cheshire Cat? Oh! He's a sneaky one!" Tarrant cooed, waving his fingers up and down. "Shire is definitely hard to befriend. He's everywhere and nowhere at the same time!"

"What do you mean?"

"He can become invisible in the blink of an eye, Ana! It's truly a sight to see." He said with a nod.

I heard a yawn coming from the gate. When I turned to see who was making that noise, Tarrant gasped and stood up.

"Demetrix!" Tarrant exclaimed as he strolled to the gate.

Demetrix, assuming that was this stranger's name, was about an inch shorter than Tarrant. Meaning he was an inch shorter than me. I wanted to laugh. The boy had smooth brown hair, a perfectly pointed yet small nose, and hazel eyes. He seemed as if he were tired, though, which concerned me. There was a bag under each eye, but it was barely visible. Overall, he was adorable, but sleepy looking.

"Demetrix, come join us," The Tarrant called, waving him over.

The brunette stifled a sigh and slowly made his way over to us. When he spotted me, his eyes widened just the slightest. "Oh, hello. I'm Demetrix." He said lazily, plopping on the seat across from me. He poured himself some tea, added two blocks of sugar, and stirred.

"Hi," I greeted, trying to decide whether I should wave or not. I decided not to. "I'm Anastasia Liddell,"

A small, lazy smile grew on the boy's face, and I couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. I had so many first impressions to go through. I took note of his front two teeth- they were a bit on the large side, but it looked cute on him. And, Wonderland seemed to have a lot of cute guys. He slowly sipped his tea. "It's chilly, Ana," he shuddered, rubbing his arms up and down.

Tarrant spoke up, "We were just talking about the Cheshire Cat, Demetrix!"

Demetrix shuddered again. "Oh, yes." He replied, stretching his arms behind his head. "The cat and I do not get along."

"Cat and mouse relationship, you see." Tarrant told me, poking my forehead.

I glanced over at the guy across from me. Demetrix seemed like a jumpy person. Someone honest… Yet, he was a bit cowardly. I still thought highly of him, nevertheless. "Why don't you two get along?"

"It's just the natural order of things!" Tarrant exclaimed as he put his hat back on. He peered down at his watch and grinned.

"Oh, what time is it?" I asked curiously.

Once again, this guy seemed to be trying extremely hard not to crack up. After taking a few moments to collect himself, he sighed and rested his hand on mine. "Ana, in MH Estate, it's always six o'clock."

I looked over at Demetrix to see if this was legit. The teen nodded slowly. "The Mad Hatter speaks the truth."

I shook my head in disbelief. "That's impossible."

The two boys looked at each other, exchanging facial expressions. The brunette seemed to be the more quiet type, because Tarrant took on the role of the speaker again. "There's no timekeeper in Wonderland anymore. The Red Queen fired him." He explained, shaking his head. "This means that each citizen who owns their own property gets to choose time."

"Time?"

"Yup. Such as, how long each day should last! Or, like how I prefer it, what time of day is it?" he cheered. "I chose six o'clock because that's the perfect time of day for tea!"

"How do you control time?" I questioned, completely lost.

Demetrix waved his hand, as if he needed permission to answer this question. I looked over at him expectantly and he opened his mouth. "Each owned piece of land is provided with time gears. It gives us all the options to form our perfect day." As he talked, it seemed like his volume was getting lower, like he was losing energy as he spoke. It was very amusing. "Tarrant can control the time of day, how bright or dark the sky is in this exact area, and how long an hour actually is."

"And I choose the time, six o'clock, to be as long as forever!" Tarrant piped in.

I couldn't help but giggle at this point. "Wonderland is truly a work of art," I sighed, studying the extremely long table we were sitting at. Even though we were outside, there were no pesky flies attacking us or the food.

"Wonderland is a trap," a smooth voice scoffed.

All three of our heads darted in the direction of the person who insulted this country.

I recognized those shocking yellow, eyes. The slit pupils. The dark, purple flopped hair. And that spiky collar.

"Shire?"