Well, here's hoping you all had a happy holidays, whatever you celebrate or don't. I had a great Christmas, because I got my favorite movie (Push, for those of you who care), along with the first two seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD (YAY, SPIKE!), and a Buffy callender. A very nice Buffy callendar. It's January, which is Buffy's month, and the slayer says hello. Oh, yea. I got a camera, too. Strangely, although I do love it, I'm the least excited about that present. Is that bad?
Well, I usually try to respond to at least most of my review on fanfictions, but for some reason, I haven't done that for this fic. So here's a big thank you to A terrible Beauty, nightingale mistress, Labmama, MythStar Black Dragon, mystic48138, Rose of Zakarisz, JeantheDarkPhoenix, Sweetone41185, How Cynamin Rolls, BlueNewt113, XShadowCatX, Pirate Gyrl, Lele0208, Vampiric Dragonrider, Akatsuki Child, , red-eye-tree-frog, knoxalot, angel19872006, and Sassyx22x for reviewing.
Thanks to A terrible Beauty, Akatsuki Child, alittlefaithinme2, Allara, Amanda Mae, AndAct, angel19872006, ayumidah, BlueNewt113, clueless90, CoCo Darke, Cowgirl621, GrangersTwin666, GregsLabrat, gwenhwyfar, jesuislapamplemousse, knoxalot, Hikari Urania, LeftRightLeftRightLeft42, linalove, Mavan, mystic48138, MythStar Black Dragon, Nayami-Chan, Nerdygal123, ngep, nightingale mistress, , ..01, Pirate Gyrl, RayneZoey, red-eye-tree-frog, Rena Cresten, Sassyx22x, serenity56424, Since the Beginning, Sweetone41185, TheJoker'sGotMyHeart, torifire126, winterheaven, VampireAngel123, and X-Raye for adding this to their story alerts.
Thanks to CokeACola2006, , and red-eye-tree-frog for adding me to their author alerts, and to alittlefaithinme2, BlueNewt113, red-eye-tree-frog, and for adding me to their favorite authors.
Finally, last but not least, here's a shout out to .Ice, Vampiric Dragonrider, ThatGirlWithGoldenEyes, Rose of Zakarisz, Rena Cresten, red-eye-tree-frog, PipMerry, Phoenix667, , nightingale mistress, Nayami-Chan, Natasha1689, mystic48138, Mavan, MarjorieMayhem, Mangoberri, Mahtahild, Lele0208, JeantheDarkPhoenix, javamarie, How Cynamin Rolls, Hikari Urania, dragonrose21, dolphingirlrrg, CoCo Darke, BlueNewt113, birdie360, angel19872006, alittlefaithinme2, Alice24601, and Akatsuki Child for deciding that this story was good enough to be called one of their favorites! Well, now that I've probably doubled the length of the chapter, ON WITH THE STORY!
THROUGH A LOOKING GLASS, DARKLY
Chapter Four: Q&A
"Shay, where the hell are we?" Alice demanded for the fifty-fourth time. Okay, actually it was only the sixth time, but, honestly, who's counting? Oh. Apparently me. Hey, I just answered my own rhetorical question!
Shay finished locking up a door and turned around sharply, her blonde hair swinging. "Jeez, Alice, have a cow. I told you guys it was somewhere safe, didn't I?"
"Because that sure tells us everything we need to know," snorted Hatter.
Shay rolled her eyes. "Well, look, you two are just gonna have to trust me."
"How many times are you going to threaten us before you figure out that we don't?" the man retorted, giving her a look.
Shay stuck out her tongue. "Fine. Safe house."
"Where?" Alice asked firmly.
"Can't say." The blonde shrugged.
"Why not?" Hatter frowned. Well, frowned more. Shay tended to have that effect on people.
"So you can't."
"What do you mean?" Alice and Hatter exchanged a look.
"Listen, I don't want to freak you guys out or anything, but Fara doesn't exactly play nice." Shay sighed, and then added, "What do you think is the worst thing you can do with a corkscrew?" Now, the question remains: was she just adding that for dramatic effect, did she actually want to know, or was it a mixture of both? Personally, Shay being who she was, I think it was both.
Alice sighed, realizing that Shay wasn't going to tell them what she wanted to know any time soon. The brunette made her way over to the living room and sat down on one of the couch, followed closely by the troublesome blonde, who took a seat on the floor. Odd, but that was Shay for you. Following the girl's lead, Hatter moved into the living room as well, sitting down on the same couch as his girlfriend, only to find himself subject to a rather threatening death glare from Shay. "What?" he demanded. Shay glanced at Alice, then back to him. Not wanting to deal with either of them being physically relocated by the pushy blonde, Hatter scooted closer to Alice, giving his girlfriend a somewhat apologetic look. He didn't really need to. Both of them were glad for the excuse.
"All right, Shay," Alice began slowly, choosing her words carefully, lest Shay go off on a tangent about bunnies or explosives, or bunnies with explosives. "If you're not going to tell us where we are-,"
"Not one word, I guarantee. I've locked my lips and trashed the key." Neither Neither Hatter nor Alice knew how to respond, so they just stared at the rhyming blonde. Like randomly bursting into song, responding in rhyme was just so wrong. It can be fun, I must admit, but once you start, you just can't quit. A habit that won't break or bend, you just can't make the rhyming END!
Ahem. Anyway…
"Did you…did you just rhyme?" Alice asked slowly.
"I don't know, did I?" Shay challenged in a dramatic tone. Alice raised an eyebrow, then hastily moved on.
"Yea, anyway. If you're not going to tell us where we are, then I want you to answer some of my other questions. Deal?"
"You don't know what they'd put you through, but I guess I do owe this to you. Don't blame me when you're in hell, but what do you want me to-,"
"I swear, if you say 'tell', this Fara of yours is going to be the least of your problems." Hatter warned the blonde, looking deadly serious.
Smiling bemusedly, Shay gave him what he wanted. "Answer," she finished. "What do you want me to answer?"
Having won the battle, if not the war, Hatter sat semi-contentedly back against the sofa and put his arm around Alice. Nobody said a word, but the girl in question was having herself an internal squee, and Shay was silently nodding her approval.
"If you two are finished…" Alice said, smirking slightly.
"Never finished, only temporarily silenced to increase the suspense." Shay cheerily, not to mention loudly, announced.
"How about a bit of that silence now?" Hatter retorted, annoyed.
"You first!"
Looking insulted, Hatter glared at the blonde. "Only when-,"
"Hey!" Alice shouted, smiling slightly and thinking to herself about how cute her boyfriend was when he was annoyed. Having successfully shushed the ruckus, the brunette put her hand beneath Hatter's chin and turned his face toward her. "Behave," she ordered teasingly.
"Yes, ma'am." Hatter grinned, playing along.
Alice kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Good boy."
Shay cleared her throat. "That's not much of a question, Alice."
"Right." Alice said as Hatter pouted, the moment thoroughly ruined. "First of all, you said we were red, instead of black. Why?"
Shay blinked, "Well, it's not much of a plot point, but if you really want to know." Shrugging, the blonde though for a moment, then said, "Look, Alice, it may not have much to do with anything saving Wonderland, but, well, when you think about it, white represents perfection and safety. All that stuff the stone I was telling you guys about gives off. And that's what we're fighting, false perfection, fake bliss, that kind of thing. Red is all about power; its courage; its passion, and it's love. And it's everything we represent. And, silly or not, thinking of myself and what I'm doing as a color like that one helps. It helps when we're losing, and it helps it hurts, and it helps when I'm thinking about my bro…ken…world. Broken world. Yea." Shay frowned, as though mentally slapping herself for coming up with a crappy cover. She was because, honestly, nobody says 'broken world' unless they're high on melodrama and not planning on getting sober any time soon.
"All right," Alice nodded slowly, exchanging a wow-that-was-a-bad-cover-what-do-you-think-she's-hiding look with Hatter. "Next question. Earlier, you said that…that every person, place and thing. You're saying…" she trailed off, unsure of what she was really trying to ask here. Fortunately, Shay picked up where she'd left off.
"I'm saying that everyone and everything's got a copy. Not that they always are copies, sometimes they're almost nothing alike," Shay explained, pushing herself up onto her knees. "I mean, chances are, they'll display some similarities, like repeat things the other's said or done, whether they know about it or not. Usually, when alternate versions are really different, they're like who the other could have been had something, someone, happened. Or not happened. And there is always, always a copy. she shrugged. The blonde looked as though that was about all she knew, then frowned, and opened her mouth to add something.
"What?" Alice asked quickly.
Shay shook her head. "Nothing." she said. "Well, at least nothing important." Alice was about to ask Shay to tell her anyway, but was interrupted. Or, since she hadn't started talking yet…is there a word for that? Oh, well. Nobody really cares.
"Hang on," Hatter said loudly, having just remembered something particularly obvious. "How come we couldn't get back through the looking glass?"
Alice's eyes widened, and she nodded her agreement. "That's right. How come we could get through from my world to here, but not the other way around?"
Shay thought for a moment before she answered this one. "'Cuz you weren't done."
"What?" both Hatter and Alice asked at the same time.
The blonde looked up. "The looking glass. It knew you had the ring," she nodded to Hatter, "So it decided that it's best bet for Wonderland was to keep you here. And you," she refocused her gaze on Alice, "are…well, you're Alice of Legend. Somethin' was bound to happen with you around."
"Again?" Alice groaned, rolling her eyes. "I already did the 'of legend' thing!"
Shay shrugged. "Legends aren't born, they're made."
Alice blinked, confused. "What does that have to do with it?" she asked.
"Oh, absolutely nothing. It's just the only cliché I know about legends, and it seemed the appropriate time."
"All right, let me get this straight." Hatter said slowly. "We're stuck in your Wonderland by a mirror that can think because it wants us to save the day. And it's not going to let us leave until we do?"
"Dead on." Shay confirmed.
Alice dropped her head onto Hatter's chest tiredly, and her boyfriend looked a bit surprised, although pleasantly so. "I don't like that mirror." she declared quietly after a moment.
"And it doesn't like you back." Shay stuck out her tongue, crossing her arms.
"Oh, here's a question." Hatter said, gently taking his girlfriend's hand. "You said we're red and the Queen is white, right? Well, why the hell are we playing chess?"
Shay snickered, flicking blonde hair out of her eyes. "Well, it helps me think. Strategize. Figure out what the other side is planning." She smiled sheepishly. "And it's fun as hell."
Alice sat back up, much to Hatter's badly hidden disappointment. "How does it help you strategize?" she asked, curious.
"Well," Shay began slowly, thinking. "All right, take Fara. She's the queen. And by that, I don't just mean of Wonderland, I mean she's the White Queen."
"I thought she was in charge of all of Wonderland." Hatter pointed out.
"She is, and it makes her the most powerful piece in the game. If you're wondering about the White King, then you're thinking of the Heart of Wonderland itself. The big rock. The one the Light is just a part of. It's the thing stuck on an amplifier. And before you call me crazy, and no, the rock doesn't think, listen. The Heart of Wonderland is the most important piece, because without it, Fara's who plan goes kablooey." She simulated the explosion, pressing her first together, then bouncing the fingers open and off of each other. "And everything we're trying to do here revolves around getting it."
Alice nodded, understanding. "So if the Heart of Wonderland is the White King, then wouldn't that make the Light of Wonderland the Red King?"
Shay looked pleased. "You would think," she explained, "But it really isn't. The Heart is the entire problem in Wonderland. The Light, it can't do anything on its own. It's got no power except getting you here. It's just another pawn. But you," she pointed at Alice. "You're a rook. Fast, dangerous, and able to dominate the game when played just right. Alice of Legend."
Although Alice was definitely not a fan of being 'played', she ignored it and asked, "Then what about you?"
"Easy. Red Queen," the blonde said assertively.
"Well aren't you full of yourself…" Hatter rolled his eyes.
Shay pretended to think about it for a moment, than confidently announced, "Nope. Wanna hear why?"
Shay explained, ticking off her reasons on her fingers. "Resistance. Hanging with you two. Know who's got the Light of Wonderland. Unaffected by the Heart. And, most importantly, anything I tell you two, you haven't got much of a choice but to believe, because you haven't got any other information on the subject." She grinned. "Hell, for all you know, Fara might be a total goody-two-shoes queen and I might be the bad guy here."
Alice and Hatter stared. The girl had a point. "And you wonder why we don't trust you?" Hatter sighed, rubbing his forehead tiredly.
Shay shrugged. "Because you're overly suspicious and really don't think?" she asked. "I mean, if I was going to kill you guys, or steal the ring, don't you think I'd have done it by now?" Immediately, Hatter made sure that she hadn't stolen the ring by now. Shay rolled her eyes. She hadn't.
The blonde stood up and stretched. "All right. We're all calmed down, or at least I am, so let's go save a kingdom!" She marched off towards the door, leaving Hatter and Alice to wonder what the hell was wrong with her. Again. Somebody really should keep count. Here, let me think…well, it's over ten, that's for sure.
Standing up, the couple headed after Shay. "Hang on," Hatter demanded. "What about me?"
Shay blinked. "What about you?"
"Rook, Queen," Hatter explained, pointing to the two of them in turn. "What does that make me?"
"Oh." Shay said calmly, as though the answer was obvious. She pulled open the door to the safe house. "King."
Ah, how dramatic. For the record, the only person who's status as a Red/White chess piece that has anything to do with Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, is Shay, our resident Red Queen. The rest of them are just good, old-fashioned chess references, which I happen to love. Well, I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, there's a pretty little button down below this note, and you can tell me anything you want. For example, you could tell me if you prefer cats or dogs, although that has nothing to do with this chapter, now does it?
No ducks were harmed in the making of this chapter.