Hello ladies and gents! As I promised, Alice enters Wonderland in this one. I hope you like it. :D

Chapter 4: The Malignant Bitch Still Reigns

Tea time was blissfully uneventful. It was earl grey, which was one of Alice's favorites. She spent the rest of the day touring the MacKenzie residence. It was rather large, but then again, a larger space is needed to be able to dilute the mercury fumes. Every room was a different color from salmon pink to a deep indigo, with even wilder accent colors. His workshop, however, was devoid of color, probably because he already had so many different fabrics strewn about the room. Another bright color would've given anyone a headache.

"I detest white," he said, "It reminds me of an asylum, so sterile, yet so tainted. That's why I prefer the grey when I have to keep a room devoid of color."

"Rather reasonable, for a madman."

"Ha! On with the tour." He went on to show her the rest of the house, describing her duties in detail.

"This is my storage room," he pointed to the door on the right, "I'd like to go through it with you someday, but for now you don't have to worry about it." It went on like this, from the kitchen to the privy. By the time they were through it was dark, and all Alice wanted to do was to go to bed.

"Try to have a sound sleep Miss Liddell."

"I can try, but it rarely happens. Good night Mr. MacKenzie."

"Good night Miss Liddell."

As she predicted, she didn't have a sound sleep. After her head hit the pillow she began to fall into her madness once again. She was in Queensland. She could tell by the ruin of the fallen pawn, lying next to the dead shrubbery covered in blood and guts. Cheshire promptly appeared next to the ruin.

"You're late. Will you never learn?"

"Excuse me, but do you have anything useful to say?"

"You have a fight looking for you once more Alice. The heart still beats. She has taken advantage of Wonderland's weakness. Take her down or forever be a slave to her insanity."

"On the brink of destruction once again I see? Why don't you overthrow her? Can't anyone in this blasted world do anything for themselves?"

"If we did everything for you Alice, there would be no challenge. Besides, you know well enough that a mind can't fix itself."

"Yes, if it could then I wouldn't be here."

"Hmm... always backsassing. Remember when I once told you to suppress your instinct to lead?" she nodded, "Well forget that now. The chess pieces are leaderless. They are in constant discord. Find them."

"Well... That's somewhat useful. How would you expect me to do that?"

"I can't give away everything. You should know that by now."

"I suppose so." she said with a smirk. It couldn't rival Cheshire's, but it was rather large for her. He then gave one of those rare grins, where his eyes crinkled in sincerity, rather than sarcasm, and disappeared.

"Hmm... I highly doubt that they're in this area; I better go to Looking Glass Land."

She then continued to walk through the shrubbery with dead leaves and rose petals swishing about her feet, following the checkered pattern towards the now decrepit white castle. Once again, a fight was looking for her. An undead card soldier arose from the blackened earth, but it was quickly dispatched by her Vorpal Blade. Several more fell upon her which were armored. She rapidly slashed at their vulnerable backs. A glowing red ooze would leak from the emblem of her nemesis, sticking to her weapon like syrup on a child's fingers. It didn't bother her, not anymore; she was covered in blood every time she came there.

She soon continued through the Pale Realm. If it was a fabric, one could call it stained. The red blood and dirt seemed to soak into the ground that way, turning the white squares into a muddy red. The walls were splattered with the same substance. The source was soon identified as the fallen knights and pawns, slashed open and hacked to bits.

"Oh god."

"As you can see, god has nothing to do with it." She turned to her left to see Cheshire again, swishing his tail back and forth.

"How do you expect me to rally them together against the Queen if most of them are dead?"

"Not dead, in hiding. You just have to look." as usual, he vaporized into thin air. Looking at the large fortress before her, she sighed and continued to walk. Another card was lying in wait, but this one was alive. She grabbed his spear and wrenched it from his hands. As he delved towards it she grabbed his collar and pushed him up against the wall, holding the blade against his throat.

"Where are they?"

"I don't know what yer talkin' about."

"You know perfectly well what I am talking about. Where are the chess pieces you dolt?!"

"I don't know! We lost them all in the castle. They split up and went into hiding."

"Do you remember where you lost them? Was there anything about the area that you remember or struck you as odd?"

"I... uhhh... we would always lose them when they turned a corner into a spare room."

"Details you twit!" she pressed the knife closer to his throat, "I need details!"

"Umm... ahh... they were all pretty similar, with furniture, figurines, mirrors..."

"Mirrors?"

"Uh... yeah. It was weird; it didn't show us or the door behind us. Why?"

"I think I have all I need now."

"Will you..." he didn't get to finish the question as she slit his throat.

"Remember Alice, a reflection sometimes exposes more reality than the object it echoes." She turned around to find Cheshire wandering off into the castle. She was about to follow him when she fell through a black square and awoke in her new room once again.

"Do you always sleep in this late?" She quickly arose from her pillow, turning her head to the door.

"Do you always watch young ladies while they sleep?"

"Touche, but no I don't. I only have eyes for you my dear."

"Spare me the flattery and get out of my room, so I can get dressed please."

"Whatever milady desires, milady shall have." he left the room with a twinkle in his eye. Still in her nightgown, she went over to her armoire to find not only her own clothing, but a new dress. She screamed upon seeing it, tearing it down and throwing it onto the floor. I was the exact replica as her Wonderland dress, symbols and all.

"Alice?!" MacKenzie screamed as he ran into the room.

"Get away from me!"

"What did I..." he then saw the dress tossed onto the floor.

"You know something..." she murmured, panicked, "How do you know it?!"

He walked up to her. She kept on walking backwards until she was backed up against the window. He then held her face in his hands and looked into her tearful, emerald-green eyes.

"Ever since I went mad from mercury poisoning I have seen visions, visions of a brave girl, in a blue dress, slashing her way to victory. She constantly talks to a grinning cat and always follows animals into dangerous situations. I've been seeing you Alice, ever since you were little, having tea and painting the roses red."

"Ha!" she said skeptically, "You don't look that old. I was seven when I started to venture into Wonderland." he smiled at this at his.

"I was trained to be a hatter at an early age lass." his Scottish accent leaking through just a bit, "I became a fully-fledged hatter in Scotland, my homeland, at the age of sixteen. I started seein' ya at eighteen. I could tell ya were English, an', by the second year a visions, my curiosity got the best a me."

"And that would make you...?"

"Thirty years, this April. Why the sudden interest in me age, lass?"

"Just curious." she said, putting an expression of fake indifference on her face.

"Curiosity..."

"Killed the cat?" stepped in the new voice. They looked towards the window to find Cheshire, leisurely licking his left paw.

Ha! I left it at a cliffy! Aren't I evil? ^_^ How can we see him in the real world, you say? Tune in next time! Don't forget to rate and review! I need some encouragement people! :D