A/N: I guess I can finally work on the new chapter. Though I have parts of it written out, I'm still slightly excited. It's been over a year and I hope I'm not too rusty. At least the next one is going to have a lighter atmosphere.
Curiouser and Curiouser
.
The soft blanket of white powder crunched deliciously under the foreigner's boots as she made her way through the town's streets. Alice breathed heavily, the icy air cooling her reddened cheeks as she hastily tried to catch up with her companion's frantic pace. Truth to be told, she would have settled on a more relaxed walk, if not for a sullen looking clockmaker by her side who happened to grumble incoherent curses under his breath while mostly, if not intentionally, ignoring her small predicament.
But it was fine.
Although initially, their merry group consisted of themselves and the lovely Knight of Hearts, the latter successfully disappeared and undoubtedly got lost, leaving the pair wandering alone on the cold streets. Naturally, such a simple event was nothing to worry about nor was it anything new; regrettably however, Ace happened to be the carrier of their groceries, for once insisting that he had to act according to his role. As a result, their freshly bought coffee beans and important tools were lost for an indefinite amount of time together with the absentminded knight and neither good promises nor angered cries could lure him out of his hiding. The circumstances certainly did not improve her grumpy companion's mood, whose sole purpose of presence was to supervise the shopping process from a safe distance.
Against all odds, the more or less silent stroll with Julius proved to be a rather nice experience, considering the fact that the snow-covered city around the Tower was a sight to behold. Alice appreciated its simple beauty, admiring the soft touch of sunset below the evening sky.
"Don't drag your feet, Alice," her distressed companion urged her on, still looking left and right for any signs of the missing knight.
"Oh, yes, I'm sorry," she apologized without the lightest touch of regret. 'At least he will get some fresh air in his lungs.' A satisfied grin spread across the brunette's face as she took a brief look at her friend, before finally averting her eyes. For once, the stray knight proved to be useful.
At long last the crowded streets were left behind. With a soft touch, a delicate snowflake landed on her nose, instantly melting and disappearing on the reddened skin. Almost absentmindedly, the girl reached her gloved hand out, catching more and more crystals of snow. She noted how more of the white flakes flew by, gently covering the streets with a neat layer of freshly fallen snow. It was almost as if they shined with an expensive glow of millions of fake diamonds, generously scattered along the road by a nameless benefactor. The lonely pair completed the scenery with a double trail of footprints, hers obviously much smaller than her companion's generous imprints.
Alice smiled. It was a lovely image, showing that the two of them walked alongside each other on this cold city road. While still looking behind, she briefly admired the brightly shining lanterns and lovely decorated houses they passed by, unintentionally ignoring the clockmaker's request to hurry up. The streets were almost empty, save for a few warmly dressed passersby here and there. The brilliant glance of the virgin snow provided the city with a truly magical atmosphere, it was almost too bad that their feet dared to ruin that perfect, frail image with their touch. The girl was about to avert her gaze, when suddenly the flash of a moving figure with familiarly looking red hair caught her eye.
A small frown appeared on her face as she mulled over the identity of the mysterious person… or perhaps she simply mistook a random stranger for the circus master? Red hair was not that uncommon, after all.
'But still…'
Little by little, Alice's feet began to take her back on their previous trails. The snow kept falling, gradually getting thicker and hiding the girl's imprints under an innocent, purely white cover of oblivion.
Julius halted, finally realizing that he missed the sound of a second pair of moving feet beside his own.
"Alice?"
But the girl was nowhere in sight.
.
The short chase led the brunette further into the darkness of narrow streets and dimly lit passageways, until finally she halted, contemplating whether to stay or go on. In front of her was a narrow staircase, its spirals leading down towards a fancily decorated door. The leaking sounds and voices indicated a lively gathering, so what trouble could she possibly find if she took a small peek?
'Surely it would be all right,' Alice reassured herself while pushing the door and taking a breath of resolution while peeking inside.
However, as sudden as it came, her determination vanished, replaced by a sudden shyness as she looked around. Up until now, the young foreigner was drawn by the power of curiosity, but what she saw made her quickly doubt the worth of her idea.
Behind the door was a whole other world, soaked with perfumes, ashy smoke and faint chatter, the still, hazy air intoxicating to reason and mind.
The insides were shockingly warm, instantly making her want to discard her thick, grey coat. Her entrance was barely noted, the hesitant steps muffled by sounds of moving coins and shuffling of cards, as well as whispers of anonymous gamblers with unreadable masks. The obvious signs made her realize just what kind of a place she had stumbled into.
The dimply lit casino was packed with finely clad people who mainly gathered around the tables in the centre of the room, a few single individuals occupied the bar while the rest dwelled in the lounge, lazily chatting with their partners or preferring the joys of solitude.
Surprisingly enough, it did not take her long to find Joker sitting in one of crimson coloured booths. Many guests lacked company, but unlike the rest, it was as if he purposefully created a clear barrier around himself, or perhaps it was the other way around.
The first thing to catch her eye were the redhead's unusual garments, she was surprised at how different of a person Joker appeared to be. The normal ringmaster's attire was completely replaced by a new outfit and it was safe to say that not a single original article remained: the man who sat before her wore a formal black dress shirt and equally dark trousers; a white waistcoat completed the top, connected with a golden chain to the neck tie in a crimson colour which perfectly matched his deeply red locks. The mischievous twinkle of the gold was similar to that on his usual clothes but it seemed to possess a completely different, colder tone.
Alice had to admit, the lack of his usual jester hat made a serious difference. It made him look less playful, the harmless atmosphere exchanged for a classy and almost dangerous one. His crimson eye lazily strolled across the room as his gloved hands smoothly worked on a card house, appearing as if they had a mind of their own.
If not for a strange feeling that something was indeed amiss, she would have thought that he fit perfectly into his surroundings. Seconds passed, and her feet still refused to enter this strange place. But it was now or never, and finally, Alice made up her mind, daring to approach the fancily clad circus master.
"What are you doing here, Joker?"
Her sudden interference caused the redhead to jerk his head in her direction, the abrupt movement causing the card he was holding to accidentally brush the paper building in the wrong place. Only a fraction of a second later the highest pair slipped, yet luckily managed to avoid the dangerous fall. But Joker paid them no attention, instead focusing his single red eye on the young foreigner in front of him.
Joker was surprised to see her, that much was obvious….
…and he looked incredibly annoyed.
"Damn it, is snooping around and getting lost your hobby or something?"
The cold, snarky answer was certainly not what Alice was expecting. Not at all. She gulped and shivered slightly under his stare, the crimson eye holding a certain sharpness that had not been there before. Even the way of speaking seemed so exceedingly rude, it was undeniably hard to believe her ears.
Something was off.
And yet, there was a certain intimate tone in his way of speaking. It was a faint feeling of familiarity that came seemingly out of nowhere, perplexing her even further as she stared at the foreign yet familiar person in front of her.
In the meanwhile, Joker did not waste any time, dismissively waving towards the exit door. "Come on, get the hell out of here, the playtime is over."
The utterly confused brunette was too taken aback to be truly offended by the rude gesture. Finally, about to reply with a fitting comment, Alice was shocked as two foreign hands lightly pushed her into the seat across from the frowning redhead.
"Oh, what a lovely surprise we have here! But honestly, Alice, you never fail to amaze me."
Her head whipped around in astonishment, only to meet the ruby gaze of a gleefully smiling Joker. Lost for words, the brunette could only move as the doppelganger smoothly plopped beside her, casually crossing his legs and grinning back at the astonished girl.
She looked at Joker, then back at… Joker?
"W-what's this? I think I see double…" Alice muttered as she rubbed her tired eyes and blinked a few times, but the stubborn, seemingly split image refused to fall back into one. Her struggles did not go unnoticed by the freshly materialized circus master.
"Oh dear, Joker didn't give you anything weird, or did he?" He cast her a worried glance, before closely eyeing his lookalike.
"The hell I would! Now shut the fxxx up, I didn't feed her anything strange."
Feeling a sudden faintness and a growing headache, Alice slumped back, completely lost. The perfumes and smoke must have gotten into her head, for here sat two identical men, with identical names and same clothes, arguing with each other, and more importantly, completely disregarding the oddness of this whole scene.
As if completely missing the source of her distress, they continued to argue until all she could do was to slam her fists onto the table and accept that she has gotten herself into yet another undesirable situation. One Joker looked at her, bemused, whereas the other one just shook his head.
"Great, now she's gone mad. See, it's all your fxxxxxx fault, Joker."
"Eh, how so?"
.
It took Alice a while to compose herself, not forgetting Joker's thoughtfulness as he fanned the young lady, providing her with a somewhat fresh breeze.
After an explanation, or actually the lack thereof, Alice felt ready to accept that she was, after all, not insane. Not yet, at least.
Following the overdue introductions, Alice she came to realize that both Jokers liked to avoid any kinds of troublesome topics, which apparently included matters concerning their strange identity.
But Alice would not be herself if she did not manage to find a way to take care of the matter. The merciless girl was quick to give both individuals a matching nickname, feeling like at least some kind of help in distinction was in order. The following protests of the freshly named Black and White were conveniently ignored, soon fading away as both victims of Alice's creativity came to accept their fate.
Eventually, both sides calmed down. Black's strained*features gradually relaxed, and with obvious indifference he returned to his previous activity. The card house flourished and grew with each new section added to the previous ones. Now that Alice had enough time to study him, she noted that Black certainly did not look like he would enjoy this kind of occupation. It seemed to contradict his snappy and certainly impatient attitude. Thus, Alice was not surprised as another pair of cards swiftly slipped down, consequently angering the unfortunate architect.
"You don't look like you would like this kind of thing," she could not help but comment, "building card houses, I mean."
"A house?" he blurted out incredulously. "Have you no eyes, brat? It's a castle. Can't you see?"
"Joker is admittedly not that skilled in this area," his counterpart happily chimed in, completely disregarding Black's scowl at his commentary. "As for me, I certainly like this kind of pastime. Anything related to cards is my speciality, as you might have already noticed."
Alice tapped her chin in thought while contemplating his answer. "In that case, why aren't you participating in the games? Surely you did not come just to sit around."
Black's sudden chuckle seemed to indicate that the answer was something that she would not like. "Curious, aren't you? Why should we answer questions of a-"
"Let's just say, we have an appointment of a sort," the gentler redhead answered with a crooked grin, before pointing a finger towards the azure eyed girl. "By the way, Alice, what brings you to a place like this? I didn't know you were that kind of a lady!"
"Oh… it's not that I like gambling or anything…" The brunette stumbled over her own words, trying to find an answer that would not make her look like a certain White Rabbit. "Well, I just saw you but I was not quite sure, so I decided to check if it was really you. I'm sorry if I'm bothering you." She looked over both White and Black, suddenly realizing that she was most certainly in the wrong place, perhaps even at the wrong time.
"Since you are awaiting someone… I guess that I should better leave." *Feeling herself sink deeper than she desired, she arose in a swift motion, only to be held down by White.
"No, stay," the redhead insisted with an almost urgent tone in his gentle voice, as he pushed her back into the soft seat. The sudden movement left her almost speechless, and she obliged, if only for lack of a coherent answer. The pressure on her hand eased as the redhead smiled at her, completely oblivious to her previous discomfort. "It would be such a waste if you left right away. We certainly don't mind. After all, being in company of such a lovely young lady is a nice change." The soft kindness in his voice seemed to poison her reason, the last bit of doubt swept away as her body relaxed into the cushions.
Black scowled as he watched the scene unfold, but refrained from commenting. A loud yawn escaped his throat as uncrossed his legs and sluggishly pressed his back against the crimson leather. "Well, since you're staying you should at least have a presentable look."
And with a flicker of his fingers, her blue apron dress vanished, an inky-black and surprisingly tight dress taking its place against her skin. Coming from Joker, the sudden change of clothing startled the young woman, if only because she conveniently forgot that even he could meddle effortlessly with such minor details. Warily she inspected it with a critical eye, searching for possible indecent exposal or any other possible sings of bad taste.
However, Alice was happy to find that her new outfit was decent enough to cover what needed to be covered. It was certainly not a dress that she would like to wear, but it was suitable for the occasion anyway. If it would make her stand out less then she was ready to bear with it for a while.
"A good choice, Joker," White complimented as he observed the change take place.
"Indeed, it was difficult enough to find something that would make that brat look at least somewhat appropriate,"his counterpart's lips curved upward in amusement while blatantly examining his achievement with a shameless crimson eye. A silent growl threatened to escape her throat as she glared back at the smugly grinning Joker.
Luckily, his counterpart chose to intervene in the right moment.
"Now, now, that's a bit too much, Joker. She is a splendid young lady."
Finally, the brunette settled back with a huff, considering the nasty comment as payback for her earlier creativity. "That's not what I asked for, anyway."
"Oh, are you certain? Because I only did what you wished for."
"And that would be?"
"To fit in," Joker replied, his narrow eye mocking her, as if stating something so obvious. "Isn't that what you desired?"
"What I... desire?" Alice sat back. If so, it was a sick and strange wish, to wear these kinds of clothes and visit such a blasphemous place. Her loss at words was interpreted as a sign of resignation and as if nothing has happened, the Joker called Black resumed his lazy posture.
"That's how I like it. Now sit back like a good little girl and enjoy yourself."
.
How much time has passed, she couldn't tell. Was is still evening, or did the time change? Alice's gaze ended on White whom she was challenging for a re-match after her previous defeat. Satisfied with her choice of cards, she briefly refocused her attention on Black. The redhead must have been incredibly bored, the card castle all forgotten, as he lazily watched the gambling players. The way his single narrowed eye observed the crowded place reminded Alice of a lurking cat: seemingly uninterested and yet ready to seize the unsuspecting prey at any given moment. Perhaps it was a strange comparison, however, she could not help but find it to be somewhat fitting.
Despite Black's snide remarks here and there, the company was anything but unpleasant, and yet... Was there not something... anything she was forgetting?
Her fruitless struggle caused her nothing but a small headache, a small frown betraying her wandering mind. She looked back at White, sensing that her hesitance has caught his attention.
He looked slightly amused and she realized that she missed her turn. "So, Alice, what do you think of the April Season?"
She fiddled with her cards. "It's not bad."
After a second thought, Alice's eyes turned to the man in front of her, the whole implication of her half-hearted answer coming to light as she realized how ungrateful it must have sounded.
There was only one way to make up for her careless mistake.
"I wasn't exactly thrilled, at first," she began, glad that she successfully caught Joker's attention. "But thinking back, it was much better than I thought it would be. I... came to like many aspects of this season."
"That I am truly happy to hear." White gave her a smile, continuing their almost forgotten round. He paused, as if contemplating his next move, before smoothly planting his card on hers. "Say, Alice, wouldn't you like to stay, to be a part of this place?" he asked in a casual tone.
"I... " she paused. There they were again. Unpleasant thoughts swirling around her wrists, suffocating her and trying to chain her down. Alice struggled to remain conscious, pressing the words against the unknown force.
Finally, Alice reached out, slipping through the only backdoor that she new. "I don't know."
"You never seem to know anything at all. You're such an airhead, it's almost disgusting!" Black Joker spat out, as if finally taking interest in their conversation. Like a freedom spell, the words had dispersed the pressure and she felt almost thankful for his intervention.
However, all words died in her throat as she met his piercing glare. It might have been just a silly thought, but she could have sworn that she saw a silent warning in his intent gaze. Alice took a breath, forcing herself to look elsewhere. It must have been her imagination.
She shifted uncomfortably, noticing with slight embarrassment that she still had a sweaty grip on the cards. White Joker had his way with words that could appear completely harmless, and yet sting her with double strength when she was least prepared. How unpleasant. "What about you, Joker, isn't moving around quite troublesome? You never stay for too long in the same place," she said and after a small pause, added, "What I mean is, it must be tiring, right?"
Her attempt at lifting the awkward atmosphere was successful as Black looked up, an incredulous look all over his face.
"Stupid girl, moving around is exciting!"
"Indeed it is." his counterpart was quick to agree. "Alice, try to imagine: you can only appreciate each and every place, each show, because you know that you will leave it all behind," he finished solemnly and chuckled at the girl's intent expression.
"I see. The country, even the show itself is never the same, right?" the brunette reasoned as she thought about the circus acts. "The smallest change in acting makes each performance unique."
Seemingly out of nowhere a bitter feeling crept inside her heart. She paused, before once again facing White.
"But it's sad, isn't it? To know that you will never experience it again."
The redhead's smile seemed to widen as he approved of her smart deduction. "Well said, Alice. The moment will never be the same, and regret comes inevitably, but it is not a bad feeling. It's something that belongs to sincere enjoyment. Also, you can enjoy each and every show because you never know what might happen, despite your best planning."
"That's right, it's the thrill of the unknown," his counterpart chimed in.
"In a repetitive world in which our very existence is going round and round in a clock's way, something like moving can be rather entertaining, don't you think so?"
Alice nodded silently, her eyes still glued to the single red one of the circus master, taking every single word that smoothly flowed into her head.
"Of course, eventually some might not want to play by the rules. In that case, there is a price they will have to pay."
Without any warning, he reached out and swiftly swiped a single card from the bottom of the castle, thus irrevocably damaging the frail building.
The castle collapsed, turning into nothing but a wild pile of simple paper cards.
Similar to a spell suddenly broken, the girl's eyes stared at the mass of cards as they lay innocently on the table, almost disbelieving that something so big and seemingly stable could disappear so quickly.
White's voice shook her out of her daze.
"Alice, could you, perhaps, do me a small favour?" She turned back, noticing that he was reaching out a card.
"Bring this to the man over there?" The circus master pointed at the back of the room. There was only one single figure sitting at the bar, thereby making it easy to spot him.
Alice took the card, somehow feeling like she had no other choice, and studied it briefly. "Um, sure why not."
An imprinted, inky black face stared back at her with a malicious grin.
'A joker? How peculiar.'
Her eyes darted back at White whose carefree smile was less than helpful, much to her disappointment. Then, in the tiniest of moments, her insecure gaze involuntarily wandered towards Black, as if looking for the smallest support. The crimson gaze seemed to follow her, fuelling the girl with a strange feeling of reassurance.
The velvety flats (also courtesy of Black) made a dull noise, her reassurance slipping away with each step she took on the impeccably polished marble floor. The sound was unfamiliar, her dress suddenly all too tight and she could not wait to reach her destination and get it over with. Luckily, nobody seemed to mind her as made her way across the dimly lit room, as if completely oblivious to her presence. And all it took was just a simple change of clothes. Quite soon, the azure eyed foreigner halted, fidgeting slightly while she searched for ways to start the conversation.
The man had yet to notice her presence as he sat slumped down on a bar stool and slowly sipped on a glass of some foreign liquor. After a quick breath, the brunette managed to put on the nicest smile, before trying to get his attention.
"Um, excuse me, sir?" Well, that definitely came out better than she thought it would.
Soon after he turned around and she was faced with a middle-aged man. He was a 'faceless', as expected, though Alice would object if someone dared to describe him as plain and indistinguishable. Similar to other residents of Wonderland, even this individual held certain features that made him truly unique. Sadly, as Alice soon discovered, the man's character was not as fine as his neat appearance.
"What is it? Damn it, this better be important…" he hissed, however, soon came to a halt upon taking in her appearance.
The brunette frowned at his wandering gaze. 'I guess I'd better get this over with, and quickly.' A silent, barely audible sigh escaped her lips before she hastily reached out to present the man with the strange gift.
"This is for you… please take it."
What a surprise it was as he let out a gasp a second later, almost falling from the bar stool as he took in the card's picture. Then, all too sudden, he slapped her hand, the innocent card sent flying to the cold marble floor.
"This must be a joke!"
Despite the accusation, Alice noted how his voice shook as he grabbed his hat while forcibly showing the brunette aside.
"H-huh?" Before she could do anything, even understand the man's reaction, he was on his feet, stumbling hurriedly towards the exit and not even once bothering to look back at the stunned girl.
As if by magic, both redheads appeared behind her, successfully catching the brunette off guard.
"Just great. Now look what you've done, Joker."
"Well, I think it was fun, though."
She was about to voice her humble opinion before another deep voice interrupted their small discussion.
"Joker, don't involve Alice into your business."
Only a moment later her vision was blocked by a large figure and Alice gasped, recognising him as the Tower's most reclusive resident.
"Julius!"
Not wasting any time on formal greetings or even an acknowledgement of a sort, the clockmaker swiftly took her arm while proceeding to drag the completely bewildered Alice towards the exit.
"Come on, Alice, this is not a place you should be in."
"You're really no fun, clockmaker! Well then, Alice, see you soon!" The circus master's, White's voice called her attention from behind, making her turn around her head and take a last glance at both Jokers.
It was Black, she figured, who stood on the left side, arms crossed and with an almost impassive gaze, if not for a frown that betrayed his identity. The redhead on the right, apparently White, was waving her goodbye, and as he did so in his ever so carefree manner, she could not help but catch a glimpse of certain iciness in the gentle, crimson eye.
.
Before she could even realize it, Alice found herself back on the cold streets. A time turn must have occurred during her small adventure, for the dark sky was lit with thousands of shining stars. Almost thirstily, she breathed in the fresh air, not minding the freezing temperature that cleared her lungs and mind.
She noted how her old clothes were back, and while she was glad, there was a bit of regret. The staircase that led into another world, one that she had been a part of for a short time, now disappeared and she was sure that she would never be able to find it again. There was another Joker there, one that she would never see at the circus. It was not about Black and White, it was something different and it was probably a mistake to be drawn to it. It was almost as if she was about to play a dangerous game with unknown rules and stakes and she didn't know whether she wanted to pay the prince for finding them out.
But now it all was gone and felt almost like a silly dream, nothing that truly happened to begin with. A grinning knight stepped into her vision, shining in all his youthful glory.
"Hey, Alice! Looks like both of us got lost today!" He laughed heartily at her bewildered expression.
Apparently, even the forever-lost Knight of Hearts was back, shining in all his youthful glory. But the young foreigner's eyes were locked on Julius who simply stood there, too quiet even for his own standards. Worried, she reached out her hand, vaguely brushing against the man's arm.
"Julius… are you angry?"
He sighed, finally turning his gaze towards the source of his recent headaches. "Of course I am. You disappeared just like that, how do you think am I supposed to react?"
A small, warm smile spread across her face. The clockmaker was worried about her.
"Julius?" The brunette received a small grunt in response. "Thank you."
"Just what am I going to do with you two…"
Luckily, the answer was nearby, and Ace laughed heartily as he squished himself in between the two, tightly embracing them from behind.
"I'd say that we all go back and Alice treats us to a round of homemade bread and roasted rabbit!"
The ever smiling knight beamed with joy, apparently liking his own suggestion.
"Now come on, I'm practically starving here!"
And without further ado, he pushed his friends forward towards directions unknown even to the knight himself.
.
A pair of red eyes intently watched the scene unfold until the three figures disappeared in the distance behind the white curtain of gently falling snow, the show being over seemingly before it just began.
"The clock maker and the knight, who would have guessed... Well, looks like they get along quite well." The redhead called White turned around, finally averting his eye from the snowy streets.
Joker studied his counterpart, taking note of the small flicker of envy on his look-alike's face.
"So, what do you think, Joker?"
He snorted.
"The brat is as blind as a bat, but also way too curious for a stray child."
The redhead laughed, apparently amused by Joker's response.
"Well anyway, it seems like it's time for us to get our hands dirty. Since our executioner is taking a break."
"Tsk! That lazy ass!"