A/N: Special thanks to HetaliAYA for reviewing and I'm glad that you like the story! Apologies for the late update, I've been preparing for school next year and I got kind of busy… So I accidentally spoiled myself for the AYA? PSP game true end…and I can only say that it broke my heart. Anyways, I'm really excited for volume 8 of AYA? because I've seen the cover for the volume, both normal and special edition, and it looks beautiful (just like the covers of previous volumes)~ Well, here's chapter 4 of 'Through The Looking Glass'. Enjoy!

WARNING: Same as first chapter.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own.

Chapter 4: A meeting with the Duchess – When troubles began to form.

"Who could it be this time?" Mad Hatter sighed as he huffed out smoke from his cigarette, feeling slightly annoyed at the moment. "Another Regret perhaps?" Arthur suggested helpfully. "I doubt so. The last time I check, they don't knock. And I pretty much made sure of that." Alice the 88th continued sipping on the tea that was offered to her, completely ignoring the knock on the door and the current situation. "Go check it out, Alice." Hatter commanded. Arthur got out of his seat begrudgingly, but he still complied by Hatter's words and went downstairs, readying his gun by the side lest he was really going to get attack this time round.

The blonde had decided to open the door extra quickly this time and raised his gun, pointing it at the head of the newcomer. The person in front of the door left Arthur flabbergasted. A FISH in a butler suit was standing in the entrance. The English nation's jaw drop opened. "An invitation for you gyo." Was what the fish managed say before Arthur started firing rounds at him out of reflex and shock. Among all the mythical creatures that Arthur had seen in his life, never had he seen a fish butler before. Definitely not a talking fish that walked on land like everything was normal. Footsteps echoed from behind Arthur, getting louder. "Did you manage to get a Regret or something?" Hatter emerged from the stairway and the blonde stopped firing. "Ah, it's the fish butler."

Arthur lowered his gun, taking in deep breaths to calm himself down. 'Okay, so the talking fish isn't a bad person…' The blonde nation took a step back, allowing the fish butler to enter the house. "Honestly, you 'Alice' are all like that… Already shooting when we just met gyo." Arthur looked away sheepishly as he placed his gun back in his pocket. It's definitely not an everyday occurrence to see a talking fish in a butler suit knocking on your door. "What brings you all the way here?" Hatter questioned the fish butler, wondering what has brought the butler all the way to his doorstep, since the butler's main job was to help the Duchess deliver invitations. Perhaps the Duchess wanted to meet the new Alice?

"An invitation from the Duchess for Alice gyo." Ah, so he was right. Arthur took the invitation from the fish butler, carefully opened the invitation, and then reading the contents of the paper. It was an invitation to tea with the Duchess. "I'm guessing that it's an invitation from the Duchess inviting you to tea." Hatter commented casually. "I'll be waiting by the carriage if you are ready to go gyo." The fish butler pointed to a carriage near the building on the main road, and Arthur nodded.

xXxXxXxXx

The trio found themselves sitting around the dining table in discussion mode again.

"An invitation from the Duchess huh? Well, I'm not going that's for sure. The thought of seeing that damn cat again makes me want to wring his neck and throw him far away. Also, there's that creepy D-" A hand went over the 88th Alice's mouth. Arthur raised a brow at the two. "No one invited you and I certainly didn't ask for your opinion on the damn cat." Alice the 88th gave Hatter a half-hearted glare as the man brought his hand away.

Hatter took out another cigarette and lit it. "It's only polite to go since an official invitation has been sent out." Arthur sighed, placing the invitation down on the table and stood up. "I didn't say I wasn't going. I do enjoy tea sessions myself too." Taking his hat from the nearby clothes rack, Hatter made his way out of the room. "That's good. I'm pretty sure that you will get along well with the Duchess." Arthur followed in suit.

"Wait, hey! Are you two going to just leave me here like this?!" The only female of the trio pouted as she voiced out her complaints. "Oh right. This is my house so I would appreciate if you leave." Hatter's voice rang out from downstairs. The blonde nation smiled apologetically at the 88th Alice, his expression saying 'you could come back later', because Arthur didn't really find the 88th Alice to be dangerous, more of that she's just wanting company.

Alice the 88th of course, did not take the hint.

"Argh! This is why I hate you people!" She hollered angrily before storming out of the house.

'This was definitely an eventful day…' Arthur thought to himself feeling a little sorry for the 88th Alice.

xXxXxXxXx

The carriage ride to the Duchess's mansion was a rather painfully slow one, since the mansion was almost all the way on the other side of the country. For Arthur, that is. He noticed that Hatter wasn't really a man of many words, or perhaps it was just that the blonde couldn't think of a topic to chat about. So Arthur spent his time thinking instead.

Did anyone notice that he was missing? There wasn't going to be a world meeting held soon and he doubt that anyone will. Maybe perhaps France would, since he would be missing his usual bickering partner, though America might too. America was always constantly coming over to his house to bug him and other things. But he doubts that they would think much about it. They would probably think that he was on a holiday or something.

"You seem to be deep in thought." Hatter commented from the opposite side and it broke Arthur's train of thoughts. "A-Ah, it's nothing much... Just thinking if people would notice that I went missing since I didn't get to tell anyone anything before coming here …" The blonde then turned his head to focus back on the scenery outside, though he heard Hatter mumbling something about putting a hole through the damn cat's head.

The carriage slowly came to a stop and Arthur couldn't help but stare in amazement at the huge mansion that he was seeing. It wasn't as big as the Queen of Heart's castle, but it certainly had its own uniqueness. "We're here gyo." The fish butler open the carriage door, Arthur stepped out of the carriage along with Hatter. They were then led in by the butler.

Greeting the duo at the front door was none other than the Duchess herself and Arthur couldn't help but to look at her in awe and amazement. The Duchess was a petite young girl that couldn't possibly look older than 12, she was wearing a cute black and white striped dress and a beautiful hat with flowers decorated around adorning the top of her head.

The Duchess stepped forward and greeted the two fondly. "Welcome to my mansion, Alice and Hatter. And thank you for accepting the invitation." She smiled. Arthur instantly felt calmer at the smile of the Duchess and smiled back himself. They were then led to one of the rooms in the mansion with a small fireplace, tea already set and ready on the table.

"It's a huge pleasure to be able to meet you, Duchess." Arthur picked up a teacup from the table, starting to sip on the tea while enjoying the calm atmosphere. "I should be the one saying that Alice. I'm glad that even though you are only here for a short time, you're a really kind person." Duchess said happily, sipping on her own share of tea but the words made the blonde frown. "Were people not nice to you before?" He decided to ask carefully.

Duchess shook her head frantically. "Not at all, it's just that people usually get shock about me being the Duchess and all, and you're the second person that accepts me for my role instead of being freaked out and all." Arthur smiled back at the petite girl, feeling glad that he was finally able to find someone to get along well with here. The conversations that followed after were all light-hearted and friendly, and Arthur was beginning to feel that maybe the Wonderland might not actually be that bad of a place.

But what had bothered Arthur was that while back then when they were on their way to this room, he saw that there were iron bars in some of the areas. What were they for anyways? Right before he could voice out his question, he was interrupted by an unexpected (well actually more of expected,) individual.

"I see that Alice is having fun right now, yes?" The blonde accidentally let out an unmanly shriek with the sudden appearance of the Cheshire Cat. Hatter, who had been silent throughout the whole conversation took out his gun and pointed it near where Arthur was, despite not being able to see the cat.

Duchess placed her empty teacup on the table and folded her arms. "Cheshire, you shouldn't startle Alice like that by appearing all of a sudden. And Hatter, please kindly put your gun away… I wouldn't like a bloodbath to happen here and I assure you that Cheshire would not hurt Alice."

Hatter complied almost unwillingly, but his hand still remained on his gun. Cheshire Cat grinned gleefully and plop down onto the empty space beside the Duchess. "Well, I have rather big news to tell you all." The three occupants in the room along with the cat immediately became attentive as to what the cat was going to say next.

"The Duke has accidentally broken out and is now probably wandering the streets. And it can't seem to sense Alice though, so I suppose that's good news." Hatter and the Duchess's eyes widen while Arthur was puzzled by the situation. "Cheshire! Why didn't you report this earlier? And surely the iron gates could've kept him in?" The Cheshire Cat shrugged sheepishly.

"That happened only a few moments ago so I was only able to say it now. And the fish butler did try stopping him, but alas, it didn't work out that well~" Hatter quickly stood up, dragging Arthur by the hand and bringing him out of the room. The Duchess followed closely behind. "W-Wait, what's going on? Where are we going?" The blonde was still confused by the situation.

Hatter readied his gun at a side as he continued dragging Arthur. "Stop asking so many questions. It won't be safe for you to return back to the shop through the streets. The Duke may not be able to sense our presence, but that doesn't mean he won't be able to get you." Arthur shuddered at this. "Take the path that leads to the forest and stay there until I come and get you. Do not try to venture out like some idiot." The blonde nation nodded quickly.

"I want to help too." Duchess announced from behind with determination. "The only thing that you can help with now is stay put in here. It would be dangerous for you too." Duchess looked at Hatter with an unhappy expression but before she could say anything else, she was held back by the Cheshire Cat.

"No worries, I'll watch over my Mistress." The Duchess could only look on unhappily as she was led back to a safer place by the Cheshire.

The duo stepped out of the mansion where they would split up. "Remember to stay put in the forest. Even if you meet with the White Rabbit…don't worry too much about it. He won't be able to harm you." Hatter instructed, '…for now.' his mind supplied and the man cleared the thought away.

Arthur had no choice but to obey despite also wanting to help, but his instincts told him that the situation would turn out worse than before.

The two parted ways with Arthur heading towards the forest, unsure of who or what was waiting for him there, and Hatter running towards the town square, preparing himself for battle.

"What sort of temporary 'Alice' is he anyways?! Marianne doesn't need someone like that! Just when I thought the 89th Alice was finally rid of, another troublesome one appears!" A lone figure mumbled to himself in the darkness, all while staring at papers scattered on the floor with the words 'Arthur Kirkland' written on them.

"Don't need it…don't need it…don't need it..." The figure began tearing the papers into pieces one by one.

"Marianne doesn't need people like you… You're not Alice…"

"I will erase your existence…"

A/N: Okay, so genres of this story were supposed to be humour and adventure… But I got kinda carried away towards the end…I apologise for that. *bows* Though the ending of this chapter was oddly satisfying for me... Hopefully you all can give me suggestions on what you think of the ending!

On another note, should I include appearances of in-game characters? I'm not sure if I should but even if I do, they wouldn't really play that huge of a part in the story and it wouldn't spoil the game. Thank you all for reading and please do leave reviews and suggestions to help improve on the story!

Next chapter: An unexpected encounter – Where fates are sealed.