Disclaimer: (insert Charlie Brown School Teacher Voice here)

Authors Note: So we have mega chapter here. This is the longest one yet folks. And I hope you like it. Basically this chapter explains…A LOT. Plus we get Cheshire Cat out the wazoo. And blood, lots of it. Woot. Here comes those mature situations, so hide the kids. Reviews make me write more, and faster. They are my crack. GIVE ME.

Chapter 6

Falling

The fact that the air was rushing by her so quickly that she couldn't scream really annoyed her. Because screaming would have been helpful, at least to relieve the stress plummeting to her death was causing her. Strange what your brain does to take its mind off things.

Jessie fell past tree roots, rocks, and a few animal bones. Her eyes were watering too much to make out some of the other things that were along the shelf like dirt walls but she thought she caught a glimpse of books and jars. She missed the brass bed by inches, wondering if hitting the mattress would have been a benefit or not. Instead she kept falling…falling down further. She wondered if her Hatter had only saved her from jumping in her dream so that she could simply splatter on the floor of this rabbit hole (whenever she finally reached it), and what difference it really made in the grand scheme of things. He'd called the journey dramatic…traumatic would be a better word (trauma the important part.)

She tried to grab hold of something, but there was nothing to stop the descent. Her hand caught hold of what she thought was a branch, but it turned out, much to her dismay, to be the leg of a large piano. It started falling with her. Jessie suddenly knew what the poor bastard coyote felt like in all of those cartoons. And she finally found her voice to scream as the baby grand came closer.

As if by magic, it stopped an inch or so from her face. It mocked her by playing a tune on its chipped and stained ivory keys, and then it flew back up to where she'd found it…waiting for another potential visitor. The shock of the experience made her stop screaming for a full ten seconds and then she was flipped over by a gust of wind and landed hard, knocking the breath out of her.

She dared to move after realizing she wasn't dead and that she still had feeling in her fingers and toes. Cautiously she sat up, and realized the room was upside down. Then she realized that no, the room wasn't upside down she was. "Ack!!" She managed to say before she landed hard once again, this time right side up.

Jessie waited a little longer before moving this time, just in case the room was sideways or some really unhealthy MC Escher design. David Bowie would have been welcome, but she was tired of getting beat up by landing without warning.

She cracked open one eyelid and saw that there was no chandelier next to her, and it appeared blissfully to be an actual floor she was lying on. Jess was amazed nothing was broken. She didn't know how that was possible. "Maybe I'm dreaming." She wondered suddenly. "Maybe I'm still on the bus…" She sat up slowly and looked around. The room was familiar, and her eyes widened when she realized it was the room from her second dream of the Hatter, now fully formed. Well somewhat. The doors had been damaged by something, something big. And they were blocked and boarded up, even the tiny one in the far corner.

There was only one door left intact, an intricately carved wooden door with a dark finish and a handle that looked as though it was only recently added. Jessie's gaze narrowed studying it, then she shook her head in surprise. The handle was made of china, and she was sure it came from a teapot.

All around her was debris from the other doors and their destruction. Still sitting on the floor Jessie realized she was fairly scared. There was no way back up the way she'd come. "Jess, you know you're dreaming so just wake up." She told herself. Looking around she found a sliver of glass on the floor. She picked it up gingerly. "Wakey Wakey." She thought and then sliced the glass quickly over her forearm.

"Ouch!!"

"Silly girl…what did you expect that to do?" A smooth voice asked her from out of nowhere.

Jessie kept the glass in her hand, and turned to find nothing but empty space. "Who said that?" She shakily asked.

An eye appeared very close to her, floating in the air. A very big, very cat like eye. It was followed by a smile that was as big as her head was. "No way…" she breathed scooting back from the very fangy mouth.

The rest of the Cheshire Cat appeared and Jessie realized that it wasn't just Tarrant or Underland that was worse for wear. "Yes way silly girl. And look, you've hurt yourself again." Although his voice was the same nearly bored and laconic tone, the cat himself had been changed greatly. He wasn't as round and healthy as he was the many years before when Alice had first come to his world. He was thinner, leaner, and most notably missing an eye. In its place he had a custom made eye patch that his friend the Hatter had created for him.

It was designed with the same wonderful fabric that made up the Hatter's hat as he knew how much the cat loved the thing (so it might actually keep his claws away from his precious hat). It also went invisible when Chess chose to do so, because invisibility was only useful when all of you disappeared. A floating eye patch would simply be too obvious a give-away.

"The Cheshire Cat…" Jessie of course recognized the creature, the most famous feline in all of literature.

"You may call me Chess my dear, and what shall I call you this time?" He purred, his single eye dilating as his grin grew even wider.

"This time?" She asked aloud. "Oh, don't tell me…you think I'm Alice too." She rolled her eyes, but didn't put the glass shard down. The cat looked hungry.

"You think this is another dream don't you?" His smooth voice inquired. "Well my dear, you won't last long with that notion."

Jessie pursed her lips at the cat, who was now licking its paw and running it along its striped fur. He glanced at her with his single turquoise eye. "I could scratch your other arm for you if that injury isn't enough to convince you." He offered.

She sat back hard on the ground as her situation became clear to her. She really was in Wonderland. "I'm not Alice." She told him by way of response.

The cat laughed, finishing his impromptu bath. "Dear girl, you are in fact. Perhaps not totally her, but at least enough of her. You've changed over the years as we all have. But you began as Alice." He saw her look at him as though he was as mad as the Hatter himself. "Perhaps I can explain better than dear Tarrant, his mind does tend to get even more distracted when you are around. But what shall I call you since you are determined to refuse the name of Alice?"

Jessie couldn't help the little thrill that shot up her spine at the thought of The Hatter. Yes she was in a crazy place with things like Jabberwocks and Bandersnatches running about…but there was a jade eyed man who spoke her name like a song somewhere out there too. She took a deep breath of the room's musty air. "Jessica. But you can call me Jessie."

He appeared right next to her head, floating causally. "And as I said, you can call me Chess. Chess and Jess…a match you might say hmmm?" The cats smile was even more disconcerting this close up. He looked app to either eat her face or take a nap…or both. And yet Jessie found herself tempted to rub his belly.

"Quite the pair Chess." She said and hesitated. Then went ahead and held out her hand. The cat looked at it and then floated towards it, pushing his head against her fingers. She scratched his ear and he purred loudly. "So smiley, how do I get out of here?" she asked him.

The cat after another few seconds of scratching (it had been a terribly long time since he'd been able to get that particular spot some much needed attention) floated away from her fingers with a sigh. "Follow me my dear, as it happens I've been waiting for you. It seems my lot in these lives to take you to the Hatter. But I at least have some tales to entertain you with along the way."

He evaporated his way through the door with the teapot handle. Jessie, gap mouthed at the sight, finally stood up on unsteady legs. She placed her only weapon on the table top…then touched the table briefly with trembling fingers remembering what had happened in the dream.

"We really should start moving along…the swine will be looking for you no doubt." The cats head was sticking out through the wood, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. And to him it was she guessed.

Jessie squared her shoulders and walked towards the door. She grasped the handle gently and turned it. Chess's head withdrew to the other side, and the door swung open giving her the first view she'd had of Wonderland.

Her dream hadn't done it justice. The door led to the gardens and forest that she'd witnessed before. But the reality was so much more. The beauty that it had been was still there, but the soul…the soul truly was gone. The topiary creatures in the distance were overgrown, looking like mutated versions of themselves. The skull faced flowers were dark and grey, as was everything around them. There was a lack of color, a lack of life…and it made Jessie want to cry because she knew that it wasn't supposed to be like this.

The cat had paused, watching her face as she took in what had become of his home. Her home too actually, should she choose it. It wasn't her fault she'd never gotten the chance to stay. Death had a way of taking choices away from you. His one eye didn't blink as he watched the sorrow fill her face. For someone who supposedly had no idea or no prior knowledge of Underland, she certainly seemed shocked and saddened by what she was seeing.

Chess smiled his toothy grin. The Hatter would convince his lost lady love no doubt, or she would figure it out on her own. He'd play his part as he always did, and perhaps this time things would go differently. In fact, if there was to be a chance for Underland and its inhabitants at all they simply HAD to go differently.

The cat stretched, readying himself for the journey ahead as the woman came near him. "Not what you expected?" He asked her as she came to a stop next to a drooping skeletal rose.

"I wouldn't picture this as a place called Wonderland…no." She told him, shaking her head of red hair. That was new he noted absently. It reminded him of a favorite berry he'd eaten in the past, which were sadly nowhere to be found thanks to the swine.

"Yes, well, that was always your pet name for it. But you are seeing Underland not at its best I'm afraid." He floated forward, beckoning her with a shake of his head. "It's only gotten worse and now we've only one chance left to make this right again."

Jessie followed him, her sneakers crunching the dead grass and leaves beneath them. "What happened Chess? You said you had some tales for me. So let's hear them."

The cat was pleased with this new incarnation's forthrightness. His head turned full back around to face her while his body stayed pointing forward, floating languidly. "Are you sure you want to hear that particular story my flaming tressed Jess?"

Most likely she wouldn't like what he had to tell her, but she knew she had to find out sometime. "No I'm not sure. But I want you to tell me anyway."

The blinked his eye at her, then turned his head back to facing the direction they were walking. "Well then it's a good thing we've got a ways to go then. I'll start at the beginning or what you would consider the beginning…you came…" here he paused for effect, "I mean Alice came back to Underland."

She gave him a glare but said nothing.

The cat smiled, able to feel her dark blue gaze on his back fur quite clearly. "The Jabberwocky was slain, and the Red Queen and the Knave were banished. We thought that was the end of things. The Hatter and Alice had vanquished the foes of Underland and the White Queen was back on the throne."

"Sounds happy." Jessie commented, ducking under a low hanging branch of a withered tree that the cat evaporated through.

"It was, for some." His smooth voice commented, glancing back at her. "But not for dear Tarrant. You see, Alice left him here, and returned to her world above."

Jessie looked up at him. "But she came back…that's what Tarrant had said."

"Yes, she did come back. She remembered her time here, and she remembered the Hatter most of all." The cat sounded bored again. "So romantic you know."

Jessie's lips curled in a half smile. "You have a way with a story cat."

"Oh but it gets better, as you can see." He was looping himself in circles as their way through the decimated landscape. "Alice returned to her Hatter and he was content for a time. Even planned a wedding to his fair love. But it can never be that easy can it?"

She winced at the mention of a wedding. He hadn't said anything about that during the dreams. "No it's usually not Chess."

The cat glanced back at her change in tone, but wisely decided not to say anything about it. He continued with his story. "What we didn't know was that the Red Queen and the Knave surprisingly hadn't killed one another while wandering the outer reaches. Instead the Red Queen found tribe of creatures who worshiped a terrible power not known in Underland for a very long time."

"Those monsters who look like…." Jessie began.

"Swine. Yes, that's what we call them and they don't seem to mind while they are pummeling you." The cat waited for her to catch up to him and then started floating again. "They had a magic that she wanted, she saw the power that could be had from it. It was called Udooun, and it's quite a nasty bit of work."

Jessie shivered when she heard the name pass his whiskered lips. "So how did she get this power?"

"Since she already had a mastery over living things, she was a natural to absorbing the power. But it had to be earned. A price had to be paid." He stopped and Jessie would have ran into him, but he was like a ghost and she faded right through. He reappeared in front of her again face next to hers. "This is the part you need to pay close attention to my dear."

She eyed him warily. "Okay…" her voice sounded nervous to her own ears.

He gave her another of those glances and started forward once again. "The magic demanded a double sacrifice, a pure soul and a tainted one to be cursed for her to gain her mastery of the magic and the swine as an army. The Knave was first. Stayne was handily right there with her and he was tainted more than enough to meet the criteria."

Jessie couldn't believe it. "She killed the Knave of Hearts?"

"She cursed him, but he had to die for that to start." He chewed at a claw as he causally discussed the death of the Knave. There was obviously no love lost there. "He's not quite alive, not quite dead. He's a puppet for her now, more than he ever was completely alive."

"She made him a zombie." Jessie shuddered at the thought. Great, that's just what she needed wandering around here with her too.

The cat pondered the word. "Zzzzombieee…hmmm…I like that." He flipped about again, seemingly bored staying in the same position while floating for too long. "In any event, the second part of her price had to be paid."

"A pure soul." She said, not wanting to hear this part for some reason. She felt a bit sick to her stomach, which considering the fall she'd just dealt with meant this was going to be bad.

"Yes, a pure soul." Chess let out a sigh. "The Big Headed witch had heard the news of course. Alice had returned. It was a well known fact that the slayer of the Jabberwocky was planning on staying. And the engagement had also been on the lips of everyone. The Bloody Red Queen knew there would be no purer of a soul than Alice. And the added torment it would cause to The Hatter would only sweeten her porridge as it were."

They'd come to a fork in the road and the night sky had fallen while they had walked. Chess paused in his story and in his floating. Jessie nearly ran into him again, but stopped herself. It had grown quite cold while they'd been walking, and her sweatshirt was only so thick. Her breath fogged in the night air.

"We should stop for awhile." The cat said, peering around a tree trunk. "Swine are about during the night, patrolling. They have orders to find any and all of the resistance that remain and take them to the Queen. And they'll know you are here by now."

Jessie pulled her hoodie closer about herself. She felt disappointed. She'd hoped to see the Hatter soon. "I don't want you captured on my account Chess." She told the cat.

The feline smiled a predator grin. "Oh it would take more than a few snouts to take me my dear. It took a whole battalion just to snag an eye." He winked at her saucily. "You should rest for a while anyway. That fall takes it out of you every time." He motioned for her to follow him. "This way, I have a place for you."

He led her quietly to a hollowed out trunk, covered over with barely green brush to hide the entrance. It was narrow, but she could sit down inside the base of the trunk and rest. And she was suddenly very tired. She pulled her hood over her ears to keep them warm, and with Chess's help covered the opening back up with the bushes. He appeared inside in a puff of smoke next to her. His fur was luminous in the dark as was his one brilliant eye as it looked up at her.

"Are you hungry Chess?" She asked him, digging into her bag that had managed to stay on her during the fall. She was amazed to find her cell phone wasn't busted up into a hundred pieces (but of course there was no service available.)

The cat looked at her dubiously. "What do you have in there?"

Jess pulled out a protein bar and a pack of gum. "Wow, we're so feasting." She laughed.

"I'll pass, thank you." He preened himself while she gobbled down the bar, stuffing the wrapper back in her bag.

"So…" she prodded, albeit reluctantly. "You were saying …'

The cat floated next to her shoulder. "I'm surprised you really want to know this part…but if you insist." He flipped over on his back, reclining on one paw in the air. "Being the fan of cards that she was, the Queen came up with a brilliant curse for Alice and the Hatter would be damaged in the bargain. The Queen found Alice the day before her wedding to Tarrant. And in a fury she fought the girl, winning thanks to her new found powers and the element of surprise. But before her last breath passed her lips, and as Tarrant ran to her side, somehow knowing she'd been harmed, the Queen cursed her. 54 cards make up a deck, with the two jokers of course, and so it would be that the Hatter would find and lose his Alice 54 times over and over again."

Jessie's eyes widened in the dark, the cat saw. Her lips moved without her knowing it, repeating the Hatter's words to her "53 times…"

The flipped over twice, his head staying in the same position. "Alice wasn't supposed to remember Underland or the Hatter. But he would remember her. And of course poor Tarrant, already a shambles in his own right, was devastated. She died in his arms beside the lake at the White Queens palace. And with Alice's first death the Red Queen received her full power of the dark magic. Her forces started to slowly take over Underland, and the White Queen's armies were driven back inch by inch. Over time…well you see what has happened."

Jessie felt a tear fall to her cheek. She wiped it away, and found a few more escaping her eyes. "And Tarrant?"

Chess settled back onto the ground. "He'd find Alice, or Alice would find him. He is a determined sort of madman, and for some reason still an optimist when it comes to you…I mean her. But each time, it ended as the first one did. The Queen finds a way and she dies, like a chess match played out with living hearts and pawns. I truly think the Queen enjoys that part of this whole debacle more than ruling the whole of Underland. She really is a mean big headed bitch…if you pardon my language."

"Apt description I'd say." She said, trying to get the lump that had formed in her throat back down. "God, how does he keep…going?" Jessie asked softly, trying to fathom how much agony he'd been put through.

The cat looked up at her, his one eye wise, his voice lacking its typical laconic tone. "Love." He said simply.

He settled down on the dirt floor, curling his tail beneath him. Jessie drew her knees up, pulling the sleeves of her sweatshirt down over her cold fingers. It was quiet for a minute. "Chess…"

"Yes dearie?" He knew she'd not be able to resist asking questions. Curiosity and all that.

"Alice came here a little over a hundred years ago I think…or close to that. How could there have been 53 Alice's to appear?" He could hear the confusion in her voice.

"Darling Jessie, time is a funny thing in Underland. It doesn't move as it does in your world, nor does your world's time move like it does here. Mix them together and a soul can reappear over and over again." He yawned. "Poor Tarrant has managed to hang on, which is surprise to many who know him. I'm sure the Red Queen had no idea he had the strength of…well…mind to hold on this long."

She shivered, from the now very chilly air and from what kind of hell The Hatter had been through. "Chess, what happens when the 54th Alice shows up?" She asked very softly.

The cat looked out through the brush covering their hiding place. "If she dies, then so does the true Underland. And the Red Queen wins. You've seen what she's done here. The White Queen is in hiding, the people are terrified. And the old resistance, well we're not all there are we?"

He heard a little sob escape her throat, something she obviously was trying to hold back, and it softened him up, surprising even him. He turned to look at her with a less menacing smile. "There is talk of a way that we can break the Queen's curse and restore Underland. But it will take this Final Alice and those that fought before to do it." He patted her leg with a sharp clawed paw. "Don't worry your pretty red head about it for right now though. The Final Alice has yet to appear correct? So all you need to think on is resting for a while." He winked at her again.

"Cats." She muttered, trying to get comfortable as well as could be in a dead tree trunk. Somehow she managed to fall asleep, the Cheshire next to her.

During the night Chess heard her making noises in her sleep. Little half cries that were pitiful in their tone. She was also shivering like mad. He let out a sigh and floated towards her. Lowering himself onto her lap, and kneading himself a comfortable spot there, sharing the insulation of his fur. His presence and the extra warmth seemed to help abate the bad dreams and she settled down. If the Hatter found out he'd let her freeze he'd have his skin for sure. "Humans." He muttered and then closed his eye, going back to sleep.

The night was a quiet one and the Cheshire Cat and his companion had peaceful, dreamless sleep as it passed them by. But Underland wasn't just dangerous at night; the days were just as perilous. Jessie found this out the hard way when a meaty, dirty hand reached through the bushes and grabbed her foot, dragging her into the open. She let out a cry as she was pulled through Chess, who also let out a hiss of surprise.

"Is this her?" The creature who grabbed her, a thick tusked half pig looking beast growled to the equally horrific beast next to him. There were six in total, and Jessie didn't know what to do while she lay on her back in the dirt.

The one to her right reared back with a cloven foot and kicked her in the ribs. The pain made her gasp, and she doubled in upon herself, curling into a ball holding her side. "Not sure. May want to take her to the corpse, have him answer." Her assailant said, drool dripping from his mouth.

Before another of them could speak, the cat appeared in the air over Jessie, protecting her and hissing like a snake, his fur on end and claws extended out like daggers. The Swine moved back, some of them bearing scars from their last fight with the Cheshire.

"It's the ghost!!" One of the monsters said aloud. For his trouble he was the first one that Chess jumped on, his claws sinking into the things pink flesh deeply, digging at its eyes. The Swine reacted quickly, moving to try and pull the cat from their comrade's face. Their leader directed the solider nearest Jessie to stay with her. He happened to be the one who liked kicking. So he did it again, laughing as the girl coughed.

The rest of the pigs swarmed their now bloody companion. He was making terrible screaming noises as Chess ripped his face to pieces. One of the soldier's managed to pry him off, tossing him backwards. The cat landed on his feet, the eye of his victim clenched between the teeth of his now red tinted smile.

The wounded Swine held a mottled hand to his now empty, bleeding socket. "Kill him!!!" He was saying between gasps. The leader looked over to the guard standing above Jessie. "Kill her too!" He ordered.

The Swine grinned down at her, a truly horrible thing to behold. She looked over at Chess who had spat the eye back out at its owner, taunting him. Jessie tried to move, tried to scramble away, to put up some kind of fight. But there was nothing she could do as the monster assigned her death grabbed her by the hair and lifted her up to her feet. She kicked out, connecting with his legs, the punched and scratched, but it did no good. He had on armor and he outweighed her by two hundred pounds or more.

She growled, kicked some more, deciding she'd at least give the bastard a bruise. Jessie saw out of the corner of her eye the creatures other arm lift holding a very large, sharp looking knife. He grinned with his misshapen mouth, and she heard the sounds of the other Swine swarming the cat. "He's going to die because of me…" she thought, angry at the fact, and even angrier she didn't get to at least see the Hatter before she died too. If by some miracle she lived through this, she decided she'd eat bacon at least once every day for the rest of her life as a big screw you to these things.

The Swine's arm reared back, and Jessie found she couldn't look away, the blade glinting in the sun. And then it was gone. Not just the knife, but the entire forearm of the soldier. Her eyes widened as blood splattered her face and the front of her shirt and the soldier screamed in pain, releasing her hair and letting her drop to the ground, next to the severed limb.

Jessie looked down at the still twitching fingers, and then quickly looked back to her captor trying to figure out what had just happened. Standing there in the sunlight, holding what could only be described as a Claymore sword was Tarrant. His hat sat atop his head, glinting gold and green, his coat dark as onyx. The Hatter's face was a mask of fury with gleaming red eyes peering out from black lids, his white cheeks speckled with blood, lips pulled back in a snarl.

"Ye don't touch her." He spoke in a voice that caused the others to pause, the threat and menace intimidating even them. Another swing of the large sword and the soldier's head joined his arm on the ground, followed by his now lifeless body.

Their would be captors realized that the Cheshire Cat was no longer the main threat. "Get him!!!" their leader grunted. And the men came at them. Tarrant smiled, not a pleasant one, head bowing slightly and eyes glowing with anticipation. He brought his sword to the ready, licking his lips.

Jessie felt something pulling on her arm and turned to see the cat there, trying to get her to move before she was trampled. She managed to scramble out of the way just as the five remaining Swine set to do battle with the Mad Hatter. It was a slaughter. The Swine had no chance at all, but she didn't feel sorry for them in the least. Tarrant moved like a dancer, holding the massive sword like an artist would a brush their blood his chosen paint. He cleaved, swiped and moved as if in slow motion. Not a single Swine was able to touch him. But not a one of them avoided his blade.

"Good god…" Jessie breathed, holding her throbbing side, awed by the spectacle.

Next to her, Chess was tending to his left paw which looked hurt. "I wondered when he'd show up." He said, licking his wound. "He must have sensed it the moment you arrived and started this way. Always knows how to make an entrance."

Jessie couldn't stop watching him. When the last of their attackers fell to the ground, most of them minus a head, Tarrant stilled. He was breathing heavy, and after a moment he stuck the point of his sword into the ground leaning on its hilt trying to still his heart. She watched as the black ebbed from both around his eyes and his coat. The fabric faded to a dark blue, his eyes going from red to green. He was still staring at the ground, sucking in gulps of air.

Jessie stood, unsteady, the pain in her side causing little stars to flash in her vision. She took a step closer to him, then another. He was really there, in front of her…all color and fire and fury. She held her ribs, simply staring.

He stood up straight after another few seconds hand still on the hilt of the sword. He turned to her slowly; almost as if afraid she'd vanish. He actually looked ashamed. His lips parted, but no words came out. His eyes were wide, green and brilliant. Suddenly her side didn't hurt and she found herself running. His arms were around her in the next moment and they both fell to their knees, oblivious to the red gore soaking the ground around them, just holding tightly to each other. "You're here…" he said, face buried in her hair. His voice was the soft, slightly lisping sound she recognized.

"So are you." She told him, her nose buried in the lace of his shirt collar. He smelled like orange pekoe and licorice, and she drank the scent in, better than it had ever been in a dream. She was not bothered in the least by the coppery tinge of blood just under the surface.

A few feet away the Cheshire Cat watched as the two were reunited for the first and perhaps last time. His tail swished happily as he batted about his spoil of war for the day, the eye looking up at him unblinking.