As the Hatter recovered from his 'episode', the Queen looked once again over the rag-tag group that had assembled. All – save for Alice – her subjects and all – including Alice, this time – willing to put their lives on the line to put her back on her rightful place as The Queen Of Hearts, Ruler of Wonderland. Even if they weren't actually aware that they would be willing to put their lives on the line. The Queen grinned smugly to herself. That's what Nigel's for, She supposed. Making sure everybody stays on target…
Alice walked swiftly up to the Queen and treaded softly over Bill, careful not to bump her foot in to his injured leg. "Your highness –"
"Please dear," the Queen cooed. "There's no need for such formality, I'm not the Queen at the moment."
"Of course, your highness, it's just that I think it best if we kept going. Mrs. Shire was telling me that the Butterfly has already sent word to the Tweedles of what we're attempting to do."
The Queen nodded. "Very well then, we will away as soon as we are prepared."
Alice nodded compliantly and performed a short curtsy. "But, what are we attempting to do?"
With a haughty laugh the Queen pulled Alice in to a tight hug which lasted several moments. When she released her, the Queens eyes were brimming with tears. "Never you mind darling, there's very little I believe we'd need you for aside from being here. Your presence alone was enough to spark this, after all."
Alice smiled shyly back at the Queen. "Thank you, your highness."
The Queen hugged her once again and then turned to Mrs. Shire. "Well, Cheshire, where are we to meet the Tweedles?"
With quiet indifference, Mrs. Shire continued to lick at her paws without so much as a glance at the Queen. "Alice knows the way. She knows which way we are to go." She said between licks.
The ensemble turned to stare at the girl in blue, her hair slightly out of place and her frock dirty and somewhat torn.
The Hatter replaced his hat on the top of his head (after first trying to wear it as a shoe). His homicidal grin once again plastered his face and he skimmed his fingers along the rim of his hat. "Muffins then, I suppose we shall all be lost within the hour. Any takers? Odds are currently three to one."
Alice sat down angrily at the base of a tree while the Hatter and Bill exchanged coins, one with quite the more glee than the other. "Well that settles it then!" Squealed Nigel with glee. "Time is most certainly on my side still!"
Bill rolled his eyes and leant a little more on to his good leg. "Aye, and you don't e'en have tha' enchanted table o'yours to maneuver it…"
The girl glared up at the two men with resentment. "Well, if you two hadn't been so busy cavorting around the trail after butterflies -"
"I can explain that!" Interjected the Hatter. "You see, it all began when I threw a lump of butter at Marchy one day and… And indeed." He finished, then pulled his hat over his head once more.
Alice looked achingly at the man. "It's alright Hatter, I know you miss him." She removed herself from the ground and pulled him in to a hug. "At least he's in a better place now."
The Queen half snorted and half laughed. "Ha! My dear, do you know what become of the March Hare?" She strode towards her with her arms crossed. "He was bought out by the Ace to kill Nigel. Since that contract never ended, neither has his service to the Ace."
Alices eyes narrowed slightly.
"Since then, he has been an assassin for the Imperial Forces and is loyal only unto the Ace."
The Hatter growled slightly from under the brim of his hat and Alice placed a hand on his shoulder to silence him.
"If that is the case, then we will ensure that if he ever does find us, then he will know how much we still care for him."
The Hatter tore the hat from over his face and slammed it firmly down upon his head once again and began to continue onwards without so much as a glance back. "Come on, Alice. We must continue onwards. By a route obscure and lonely, haunted by ill angels only where an Eidolon, named night, on a black throne reigns upright."
Alice started to speak to him, but he disappeared around a tree with only his inane ramblings reaching her.
Before the fall of night, when they had been wandering in the forest for many an hour, Alice stroked her fingers carefully along the bark of a tree. It had been scarred and scored by many a powerful blow from what was most likely to be swords, probably from some long forgotten quarrel over nothing.
The Queen lifted her head skywards and flinched as the first drops of rain splattered along her brow. She sighed with resignation and clapped her hands thrice to gain the attention of the group. "We'd best find a place to spend the night, it's starting to rain –" A medium sized cat fell out of the sky and bolted for cover, followed by two small dogs and a Doberman. " – Quite heavily."
Alice squealed as a Chihuahua landed in her arms and she swiftly dropped the dog which disappeared somewhere around her feet.
The Hatter stopped and spun around in a circle a few times to try and remember where everyone had gone, as he kept forgetting each time he went around. "Not to worry! I have just the remedy to remove the cause, though I can do nothing about the symptom!" He removed his hat and fiddled around in side of it.
Alice was sure she could hear the faint sounds of rattling and tinkling from inside it before he withdrew his hand and ducked under the hat. "I suggest you all press yourselves to the pound – I mean ground." He corrected himself as a Pomeranian landed squarely on his back.
Alice, the Queen and Bill did as they were instructed and with a strange whirring noise, the brim of the hat shot outwards and covered a full five meter radius. The Hatter positioned himself beneath it and dropped it on to his head. "Come on in now, children! You can't spend all night out there."
The trio scurried for a place under the ridiculously large hat and sat back to back in the centre, grateful to be out of the storm.
Hours passed, and while it continued to rain cats and dogs, the darkness grew lighter as if the sun were beginning to rise. Soon after, the rain stopped.
Alice nudged the snoring Hatter in the ribs and asked him what the matter was with the weather.
"Who knows?" He replied. "I stay out of its business, and it stays out of mine."
The girl grinned at the normality of his reply while madness reigned around. Just like that poem! She realized. "One fine day in the middle of the night, two dead men got up to fight. Back to back they faced each other, drew their swords and shot each other." As the final word left her mouth, the ground below them began to shake and crack apart.
Nigels eyes flashed open and the Bill shrieked in the same high-pitched, girly tone as the Queen. "Muffins! Now you've gone and done it!" He pulled the hat off of his head and shook it, the brim flapping in and returning to its regular size.
A clawed, decaying hand shot up from the ground and groped around in the air above, joined by a second, then a third, then a fourth.
Alice couldn't help but stare on in wonder as the two pairs of arms pulled two bodies from the packed earth. Each stood no more than five feet high and were as round and robust as the tree that they had been buried under, and aside from their heads facing the wrong direction, the corpses were in surprisingly good condition. As they drew themselves up, the two turned back to back and began to converse. "Well!" Began one, with a thick English accent. "I must say, that was without a doubt the rudest awakening I have ever experienced." "Quite so!" Proclaimed the second. "When I find the one that dared to such a terrible job of bringing us back then I shall most likely knock his or her bleeding head off."
Alice cleared her throat, all the while thinking that it perhaps was not the smartest thing to do. "Umm… Excuse me, good sirs. I'm dreadfully sorry but I believe it was me that woke you and I never meant to and I'm really, really, awfully sorry."
The two men looked up at her and raised their eyebrows in perfect unison. "One moment please miss." They turned so that they were facing – yet not facing – her and lifted their heads off, swapped them, and placed them on the correct way around.
Alice hid her face from the spectacle and felt bile rising in the back of her throat at the sounds that issued from the pair.
"You may look now, if you so please, miss."
Alice looked up at the Hatter and the Queen, who both gave her amused smiles and nodded. She turned her head back to the pair and gasped at them.
"Tweedles Dum and Dee, at your service." They said in unison with a deep bow.
