-Gilded Hearts-

Chapter VI: The Teapot Scandal

Mondays is for drinking to the seldom seen kid…

There's this whispering of jokers doing "Flesh by the Pond"

To a chorus of supposes from the little town whores

There'll be twisted karaoke at the Aniseed Lounge

And I'd bring you further roses but it does you no good.

-"Grounds for Divorce" Elbow

The Cheshire Cat's words were not a lie. The moment the Ace walked into the toilet of a place called The Teapot Bar, he knew he had come to the right location. It was a dive of a bar, hidden within Caterpillar Alley. In the past when the mob use to run the streets, this place was a definite hotspot where the leaders of the gang would get together and conspire of their next plans. Now after the fall of the mob family, the bar has been demoted to becoming a sad haven for the fallen and lost. It was always open; knowing full well there will always be somebody in search for a drink.

When one entered the Teapot Bar, one had to descend. Its entrance was a single door that opened the customer up to a lower floor where the stairs were the only way to get down. A large semi circle bar took up most of the floor; constructed out of smooth wood—not sanded down on purpose but eroded from the hands of customers over time. Radiating from the bar, like the sun of the solar system, were small tables scattered throughout the rest of the floor. It was hard for the newcomer to see for he was still standing high atop the stairs, only looking down upon a haze of cigarette smoke. The Knave smelled more than just cigarettes. The Teapot Bar, though stripped of its criminal clientele, still carried items of its scandalous past.

The Knave descended into the fog of smoke where the bartender caught him in his eye.

"Can I help you? You lost?" He folded his hairy arms on the wooded counter; staring the royal uniform down.

"No." The Knave kept his confidence. "I am looking for someone."

"People here don't come into this bar to be found." He answered. The Knave continued scanning the bar in search for that familiar face.

"Excuse me." The Knave nodded when he found one of the hiding. In the dark, the Ace meandered his way over to the other side of the bar; hidden in the far corner where the shadows were at its darkest. At the last stool sat a man hunched over the counter staring at himself through his half filled glass of whiskey—as if trying to remember what brought him here to begin with. Without saying a word the Knave merely sat next to him and began removing his gloves.

"I was wondering what took you so long to finally come to me." The stranger finally spoke in a gruff voice, made rough with the years of booze and smoke abuse. He swirled the last of his drink before draining it till the ice cubes rattled together.

"If you had been expecting to be asked in hopes of this investigation, why didn't you come to the station before?" The Knave waved at the bartender for him to fill up the man's glass for him. The gruff man eyed the Knave before giving up on the idea of resisting his bribery. With a thumb and forefinger, his fingers traced the slight goatee he had ringing around his mouth.

"Because…" The man watched as the bartender filled the glass to the brim; waiting for him to leave. "I know I would be no use to you."

"And why is that?"

"Everyone I know is either dead or in prison along with everything I knew." He took another slug from the glass.

"You can't be so sure." The Knave smiled as he watched the reflections of the glass.

"I can." The man answered. "I put them there." The smile that the Knave wore in hopes of easing the tension faded away; knowing that it was in vain. He drummed his fingers nervously on the counter.

"So you've got nothing on this killer?"

"This one is a new one." The man coughed before continuing. "He doesn't belong with the relics of Wonderland's past and that's the only information I know nowadays." He ran his fingers through a full head of graying hair.

"The past is a dangerous thing to set oneself on." The Knave began. "You might drown in it." The man laughed and held up his glass.

"If it tastes as good as this, then I don't mind." He took another drink before slapping his hand on the counter. "Sorry I can't help you, Aceman. I really hope you catch the bugger. I do."

The Knave sat up as if to leave but he stopped from turning. The man noticed the Knave's hesitation.

"Got another question?" He drawled out reluctantly. The Ace sat back down again.

"On another subject." The Knave turned towards him, his eyes tracing the man's profile. "A more personal one."

"Personal?" The man turned towards him with worried black eyes; slightly glazed over with too much whiskey.

"Since you're so apt in the past, maybe you can help me with mine."

"Ohhhhhh." The man smiled before turning back into staring ahead. "You're treading in dangerous waters, Knave."

"Not my past, but…I want to know the man who-''

"I know who you mean…" The man turned back and smiled. He looked past the Knave and began nodding as if remembering a past much better than the present. "You speak of the one before you."

"The first Knave of Hearts." The man saw a sense of desperation within the Knave's hazel eyes.

It made him a bit giddy of such control. It took him back to the old days when he had all the power of knowledge in the world and exploited it till it was all gone. Now his life has become the outcome of using such knowledge. Spending it till the last drop was gone. Thirsting for more to hold onto, the man now found himself a dried up and hollow thing of the past—with no place for the future ahead. His past was all locked up now. Gnawing at the bars that he had helped the police place.

He was a stool pigeon. A traitor and a snitch. Too bad no one else knew how heavy the burden of guilt weighed on his old soul because now he was offered to do it again.

"No." The man shook his head. "No good will come of it. It's best to keep the past in the past."

"Please—''

"You've got a good thing going, Knave. Ignorance is bliss and once you lose it…it's gone."

"Dormouse."

The one called Dormouse looked at the Knave. It's been a while since he heard it. Usually a person like him keeps to places where no one knows your name.

"Please, I need this." The Dormouse looked at him nervously and then back to his drink; reminding him that it'll always be there after this.

"Something went wrong." The Dormouse began. Remembering shadows through a fog—he was piecing together the past left untold. "No one never knew what. A fight. A mistake…I…Whatever did happen, the Queen did not forgive—and you know the Queen! He adored that sucker, so….whatever he did do, it must have been terrible." The Dormouse again looked into space, dazed and bored with the world around him. Almost like a seer, he was losing grips of the present and trying to peer into another dimension that showed more than his own.

"What happened to him?" The Knave begged.

"He was trashed. Rejected. Forgotten and never seen again."

"So he killed him—''

"Not exactly!" The Dormouse held a finger with a cheeky smile. "You see…there was no execution."

"So he's not dead? How can that be?"

"I don't know the Queen much but…I can't picture him having the heart to kill that son of a bitch."

So he's alive? Two Knaves walking around Wonderland…is that even possible?

"Where is he?" The Knave was becoming greedy with the answers. The Dormouse's bored expression was beginning to become too apparent. He thought for a while as he again ran his fingers through his dapple grey hair.

"I…"

"POLICE! EVERYBODY FREEZE! NOBODY MOVE!"

The Knave snapped to the entrance and found a police raid about to storm through the doors. The customers were almost all gone—hustling around like frantic animals to all forms of exits.

Shit! A drug raid! Perfect fucking timing.

"Dormouse!" The Knave reached behind him but turned. "Stay with—''

He turned around to only find the Dormouse long gone. Vanished without a trace…

That was a lie. The Knave saw that he made sure he'd drink the last of his Whiskey.

REVIEW PRETTY PLEASE WITH SUGAR ON TOP!

It was fun writing this chapter. I really liked portraying the Dormouse's character. I hope it wasn't too obvious who "the man" was. Originally I wanted it to be a mystery until revealed at the very end. I hope I stayed well to the manga's portrayal. So this chapter was a bit more exciting I hope. The Knave learned more of the one before him but obviously not enough—totally gonna haunt him in chapters to come. But we know that the man before him was adored by the Queen, so that's gonna make the Knave jealous it not doubtful of the Queen's trust in him. Next time we'll see another famous Wonderland character in a chapter where the case comes to a close and the line of who to trust becomes blurred where corruption continues to rule the streets of Wonderland!

Next chapter: The Tweedles

Please leave a review!