Chapter 7: This is a Game and You Must Play by the Rules
(Red-and-White Queen's POV)
My lips were set in a firm line as I did my best to cover my true feelings. Andrew called for me to help with his new "game." So here I was… sitting across from him looking down at the map of Wonderland. Judging from the look on his face, I know he is up to no good. I resisted the urge to rub my temples. As if things with Alice and Ace hadn't been bad enough!
"Now, my dear Constance, there seems to be a little bit of a setback in my plans."
I forced back a sigh of relief. "A setback?"
"Yes," the Jabberwocky frowned. "Nightmare has been a bit too clever." He picked up the piece that represented the caterpillar. "He was such a good piece too…"
My eyebrow twitched ever so slightly causing Andrew to laugh.
"Tut tut! Don't get so worried over this fine little piece of mine. I won't touch him… yet." He grinned evilly at me.
"Then…" I said coolly. "What do you plan on doing?"
"Oh wouldn't you like to know, Constance?" He gathered several pieces from off the map. I could tell he was holding Elinor…
"Nightmare informed them of the little problem much sooner than I would have liked," Andrew suddenly continued. "But things are still according to plan, Elinor and Blood have to go around Wonderland finding the broken pieces of the world and fix it. Quite fun, don't you think?"
I stared at him dumbfounded. I had no idea he actually went that far!
"You… you didn't…." I managed to murmur in shock.
"Now, now, I'm quite sure the two will be capable of fixing this little mess of theirs." He waved me off. "The mirror world isn't that dangerous."
"But with broken pieces?! Andrew! How could you be so careless? Don't you know how dangerous that is? Mirror worlds are not to be played with!"
The Jabberwocky chose to ignore my words and concentrate on the pieces in his hands. "Mirror, mirror…" He set Elinor down in front of the Clock Tower. "I wonder what new rules will be in store for you and your little friends?"
I stared at Andrew incredulously. "New… rules?!"
"But of course," was his reply. "With a new game, there must be new rules for our pieces to play by."
(Blood's POV)
This was not at all what I had in mind… but the more I think about it, I've seen that this could work in my favor. If I work together with Elinor, perhaps she will slowly fall in love with me. Then, my revenge would be complete and I can get out of this place! I felt a smile tug at my lips as I looked towards Nightmare.
"So, how do we go about fixing the broken pieces?"
The Incubus let out a sigh. "That… I'm afraid I do not know."
I could feel the anger rising off of Elinor… She definitely inherited her anger from Alice and just took it to a whole new level.
"How are we supposed to fix it if we don't know how?!"
Nightmare shrunk back some, wary of angering our foreigner further. "I have Gray working on it."
"Great…" she mumbled.
I cleared my throat. "Well, I suppose that means you will alert us whenever you find out?"
Nightmare nodded. "That would be correct."
"So until then, we'll just stay here."
I could feel Elinor's eyes boring into me, but I chose to ignore her as I smiled pleasantly at Nightmare.
"Yes, that would make things much easier. I'd hate to be travelling around trying to find the two of you." He coughed. "Well, you two do your best not to cause more trouble." He shot a glare at me before disappearing with a quick farewell to Elinor.
"Stay here?" Elinor thwacked me with a nearby book. "Stay here?! Are you insane?" She gave me another thwack. "I don't know why I asked that… you're obviously insane since it's your fault that all this happened anyways!"
Such a sharp tongue…
"Come, come, Elinor. I didn't break the vile."
I didn't… Did I? I just remember a flash and seeing bits of broken glass before I passed out.
"You took my vile! That was one step wrong," she said accusingly, pointing her finger at me rather childishly.
I couldn't help but give her a fond smile. Haha, it reminds me of Alice. They are so very much alike in so many ways. They both acted rather child-like.
I reached out and patted her head. "Very mature, Elinor."
She bit her lip and glared at me. I bet I got her on that one, judging by her silence and look.
"Blood…" Her fists were clenched tightly against her sides.
I coughed back a chuckle. "Yes?"
It seemed to take every ounce of self-control for her to speak civilly. "If you would so kindly tell me where exactly my room is? And it would be so nice if you had it on the opposite side of wherever yours is."
I took her hand-despite her protests-and led her out. "But that, would ruin all the fun. This is my mansion after all and here you play by my rules."
Elinor groaned. "Enough with all these rules! I just wanted a nice little visit… was that too much to ask?"
I chuckled darkly. "It is rare for anyone to get what they ask for in Wonderland."
Author's Note: Whew... It's been a little while since my last update. College has kept me pretty busy. XP But your reviews have been so encouraging! You guys seriously are the best. It really gave me a boost of encouragement to try and update. And well... I found a free version of a HnknA game for my phone sooo that definitely influenced me to start working on my Alice fics. :) I hope you guys enjoy this update. It's a little on the short side, but I felt that it has alot of important information packed into it.
Ah, I also was curious to know if you think Elinor will end up picking someone and if so who?! X3 So far I've heard of hints of JuliusxElinor and BlackxElinor. And well BloodxElinor is hinted at right now but honestly I'm not encouraging Elinor to go this way. Heh heh... I do have my own little plans but Elinor always has a mind of her own. I wonder who she gets that from? ;)
One last note! I saw this in one review and I'm sure the rest of you are wondering the same about the new Ace of Hearts. I meant to have him properly introduced in this chapter but things went a little differently than I had originally planned and I apologize. But he will have a proper introduction in the very near future!
