Walking through the forest, the trio were unaware of a person watching them.

"Hmm?" hummed the figure. "Not just one, but three foreigners have entered the game. And at the perfect time as well. This is bound to be an interesting April season."

"Hey idiot!" said a voice from seemingly no where, "Stop slacking off and get back to work! Another one escaped and the last thing I need is you wasting time stalking girls!"

"Calm yourself, Joker." said the person as he turned around. Walking forward the man faded into thin air.


"Oh how I love being outside!" sang Silvia, twirling in a circle. After leaving the Hatter compound, Silvia's mood had improved significantly. Jewel watched her friend as she listened to her music. She loved it when Silvia acted like this, since she only showed this side of her when she was outside. Turning her head to look into the forest she saw what seemed to be a man watching them.

"Hey! Do you see that guy?" Jewel asked her friends. Cadence looked to see where she was pointing.

"What guy?"

"That guy right over-", but when Jewel turned to look again the man had disappeared. "I could have sworn that there was a creepy guy over there!"

Cadence and Silvia simply shrugged, thinking that it wasn't a big deal. Pouting, Jewel followed her two friends as they walked on. As the trio continued down the path, their surroundings became darker as they wandered deeper into the forest. Soon enough wooden arrows painted in all sorts of colors began appearing on the trees.

Suddenly Silvia spoke up. "I love the outdoors, especially at night, but this is kind of creepy..."

Jewel agreed,"Definitely creepy. And what's with the signs? They lead nowhere, plus they're impossible to read."

Noticing that Cadence hadn't spoken in a while, the two turned to check on their friend. However, she was nowhere near them.

"Where is she!?" asked Silvia, instantly worried. Peering down the path behind them, Jewel saw a silhouette standing in the middle of the trail several meters away.

"There she is!" exclaimed Jewel, taking of down the trail toward their friend. Once they reached Cadence they found there friend unresponsive, simply stand in the pathway staring at something that wasn't there. Noticing this, Silvia shook her shoulder.

"Cadence? Cadence! Snap out of it!" she said. At the sound of her name, Cadence jolted.

"W-what?!" asked Cadence, looking around in confusion. Silvia and Jewel watched her with concern.

"You zoned out." stated Jewel. "You just stood there staring at nothing."

"But how did we end up here?"

Silvia watched her friend,"what do you mean? We fell down that hole."

Cadence shook her head. "No. I mean how did we end-" Cadence suddenly cut off, as if realizing something. "Never mind."

Silvia wasn't convinced. "You sure?"

"Yeah," responded Cadence. "Let's go." With that the three of them continued on. Oddly enough, they soon found themselves in a large clearing filled with circus tents.

"A circus?" asked Silvia. "What is a circus doing this far back in the woods?"

"And why would a circus be anywhere else?" said a voice behind them.

Cadence, Jewel, and Silvia whirled around. There stood a man dressed as a jester, although the coloring of his clothing that bright, silly, coloring of most other jesters. Rather that the bright oranges, yellows, and purples of most clowns, this man was dressed in black, grey, and deep red colors. Striding forward, he approached the girls and gave a grand bow to them.

"Welcome to the circus!" he greeted. "My apologies for startling you three. My name is Joker, ringleader of the circus. May I ask where you are headed?"

"I'm Jewel! And this is Silvia and Cadence!" said Jewel.

"Ah! What interesting names! A precious stone, a flow of music, and a girl from the forest." said Joker as he turned to Jewel. Suddenly a bouquet of flowers appeared in his hand as he held them out to her,"These are for you."

"No thanks," rejected Jewel, pushing them away. "I don't take flowers from people I just met." Silvia chuckled at his surprised face.

"Ha ha ha ha! That's what you get for being a creep Joker!" A voice shouted, seemingly coming from Joker. Chuckling, he watched as the girls looked for the source of the voice.

"Joker!" he lightly reprimanded,"That was rather rude!"

Silvia watched as Joker seemingly talked to himself, did he have multiple personalities? The voice that spoke a moment before had sounded exactly like Joker. Maybe it was an act? He was a jester after all, but the comment was rather rude for a jester. Cadence seemed to have the same idea.

"Um...," she uneasily spoke. "Was that some sort of joke?"

"Joke?!" The voice spoke again, this time Silvia realized that Joker wasn't speaking. "What makes you think this is a joke, idiot?!"

"Ahahaha..." Joker nervously chuckled, using a hand to cover the drama mask pinned to his sash/skirt thing, Jewel didn't really know what to call it. "Please forgive him, my dear. He doesn't think sometimes. Now then! You have yet to answer my question, where would you like to go?"

Jewel answered him. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because only I can change the seasons to the territory you wish to travel to, dear Jewel."

The girls were seriously beginning to wonder if this guy was safe to be around. The way he addressed the them as well as the voice that sounded like him was rather unnerving.

"Well," started Cadence, glancing at her friends,"we aren't certain where we want to go." However, looking at Silvia she made a decision. "Actually we do!"

Jewel and Silvia looked at their friend with confusion as she continued. "We want to go to the territory that currently has winter." Silvia immediately lit up, happy to be visiting her favorite season.

"Very well then!" Joker smiled. Looking to Silvia he continued,"I assume that winter is you favorite season. However," he paused, turning back to Cadence,"in order to travel one of you must beat me in a game of cards."

"Ok. I'll challenge you." said Silvia, speaking for the first time.

"Wonderful!" Joker led her over to a table next to the fence, motioning for her to sit as he stood on the other side. "Now then my dear, what game would you like to play?"

"Um, three thirteen."

"A wonderful choice!" praised Joker as he dealt the cards. "Shall we begin?"


"Congratulations my dear, you won!" said Joker. With a snap of his fingers a blast of chilly air fell over Wonderland. "I hope you enjoy the snow, but you must not go out in that!" With yet another snap of his fingers all three girls were suddenly wearing winter coats. Cadence's was a light gray color with light green music note buttons, Jewel had a navy blue coat with clear,shiny gem-like buttons, and Silvia wore a light brown coat with light green leaf-shaped buttons.

"There. Now you're ready for a winter wonderland! Have fun!" said Joker.

"Thank you!" Cadence said as she and Jewel walked off, dragging Silvia along before she could protest the generous gift.