A fire crackled merrily from a bundle of dead sticks that the Hatter had found, the teapot over the top of them slowly bringing its self to boil as the group listened to the twins recount their orders. "We are to escort the three of you –"
"What about me?!" Interrupted Bill.
The Tweedles stared at him with identical looks of disdain. "You're expendable." The two replied.
Bills head sunk and Alice patted his hand tenderly. "Continue, and no more personal remarks, they're very rude."
Nigel snorted in to his tea.
"Well." The twins resumed in unison. "We are to escort the three of you to the house of Gryffin, there in you will learn the secret of defeating the Ace. Unfortunately, the only way to get there is by taking a slight detour..."
The Queen raised her eyebrow at them, but spoke nothing.
"It's a small, unlikely, infinitesimally unlikely, probably-not-even-worth-worrying-about chance that we may or may not possibly have to consider the chance of attempting to cross the Pool of Tears."
The Twins cowered as outrage flashed over the faces of both the Queen and Nigel, Nigel throwing a teacup at them and the Queen dropping back in to her old habit of ordering beheadings.
"Never in a Brazilian years will I let Alice go anywhere near that horrid place!" Blurted out Nigel, unaware that a Brazilian wasn't actually a number.
The Queen glared at the twins, causing them to shrink away with fear. "What the hell sort of game do you think you're playing at?"
Alice stood in confusion. "But... But I don't understand! What's so terribly about the Pool of Tears? I mean, if I recall correctly, I created it last time, didn't I?"
The Hatter gently placed a hand on his charges shoulder and drew her back to the ground with him. "Yes, Alice, and that's exactly the point. It's congested with sorrow and fear, backlogged with angst and terror and constipated with horrible images."
Alice ignored his rather crude remark and pressed on. "But... I don't think..."
"Then you shouldn't – Sorry." Nigel stopped himself, blushing crimson.
Alice rolled her eyes at him. "I don't think –"
"Then you – DAMN IT!" He swore. "Say something else, please?"
Instead of getting angry, Alice giggled at the erratic man. "Of course. I don't... believe that I understand why it's so dangerous."
Tweedle Dum picked up a stick nearby him. "Allow me to demonstrate, Alice. This stick, let us pretend that it is you, yes?"
The girl nodded.
"This fire is the Pool of Tears. Now, when you place the stick over the top of it, there seems to be no damage done. That is what will happen to you when we sail across it. Seemingly no damage, but in reality..." He pulled the stick away from the flames and placed it in to his cup of tea, where it fizzed and hissed as the heat dissipated. "In reality, you will be continually tormented by your deepest sorrows, worst fears and more. Everything that ever scared you will be in front of your eyes, from the bogey-man, to the monster under your bed, even getting in trouble from your parents. Everything."
The campfire was silent, nobody daring to speak as Alice tried to absorb the information. After several minutes, she finally spoke. "So... What can we do to protect me from it?"
The Queen sighed and threw another large stick on the fire. "Absolutely nothing, I'm afraid." She sighed. "We may have to either leave you behind, take the long way around, or send you home."
"She has to come with us." Spake the Tweedles in unison. "According to the Gryphon, she's integral to the plan."
Alice paused, considering an idea which had rudely interrupted. "This... terror. It will probably drive me mad, wont it?"
"Without a doubt." Replied the Tweedles.
Alice grinned happily. "Oh well, at least then I shall fit in here a bit better. But, if I were to have someone who was equally as mad with me, surely then I won't be as mad as we think?"
Each of them stopped to consider this, Nigel stroking his beard and the Queen staring morosely in to the distance.
"I... I suppose it could be done. It doesn't make any sense, so it should work..." Tweedle Dee contemplated.
The girls eyes sparkled. "Perfect then! I suppose I'm already going quite mad for contemplating this, but it would be so much fun."
Nigel merely grinned in to his tea-cup.....
A frozen mist dangled above the glassy water in the Pool of Tears, clinging on to it by the tips of its wispy fingers; never quite being there, but never quite leaving either. The Pool was a clear, crystal blue – the same colour as Alice's eyes and dress - that was astoundingly out of place in its desolate environment.
Tumultuous clouds still hovered over all of Wonderland, and the lack of sunlight coupled with the icy chill coming in off of the Pool gave even Nigel a slight shiver of fear in its presence. Winds howled through the trees like tormented spirits and the area around the Pool was nothing at all like a beach, but was more of a collection of dirty grey rocks and pebbles of varying sizes that looked like they would much rather be somewhere else as soon as possible.
Curiosity began to take a hold of Alice and she stepped forward inch by inch towards the water's edge to peer in to its azure depths. Smaller rocks crumbled to dust under her feet and she somehow thought that they were human skulls, a giggle rising to her throat as she meandered closer towards the water. In the back of her mind she was sure that could hear warnings to stop, that she should turn back and not go near it, but it was rather pretty and it would be fascinating to see what someone would look like as she held their head below the water and laughed in glee as she watched their eyes go flat...
Someone dark green and extraordinarily strong grasped her waist with an iron grip and flung the screaming girl away from the water with little to no effort.
As soon as she was a distance away from the curious liquid, Alice's mind returned to sanity and the thoughts of murder and mayhem fled her mind, chased viciously by her now-reigning sanity.
Nigel grasped her head in his calloused hands and focused her crying eyes in to his own concerned face. The girl screamed and twisted away, running as fast as she could to where ever the lack wasn't with her heart racing, its noise pounding in her ears and silencing the cries of the Queen and Nigel as they called to her for calm. ....
The further away Alice ran from that accursed place, the calmer she became. Eventually the trees that had looked like nightmarish creatures intent on devouring her returned to trees, the screeching of demonic gargoyles returned to sounding as the chirping of birds and the air around her began to feel more like air and less like a thick soup, intent on holding her back and dragging her closer to madness.
She slowed her run to a walk, but didn't stop moving away from the Pool. Tears continued to stream down her face in great rivers as she vowed never to return, even if Wonderlands existence did hang in the balance. Alice shrieked as a tree branch latched on to her face and swiped it away in fear, the lingering terror of all her nightmares still taunting her.....
Behind her, she heard the Hatter crashing through the undergrowth after her, his breathing starting to grow shallow and his gait to become slower as he neared her.
"Alice..." He began quietly, reaching out his hand to place it on her shoulder.
She whirled around and transfixed him with a venomous glare. "Don't touch me!" She spat at him, shocking the man so that he swiftly withdrew his hand.
Alice sharply turned back from him and leaned against a conveniently placed tree, her shoulders quaking as she wept.
Nigel stood there with his hand still half outstretched, uncertainty and worry lining his every feature as he watched the poor girl. His mind was in chaos, thoughts were struggling to be heard that had long since drowned in the sea of insanity that he had so carefully crafted together.
Everything that he had ever believed about himself, everything that he had ever believed about the world he lived in had been crashing down around his ears lately. Nothing was making sense the way it used to. Or not making sense the way it didn't before... He wasn't even sure any more. Things weren't the way they were before, that much he knew for sure.
"Alice?" He asked when she finally looked as though she had calmed down. "Alice, darling?" He carefully stepped toward her and turned her around, letting her fall awkwardly in to his arms. She clutched at his jacket and buried her face in to his chest.
"I don't want to go back." She murmured, her voice muffled by his shirt and vest.
Nigel stood there in shock, unsure of how to react to the girl's sudden change of emotion. He tentatively stretched his arms around her and stroked her golden hair, the scent of fairy floss drifting up from her. He pulled her away from him with a small degree of difficulty and smiled down at her. "I know you don't, but we need to."
Alice nodded and gently mopped her eyes with the sleeve of her dress. She looked down at the patch of wet on the Hatters vest. "Oh gosh look at me." She grumbled. "If I keep up at this rate then we'll have a new Pool of Tears to worry about."
Nigel laughed softly and lead Alice away from the forest by the crook of her arm.....
