10. New Plans

"Wait, wait, wait, hold up." Praline held up a hand. "I have a question!"

Geist sighed, looking to her. "What is it?"

"The Queen of Hearts had an affair with THE PAST WHITE KNIGHT!?" The Performer's eyes looked like they were going to bulge out of their sockets. "How did they get away with that? Did the King of Hearts ever know?"

The Caterpillar grimaced. "He….doesn't exactly know that. Best not to talk about it in front of him."

"Is the Past White Knight even…" Praline looked to Geist again, "Is he still alive? Do you know if he is?"

Geist shook his head. "I don't know. After he was stripped of his Position, I've been forbidden from accessing the castle dungeons since. I don't know if he still lives right now."

"Oh." Praline swallowed. Maybe it was best not to ask further about that. "What about who replaced him? Did you ever find out?"

"Oh, yeah, we did." The Knave of Hearts murmured. Despite the increasing visible discomfort on his face, he still wanted to keep talking. "It's…"

"Einheria." The Duchess cut in, groaning as Time finished nursing her arm wound. "It's Einheria. That chick looks like she's flying in the air all the time!"

"Duchess,' Geist groaned, shaking his head, "Did you have to interrupt? Really?"

"You could've been less vague in your story, chum." Aimee pointed out. "Also, the constant sex wasn't needed for talking about!"

"What!?" The explosive exclamation from the Knave made Praline jump in her seat. "Excuse me, but the sex was necessary! It was a change!"

"Also," The Caterpillar cut in, raising an eyebrow, "I've already told my side of the story to Praline and I had three-to-four sex scenes involved in that, so Geist is fine compared to me."

"Yeahhh, but," Aimee argued, "You're the Caterpillar! You're an exception! You're basically known for having tons of sex at this point!"

Kikyo could only sigh, but didn't comment.

Time slowly groaned, burying his face in one hand. "Do we have to argue about how many sex scenes are necessary in explaining things to Praline right now?"

"YES!"

Aimee, Kamiizumi and Geist all yelled so loudly that the Dormouse woke up with a jump in her seat, having previously dozed off while Geist was speaking. Praline gently squeezed Kikyo's hand to comfort her, before glaring at the three.

"Hey, apologize! You scared her!"

"What?"

"But—"

"Um—"

Praline gave them the best death glare she ever could glare. "Apologize. NOW."

A varying chorus of "I'm sorry" and "apologies" made it to Kikyo, who looked up at them and gave an accepting nod, before offering Praline a soft, quiet smile. Praline grinned at her in return.

"Good." Praline decided, before looking to Time. "So…tell me about this Jabberwocky. If you're the past Alice, that means you let it loose like Aimee just mentioned."

"Exactly." Aimee gave Time a look. "You gotta tell her."

Time clenched his jaw, but relented.

"As I used to be an 'Alice' before you, Praline," He started, "You probably figured by now that I came from a different world. However…I came from the same world as you—the same Luxendarc. I only figured that part out because the Caterpillar foresaw it and told me."

Praline turned to the Caterpillar, eyes widening. "You…you knew? Is that why you protected me from Geist the first time I landed in this world?"

"I knew you'd come from the same world—your arrival was the first thing I ever foresaw when I became the Caterpillar. I just…." Kamiizumi swallowed, discomfort dancing in his eyes, "I didn't know when you'd come. I knew that you'd be brought here partially because of the Queen making the White Rabbit create the rabbit hole you fell through, but I didn't know the exact timing of when that would happen. I'm sorry I wasn't…specific enough, with telling you everything."

Praline kind of wanted to slap him in the face, but at the same time she understood. All of this truth being dropped on her at once would've been a bit much for her to handle completely, especially upon arrival.

At the same time, though, she also had to keep in mind that Geist was in the room, and very much one of the Caterpillar's lovers. She was pretty sure that Geist would tear her to shreds if she tried anything right now. She had to be careful. Always.

"After I used the Compass of Space and Time to send me and Diamante away from Luxendarc," Denys continued, "I thought I'd set it so we went to the end of time."

"Lemme guess." Praline managed, groaning. "You failed."

"I didn't think it completely through." Time admitted, sighing. "I didn't take into account the 'Space' part of the Compass' function. I'd traveled forwards in time before, but I never traveled to a completely different world before. I thought I had it set up correctly to simply take me and Diamante to the end of time alone and rot there together. But it didn't."

He shook his head, standing up from his seat. "Instead, I ended up coming here, to Wonderland. I got separated from Diamante, and so I searched for it."

"And then I found him." The Caterpillar made eye contact with Denys, not blinking even once. "Back when I was the Knave, that is. He collapsed from travelling for so long, so I sent him to the Queen of Hearts' palace for recovery."

"Wait, wait, wait." Praline shut her eyes, put her hands over the sides of her head as she tried to piece things together. What happened after the former Knave picked up the 'Alice' and brought him back to the castle? What was that conversation with Braev again?

Then it dawned on her, and she threw her hands down at her sides.

"Jabberwock is Diamante!?"

Time and everyone else the room all nearly jumped, startled at Praline's statement. Denys exhaled sharply through his lips, then inhaled, nodding shakily.

"Regretfully, yes. That's what you're battling."

"I'm a Performer, I can't just—" Praline looked down at herself and then up at him. "I can't battle this thing alone! I'm not equipped for this kind of thing!"

"That's what I feared." Denys answered, swallowing in an attempt to calm himself. "I thought that you wouldn't be able to handle it alone, so I asked the former Time to help me build something that might defeat it."

"You built a machine?"

"Yes. The past holder of the Time Position, Khamer, assisted me in building it. The idea of it was to send just Diamante to the end of time for sure, using the Compass' powers. Unfortunately, our first attempt failed for two reasons. One, we need something as powerful as the Queen of Hearts' power to charge the machine. The Queen wasn't so fond of that, hence arresting Khamer. I secretly took his Position so I could continue working on this project. Second…"

Denys swallowed, before moving to a nearby cabinet. Opening it up, it revealed the Compass of Time And Space…but there was something wrong with it. Chunks of it were missing, and the part of it resembling a clock or sundial was cracked.

"The Compass broke. It can't power the machine by itself, as I learned too late. The best I did was damage Diamante with the machine, but not get rid of it. It's currently dormant."

"What about the actual machine?" Praline asked. "And where's Dia—Diamante, now?"

"The actual machine…was destroyed. As for Diamante—" His eyebrows furrowed, and he looked away in shame. "I don't know. I don't know where it is, or when it'll strike again. All I know is that you're somehow going to help stop it, or at least try to."

"Okay…." Praline took a deep breath, piecing everything together quickly. "So we gotta fix this machine, fix the Compass, and persuade the Queen of Hearts to help us."

"Or force her to help us. She's not going to say yes if she said no the first time." Geist piped up, frowning.

"She's especially not going to say yes if I get involved." Time mused. "Same goes for the Caterpillar, given their shared history."

The Cateprillar grimaced at that, but nodded in agreement.

"I get it, she hates you two because of what you both did, with you, "Praline pointed at Denys, "failing to destroy Diamante, and you," She pointed at the Caterpillar, "in her opinion, having an affair with the King of Hearts. But we can succeed a second time and clarify what really happened, right?"

The Dormmouse, Duchess, Knave, Time, and the Caterpillar exchanged awkward glances with each other. Praline hissed, glaring at all of them.

"Come on, we can't just give up now! I want to get back home and NOT have any world be destroyed at this point! Is it bad that I want that!?"

"You're not the only one that would like Wonderland to stay intact, Praline." Denys noted dryly, clasping his hands behind his back. "We can all talk to the White Queen tomorrow. She might be able to help us in terms of finding parts to put the machine and the Compass back together, at least."

"The White Queen?" Praline stared, head tilting. "Like…chess?"

"Like chess, yes."

"Ohhh, her." Aimee snickered. "She's still pissed at the last White Knight for fucking the Queen of Hearts behind her back! He's gonna be dead meat when she gets her hands on him…"

The Dormmouse sighed, standing and stretching her arms. "Wecanworryaboutthatlater. Rightnowweneedtogetrest."

"Rest?" Praline repeated. She blinked, then looked to one of the many clocks on the walls surrounding them, before grimacing. "Oh. Yeah. You might have a point there."

"That settles it, then." Time decided. "I have two guest rooms."

Praline looked to Dormmouse. "Wanna share, Kikyo?"

Kikyo blinked, staring at her, before nodding. "Sure."

"Can I have one to myself?" Aimee asked, raising her good arm. "I'd really like my own space."

"Geist and I can share the couch." The Caterpillar reassured Time. "We'll be fine here."

"Very well." Time then gave both the Caterpillar and Geist a look. "But I swear, if I catch you two waking us up in the middle of the night because you want to have some fun, I'm going to make sure you're forced to wash the dishes after breakfast. And if you actually do have sex and not wake us up, at least clean up afterwards!"

"Fiiine~" Geist purred, before pressing a kiss to the Caterpillar's cheek. Time groaned, and Praline had a feeling that this probably happened before.

Praline lay in bed beside the Dormmouse. Thankfully, the bed was pretty big, so they had enough space to themselves. As for whether they had enough blankets to stay warm? Nope, they definitely needed a bigger one. Too bad they didn't have any spare blankets.

Because of this, they were curled up quite closely against each other in order to stay warm. Praline ran a hand through her own hair as best as she could, before hovering her arm over Kikyo's waist.

"Do you mind if I sling an arm around you? You know, to stay warm and stuff and so I don't have to sleep with this suspended in the air?"

Kikyo blinked, looking her in the eyes. Her mouse ears twitched a bit, and combining that with the wide-eyed expression made her look kinda cute, in Praline's opinion.

"I don't mind." Kikyo managed.

"Cool." Praline wrapped her arm around Kikyo's waist underneath the blanket, snuggling up to her a bit. It was kind of weird, she figured, being in the same room with her like this, but at the same time it was kind of nice.

It made her think of Kikyo back in her own world. She wondered how the Ninja was doing, being a Private Investigator and all. She always seemed kind of quiet and mouselike, like the Dormmouse here.

Then she thought of Kamiizumi, the one from her own world, too. What about him? How would he react if he knew an alternate version of him was in a polyamorous relationship with Fiore DeRosa and Geist Grace? Maybe he'd choke on his tea, or stare weirdly. That would be funny to watch.

"Praline?"

It was the Dormmouse that spoke.

Praline blinked, feeling wetness in her eyes. "Yeah?"

"You're crying. Are you okay?"

Praline hugged her closer, shaking her head. "No. I-I'm not."

She felt Kikyo wrap her arms around her, and Praline let her do so. It was a comfort, knowing she was here.

Even if everyone here were alternate versions of her friends and family, she desperately wished to see her actual friends and family again. And hopefully, hopefully, that time would come soon.

"My White Knight. Come here."

A young woman with blond hair mostly tied back in a bun stepped forwards. She wore a combination of pearly white chainmail and plated armor, with greaves and gauntlets covering her legs and knees. She knelt before the White Queen sitting in her throne.

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

The White Queen sighed, gazing down at the crystal ball in her hands, and then up at the White Knight as she spoke.

"Our new 'Alice' is on the move. I know she and Time have met. Make sure the Queen of Hearts doesn't get her hands on either one of them for me, will you? You're the only one I can count on to get the job done."

The White Knight stood, nodding once. "Of course, Your Majesty. I won't fail."

Eleanor smiled. "I know you won't, Einheria. Unlike Daniel, you have never failed me."

Author note: Once again, here's the list of everyone in the Positions so far!

Alice—Praline a la Mode (became the new Alice after Denys became Time)

Caterpillar—Nobutsuna Kamiizumi

Knave of Hearts—Geist Grace (voluntarily claimed it to protect the former Knave)

Cheshire Cat—Fiore DeRosa (replaced Minette Napkatti after her death)

King of Hearts—Braev Lee

Queen of Hearts—Mahzer Lee

White Rabbit—Jackal

March Hare—Janne Balestra

Dormouse—Konoe Kikyo

Carpenter—Lester DeRosso

Walrus—Hayreddin Barbarossa

Time—Denys Geneolgia (formerly the past Alice)

Duchess—Aimee Matchlock

Mad Hatter—Mephilia Venus (reclaimed the position after Angelo's Execution)

White Queen—Eleanor Goodman

White Knight—Einheria Venus (replaced Daniel Goodman)

Former people that held positions:

Caterpillar—Norzen Horoskoff (deceased)

Mad Hatter—Angelo OVO Pannetone (deceased), Mephilia Venus (replaced by Angelo)

Cheshire Cat—Minette Napkatti (deceased)

Knave of Hearts—Nobutsuna Kamiizumi (took over being the Caterpillar after Norzen's death)

White Knight—Daniel Goodman (stripped of his Position and imprisoned)

Alice—Denys Geneolgia (ended up taking Time's Position later on)

Time— Eloch Quentis Khamer VIII (imprisoned in the Queen of Hearts' dungeon, Denys Geneolgia took his Position)

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! I'm curious—who's your favourite character so far? Let me know in a review!