AN: There is no way I can thank you people enough! 60 reviews? I'm so happy you all let me know what you think of my little story. Now, for the immensely long list of reviewers: MoonbeamDancer, sarahbluerose13, CaptainBillyTheWerewolf, meta sythe, The Witch of the Souls, sweetandlow1012, .Blood., the-ice-cold-alchemist, Julie Christine Sparrow, sailormoon456, DaughterOfTheFifthHouse, Jennieleeb649, FinalFallenFantasy, SesshiraRayu, Warrior Priestess, twilight121, darkbangle, Tabbycat270 and wolfmoonxx02. Phew. Seriously, all of you make my day every time I open up my email and see that I've received another review. It's great to hear from you all, and I hope to read plenty more reviews in the future.

This time I won't set a certain limit of reviews in order for me to update. I'll add another chapter on the weekend, or Friday if I get time. How does that sound? :D

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. Oh, except for Salward and Carlen. Well, I only own their names. The characters had kind of been invented by Carroll, but I put a new twist on them. See if you can figure out who they are. Tim Burton and Lewis Carroll own everything else. Oh, and the song I got the quote from belongs to 3Oh!3, as you can see.

Have I made a rhyme?

So follow me down
Out of this town
Girl you're moving way too slow.
So follow me down, I'll show you around
Theres a place we gotta go.

- 3Oh!3 (feat. Neon Hitch), Follow me Down

Alice had decided that the looking-glass was a rather poorly named object as she stood in front of it. Tarrant was off to her side, muttering something about parties and carriage rides and the fact that Alice's room was sadly devoid of hats. While he had seemed rather composed at the party, he was now starting to return to his old mad self. Alice didn't quite know what to think about that, but she decided it was better not to think at that moment. She instead stared at the mirror in front of her, which Tarrant had told her was part of the two magically linked mirrors that were called the looking-glass.

How it could have been there her entire life without her knowledge astounded her. Then again, she hadn't known what the mirror truly was; only that it was a rare family heirloom that had been passed down from generation to generation. Any magical properties the glass had were unknown to her.

Until recently, when a certain rabbit had been using it to keep an eye on her.

And then this night, when the Mad Hatter himself had come tumbling through the looking-glass and into her room unexpectedly. With a slightly muffled giggle Alice thought that it was rather lucky that she had been out of the room at the time Tarrant had stumbled into the Otherworld, as he called it. Had she been sleeping, or worse, dressing- Alice let a laugh escape her lips as a flush stole up her face.

It was a good thing that she had told Tarrant to wait outside her room whilst she changed into a clean dress. She had already washed her face and hair as best she could in the sink without taking an actual bath. Her favourite blue dress had been recovered from the depths of her closet and she now wore it, as well as a darker blue travelling coat.

The Hatter stirred her from her thoughts as she laughed to herself. "What's so amusing, Alice? I haven't said anything that resembles a joke, except maybe that bit about the carriages. That was rather funny-"

"Tarrant," Alice chided while her face was still slightly pink. "I was just thinking how odd it would be for you, or anyone from Underland for that matter, to come tumbling into my room."

"Oh," he said simply. Then, with a look of realization on his face, he seemed to come to a brilliant conclusion of some sort. "Well, not just anyone could travel through the looking-glass. The other part of it is in a secluded chamber deep within the White Queen's castle at Marmoreal. And it's guarded heavily. In fact, I believe the Bandersnatch to be watching over it from time to time."

Alice's face lit up in recognition. She had nearly forgotten about the strange creature that she had befriended in Underland. Hopefully he will have changed his disposition somewhat since she had left. The Bandersnatch normally let only Alice near it, and thus let no one near Alice but those she allowed. It was terribly protective that way.

"Ah, so you do remember him," Tarrant said, his face twisting up in a grin. "You haven't lost your muchness this time." He observed Alice with something bordering on pride before turning his attention once again to the mirror in front of them. "Well, shall we go? I must warn you though; the first step is a rather frightening one."

Alice glanced between the mirror and the Hatter, uncertainty tainting her otherwise normal features. All of a sudden she was…scared. She had openly defied her mother in front of at least a hundred people, walked off with a madman and now she stood in front of an enchanted mirror with something holding her back. This was what she wanted, so why was she gazing at the looking-glass with such reservations?

Then it clicked. It was something that the Hatter had said…something about why he came to her world. She was frightened and angry that the Knave had escaped, but that wasn't what was at the forefront of her mind. The one bit of information that was troubling her was what Tarrant had said regarding why exactly he had come to get her, aside from Stayne's escape.

The White Queen had needed to get her back. No mention of the Hatter or anyone else, only of Mirana's need to have Underland's Champion back. That both stunned and scared her. Was she only important as to the safety and well-being of the strange world, and nothing else?

Was that what she was to everyone: a pawn in a game where she was viewed as the most powerful player, to be called upon only when needed and then thrown away once her job was done? Alice was tired enough of being played a fool in her world. She would not tolerate it in Underland as well.

Alice paused, looking between Tarrant and the looking-glass. Making up her mind she shook her head slightly and stepped back and away from the mirror. With one movement she sat down on her bed and folded her arms across her chest in a very childlike way.

"No, Hatter. I'm not going until I get some answers." Her voice was barely above a whisper but the Hatter flinched as if she had shouted.

A-Alice, I don't think we have time for this…" His unsure gaze swept around the room, but never once did it land on her.

Alice shook her head again. "No, Tarrant. There's something I have to know first before I go back. Is the only reason for me going to Underland just to fulfill some prophecy or save your world? I only seem to be wanted when there's a Jabberwocky in need of slaying or a Red Queen to dethrone. Tell me Hatter; am I of no use to you or anyone else unless the Oraculum says otherwise?"

At that last remark Tarrant stopped looking around her room long enough to give her a frightened glance. His eyes flickered between orange and green briefly before he moved to stand in front of her. She glanced up at him and suddenly realized that from where she was sitting the Hatter was quite taller than her.

Although the room had been thrown into shadows, Tarrant's green eyes seemed to glow brightly as they stared down at her. "How can ye ask tha'?" The room echoed with his Outlandish accent, but he wasn't angry this time. Instead he looked saddened and his shoulders slumped slightly.

"I though' you already knew th' answer ta tha' question, lass," he whispered mournfully.

Alice shook her head again as she stared mutely at him. She didn't know what he meant by that, but it was likely that she and the Hatter were going off on two different tangents in their minds. What Tarrant was thinking was miles away from anything Alice's malfunctioning brain could come up with right now.

"Well, it goes like this," Tarrant said while he was still standing in front of her. His gaze never wavered from her as he told Alice what he thought she already knew. "Underland shall always be in debt to ye for slaying th' Jabberwocky and ridding us o' th' Bluddy Behg Hid. But yer connection ta our world goes beyond tha'. Yer dear ta th' Queen, as well as everyone else ye befriended."

His mouth twisted up into a cautious smile. "And, well…Yer dear ta me too, Alice. I'd have come ta get ye even if th' Queen didn' need ye. Does that answer yer question?"

Alice gazed up at the Hatter with wide eyes. She was completely speechless and thinking of things she didn't even want to recognize at that moment. She was…dear to Tarrant? How was she to respond to that?

"Ye-yes, I suppose it does," Alice said with a voice that was shaking with numerous emotions. "But, Tarrant, I didn't mean that I didn't care about you or anyone else from Underland-"

She stopped mid-sentence as the Hatter graced her with a dazzling smile. His eyes darkened to an even livelier green. "I know, lass. Yer curiousity hasn't lessened any. You're Alice, after all. Now, shall we be on our way?"

Alice looked once more between the Underlandian and the mirror. How did Tarrant expect her to just get up and waltz through the looking-glass after all he had said to her? She couldn't even get her thoughts properly formed; everything was fuzzy and Alice felt like she was seeing everything through a haze. She wanted to go to Underland, but something had changed between her and the Hatter in the span of a minute.

Where should she go from there?

Hatter seemed to sense her worry and reached across to gently grasp her hand. His bright green eyes focused on her and Alice froze in thought and movement as his gaze met hers. "Dear Alice, I promise that the trip through the looking-glass will be absolutely painless. All you have to do is believe."

Believe…Alice tore her gaze from Tarrant to the mirror in front of her. She was desperate to go back to Underland, and if Stayne had somehow escaped his exile, then it was all the more important that she return. Besides, she and Tarrant would have plenty of time to talk after they were in Underland. Alice took a tentative step toward the looking-glass, the skirt of her dress rustling as she did so. Tarrant moved with her, as he was still holding her hand.

Her arm shaking, Alice reached out with a finger to touch the surface of the glass.

When her finger made contact with the mirror the surface of it rippled outward, much like a stone being tossed into a pond. Alice gasped in shock, her mouth curving into a cautious grin. She slowly slid her arm into the glass until it was up to her elbow. It felt cool on her skin; like water. She was about to step into the mirror itself when she caught her foot on a rug, and she tumbled head-first into the looking-glass.

Her shriek was swallowed up as she disappeared from the Otherworld, Hatter following close behind. She held on to his hand tightly, but the force at which they were falling was beginning to pull her away. The trip through the looking-glass lasted barely a second, but it felt like an eternity to its two travellers. Alice had her eyes screwed shut during the tumble and she could suddenly feel something hit her in the stomach.

She was knocked dangerously off balance and her thoughts swirled in her head as the force of whatever hit her began to separate her from Tarrant. Alice grabbed at the Hatter's hand desperately, but with a final tug she spun away from him.

Only to land on a sandy beach.

Alice lay still for a moment, her breathing becoming regular once she had figured out that the world wasn't spinning after all. Coughing up a bit of sand that had come into her mouth, she pushed herself up shakily and sat down. She scanned her surroundings carefully, making note of each and every thing.

She was lying on a vast sand-covered beach and she had landed not far from its shore; she could see the waves and hear as they lapped the shore. It was a very rocky beach; black precipices jutted up everywhere along the shoreline. There was the definite tang of salt in the air, and Alice could see several seagulls as they flew through the air and swooped down into the water every now and then. The sun was still fairly high in the sky, and Alice guessed it was just past midday in…wherever she was. She hoped it was Underland, but she hadn't been at this particular spot before.

She didn't want to sit in the damp sand anymore so she stood up, brushing her dress down as she did so. She was about to walk along the shore for awhile when, with great suddenness, a loud crash reverberated somewhere among the rocks. Alice jumped in shock, her head darting back and forth among the black chunks of stone to see what had caused the disturbance. When she saw what it was, her eyes widened in shock.

There was a walrus sitting atop one of the rocks.

It looked around for a minute and then appeared to spot her. It clapped its front flippers together joyfully before speaking in a booming voice. "Champion Alice, it is a most delightful pleasure to finally meet you." His voice rumbled as loud as a steam engine.

Alice was flustered and confused at the same time. "So I am in Underland, then?"

The walrus nodded his head sagely. "Aye, my dear. And it looks like you fell out of the sky. One minute I was trying to catch some rather pesky oysters and the next, here you are at the edge of the Crimson Sea." He gestured to the beach they were occupying.

Alice shook her head. "I was travelling through the looking-glass and I somehow ended up on this beach. The Hatter told me the other mirror was at Marmoreal."

The Hatter.

A queasy feeling took over Alice and she suddenly realized she had no idea where Tarrant was. They had been separated while tumbling through the looking-glass and now he was nowhere to be found. As her thoughts careened back to their last conversation, Alice's stomach began to roll. She hadn't been able to talk to him about what he had said, and now he could be anywhere in Underland. Even with the Knave-

No. Her thoughts stopped themselves before Alice could let them get too far. The Hatter was safe and sound in Marmoreal, he had to be. He would be waiting for her, anxious and scared but safe. Then why did she have an uneasy feeling in her gut that seemed to be telling her otherwise?

The walrus' eyes appeared to widen substantially. "The looking-glass, you say? It's a mischievous thing. It'll sometimes backfire on you; you must have caught it on a rather bad day."

Alice brushed aside the fact that the walrus had just spoke about the mirror like it was a living thing. "If I landed here, then the Hatter must be nearby. Have you seen him?" she was worried. She hadn't seen Tarrant at all since she had tumbled down onto this beach, and that only appeared to give her suspicions further fruition.

The walrus scratched his head. "No, can't say as I have. If you two became separated on your trip through the looking-glass, then there's no telling where poor Tarrant is. Perhaps he is at Marmoreal, or maybe he was thrown halfway across Underland. Wherever he is, it certainly isn't here." He hopped off the rock rather graciously for a walrus and he lumbered up to her.

"The name's Salward, by the way. You wouldn't happen to be interested in any oysters, would you? I should offer them to you before my friend Carlen shows up. He has the nasty habit of eating them all."

Alice shook her head rather profusely. "No, thank you. They don't agree with me." Memories of the ship to China were still fresh in her mind.

"Really?" Salward asked as he turned away from her. "They don't tend to argue with people, and they haven't even met you yet!"

"I mean that I tried them once. I didn't quite like them."

Salward made a motion that resembled shrugging his shoulders, if he had any definable ones. "Suit yourself. Can't say I didn't offer."

Alice watched as he hobbled off to the ocean surf. He entered the waves and was soon off swimming. Alice vaguely wondered how many oysters he would catch. He could keep them for himself, as far as she was concerned. She didn't care for the slippery things.

As she turned her head away from the shoreline she saw something rather peculiar in the sand. It appeared to be a set of small footprints. This wouldn't have bothered her except for the fact that more kept appearing with each passing second.

And nothing was there.

She began to back up out of fear. What sort of creature was wholly invisible? Before she could trip over a rotting log that had washed up on the beach, a head seemed to appear in a fraction of a second. It hadn't been there a moment ago, and suddenly there it was.

And Alice undoubtedly knew who that head belonged to.

"Well hello, the Alice," Chessur purred. His body soon materialized behind his head. He stopped walking and glanced up at her coyly. "You have a nasty habit of getting lost, don't you?"

AN: The plot thickens some more and the chapters keep getting longer and longer! And don't worry, Tarrant and Alice will be reunited...again. Oh dear, seems I keep torturing the two, doesn't it? :P

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