A/N:
Hello and welcome one and all. As I'm sure you all know, this is the twelfth chapter in Life After Everything Else and I'm pretty sure that, according to the last chapter, everyone important has been introduced and set into play. From here on out, the pace of this story is going to start going a little faster now and it can and will become more graphic. Also, I will start including many more time skipping so that we can get right onto the exciting parts, with the occasional non-action chapter to just basically go over what has been happening. But, I will explain basically what has happened so that there is no confusion from any parties. So do please enjoy the chapter.
Life After Everything Else
Chapter Twelve: Conspiracies and Plans
The dust kicked up behind her and shined against the moonlight as Vondrea walked through the abandoned streets of the city that Maxi christened Godiva. The silence of the night was eerie and put the young woman on edge as she traveled down the many streets, seeking her destination as she tightly clutched a silver key to her chest.
Hearing chatter from off a distance, she quickly slipped the key in her dress as she turned the other way. It had been years since she had last visited the old building, but since the news she had been given a few hours ago she knew that she had to go back and pass it on until Maxi was the one that delivered it instead.
Finally seeing the hidden entrance into the forest, she paused by the side of the road, trying to remember the exact route to get to the building. When she could recall as much information as she needed, she took a long breath of reassurance before heading into the woodland.
Wandering around and going in circles, Vondrea soon found herself cussing in frustration as she kept having to retrace her steps before she was back on the original path. "Damn you, Maxi!" she hissed as she tried again to follow the path. But, like all the previous attempts, she soon found herself back at the beginning.
"What do you want?" she demanded a nearby tree as she stomped her foot against the ground. Sighing in irritation, she leaned against the tree as she thought over her dilemma. Turning her head to look at the path, a carving on the tree caught her eye and she turned even more to look at it.
Carved deeply onto the bark of the tree Vondrea rested against was the phrase 'When looking for something not found: get lost.' "Well, isn't that helpful,'' she muttered, pushing herself off the tree as she stared at the path before her. Deciding that she had no other choice than to try to advice, she turned towards the forest and began walking into the dense area.
"This better be worth it," she said, pushing aside plant after plant as she continued walking onward. Closing her eyes tightly, she continued on until the plants fell away and she opened her eyes to see that she had entered the clearing. Seeing the building that she had long been searching for, she instantly gathered the skirts of her dress and sprinted up to the front door before blindly digging into her dress and taking out the silver key. Shoving the key into the lock, she quickly turned it and forced the door open, running inside as soon as the opening was wide enough.
However, barely five seconds passed before she found herself being thrown against the wall and pressed against as a shining blade was held against her neck. "Who goes there?" a voice demanded. Vondrea instantly began panicking, thinking that her captor was the woman who had attacked so very long ago. "Well? Who are you?" the voice ordered again.
Why did the voice seem so…familiar?
"Answer me!"
"Cecil?" she asked, her voice shaky as she continued to stare at the dark wall. Instantly she could feel the blade's pressure lessen and she slowly turned around to face the man that was holding her captive.
"Vondrea?" he warily asked, staring down as the moonlight that came through the door managed to show some of her identity.
"Good God, it is you," she exclaimed, suddenly filled with relief as she threw her arms around his neck, hugging his close as he dropped the knife and wrapped his arms around her as well. "Thank God you're okay," Vondrea whispered over and over again as Cecil held her close.
"Ssh, my dear," he murmured, managing to pull her away as he gazed down at her tear-stained face, "be quiet before we are found. Why are you here; you know it's dangerous!"
"Yes, yes I know," she replied, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair, "but I couldn't stay away any longer. We've been separated for too long." Instantly, her lips meet his in a heated kiss, full of love and longing as he brought her close once again.
"Cecil?" a woman's voice called out and he suddenly pulled her away. Putting his finger against his lips, he quickly opened a cabinet underneath a nearby bookcase and helped Vondrea into it before pecking her on the lips and closing the door just as the entire room burst into a bright light.
Wanting to know what was happening, she opened the cabinet door slightly so that she was able to peek out onto the foyer in time to see a woman with light brown hair that reached her knees appear at the top of the staircase. Though Vondrea didn't know who the woman was, one look into her auburn eyes turned her blood cold and she was unable to stop the slight trembling of fear.
"I heard a noise; what's going on down here, Cecil?" the woman questioned, staring down from the top of the stairs at the younger man.
"Nothing, Alice, nothing. It just seems that Maxi forgot to properly lock the door last he was here and I wanted to close it so that no animals would get in."
"That doesn't make sense," she sneered, "Maxi never forgets. And what of the shouting and footsteps?"
"I tripped and accidentally slammed my foot against the wall. I'm sorry if I frightened you."
"You did no such thing," Alice snapped, her bitter gaze resting on the bookcase that Cecil stood by before turning heel and climbed up a few steps. "Keep quiet down there, will you? If you wake Alice and Thomas you'll pay with your life. Close the door and turn the lights off before you come up here."
"Of course, Alice," he replied warmly, smiling up at her before she rolled her eyes in annoyance and finished her climb up the stairs until it was safe. Quickly moving back to the cabinet, he opened the doors and gently helped Vondrea out before falling to the floor beside her and hugging her tightly. "That was too close," he muttered.
"Who is she?"
"Alice Naismith; she's the one who…attacked you."
"I thought she looked familiar," Vondrea spat as she managed to stand up once again. "Isn't she was supposed to be in a cage somewhere?"
"Well, she is…" Cecil said shyly, standing as well, "but the twins found her one day and felt sorry for her, so they let her out. Now, she comes out during the night to get some exercise and look over the house. Now, tell me why you came here?"
Still in a daze over what had nearly happened, she at first didn't remember why she had come but she suddenly fell into a deathly silence and hurriedly brought Cecil out of the door. "It's Maxi," she gasped, "he told me just a few hours ago that he is planning to have you go to Marmoreal disguised as a beggar looking for work and have you kill the queen! If he is indeed mad enough to force you to carry out this plan and you get caught, not even a queen can stop your head from rolling!"
"I don't see the problem…" he replied honestly, staring at her sadly before she pushed herself away from him in frustration and anger with how calmly he was reacting.
"What do you not see? If you are caught, you will die!" she hissed quietly. "And I'm not letting Maxi send you out on a suicide mission! We need to leave and leave tonight!"
"I can't."
"This is no time for gratitude, Cecil, you need to escape before you're taken away from me—"
"Like before?" he calmly filled in. Vondrea helplessly gaped at him as she could feel more tears begin to fall. "Listen to me, Vondrea. Even if I did wish to go, I couldn't. Maxi put a spell on this place that makes it nearly impossible to find and hopeless for me or any of the others in this house to go beyond this little clearing."
"I…I won't stand by and watch you be sent off to your certain death!" she cried. Sighing, Cecil moved closer to her in attempt to calm her down but only found that she was forcing herself away. "No, I see how it is. If you truly wish to escape this place only to go off to a worse fate, far be it from me to stop you."
"Vondrea…"
"No!" she snapped, trying to ignore the tears that fell as her hands tightly clutched her dress skirts. "You've made it more than clear that you do not want nor need my help."
"Vondrea, please listen—"
"Goodbye Cecil!" she shouted before turning around and running into the woods, far away from him. Sighing heavily, he reluctantly went back into the house and closed the door tightly behind him.
Slowly making his way up the stairs, he put out the candles that were lit before he finally arrived at the second floor and made his way down the hall and into the room located near the back of the house. "Are they still asleep?" he quietly asked upon entering the bedroom.
"Yes, no thanks to you," Alice said scornfully as she gazed at the slumbering twins, hearing Cecil take up a seat beside her.
"No need to be snide, Alice," he replied happily as he rested his head in his hands.
"I should have killed her," she commented, not lifting her gaze up from the children, "it would've taken me five minutes, tops."
"Now, that'd be rude." Alice scoffed at his words, watching intently as the younger twin, the boy named Thomas, began turning around in his sleep like he was having a nightmare. Frowning slightly, she reached out and brushed back his blond hair as she whispered soothing words to both children. Cecil continued to stare at the floor, unfazed, as she tried to carry a few notes before Thomas' fit passed.
"They're so innocent," she muttered, staring at their sleeping faces before pulling away and walking over to the door that led into the hallway. "If I could, I'd take them out of here…even if it killed me."
"You're just saying that because they took you out of that cage."
"Because that's what you did as well?" she remarked. He chuckled in return as he stood and joined her as she began to walk about the building.
"I was terrified of Maxi and what he would do to me. So, in the end, can you really blame me?" Rolling her eyes, Alice brushed her hair back and tucked it behind her ear as they entered an abandoned ballroom. Casually walking inside, Cecil moved up to the dusty piano and pressed against a few keys, frowning when he heard how out of tune it was.
"So what did the whore want from you?" she asked, leaning against the instrument as he hit a few more keys.
"She told me that Maxi is coming and that he is planning to take me out of here and to Marmoreal." His playing was abruptly stopped as his wrist was tightly held by Alice's constricting hand.
"Don't lie to me, Cecil. What did she tell you?"
"I'm not lying, Alice," he calmly replied, using his other hand to pry hers open and release his thin wrist. "She said that he's coming, though she didn't specify when, and that I'm to go to Marmoreal and murder the queen that rules there."
"This has got to be some sick joke," Alice spat in disgust, moving over to the thickly dust-covered windows and stared out onto the endless area of trees. "Maxi has made sure that we would never escape this place."
"I know," Cecil replied simply.
"Then why the sudden change of heart?" she demanded. Cecil paused, his fingers floating over the black and white keys as he stared at the empty stand where a music sheet once sat.
"Perhaps he's been planning this all along?"
Awaking the next morning, Alice smiled contently into her pillow as she propped herself up on her elbows and giggled slightly, realizing that she had fallen asleep with her clothes still on. Sighing happily as her mind flashed back to the night before, Alice got out of her bed and began humming to herself as she made her way to the large wardrobe that was placed off in a side room.
Shuffling through the many dresses that Mirana had graciously given Alice for her own use, she finally decided on a simple day dress that was, miraculously, a soft colored gray with small white accents in the trimming. Putting the dress on her body, she stared at herself in the looking glass and smiled, looking forward to showing Tarrant the newly discovered dress, before leaving the room and walking back to her bedroom where her vanity was placed.
Sitting down before it, she ran a brush through her blonde curls as she thought of how comforted she felt fixing herself up for once since the time she had Sapphira assigned as her escort.
Pulling her hair slightly back, she loosely tied it back at the base of her neck, allowing a few stray curls to slip out as she opened up a small drawer under the table and picked out a small pendant that she tied around her pale neck. Smiling at her reflection, she decided against using the make-up that she abhorred and left the vanity and was about to leave her bedroom to go to the sitting room but noticed a note left resting on the table that was placed beside her window.
Walking up to the note, she reached for it and quickly unfolded it.
Alice,
By the time you are reading this, I would have already left. I'm sorry that I am not here to great you with the morning light, but I feared that your…lovely escort, Sapphira, would catch me sleeping with you beside me and would have sent the guards on me. I do so hope that you understand.
However, I do wish to spend some time with you today. But I do wish for it to be private, for I have several things that I want to discuss with you and only you. If you desire to meet with me as well, I shall be waiting for your arrival in the kitchen.
Till Then,
Tarrant
Grinning at the note, she refolded the paper and tucked it safely away in the drawer with her jewelry before locking the small drawer and exiting the room. She entered the parlor-like room that joined with her bedroom with delirious joy.
Seeing yet another note placed on the glass table, Alice stared at it curiously before walking up to the table and picking up the decorative paper and opening it.
Dear Alice,
It has been some time since I've last seen you, and I've grown slightly worried. If you're fine with it, I would care for you to drop by later so that we may talk. There are several matters that I want to talk about with you and I don't think that I can wait long to talk about them.
Sincerely,
Mirana
Almost like a flame having water poured onto it, Alice's earlier spirits were put out upon reading the second letter. Remembering how the last time that she had talked with Mirana, she had caused all of Underland to dislike her and had a nosy escort thrown onto her. Needless to say, she wasn't so ready to see the Queen once more.
Despite the reluctance to meet with the White Queen, Alice decided to go anyway to hopefully stay in favor and, with a heavy sigh, left her bedroom and left out into the hallway. "Good morning, Miss Alice," Sapphira said politely as Alice arrived at the door leading out of the hallway.
"Good morning," she replied, trying to remain pleasant as Sapphira began walking with her about the castle.
"So where is it that you wish to go today?"
"Lady Mirana has wished to speak with me today, so I was hoping to go there now," she explained simply as they passed the ballroom and began heading up a flight of stairs.
"In that case, I'll drop you off to her chambers then be on my way. I have to oversee a project that's going on in the garden so I hope that you'll stay out of trouble long enough until I can return?" she asked as both women finally came to a stop before a rather elaborately decorated door.
"When have I not?" Alice replied with a warm smile. Narrowing her eyes, Sapphira performed a short curtsy.
"Please stay out of trouble, Miss Alice. I shall see you again before dinner," Sapphira said before picking up her skirts so that the hem lifted from the ground and walked away. Rolling her eyes, Alice politely knocked on the fancy door, entering when she heard a faint "come in."
"Lady Mirana?" she called out, opening the door and stepping inside. A small shriek was heard and Alice instantly ran to the source of it, entering a side room where the Queen stood, coughing as a small vial spewed out smoke. "Are you okay?" Alice asked, walking further into the room as she tried to fan the smoke away.
"Just fine," Mirana said between coughs, trying to smile at Alice as she walked over to a nearby window and opened it wide. Smiling weakly as the smoke cleared out, Alice and her both began laughing helplessly. "I was working on a potion," she explained weakly, smiling brightly as she guided Alice out of the room and into the adjoining parlor.
"What is it that you wish to speak to me about?" Alice asked politely after both of them were seated. Sighing, Mirana reached out to gently touch Alice's arm as she smiled kindly at the girl.
"Sapphira told me about the other day when she returned to your room." Alice had the grace to blush as she began to stare at her lap nervously. "And I must say…I'm happy for you."
"Pardon me?" Alice asked, clearly confused as she stared at the woman.
"I can tell that you and Tarrant are happy together," she whispered. "And though I do worry for the both of you, I trust that you and him know what you are doing and that neither of you would do anything that's too rash."
"Of course not!" Alice exclaimed, reaching out to hold onto the Queen's hands. "We would never do anything of the sorts! We…we care too much for each other to let anything go that far."
Mirana couldn't help but hold back her smile. "I believe you, Alice. Trust me, I do. But what is he to you, if I may ask?"
"He's…well…" Alice trailed off, unable to hold back her small smile, "he's…everything really. There really just is no way to explain it, but when we were fighting all those weeks ago and he told me that he thought he was going to loose me, I just felt something, you know?" Mirana nodded her head in understanding. "And…when I saw you two like that last night—"
"Oh Alice! You know that was an accident, right?" Mirana exclaimed hurriedly, her cheeks burning red as she remembered how upset Alice was.
"Yes, Tarrant explained to me later," she calmly replied. "But, later last night he came into my room and we talked a bit…and he told me what happened to his home…and I told him that I'd never leave him," she admitted, blushing slightly.
"You really do love him, don't you Alice?" Mirana whispered, smiling when Alice nodded her head.
A silence passed between the two women as Alice fumbled with her hands out of nervousness before Mirana finally decided to continue on. "I want you to know that I choose Sapphira to be your escort for a specific reason."
"Oh?"
"Yes. Before she was your escort she looked over all the servants that work here in Marmoreal and she looked after me as well. She's always been the Mother Hen type, and she frets about every little thing," Mirana confided, smiling slightly. "Yes, she's strict, but it's just her funny way of showing that she cares for you. When my parents died, she took me in and became like my second mother, even though she's just a few years older than me. But, and please believe me when I tell you this, she only wants what is best for you like any mother would for their child."
"But what of her attitude towards Tarrant?" Alice inquired. "She's made it more than clear on several accounts that she doesn't approve of us." Sighing, Mirana clucked her tongue as she gently patted Alice's hat.
"Sapphira has been very reluctant to have people that she cares much about get into relationships."
"And why's that?" she asked.
"It is…a long story, and a story that I don't like to dwell on much. But, to put it simply, I was in love with a man who proved to be false and full of evil intentions. And since the time that he has left, she's been quite wary." Gazing at her sadly, Alice muttered her apologies for bringing it up, but Mirana simply dismissed her words with a shake of her head. "No, don't be. I want to be friends with you, Alice. I know it has been rough for us in the beginning, but I would take great joy in knowing that you and I could be close friends."
Alice couldn't hold back her caring smile at the heartfelt words Mirana said. "I would love that," she replied. Smiling back at her, she soon stood by with Alice and began to lead her back to her study, where she had earlier made the potion that had exploded slightly on her.
"Well, now that all the dreary talk is out of the way, there is something else that I want to talk about with you."
"And what would that be?" Alice inquired curiously, watching as Mirana began to put away the different vials, beakers, and funnels until the table was once again cleared. Staying quiet as she watched Mirana bring back papers and maps, Alice walked behind the wood and gazed down at one particular map of Underland.
When Mirana was done, she smiled at the papers and began to unroll a rather large scroll that was placed exactly in the middle of the table. Stepping closer to her, Alice gazed at a larger map of Underland, with many different areas that were not included in the first map she looked at. "What's this all about?" she asked excitedly, studying the chart.
"You are a person of great vision and ideas, and I can see that in you Alice," Mirana said excitedly. "And since the reign of my sister, I alone have been left to pick up the pieces and restore Underland back to its former glory, and now…I want you to help me."
"Are…Do you really want me? I'm sure that there are many other people here in Underland that could help you easily and—"
"Oh, this is no time to be modest, Alice! I know that, with the both of us working on this project, we could make Underland the wonderful place that it once was. So…what do you say?"
Alice stared at the drawing of the land, to surprise for words. What she was being asked of would definitely give her something to do instead of lazing the hours away, as well as it being something that she knew she would enjoy. "I'd love to," she whispered in awe, letting her fingers run over the flat surface. The Queen couldn't help but smile excitedly as she looked at the map with her and pointed to the area where two castles, a forest, and a desert stood.
"This is Queensland, a sub-portion of Underland. This is where we are right now. It contains both Salazen Grum, Marmoreal, the Tulgey Woods, and the Outlands."
"So how does this world work, exactly?"
"The Round Hall, where you had come out from, connects to all the different sub-portions of Underland's many parts. As I'm sure you remember, there were many different doors, and all of them lead somewhere new and exotic. Each place is different from the next. There is one other place besides here that I've been, and that's Looking Glass Land," she explained, now pointing to a nearby area.
"What's it like?" Alice asked, growing more excited as she thought of all the things she could work on.
"Oh it's so enchanting," Mirana breathed. "Rolling hills and the wonderful talking gardens. They're even bigger and have a vaster collect of flowers than the garden in Queensland. It was given its namesake because it's where we collected the Looking Glass, and every mirror in that land is another Looking Glass!"
"Amazing!" Alice whispered in awe.
"Yes…it was," she muttered. "Queensland wasn't the only place that suffered under Iracebeth's choices. All of Underland has endured her tyranny, and it wasn't without damage." Her eyes seemed to glaze over with tears beginning to form as she scanned the entire map. Shaking her head slightly, she smiled sadly at Alice before opening a book off to the side. "But that was the past and, with your help, we can look towards the future."
"Then I'm glad that I'm here to help," she said kindly. Smiling, Mirana nodded her head in agreement before the grandfather clock placed in the room chimed twelve times. "I'm sorry, Lady Mirana, but I have to go."
"I understand," she replied, almost as if she knew who Alice was meeting, before smiling and ushering Alice out of the room. "Come see me tomorrow and we'll talk more about what we should do."
A/N: Okay, my readers, I have something that I wish to talk to you about. Several things, actually, to be honest. I've just wanted to talk about what's been going on and a few mistakes I made.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, things are going to start moving quickly now that everyone has been introduced. There is actually only one person left to introduce, but they're not going to show up for a long…long time. But, after I had introduced the different Alice's I am now ready to continue on full speed ahead. I know that it may seem that I'm unoriginal and just stealing ideas off other things, but I had been thinking of using some people like them and when I heard the song I just thought that it would be the perfect idea and I was unable to help myself with it. Concerning the thing with Alice and Mirana, I believe that Mirana truly does wish that she could become friends with Alice, and I don't want Alice just lazing about Marmoreal for the whole story, so I might as well combine the two. The whole idea of Queensland and the other areas I got from American McGee's Alice, a PC computer game that my cousin had recently introduced me to.
As for Sapphira, I'm sure that everybody absolutely hates her since Chapter 10. But, please keep in mind that she is here for a reason! I don't just throw in random people that never help with the plot unless they're minor characters. People don't like her, but trust me that is suppose to happen; she is supposed to be disliked, by both the people in the story and out of it.
Another thing is that I apologize if it seems that I thrown in way too many extra characters in this story. I do it with all my stories because I believe that it adds suspense and drama, but I try not to overdo it, since I know at times I can get a little carried away. An example? The Alices. So I really do hope that it didn't seem like I introduced them too quickly or too soon in the story.
Lastly, I just want to express regret for my small plot mistakes. Jabberwocky poison instead of blood, Tarrant's back-story, etc. I just wanted to point out that I purposely changed his history because I needed it for a later plotline, so if it bothers you I'm sorry but I will have to crave your patience.
Sorry that this author's note took so long, but I had to get it out of the way since it had bothered me greatly. Being a perfectionist sucks, especially when I know I have typos in a chapter or something was written right in my eyes, so I'm sorry if it seems like I apologize too much as well. Thank you so much for reading both the story and my long author's note if you did that as well, as I look forward to both everyone's reviews, if they so wish to write them, and for their support next chapter.
