Okay, this chapter is mostly setting the scene and moving along elements of the plot. Hope you all like it, and enjoy!!
Recommended Reading: 'Lets Not Do That Again' by Jet Set Yoyo. Alice and Hatter go on a date to the carnival, and various funny, cute, and very pure Halice fluff ensues.
Chapter 21
The blonde woman ran as fast as she could through the confusing streets and bridges, narrowly avoiding a slip over the sides of them, and calling herself seven kinds of stupid for wandering off like they'd said not to. She ducked into an alley, trying to catch her breath and listen for the ones that had been chasing heart pounded frantically as she tried to figure out a plan, where to run, where to find help.
After escaping the destroyed Casino, the King had asked that all the Oysters stay in the Great Hall, in the building where the Looking Glass was held. Without the Stone of Wonderland, none of them could go home, and they were still in danger. He'd promised that as soon as the Stone was found, they could all leave, no strings attached. And they were all eager to go. Wonderland was not a safe place to be an Oyster, not with thousands of its citizens addicted to Tea. Already, four Oysters had been attacked by Tea-Heads, addicts so far gone that they had torn those poor four people apart, looking for the 'pearls' that would make Tea.
The Suits had brought supplies and beds to the Great Hall and asked that all the Oysters stay inside for their protection. With no Tea being sold or produced, it was only a matter of time before all the surplus Tea ran out. The Oysters were its only source, and the Tea-Heads wouldn't stop until they got their fix.
Brenda had gotten bored being stuck inside, and without anything to really keep her occupied, had decided to look around outside. She'd figured that a little fresh ari would do her good, and she wouldn't go far. But she had underestimated how easy it was to get lost in the upside-down city, and had been found by one of the mad addicts. He'd chased her even further into the city, and the woman now had no idea where she was.
A rustling behind her made her whirl around, just as a hand clamped over her mouth and trapped her arms. The man in front of her looked gaunt and starved, the one behind her was white-faced and almost bloodless in his coloring. "An Oyster," the starving man hummed, a crazed look in his eye. "We found one, we found one!!"
"Now to get the shiny pearl," the pale man rasped. "Shiny pearl that makes Tea, lovely, lovely Tea"---
Her muffled screams rang out for less than a minute before a sick, ripping, gushing sound was heard. Then there was only the sound of bones breaking and crunching, of blood being greedily sucked up with loud slurps. Victim number five had been claimed by the Tea addicts.
After all, withdrawal was a bitch.
When the news reached Jack, he swore a stream of profanity that made the Minister of Clubs stare in shock. The new King had sent out the Card Armies to the city, and most of the Suits were able to keep the worst of the Tea-Heads under control. They would round up as many as they could find and send them off to the Hospital of Dreams to dry out, but the Hospital was already at its maximum capacity. They'd had to use the old Police prisons and the dungeons of the Palace to try and house the new addicts, but more just kept coming.
And several Tea-Heads were already becoming Mad Men. Wonderlanders were naturally Mad, but their twisted logic would suppress it into dormancy without a very strong emotion to trigger it. When the Teas came out, the Madness was now held back with the mind-numbing, logic-killing Tea. But with the odd logic never being used, Madness was dependant on Tea to be suppressed. Without their Tea of choice to keep their Madness at bay, and no logic to pull it back, dozens of people had gone on rampages throughout the city.
And now they had a bigger problem. Several nobles of each House of Cards were not happy about giving up their instant gratification, and even more angry about having to assume responsibility for their people. "God forbid they actually earn their keep," Jack had spat bitterly when he heard about their betrayal. The newly named False Nobles had banded together with the Tea-Heads among the Suits and were gathering up other addicts from the streets. They'd raided the storehouses of confiscated Tea to supply their 'troops', and especially themselves. They were also promising to use the Oysters to make more of the Tea they craved and overthrow Jack to keep the Oysters coming. They'd even elected a new candidate for monarch in a Heart named Rudolphus.
And Caterpillar had informed Jack that some of the Tea-Heads taken in from the False Nobles' attacks had been given Black Tea. The negative emotions of Hatred, Anger, Cruelty, Rage, Sloth, Gluttony, Envy, and Greed were being used to create Monsterous Mad Men. Mad Men by themselves were bad enough, but those drugged up on Black Tea became Monsters, often warping into hideous creatures that barely resembled the humans they once were. They would gain enormous strength and speed, and it could take dozens of Suits to handle just one of them.
All Jack could do now was pray that Carpenter and Caterpillar could somehow work a miracle. Somehow, they had to find a way to break the hold of Tea on his people, or the citizens would tear the Kingdom apart. There had to be a way!
This would be so much easier if they could just find something else to power the Looking Glass to send the Oysters home. Dodo, being the Keeper and Guardian of the Great Library, had been in charge of researching a way, but had turned up some strange results. Oh, there was no way to power the Glass without the Ring, there was no debate about that. What was strange was that there were no other means. The Stone had been completely unique, which shouldn't have been possible. Dodo had pointed out that there was no record of the mine that the jewels had come from, not even in the oldest records of the Archives. There was no original owner listed, no names known of who had created it. It had just appeared, as if by magic.
And without a way to find more of the jewels that made the Ring, they had no way to replicate it. In fact, they had no idea what the jewels were, what kind they were, or even how it could possibly power the Looking Glass. It had always been a great mystery, and now when they needed answers most, the Ring was unavailable for examination. They could not activate the Mirror without it. They had no choice but to retrieve it from the most dangerous place in Wonderland.
In the laboratory of the Hospital of Dreams, Robert Hamilton was crouched over a microscope, gazing at a drug that he prayed would have the right reaction. Caterpillar was on the other side of the table at the black board, going over dozens of calculations and formulas. Several Egg-men were scattered throughout the room, each diligently working to try and find a cure for the addiction they'd been feeding for years.
Robert glanced over to the stoic doctor as a messenger left the room after delivering several reports to the former Resistance leader. "Any news?"
Caterpillar didn't need to ask what the worried father meant. "None, I'm afraid."
"Dammit," Robert muttered. That meant there was no change in Alice's condition. The man couldn't help the guilt and worry he felt for his only child. So much time lost between them, and bitter words from the Hospital when they were reunited. And then his daughter, his baby girl, took the bullets meant for him. To think that after so much time, she still loved him so much--
A hand on his shoulder shook him out of his spiraling thoughts. Caterpillar squeezed lightly. "Your child survived against Mad March, Jabberwocks, and all the perilous people of this world. She has survived surgery and is healing as we speak. She is much stronger than anyone gave her credit for. Your Alice will survive this, I'm sure."
Robert nodded, taking the man's words wiht a grain of salt. While he knew the doctor was trying to give him some hope, he also knew that he wanted Robert focused on his task and not distracted by worry. The former Carpenter shook his head. He needed to finish the work on the cure. It may very well be the only way he could atone to this strange world for all the damage he'd helped cause. And it may very well be all that saved his Alice. Though the Egg-men were working in the lab of their own free will, it wasn't just to find a cure. Suits were posted at the doors and hallways of their rooms and labs, and all around the hospital. The many scientists were in danger from those outside; the Tea-Heads and False Nobles that were trying to recruit them to their 'cause'.
And the Egg-men, for all the Suits' silence on the subject, still caught word of the Oysters being killed throughout the city. The Mad Men had already been sent to attack the Hospital twice in the last three days, with several people escaping their rooms and joining the False Nobles' ranks. Robert knew that the Mad Men and the Monster Men would be sent to attack the White Rabbit Agency next to try and steal the Looking Glass. Thankfully, without the Stone of Wonderland they couldn't kidnap more Oysters. But they also couldn't send the ones they currently had to safety. And Alice, his little girl, was in the City Hospital. With only Sir Charles and Hatter to protect her. He prayed the Tea-Heads wouldn't find out about her location.
For not only was she an Oyster herself, she was the reason for the fall of the Red Queen. She was the reason there was a new King on the throne. A king that had outlawed Tea. She was the reason the Oysters were being sent home, in the eyes of the Tea addicts. Robert Hamilton had no doubts that if they ever got a hold of her, they'd kill her.