Wow guys I've gotten 5 new fans just since I put out the last chapter! Welcome new readers, I'm glad you're liking the story~! I'm glad everyone is still reading and enjoying c:
ALSO! I am sincerely thinking about doing a contest or rather, CONTESTS, for this story. A writing one and a drawing one. Its just an idea, and depending on the feedback I get from you all after this chapter, I'll think about doing it! For the writing competition, a short one-shot fanfic of AnW, featuring any characters and pairings you like! For the drawing competition, a drawing featuring at least two of the story's characters!
How do you all like that idea, hm?
While you mull over that, here's your new chapter!
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Devin's PoV:
At had been several days since the Tweedles arrived at the mansion, and my training was still continuing non-stop. Today however, Arian was not sent to wake me up, and instead, I stared at a grinning March Hare who had plunked himself down next to my bed.
"March…? Why are you…?" I muttered sleepily.
The brunette's smile widened in answer. "Because you're not training today! You're going to town with me!" he said happily, ears perky.
I blinked slowly, kind of like a cow. "….What? What time is it? Why am I not training?" I questioned, sitting up and not even bothering to smooth down my hair, which was sticking up in every possible direction.
March giggled at the sight and stood, twirling a bit as he went to pull the curtains open and let light stream into the room. I grimaced at the brightness, as well as March's obvious morning personality. I had always been suspicious of morning people. No one who could wake up like that, all bright eyed and bushy tailed, was normal in my book.
"Everyone needs a break! If you spend every waking moment training, you're going to burn yourself out in no time! You need something to mix it up! So, we're going to town for some supplies for the mansion, and I'm going to show you some Wonderland life!" the Hare vowed in a serious, yet very cute way.
His determined expression made me chuckle, and I slid out of bed to look for my clothes. "And what is everyone else doing?" I asked, finding my clothes where they always were and beginning to slip them on.
March came over and batted my hands away. "No no! Not those ratty things come on! We're raiding Kaga's closet!" he said, grabbing my hand and dragging me out of the room in my boxers.
"Uhh…Why?" I questioned, blushing a bit as we passed a maid and she blushed as well, obviously ogling me.
The small man looked over his shoulder as he dragged me into Kagamine's room, the Hatter nowhere in sight. "Because, we're going into town with the large, Noble's carriage, seeing as the supplies are well….there's a lot of them. Also! Ches and Julus agreed you need a small break, so they went to Cheshire Territory to check on Ches's house."
He immediately went and opened Kagamine's massive closet, which made Ches's huge one look like a broom closet, and looked through the varying amounts of clothes, which were all very nice suits and dress clothes. It seemed the Hatter didn't know how to dress any other way.
I just stood there watching him for a moment, and then a thought occurred. "And where's Kagamine?"
March glanced at me. "Oh, he's around here somewhere, but he's also going to check on some of the amusement parks. He has to do that, you know?" he said idly.
This earned a head tilt from me. "Amusement parks?"
"Yes. Don't you…oh, wait, of course you don't know!" March exclaimed, laughing a bit. "The Hatter's, though very proper, are also the leading industry in the continent for amusement parks! There's over fifty in Hatter Country alone. Hatter Country is where you come to have fun!"
The knowledge of Wonderland was great to know, and I filed it away in the back of my mind, smiling a bit. Kagamine had been so fun the first time I came to Wonderland, and over the past week or so, I'd seen his personality even better. I could very easily believe he ran amusement parks.
March tossed a suit at me. "Here, put this on. You and Kaga are the same size, more or less.
About 20 minutes later, there I stood in a solid black suit, outlined in purple, and some shiny black dress shoes. We had also brushed my hair. March smiled at me and handed me a silky purple tie which I put on as I spoke.
"You know, the whole time I've been here, I've only seen woods, woods, and more woods. I figured there were towns, but I…well, it got a little hard to believe there was actually a community here," I admitted.
March smiled. "Well, I guess that makes sense. The first time you were here you never left Tugly Wood, and most people stay away from the Wood, because it's actually pretty dangerous unless you're a Noble."
"Dangerous?" I questioned, finishing tying the tie and looking in the full length mirror.
The Hare's eyes lit up. "You look great! Veeeery sexy. I'll have to pull the people off of you!" he gushed excitedly, dusting me off as I blushed. "Yes, dangerous. Bandersnatches, JubJub Birds, the occasional Worpltinger. Not to mention the Cheshire's man eating flowers around his territory…."
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. I'm familiar with those…are we leaving now?"
With a grin, March nodded. "Just give me a minute!" he said excitedly, slipping form the room.
He was back in less than five minutes, in a white suit edged in gold, the sleeves tight fitting and the collar in an Asian style. "You look great March," I said sincerely.
March blushed pink and shrugged. "I need to dress well too, of course! Now, when we get to town, you mustn't let anyone know you're an Alice. There are agents of the King everywhere, and while normal Wonderlanders will practically worship you, they will try and kill you."
I grimaced. "I don't so much like the aspect of being worshipped either. So, what are we going to do?"
The smaller man held up a box of contacts. "I have green, brown, and purple. You can choose which to wear. Your hair can stay blond. Also, if they ask who you are, you are a good friend of Kagamine's, who has been living in Miradel for a few years, and come to visit."
A small smirk crossed my face. "One brown and one purple. I've always wanted to have mismatched eyes," I decided, winking.
March laughed a bit, and once the contacts were in, we made our way outside, to not just one carriage, but a line of them. There were five. "We're in the first, biggest one. We'll fill them up with supplies, and then one small one will stay at the edge of the town, waiting for us, so I can show you around," March explained.
Then we were on our way, and it actually took almost an hour to get to town. It amazed me that, once the Woods ended, there was only plains, rolling on and on. One could actually see the city in the distance, yet it seemed to get no closer as we went along, because of the sheer distance.
Once there, the carriages drove into town, and it seemed like everyone that was outside doing things stopped at once, and watching the carriage and an air of excitement coming over them. Some even followed the carriages, especially children. I rose an eyebrow at this, and looked over at March.
"What's going on?" I asked.
March smiled. "Kagamine is a very popular Noble. Or he was, until Julus's incident. He hasn't been to town for years, ever since his madness became so bad that I had to start drugging him. But the people love him. They love their Nobles, but thanks to the King, none of us really go out too often anymore," he explained softly, watching the people.
We stopped in the market part of town, all kinds of food shops and stands set up everywhere, and it was very busy, people milling around, shopping. Of course, everyone stilled and watched as March and I emerged from the carriage, closing in around us in an excited crowd, yet still at enough distance for us to walk.
" , !" a boy called, maybe around 12.
March paused and smiled sweetly and him. "Hello," he greeted.
The boy blushed and smiled back, huge eyes excited. "I met you once a few years ago! My name is Yulen!" he said. Obviously March must have had a big impression.
The Hare's eyes lit up and he laughed delicately. "Oh, my! I remember you now! You've grown so big. How is your mother?" he questioned.
Yulen looked positively rapturous that March had remembered him, and the two started talking, very in depth. I stood there quietly, knowing no one and not wanting to attract much attention, but I couldn't help but noticed the large amount of women AND men giggling and watching me.
One particularly bold woman in a very expensive looking dress approached. "Hello, sir. May I ask were Sir Hatter is today?" she asked politely, holding out her gloved hand.
I kept my cool as best I could and gave her a heart stopping smile, taking her small hand and bowing over it as elegantly as I could. "My apologies, if I am not what you were expecting, miss," I purred over her hand, my now mismatched eyes steady on her blushing face.
"Kagamine had some important business to take care of, and so I am here in his stead. May I ask your name?"
She giggled and fanned herself. "Oh, my. I see. I am Lady Adessa Vanleri. I have never seen you with Sir Hatter, Mr…?"
I smiled. "Devin James, my lady. I have been living in Miradel for the past few years, you see. I am only here for a brief stay."
The woman grinned, and March tapped me on the shoulder. "Excuse me, Devin, but we must be on our way. There are a great many things we have to get," he said, politely nodding at Adessa.
"Alright. It was a pleasure meeting you, Lady Adessa," I said softly, kissing her hand and walking away with March.
We went through the entire market, going in to every store and buying more kinds of foods than I even thought possible. By the time we were done, four of the carriages were full of nothing but food items, and I shook my head. "Good lord, March. How long is all of this going to last?" I asked, staring at it all.
He looked thoughtful. "Well, only about three weeks. I go to the Market every two and half weeks, this is just my usual haul. There's more than just us living in the mansion you know. Alright, take all this back to the mansion, Devin and I will be staying a little longer!" he called to the carriage drivers, who tipped their hats and began on their merry way back to the mansion.
March then walked me to the shopping district, full of nothing but clothing stores, book stores, toy stores, etc. We walked by one shop that I had to do a double take on, and stood staring blankly at for a moment.
"March! There's a SEX shop in the SHOPPING distract?!" I questioned in slight outrage.
The Hare tilted his head. "Of course. I told you, there's every kind of shop here," he answered calmly. "Why, do you want to go in?"
I blushed a bit. "Ah-what-no! I mean, there's CHILDREN here man!"
The smaller man laughed a bit. "Well, of course, they aren't allowed in. You must be 16 or older to go in here, and you did notice that there's nothing too bad on display in the windows, as well as there being a wall so that you can't see past the display."
I sighed, crossing my arms as we began to continue walking. "16? The legal age is 18 were I come from," I muttered.
March tilted his head once more. "Why? I see no point in waiting the two extra years. But then again, it IS your custom, and therefore I won't question it, I suppose. And two years is nothing in five hundred."
"Five hundred?" I said in surprise.
"Well, yes of course. That IS the average lifespan of an average Wonderland human, why? Is it different in Earth?" he asked curiously.
I stood there shocked for a moment. "What!? Good LORD March! No! The average human lives to be one hundred, if they're lucky, on Earth," I said in shock.
March gaped. "My Gods! Such short life spans! Or Nobles don't age past 21, we could live for forever!"
This practically froze my mind, trying to process such a thing. "….How…old…are you?"
The Noble tilting his head. "Well, I'm a rather young Noble, as is Kagamine. We're only 208 years old."
It was my turn to gape. "That's more than double how old I could even dream of becoming!"
March frowned. "You and Alex simply can't think of going back to such a terrible place. Alex is a Noble, he will live for thousands of years! And you…"
I looked away, eyes growing hooded. "I'm just me. I won't live past one hundred," I stated softly.
March shook his head. "Do you have your emblem?" he asked.
With a nod, I took Ather's emblem from my inside pocket, showing it to March before putting it back. I couldn't wear it around or people would ask what Noble I was. March smiled. "You have been chosen as a Noble, remember? Ather is your god, and you will live until he dies, or you are killed."
I let this news sink in slowly. "….I'm…immortal….?" I murmured.
An answering nod came from March. "Yes. You are. NOW! LETS SHOP!" he said determinedly, grabbing my arm and dragging me into a shop.
We did that all day, and I learned a lot about Wonderland, its people, its fashion, and its currency, which were all coins and no paper. It was one of the most memorable days of my life, of any that I had spent in Wonderland.
I learned a lot about March, too. I saw more of his bright, bubbly personality that day than I had my entire month of being there. Many people actually thought we were together, and this only made both of us blush and quickly deny it, the news spreading rather quickly that Kagamine and March had finally gotten together.
Apparently, everyone, even commoners, knew that Kagamine was in love with March, and had been waiting for them to finally start dating. We went to eat, and I sampled a barrage of foods, finding most of them to my liking except for some nasty, slimy snail dish.
It wasn't until the sun began to go down, and we got on the carriage to go back, that I realized…this town had felt so wonderful to be in. It felt like I belonged here. I voiced as much to March, and he smiled.
"Because you do belong here, Devin. You were destined to come here. Nothing in Wonderland happens by accident," he whispered, looking out of the window as the sky became dark, the stars twinkling.
I looked as well, thinking of Airadon and Ather. "I'm just me. I've never believed in God, let alone more than one God. I don't think I'm worthy."
'You are. You belong here, with us, Devin. Believe in me, that I did not make the mistake of choosing the wrong person to represent me,'Ather's voice whispered in my mind, and my tension eased.
I did belong here. The question was, what was Alex going to want when, or even if, I ever saved him?