"Unless you want to find yourself in a world of pain, don't move an inch until I say so." he warned.
Third POV
After his threat, the brown haired man spoke up, "Jonah, you're just going to scare the poor girl if you grab her like that." his words sounded as if they were meant to be a reprimand, yet the smile on his lips failed to properly portray that. Iris stared at the two men, her blue eyes wide with fear, "W..Who are you two..?" The white-blue haired man narrowed his golden eyes at Iris, "You mean to tell me you don't know who I- Jonah Clemence- am?"
Iris wasn't sure how to respond, that was exactly what she was saying. Why was it such a shock that she didn't know who these guys were? The brown haired man narrowed his jade-colored gaze on Iris, seeming to be deep in thought before he asked- "I've never seen you around before. Tell me, how did you manage to get inside?" "Um.. It's er.. kind of difficult to explain. But I was chasing after him over there-" she pointed to where she had last seen the rabbit-man, "and somehow ended up here."
The brown haired man's eyes widened, "What do you mean, 'him over there?'" he questioned. "He's right over-" When Iris looked over, the white rabbit-man was nowhere to be seen. Like he had disappeared from sight once more. Frustrated welled up inside Iris, she had just caught up to him. And she would have to do it again if she were to return his pocket watch.
Offering the two men the kindest smile she could muster, Iris began to slowly back away, "It was lovely talking to you both, really, I mean it. But I'm afraid that I'm in quite the hurry and must get going." A pair of golden eyes glared at her, "Do you really think a blatant lie like that will get you off the hook for illegally entering the Garden?" "What?! I'm not lying!" Iris insisted. Jonah let out a sigh of frustration, "Drop the act. I don't take kindly to people treating me like a fool."
Jonah pulled something out of his pocket and quickly had it wrapped around Iris' wrists. Iris stared down at the silver confines on her wrist, intricately detailed with a beautiful rose emblem on the center. Even though she'd never admit it out loud, Iris was impressed with how the cuffs had managed to withstand Jonah's rough handling, despite their delicate and lightweight feel. But despite their beauty, it only brought discomfort and anger to Iris. "Are you seriously handcuffing me?! I've done nothing wrong!"
A wicked smile graced Jonah's porcelain doll-like features as he spoke, "You'll never be able to get these off. Though that might change if you get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness." Iris froze, her entire body falling tense. Looks truly were deceiving. Jonah had such gorgeous and delicate features, yet he was as cruel as a heartless monster. "You're merciless, Jonah. This puts me in an uncomfortable position." the brown haired man smiled, though something sinister seemed to hide behind it.
Jonah glared at the brown haired man, "Merciless? You're the last person I want to hear that from, Edgar." "What are you getting at?" Edgar's smile turned to a smirk. A dangerous one at that. At first glance, Edgar seemed nice. But it was clear to Iris that there was something off about this man, and there was no way he'd help her. All she had wanted to do was return that man's pocket watch. How could a good deed escalate so horribly? "Please! Let me go!" A sudden flash echoed around the Garden at Iris' shout.
Completely dumbfounded, Jonah and Edgar stared at Iris, sharing a similar wide-eyed shocked expression. What was that light? Once the light had dissipated, the handcuffs loosened around her wrists and then fell to the ground with a gentle clank. Iris was free. "..You just nullified magic." Edgar muttered, his tone drowned in disbelief. "Are you THE Alice?" Jonah asked. Iris could only stare at the men in confusion, "Um.. Magic? Alice? I.. I don't have a clue as to what you mean."
As soon as she had finished her sentence, someone wrapped their hands around her wrists. There stood a man, with deep brown hair and gray eyes. Dressed in a green suit with a matching black hat, he wore an expression of annoyance as he gazed coolly at Iris. "What are you doing? This is your cue to run away, stupid." Before she could even ask who the man was, he pulled her through a nearby door just as suddenly as he had appeared. A shout of surprise echoing from Jonah and Edgar behind them.
Iris and the man ran down a spiral staircase and emerged into what looked to be some sort of large, government type office of some sort. All this time Iris had been atop the rooftop garden of some building. That was one mystery solved. But something more important stood amiss. "Who are you? Why did you-" "Shut up and run, idiot. Do you want to get yourself captured again?" Iris glared at the man, appalled that they had only just barely met yet he was already calling her an idiot.
Confusion mingling with indignation, the two ran through the hall and down another flight of stairs. "Out of the way." he kicked the main entrance open and led Iris out across a cobblestone street illuminated by the moon. Outside, there stood the white rabbit-man. "Thanks for getting her out of there for me. You saved the day, Mad Hatter." "Stop wasting your breath and get her out of here." The Mad Hatter spoke, turning around and jumping up to the driver's box of a carriage.
The white rabbit-man turned his attention to Iris, offering her a kind smile, "Come on, get in. We need to get out of here quickly." Despite his kind tone, Iris felt uneasy. "..Are you actually here to help me?" "Of course, come on." Without another moment's hesitation, Iris followed the white rabbit-man into the luxurious carriage.
"Now we finally have a moment to talk. I believe you said you'd found something of mine, yes?" The White Rabbit spoke as soon as the carriage had taken off. Pulling the pocket watch out of her purse, Iris held it out to the man, "Yes, I believe this is yours?" The man's expression turned to one of surprise, "Oh, it is! I didn't even realize I had dropped it. Thank you. I owe you my deepest gratitude. This pocket watch means the world to me." he gave Iris a kind smile as he took the pocket watch from her grasp.
"I completely forgot to introduce myself. My name is Blanc Lapin, but my friends call me White Rabbit." Iris was slightly taken aback, a bit surprised that she wasn't the only one to think he was suspiciously rabbit-like. But she said nothing. Now that she wasn't in danger anymore, maybe she could finally find out what was going on?
"My name is Iris Matthews-Schuyler and.. I know this is a very strange request and I apologize but- ..could you tell me where we are?" she asked. But rather than properly addressing her question, Blanc instead said- "Do you know the book 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'?" Confused, she answered, "Erm.. It's a popular children's book.. I don't believe there is anyone who hasn't heard of it." Blanc nodded, "The thing is, 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' is more than just a story- it's real. You're in Wonderland, Iris."
