Chapter VI

Alice had to be alone. She didn't want to be anywhere near anyone. She had to try and steady her racing brain.

How could Miranda not be Miranda? How could she be from Wonderland?

How was Alice even in Wonderland?

She'd been crying for the last ten minutes or so, crying for the friendship that apparently wasn't real, for the abandonment she felt, and because she was now alone. Alice was terrified without Randy beside her, but what else was she supposed to do?

Alice sat on a boulder that could have possibly been part of a building at some point, she couldn't say. In the distance, she saw the glittering city that had once been a majestic kingdom. It was still beautiful, but in a haunting sort of way. She couldn't imagine what it must have looked like when it was still a place where people lived.

And then her mind drifted to Miranda whether she wanted it to or not. Her entire past felt like a lie, her whole childhood and everything that happened during those years. It felt like a cruel joke.

There was hardly a time growing up that she and Randy weren't together. She remembered when they met in school. It was Randy's first day. She'd arrived in the middle of the school year, a transfer student from somewhere else. The teacher put her beside Alice. Alice had introduced herself when Randy sat at her desk and they clicked. She couldn't say if it was because she was so desperate for a friend after her dad had left, or that she simply saw something in Randy, but they grew close quickly.

Miranda spent the night at Alice's house all the time when they were kids, all through middle school, and high school. Alice even spent nights at Randy's house, too. At the time, she never thought it was strange that Randy's parents were always gone, working or what-have-you. As a kid and a young teen, you love the chance to be alone. You never feel more grownup than when the real adults are gone, so she never cared. It wasn't until this new Randy, Leah, had pointed it out that, somehow, throughout the decade they'd known one another, Alice had never met Miranda's parents. Not once.

There were pictures of adults with Randy on the walls, signs that grownups were there, but never ever, not a single time, had Alice ever met them. How was it possible? How could it be at all possible for Alice to never notice something that should have been so obvious?

It just never donned on her at the time.

The betrayal that swept through Alice was unrelenting. It would conjure images of her and Randy, of every good time they had together, and then plastered lie right across it. The memories were tainted now, wrong, because Miranda Harris never existed.

Alice wiped the tear from her cheek and took a deep breath. It quivered as she released it, but it helped steady her just a little. She felt so lost. Everything was slipping away from her, like smoke through her fingers. She couldn't hold onto anything.

A snapping twig and rustle of bushes caused her to turn. It was Hatter. He gave her a small, soft smile which she did her best to return.

"Dinner's done." He told her.

"Okay," She said heavily.

Alice pushed herself to her feet and followed him through the forest and back to camp.

Charlie, the strange knight, offered her something to drink and a massive rib bone of something she couldn't identify when they made it to the camp. Alice wasn't certain she could eat, but the way her stomach churned and roiled when she smelled the roasted meat told her that she was hungry.

In relative silence, Alice ate her dinner. Charlie and Hatter did the same. There was brief conversation, but none that had anything to do with Miranda and what had happened a few hours ago.

The sun eventually set by the time Alice finished off the massive rib. Whatever a borogrove was, it was delicious.

The heat from the fire helped soothe her. She complimented Charlie on dinner. He beamed. Alice liked Charlie. He was kind and seemed genuine. He was the first genuine person she'd met since being in Wonderland, in fact.

Alice and Hatter talked for a minute before the conversation turned.

"You're not coming back with me, are you?" She asked. Alice was surprised she felt a pang of sadness at the thought. It felt like everyone was leaving her.

Hatter shook his head. His face was somber. "This is my home, Alice." He said. "I mean, look at what the Hearts have done?" He motioned to the surrounding ruins. "This used to be somethin' beautiful, and now…" He shook his head slightly. "There are hundreds of people in hidin' and I'm their only chance."

She arched a brow. "I thought Dodo said the Resistance was going to hunt you down?"

"Yup," His voice squeaked a little which made her smile. "But Miranda was right." Alice flinched. She tried to hide it, but she was fairly certain he saw it anyway. "Wonderland used to be happy. We thrived before the Queen came 'round, and if I use the ring," She shot him a warning stare. "Look, I'll get ya back home safe an' sound, but I mean after. We can take all the Oysters home. Without them, it'll be easier to beat the Queen."

"And what about Jack?"

Hatter ground his teeth and let out a loud, obnoxious sigh. "Ya gotta forget about Jack, Alice. There's no way to get into the Casino without settin' off a thousand alarm bells."

Her frustration and anger with Hatter returned. He'd always told her to leave Jack, to forget about him, ever since she'd arrived. It wore thin.

Alice shoved herself to her feet and tossed her dishes down where the others were on the other side of the fire.

"I'm not leaving him here." She said sternly. And she wouldn't. She wasn't going to leave him behind when Wonderland was clearly more dangerous than she ever thought. Besides, Alice couldn't lose anyone else.

The ring felt heavy on her finger. She should have just said yes. Why didn't she say yes?

"Jack's a lucky man."

Hatter's voice was soft, so she wasn't entirely certain she'd heard him correctly.

"What?" She snapped as she looked up at him again.

Crestfallen and shaking his head, Hatter replied, "Nothin'. I'm… I'm gonna get some sleep."

Without another word, Alice watched him walk away. He removed his hat with a flourish before he settled somewhere behind her.

Alice's attention went back to the fire. She poked at it, prodded it, and watched how the flames ate at the pieces of dried wood. She could have sworn he sounded disappointed in her determination to find Jack, maybe even jealous.

A strange sort of feeling began to bubble in her gut. She was flattered.

Hatter was a handsome young man. She'd noticed it the second they met, but the longer she spent time with him, the more she found his little idiosyncrasies kind of charming. If they weren't surrounded by so much chaos, Alice knew she would have developed a crush on him. Honestly, perhaps she was already, but it didn't matter. Her focus was on Jack.

Jack was her boyfriend. Jack was the one she was there to save. Jack was the one she was supposed to be with.

Eventually, Alice decided that it was time for her to go to bed. Charlie had offered her the only bed, and she happily accepted. But, once she'd lain down, sleep wouldn't come. Like before, her mind wouldn't stop.

Leah hadn't left. In fact, she'd only gone a few yards outside of camp. She would never leave Alice alone in Wonderland.

Her back fell easily against a tree and the nearby ferns offered a soft bed to sit in. Leah tenderly touched the fronds, delicately running her fingernails over the multiple little leaves. The magic had withered in her absence. She could still feel it, true, but it was nothing like it'd been when she and her sisters were little. Hell, it was nothing like it'd been when she was an adult, either. Everything was different.

It was like the Hearts had somehow strangled the land, like they'd smothered every natural wonder in favor of their manufactured ones. Wonderland was dying whether people could see it on the outside or not. Leah could feel it.

As her head rested against the gnarled, craggy bark of the tree, Leah's mind drifted back.

Long Before the Great War

Three young girls with the same face and barely into their teens with long flowing hair made their way through the streets of the White Kingdom. Two chased a third, taunting and laughing as they did. They were skipping and holding hands while their little sister did her best to ignore them.

They made kissing noises at her, teasing her because they had nothing else to do.

"Leave me alone!" Leah snapped back at them over her shoulder.

"Awe, I think she's getting angry, Cali."

"Looks like it, Thea."

They continued to giggle and tease her just because they could.

"I'm never wrong, Leah." Thea said. "He's going to be your boyfriend."

Leah spun around to face the pair who were still grinning. "Then I won't meet him."

Thea smiled and snorted a little laugh. "That's not how it works, Sister." She said. And then she recited a paraphrased version of the prophecy that she had been teasing Leah over for the last few days. "A hand extended in kindness, he will welcome you home. He will see right through you, Sister. Your tricks won't work on him."

"I don't care." She said. "True love isn't real, not like that."

She laughed again while Cali smiled. "Whether you believe in it or not doesn't matter. The instant you see him, you'll know. When you touch him, it will all be over. You can't fight Fate. She told me so herself."

Thea enjoyed teasing her sisters with her prophecies whenever they pertained to either of them. It wasn't often, but whenever she saw something that included either Leah or Cali, Thea was over the moon. The prospect of Leah meeting her one true love brought months of untold joy.

Leah was young then and incredibly embarrassed by the fact. She would blush every time her sister mentioned the prophecy, which only meant Thea mentioned it as often as possible. She teased her little sister just like every other sibling would.

It took some time, but eventually the novelty of Leah's blushes ran their course, and Thea dropped the subject entirely. She remembered being grateful for it, as though she could breathe again, but she never forgot about it completely. That was probably why she hadn't dated often when she was in Other World. Even though she didn't fully believe her sister (despite every other prophecy coming true) Leah never felt anything towards the men she went out with, so there was no point in continuing a relationship with them. She'd all but forgotten about it, until she returned home.

It's Hatter, she thought. Hatter is the one Thea was talking about.

She knew the moment she saw him. A burst of anxiety swept through her, a powerful emotion that made her heart flutter and her stomach fill with butterflies. She didn't like it and thought it was a simple crush (a new feeling, yes) until he told her they were in Wonderland. He welcomed her home while offering a helping hand. Those simple facts brought Thea's premonition screaming to the foreground.

As a result, perhaps she was a little distant toward him, but she couldn't help it. A petty part of her wanted to prove her sister wrong, even though she never was. Besides, Leah was far too distraught over what had become of Wonderland in her absence to care about something as trivial as her supposed soul mate.

Leah thought back to the last time she'd seen her sisters, the last time she was in Wonderland and the world was as it should have been.

The wind brought with it the signing from the flowers in the field down below. It was soft, without any true words, but lyrical and beautiful. It was spring and everything was in bloom.

Leah was sitting on a chaise braiding her hair as she listened to the music. As she did, a small dragonfly flew through her window. She smiled at it and the small puff of flames it blew before it flew away once more.

Cali was sitting in the far corner of the large room the trio shared. She was mixing and brewing, creating her concoctions as she always was. There was no Healer better. Cali's mixtures were always the best and in high demand, so she was always mixing. Half of her brew would go to the Court, the other half to the citizens. As a result, there were walls upon walls of bottles and ingredients that never seemed to be full enough, nor empty.

Thea was writing in her book. She was always one to record her various prophecies and rereading the old ones. She'd even make notes about the situations that had already come to fruition.

As they each sat there enjoying their spring day, Thea suddenly drew in a long, loud gasp of air. Leah and Cali instantly turned to her. They knew what was coming. Sure enough, when Thea's head dropped, she looked completely different. Her eyes glowed with a fluorescent blue and her hair fell into her face. Her beautiful features faded and she took on the look of a specter. When she spoke, her voice was not her own, twisted and hollow.

"Red skies will devour, and white will fall." The haunting voice was soft, but echoed deeply within each young woman, as though it touched a part of their souls. "The savior awaits to hear the call. The dead will rise to claim the land. With magic's will aid the strong right hand. The throne will wither then rise again. And the savior's reign will begin."

Thea exhaled and her body collapsed against her desk. Leah rose to reach her side while Cali grabbed a small bottle of glittering green liquid. While it was terrifying whenever Thea had a Vision, the pair had grown accustomed to it and knew how to act.

Leah tenderly took her sister's shoulders in her hands and guided her back in her chair. She helped her sit up. When Cali joined them, Leah opened their sister's mouth and Cali poured the liquid down her throat. A moment later, Thea woke up.

The potion helped Thea recover faster than she would otherwise, so she was with them quickly, but there was something wrong. Terror, if Leah had to guess, saturated her sister's features. Without an immediate explanation, Thea began to scribble down the prophecy. The words were always cryptic, but Thea said that she would see as well. She knew something they didn't, and it scared them both.

"We have to see the King." Thea said. She tore the writings out of her book and stormed out of the room before either Leah or Cali could utter a word. They quickly followed her out.

It was that day Leah learned that war was coming to Wonderland, a war that would change everything. Thea told the king that they had to find the Savior. She said that Leah was the one to do it. It all happened so quickly.

Within days Leah was shoved through the Looking Glass with vague instructions and a sad, but reassuring smile from her sister. If she'd known that it would be the last time she'd ever see them, she would have said so much.

Leah wiped the tear from her cheek. She missed her sisters dearly and now her only friend wanted nothing to do with her. Leah felt alone, and in many ways she was. But even though Alice was angry and felt understandably betrayed by Leah's lies, Leah had no intentions of letting anything happen to her. Alice was all she had left.

Alice didn't know how long she laid there before she simply decided that she had to take things into her own hands. The springs creaked only slightly as she stood up. Holding the coat tightly around her body, Alice found herself looking down at Hatter. He was sleeping against a building and a fence. He looked so peaceful. It made her smile.

Alice wanted to trust him. In part, maybe she did. The fact was, he'd made it clear more than once that he was in it for the ring. Alice couldn't decide if she was angry by that, or respected it. The truth of the matter was he hadn't lied. If anything, Hatter had been relatively upfront. There was something to be said for that. Not even Miranda was honest with her.

She scowled slightly at the memory and fought the ache of betrayal.

Alice made up her mind as to what she was going to do. The cold hit her almost immediately when she took Hatter's jacket off and hung it on the rung of a nearby ladder. She made sure it wouldn't fall before she approached the king on his throne. Alice's brows creased as she looked at it. The bones looked sad. It was such a strange thing to think, but they did. The bones looked sad, as though the King knew what happened after he died.

The ring slid as easily off her finger as the jacket had from her shoulders. She glided it onto the King's boney finger and made sure it wouldn't fall off. Alice stepped back. Before she left the camp, she cast one last look over it and the men within. She smiled lightly, then made her way East.

A dream about her father and the loneliness of his departure followed her into the morning. Alice might have been out of the dream, but its claws refused to leave her. The best she could do was try to ignore it as she rose to her feet. Alice cast the fallen city one final glance, then continued on her way.

There were bugs making sounds, a few animals here and there, but nothing as terrifying as the Jabberwock. Still, Alice remembered the books and the poems. She remembered the other creatures in them like the Jubjub bird and the Bandersnatch. She had no idea what they were supposed to look like, but assumed they were dangerous.

She continued on her walk for a good long distance. Just ahead of her, she could see the edge of the forest. While beautiful, trudging through the landscape in her boots made her worry she'd roll her ankle at any time. She would be grateful for the leveled ground.

The scene beyond the forest was a bit more barren. There were rolling hills, dried brush and short dead grass. It looked like the Californian countryside. Even though Alice had never been to California herself, plenty of movies and television used it for filming.

Deep in her own mind, Alice didn't know how long she'd walked before she felt something behind her. There was a creeping feeling, a feeling that she was being watched, so it forced her to turn around. To her surprise, it was Miranda.

Alice paused. She kept her gaze firmly fixed on the familiar face of her one-time friend. Randy said nothing as she continued her trek closer. She didn't acknowledge that she'd been seen, or seem to care in the least. Instead, she finally reached Alice's side and then continued on.

"Come along," She said in that English voice that Alice felt didn't suit her. "You're on your way to the Casino, aren't you?"

The best Alice could manage was a subdued nod.

"Then let's go."

Randy continued on. When she was roughly ten feet ahead, Alice finally snapped back into the moment.

"What are you doing here?" Alice asked in a demanding way as she did her best to close the distance between them.

"If you think I'm going to let you go to the Casino on your own, you're madder than Charlie."

"I don't want your help." She snapped.

Miranda paused then turned to face her. Alice had been closer than she realized and took a step back as though keeping her distance would make her somehow feel better. It didn't. This was her oldest friend and a complete stranger at the same time.

"I don't care." She said a little sterner than Alice expected. "This isn't your world, Alice. Hell, it isn't even mine anymore, but I'm still not going to let you do this on your own. Minerva Heart was batshit crazy before I went to Other World. You think it's somehow lessened now that she's a Queen?"

Alice chewed on the inside of her cheek briefly before saying something that actually hurt to say. "I still don't trust you."

She noticed Randy flinch. She looked sad, but clearly tried to wipe the expression away before she spoke.

"Then ask me anything you'd like." Randy said. "I'll tell you everything you want to know."

"How do I know you'll tell me the truth?"

"Why would I lie? At this point, there is no point."

Alice thought over her proposal for a moment or two before she offered a reluctant nod.

"Okay," She muttered. Alice crossed her arms over her chest. It was a juvenile action, but it made her feel better. "What's your name, your real name?"

"Cordelia." She replied. "My sister's called me Leah."

"And you're really from Wonderland?"

Leah nodded. "I was born in the Tulgey Wood, just outside the White Kingdom."

Alice nodded herself, though she didn't know why. "You have sisters?"

"I did." Her answer was a little heavier than those before it. "We were triplets." Alice's brows rose in surprise. Leah smiled a little. "I was the youngest."

"Are you sure they're gone?"

Again, she nodded sadly. "I'd feel them. It's hard to explain, but I'd be able to feel them here, in Wonderland, and I can't. I think that's part of the reason I didn't realize where we were."

Alice didn't know what Leah meant by sensing her sisters, but she'd heard about the weird telepathy and psychic links between twins and triplets. Maybe it was the same thing.

They fell into a brief silence until Alice felt more questions arise.

"Why didn't you tell me who you really were?"

"Would you have believed me?" Leah asked leadingly. "Besides, how? As far as Oysters are concerned, my world doesn't exist. If I'd told you I was from Wonderland, you'd have thought I was mad."

"You said you came looking for me specifically." She said. Leah nodded. "Why?"

Leah hesitated for a moment. Alice could tell she was struggling with what to say, or perhaps how to say it. Eventually, she seemed to manage.

"My sister sent me to find you." She said. Alice eyed her suspiciously. "The three of us, we were gifted. My sister Thea was a Seer. When she warned the Red King that war was coming, I was chosen to go to Other World to find you. And then, when the time arose, I was meant to protect you here."

"But you were just a kid, too. Why would the King send a-" As she spoke, Alice noticed Leah's expression fall slightly and turn into something that bordered on sheepish. Her stomach sank. "You weren't really a kid, were you?" Leah shook her head. "How? You looked like it."

"Magic,"

Alice scoffed derisively. "Are you serious?"

She'd offended Leah, she could tell, and the woman's retort left Alice speechless.

A pale mist appeared from nowhere and wrapped itself around Leah. It blocked out every hint of the woman it covered. It dissipated just as quickly as it had formed, and what it left behind was ten-year-old Randy. Alice let out a gasp of shock and bounded back a few steps. Her heart raced as she stared down at the girl she'd first met a decade ago.

"Magic is real." She said in a child's voice. "At least here it is." Mist once more swept over the figure, again blocking out what was underneath and rising in height. When it faded, the appropriate version of Randy… Leah stared back at her. "But I wasn't supposed to get that close to you. I was supposed to keep my distance."

"Then why did you?" She was still rattled, but did her best to keep questioning Leah.

"I liked you." She said with a halfhearted shrug. "You were kind to me, and I was alone in a different universe. I wanted a friend."

Alice sighed softly. Her shoulders slumped. She felt a little guilty, but at the same time, she all but refused to let herself be swept up in the moment.

"How do you even know it's me?"

"My sister said the savior would introduce herself to me, that she'd make herself known."

"Savior?" She asked in disbelief. Leah nodded. "I'm no one's savior."

"Yes, you are."

Alice shook her head sternly. She found the will to move and charged past Leah as though the pair of them had never stopped their journey.

"No, I'm not." She said. "You've got the wrong girl."

"Sorry to disappoint, but my sister was never wrong." Leah said as she followed Alice. "She told me where to go and you were the first person to introduce yourself to me."

"So?" She scoffed. "That doesn't mean anything."

"Yes, well, you're Alice. You might not be the Alice of Legend, but it's you."

"Why, because that's my name?"

"Yes,"

Alice stopped and spun. "You're kidding, right?"

"No. Don't ask me what it is, but that name means something here." She replied. Alice shook her head once more and began her walk yet again. "Whether you like it or not, you're going to help overthrow the Hearts."

"I'm not overthrowing anyone. I just want to find Jack and go home."

"You don't believe that."

"Yes, I do." She said sharply.

"I can tell when you're lying."

A shard of ice pierced her. It caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end and her body to go motionless. Somehow, she managed to turn around to look at her former friend.

"What?"

Leah took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She scratched her eyebrow, a habit of Miranda's that Alice didn't appreciate this stranger repeating –even if they did share a face.

"I'm a Truth Seer." She finally said.

"A what?"

"A Truth Seer." Leah repeated. "I can not only tell when someone's lying, but I can make them tell the truth." Alice flinched, but she wasn't certain why. "So no, you don't just want to find Jack and go home. There's something else, whether you know it yet or not."

Too many emotions. Alice felt too many emotions and she had to separate herself from it as quickly as she could. Like before, she turned her back on Leah and started off toward the Casino again.

"I don't need this right now, okay?" She called back over her shoulder.

"Alice, stop!" Leah shouted. Alice had been walking so quickly that Leah had to jog after her. She felt someone grab her arm and force her to do just that. Alice stared back at Leah. "Look, I know you don't trust me, and I completely understand, but I am your friend." Alice fought the urge to be outright mean, but Leah seemed to notice. "Whether you believe me or not, I still consider you my closest friend, and I'm not willing to let anything happen to you here."

Alice believed her, and that bothered her more than she thought it would. She didn't like that she was relieved that Randy had her back, even if she was told that Randy wasn't a real person.

So many things were struggling for dominance in her mind that Alice's head dropped. As she thought over everything, she noticed something odd.

"What happened to your shoes?"

Leah wiggled her painted toes. Her feet were dirty, which made sense, and entirely devoid of the boots Alice knew Hatter had given her to wear.

"Lost them when we were running from the Jabberwock."

Alice shot her a surprised glance. "You've been barefoot this whole time?"

Leah smiled crookedly and shrugged. Alice couldn't help herself. She laughed. It was far from the first time Randy… Leah went a whole day barefoot, never noticing or remarking on the terrain. More than once Alice said she had to have leather for soles. It made her jealous that Randy's feet never looked like it. They always looked perfect.

Finally feeling some of the tension leave her for the first time in a while, noise caught her attention. Alice saw Leah's face drop and all emotion fade. Alice turned around and saw a dozen Suits emerge from the background, led by the man with the rabbit's head.

"Alice," Leah said warningly.

"It's okay." She mumbled as they closed in. "It's part of the plan."

"Right," Leah scoffed.

The rabbit spoke with a robotic voice and soon they were gathered up.

"What about this one?" The man in the black bowler hat asked, motioning to Leah.

"Who cares?" The rabbit said. "We got the broad."

"Hm," Bowler Hat mumbled. "We'll give her to the Casino. They can always do with a new Oyster."

Alice cast her a glance. Both of them knew she wasn't an Oyster, but neither of them was going to tell the Suits that. Instead, somehow, Alice knew Leah would use the chance to search for Jack and the small nod she gave told her so.