Little Miss Angel

Chapter 10

Invitation

White's POV

As Black patrolled the prison I sat on the bed with a sleeping Raven lying right next to me. I brushed a few stray hairs away from her angelic sleeping face and trailed my hand down to her chin. Her face scrunched up a bit at the sudden contact but her face soon relaxed and she rolled over. I smiled as I sat there next to her watching her carefully. I knew I couldn't stay long, I had preparation for the next show to finish up. I got up and locked the door before the room swirled into the bright colors of my tent at the Circus. I left the tent and made my way to the Big Top where practice should have already begun. I was about to enter the Big Top but I was stopped by one of the clown children who worked at the circus. "Joker-sama!" the faceless child called out. "Yes, what is it?" I asked looking down at the small child.

"This just came in!"

She held out a letter. I nodded and took it from her. "Thank you." I gave her a bright smile and she went on her way.

I opened the letter and seen it was another role holder event. I sighed at the contents on the inside. There was a ball that was being held at Heart Castle and everyone had to attend due to the rules. It's probably because the Queen heard of the news of a new foreigner and immediately wanted to meet her. I tucked the invitation away making a mental note to tell Joker later. However, now was not the time I have preparations to attend too.

Raven's POV

I peeked open my eyes as I stared at White who locked the door and disappeared right in front of my eye. I giggled and jumped out of bed. I ran to the door and unlocked it, running out into the hallway. Thanks to me falling asleep, I never got to go get my kitty cat! And that was the first thing I was going to do! I ran down some halls making a left then a right before going out into the actual prison part. Isn't Black patrolling right now? So where is he? You'd think he would notice someone running around here! I skipped past the prisoners in their cells until I bumped into something or someone. I gave a squeak of pain as I fell to the ground. I looked up and seen who I bumped into, and when I seen who I bumped into I immediately regret leaving the safety of the bedroom. I gasped and screamed out loud.

"JOKER!"

Standing in front of me was a faceless prisoner that manage to escape from his cell. I scrambled to my feet and started to run away from the scary man. "JOKER!" I screamed again as I ran down a hall and hid in the nearest room I could find. I quickly shut the door and locked it, before sinking against the wall of the closet I was hiding in hoping that the man that was chasing after me would just run on by.

I held my breath seeing a shadow of someone stopping in front of the closet and then shook the door knob finding it locked then carried on down the hall followed by another shadow. I breathed a sigh of relief before carefully and quietly unlocking the door. I opened the door slowly and poked my head out to see if he was still in the hall, he wasn't, so I quietly shut the door and ran back down the hall. I ran until I reached the doors of the prison. I ran out the doors of the prison and ran down the path I did that night I got scared. I kept running and running until I knew I was safe. I slowed down and hunched over trying to settle my breathing. I calmed myself and looked behind me, the prison no longer visible. I gave a small smirk realizing I made it outside so now I could continue on to the Clock Tower to get my kitty cat! I giggled and began to run again down the path.
"I'm coming kitty cat!"

Black's POV

I sighed as I was checking up on the prisoners seeing all of them in their cells and I was about to end my patrol when I noticed that a cell door was open. I groaned and ran down to the open the cell seeing that the prisoner that was inside was gone. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!" I hissed. I turned and ran back the way I came looking in all the spots that he'd try and hide. I was about to put the whole prison on lock down when I heard a scream.

"JOKER!"

That was Raven! I immediately turned around and ran toward the area where the scream came from. "Damn it, Joker!" I hissed "I thought I told you to stay with her!"

"She was asleep before I left!"

"Why'd you even leave her in the first place?!"
"I had preparations for the next show to attend to!"

I rolled my eyes and rounded a corner as another scream filled the prison.

"JOKER!"

I could see the prisoner that escaped right in front of me running after Raven. "Hold it!" I yelled pulling my whip out as the prisoner shook a door knob to some random room. His head snapped in my direction before running off again. Damn it! I ran after the escapee and corned him in the hall. He stood there frozen in fear as White stood in front of him with a scowl on his face. The prisoner turned around and tried to run back down the hall but came face to face with me.

"Going somewhere?" I hissed walking toward him and Joker doing the same. "You should know better then to chase after a young lady." White said calmly his scowl still in place. "Especially if she belongs to us!" I smirked as White pulled out his whip and raised mine.

Raven's POV

I skipped to through the forest until I arrived at the Clock Tower, which I was surprised I even managed to find it. I opened the door and walked up the stairs going up to the first landing and bursting through the door. "Hello, Julius!" I called bouncing over to him. He looked up at me after setting a mug down. "Ah, you're back already?" he asked. "Yup! I came to get my kitty cat!" I replied.

"You mean that thing over there?"

Julius pointed at the curled up black and gray stripped cat that was laying on the couch in the room. I beamed at the sight of him and ran over to him.
"Ah! Mister Kitty cat!" I picked him up and hold him in my arms. "Have you been doing well? Have they treated you nicely?" I asked petting the cats back. "I'd assume so, Gray has been taking care of that thing while you were gone." replied Julius.

"It's not a thing! It's a kitty!"

"Same difference..."

I glared at him and bounced over to him putting the kitty cat on his desk.

"See! If it was a thing it wouldn't be a kitty cat!"

He looked down at my kitty cat with disdain and went back to drinking what ever was in the mug. I peeked over the desk to try and see what was in there. However he kept drinking it. "Hey, Julius, what's that you're drinking?" I asked and he replied with a short answer.

"Coffee."
"What's that?"

"It's something adults drink in order to stay up during the day."

"Why?"

"Because work can be stressful and boring. It's something you won't know for a while."

I nodded and looked at the cup with interest as he set it back down on the desk. "Can I have a drink?" I asked looking back at Julius.

Julius looked down at me and gave me a questioning look, "I'm not sure it's healthy for a young lady like yourself to be drinking this."

I stared at Julius for a while giving him a pouty face. "Just a teeny tiny sip? Pleeease!" I gave Julius the best puppy dog look I could muster up.

He gives me a blank stare and keeps looking from me to the cup for a while. I kept the puppy dog look up and waited. He sighed and stared at me for a good while before he nodded. He turned his chair to face me. "Alright fine." he mumbled.

Julius reluctantly grabbed the cup off the desk and brought it to my lips. "Careful it's hot..."

I nodded and he tilted the cup up slightly and I parted my lips to let the hot liquid into my mouth. Julius pulled the cup away and set it back on the desk as I swallowed the warm weird tasting liquid. It tasted sweet but bitter at the same time, way different from tea. I licked my lips and stared at Julius. "It's a lot different from tea..."

Julius nodded at my words and went back to work like usual. Mister Kitty watched Julius from his spot on a corner of the desk before meowing and jumping off to walk towards the door that led out into the hall. "Wait for me!" I called abandoning Julius at his desk and running after Mister Kitty. I ran up the stairs to another door where he began to paw at it and meow until it opened.

"Oh, is it that time again?" asked the person in the room. Mister Kitty was lifted up and held in the persons arms. The person stepped out and it was Gray. He had a light streak of pink going across his cheeks as he petted the kitty.
"Gray!" I yelled and hugged his legs. His whole body stiffened before he looked down and saw it was me. "Raven? Welcome back." He nodded his head to me and I released his legs.

"Julius says you've been taking care of Mister Kitty for me!" I gave Gray a smile and walked with him down stairs. "Well I couldn't let Julius take care of him, he wouldn't do it right." replied Gray. I laughed knowing that Julius would probably do a bad job indeed. At least he was in good hands. We walked into the room Julius was in and walked straight into the kitchen. Gray set Mister Kitty on the floor and went over to a cabinet getting something out. He pulled out a bag of some sort and set it on the counter before walking away. I walked over to the counter and looked over the edge on my tip toes to see what the bag was. It was cat food. Gray came back with a small bowl and poured some cat food into the bowl before putting the bag back where he got it.

I watched Gray's every move as he set the bowl down. The cat ran to the bowl and began to eat. Gray squatted down and stroked the cats back with a blush on his face again, then Julius walked in. "Would you control yourself, Gray? You're acting like an idiot with that thing!" Gray scoffed at him and said nothing.

"He's not a thing!" I argued. "He's a kitty cat! Do we have to go through this again?"

Julius rolled his eyes and poured him some more coffee I stood where I was and pouted in place. Julius soon left the room with a full cup of coffee and Gray was still petting the cat as I stood there. The silence was interrupted by the door opening and in stepped the man I met on the way to the Amusement park, Ace.

"Julius!" called Ace as he looked around before locking eyes with me. "Oh! Hello!"

Ace walked over to me and picked me up. He kissed my cheek and held me in his arms for a while until a cough interrupted. We looked over and Gray was now standing on his feet again and he looked upset. "Ace, put Raven down." he ordered.

"So that's your name!" Ace said looking back at me with a big smile.
I looked back at Ace, panicked. "I didn't tell you my name? Oh I'm so sorry, Mister Ace. I'm Raven Liddell!" Even though I was held in his arms and couldn't bow and curtsy I still bowed my head at him.

"What a pretty name for a pretty girl!" complimented Ace.
"Ace, what do you need?" asked an annoyed Gray.

Ace looked back at Gray and set me down on the ground and dug into his pocket. He pulled out an envelope with fancy writing on the front and a wax seal on the back. Ace handed to Gray, who roughly took it from him and opened it. He pulled out the letter that was inside and read it over. He sighed and folded the letter back up placing it back into the envelope and put it in his jacket somewhere.

"Very well. I'll inform, Nightmare-sama." said Gray. Gray ruffled my hair and walked past me to head back upstairs to where Nightmare was. I stood there with Ace for a while not knowing what to do besides wonder what was written on that letter.

"Mister Ace?" I asked and he hummed in response with a smile. "What was written in that letter?"

Ace chuckled and picked me up carrying me out of the room, much to my surprise. "Ever been to a ball?" he asked.

"A ball? With dancing and stuff?"

"Yes, a ball! With dancing, music and people!"
"I think I've been to one! Mommy let me go to one!"
"Well that's what was written on the letter! It was an invitation to the Queen's ball!"

"A Q-Queen?!"

"Yes, the Queen of Hearts!"
I couldn't believe it, they had a Queen here in Wonderland! She must be very pretty if she's a Queen! "Wow!"

With the Joker's

"Any ideas?" asked Black as they stopped in the town near the Clock Tower.

"Well, the Clock Tower might be a good shot. Since it's the closest near the prison." replied White as he stood next to Black in the Town Square. Black nodded without saying a word and walked off toward the Clock Tower with White right behind him.

The two scarlet headed Jokers walked right up to the door that led inside the Clock Tower and opened it without even bothering to knock. The door squeaked and let the cold breeze of the outside in and they stepped in looking around the first floor for the girl they wanted to find. Black, being impatient like he was, ran upstairs and stopped at the first door he found. He slammed it open and walked inside as a scream came from within the room.

Inside behind the desk was the Undertaker of Wonderland, Julius Monrey, with his head in his hands. On the floor not far from him was the Knight that worked for the Queen and to defy his assigned role also worked for the Clockmaker, Ace. He was hovering over a small girl with his hands tickling the sides of the girl beneath him. Black ran into the room and threw the Knight off of the nine year old girl who was laughing, however when the tickling stopped and a thud was heard she opened her eyes and looked at an empty space. She sat up and seen Ace on the ground scratching the back of his head sheepishly and Black standing a few feet away from her to her left and to her right was White.

"J-Joker!" gasped Raven. She jumped up and hugged Black's legs. "You found me! Does that mean that creepy man is gone?"

Raven looked up at Black with her soft green eyes with a smile that made Black's clock tick faster and his face flush slightly. White walked over and picked her up and hugged her.

"That's right. We've made sure he won't frighten you again." White replied softly.

"Aw look at this! The Jokers have a soft spot!" Ace said cheerfully.

Julius shot his head up the second Ace mentioned Joker.

"Shut your fucking mouth, Knight!" cursed Black.

"You!" shouted Julius, who glared from his chair. "What are you doing here!"
There was rushing footsteps coming down the steps and soon the Jokers were trapped inside by the two men that just entered the door. The ex assassin, Gray Ringmarc, who worked as a loyal subordinate of the Lord of the Tower. Next to him was the Lord of the Tower of Clover himself, the incubus, Nightmare Gottschalk.

"Look who joined the party!" sneered Black.

"Good," White gazed out the window then turned back to the two men at the door. " morning, gentlemen!" White greeted with his bright smile.

"What are you two doing here?" glared Gray.

Raven looked at the laughing Ace, to the three glaring men, to the the Jokers. "Scary..." she mumbled hugging White closer.

White smiled at her and ran stroked her head in a calming way. "We're sorry, sweetheart. We didn't mean to scare you, right Joker?" The way White's eyes narrowed to an evil look ran a chill down everyone's spines, except for Raven who was oblivious and looking in Blacks direction. Even the stone cold Julius and Gray were quite intimidated. Black shifted in his spot and nodded.

"Sorry, kid." apologized Black as he joined White's side. "Shall we get going? She has to get ready for that fucking ball, right?"

White nodded and made his way toward the exit that was guarded by the two men. "Where do you think you are taking her?" growled Gray.

"We're taking her home! Got a fucking problem with that?" Black growled back.

Gray was about to reply when a meow interrupted the whole ordeal.

"Mister Kitty!"
Raven squirmed in White's arms until he set her down. She ran towards Julius desk and picked up the cat that appeared on top of the desk. "Do you want to go home? Or do you want to stay with Gray, Mister Kitty?"

Everyone watched in silence as she and the cat talked. It meowed and jumped down from her arms and sat on the ground answering her question. She giggled and patted the cat lightly on the head. "Alright, I suppose the circus is too big and dangerous, and the prison … well I'm afraid that's twice as scary!" She looked up from the cat and skipped over to Nightmare. "Nightmare!" She tugged at his sleeve as he looked at her. "Would it be alright if I leave Mister Kitty here?"
Nightmare smiled and nodded, "Of course! I think Gray loved taking care of him!" Black scoffed as Raven turned to Gray.

"Really? Gray would you mind taking care of him for me for a little longer?" asked Raven. Gray nodded and she hugged the man's legs. "Thank you!"

She ran back over to where the cat was and picked him up giving him a hug as she ran back over to Gray. She placed a kiss on his head before handing him to Gray. Gray kneeled down to her level and accepted the cat. "Please take good care of him!" said Raven and placed a kiss to Gray's cheek and ran back over to the Jokers. Gray stood back up with a slight tint of pink that he quickly masked but not before the Jokers and Nightmare caught it.

"Ah! That's not fair!" whined Ace as he ran over and picked Raven up. "I want one too!"

"I don't fucking think so!" Black yelled taking the girl from Ace's grasp and kicking him away. "Can we go yet?!"

Black didn't even wait for White's answer as he pushed past Nightmare and Gray. "Oh! Uh- Good bye! Take good care of Mister Kitty!" Raven waved then hugged Black and let him take her back to the Prison. "Good day, gentlemen! See you at the castle."said White and left after the two before leaving the Tower. Raven giggled as White joined their side and they disappeared into the forest.