Chapter 2~ Things have changed, and not for the better

"What in the name of all Underland..." Hatter whispered. Alice followed him, slowly so she could look around.

"Was it like this before you came to..." her voice trailed off. A wisp of smoke formed in front of them, showing eyes. Then a mouth, then a cat body. "Chess!" Alice called, running to meet the grinning cat.

"Welcome back again, Alice." Chess almost mewed, his voice different from what Alice remembered. "And look what the girl dragged in. Tarrent Hightopp." Chess vanished then reappeared in a tree branch. Hatter was looking down, not very happy.

"What's wrong, Hatter?" Alice asked, walking over to him.

"Oh, don't look like a mouse in a trap." Chess mewed, sounding more cat like by the minute. Alice gave the cat a glare, then bent down to look Hatter in the eye.

"Hey, are you alright?" she asked, giving him a faint smile. "We'll go see the White Queen. She can tell us what happened." Hatter nodded, but Chess had more to say.

"I'm afraid the White Queen doesn't rule anymore. If you stuck around, Alice, maybe you would have seen it." the cat disappeared, leaving Alice and Hatter alone again.

"Well, we won't get anything done just standing around here." Alice muttered, slowly walking toward the castle. Hatter followed, but he kept his head down. Alice noticed and stopped, turning to face him. "What's wrong?" she asked again, walking over to him. "Whatever happened to this place, you had nothing to do with it!" Hatter just stared at the ground, making Alice a bit mad. She stomped over to him and held his face up. "I'm beginning to wonder where my old Mad Hatter went." she whispered, her eyes as calm as they could get. This got his attention.

"Alice, I'm sorry, but this is my fault. Remember when I told you Time and I got into an argument?" Alice nodded, remembering the story, but faintly. "This is his doing." Hatter said, closing his eyes. "He's very angry with me."

The White Queen sat on a hard, stone slab. After the Hatter left, a war broke out between her army and the old Black Army. The Black Queen had won, taking over the kingdom. She was worse than her sister, and she never had any mercy. But something was very odd about her. Something odd, as in falling-down-a-rabbit-hole odd.

"Guard?" she called out.

"What?"

"Can I please get a glass jar?" she pleaded, being a sweet as possible. The guard rolled his eyes and handed her a small jar. "Thank you." she whispered, turning around. Into the jar went some of her water, a handful of dirt, a drop of her blood, and the last of the violet substance. It blended on its own, turning from red to black to white. She drank the mix, and vanished into thin air. Everything was a disaster, and her champion was needed again.

Alice and the Hatter walked for about a half hour before Alice sunk to her knees. Her feet hurt, even without shoes, and the moon was high in the sky.

"Can we rest?" she asked, feeling Hatter beside her. He nodded and, to his surprise and hers, picked her up. A few trees would have to do for the night, and thats where they spent it. Alice fell asleep in Hatters' arms, but it took him a while to fall asleep. Idiot. I'm an idiot for dragging Alice into this mess... She's died almost once already. That thought was new to him, but he tried his best to ignore it. Soon, he drifted to sleep, but it didn't last long. Something was coming, and Hatter knew it.

*o*o*o*

When Alice awoke, she had her head on Hatter's shoulder. She blinked a few times and looked around. No one around but us... she thought, smiling to herself. Her mind ran away a bit, filling her head with thoughts she never really had before. I wonder what it would be like to k- she shook her head. That's just stupid. I really am mad, I guess. She yawned, making sure not to wake Hatter. He was asleep, so she put her arms around his neck. Alice closed her eyes, listening to her friends' heart beat. It sounded like a metronome, reminding her of the time she had to sing in front a crowd of strangers. Alice never sang again, and with Hatter sleeping like a log, she sang quietly to herself.

Alice stopped, looking up at Hatter. His eyes fluttered open, so she closed hers' and tried to appear sleeping. Something moved in the bushes, and Chesher Cat appeared.

"Such a voice that girl has." he said, flicking his tail. "Never heard the song, though." Hatter just stared at Chess, then he looked down at Alice.

"I missed it." he mumbled, moving a blond curl from her face. "I just wish she knew..." he whispered, expecting Chess to make a comment, but the cat had vanished. Alice moved in her sleep, keeping her arms around Hatters' neck. She had fallen back to sleep, and he left her the way she was.

"Hatter..." she mumbled in her sleep. "I lo...ou.." the rest he couldn't make out.

"What was that?" he asked, watching her open her eyes.

"Huh?" she looked up at him. "How did I end up like this?" she asked, already knowing how. Hatter shrugged, helping her to her feet.

"You said something in your sleep." he said, looking around, trying to find where they would head to.

"Oh, I do that a lot. If it was something like 'father', don't worry." she smiled.

"It's wasn't that, Alice." his green eyes met hers, and her heart sped up.

"What did I say?"

"Ye called out my name. The rest I couldn't hear." he told her in his Scottish accent. Alice felt a blush creeping up her face. I called out for him? She thought, watching something come toward them.

"Who's that?" she asked, pointing at the figure.

"Looks like..."

"Stayne!" Alice whispered, backing away. "How was he freed?" the knave slowed as he approched them, then he leaped off of his horse.

"Alice!" both men said at the same time. She didn't want to be stuck with Stayne again, so she ran into the woods. "Alice!" Hatter called after her. She didn't stop, though. Alice ran as fast as she could until she found heself trapped between the approaching Stayne and a brick wall.

"Hello, Alice." he whispered, coming closer to her. "Or do you still like to be called 'Umm'?"

"What do you want, Stayne?" she flared, keeping her distance from him as best as she could, not knowing her eyes were turning dark.

"I want you...to go back to where you came from." he ordered.

"Why would I do that?" she asked, inching along the wall. The moment she saw her chance, she ran as fast as she could, back to Hatter. The mad man caught her in mid-run, holding her as close as he could get her. Her heart eventually slowed back to normal, and Hatter let go. Alice still held onto him, though. "How did he find us?" she asked, still clinging to him.

"I dunno, love." he said in his accent. Alice let go of him.

"What was that?" she asked, blinking in surprise.

"Nothing." Hatter coughed out. "Let's go."

"I wish I was tiny again..." Alice muttered.

"And why is that?" her compainion asked, still using his Scottish accent.

"Well, I heard that anyone can travel by horse or rail, but the best way to go is by hat." she smirked, amused by repeating what Hatter had told her the last time she was in Underland. He smiled for a moment, then re-focused his eyes on the path ahead. After a while, Alice spoke.

"Hatter?"

"Yes?"

"Underland really isn't under the rule of a new Queen, is it?" she asked, stopping for a moment.

"I'm not sure." love, is how he wanted to finish the sentence, but that would make Alice more suspicous. "I do know one thing, though. In Underland, things have changed, and not for the better."