Note: sorry if you had to wait for this, if you were waiting. And thanks to anybody who happened to review. I really appreciated it, even if you didn't have anything good to say. ^^ Oh yeah, and I don't own Alice in Wonderland. xD

Anybody who claims the life of an Outsider becomes ruler of Wonderland.

The words echoed over and over in my head. It took a second or two for my mind to wrap around what Terror had just said. I stared at him wide-eyed and pale faced.

"So what you're saying," I said slowly, "is that, basically, people here who want to become ruler of Wonderland will kill me." Terror shrugged, then nodded. Panic began creeping upon me again.

"Listen, don't worry about it," Terror said.

"Don't worry about it?" I said incredulously. "Right. Don't say that unless you have a good reason." Terror opened his mouth to say something, then seemed to think twice before doing so.

"You know, the reason for why people do things around here is pretty mixed up," he said. I had a feeling that wasn't what he had been about to say. But I let it drop.

"I kind of get that feeling," I said. The demented bunny proved that, if nothing else.

"And what makes you say that?" Terror asked.

"This place gives me a weird feeling," I said. I didn't know what else to say.

"What do you mean by 'a weird feeling'?"

I tried to place a finger on it. Then the answer hit me and slipped easily out of my mouth.

"It feels like a dream," I said. "And, you know, like everything isn't what it all seems at first glance." I looked at Terror, who wearing an amused expression.

"What?" I said, beginning to feel a little foolish. Terror shook his head.

"Nothing, nothing," he chuckled. "It's just… No, never mind." Of course, I grew frustrated that he wouldn't tell me what he was going to say and curious as to what that thing was.

He knew things, I decided. He just couldn't say them… for some strange messed up reason or another. He chose this moment of silence to look up at the sun. That's another thing about Wonderland—one could look directly at the sun and not be blinded.

"It's already midday," he murmured. Then he turned to face me. "We'd better get going." That's when I learned that even time itself was wacked.

"Going where, exactly?" I asked. If he didn't answer, I wouldn't go.

"To that certain castle I was telling you about," he said.

Oh yeah, I thought. That castle he was ordered to bring me to. And what sort of insanity would be there? Heck, what about the people there? Were they even… people? Terror's good, I told myself. He seems to be answering my questions with straight answers. He wasn't going to bring me to someone who would kill me… The idea seemed impossible. He's not suspicious or anything, even if he does seem mysterious, I decided.

"Any possessed and or demented bunny rabbits there?" I inquired.

He laughed.

"Not in the castle I'm talking about," he said. "You coming?"

I was able to smile.

"I'm in. Goodness knows I'm lost in this place without somebody who's used to abnormally weird stuff."

"You call this weird? Weird is normal here." Terror offered me his hand.

"Oh good. I'll fit right in." I took it and he helped me up. And then his eyes grew serious.

"Heh. Maybe you will. Maybe you really will."

The comment and the change in tone surprised me. I wasn't sure how to take it. It almost seemed like a compliment. And in other ways, it didn't. There was part of me that thought that what he said could be really bad. What if I wasn't supposed to fit in? Maybe fitting in wasn't so good in Wonderland. Not when I was what they called an "Outsider". Stop it, I told myself firmly. You don't even know anything about this place. Stop taking wild guesses.

"Where are we?" I asked randomly, trying to break the silence. I hadn't realized it, but we were out of the candy meadows we had been in before. The grass and flowers had thinned out and now we were walking in a large, vast, flat area. The ground was hard, and when the sun glinted on it in a certain way, I swore I thought the sand all around was multicoloured. Terror stared into the sky.

"We are in the Desert of Glass," he answered momentarily. I looked down at my feet and peered closer at the sandy ground. Or at least… I had thought it was sand. But what I thought was sand was apparently glass. Small, multicoloured pieces of glass.

"Wouldn't it be bad if a piece flew into your eye?" I said. Terror snorted with laughter. I glared at him.

"And only you would think to ask that," he said, still laughing. He says it as though he knows me so well already, I thought.

"To answer your question, I've never really thought about it. Nobody here does. If something happens to someone, they fix it for themselves," he said.

What he said ended up hitting close to home. Memories of school flashed before me. I can't… do anything myself. Looking back, it was not the smartest moment to think that way. And then I heard a noise that made my blood run cold. It was an eerie, high pitched wine. I stopped walking abruptly.

"What was that?" I said in a low whisper. Terror arched his eyebrows.

"I didn't hear anything," he said calmly. "What do you…" He trailed off as the high pitch voice wined again, this time louder. His eyes flashed and seemed to change.

"What is it?" I asked again, more panicked this time.

"It's a Devourer," he said. "A creature of darkness."

Any colour that had remained in my face left me then. But Terror seemed to be enjoying the situation. His face cracked into a strange grin that I had never before seen on him.

"I hope you know how to fight, Alice," he said. I stared at him.

"My name is Hazel," I said, alarmed. Who, I thought fiercely, is this Alice everybody mixes me up with? And why did Terror expect to be able to fight? Because, I told myself, we're in Wonderland. Of course. The silly place where things never make sense.

"Well you're going to have to, Alice dear," he said. His voice sent shivers down my spine. He looked directly at me and our eyes locked. "Because here it comes." His eyes were red, blood red, even though before they had been silver. They paralyzed me and sent a wave of fear washing over me. I stood still, unmovable, even as an enormous black shadow soared over my head and landed in between me and Terror. I barely registered it, the fact that the creature was huge, a cross between a panther and a wolf, its yellow eyes… It opened its mouth, but it opened sideways, and its whole head seemed to split in half as it roared.

There are many creatures of darkness that lurk in Wonderland, Alice, just like creatures of darkness lurk in one's heart. If I were to leave you here they would surely devour you…

The Devourer lunged at me.

It would surely consume me, because I simply couldn't do anything for myself…

Don't die yet, you idiot. Save yourself. An unfamiliar voice echoed in my head.

I snapped out of the trance I had been in. I was hardly thinking then. I reached down to the ground and picked up a handful of glass. I threw it into the Devourer's face.

The shards of glass flew into its eyes and it screamed in agony, a low, terrible moan. Then, quite suddenly, it melted into shadow and faded away. Terror stood over the place where the beast had once been, a knife in his hand, staring at the ground. When he looked up at me, his eyes were silver again.

"Well that was quite something, wasn't it, Hazel?" he said. I stared at him, ashen faced. After what he had done, he now acted like nothing had happened at all. Like he hadn't called me "Alice" and hadn't gone slightly insane. But a large part of me did not want to ask him as to why that happened. I didn't want to know the answer. I unclenched the fist that had scooped up the glass.

"Yes," I said. "It was." I let out my breath. Terror laughed.

"I bet you didn't know you could fight," he said.

"You call throwing glass into a monster's face fighting?"

"Well, whatever works."

Naturally, silence ensued. I couldn't help but think about that voice that had broken me out of my so called 'state of helplessness'. Had it been out loud? Or just in my head? I wanted to believe that it was not in fact in my head, because otherwise that would mean that certain people in Wonderland could hack into people's brains. And goodness knows I did not want that.

"You know, you heard that thing before I did," Terror commented. I peered sideways at him.

"I realize this. I'm assuming that's because I was paying more attention to my surroundings. And I've always had sharp ears," I said.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "You're an Outsider. Outsiders aren't supposed to be able to do that. They're supposed to take a long time to adapt." A small fear began creeping upon me. I thrust it away.

"Well, you know me. I'm special," I said. Terror looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I have heard that Outsiders often gain unexpected gifts when in Wonderland," he said. "Usually it is something they've always been good at, but in Wonderland the gift is… amplified." I puzzled over what he said.

"But I've never been good at adapting. I can't—" I was interrupted.

"Don't think like that," he said harshly. "That's what the Devourers are attracted to." I blinked.

"Devourers are attracted to people who think 'I can't' and stuff like that?"

"Yes. More specifically, Outsiders who think like that."

I kicked at a large piece of glass in anger.

"Why does everything in this place seem to be after me? Other than the whole killing thing?" I said furiously. Terror glanced at me, looking cautious.

"Well, I know somebody who is after you for one reason," he began, "You see…"

I chose a very inconvenient time to trip and fall. I stopped myself from falling completely by putting out my hands first. Unfortunately this meant I got what looked (and felt) like thousands of mini papercuts on them. Terror was chuckling.

"I already know I'm a walking disaster," I muttered, which made him laugh harder. I looked at the ground to see what I had tripped over. Strangely, it was a handheld mirror. A very nice one at that, for the handle was made out of gold, and was decorated with sapphires.

"Oh, well would you look at that. You tripped over a Looking Glass," Terror said.

"A Looking Glass?" I said, puzzled.

"Yes. There are a couple of Looking Glasses about Wonderland. They transport you to the nearest big city. This one, if I am correct, transports you to the City of Glass," he said. So there are more places made out of glass, I thought. I wasn't sure whether or not I liked that, as the cuts on my hand stung because of glass.

"So… are we to travel through it?" I asked. Terror nodded.

"Jump right in. Ladies first."

I got a sinking feeling in my stomach.

"Does this mean… we're going to be falling, possibly?" I said, my mouth going a bit dry. He arched his eyebrows.

"Of course."

I frowned.

"Naturally," I said. "And how is one to, er, jump in? It looks a bit small." Terror shook his head.

"Honestly," he said. "Size doesn't matter. You'll see."

I found this quite ridiculous sounding. I leaned over the Looking Glass, my black hair getting in my eyes, and stuck a tentative finger on the glass. Before anything happened, I caught a look at my reflection. Only, it wasn't my reflection. It was the face of a blonde haired girl with long hair, looking rather critically at me. I was startled at first, but had no time to think. For suddenly, the finger touching the glass began to feel hot and I felt very dizzy all at once. The last thing I saw was Terror's mischievous grin, and then everything around me melted into a whir of colour and lights. I felt like I was falling, though I heard a strange musical sound in the background, sung like a lullaby…

Alice jumped through the looking glass
Into a world so grand
She fell, fell, very fast
And found her Wonderland

Why so sad, Alice dear
Why so sad, indeed
You came back to our Wonderland
In our time of need

It's a world of dreams, Alice
But at times it gave you a scare
Because dreams have the habit
Of turning into nightmares

Roses' petals were so white
And there was a feeling of dread
As, with a sharp knife in hand,
Alice turned the petals red…

The next thing I knew I was sitting on the ground, staring at a starry night sky on a street of sorts. All about me were tall buildings of many colours, skyscrapers, people and creatures walking… I stood up slowly, and realized that the street I was on was made out of smooth, turquoise coloured glass. Of course, I thought. It's the City of Glass after all. My thoughts wandered.

Alice jumped through the looking glass…

The tune haunted me still.

"What," I whispered to myself, "was that all about?"

"What was what?"

I looked up, expecting to see Terror. Instead I saw a boy of possibly 14, kind of dirty looking, but he had… had… ears. And a tail. More specifically, cat ears and a cat tail.

"Who are you?" I managed to stammer out. The boy's tail twitched.

"I am the Cheshire Cat. It's a pleasure to meet you, Hazel dear," he said, bowing. I was now, if possible, more shocked than before.

"You called me Hazel," I said. The Cheshire Cat grinned, a large, large grin.

"You prefer Alice, then?" he said, purring.

"No," I said quickly. "Hazel is good. But how do you kn—"

"You don't remember me? 'Don't die yet, you idiot. Save yourself.'" He stood proudly, hands behind his back.

"You?" I said incredulously. "You were that voice?"

"The Cheshire Cat is capable of many things. Talking to people inside their own head, disappearing for a while, those are just a few things I can do," he said, twirling his tail about with his hand now. I wasn't sure what to say. Thankfully, Terror suddenly appeared right next to me. Standing, of course, I noted. I still had to work on landing properly.

"Sorry, that took longer than expected—oh, I see you've met the infamous Cheshire Cat, Hazel," he said.

"Yes," I said. "Apparently he followed us on our journey here."

The Cheshire Cat grinned ruefully. Terror laughed.

"Interested in the Outsider, I take it?" he said. The Cat shook his head.

"Only partly," he said. "But what I want to know is what you heard, Hazel."

"What I heard where?" I said, playing dumb. The Cheshire Cat laughed.

"Tch, Hazel. You can't fool me. What did you hear on your journey through the looking glass, dear?" he said in a teasing tone of voice. Terror's brows furrowed.

"You heard something in the Looking Glass?" he asked me. I decided that hiding it would be impossible.

"A lullaby," I said, nodding my head. The Cheshire Cat began to look very curious.

"Did you, now?" he said in a low whisper. "How interesting." Terror, however, looked as though somebody had clonked him on the head with a brick.

"And what sort of voice was singing it?" he asked. I closed my eyes, trying to remember.

As, with a sharp knife in hand,

Alice turned the petals red…

I opened them again.

"It was a woman's voice. She was almost whispering it," I said momentarily. The Cheshire Cat grinned yet again.

"I see. So Terror, you know who it is, don't you?" he said. Terror glared hard at the Cat.

"And why would I?" he said. The Cheshire Cat snickered.

"Oh no reason, no reason," he said. I looked curiously at Terror. Did he know something? I couldn't tell. He hid his eyes from me.

"Aren't you two supposed to be going somewhere?" the Cheshire Cat questioned. Terror jumped.

"Oh, right. Come on, Alice, let's go— " he began, but I cut him off.

"Stop calling me 'Alice'!" I said fiercely. When he looked at me, surprised, his eyes were red. The Cheshire Cat chuckled.

"Oh my. Madness got to you, did it, Terror?" he said. The red in Terror's eyes faded.

"No! Sorry, Hazel. I didn't mean to," he said. I ignored him. I turned towards the Cheshire Cat.

"What do you mean by 'Madness'?" I asked.

"Everybody here has a bit of Madness. Sometimes when we let our concentration slip, the Mad part of ourselves take over. It's as simple as that," he answered. Then he added pointedly, looking at Terror, "And some people are better at controlling it than others."

Mad? They're all mad here? Well that makes sense, I thought, a bit sarcastically.

"And that's why sometimes you call me 'Alice'?" I asked Terror.

"Sometimes there are situations where the Madness can't be avoided," he muttered. I take that as a yes, I thought.

"But… Why call me 'Alice'?" I said. Both the Cat and Terror grew silent. I began to feel impatient. "Come on, fess up."

"Because, Hazel dear, the first Outsider that ever came to Wonderland was called 'Alice'. And now Alice is the Queen of Hearts," the Cheshire Cat said at length.

"So she rules everything around here?" I said. He nodded. "And so, since I'm an Outsider too, you mix me up with her in your so called 'state of Madness'." The Cheshire Cat opened his mouth to speak yet again, but Terror interrupted him.

"It's not as simple as that. But right now, that's all we can tell you. We've got to get going," he said. I didn't move.

"You're pulling off a demented bunny," I said irritably. "You're not telling me something important." He looked at me, his eyes pleading with me.

"I'm telling you all you need to know. Now come on."

I stood my ground. Just then, something hit me. Terror had said he was going to take me to a castle… Alice was the Queen of Hearts, the ruler over Wonderland. Alice wouldn't want anybody to kill me and overthrow her. So Alice would want to order somebody to take me to her castle, maybe lock me up… Maybe even kill me herself…

"Terror," I said slowly, my voice trembling, "answer me this. Are you working for Alice?"