A/N: Spoiling you guys... Anyway. Here's chapter six, and also, I will still update on Wednesday if not sooner. I suggest you all leave yourself a nice chunk of time to read chapter seven when it's up because it's gonna be long. Also. For those who don't know, this is the story I'm writing for NaNoWriMo, and I can't remember if I've already said that or not. Anyway, there's an excerpt up on the site for this story and stuff. Check it out, more info on my profile.

Disclaimer: I still do not own Alice in Wonderland (2010). I doubt I ever will.

Warning: (again) By now you should remember the essential bits of the warning, because if you don't then you obviously either read past it or just started reading it-which would be strange.

Chapter VI

~o~ Celia/Alice ~o~

She spent her morning chatting with Empth, and found that the famous royal Hatter's sister was quite likable albeit a bit strange and insane as she'd said. The two walked the gardens and watched as the sun rose high into the sky, they spoke for hours of how green the grass was and of why things were as they were. Every so often Celia would catch Mirana standing nearby a window of the castle, at times the queen was hard at work, while at times she watched Celia just as the girl watched her. A bemused smile always lit the queens pale face, but it would fade as Celia wondered and her own grin faded. Celia did wonder though, why and how Mirana could be so pale as she was. With skin the color akin to porcelain one naturally was bound to wonder, but Celia soon came to the conclusion that it was as it should be and the woman was healthy-for that had been her only worry. The bound amnesiac never had caught up with Mirana the night before, and had not spoken to the woman since. It was Celia's regret that her sealed memory had interrupted her and Mirana's conversation, as she so loved being held the way she had been though she'd also felt fear at the touch her fear had melted away as she let the sensation wash over her. Then she remembered, and froze in the White Queens' grasp. She'd hurt the queen by letting the other woman hold her and remember, but she so loved the sensation of being in Mirana's arms that she'd wish for it again. It was one of the few thoughts on her mind that morning. It helped pass the time when neither she nor Empth could think of things to say. It was the one thought on her mind when Empth asked her a question to which the answer was blazingly clear.
"Do you love Mirana?" Empth asked, her eyes bright and cheerful and boring right into Celia's locked soul.
"A-As a friend?" Celia asked, hoping that she wouldn't have to answer but already gathering the courage needed to reply yes.
"As more then a friend," Empth replied, looking back to the path, "As more then a sister... Do you love her as a suitor would?"
"Yes, I love her," Celia whispered, not realizing just how good it felt to say those words until she'd said them: saying it, even to Empth, made her feel completely and totally free as compared to before when she'd felt but a little bit freed.
"I suspected as much," Empth replied as she looked up at a tree they were passing by, "You should tell her."
"Are you sure?" Celia asked, surprised, she wanted to tell Mirana but she was unsure if she should.
"Positive, if there's one thing I learned from my own death it's that life is often cut short," Empth replied, parting with Celia as the path split, "And it rarely stays constant."
Her words touched Celia, made her realize that there was no better time then the present to tell Mirana of her realized attraction. Perhaps it would even help her regain her memory and break the seal. With Empth departed and Celia's new found courage, the girl set out back to the castle and navigated the halls. She quickly found herself back in Mirana's quarters, and found the woman not to be there. Her spirit still bright, the girl passed by the open door in the wall before backing up. The room was open, someone had left the door open. Curiosity overweighed the need to tell Mirana of her attractions, and Celia entered the room once more. Her eyes drawn to the suit of armor again. The memories were there, hidden just below the surface. If only she could remember. If only touching the metal suit did not burn so.

~0~ Empth ~0~

The teenage Hightopp wandered the gardens for a mere half hour without Celia's companionship, then decided it was best to resolve the matter and find out what Raven knew. Not a very difficult task, as all Empth had to do was return to the castle and enter Raven's quarters. She found the enchantress well enough to speak, after all, Raven was only tied to a chair when she arrived. Empth's mind was slipping.
"A flower for the truth?" She called, cocking her head at the sight of the bound Witch of Wastings, curiosity tugging at her mad mind.
"Untie me, then perhaps," Raven replied, watching with a mixed expression as Empth picked up a pair of scissors and headed around to the back of her chair.
"Why untie when you can cut?" Empth asked, cutting away at the sealed ropes which bound Raven and cutting several neat holes through the woman's shirt, "Using magic would've worked too?"
"No, it would not have," Raven replied, standing and pushing the pieces of rope from herself: she should've seen the attacker coming.
"Tell me dear witch," Empth began, her eyes dancing about the room as her hands fluttered here and there, "What is it Mirana most desires?"
"Alice," Raven replied simply, beginning to understand the preceptive young Hightopp's true intentions.
"And who is Celia?" Empth asked, her eyes lingering on Raven before adding a hint of BauBau-Beetle juice to the potion before her before continuing on.
"Alice," Raven stated, "If you question why I have not informed her majesty-"
"I question why you have not informed anyone other than yourself," Empth interjected, cutting Raven off, her eyes growing dark, "I question why it is you're content to let my best friend go through such misery as she is and why your preventing Celia from knowing her true name! You blitzguttering old fuddy-duddy!"
"You know the rules as well as I!" Raven shouted.
"There are no rules in this rouges war on death!" Empth called, her eyes angry and sanity halved, "Were there he would not be here would he?"
"They are not!" Raven replied, her voice loud and breaking.
"Then how'd you get tied 'p?" Empth asked coyly, her eyes hardened, she grabbed a stoppered bottle from the shelf, "'M not the best at witchcraft 'nd trickery, but 'll be damned to four death if this isn't bottled pure babble-berry extract."
"He is here," Raven admitted at last, still wary of the bottle Empth held, "And though he does not follow the rules of the game, we must still: we're above him. And you know as well as I that it is against the rules of magic to further interfere in love after magics been introduced. Things between Celia-er-Alice, and Mirana must continue naturally. I cannot tell them, they must find out for themselves, for if either of us interferes we could change the fate of their relationship."
"She love Mirana," Empth finished, concluding that part of their conversation, things would go naturally, her head cocked to the side and she dropped the bottle back onto the shelf, "I take it our rouges visit was... one of light expense?"
"Yes," Raven replied, "Mirana needn't be brought aware, I saw nothing of the creature, and know that our position has not yet been compromised."
"Lucky for you I found you, being half-mad and young as I am, I highly doubt they'd believe me," Empth said, her eyes softening, more questions raced her half-mad mind: but she knew better then to ask and so simply left the room to return to her brother's workshop.
Indeed, Raven was lucky Empth did not intend to say anything to her brother of Mirana. The girl was wise for her age, but not quite immune to naivety. She was observant, and had done well in noting that Raven clearly said 'he' instead of 'they', meaning the woman likely knew the gender of her captor at least. The fact that Raven was incapable of breaking her own rope bindings pointed out that the man in question was likely more than the average necromancer and possibly dabbled in other sorts of magic. The kinds which would allow him to bind the second most powerful woman in Underland, and most powerful witch in all of anywhere. Empth was suspicious and observant, but she was also more then mad. And it was her madness which let Raven rest easier than she would have.
That wasn't to say Raven was resting easy, after all, even in Underland it's not everyday that someone thought more than dead pays a little visit to dear old mum. Granted be he was not nearly as young as he had been when last Raven saw her bastard son. Just thinking about that lunatic brought back the unpleasant memories of that day. The day she found out just how insane her un-son truly was, the day she helped him open a portal into Underland's past. She would never forget how he looked that day, never. The way his eyes had glimmered like bright disks of yellow against the portal behind him. The twisted smirk upon his face, the dark hair which blew around his head in little wisps. Accenting the pale of his skin. He had been driven mad with power and willed on by grief, and Raven regretted ever teaching him magic- for it was now quite clear he was as powerful as he was mad, and he was more powerful than even she. She regretted teaching her bastard son, the boy never meant to be-born from hate and spite-and thusly treated as nothing but a marring mark by all other then she and his sister. Hidden from the world, peeking now and then, a mere shadow in the light which was the ever spinning core of Underland. She'd never anticipated him achieving his goal of bringing back the dead, nor had she anticipated him doing it so quickly. And never had she dreamt that he'd pay her visit, in the very house of his enemy, to gloat of his victory and prowess over life and death. Of his outgrowing the need for his mother. Had Empth, mad and little help as she was, not entered when she did the ropes binding Raven would've killed her within the hour. Constricting magics placed upon them, bound too strongly for Raven to break. How pitiful for her children to have both outdone their mother. But where Erika's magics and choices had no weaknesses, her half-brother's did. The biting cold of metal ripping through the coarse material of the rope was more than enough to shatter the spell over the ropes, though Raven was unsure of weather this was true of his necromancing she was certain it was. If she were to stab one of the newly recaptured, then they would most certainly die again or bleed to death. In either case the magic had it's flaws for Raven to pick out. Eventually she'd have to tell Mirana the truth, but she couldn't just yet, breaking the rules and etiquette of magic was unforgivable unless the need was extremely dire. In her own opinion, the crises had not yet reached the appropriate level of dire.

~o~ Alice/Celia ~o~

The front door to the room holding the great armor swung open and a young boy, and mouse, walked in quickly. He looked for a place to hide and found one behind the nearby curtains, while the mouse hid under the bed. It took them a moment to realize there was someone else in the room, and all the while Celia stared at the boy's hiding place.
"Playing hide and seek?" She asked as the boy peeked out from behind the curtains.
"Contrary wise, I'm playin' seek and hide," Tweedle-Dum said, taking in Celia, the whole castle was abuzz over some issues he and his twin had been too busy fighting to hear about, he shrugged the thought off, not caring who she was if she was there, "Hide so Dee can seek you."
"Don't be stupid! That's Celia, she's much too adult to play with us!" Mallymkun, who was very much an adult herself, called from under the bed.
Celia didn't reply verbally to either, and thought it over before nodding yes and moving from where she sat before the champion's armor. In truth, she'd already gone through several of the binding induced seizures just while sitting before the armor. A game of hide and seek sounded like a good idea, and brought a nostalgic feeling to her.

~•~ Mirana ~•~

The White Queen was enjoying a short break from seeing the remaining members of the Hightopp clan. She sipped her tea and noticed the peculiar way Tarrant was staring at her. She followed his gaze and saw it landed on her hands, which were shaking.
"Your majesty, are you well?" Tarrant asked solemnly, fearing for his queen, and friend's, health.
"Yes," Mirana lied, stinging a bit inside as she replied: lying was hard enough, lying to Tarrant was unbearable, "No, but I am not ill."
"Is it time for tea?" Empth asked as she entered the room, head half-cocked to one side, she watched Mirana just as intently as Tarrant did.
"Yes," Tarrant replied, handing his sister a cup as she sat down beside him at the table, her eyes light as ever.
"Spare tell your tale?" She asked Mirana before taking a sip of the hot tea, whereas Empth made it wrong Tarrant made it right and the tea was perfectly safe if ingested.
"There is nothing to tell," Mirana replied, "I slept unwell, I hardly slept, my thoughts have been rushing around so much... I-I had a difficult night with-with Celia. I set the binding spell off again."
"How exactly?" Tarrant asked, examining his tea cup to find that it had a large hole straight through the bottom.
"I held her," Mirana replied, very eyes unfocused and forlorn as she stared off into space, "I hurt her so, but it felt so good... Is it so wrong? I'm I still unsure? Have I gone mad as my sister did?"
"She seemed fine this morning," Empth said after a few moments, then she hurriedly finished her tea and stood, "Sorry to drink and dash, but I really must be going-There's a rather large Gashnaw following me, I fear the Nimblings sent him after me. Tata, till later."
"Have fun Empth," Tarrant called over his should at his retreating sister before going back to his broken tea cup, he looked up for a moment at Mirana, "They grow up so fast, why just yesterday she was still playing with Huznauts in the gardens-But today she's moved on to being hunted by Nimblings! Such remarkable progress with her I swear! Took me nearly four months to get darned little Nimblings after me."
"Yes, she is growing up fast," Mirana replied, now staring at the door and relating Empth's growth to Celia's growth: while the two were vastly different in most every way, they shared the fact that they were growing in mentality, though in that too they were different.

~o~ Alice/Celia ~o~

She ran, breath burning in her lungs, through the gardens of Marmoreal. Past the trees shrubs, into the maze which made up most of the area. She couldn't let them catch her, she didn't want to be touched by their fell hands. Finally stopping, she found herself with a good view of the castle: Mirana's room in particular. Celia looked to the windows though she knew she would not find Mirana standing behind them, as well, she knew there was almost no chance the woman was on the balcony. The queen had disappeared early that morning and she hadn't seen her since. Having caught her breath, the girl looked around. The sky seemed gray, clouds had rolled in and it seemed as if it were about to rain. The air certainly held the charged and humid feel which typically accompanied storms. Other then that, she was at a dead end, several really, and the place seemed familiar. Not one to leave curiosity idle, Celia pressed into the mess of dead ends before her. Her eyes lingering on a stone bench before her, she continued despite the growing dread in her chest. Behind her the Tweedle-twins and Mally, whom she'd been playing with for the past few hours, caught up in their game and tag and seek.
They were just in time to watch her fall. Smacking her head hard upon the lightly paved ground before seizing as her chest glowed brightly beneath the thin of her borrowed blue shirt. The twins, wisely and for once, did not argue but hurried to the girl's aide before realizing that their touch was only making her worse and rushing to get their queen. Screaming all the while. Mallymkun, while always one for adventure, stayed behind with her seizing and writhing new friend. Her paw resting on Celia's hand.
Mirana, upon being found in Hatter's workshop, still taking tea, ran to Celia. Though she too would hurt the girl with her touch, she understood that she needed to be there to help move the girl and had employed Tarrant in helping to move Celia. By the time they'd gotten to the slim girl, her violent seizing had dulled-but only for the moment, for as soon as they reached her, the violent tremors which racked her body returned stronger then ever before. Mirana whispered to the gasping and wide-eyed girl as Tarrant lifted her into his arms, his dark eyes looking down with pity and wonder. The girl was so pale, Mirana so feared and worried her brow knit with concern. All seemed paled, all seemed dampened. Even the glow of Celia's marked chest seemed mute against the rapidly darkening skies above. The group carried on though, took Celia into Mirana's chambers and summoned Raven to help assess the situation. While waiting for the Witch of Wastings, Mirana paced the room. Stopping every so often, to look at Celia. To wonder what should happen if she touched the girl, not remembering if she had earlier. To Mirana, though, it was clear something about the maze was important-critical-to Celia's past. The white queen stopped her frantic pacing when Raven entered, the older witch looked surprisingly serious compared to her usual self. Without a word, the woman strode over to Celia and examined her in much the same way as a physician would. Checking her pulse, examining how limp the girl actually was, checking to see if her eyes were dilated-a tricky thing to do, as it seemed the main muscles affected by the magic induced seizures were in her torso and face.
"There's nothing I can do," Raven said, turning to face Mirana, her face showing slight amusement on it, "Interestingly enough, that shock has blown all the rest out of the water: not because the event whatever it was triggered by was important, but because of what happened after that initial attack with the other attacks of the binding spell coming into play. Unfortunately, the shock wasn't blunt enough to break the seal. She should be fine, keep watch, don't touch-No. Do touch. You may actually end up helping her, I'm not sure. When she stops seizing tuck her in for the night, do not let her move: she may be fine now, but I'm not sure what would happen if another attack were to happen now. Poor dear," Raven broke off for a moment, gently stroking the seizing girl's brow, "Her eyes are so very dark, these weren't the only attacks of today... anyway... as I said, keep a close eye, make sure she doesn't move, and try not to set her off again-it could be very bad if you do, or very good, but we'll stick with bad since we don't know."
With that, Raven left the room. Leaving Mirana wide-eyed in her wake. Wondering what triggers had been pulled and if her young friend would stop shaking anytime soon. Unclear, her mind running on instinct through her confusion, Mirana piled blanket's atop Celia, once she stopped seizing so much as she was, and waited. She waited so long.

~0~ Raven ~0~

The Witch was concerned. With the number of successive attacks Alice had just gone through, it was unclear if she would wake up and be able to remember anything at all. Such things as these had been known to break the mind's of the people under their influence. Making it beyond possible to repair them, shortening their capacity to hold memories. In short, breaking the cup which was their mind. She'd tried to keep a happy face back in the room, and was only able to do so by thinking of how powerful Erika would be had she lived. Perhaps her thoughts had come across in the wrong way though, but of that she could do nothing. The past, with very few and rare exceptions, could not be undone. She knew that well, she'd tried. Nearly succeeded in fact, but something had held her back. Perhaps it was the madness in Alhowl's eyes when they did succeed. Perhaps that had held her back.

~o~ Alice/Celia ~o~

She dreamt so many things that night, so many strange dreams and through all of them she felt as if Mirana were holding her tight and she knew the queen was there. Back in the castle, where things were real and really happening. It was only because of Mirana's worried presence, her hold on Celia, which kept the girl from sinking away into her exhaustion. Even in her dreams Celia's body ached, and it was painful to breathe. She craved Mirana's touch, though she knew it would do more harm then good, and she craved it for a simple enough reason. She felt complete, albeit in pain, when Mirana was touching her hand: she felt loved and whole, and she felt protected. As it was, Mirana's presence alone did so much good for Celia and soon the girl had left the realm of dreams behind and was deep in sleep. Peaceful at mind, forgetful of everything she'd remembered that day.
In the outside world, Mirana smiled as she saw Celia visibly relax beneath the blankets of the bed. The queen would've given more then everything to be able to touch Celia at that time, for the girl looked so much like Alice when she slept. As it was, Mirana grinned, then opened her letter-book and began to recount the day's events in a detailed letter to Alice.
It was a wonderful end to a long and tiresome day.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and it's many many made up words. Thanks for all the reviews and subscribes, have a nice Sunday night and I'll see you all on Wednesday if not earlier. (The next chapter's already written up, I'm just trying to space out the updates so there aren't multiple a day for this story)