No.
It was the first Word that came to Maki's mind. The white rabbit, the hole, the small doors… that could not be what Honoka was saying. Wonderland? No. No no no no no no. That wasn't possible. No.
She needed 30 "Nos" until she started to give in to her situation and questions began to pop up in her head. They were the typical questions one would ask if they were to fall into a hole to a supposed "Wonderland". How was this possible? Could it be a dream? Why was she sitting on a table? Where had that table even come from?! When had she changed clothes?!
Maki looked at her new clothes. She was no longer wearing her usual school uniform. She was wearing the typical blue "Alice" dress, long until her knees, with a small white ribbon on her waist and some white details at the bottom of it. But she didn't recall changing clothes! It was crazy…
"Eat me" – Honoka's voice interrupted her confused thoughts. The mouse-girl was lying on the table looking at Maki with an adorable face and a light blush on her cheeks.
"W-wha-wha…?!" – Maki's face was now way redder than Honoka's. No! -she thought- You are not Nico! But no words came out of her mouth, only incomprehensible stuttering accompanied by a deep red blush. Why wasn't she able to say no? Was she so gay that she would even consider doing it? She didn't know (or didn't want to know) but she knew that somehow, she wasn't able to take her eyes away from Honoka's chest.
"It's the name of this cupcacke" – said Honoka with an innocent and nice smile while she sat back on the chair and showed Maki a small, bright pink and black cupcake – "Want some?"
"E-eh… I… no thanks"- Maki blinked several times until she was able to erase what had just gone throw her head. What was I even thinking about?! - She scolded herself.
Honoka took the cupcake and brought it to her mouth, eating it with a satisfied smile on her face. –" Mmmm ~ "- she exclaimed while cupping her own cheek with one hand – "It tastes like curry with lobster, apple pie, macaroni with cheese and chocolate cackle! So delicious ~!"
"What kind of flavor is that? How can you even-"
"Honoka what are you doing?!"- Tsubasa, who had been all this time at the other corner of the table looking at the other two girls with jealousy and thinking Maki you gay thing don't you dare touch my Honoka! , was now standing with her hands on the table and a terrified look on her face.
"Don't worry Tsubasa-chan, I won't get fat just for one small cupcake-" Honoka suddenly gasped. She brought her hand to the area near her heart and clutched the fabric of her dress, eyes big and looking nowhere, with her mouth open.
"Honoka?!" Maki and Tsubasa yelled as they watched how the ginger-haired girl started to grow bigger and bigger until her body became bigger than the room and the girl saw herself forced to sit on her knees in order to fit.
"Huh? W-what happened?!" – Honoka asked in a nervous tone, her voice louder than usual thanks to having vocal cords as big as trucks. "No! I forgot that the 'eat me' cupcake makes you a giant! How could I not remember it?! Now I'm going to stay like this forever! What am I going to do?!" – The giant mouse-girl covered her face with her hands and started to cry. Her tears were almost as big as Maki's entire body, and every time one fell on the floor of the room it literally created a big puddle of tears. In mere seconds, Maki and Tsubasa had water until their knees.
"Honoka calm down!"- The dodo-girl shouted as loud as she could to surpass the volume of Honoka's crying, but it was useless. The giant girl kept on crying inconsolably, and the drops that fell from her eyes created a pool of tears that forced Maki and Tsubasa to swim so they didn't sink.
"Honoka…! You… …stop!" - Maki could hardly keep herself on the water surface as the current started to push her, and her efforts to swim started to make her muscles hurt as she battled against the strength of the waves, trying to get her head out, swallowing water, losing her breathe and eventually, her consciousness, sinking into the pool of tears.
"…ey"
"Hey, are you dead nya?"
Maki slowly opened her eyes to a familiar voice, feeling sickness as she tried to move her body to incorporate. She was sitting on sand, and the only noise she could hear were the waves gently crashing on the shore. She found herself in an enormous and empty beach, with nobody around, except for a girl with short, orange hair that was sitting at her side, looking at her with that cat-like gaze she knew so much.
"Oh, you are alive! What a relief nya!" – She said with a content smile.
The girl was wearing a single piece of clothing that went from under her neck to the size of shorts and long stockings, all full of pink and purple lines, adorned with some bright pink fluff on the zone of her neck, shoulders and at the end of it on her legs, with a big light purple bow on her chest. Maki also realized the big cat ears on her head, as well as the cat tail on her back that moved every now and then, going from one side to the other.
"…Rin?" – Was the first thing that came out from Maki's mouth with a sharp voice due to not feeling too well – "What…?"
"Ohhhh ~! How do you know my name nya?" – Rin said, surprised – "Oh! Are you some kind of mind-reader or something, nya?"- she asked, leaning closer to Maki with wide eyes and an excited smile – "Or…! Perhaps you're a magical girl with psycho-powers that has come from another planet nya!"
"I…uh…what? No!W- what is this place?"- Maki asked, still confused for the non-sense questions the cat-girl had asked.
"This is a beach. Bee-ch. And that thing right there is the ocean. Don't you have beaches in your planet, nya?"
"I know what a beach is! I'm not from another planet! I meant where, where are we!" – Maki shouted, angry at the other girl's questions.
"Oh, well… this is Wonderland nya! " – Rin exclaimed, lifting her arms up in an exaggerated pose.
"What…?!" – Maki suddenly remembered everything. From chasing the rabbit to drowning into tears. She felt how her head began to ache. "Wait. Then it wasn't a dream? I really am in Wonderland?! No. No no no no no. " She wanted to say "no" for another 30 times, but instead, she stopped and stared at Rin, frowning. " And I suppose you are the Chesire cat"- she said, without changing her expression.
"The what? No, I'm Rin! You know, for being a mind-reader, your memory is quite short nya"
Maki facepalmed. "Ugh, whatever… have you seen a white rabbit over here?" – she asked, hopping that the orange-haired girl could at least be of some help.
"Oh, I know who you are nya!" – Rin exclaimed with excitement as if she had just realized of something very important – "You're Alice nya!"
"What? No, my name's Maki." – answered the red-hair, not knowing where had that come from.
"Yes! You are Alice! Look, it comes in the manual!"- Rin said, as a big, red book appeared on her hands and she handed it to Maki.
Maki looked at the book, took it on her hands and read the cover. How to Wonderland. Starters guide - it said. She opened it and read the first page, in which was a photo of a blonde, little girl who was wearing her same outfit, chasing after a whit rabbit that was dressed in a small suit. The text at the side of it said "Welcome to your first Wonderland experience. In this manual you'll learn the basics to make your visit into a success!"
"Success…? What does that-"
The book suddenly disappeared from her hands, leaving a small cloud of white smoke that vanished after a few seconds. Maki blinked surprised.
"See! Isn't it amazing nya?"- Rin asked with excitement- "Don't tell anybody, but… "- she took her hand to one side of her mouth and lowered her voice, like if she was going to tell Maki a very big secret -"… my friend gave it to me nya"- whispered the cat-girl.
Maki looked at the other girl with a grumpy expression. "Why are you telling it to me like it was some kind of crime?"
"It IS a crime!"-said Rin, still whispering and looking to her sides as if someone was listening to their conversation.
"What? Ok, why don't you just tell me if you know where the white rabbit can be?"- Maki insisted, tired of the non-senses of the other girl.
"Ummm…"- Rin tapped her chin with her index finger- "…nope. But Nozomi probably knows nya…"- said Rin in a whisper.
"Wait, there's a Nozomi in here?!"
"You know her too?!"- The cat-girl shouted quietly, her eyes big in astonishment.
"Eh… I guess you could say I do…"- Maki answered doubting if it really was true that she knew the Nozomi they were talking about.
"Oh! Then come with me! But watch out! Nobody must follow us nya!"- warned the orange-haired as she began to walk in the direction of a forest that could be seen behind them, looking to their sides, making sure there wasn't anybody around.
As she followed the cat-girl between the huge trees, something inside her was telling her that she would regret keeping on looking for the white rabbit.
"We're finally here nya!"
Rin, after keeping her guard up all the way, finally let a loud and energetic shout as the two girls came into a big gap between all the trees that remained hidden from the outside thanks to the dense vegetation.
In the middle of the place, there was a big silvery grey table with four chairs of the same color around it. On the table were three white tea cups and a white teapot. Sat in one of the chairs, Maki could see a figure with its head and both of its arms on the table and their head down.
"Hey, Nozomi! You won't believe who is with me nya!"- said Rin energetically to the dark figure on the table.
"The tea tastes different today…"- it began, without moving from its position, with a low voice that almost seemed like a whisper on the wind - "wind blows to the north and everyone's noisy. So, Alice is finally here. How wonderful that is"
"Nozomi…? How did you know…?"-Maki tried to ask, unsure if that really was who she thought it was.
"I saw it…"- answered the voice, as if it was taking a big effort to say every word. " I SAW IT IN THE CARDS!"- The figure suddenly sited up and lifted its arms to the front, as a strong wing began to blow and cards started to come out of nowhere, flying all over the place, all creating a big gale of cards.
Maki and Rin had to hold onto a nearby tree in order not to be dragged by the wild wind, pressing their eyes shut in a reflex. " Nozomiiiii!" – Maki shouted as loud as she could. It was taking her big effort to maintain her grip on the tree's thin branches.
After a few seconds, the wind started to calm down, and the place was now full of cards scattered all around. The girl that had originated it was still sitting on the table, but she was smiling with a content look, very different from before.
She was dressed in baggy trousers and a purple frock-coat with a big kerchief tied around her neck making a big bow, her dark purple hair tied into two low ponytails emerging from a huge black top-hat on her head.
"Good Morning ~"-The girl saluted- "Want to have some tea?"
After the presentations, Maki finally knew that indeed, that girl was Nozomi Tojo. But not the Nozomi that was supposed to be her senior and one of her idol companions. This Nozomi was the mad hatter in every Alice in Wonderland story. The perfect character for her - was Maki's first thought when she realized.
They all were now sitting on the table with a tea cup in front of each one of them except for Rin, who had hot milk. Maki was taking small sips, all posh and sophisticated as she knew. Rin, on the contrary, was drinking quickly, devouring the teacakes on the plate near her, one by one, while Nozomi was simply staring at her cup with a disturbing smile.
"So"-Maki started- "Rin told me that you could help me find the white rabbit"
"Oh, maybe"- Nozomi answered, keeping her gaze on her cup.
"Hey! Do you want to play a riddle game nya?"- Rin intervened with enthusiasm.
"What? What does that have to do with the white rabbit!"- Maki answered angry that the purple-haired girl wasn't caring at all about what Maki was asking her.
"Oh, come one~" –The mad hatter finally left her cup on the table and looked at Maki –" If you win, I'll help you"
"Argh, fine! Just bring it already!"- Maki exclaimed, wanting to end with that as soon as possible.
"Ok~" – Nozomi said with a pleased smile- "Here it is: What do ducks and the letter 'N' have in common?"
"Huh? Um…" – The scarlet Alice moved her hand to hold on her chin. It didn't really help her to think, but at least it gave her a cool and reflective look.
"Tick tack, tick tack~" – Nozomi said in a sing-song voice while moving her index finger from one side to the other, imitating a clock.
Maki didn't answer. She couldn't find any sense to the enigma that the mad hatter had asked.
"Tick tack, tick tack~"- Rin joined the purple-haired, imitating her with a funny smile.
Maki tried to think harder despite the other two girls irritating her, but she couldn't find a proper answer. She had her gaze fixed on the table, trying to ignore the two idiots.
"Time is over ~ "- Nozomi interrupted – "And the answer was…"
Maki looked at her, wanting to know the answer for such a difficult riddle that not even she had been able to find.
"… they have nothing in common!" – The other two girls shouted at the same time while laughing.
"What?!"- Maki screamed in frustration to the dumbness of the answer- "Why are you making me lose my time like this?!"
"Aw, sorry Alice"- Nozomi said with an apologetic smile – "It's been so long since we had someone to have fun with, right?"- she turned to look at Rin, who was still laughing on her chair.
"Yeah nya! Rin is very happy that Alice has come nya!"- she answered after ending her laugh.
"If you need friends, why don't you just go to the entrance instead of bothering me? There are two girls that I'm sure you'd get along with! Besides, aren't there more people around than just me?"
"Oh, nya. She doesn't know it, does she?"- Rin said to Nozomi with in a concerned tone(Well, as concerned as someone who always adds "-nya" at the end of her sentences can sound).
"Know what?"- asked Maki.
"I think she doesn't"- Nozomi answered to the cat-girl.
"know what?!"- Maki insisted.
"Should we tell her, nya?"
"tell me what?!"
"I think we should"
"HEY!"
Both girls shut their mouths and looked at Maki with a puzzled look, not understanding why she was suddenly shouting.
"What is it that I have to know?" – Maki tried to ask as calm as she could. The situation was already getting her to her nerves.
"Here it is forbidden to meet new people and have fun. We aren't allowed to have friends, that's why this place is so hidden between trees" – Nozomi answered with a voice that seemed sad, very different from a moment ago.
Maki blinked.
"Yeah, nya… It's all because of the queen nya! She's such a bitter!"- complained the cat-girl while pouting and dropping her hears down.
"Rin-chan, you shouldn't go saying that of our queen"- Nozomi said, patting the girl's head and scratching behind one of her hears while she let out a long and audible "prrrr"- "But yeah, the red queen is… how do I put it nicely? Um… Not a very good person"- added the hatter.
"The red queen? Oh!"- Maki exclaimed in realization - "And she's not… letting you have friends? That's… unexpected for someone that's supposed to be tyrant and cruel"
"It's awful nya!"-Rin complained again- "Nozomi-chan and I have to hide in this place all the time! We can't get close to other people and all we do is have tea!"
"There, there Rin-chan"-Nozomi kept on patting the girl's head – "It's going to be fine"
"You're right, nya! Since Alice is here nya!"- The cat-girl exclaimed, turning to look at Maki.
"What do I have to do with all that?" – Maki asked to the girl who was looking at her with excitement.
"You're going to save us nya! It's on the page 45 of the manual!"
The same manual that Rin had given to Maki back at the beach suddenly appeared on the table, just in front of Maki. She opened it on the page that the girl had said.
"Alice's mission is to save Wonderland. For that she will need to dethrone the red queen by killing her monster pet, a two-headed, 50 meters high dragon that has the capacity to fly at the speed of a plane and splits fire throw her mouths . Alice will need to kill it and take the body to the white queen's castle."
Maki looked up from the book without changing her expression. "Hamlet, 3rd act, 5th scene, line 94" – she said.
Nozomi took off her top-hat and put it upside-down on the table. She brought her hand inside of it and took out a big book with the title "Hamlet". She opened it and flipped throw the pages until she found the one she was looking for. "No" -she read – "Yeah… I don't think that's an option"
"Where did you take that book from?!" – Exclaimed Maki. She wasn't expecting them to know what she was referring to.
"I'd be more worried because you know Hamlet by memory"- Nozomi answered.
"Excuse me, it's just culture! You're the one taking books from who knows where!"- Maki answered back.
"Well, I'm not the one chasing after a playboy bunny girl"- Nozomi smiled, satisfied with her answer.
"She's not a- wait, did you just say playboy? How do you even know what that is?!"- Maki was making big efforts to try to understand how had the conversation got this far.
"Oh, I have a book about it"- Said the hatter, taking another book from her hat, on that had written "History of Playboy" on it – Do you want to see it ~?"- she asked putting those bedroom eyes and that disturbing smile Maki hated.
"No!"- Maki shouted, embarrassed of what kind of stuff could be inside of that book – "Where did you even take that book from?!"
"I have all the books. And I've read them all. That's what turned me crazy ~"- Nozomi said with one of those smiles characteristics of a mentally disturbed person.
"Well, admitting it is the first step…"- Maki answered, trying to get her mind back to the point – "Anyway, I'm not going to save you, because I'm not Alice, I'm Maki!
"Poor girl…" – Nozomi turned to Rin with faked sympathy – "She's got a personality disorder"
"Yeah nya…" – added RIn.
"I don't have a personality disorder! You are the mentally disordered one that throws cards and takes books from who knows where!"- Maki retorted looking at the hatter.
"And you know Hamlet by memory"- Nozomi answered back
"W-we are not talking about me here!"
"Yes, we are"
"No, because I'm not Alice!"- Maki shouted stamping her fists on the table.
"You are not Alice then?" – Rin said sadly, dropping her ears and looking at Maki with cute puppy (-or well, kitty) eyes.
"Eh… w-well that's… questionable" – Maki answered, wanting the cat-girl to stop looking at her with that face.
"Personality Disorder ~"- Nozomi whispered to Rin, but loud enough for Maki to hear.
"No! Oh God, this is impossible!" – Maki shouted out of anger and frustration.
"God? I have a book about that!"- Nozomi exclaimed, taking another book from her hat. This time, it was a huge book that took her a bit of effort to get out of the topper. On it was written "Holy Bible".
"H-how is it so big…?!"- asked Maki, who was still trying to process the fact that the girl in front of her was taking books out of a hat.
"Oh, this is the Collector's Edition, with additional content!"- The hatter said, opening it for its back and revealing a disc that was stuck on its cover. "Look, it comes with a DVD!"- she added- "Although, the book's better"
"You read all that?!" – Maki asked, surprised that what was amazing her in that moment was the fact that the girl had read a whole Bible with extra content and not the fact of the mere existence of a Bible with extra content.
"Of course"- Nozomi smiled- "I've read everything. And now I can read everything. Including your mind. And I know what you want to do with that bunny ~"- she declared with those bedroom eyes Maki hated to see on the older girl's face.
"That's none of your business!"- Maki screamed, her face red. She covered her forehead with her hands, as if that could stop the other girl from reading her mind. "Can't we just concentrate into finding where can the white rabbit be?!"- she shouted, trying to get back to the starting point of all that uncomfortable conversation.
" Fine ~"- Nozomi stood up from her chair and took a small piece of folded paper from her top-hat (seriously, why was that thing like Doraemon's pocket?) and began unfolding it, little by little as she walked to the empty spot of grass next to the table. Slowly, what initially was a tiny 5x5 paper became an enormous map that occupied all the spot of grass like a huge square carpet. The hatter walked on top of the map and brought her deck of tarot cards from her pocket to her hands. "Alright, sit down" – she told the other two girls.
Nozomi began her ritual, moving all over the map, dancing around with exaggerated moves. She had a serious and concentrated expression, with her eyes closed and one hand on her head (the other one was, of course, holding the cards). After a few moves, the cards started to float in the air and glow in a dark purple light.
"Ok everyone, hold on to your chairs, because this is going to be good"- she finally spoke. Some of the cards began to fly around her, surrounding her.
Maki clutched the arms of her chair with both of her hands and leaned closer to get a better look of the other girl's performance. Finally! The hatter was finally going to use her powers to be a little helpful.
" I see it…"- Nozomi spoke in a deep voice.
Both of the other girls leaned even closer this time, their eyes wide open and expecting. Here it was. Nozomi's real true power. Maki hated to admit it, because she would never admit believing in such things as magic and spirits, but there were times in which she couldn't avoid consider that maybe her senior wasn't that crazy, and that maybe she really had some kind of power. After all, her predictions were right most of the times.
"According to the cards…"
She couldn't lean any closer. What was to come was not only what she had been holding on all this time for, but also the proof of Nozomi's huge power, worthy of the girl that had been able to join girls from different ages to for one of the most famous idol groups in Japan and had helped them to solve tons of problems with the tarot cards she always kept with her.
Finally, she said it.
"… SHE COULD BE ANYWHERE!"- Nozomi shouted as she threw all the cards to the air, letting them scattered all over the huge map.
Maki fell from her seat.
"Oh my god, Nozomi you are SUCH a genious nyaa!"- exclaimed Rin in true awe and immediately ran closer to Nozomi with her eyes and her mouth wide open.
Maki got up from the floor and turned to the thick mass of trees and started to walk slowly in its direction.
"Hey, where are you going?"- asked Nozomi while softly patting the head of the cat-girl who was looking up at her amazed of her friend's power.
"I'm so done with this! I'm going home!"Maki faced them again to show her frustrated and angry expression.
" You can't go home yet. How are we going to do the next chapter without you?"
"What? What do you mean 'next chapter'?"
"I don't know"-Nozomi shrugged-" Ask Appleshy-fairypony"
"Who?"
"Hiii!"- A girl was sitting on one of the chairs near the table, waving her hand gently with a smile.
"Who are you?! Where did you come from?!"
I stood up and walked closer to Maki. Once in front of her, I put my hands on her shoulders, making her look at me directly, wanting to make sure she understands what I was going to tell her.
"Listen, Maki"-I began with the sweetest voice I could make-" you're not going to leave. You're going to go and find the rabbit, and you'll do it with these two, ok?"- I turned my head to look at the other two girls that were also looking at us.
"B-but…I don't…" – Maki stuttered, not understanding why I was ordering all that (poor girls, she doesn't even know what's coming for her).
"Nah-ah-ah ~"-I raised my index finger in front of Maki's mouth-" I'm the writer, and I'm the one who decides what's going to happen, you get it?"
" Wait, are you saying that I'm having the worst day of my life because you decided it?"
"Yeup, that's it exactly. I see you're getting it, great! Now, go and find the bunny~"
I made to steps back and disappeared, leaving a Maki who blinked a few times, looked at the other girls and said:
"What just happened?"
"I have no idea, but wasn't she just the cutest girl you've ever seen? She was just so adorable, don't you agree? And the way she writes the story, isn't it just perfect?"- said Nozomi loudly and exaggerating the intonation of every question.
"Why are you saying this now?"
"Because this way I have more appearance time in the story"- she whispered to Maki.
" You know, even if you whisper, I can hear you. I'm writing this, remember?" – I appeared again next to Maki's side, who jumped when she suddenly saw me at her side.
"I meant, I LOVE YOU FAIRY"- Nozomi made a heart with her hands.
"That's what I thought, thanks" – I smiled-"Now, go!"
"But, we don't even know where she is! Nozomi's 'prediction' wasn't very accurate…"- Maki looked at the hatter with an unpleased look.
"Oh! Eh… Just, follow the yellow path!"
" What? Isn't that from The Wizard of Oz?"
"Listen, you want to find her right? Then. Do. What. I'm. Sayng."- I said without losing my smile-" I'm the author of this story, tust me! I know what's going to happen! Now go, have fun! Oh, and please be gay~"
Hi Everyone! Please, d-don't kill me! I know I deserve it, but I couldn't find any motivation to write this chapter and ideas just didn't seem to come! ~;;
Luckly, I think I've got the motivation back! At least a little ^^;; I'll try to be more constant from now on, at least until exams come! I hope you've enjoyed this second chapter, which I made a little longer to compensate for all this days I haven't updated! ^^
