The young man stood in the middle of the street, staring up at the building before him. Hour upon hour he didn't move from that spot and his hands never left the warmth of his coat's pockets. The drips of water coming down his brother's face echoed in his ears. "Where does your grief lay?" came a voice from behind. "Or have you none for even your brother, Cheshire Cat?"
He closed his eyes, not even thinking over the questions. "I do not know." That was his only response before opening his eyes again to stare up at his brother once more. He was pinned to the building before him with spikes of stone that held his arms up and pierced his chest twice. Red coursed down his hands and mouth, stained his clothes, and flowed onto the walkway to create a puddle. But none of that was what kept the Cheshire Cat there. No. What had kept him there was the tears that flowed down his brother's eyes.
The Mad Hatter stepped towards the Cheshire Cat, looking up at his dead twin. "Perhaps you truly did not care for him as you had intended. Or perhaps you cared more than you had liked to have thought once before."
Again he gave the same response. "I do not know."
The Hatter lifted his left hand to his shoulder, patting it twice before turning to leave. "He is of the past. You made the decision of your own accord, despite what you were told. We wait no longer for you. We must move on."
"Of the past?" Those words echoed in the back of his mind, painfully breaking forward through any other thoughts he may have had. Turning to see where the Hatter went he saw the others standing there in the shadows of the moonless night near the streetlight. He could easily tell who was who just by their silhouettes. Glancing back to the other Cheshire Cat, to his twin brother, he hoped his eyes would gain some type of emotion or that he could come to understand why his brother's tears had shocked him more than the act he had committed towards his own blood. But nothing came. His eyes stayed emotionless and he still did not understand.
"Goodbye, brother," he whispered into the cold night air, finally moving from the spot he had been in for hours upon hours to join the others.
"Liar." He stopped, eyes finally filling with an emotion. Shock. "Liar." Cautiously he turned to peer over his shoulder to the building, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. He waited a moment, watching his brother. "Liar!" The movement of his lips struck fear into the heart of the Cheshire Cat, his mind and body becoming boggled. "LIAR!" His brother's eyes shifted to stare at him angrily and all light vanished into darkness.
"LIAR!" The voice changed, eyes shooting open only to close from the bright light of the sun. Slowly he shifted to sit up, squinting his eyes in the direction of where the voice had come from. At the doorway stood a short girl with pale blonde hair staring at him quite irritated. "It's about time you woke up. I've been calling for you for the past ten minutes. Now get out of bed and come to breakfast." With that the girl left.
Letting himself fall back onto the bed he let out a sigh, eyes staring at the beige colored ceiling. "Stupid nightmares," he said to himself in a low whisper. Rolling out of bed he quickly dressed and headed down to the kitchen, seeing the girl who had woken him from the nightmare and a young man who looked exactly like him but with blue stripes running across his orange hair. Liar had red stripes running across his orange hair. "Princess. Truth. A good morning to you both."
The girl, Princess, turned to look at him and smiled a bit. "Morning sleepyhead." Princess turned back to the television in front of her, eating half a bagel with cream cheese smeared on the flat top. It was what she usually ate in the morning while watching the news to see if they had anything to say about Underground Wonderland.
Truth glanced at Liar for a moment before tossing an orange his way. "You overslept, brother," he stated. "Didn't sleep so soundly, did we?" He was joking, knowing the answer to that already.
Liar caught the orange with his left hand and stared at it for a moment before going over to stand beside him. "Slept soundly until the last hour, I think," he answered, peering over his twin's shoulder. "But as always, can't seem to remember it."
"Maybe nightmares are better left forgotten." Truth was peeling an orange he had gotten for himself before Liar came in. Fruits were scarcely the meals they had in the morning but due to having a meeting soon with the others they had to eat something that took no time to prepare. They just took a bit of time to peel.
Princess had woken up a bit earlier so as to nicely toast her bagel slices. She already knew the routine when it came to morning meetings and knew that if she wanted to eat what she wanted then she would have to wake up early. Liar had told her that after the first two meetings when she came to live in the castle almost two years ago. The other people who attended the meetings frightened her the first time she saw them, seeking shelter behind the only two who didn't make her feel so small. Truth and Liar. They were her only true friends and the only two people she truly spoke to, mainly due to them being her protectors.
"Alright, Princess, it's time to head off," Liar said, grabbing her from around the waist so as to pull her away from the television.
"Why does this meeting have to be so early?" she whined, letting him drag her as that seemed to be the usual routine in the morning as well. She really didn't like morning meetings. She preferred to watch the news and know of what was happening outside the castle walls and outside the city they took residence in. "Do I even have to really be there? I'm not that important of a person compared to the rest of you guys."
"Now don't say that," Truth said. "You're an important person just like the rest of us. Who would say otherwise?"
"Tick and Tock would say otherwise," she answered. The twins grimaced at the thought of those two. They did not get along well and for what reasons Princess, as well as most others in the castle, was still trying to figure out. "Besides, I really want to see if they're talking about us on the news. So can I please miss this one little meeting?" She knew they wouldn't let her miss a single meeting but it was still worth a try in asking.
"Princess," Liar began, "you may not think you're important but you really shouldn't listen to those two arrogant players of time. If you weren't important, would you have two protectors? Two guards to be there to save you from harm and take a bullet if called upon to do so? ('Like you'd take a bullet for me, you liar,' she said under her breath.)"
"He does have a point," commented Truth. "Many important people of the past and present have protectors so don't sell yourself so short."
"I guess." She knew she was important to some degree. Liar and Truth had been telling her that for as long as she knew them. Though at times she doubted it. "It just perplexes me to understand why I have to be at these meetings," she said, no longer being dragged as she walked into the next corridor between the twins. "I never do anything but sit there and listen. Really, it's pretty boring."
She heard Truth and Liar chuckle quietly behind her back. She ignored it, not saying another word as they came to the staircase leading up to the sixth floor. Their rooms were located on the fifth floor along with the second kitchen. The castle itself consisted of many floors and, with it being a castle, there were also many secret rooms and passageways that those who lived in the castle, known as the Cards, knew not of. Once they reached the sixth floor they headed into one of the secret passageways, lifting out a book halfway, turning it to the left, and pushing it back into the bookshelf. The bookshelf itself moved back into the wall before sliding to the side to reveal a door in which they entered through. Once the door was closed the bookshelf quickly returned to its regular post.
The candles on the wall lit up instantly as they walked down the corridor to the next door. Alice had always wondered how they did that and only guessed that it was done by magic. She never did ask. Truth opened the door that lead into a large room with a long royal styled table in the center and chairs to match. Princess could already see Tick and Tock sitting at the table across from where they were to sit. Admittedly they both rubbed her the wrong way, often making her quite cross.
"I see Alice and her Cheshire Cats have finally arrived," stated Tick, pushing his top hat up with one finger to get a better view at them. Though it made no difference as his hair covered over his eyes. His smirk, on the other hand, was as visible as the sun on a cloudless day.
"Shut up, Hatter," said the twins in unison, irritation clear in their voices as they shot glares to the Mad Hatter. Rolling her eyes she went to sit down, Liar and Truth following behind her. The Cheshire Cats, Liar and Truth, sat beside one another while Princess, Alice, sat closest to the two throne appearing chairs on the end. Wasn't long before the others arrived and sat in their seats, the King and Queen of Hearts coming in last to sit at the thrones.
"So what have we to speak of today, Madame?" inquired a man with short, messy black hair. He wore gold toned glasses over his eyes that were just as odd as him. The glasses were more like binoculars to Princess since they were thick, zoomed in and out, and didn't seem like glasses at all. But that's what he called them and she did not argue.
Madame, the Queen of Hearts, was a twisted woman in her late twenties and possibly early thirties. Her silky black hair curved over her right eye before swaying behind her shoulders, leaving a lock hanging over her right shoulder that curled at the end. She always held the same expressionless look over her face the same distant look in her light blue eyes. Princess had once asked if she put anything in her face to make her look that way but the answer was no. Her face was naturally that way.
"According to Feather," she began, hands resting on her lap, "there may be information on the whereabouts of one of the maps at Fehk island. Though he did gain information as to which of the three areas on Fehk may contain the information." All eyes turned to the small boy sitting across from Princess.
Feather was the only one in the room who was a child besides her. He had long pale blonde hair, just as Princess did, that was tied back in a ponytail with locks running down the side of his face and bangs covering all but the center of his forehead above his purple toned eyes. He was the messenger of Underground Wonderland, famously known as the White Rabbit. He wasn't a pushover, however, despite being a child. He was the messenger but there was no chance he would let the saying 'the messenger is always the first to die' be true.
"I sent the letter just as you had told me, Madame," he said, ignoring everyone's gazes while keeping his own on the queen. "While I was there I heard one of the archeologist speak about an old map someone had found, but they never said what kind it was, nor where it was. It may very well be on Fehk but it also may very well have been moved already. Hard to say."
Madame looked from Feather to everyone else, gaining their eyes. "Very well. I leave the matter of finding where this map's location is to Hide and Seek. Gain all the information you can at any cost necessary. Understood?" The two that sat beside Tick and Tock nodded.
Hide was a young woman with long light blue hair running down her back with locks coming down the side of her face. Seek was a young man with dark green hair spiked off to the sides while behind held up with a band. Few strands of hair stuck out from the center of his head and curled at the tip like a question mark. Both had headbands with the initials to their names sewn on the front. She wore it slanted so the letter faced right. He had his centered over his forehead. Tattoo like marks ran up Hide's jaw and across her cheeks, stopping just before getting to her nose. Seek's tattoo like marks were different. His curved over his eye from the top where his eyebrows showed, curved to the side of his face before going straight across his cheek, stopping just before his nose as Hide's, going down the side of his face again, curving behind his neck, and then almost curling at the front right side of his neck.
Seek had always frightened Princess. No more so than when he smiled devilishly. Feather himself disliked Seek quite to a high degree. He disliked that Seek was always the one sent out to find him when he was nowhere to be found. There was a reason for that but he still disliked, and almost hated, it. He had complained to Madame and Sire about it but they never did anything. Though, he never expected them to.
"What'll the rest of us do?" asked the man with odd glasses. "Are we just going to sit here on our behinds and do nothing while Hide and Seek have all the fun? There are three locations so why not send out more of us? I'm sure Tick and Tock would just love to head out." He knew Tick was shooting him a glare, despite his hair being unable to show it. He merely continued to smile his usual cheery smile, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table and his face in the palms of his hands. "Or you could send the Cheshire Cats as well."
This caught Princess's attention. If they left on a mission then she would have to go with them. They couldn't just leave her, could they? They were meant to protect her, after all. She watched as the wins exchanged glances at one another before turning to Madame. "It's true we could cover more ground and make this a quicker mission by sending more of us, but." As Truth stopped, Liar leaned forward.
"But there's a slight possibility this could be a trap," continued Liar. "Would be best to just send Hide and Seek. But we do agree."
"That sending Tick and Tock would work well, also." Truth continued. Finishing one another's sentences was something they did too often at meetings. "After all, if this is a trap, they can simply turn to the hands of time for assistance."
"Unless they don't think they're up for the challenge that may be ahead." Both smiled at Tick and Tock, as if silently challenging them.
Princess had to resist speaking her mind to the two. She knew why they didn't accept missions and it made her cross. She looked over to the queen, hoping she'd send them as well. But the queen hadn't sent them out on missions once since she came to live in the castle. Since she became part of Underground Wonderland. Please send us out as well, she thought. Send us out somewhere. Anywhere!
Madame looked over to Sire, who in turned looked at her. She wanted his opinion and he knew that. "I believe I'll agree with Eyes," he said, looking from her to Tick and Tock. "Tick and Tock will be sent out as well to assist Hide and Seek." Tick shot another glare at Eyes, the man with the odd glasses. His smile merely widened a bit more, as if to mock him. "As for Truth and Liar," he continued, "they will not be heading to assist them. God only knows they cause enough trouble as it is."
Though they hadn't been sent out on missions for quite a long time it was true beyond doubt that they caused trouble. A remarkable amount of trouble. It was actually one of the small reasons they weren't sent out on missions. If anything they were sent out to assist and be the decoys. That's when their troublesome ways came in handy. Still, Princess wanted so badly for them to be given something. Even if it meant just going to the only other city on the island of Maldori.
"A thought, Madame," spoke Tick, turning to the queen with a smile. "Why not send the Cheshire Cats to the town of Lluvia? Dear Alice shouldn't be kept locked up here forever, after all." For a moment Princess believed he had read her mind until she remembered that it was Tick who had said this. The Mad Hatter, if anything, was doing this just to get under the Cheshire Cats' skin. "Aside from that, I say, they may find some valuable information as hushed rumors have it that someone there may very well know the whereabouts to another map." Without looking she could feel the twins glaring at the Hatter. She knew they wanted to protest going and she just would not allow it.
"Madame," Princess said rather loudly, surprising several in the room, "let us go to the town of Lluvia. I'm sure we can handle finding out whether or not these hushed rumors are true, and I'm quite positive that if I keep a close eye on Liar and Truth that they won't cause much trouble, if any." She tried to muster up as much courage as she could under the queen's stare, trying to convince her to let them go. But still Madame's eyes were unchanged, making her harder to read than stone.
Everyone was silent. This was the first time Princess had ever spoken up during a meeting. They'd no clue or idea as to what the queen's response would be so they did all they could in that situation: they patiently waited. "If you are certain," she spoke at last. "You, as well as the Cheshire Cats, shall go to the town of Lluvia to reveal whether or not those 'hushed rumors' are false. Should they be true, you will follow them. Should they be false, return at once. Understood?"
"Yes, your majesty," said the Cheshire Cats, staring over at the happy and quite anxious girl to their rights. They weren't very happy with the decision made. After that Madame had nothing else to say and neither did anyone else. Thus that concluded the meeting. Hide, Seek, Tick, and Tock were already setting out to the island known as Fehk to proceed with the mission. It wouldn't take them long to get there as it was the neighboring island to Maldori, the island they were currently on. One hour away by plane. Two hours, at most, depending on the whether.
Princess was happily skipping to her room to pack, Liar and Truth walking behind her. They hadn't said a word since the meeting ended and she could only guess they were upset. "Oh come on," she said, ceasing to skip once she reached the door to her room. "I know you two would rather I stay here where it's nice and safe, surrounded by Cards, but I think this'll be good for me. As Tick said, 'Dear Alice shouldn't be kept locked up forever.'" The fact that she quoted him made them grimace more than before. She simply rolled her eyes and opened her door to head in. "In any case, Madame already said we're going and we can't go against the Queen of Hearts or it'll be off with our heads. And should that happen, it would make you two protectors look ridiculous." With that she shut the door.
Liar and Truth exchanged glances before sighing. It was true they couldn't actually go against the queen's word and they didn't want to. Whether they wanted to or not they were heading to the town of Lluvia. "Pack an umbrella, brother," Truth said.
"You read my mind," he replied.