Princess hadn't spoken much to Liar or Truth in the past week. She wasn't able to shake off what had happened on the mission. Couldn't shake off what the woman they called Milady Archer told her. Couldn't shake off the fear she had felt over how her two protectors had acted. She had so many questions locked in her mind with fear dangling the key just barely out of reach. One question that concerned her the most was of Milady Archer: What had happened to her?

"Hey, Charles!" she called out, running towards a man with dark blue hair spiked back going down one of many corridors of the second floor. He turned around, looking at her quizzically with gentle hazel toned eyes for a moment before smiling. He stopped and turned fully around, bowing to her politely. She sighed, a bit irritated by that. "Stop that, Charles."

"You're the princess, miss Alice," he said, standing up straight with his arms at his side, "so it's only right I show my respect with a bow. Also, I'm referred as one of few Jack of Spades." She knew that. He was a Jack among the many Cards in the castle. A high rank beside the Ace and Joker. Even so, she preferred to call him by his real name. She liked the name Charles quite a bit.

"We've been over this, Charles," she said, crossing her arms. "I'm not an actual princess and I don't like calling you 'Jack of Spades.' If anything, I'll call you Card Charles." He gave a slight nod towards that, figuring it worked as well. He didn't actually mind her calling him Charles but it amused him to see her become agitated by it.

"As long as you're Alice, you're a princess. Now did you need something from me?" he asked, looking down at the girl. "Or were you just checking to see if I'd stopped bowing to you?" He'd known her since he was a seven among the Cards, spiraling up the ranks in the past few years since she arrived. They'd gotten to know one another well and he was happy to say they were friends. She didn't feel comfortable being bowed to by someone she didn't know, let alone a friend, so she often checked to see if he continued to do so. He never did stop.

"I wanted to ask you something." She didn't know whether to just come right out and say what the question was, or ask little questions leading up to the actual one.

"Go ahead." His voice was so casual and light, making it quite simple to talk to him.

"Well…You see, the thing is…" She stopped, uncrossing her arms. She peered behind him and then behind herself, making sure no one was coming. "Do you know if someone by the name of Archer was brought here?" she inquired in a low whisper so that he may only hear.

He looked off to the side, putting a hand up to his chin in thought. He often did that when thinking. "I don't believe any of the Cards have," he answered, staring back at her. "The Jacks and Aces would have been notified of that, no matter the suit." She let a disappointed 'oh' escape her lips. Truth had lied to her. She wasn't in the castle, wasn't brought back. Was she even still alive? "Why do you ask?" he inquired.

She stared into his eyes for a long time. She didn't know whether to tell him of the mission or not. Could she speak of the mission to a Card? Could she speak of it to anyone? Would they get in trouble? Would she get in trouble? Would he? She didn't want anyone to get hurt because of her. She didn't want someone to befall whatever fate Milady Archer had. Not where they were meant to be safe. Not by the people they followed.

"Just curiosity," she finally answered, shrugging a bit. "I heard Truth and Liar say her name once and I thought that maybe they brought someone by that name here. It was just curiosity, really. I'll probably just ask them later." Charles could see through her lies. She believed anyone could see through her lying words. Despite being with the two who played best with honest and deceiving words, she just wasn't good at it.

He let out a sigh and crossed his arms. "All right, what's the actual reason you asked? Who's this Archer person you asked about?" Charles gave a reassuring smile to Princess, knowing that whatever she was trying to lie about was hard to speak of. "You know you can tell me anything and I won't say a word. You can trust me." She knew she could trust him. He had never done anything that even made her think otherwise. Still, hearing him say it made her relax a bit.

"I went on my first mission with the Cheshire Cats a week or so ago," she began, voice returning to a low whisper. Charles' smile grew for a moment before ceasing all together. Distress was growing in her eyes as she recollected the event in her mind. "We went to Lluvia to find out if these rumors were true or not. Everything was fine, but then–" She stopped, turning to a door opening.

"Good evening, Lord Eyes," said Charles, bowing to the man as he closed the door.

"Well, good evening, both of you." Eyes smiled his usual cheery smile at the two, a glass orb full of clear water in the palm of his right hand. "Did I interrupt a conversation, perhaps?" he asked, slightly leaning back against the door. He wasn't going anywhere.

"No," Princess quickly answered. "I was just, uh, asking if Hide and Seek or Tick and Tock came back from…that one place. Their missions." Charles stood up and gave a nod, saying nothing. Eyes looked from one to the other, a simple 'Ah-hah' escaping his lips. He obviously didn't believe them. Nonetheless, he went along with it for some reason. Among other things, Eyes, compared to most of the other higher-ups, such as Tick and Tock or Hide and Seek, was cordial.

"Well, I can kindly tell you they haven't come back yet, Princess. They probably won't arrive back here for a bit of time. A day…Or Three. Possibly even another week." He chuckled, throwing the glass orb up shoulder length and catching it once it came down. He repeated this as he spoke. "In any case, just as everyone was notified of your return, their return will be announced as well. In the meanwhile, I suggest enjoying the serenity of them not being around. Or, if you want to take the risk, steal something from their rooms." He caught the orb and shook it in his hand. "Just be careful of any traps they may have set, though I highly doubt that since this was easy enough to steal."

"Why did you steal that?" Princess asked, staring at it. She always wondered as to why Eyes did most of the things he did. He was an unusual man.

He chuckled again, balancing the orb on his pinky. "To be quite honest, I'm re-stealing it. Bloody Hatter took this from me some time ago and never wanted to give it back. But little did he know that I would insist on him going on a mission just so I could get it back. Never saw it coming, he didn't."

"Mind my asking, Lord Eyes, but you insisted he go just to get that back?" Charles finally spoke, staring at the inanimate object in his hand as if it weren't more special than a random rock picked off the ground outside.

Eyes directed himself to the Jack of Spades and his cheery smile grew as he leaned forward a bit, once more resuming to throw the orb up into the air. "You see this and think of it as just a glass orb filled with water. Simple. No true value to it. Replaceable even. I see this orb and know its true purpose. There's more to this glass, more to the water, than meets the eyes. Mixed together they create quite the thing of value to those who know how to properly use it. Even to those who don't know would still find it valuable if they knew how it worked, at least." He stood straight and began to walk off down the corridor towards the stairs leading to the next floor up. "Think about it. And Princess, missions are confidential. It's a no-no to speak about it to anyone but the higher-ups. Unless, you know, it's in secret and not in the middle of a hallway. Possibly to someone who doesn't have ears, lips, and goes unnoticed even when out in the open. But I'm just saying." He disappeared around the corner, his voice echoing as he continued to speak to himself.

"He really is quite the bizarre person, huh?" asked Charles, thinking over what he had told them.

She agreed to the fullest. "He is but at least he's also helpful." She turned to him. "I'll tell you what I was going to tell you another time. I think, for now, I'll keep it to myself. Until the time is actually right. OK?" He gave no protest and nodded, adding 'As you wish, Princess Alice' and a bow just to agitate her. It worked, gaining him a slight glare and slap to the forehead when he bowed.

"Stop doing that, Charles."

"That's one order I'll probably never do." He smiled and watched her walk back the way she had come from, an annoyed expression lingering over her face. The Jack of Spades turned in place and resumed heading to his destination on the first floor to meet with two other Jacks of different suits.