A Cat, a Song, and an Invitation

I declined Vivaldi's offer to stay at the Castle for the night. There was no way I'd get any rest with both Peter and Ace there. Besides, I needed time to think about the bomb shell of a truth they had just dropped onto me. I couldn't believe it... Me? A member of Wonderland? And Peter's daughter even? Wait, doesn't that make me half rabbit or something?

Thinking about it only gave me more of a headache and I found myself exhausted by the time I reached the clock tower. I expected Julius to be asleep, but to my surprise he was wide awake at his desk.

"Glad to see you made it back in one piece. But I thought you'd stay at the castle tonight."

"I just need time to think tonight..." I said, holding my head as I walked p to an empty bedroom for some rest. I woke up feeling less tired, but just as confused as before.

I sat at the table drinking a cup full of coffee just staring into space, trying to clear my thoughts. Julius could tell something was wrong from the start because I hated coffee. As if on cue, two little twinheads popped into the doorway. "Hey, Ameena~!"

"Hm?" I turned to them, still kinda out of it.

"We want you to come play with us today!"

When I didn't really answer, Julius responded for me. "Ameena might not feeling quite up to it today..."

"Aww..." The twins whined.

Suddenly a boy with pink hair and cat ears walked into the room. Okay, now I think I've gone crazy... He stared at me as if examining me. "Yup! I know just the thing!" he said as he grabbed my hand and dragged me away. "I'll return her later!" he called back to everyone.

"Aw, stupid cat! We called her first!" The twins complained.

The strange cat boy dragged me along silently until I finally asked, "Um, who are you? And where exactly are you taking me?"

He didn't stop as he said, "Aw, come on, you don't remember me?" I shook my head. "How could you forget Boris? We used to play on tons of rides at the Amusement Park! Well, at least until your Papa finally caught up with us and took you home..."

"I'm not sure if that would be considered fun or dangerous..." I commented.

"Is there really a difference? Oh, we're here! Welcome to the Amusement Park!" Boris announced. I stepped onto the wide stone walkways that ran through the park and looked around at the insane looking rides.

"So why did you bring me here?" I asked.

"To have fun, of course! You looked down and the only way to fix that is to have some fun!" I smiled a little. I couldn't remember, but I'm sure that if I could Boris would be a good friend of mine.

"Boris! Where have you been off too? Ah, is this Ameena?" A middle-aged man walked up to us. Boris looked anything but excited.

"Yeah, old man, this is Ameena."

"Are you sure? She looks a little too big to be the same little Ameena..." Gowland commented, staring at me.

"You're just getting old." Boris said, which earned him a glare from Gowland.

"Well, you're always welcome at my Amusement park, Ameena. Enjoy the rides!"

With that, Boris and I explored the entire park, going on tons of insane rides that would probably be considered unsafe back in my world. It was crazy and weird, but I had to admit I had fun and I totally forgot what it was I was worried about in the first place. When we finally finished, it was nearly sunset and we were making our way back to the entrance. It was there that I rediscovered how horrible a musician Gowland was and Boris revealed to me a terrible secret, Gowland's name.

"Boris, I told you not to tell anybody!" Gowland yelled, angrily.

"But it's a nice name!" I said, which seemed to calm him down.

"A wonderful name...if you're a girl." I looked down the path to see Blood and the rest of the Hatter mafia with him.

"Ameena~!" the twins cheered as they ran up on either side of me to give me a hug.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked them.

"Hey Ameena! Well you see Blood had some business here and-" Elliot began, but Blood cut him off.

"It's best if you keep your mouth shut Elliot."

"Yeah, dumb hare!" the twins mocked.

"Shut up you little brat!" Elliot yelled.

"What did you say just now?" Gowland asked Blood, grinding his teeth.

"Merry is a lovely name... if you like being named after a girl." Blood said, enjoying every minute of this.

"Oh no..." Boris said.

"You...! You! That's it, Blood! How dare you say that to my face!" Gowland blurted, furious. His oddly shaped violin transformed into a machine gun. Making everyone run for cover. I stood there wide-eyed until Blood grabbed me and pulled me out of the way.

"What did you do that for?" I asked him, wondering if he had a death wish.

"It's fun to patronize him. Ah, and Ameena..."

"Yes?" I asked, rather flustered as Blood became too close for comfort. I would have moved if his arms hadn't blocked my escape. Whatever he was about to tell me, he wasn't about to take no for an answer.

"You've visited every other area, but you haven't paid one to our mansion yet..."

"Oh, r-really? H-haven't I?" I stuttered, raking my brain to find some way to get out of this.

"All the more reason you should come tonight. We'll have a little party in celebration."

"W-well, I can't say no to that now can I?" I was afraid of what would happen if I did.

Blood finally moved away and I let out a sigh of relief. "See you there."

I watched him go as the surrounding noise finally started to die down. Okay, so number of times I've almost been killed: 4. Number of times a guy has been uncomfortably close: 2. Number of times I've been kissed: thankfully, still one. Great. Now I just had to figure out what I am going to do stuck at a party with him all night. Well, so much for getting rid of my headache...