Damien left the Caterpillar's home, a deep sense of aggravation rooted in him. Eyebrows drawn, jaws clenched, he shot a heated look at Alice, who mirrored the same expression. She, however, was looking at the Cheshire cat, who had a large smile stretched across his face. He had won the battle; Alice was forced to listen to him regardless of her feelings.
"Always that sour expression, how about a bit more affection?" the cat sneered, glowing with delight. "A bit of cheer would be nice, even a simple smile would suffice!"
"Will you get on with it?" the girl hissed. Listening to feline's endless taunts was clearly one of the last things she wanted to do.
"Come then, you have a party to attend. And more to that, a staff piece to defend!" he grinned, whisking a bony tail. "Let's not be late, we're due at Hatter's place. We must be quick, against time we race," he warned, golden eyes shifting to Damian.
"I've got the potion right here," the blonde said, answering the Cheshire's questioning look. Hastily digging through his leather sack, he drew out a small bottle oozing purple liquid; another foul substance to swallow.
"Well let's make haste, we don't have time to waste," the feline urged, frisking a paw at them.
"Ladies first," the 18 year old grimaced, shoving the bottle into the girl's slender hands.
"Well you could have gone right on ahead then," she said flatly, although the teen went on to wrench the cap off.
"Ha, funny," the blonde remarked, rolling his eyes.
Cupping her hands around the bottle, the 15 year old dumped the potion into her mouth. It was a hot, scorching liquid, setting her throat on fire as she swallowed the concoction. Shuddering, she could feel its fiery warmth travel to the pit of her stomach before branching out through the rest of her body. Wincing at the rancid taste, she immediately felt its effects. Sprouting from the pit of her stomach, her limbs began to grow, stretching until she regained normal height.
"Gentle!" Damian squeaked. From far below, he was no bigger than a speck besides her boot, waving frantically at the bottle nestled in her palm. So small and fragile, she could have easily crushed the container…and force Damian to forever live an insect's life…or perhaps she could squish him. Flatten him into the ground with the toe of her boot. Or she could pocket him…a cute plaything he'd make. She snickered at the thought.
"You give me that now!" the blonde ordered, sensing her thoughts with panic. "I'm still in charge of showing you around!"
"Oh shut it," the girl boomed; Damian immediately clapped his hands over his ears in response.
Squatting down beside him, she rolled the small glass into his expecting hands. After giving the container a quick swirl, he drained the bottle, and seconds later, the blonde was standing tall at his usual six feet.
"Good to know you're not completely stupid," her blue-eyed companion remarked, looking relieved.
"Hm, I don't know about that. I'd have liked you better small," the teen sneered, folding her arms across her chest. "Make a rather cute toy."
Damian raised a golden eyebrow, a crooked smile drawn on his face. "Cute you say?"
Alice blinked. "Oh, did I say cute?" she asked, realizing her mistake. "I meant…funny looking."
"Har, come off it," the 18 year old grinned, nudging the girl. "You think I'm cute."
"You wish, insane prat," she snorted, shoving the blonde away.
"Me? Insane?" he chuckled. "If I'm insane, what would that make you?"
"An unfortunate child forced to put up with an idiot," she replied, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"Children, now's not the time to flirt; first save those hurt," the Cheshire cat reprimanded, materializing before the two at proper height. It was as though the Cheshire's happiness and Alice's own happiness were not on equal terms. His radiating smile had disappeared behind his frown.
"Flirt? Hardly," Alice snorted, waving an airy hand.
"What a ridiculous thing to say, cat," the blonde sniggered.
"Oh, please. All he talks is nonsense," Alice remarked, planting her hands at her hips. "Too stupid to speak sensibly."
"Stupid, yes. He's quite a pest. Ill mannered. Obnoxious. Pompous," Damian listed, tapping a thoughtful finger against his chin. And the two found common ground.
"How about full of shit?" the girl added, emerald eyes brightening with delight. "And a bloody coward."
"Oh you have no idea!" the 18 year old grinned, ignoring the feline's angry glare. "Why, during your absence, he'd twitch at every mention of your name."
"No such thing occurred," the feline abruptly denied, yellow eyes flashing. His mood had dropped to a low; it seemed impossible that only moments ago he was the one laughing.
"Is that so, cat?" Alice questioned, a smile playing on her lips. It looked strange on her face, for the only smiles she'd ever worn were wicked ones.
"Don't try making yourself all that better boy," the feline hissed, however, Damian's cheerful expression did not fade.
"I'll admit, she scared me too," Damian remarked, blue eyes resting on Alice's pale face. "But you can't blame me; you /are/ quite scary."
Alice broke into laughter –laughter? A treat for Damian and the Cheshire cat to hear. "That so?" she asked, a large grin wiped onto her face. It was quite a strange sight; it had been so long since anyone had ever seen a real smile on her face, she looked almost unrecognizable. Soft lips parted to reveal pearly teeth; emerald eyes shimmering happily; dark hair framing her face. It was indeed a lovely picture.
"Well you certainly aren't all that pleasant," Damian assured. "But at least you're pretty. Can't say the same for that nightmare." Damian jabbed a finger at the Cheshire. Alice found herself breaking uncharacteristically into giggles.
"I did not come here to be the butt of your jokes" the Cheshire scowled, golden eyes shooting furious looks between the two. "I've come to help you ungrateful blokes."
"What help? All you've said was that the staff piece was in Hatter's place," Damian reminded the cheer in his voice extremely noticeable. It was as though he had been fighting a long, gruesome battle all alone and now Alice's laughter signified victory.
"I was going to tell you where the others were at, but now I think I shan't. Good luck on your own, maybe next time you'll learn to have a more politeful tone," the feline growled, fading into scenery.
"Nice going," the girl retorted, planting a hand on her hip. She tried to keep a more serious attitude, but she couldn't hide her delight all too well. Always pissing her off, it was nice to see the Cheshire be the one frustrated.
"Yes, well. We've got quite a walk to get to Hatters…ready?"
The girl nodded, and with that the journey continued.
0o- -o0 0o- -o0 0o- -o0
Author's note:
So I've completely forgotten about this. It was so weird coming across this again (I should be studying, but looking back at old stuff was just so much more appealing.) I forgot how dark this story was…I had kind of outgrown this whole phase and reading this stuff brought back tons of memories. I suddenly really miss this…and I'm not sure why I quit so abruptly – I had actually written out two other chapters but just never got around to continuing this. I don't know if anyone at all would still be reading this, but I think I might jut continue this. It was a lot of fun. And it's probably good practice for me. I feel like my English skills have dramatically declined since I've stopped writing and role playing, so this could be a fun exercise for me to get back on top of it. Of course, if I do continue…it'll probably be at a very slow pace. I think I started this back in the 8th grade…and now I'm graduating college in just a few months – scary, huh? So I have tons to do now compared to back then…I miss having lots of free time. But anyways, I'm going to attempt. I feel like I've forgotten how to write. And I don't actually remember the plot I had going for this. I've never played American McGee's Alice, so I never knew the full story, and now I've forgotten whatever I did know about it.
I'm probably talking to myself now, but it's ok. I want to do this for me. It was really nice rereading all the supportive comments people left too :) It's partly what made me motivated to continue this again. So I guess this is a really late thank you, but nonetheless thanks. Even though it's been years since you've written what you did, I read it today and still feel just as happy. That's pretty awesome.
(And continuing this is probably going to be a disaster. I am afraid….haha I am an engineer now and do very minimal writing. Oh my. I apologize in advance for the oncoming butchering of this unfortunate story.)