Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.
Author's Note: I worked extra hard to get this update out on time as an apology for the sporadic updates I've been giving you before. Hopefully now I'm back on scheduling track, and I won't make you have to wait so long again. This chapter was incredibly fun to write, and I did throw some fluff in there for those of you (and you know who you are! -wink-) who requested it. Thank you all again so much for all your lovely and encouraging words, not to mention the alerts - and we've broken 100 reviews! You all are awesome!
-Chapter 11-
Tempting Fate
Alice lay awake for a long time, staring at her moonlit ceiling, trying to get rid of the images lingering in her mind. After a while she got up and made herself some tea, knowing she'd not sleep without something to relax her. She was wound tighter than McTwisp at the moment.
Once her tea had steeped, she went to curl up in the chair next to the fireplace. The night was cool, so the heat from the fire and her tea felt good. Tucking her feet beneath her, she cradled her cup in her hands and sighed contentedly. It was amazing what a good herbal tea did for her.
Drawing in the scents of apples and cranberries, Alice took a lingering sip and then leaned her head against the back of her chair. Ahhh. She had always enjoyed teas, but there was something about drinking Underlanian-brewed tea in Underland that couldn't be surpassed.
"Hello, Champion."
The suddenness of the voice speaking behind her nearly made her upset her hot tea all over herself. Alice spun in her chair, looking back toward the door into her bedroom.
A woman stood there, where just moments before there had been no one. She wore a long silver sheath dress, and as she walked forward Alice noticed her feet were bare. Her face was almost pixie-like, framed by jaw-length red hair. "Welcome back to Underland."
Alice shifted, setting aside her cup as she slowly rose to her feet, keeping the chair between her and the other woman. "Do I know you?" she asked warily.
The woman laughed, the sound like the wind through the trees. "Not personally, no. But I'm well acquainted with you."
"May I have a name to work with?"
Lifting her hands slightly to the side, she bowed at her waist. "I have many names, but you might know me best as Fate."
"…Fate." Of course. They all talk about Time as if he's a real person here, so I suppose it's not such a stretch to believe that Fate would be, too. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this - visit?" She couldn't shake the chill of wariness clinging to the back of her neck.
Fate smiled, her blue (or were they green? No, there they looked grey) eyes shining. "As you have discovered, there have been several other Alices in the course of Underland's history. But you - hmm, you are quite unique, a diamond among rocks, as it were."
Alice wanted to say something, but no appropriate words came to mind, so she stood silently and waited for Fate to get to her point.
"The Bond between Alices and their Most Loyal Hatters have been strong since the first Alice found her way here at the rise of the Jabberwocky's terrible power. Though Time and I hardly get along - he's quite stubborn, and I and your dear Tarrant seem to be the only two with the courage to stand up to him - we can agree on one thing. Alices and Hatters are meant to be together. So we came together and created the Bond - yes, I know, not a very original name, but it serves its purpose - to make this Bond a little more permanent."
This time Alice could think of the right words. "But you're Fate! You must have known what was going to happen to Other Alice, and because of that, Alistair! By the one's death, the other died as well! How could you be so cruel?"
Fate's eyes blazed suddenly scarlet, the color of fresh blood. The planes of her face took on an almost inhuman sharpness as the canvas of her pale skin began to swirl with patterns and whirling images. With a start, Alice realized what she was looking at was mimicking the movements of the pictures in the Oraculum. Seeing where the younger girl's gaze rested, Fate smiled, her teeth suddenly seeming as razor sharp's as a lion's. "That's right," she said. "I hold the destinies of everyone in Underland's lives in my hands. I can see everything, manipulate the threads of Time himself and stand up to his wrath for my own pleasure. You might think me cruel, Little Champion, but know this: Everything Time and I have done since the first Alice fell down that rabbit hole was in preparation for your arrival."
"So you're trying to say that at one of your whims you could destroy Underland and everyone in it," Alice stated coldly.
"That's right," Fate agreed, her tone just as icy. "But since the life of you petty humans is rather amusing to me, I don't, and probably won't." She touched the back of the chair with long fingers, and Alice realized she hadn't noticed Fate's movements to bring her there. One moment she was in the doorway, and the next she was just - there, that close. "But know that slaying the Jabberwocky was just the beginning of the things I have in mind for you, Alice. You're quite an interesting enigma, you know. Sometimes I can catch the strings of your destiny and manipulate them, and sometimes I can't." She cocked her head to the side and smiled, looking quite human again except for the images that continued to paint themselves on her skin. "I like you, and your Hatter. You're by far the most interesting pair I've ever encountered, and that's saying something. Believe it or not, everything I'm doing to you both is to make you and your Bond stronger."
"That's it?" Alice asked dubiously.
"I have my reasons for everything, dear," Fate said as she turned to walk away. "And I promise it will all make sense - eventually. Now I suggest you go to bed, it's quite late." She waved her hand dismissively…
…And Alice jerked upright in her chair, spilling her cold tea all down her front. She gasped, wondering just how long she'd been asleep. Had it all been a dream? It seemed likely - she did have a lively imagination.
But there was a feeling, way down deep in her stomach, that made her fairly certain that what she'd just experienced was entirely real. Now she just needed to figure out what to be ready for.
Tarrant was already in the kitchen by the time Alice got there the next morning. He sat slumped over his breakfast plate, darker-than-normal circles under his eyes, his clothes faded. He looked exhausted.
"Tarrant? Are you all right?" She gently touched his shoulder.
He jerked at her touch, blinking owlishly at her as his green eyes brightened more toward normal. "Yes, what is it this-? Oh, good morning, Alice." His lisp was stronger than she'd ever heard it. "Quite fine, quite fine. I just haven't had a good breakfast yet, and you know that's the most important meal of the day. No breakfast, and you're dragging for the rest of the day." He nodded firmly, then turned and reached for his cup. "And a good stout tea - yes, that's the perfect thing to perk me up." He peeked at her out of the corner of his eye as she sat down, catching the plate that Thackery slid down the counter toward her. "Aye, an' ye look a mite peaked this mornin', tae, Alice."
His descent into brogue didn't bode well. Something had happened to him overnight. "Something happened. Tell me?"
"Just some bad dreams." Tarrant waved his hand dismissively. "Nothing at all unusual. Been happening to me all the time, for as long as I can remember."
"Aye, ya wee blighter!" Thackery shouted from across the kitchen, banging two pans together as if knocking their heads before letting them both clatter noisily onto the stovetop.
Alice thoughtfully stared at the Hare, who seemed even more on edge than usual this morning. "I had quite the unusual encounter last night," she said casually.
"Aye? Now that you're back in Underland, I'd imagine you'll have several," Tarrant said, chuckling. "All of us are a bit unusual, luv."
Alice politely chose not to comment on that. "I met Fate."
The milliner nearly choked on the drink of tea he'd just taken. He clapped his hand over his mouth to keep from spewing it, and after making several choking noises, he seemed to successfully swallow it. "Fate, you say?" he asked between coughs.
"Yes. She's quite - interesting." Alice sipped at her own tea wryly as she tried to figure out how to describe the inhuman woman who'd appeared in her bedroom - or in her dreams, whichever. "She told me a few things. Most of it was incomprehensible, and the rest I cannot, in good conscience, repeat. But…" She trailed off, thoughtfully nibbling on a scone as she thought back to the conversation from the night before. "She did give me a warning."
"What kind of warning?" Tarrant asked edgily.
"I don't know, exactly. But she said something about my slaying the Jabberwocky was just the beginning of the things she had in mind for me."
Hatter's expression tightened. "I don't like the sound of that."
"Nor did I. But no matter what I said or did, Fate seemed unlikely to offer any further details. She all but said I had to figure out the rest on my own."
"Fate and Time make quite the pair," Tarrant muttered, glaring at the crumpet Thackery had just launched onto his plate. "They're both fickle, they're both temperamental, and they're both unbelievably cryptic."
"I noticed." Alice smoothly caught the crumpet the Hare tossed at her, then reached for the butter. "I know I should be more worried about this than I am, but what with everything else…" She trailed off and shrugged hopelessly.
"The ball?" Tarrant asked.
"The ball," Alice agreed.
"Thought so. You shouldn't be worried, Alice. Most everyone there you are already acquainted with, and the few that aren't will be more than happy to introduce themselves. The White Queen, I heard, has invited several of the elite White Guard, and I hear they're quite the nice lot. Thackery will obviously fix enough food to last a week-"
"-Ya exaggerate too much, ya crumpet head!" that creature shouted from across the kitchen.
"I do not exaggerate, Thackery, I am simply complimenting your excellent culinary skills!" Tarrant promptly shouted back before continuing his earlier line of thought as if he hadn't been interrupted. "-and I'm more than sure the Tweedles will happily be taking up the majority of your time. Once they light and stick, there's no prying them loose."
"They're darling," Alice sighed. "I meant to see more of everyone else when I returned to Underland, but thus far my time seems to be taken up by you, Thackery, and the Queen."
"None of us are complaining a whit, luv," Tarrant assured her. "I've missed you something awful, and I heard the Queen comment on several occasions that she wished you'd return if for no other reason than to have 'sensible female company,' I believe she put it." The corner of his mouth quirked up in a little grin as his eyes sparkled.
She gently nudged his shoulder with her own. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"Everything. Teaching me how to dance, being my friend, making me smile and laugh when it feels like the entire world - the entirety of two worlds, for that matter - is conspiring against me. Just - thank you."
"Anything for you, Alice," he said, and she got the distinct feeling that he meant his words quite literally.
After breakfast, Tarrant went to his workshop and Alice went in search of the Queen. She hoped Mirana wouldn't be busy with courtly duties at that time, for she dearly wished to talk to her about her dream-encounter with Fate. She didn't know of anyone else who would be wise enough to interpret such things other than Absolem, and she wasn't so sure she was in the mood to deal with his cryptic riddles.
Fortunately, Mirana was in the gardens when Alice finally found her. The Queen's dark lips turned up in a sincere smile when she saw Alice. "Good morning, Champion!" she called. "How are things today?"
"Fairly well," she said. She and Tarrant were further apart than they usually strayed, but the pain in her head was minimal compared to what she'd felt before. It was so light, she could almost ignore it.
"That's - good?" Mirana's brow wrinkled. "Why only fairly well?"
"I had a - well, I'm not sure if it was really a dream, but I woke up after it was over, so I'm thinking it was. Anyway, I had an encounter with Fate last night."
Mirana's eyes widened visibly, and she hastily turned to straighten an inanimate rose that had tilted a little too far into the path. "I'm sure it was just a dream, dear."
Her behavior was immediately suspicious to Alice. "You know something, don't you, Your Majesty?"
"Whatever gave you that idea, dear?" Catching Alice's intense, narrow-eyed look, Mirana sighed and dropped her hands to clasp at her waist. "Yes, Alice, I do know something."
Feeling her insides twist nervously, she asked, "What is it?"
The Queen glanced briefly toward the castle before she turned back to Alice. "My dear, it's never wise to tempt Fate. I'm not one to speak ill of anyone, particularly not some of the most powerful beings in Underland, but the truth is - she likes playing games with us. She finds it amusing to twist us to her will, and usually we know nothing about it. Being Queen, however, gives me a certain - outlook on things, if you catch my drift."
"Access to the Oraculum," Alice supplied.
Mirana looked relieved that she didn't have to voice the words. "Precisely. Absolem is the Overseer of that Document, of course. But even I usually don't see it more than once every few years. The events of the Frabjous Day was more the exception rather than the rule. It is never a good idea for people to know too much about the future - whether theirs, or someone else's. The only reason Absolem let the events of the Frabjous Day be so widely known is to bring back Hope from where we thought it had been entirely lost."
Alice really didn't like where she thought this was going. "There's another reason why I was brought back to Underland besides Tarrant, isn't there?" she asked.
Glancing away uncomfortably, Mirana nodded. "I believe so. Though I also very firmly believe that bringing you and Tarrant together is the strongest reason you were called back."
She noticed how the White Queen was very carefully choosing her words. Alice knew the woman wouldn't lie outright, but she was Mistress of White Lies, and employed that ability every now and then. "What was in the Oraculum, Highness?" she whispered.
Mirana was silent for a long time, gazing off somewhere into the distance at something only she could see. "Darkness," she finally said. "A black background shot through with shades of crimson - and this should say something, since the Oraculum has never foretold anything with color - and you, Alice, in the middle of it all." Her chin lifted slightly, a wobbly smile on her lips. "You were wearing a Crown of Underland."
~To Be Continued~
The plot thickens... Once more, thank all you amazing people for your reviews, alerts, and for just taking the time to read my story. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and the next should be up soon!