A/N: YAY! I GOT THE CHAPPY DONE! FEEL PROUD OF ME! XD! Well, yeah, this is where the villain is introduced. BWAHAHAHAHA! Don't be so shocked to find out who it is, because well. . . . I couldn't think of anyone else. XDDD!!!!! Well, ENJOY!

Chapter Two

Eyeless

It had been exactly two years ago in Underland when the Knave of Hearts, Ilosovic Stayn, had finally managed to escape the chains that connected the Red Queen and himself, left the big headed woman there to rot, and had created his own kingdom of dark creatures of the night, and some of the day. Who would have ever known that he could've been so influential? His ego had only grown from that. Now, his kingdom was at war with the Marmoreal kingdom, the White Queen's kingdom.

Ilosovic had grown bored of just sitting around his kingdom, wishing that he could do something right then. Perhaps now would be a good chance to go around and make sure that they didn't bring that silly girl, Alice, back. That was when it was decided. "Knights One, Three, and Five!" he called out right before the three he called out for came out. They looked pretty much the same, except for on their shoulders were their numbers imprinted on it. "We are going out for a hunt in Underland. Find some of your best men in each of your quadrants, then let us leave," he commanded.

"Yes, your majesty," the three of them said in unison, sounding a tad bit like robots. Oh, how he tired of those annoying voices of theirs. He could somehow understand why the Iracebeth, the Red Queen, liked to sentence their heads off and got so easily angry.

After a while, they left for the ''hunt''. Ilosovic rode on his jet black horse as they walked around the land, being sure to avoid anybody else that might try to attack. The last thing they needed was somebody attacking them. However, as they all continued to walk, Ilosovic had a sudden urge to go to the very garden where the entrance to Underland was. Couldn't hurt to check there. Perhaps she had just probably come. Well, Ilosovic, stop talking to yourself and give the order before you go mad. Wait. . . . Already did and done. JUST GIVE THE DAMN ORDER! "Let's go check the great garden!" he commanded. A few ''yes, your majesty'' sentences were said and they all headed left, towards the garden.

*~*~* *~*~*

"OW!" Lacie yelped as she landed flat on her face for the second time that day. She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that she definitely was not dead. Sitting up, she ran her fingers through her hair to get out the tangles she sure were there. Wait. . . . Where's my hair? "Huh?" she looked over her shoulder to see her hair was not there. HAVE I GONE BALD?! Then, she glanced up to see that her hair was. . . floating? What in the— Then, she fell flat on her face again, off of the ceiling she had previously been on and right onto the floor. ". . . . Ow. . . ."

"Oh, do stop dawdling, Alice! We are already so very late enough as it is!" a voice that sounded worried and somewhat panicky said to her. Why did that voice sound so familiar? When she lifted her head up to see who it was, she really wished that she hadn't. So did the white rabbit. She began screaming her head off again as she attempted to get as far away from the rabbit as she could. "Oh, Alice! What ever has gotten into you?!" he demanded.

"GET AWAY FROM ME! I DO NOT MAKE A HABIT TO TALKING TO IMPOSSIBLY TALKING WHITE RABBITS!" she screamed, backing up into the wall, not being able to move and further now. Oh, no! He's going to bloody eat me, isn't he?! Oh dear! I don't want to die! I want to live! I have too much to live for already! Oh no!

The white rabbit jumped onto her lap and covered her hand with his white paw sort of thing. He was usually able to deal with screams, but this Alice was just perfectly impossible! "Remember me, Alice? My name is Nivens McTwisp!" he told her, a slight plea to his tone. This was the last thing he needed—Alice forgetting everything yet again, even though she had promised to remember all of them. Well, the promise was more directed towards Hightopp, but that was past the point! Who could forget talking animals and grinning cats?! Who could ever forget slaying the Jabberwocky?!

Lacie tried to scream at him some more, but his hand was covered over her mouth. Finally, she took in a deep inhale through her nostrils and managed to calm down a bit. Feeling her calm down, Nivens let go of her mouth and stared at her, hope in his eyes. "I'm sorry, but I do not know you. In fact, I am sure that when I fell down the rabbit hole, I just bumped my head and now I am dreaming of my mother's tales as a child," she said as calmly as she could, which wasn't exactly the best but it was good enough.

"We have already been over this before, Alice," he sighed, shaking his head in despair. "This is no dream. This is very real." He looked up so that his red eyes met her green orbs. Wait. . . . Green? Weren't her eyes a different color? Then, he began to look around at her body hurriedly. "Here, look," and he pinched her left arm with his right hand.

"Ow! What in the world was that for?!" she demanded. When he continued to have that hopeful look in his eyes, she noticed how this was definitely real. He was so real and the pinch had proved that she was not dreaming right then. "HOW IN THE WORLD DID I END UP HERE?! ARE MY MOTHER'S STORIES TRUE?! WONDERLAND EXISTS?! OHMYLORD! DO I NEED TO BE ON SOME SERIOUS MEDICATION?!" She had begun screaming. . . again.

"Shh! Shh! Shh! SHH!" Nivens told her, covering his hand over her mouth again, muffling her screams of fear. "Let me explain," he pleaded. Lacie took a moment or two, but finally she managed to calm down, nodding once. He removed his hand from her mouth. "I'm sorry for the hole, but I had been the one to push you down it. I thought it would be the only way to convince you to come back to Underland, not Wonderland. And speaking of which, who exactly told you these stories about our world?" he asked her, inclining his head to the left side.

"My mother," Lacie said, sounded rather irritated. How many times did she have to tell him who had told her about Wonderland, or whatever the heck the name of this place was?! It was rather small from what she heard. . . . It was only a mere room with many doors! "Her maiden name is Alice Kingsleigh, if that helps in the slightest," she told him. "Her name now is Alice Carroll, and my name is Lacie Carroll," she explained.

Nivens didn't say anything. He only sat there, staring at her as if she had just grown five million heads at the same time, although that sort of thing wouldn't be very uncommon in Underland with that new disease going around. He took a deep breath. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" he was now panicking. "I got the wrong Alice, didn't I?! No, wait. There might still be a chance! I'll take you to the reincarnation of Absolem!" he seemed pretty decided because after just one moment, he took a small bottle out of his pocket and forced some down her throat, her squealing from shock in the process, and then he took a sip of it himself.

The two both shrunk right then to a very small height, causing Lacie to feel the need to scream again, but her throat was far to dry to even allow her access to her voice. Seeing as she was naked, she decided to go ahead and grab some of her own clothing, rip it off, and form it into a small, purple dress that was still made of silk, and she somehow managed to add two thin sleeves. How did she do it? She'd never know.

"Now, follow me! Be sure not to get lost!" he told her before hopping away to a small door behind a curtain, taking out a small key and placing it in the hole of the door. Turning the key, he unlocked the door and Lacie took one more look around the room, figuring that since she really had nowhere else to go, she would just follow him out the door.

Lacie was amazed by what she saw around her when she arrived outside of the room. It was such a breath-taking garden that now surrounded her! She had been so taken in by the garden that she hadn't noticed the door behind her close by itself. Then, remembering what was going on, she turned back to Nivens. "After we go see this Absolem man, may I please leave? I have to go home as soon as possible! This place is too. . ." she couldn't find the right word, and at the same time she thought being rude to the male rabbit whom had just helped her (which was totally impossible, but she had learned to accept by now) and was being rather kind to her.

"We'll be there in only a few moments, Al—I mean, Lacie," he told her in his hurried tone. "If you are not the one we are looking for to help save Underland, this world around you, then you may go home and I'll just ask your mother for help," he explained to her. Nodding one, Lacie fell silent and ran after the rabbit, trying to keep up.

"This is getting more and more curious by the seconds passing by," Lacie murmured to herself as she looked around, still doing her best to keep up with Nivens McTwisp. It would have been so easily to get lost in this place! What a wonder that would have been if she did get lost, not that she was actually considering running away from the white rabbit (again) and getting herself lost. That would have just been the maddest thing possible to do at that moment!

"We're here," Nivens suddenly came to a stop as he said that. Lacie looked to see where they were now, and saw that smoke was all around the place in front of them. Her eyes widened. "Absolem! I have brought Alice's daughter, Lacie!" he announced. Then, he turned to Lacie and whispered, "He is very wise, and is the reincarnation of the original Absolem that helped your mother when she came to Underland."

"Oh. . . ." she nodded once, looking up to see the male caterpillar in the smoke. I bet that is Absolem's Reincarnation. . . or just plain Absolem. . . I don't know. What did Mr. McTwisp call him again? Never mind. He's staring directly at me and somewhat scaring me. "Hello?" she greeted, feeling the need to run away as fast as she could from under his gaze and or glare.

"Who. . . are. . . you. . .?" he asked her rather slowly while smoking his. . . she forgot what they were called. A hookah? Yeah. . . that was it.

"Um. . ." Lacie looked to Nivens for advice or whatnot to tell the caterpillar, whom was starting to creep her out just a bit. He nodded to her, encouraging her to go on and tell him her name. Taking in a deep breath, she turned back to Absolem. "My name is Lacie Carroll. Um. . . my mother is Alice Carroll, used to be Kingsleigh, and my father's name is Lewis Carroll," she introduced herself very hurriedly. She didn't like how she now sounded like the white rabbit next to her when she spoke.

"What is your purpose for coming here then, Lacie Carroll?" the small, blue caterpillar (who was actually a bit larger than she was since she was definitely not in her normal size) asked as he scooted in closer to her. Some of his smoke got into her nostrils and mouth.

Lacie coughed rapidly, hating how the smoke was. "Stop that!" she told him, only earning a chuckle in response. "It's not pleasant, you know! And smoking is definitely bad for you! What if you get ill?" she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Stupid girl," he chuckled. "Don't think that you suddenly can start lecturing me when I asked you a simple question and the smoke just so happened to enter your open mouth," he told her, seeming to have rolled his eyes when he did so.

Lacie wanted to protest, but now all eyes were on her and she felt a tad bit nervous. Even the flowers were staring at her now, waiting for her answer! Biting down on her lip, she tried to remember why on Earth she was here. "I came because Mr. McTwisp thought that I was my mother, Alice, and he thinks I could still be whatever it is you all are looking for," she told him in full honesty.

"And do you think that you could possibly be the one that saves Underland, rather than your mother, the savior of Underland?" he asked her, taking in another inhale of his hookah.

Lacie narrowed her eyes at him, trying to see him through the smoke. It was also from the confusion she now felt towards his question. Was he asking her if she thought that she could ever be her mother? "What is that supposed to me—" but she was cut off by the sudden sound of hooves coming her way.

"Oh dear! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" Nivens began, reaching into his waistcoat pockets and pulled out some cake of some sort before taking a bite then forcing some down Lacie's mouth.

"What are you doing?!" she demanded, trying to push him away but failing.

"Eat it and run!" he told her, right before the two of them grew back to their original sizes. Lacie felt rather comfortable for a moment, until she felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind. "No!" Nivens shouted.

"AH!" Lacie screamed, trying to get free of the grasp from behind her. Nivens had been captured, and Absolem was still probably smoking down there. She wouldn't know at the time. However, when she glanced down, there was no smoke so she figured he had escaped somehow. Coward.

A sudden fit of laughter was heard, right before Lacie found herself being slung around in the direction the strong pair of arms had turned towards. "Well. . . . What do we have here?" asked a man's voice. Lacie opened her pair of green eyes to see who it was. A man with jet black hair that waved down to his shoulders, his right eye covered by a black heart-shaped eye-patch, and wearing a suit of what seemed like armor but at the same time seemed like royalty. "Alice? Is that you? Or should I call you ''Um''?" he asked her, seeming menacing.

Lacie stared at him as if he had just literally lost his head from no causes. "I don't know what in the world you are talking about. I never even knew that there was such a name as ''Um''," she told him honestly, inclining her head to the left side.

The half eyeless man seemed rather confused for a moment or two, until he walked up close to her and looked into her eyes. It somewhat scared her, sending at least a million shivers down her spine. "I see, you are not Alice. She did not have green eyes," he said. She couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief that someone had some common sense. "Who are you, then?"

This is not going to go by well. "I'm her daughter, Lacie. Now, can everyone stop mistaking me for her, please?" she let out an aggravated sigh.

The half eyeless man was quiet again, seeming quite shocked by what she had just told him. Never before had he thought that Alice would actually have a daughter who resembled her so much! Right then, after a minute or two of thinking, he got an idea. "Well, release her Nine," he told the solider that held onto Lacie. When he let her go, she seemed surprise. "We must not harm our guests. How about we take you to my kingdom to get you cleaned up, and perhaps some new clothes?" he suggested, indicating her dress that now only covered her top part of her body and her bottom half only covered by her undies.

Lacie's face turned beet red as she tried to pull down on her dress some to no avail. "That sounds lovely." She nodded once.

Ilosovic nodded once at the poor girl pleasantly. She does have her mother's innocence. Not very hard to believe that they're related. With just a few lies, there will be no saving Underland.

I'm a bit proud of myself for finally finishing this chappy. XD! Well, review pwease! I know this is Tarrant/OC fanfic and all, but you didn't honestly expect me to introduce the two right from the beginning, did you? :P REVIEW!