A/N: These titles are not making any sense! Oh well.

Chapter Seven

The World After

There was one time Teito's father, Fea Kruez, had taken him to the beach. All because Teito had never seen the beach but in books. According to the man, it was something everyone should experience at least once in their life.

So, on one summer's weekend, Mr. Kruez cancelled all his appointments to take his adoptive son to the beach. It was one of the few times he could say with certainty that Teito acted his age. He was bouncing off the car walls, sticking his head out of the moving vehicle to watch the scenery change from city to country. And as the smell of salt lingered in the air, he would keep a watchful eye over the horizon until the vast blue waters appeared. Fea had never seen a child so happy to see something as ordinary as the beach, but there Teito was, pointing like any child would and shaking him to tell him that the beach was just over the hills.

The day was starting off better than Doctor Kruez had expected. His son was eager and ready to explore, not bothering to change into swim trunks as he just charged into the water in nothing more than his underthings. But after a few moments of watching Teito splash around in the water, something didn't quite seem right. His assumption was confirmed when the boy ceased to rise out from the choppy water's surface.

Without hesitation, Fea threw off his coat and raced down to the water's edge, kicking off his shoes before he dove into the water. His eyes burned with the saltwater as he searched for his son, finally finding him as he sunk to the bottom of the ocean floor. He swam with slight difficulty, his layered clothing weighing him down. As he reached down and successfully grabbed Teito by the hem of his undershirt, Kruez pushed down on the sandy ground and shot up, easily breaking the water's surface.

As they swam back to shore, Teito began spurting out saltwater, his thin arms wrapped around his father's neck to keep himself from falling under again. With the water level just below Fea's neckline, he held Teito up until the teen could reach the floor as well. They staggered onto shore, dropping as soon as they were at the water's edge. The only problem that could arise with them there was that high tide would come and swallow them back in, but at the moment that was far from their mind.

Teito continued to cough, the salt water having burned his throat and lungs. Even though he no longer had water inside where it shouldn't be, he felt that crashing weight of water, making breathing difficult. To his right, his Father began chuckling, then laughing, an arm over his eyes as he laughed out into the sky.

"What's so funny?" Teito croaked, glaring as best he could.

"It seems," the man began between laughs, "that the sea has claimed my shoes."

Teito looked down to his father's feet only to see his sand covered socks. He continued until he reached the view of the ocean, and just some yards away, Teito could see something floating in the water, bobbing up and down.

"I could go get them for you," the teen replied, forcing his face was innocent as he could.

That only caused Doctor Kruez to burst out laughing again, causing the corner of Teito's lip to curve upward.

"Oh yes, let's let the boy who can't even swim go after my shoes!" He continued to laugh as he held his sides.

"I just need to practice, is all! Just watch, I'll be a perfect swimmer in no time at all!"

All the painful feelings of that day crashed onto Teito as soon as he began feeling anything at all. His mind was disoriented, his lungs and throat burned as if he had swallowed a gallon of saltwater His heart hammered painfully in his chest, constricting against an invisible force as if he was being crushed by a vast ocean.

He never did become a perfect swimmer.

After that incident, Teito had grown afraid of the ocean, and large amounts of water for that matter. So feeling everything he had felt that day at the beach, fear was choking his senses, making him irrational. He had to force his eyes shut, unable to bear the possibility that he could very well be drowning in an ocean somewhere.

With one hand over his heart, grasping the fabric of his shirt tightly, his other fumbled about the ground, trying to figure out where exactly he was through touch alone. All he could feel was cold ground, possibly metal or a very slick stone. He continued on hands and knees until his fingers curved upwards, up a wall. He slapped his hand onto the wall and slowly began dragging himself up. Once fully upright, Teito rested his back against the cold wall. The act alone had caused his breathing to come out choppy, having to inhale and exhale through his mouth just to take enough oxygen his body was telling him he needed.

Hissing, Teito forced himself to breathe through his nose. After moments of just concentrating on his breathing, Teito forced one eye open, darting it every which way. From what he could see, which was basically a few feet in radius, Teito was in a corridor that had only two ways to go, forwards or backwards. The rest of the world was pitch black darkness.

The paranoia of his fear was beginning to subside as he closed his eye again, concentrating on nothing in particular. He thought of his favorite foods, of his favorite snacks. He thought of his favorite hiding spots in the Kruez Manor, he thought of all the books he had read, he even recited a few he had read so many times that he practically memorized them. Teito whispered those books silently, his voice hitching at every other word. He just needed to hear something, even if it was the sound of his own terrified voice.

With one final deep breath, Teito felt himself calm enough to open his eyes. The pressing weight was still on his chest, as well as the mild paranoia in the back of his mind but he thought that normal considering he didn't now where he was. He kept an arm around his stomach while his other dragged across the cold wall to his right as he advanced forward.

The scenery changed very little, and that even seemed like an overstatement. Teito would take one step forward and the strange light that followed would advance the same length. And no matter how far he walked, the floor and the wall looked the same. Was he even walking? Was he advancing or was his mind playing tricks on him? It was too difficult to answer. Too difficult to even think about.

Teito was utterly alone. Alone in a pitch black world where the light he was given only made everything frightening. The light gave him enough to see his immediate surroundings but not enough to see if anything was walking along side him. Even now, as he pressed himself against the wall to keep himself moving, Teito had the strange feeling he was being watched. The strange combination of complete isolation and a stalking presence was bringing Teito's paranoia into full bloom. He desperately tried to control his breathing, to be able to listen if something was certainly stalking him, but his body would not listen.

As Teito continued to stagger forward, his hand suddenly left the wall for a split second before he crashed onto the ground. The little breath he had was knocked out of him, the pain unreasonable when compared to the accident. His muscles constricted, adding more to his unbearable pain. Teito forced his eyes closed, doing his best to control his breathing. His body continued to spasm for no real reason, the pain shooting through him as if someone was running a scalpel along his exposed skin, parting it evenly. Then the sudden warmth he felt pooling around him caused his eyes to shoot open.

Fighting through the pain, Teito sat up and ripped off his coat, watching as his white shirt turned a dark color, the foul smell of iron choking him. He ripped a sleeve open and saw, his fear increasing ten fold, a clean, even cut running from his wrist and disappearing into the sleeve of his shirt.

His fear giving him some sort of adrenaline rush, Teito was on his feet and dashing through the corridor without the feel of pain or shortness of breath he had felt just moments ago. His eyes dashed about but the never changing scenery made his sight all but obsolete. That is, until, he ran into a three way fork. Teito ran his hands through his hair, pulling at the strands as he stared down at a discarded piece of clothing in the center of the forked road. His coat he had abandoned somewhere behind him.

Teito advanced towards the fork to his left, the light following him giving him no information about what lay in the dark corridor. He backtracked and sprinted towards the fork to the right. He stopped once he was at the mouth, the same unknown feeling causing him from advancing. Not knowing what to do, Teito paced the perimeter of the fork.

"Where do I go, where do I go," he mumbled harshly, his voice hitching as his breathing grew unstable. "Everything's the same, everything's the same. There's no way out. No way out. I go left. I go right. Stop following me!"

Teito ran through the middle road. He ran as if his life depended on it, and he truly believed it did. For how long he kept it up, Teito couldn't say, he just continued to move forward, stumbling upon forks and randomly picking which way to go. His footsteps echoed terribly through the silent world, reminding him he was alone. Or appeared to be anyway.

Unable to run on his dying adrenaline, Teito slowed his pace to a trot before he had to drag his numb legs just to move. His face was coated in sweat, whether from fear or the run, he wasn't sure and very well didn't care. Raising his arm to inspect the damage he had received earlier, he was not at all surprised to find his arm free of injury, not even a scar. Teito growled as he threw his arm back to his side and turned his sights forward. He was tired of being played. Tired of being frightened when everything was just in his mind.

"Who's there?" He shouted out as he pressed himself against the wall. His eyes darted up and down the corridor, waiting for something to slither past his light. But moments passed and nothing. "I know someone's there! Show yourself!"

Teito shut his mouth and turned his glare to the wall in front of him, watching as part of it crumbled away without cause. Hesitant, Teito pushed himself off the wall and advanced forward, as calmly and cautiously as he could. He stepped over the rubble and kept his back to the wall. He watched as the entrance he had taken was swallowed by the darkness, unknown if the wall had closed again and trapped him.

Having only one real direction to go, Teito continued forward, squinting once the dim fuzz of light blurred around a corner. Teito approached the turn and looked to the opposite direction. How far the corridor continued down was uncertain, the black around made sure of that. With a deep breath, Teito headed towards the dim light.

It never increased in luminosity the more Teito walked, just remained the same dim light. He looked about the corridor walls and ceiling once he was finally able to decide that the walls were marked, that it was not just his eyes unaccustomed to the dark. The markings looked nothing more than different sized rectangles arranged in various ways. Or so he assumed, the paint that they were written in was faded and peeling.

Teito had kept his attention on the ceiling that he failed to notice the road turning. He bumped into the wall and cursed himself for being so careless. As he turned to follow the road, he froze. Part of him wanted to shy away, disappear back around the corner but something kept him planted. He stared with wide eyes, unsure if what he was seeing was an illusion or reality. He wanted to believe the former.

Taking a few cautious steps forward, Teito narrowed his eyes, trying to minimize his surroundings so he could only focus on the object in front.

"…Frau?"

A single light bulb swung over head in what appeared to be a very small room. The light was dim and flickered on and off as Teito approached the doorway. The blond, appearing much younger, perhaps somewhere in his late teen years, was strapped securely to a metallic chair, sluggish against his restraints. Metal bands were strapped across his chest: one across his shoulder blades, the other above his hips and the last roughly in the middle. His ankles were shackled with iron plates that attached to the chair's legs. He wore a white jacket that seemed to bind his arms around him; a straightjacket. Over his mouth was a metal plate that was fitted into a mask, cutting just below the nose. Frau's sad eyes were bruised and unfocused as they stared at the checkered floor, the dim light above causing them to take on a darker shade of sapphire. Though there would be moments when the light would flicker off and on that his eyes would catch onto Teito's and flash a deep crimson, just like Mikhail's eyes but somehow different. Those moments, however, never lasted long, so Teito couldn't be sure of what he saw. But the figure in front of him, Frau in the position he was in, seemed as real as the world Teito had left when he was dragged down into Wonderland.

Whether the blond had heard his name, or just the sight of Teito roused him, Frau violently threw whatever of his weight he could forward, causing the chair to protest but held itself and its prisoner in place. Teito retreated a few steps, unsure of what to do. Now that the man's eyes were kept pinned on Teito, Frau seemed crazed, already lost to whatever was haunting his mind. His eyes blazed with wild fury; Teito could hear Frau's erratic breathing and grunts behind the mask. He pulled against the straightjacket, the sound of material tearing made Teito's heart hammer in his throat.

"…Frau, what…?"

Teito wanted to know what it meant, what this all meant. He had found Frau, though it was certainly not how he had expected to. This man did not seem like the Frau he was acquainted with, he seemed more animal than man.

Teito was about to take a step forward and try to confront the blond again when a cold chill slithered down his exposed neck, over his shoulder and down his chest. Teito shivered and promptly turned around.

A figure stood before him, hidden beneath dark robes that seemed to be made of black smoke. From the bottom portion that dragged along the ground, to the sleeves and hood, the dark material seemed to dissolve as smoke would, drift off into the air before ceasing to exist. The figure made no move, it stood perfectly still except for its moving robe. Teito took a step back but stopped when the sound of the metal chair whining under strain reached his overly sensitive sense of hearing. He was caught in between two figures, unsure of how to handle either of them.

"There is a reason…"

Teito shivered as a voice echoed loudly in his ears, wrapping his arms around him tightly as the temperature around him plummeted. His breaths came out as white wisps.

"…they call him the Mad Hatter."

A muffled laugh came from Frau as he threw his head back against the chair. Teito stole a glance back, his eyes widening as Frau's laughter diminished to a sort of crazed giggling, his eyes amused and malevolent. When the blond had called himself "mad", Teito assumed that it was just metaphorical. Perhaps he had assumed wrong.

"But you shouldn't even be here."

Fear choked Teito's heart. There was something about what the figure had said that did not sit well with him. He turned back to confront the figure only to see that skeletal hand reach out and take him by the head. There was a blinding flash of light before Teito collapsed to the ground, his body too heavy for his legs to support. His vision blurred at the edges as he watched the figure look down to him.

Teito coughed, blood spilling down the corners of his mouth. He had no strength to sit up, no strength to lift a hand or speak. He just continued staring at that black pit that hid the figure's face, his vision blurring into nothing.

"Rest well, child…"

x-x-x

"…ster…!"

There was an odd noise ringing in Teito's ears. He wanted to reach up and swat it away but his arms were too heavy to lift.

"…aster! Master!"

With a small groan, Teito forced an eye open and was startled awake when he saw an exact duplicate of himself looking worriedly down to him. Teito scrambled to sit up but winced terribly when a muscle on his back constricted tightly. He collapsed back to the ground, a hand on his back.

"Young Master Teito! Thank the heavens you have finally awoken," Mikhail sighed, then immediately frowned. "You shouldn't worry a god like that."

"M-Mikhail?" Teito finally began to remember who this person was that looked exactly like himself, with the exception of the burning red eyes. "Where…tch," Teito hissed, his back constricting again.

"Young Master, on your stomach. You've certainly pulled something if you are in this much pain."

Teito did as he was told only to regret his decision. Mikhail had straddled his waist and began adding pressure to his lower back, pressing all his weight as he massaged his master's cramping muscles.

"Get off, get off! What're you-," Teito hissed, unable to finish his sentence. He pressed his forehead onto the ground and whimpered lightly as the pain seemed to flare three times as much.

"Oh, take it like a man," Mikhail sighed though the corner of his lips was being pulled upwards. "Your back is certainly very stiff but this wont take long. Just relax."

Being told to relax is much easier than actually relaxing. So Teito found he was beginning to hate Mikhail, just a little bit though. Once he began to accustom himself to the pain, Teito actually found himself relaxing. And the more he relaxed, the easier it was to handle the pain. And soon, he wasn't feeling any pain at all.

"Better?" Mikhail smirked as he removed himself from atop Teito.

"Yeah," Teito could feel himself blushing and purposefully avoided making eye-contact the ex-god. "Um, thanks."

"No need for gratitude. But, Teito-kun?"

Surprised that there was no "young master" before that, Teito turned to Mikhail, finding the red-eyed teen staring at him rather suspiciously.

"Yes?"

"Do you know why we are here?"

"To find Frau. Besides, where is he? I thought you were going to take me to him," Teito stood and looked around, frowning at the never ending foliage. Once all this was over, he was never going near another tree again.

Mikhail frowned, uncertain why Teito's response was unfulfilling.

"One more thing, Teito-kun," he caught the boy's attention. "Do you remember a dark figure? Dressed in black robes?"

Teito raised an eyebrow. "Did I miss something? Besides, how long was I unconscious? I don't even remember why I was on the ground. We were walking through the forest; you were talking about plants and doppelgangers, then…now."

"You fell," Mikhail immediately responded, standing. "From exhaustion, I think. It must have been a while since you've eaten or drank anything, right, Young Master? Wonderlanders don't eat frequently, and their military doesn't eat at all, but I'm sure you are accustomed to…what was it? Five meals a day?"

"How did you know?" Teito raised an eyebrow.

"Our worlds had once mingled, Young Master. Your kind had learned a great deal from us, as we have learned from them. Only someone with my memory can remember such insignificant details from decades past," Mikhail tapped the side of his head as he bit his tongue in a very childish manner. "At any rate, let us leave this mirror world and return to Wonderland." Mikhail turned and began walking back to the Suit Circus, certain of its location without assistance from anything or anyone.

"Wait, what about Frau?" Teito turned the opposite direction as Mikhail, slightly worried for his blond companion.

"Your Hatter is no longer here, strangely enough," Mikhail spoke over his shoulder. "He must have found his own way out of the looking glass. We should do the same," Mikhail trailed his sights upward, "before the sky turns dark. It's been relatively sunny for weeks now, the night shall fall soon and I'd rather have a proper place to rest when that happens."

Teito nodded reluctantly and followed Mikhail back to the circus tent.

x-x-x

"So how do we do this?" Teito asked as he stared at the mirror, slightly uncomfortable at the fact that he wasn't giving away a reflection.

"Simple," Mikhail replied beside Teito, grasping the teen's hand as he did so.

Teito looked down to their intertwined hands, uncomfortable with the act.

"Oh don't be so cross," Mikhail rolled his eyes at Teito's tense reaction. "Is it because you've never held someone's hand or because we are both males?"

Teito frowned at Mikhail's smirk, and also because he could feel the heat rush to his face.

"Can we just hurry this along?"

"Okay, okay," Mikhail chuckled. "All you need to do is walk through. When it gets to the point that your hand is the only part of you still in the Speculum Mirage, you're going to have to tug, hard. Otherwise we'll get nowhere. I won't be joining you on the other side physically."

"Then-?"

"I'll be sharing your body. It will take some getting used to but don't worry about it."

"Why can't you crossover with the body you have now?"

"The body I have now is not mine therefore I cannot use it outside the looking glass. Once I get my powers back, I'll be able to recreate my old body and won't have a need for yours. So, until then, my spirit will be in you. Now that sounded rather tacky," Mikhail turned to frown at the looking glass. He quickly shrugged his shoulders and looked to Teito from the corner of his eye. "Do not fret, Young Master. I will still be able to aid you. My power is at your beck and call," Mikhail bowed slightly, his free hand over his heart.

Teito sighed and nodded, embarrassed by the whole ordeal. Without another word, he pushed through the looking glass, his hand passing first. It was strange going through from the mirror world, as if he was being chilled then unfrozen as he reappeared the other end. As Mikhail had said, their joined hands caught but with a harsh tug he freed his hand. It was strange; though he opened and closed his hand, obvious that there was no longer a hand there, it felt as if Mikhail was still holding it.

To confirm that Mikhail had crossed over as well, Teito turned back to the mirror. There was no reflection; he wasn't on the other side with his ruby eyes.

Break it. Shatter the looking glass.

Teito placed both his hands on the mirror's frame and pushed. The glass fell backwards and shattered as it made impact on the ground. The pieces scattered about the center ring, glittering the ground like little stars.

"Guess that's it then. What now?"

A sharp pain flared near Teito's temple and he suddenly grew the strong desire to leave. Once finding the exit, Teito blinked at the sharp sun, wondering why Mikhail was worried that night would fall soon. The sun was high above, shining brightly. With a shrug, Teito looked about, unsure of what direction to take.

Before he even asked the question out loud, Teito gained the sudden urge to go in one particular direction, between two very skinny trees. He advanced towards it and allowed his instincts to guide him. It was strange, and a bit disturbing, but helpful so Teito didn't question, just followed.

As he broke through some very thick bushes, Teito's ankle was caught and was close to toppling over but he gained his composure with relative ease, something he had never been able to do. Since an accident during his childhood had left his knees a bit weak, Teito had to compensate his injuries by never overexerting himself. But now, having strained his knees that would have normally left him on the ground grinding his teeth in pain, he could only come to the conclusion that it was Mikhail at work.

His lips tugging up slightly in a small smile. Teito continued forward with greater determination to find Frau.

He would call out the blond's name but receive only squawking birds and crying cicadas in reply. Teito sighed. He continued to let his instincts drive him, believing it was Mikhail aiding him as the god said he would.

But as more time passed, more unanswered calls, Teito was beginning to doubt. He should have run into Frau by now. How far could one scythe separate two people that fell through the time-hole together?

There was a sharp pain on his cheek and Teito quickly slapped at it, thinking it some sort of biting insect but found nothing on his hand, even as he rubbed his cheek. His only guess was Mikhail, and Teito assumed he had his answer when he got the strange feeling to start chuckling. It was certainly odd to share one body amongst two souls.

Your Hatter is just over that hill.

Teito looked and nodded, his walk turning into a slight jog as he climbed the small hill. Once he reached the top, he was slightly out of breath, the jog uphill being a bit more tiring than he imagined it to be. Drawing out a long breath, Teito used the high ground to his advantage and looked about. He wasn't high enough to look over the tops of the trees but he could spot a towering building some miles away. He wondered what that building might be and found his shoulders shrugging. Mikhail didn't seem to know either; which was strange, considering the god talked as if he knew everything.

Teito's hand tugged on his ear.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry! You do know everything now stop freaking me out!"

Teito's hand fell limp at his side. Skeptical, Teito raised it and began counting on his fingers, doing anything to prove to himself that he was in control of his limb again. Satisfied that he was, Teito turned his sights to the ground and scanned the area. With slight difficulty, he spotted Frau's blond head leaning against a tree amongst the cover of bushes. He took off running down the hill, hurtling over bushes and fallen branches that got in his way.

"Frau!" He shouted once Frau was well within his sights. The blond did not stir, did not so much as move to see who was approaching him at running speed. Taking a deep breath, Teito shouted again only to watch as Frau tipped off to one side before crashing onto the ground.

Fearing the worst, Teito did not bother to be cautious around a thorny bush Hatter had hid behind. He forced himself through and immediately knelt beside the man, shaking his shoulder to try and rouse him but to no avail.

"Mikhail?" Teito asked out loud, his worry clear on his face. A moment passed and nothing happened. "Mikhail is there anything you can do to help him? He's breathing but barely, and he's really cold." The singing cicadas replied, though Teito did not wish to hear their response. He wondered if Mikhail had heard him, or if he even wanted to help. Mikhail wasn't speaking to him in his head, his hands weren't moving on their own nor did he feel a spark anywhere that might give him clues as to what the god wanted him to do. "Mikhail?" Nothing. "…where are you?"

A/N: Oh…em…gee. Mikhail, you bastard! Frau's gonna diiiiiiiiiiiiiie! Dx …of course he's not. Otherwise, I wouldn't have a story :) Does that count as a spoiler?