SORRY, I WOULD HAVE UPDATED SOONER, BUT THE FAMILEY CHIHUAHUA, AHM, WENT 'UPSTATE TO A NICE FARM'. POOR OLD FAT DOG. SHE DIED A 31 POUNDER. -_-, I'LL MISS HER. IN OTHER NEWS, MY CAT HAD 4 KITTENS! TWO WHITE, TWO GRAY TABBYS! (I ADORE THAT, BECAUSE NO MATTER HOW THEY LINE UP, THEY MAKE A PATTERN!) AND THEY'RE ALREAD SO FAT! (A FAT AND CHUBBY KITTY IS AN ADORABLE KITTY!)

AND, I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS MOMENT TO SHOUT OUT TO SOME OF MY REVIEWERS; THANK YOU FOR CAREING!

-EEVEEPKMNFAN: MY MOST FREQUENT REVIEWER SINCE THE BEGINNING, I HOPE YOU'RE STILL READING!

-AITORA X OTAKU- YOU WERE ONE OF THE ONLY ONES WHO ACTUALLY CRITISISED MY CHAPTER. TO ME, THAT MEANS AS MUSH AS OVERLY LUSH COMMENTS! THANK YOU!

AND –IVYNIGHTFIRE- YOU SEEM TO ACTUALLY APPRECIATE MY WARPED SENSE OF HUMOR. TT_TT YOU'D BE SURPRISED HOW FEW DO.

ANYWAYS, PLEASE READ AND REVIW AS ALWAYS. I OWN NOTHING!

Ch.28: Gather Around, Children! It's Story Time!

"S***!" White turned around to look at me, "What? Are you alright?" I pulled half my leg out of a hole so I was sitting down on the ground behind it, "D*** rabbit burrows! You'd think they wouldn't make them in the middle of a freaking clearing!" White chuckled. From the ginger who needs no introduction; "So look where the f*** you're going, stupid b****." I leaned down to inspect my leg and muttered, "My, aren't you hostile today Black-chan?" I rolled up my pants to see the damage; not much actually. What might end up a bruise later from the root I hit, but at least I didn't sprain it.

White came over, grabbed my elbow, and helped me to my feet. "Will you be all right?" "Yeah, that's the ninth f****** fall you've taken since we left the tower!" I glared at the mask. "Is not!" "Is to. Since we left, you've tripped over four roots, back peddled over two rocks, and ran into a f****** tree." "You're keeping count?" The mask snickered, "Need I remind you of the hysteria over the 'snake vi-" "Don't remind me!" "I f****** swear, I've never seen anyone flip out that much over a-"

To anyone who is a little slow to catch on, the two (three?) of us had been walking for some time now, and I had just fallen into a rabbit hole…for about the third time since Peter woke me up in that stupid clearing. (Please resort second to last paragraph of chapter 26 if you don't remember the second time.)

"Shut up!" "My, aren't you bitter today b****?" "Then allow me to restate; SHUT THE F*** UP!" As it is probably apparent, I was very annoyed, tired, and the last thing I needed was to deal with Blacks sass. (Yes, I said sass. I didn't misspell.) Alas, the dark Joker isn't easily pushed into submission. "That's a very grown up word for such a little girl." "You did not just bash on my height!" "Fraid so, kido." "You're pushing it right off a steep cliff to hell Joker!" "I'm shaking in my f****** boots."

White laughed a little nervously, "Umm, you two?" "You won't have feet to put boots on when I'm done with you!" "Why don't you come say that to my face shorty?" "I should be telling you that!" "I can't leave the f****** prison you ********!" "Now you've crossed the line ginger!" "I am not a ginger!" "Oh right. Then care to explain how it's genetically possible to have that hair color and NOT have freckles?"

Finally, White put one hand over my shoulder, and one over the white mask, muffling its retort. "Firstly, we're in Wonderland. There are men with animal ears and tails. It is no surprise really that there are different color combinations in the genetic pool. And may I point out that we do not have green eyes. Therefore, with no freckles and red eyes, we do not fit the typical description of a 'ginger'. Secondly, we're here."

I looked up to see that, indeed, we had arrived at our destination. A wall of caravans blocked my view of the camp. I grinned and turned back to White, my mood instantly revived. "Thanks a ton White! I'll be right back!" But, as I turned to walk into the camp, White clamped his hand right down on my arm again. "Oh no you don't. I at least should get to know why I had to guide you out here." I sighed, "I'd rather you-" He gave me probably the sternest look I'd ever been given. "Er, ok?" He smiled nicely, "That's more like it." I rolled my eyes, imagining Black doing the same as I heard the mask make a chuffing sound.

Together, we stepped into the boundary of the camp. I swear, they must have had some kind of motion sensor, because we were instantly swarmed by about 10 gypsy faceless men. All wielding spears and or bow and arrows! I instantly put my hands in the air, White following suite not a moment after. One of the men growled, "What are YOU doing here Joker?" …? Do they have something against White, like the others? Obviously, the answer was yes. "You're not welcome here EVER. Get out of this area and don't even THINK about coming back!"

I waved my hands for attention, for it was clear I had been skimmed over. "Hello? Remember me, C.J Thourn?" The men's heads tilted down a bit, as though they had indeed only just noticed me. "Miss C.J?" He turned to White again and notched an arrow in his bow, much to my horror. The other nine also readied their weapons. "What horrid things have you done to Miss C.J Joker! If you have done anything to harm her,-" I waved again, "It's cool! He's cool! He guided me here so I wouldn't get my a** lost again! Now put those down!" White smiled nicely, "And frankly, I wouldn't dare do anything unbecoming to C.J." "He'd end up in an f****** body cast!" I disregarded what might just have been a sugar-coated insult.

The arrow guy who had spoken before looked very confused, as did the others. "…Brought you…here? You mean he didn't kidnap you? Torture you? Blackmail you?" I rolled my eyes, "My my, you two's reputation precedes you. Just what the hell did you do to these people for them to get that idea?" I turned back to the group, "I have to speak with Elda. I must discus something with her immediately!" they looked at White for a moment, and then turned back to me, "You are always welcome here Miss C.J, but your…escort must stay outside of the camp."

I sighed and turned back o White, "Well, you heard them White. I have to go, leaving you ALONE, as in WITHOUT SUPERVISION, while I go talk to Elda. FREE TO DO AS YOU PLEASE, WITHIN hearing DISTANCE of the CAMP, in case I call you. I repeat, I must leave you here, UNCHECKED, where I can NOT POSSIBY INTER-" "On second thought, he can come. Just make sure he doesn't do anything that might get an arrow in his skull." From the warm welcome he got, I'd say just walking through the camp warrants and arrow through the skull. Instead of voicing this, I patted the arrow man on the shoulder and smiled my absolute sweetest, "Honestly, that's the best course of action. And I promise that the second he tries something, I'll break his arm over his own knee." The mask chuffed, "That's comforting." "That goes for you to, Black-chan."

The men looked at me for a moment, and then sighed, "Follow us." The men grouped around us in a circle (most likely in the case of White) and started to lead us through the camp. White leaned down to my ear, "That was quite brilliant C.J. I didn't know you were that clever." I snickered, "I just figured they'd rather have you here where I can 'keep you in line' more than letting you out of my sight." Black laughed, "You are one devious little b****." "And don't you forget that Jokers! ...So exactly what did you do to make them almost shoot you? Come to think of it, why does all of Wonderland hate you two?" White smiled, "I suppose you'll get that explanation after I get mine." I grumbled, "Fair enough."

The group halted suddenly, causing me to bump into the man in front of me. I almost fell when I back peddled, but White put his hand in the middle of my back, helping me regain balance. One of the men gave me a look which I assumed was a mix of horror, shock, and anger at White's sudden intimacy with my back. I gave him a warning glare. He smiled politely and withdrew his hand, "You're welcome." Black snickered, "Fall number ten."

….

I pulled back the flap of the large tent to be greeted by the sight of the aging Gypsy Camp elder, sitting in a rocking chair by a fire (the tent had an open flap in the top for the smoke). I grinned at the sight of her, "Elda! Long time no see!" She chuckled as I came over, "A long time indeed. Have your troubles from your last visit been resolved?" I nodded, "Yeah, but I'm afraid this isn't a leisure visit. Some new, a lot more dangerous problems have come up and I need you to tell me everything you know. Ok?" She nodded slowly, then smiled and held out her arms, "Come now child, don't be shy now!" I blushed madly, perfectly aware that White was right behind me watching (though Elda didn't seem to). But hey, what was I going to do? Deny an old lady a hug? I came closer, leaned down, and put my arms around the frail old lady. OUCH! Scratch the frail comment, that little old lady had a bear hug!

She looked past my shoulder to finally notice my red-headed tag-along. The distaste in her voice was crystal clear, "Ah, I assume you brought her here? Otherwise they wouldn't have let you in." He smiled, "Guilty as charged. Pleasant seeing you again Elda." Ignoring him, she pulled me out of the hug, "Now C.J, you came here for my assistance?" I nodded.

"Well Elda …I don't know where to start…does the name Alister Demos mean anything to you?" Elda straightened automatically, her features drawn tight in sudden anxiety. "Where did you learn that name?" I gulped, "And I assume you also know a Yuri Petrov?" If she could have possibly gotten paler than she was, she just did. "How do you know that name?" I sat down in a chair near hers. "Elda, a lot of weird things have been happening…more so than usual. So please hear me out until the end, ok?" She sat there for a moment, then sighed and nodded, leaning back into the rocker, "Joker, you may sit. I've a feeling this will take some time."

And so, I then proceeded to tell her about my meeting with the two new role holders. I made sure to give her clear descriptions of them (which sounded like I was profiling them for the cops) and emphasized the most noting characteristics about their personalities, namely Alister's shyness and Yuri's slyness. I leaned back after I told her of how I met (the human version of) Yuri.

"That's how I met them, but things have started to go to…" I paused, catching myself from my inappropriate language in front of an elderly lady. I was once waked upside the head with a cane for saying crap. Hard, might I add, very hard. "…get even worse. You see, Alister got really sick, with what I don't know. He just sorta collapsed and had a really bad fever. I looked after him for that night, but the next morning, he was gone. We looked for him, but instead, we found the Jabberwocky." Elda straightened, "You mean you were attacked by the Jabberwocky? It was outside of the Badlands?" I nodded, "Yeah, but thanks to the technology of pyrotechnics, I put its eye out. Anyways, we escaped, but no one found even a trace of Alister. Except…" I leaned forward a bit, "Yuri says the Jabberwocky reeked like Alister."

She sat for a moment, "…That isn't all, is it?" I smiled grimly and nodded, "No, that's not all. You see, while we were running from the Jabberwocky, I had this…dream. No, it was more like…a vision." "And what was this vision of?" White looked very interested now. Yay. "It was about you, Alister, Yuri…and about Charlie Raine and Alistair Kraze." White's eye widened and he leaned forward, one of those names of apparent interest to him. Elda looked at me for a moment, her face twisted with the pain of remembering.

Then she tilted her head back to stare at the ceiling, "…SO, it finally has come." "Umm…what's come?" She sighed, "Honestly, I had rather hoped I wouldn't live long enough to see it. It's just too painful." "See WHAT?" She looked back at me, "To see the curse of Alistair Kraze finally come to an end."

….

"Your vision was accurate C.J. I did in fact know those children very well. They were my dearest friends, all the way up until I was about 19." She leaned back and forth on the rocker, trying to ready herself for the tale that needed to be told. "I was the oldest in the group, I think I remember how old the others were though. …Yes, I do remember. Alistair was 18, just a year my junior. Charlie and Alister were both 17, and Yuri was 16." She smiled a bit, "I also remember that Yuri's nickname for me was hag. That never failed to catch my goat. And I remember that horrible shyness that Alister had. I don't think he was boring, I thought he was just too shy to speak much…he was actually very funny when he spoke up. …We were all the closest friends, always together, always getting in all kinds of messes. …The real trouble started a long time ago, about 80 years ago."

"It was actually Alistair's 18th birthday this all started. Alistair and dear Charlie had been a steady couple for about a year now, and everything seemed very right with the world. That is, until the role holders came for a visit." I tensed up; an idea of what was coming forming in the back of my head. "Several of the role holders visited the town on a business trip. I think they were the Hatter and his gang of four-" I frowned and raised my hand, "But Blood only has three underlings." She smiled and raised her hand, "Ahh, but in those days, the Dormouse was a proud member of the Hatter Mafia." Peirce, Mafia? We're talking about the same Peirce here, right? The cute little red-headed one who likes cheese and drinks way too much coffee?

White, noticing my confusion, leaned forward, "C.J, remember that this happened 80 years ago. I'm sure the Dormouse from the then was far different than the one we have now." Elda nodded, "As I've heard, the Dormouse of now is very sweet. Nothing like the Dormouse of then. He had a reputation for being as cut throat and ruthless as the Hatter is now." …I'm sorry, it's just hard to imagine an evil Peirce, what with those fuzzy ears….

Elda waved a hand vaguely, "Anyways, there was also the Caterpillar, and the Lizard. Disaster struck that very night. The five of us were all out at the town square that night, celebrating Alistair's birthday, when a sword fight broke out between the Lizard and the Hatter. Apparently there was some bad blood between them. The battle was a harsh one, the faceless in the area having no choice but to take cover until it blew over. But, the fight was not easily resolved. By the end of the battle, the Lizard was about to strike the final blow, when one of the Bloody Twins shot an arrow; mind you, we didn't have guns then, just bows and arrows, and…." I leaned forward, and then leaned back as I noticed the pained look on her face. This couldn't have been easy for her. I'd better not rush her. Eventually she started again, "I'm not sure, but I suppose the wind must have sent the arrow off its course. It might have been a bad arrow, but…oh, it doesn't matter; what matters is that it happened. The arrow swerved off its mark…and struck Charlie, right through her clock." I gasped. Elda nodded sadly, "I've heard it was different for foreigners, but a blow that pierces through the clock is not an easy, fast death. I distinctly remember watching as Alistair catching her as Charlie fell back, and how pale his face was. I remember Yuri running into the fray, forcing both role holders to stop in their tracks. I remember Alister's panic as he yelled to the crowd, begging for a doctor that could help her."

" …To be honest, the rush to the emergency room, the fear I felt as I sat in that chair, waiting for the news that I already knew was coming…it's all really just a blur to me now. I do remember, however, how devastated Alistair was. He kept saying how it should have been him, how sorry he was that couldn't protect her, things along those lines. …after that, I really can't tell what happened." She looked up and turned her head towards White, "You are aware of what happens to a body if the clock is broken before death, correct?" He nodded, "Instead of fading and leaving its clock behind, the body remains, as though it were a foreigner." She nodded in confirmation, "yes, that's right. There is a small cemetery somewhere, where the bodies of those cases are buried. It's said that a foreigner was the one who suggested the idea. It was there she was buried, and it is there she still is."

"The role holders, seeing it was an accident, dismissed the involved role holders for their crime of destroying a clock. That did not set well with Alistair. He, as well as the rest of us, were outraged by the incident, but none took it as close to heart as Alistair." She paused for a moment, "I remember him as he was before the madness started to consume him, and he was always a very…different. He valued life more than the average person in Wonderland, because he saw the resurrection of the people for what it was; a method of destroying hope. He knew how no one who was replaced was the same, how they all lacked the memories and feelings the first did. So when Charlie, his true love was murdered and her killers were not brought to justice… it started a fire that burned out of control."

"Desperate for vengeance, he did the unthinkable; he made a pact with the Dealer, a pact that exchanged his humanity for the power to get his revenge." A scrap of memory flushed into my mind before I could even register it. He went to the Dealer, pleading of the great injustice. The Dealer gave him a proposition; he would gain great power and strength. However, the cost was more something as precious to any of us as our families." He paused and everyone leaned in, drawn in to the story. His eyeless gaze stared back at everyone else's. "To gain his revenge, he had to give up his own humanity.

I rocketed to my feet, "The legend! The legend of Marmund!" Elda smiled sadly and nodded, "Yes, I was beginning to wonder if you would remember." I pointed, "So that means..." She nodded in confirmation, "It does. My home city was the city of Marmund, now nothing but dust and ash."

SHOCK! THAT LEGEND WAS TRUE? ELDA WAS THERE FOR IT! AND THE GYPSY DOESN'T LIKE WHITE? (ACTUALLY, THAT'S NOT SO MUCH OF A SHOCKER) KEEP READY FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT!

I HAVE A NEW POLE, BUT BECAUSE C.J PAIRING IS STILL UP, CANT POST IT, SO JUST LET ME KNOW IN A REVIEW PLEASE.

I want to start a new story, by caught between plots...help? Just pick the summary that sounds most interesting.

-Fire, earth, air, and water. Balance is the key to peace, and Wonderland is losing its balance. Can a dragon, a satyr, a mermaid, and a bird restore the balance and discover their purpose? 4 O.C'sX? (4 girls with animal powers try to save Wonderland)

-A girl with a particular personality disorder finds herself in Wonderland...the problem is, the disorder that always had a mind of its own now has a body of its own!2 ?

-Two girls are dropped into Wonderland. What's interesting about that? The fact that one can see anywhere at any time, and that the other is like a werewolf! What will happen? in pain? of the above! 2 ? (A cleric and a lycan fall into Wonderland...yes, it is an odd combo.)

-You think you know magic? Hah! Watch the epicenes that follows a young witch and her faithful, (though with a few bricks missing from her building) avian-like partner! What happens when you toss a bird, a screw up witch, and Wonderland in a blender and shake things up? Let's find out! A witch ? A bird girlX?

I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE ANY WHO BOTHERED TO HELP! IT WILL BE A POLE ONCE I DECIDE TO CLINCH PAIRING.

IN FINAL REQUESTS, DOES ANYONE HAVE A BETTER IDEA FOR A SUMMARY TO THIS STORY? I WOULD LIKE TO ATRACT MORE READERS WITH A BETTER SUMMARY, BUT UNFOURTUATLY, I SUCK. IF YOU HAVE A GOOD IDEA, PLEASE LET ME KNOW VIA REVIEW OR PRIVATE MESSAGE. THANK YOU!