Hey, guys! Sorry for the really late update! I've got a job now (Woot!) so it's been really busy. I've been having little time to think of future chapters. But now that I got around to making this update, I have a few things to say. First, thanks so much for the support! I'm amazed by how popular this story's growing. Secondly, I would like to have some tips for future chapters. That's all I got to say. Enjoy the chap!
Alice in Wonderland II: Underland's Champion
Chapter 11: Sleeping Beauty and New Plan
The lightning strikes through the sky and thunder roars over the land. Rain pours heavily over the Crystal Castle while some of the guests try to leave on their carriages. Even more guests decide to stay overnight until the storm passes by. However, everyone is anxious due to the recent discovery of their honored Champion being mysteriously poisoned. Barely after two hours in the party, everyone watches Tarrant calling out for a doctor as he carries an unconscious Alice in his arms through the horrified crowd. Mirana immediately sends her guards out to find the perpetrator as soon as Tarrant explains what happened. Then several soldiers push the crowd away as Mirana and Tarrant make their way through the castle up to the private rooms with a doctor and two nurses beside them. The unexpected accident causes several guests to leave the castle out of fear while others stay and murmur amongst themselves about what is going on. The White Queen forbade anyone else to intrude as the doctor inspects the damage and tries his best to save their Champion.
Two hours pass by as Tarrant and Mirana wait outside one of the bedrooms that is used for the inspection. Mirana sits on a chair and plays with her fingers absentmindedly while Tarrant paces around the hallway impatiently. The milliner's heart was pounding frantically against his chest and he has never felt so guilty in his life. He has made a promise to protect Alice with his life, and now she was possibly in her deathbed barely ten minutes after he made that vow. He couldn't lose someone he loved; he couldn't.
But he has to think positive; His Alice is strong. She can do it. She can fight it. She must.
But why in the world was the inspection taking so long?
Suddenly the door opens. The White Queen and milliner snap their heads up to see the doctor walking out with a smile on his face. The two took this as a good sign and smile in relief.
"I trust that she is all right?" Mirana asks.
"She is, My Queen." The doctor nods as he wipes his hands with a wet towel. "We found two different types of poison in her bloodstream, but it was lucky that her body was already protected from any danger."
"Already?" She frowns in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Had she not been wearing this…" The doctor pulls out something from behind his pocket. Tarrant is surprised to see Alice's headband with his crystalline lily attached to it. "… Then she surely would have perished."
Mirana's eyes widen. "The Flower of Elixir!" She looks alarmed but amazed at the same time. "How did she manage to find that?"
"My Lady, if I may…" Tarrant looks a bit sheepish as he says, "But I found that in the garden during the party. I thought it would make a lovely gift for Alice so I gave it to her." He almost looks ashamed. "I'm sorry if I wasn't supposed to take it…"
"No, no, Tarrant. Don't be sorry at all." Mirana smiles widely as she places a hand on his shoulder. "In fact, you may have just saved Alice's life tonight! This flower is quite rare; it only blooms at this time of year and it radiates an aura that repels all dangerous materials from its holder. It's basically a healing item upon touch."
Tarrant looks stunned before he smiles widely. "So… Then this flower has drained out all the poison in Alice's bloodstream?"
"Precisely." The doctor nods. "I barely found any trace of the poisons as soon as I inspected her. The flower must have done its job after she fainted. However, her body still needs to recover from the attack so she must rest overnight and drink plenty of water as soon as she wakes up. For now, I would simply watch over her; whoever has done this will no doubt still be around."
Tarrant and Mirana's eyes darken but they nod regardless. "Understood. Thank you, Doctor. You have been very helpful."
"If you should thank anyone, thank the milliner." He smiles pleasantly as he gives Tarrant the headband. "He's the one who gave this to Alice and at the same time saved her life." With that said, the doctor leaves with his two nurses not far behind.
There is silence as the two watch the doctor leave before Mirana turns to Tarrant. "I need to go downstairs to assure everyone that Alice is safe. I'll send some guards up here to make sure that Alice will be-"
"No." Tarrant shakes his head. Surprised, Mirana stares at him as he glances at the bedroom door. "I will watch over Alice tonight. You go do what you need to do and I will guard Alice. Just as I should have done in the first place…"
Mirana could see the seriousness in the Hatter's green eyes. She says nothing but nods before she walks away. Once she disappears over the corner, Tarrant takes a deep breath before he slowly walks inside the room and looks around for Alice.
The room was dimly lighted with different shades of blue and purple, the Hatter notices. It set a somewhat soothing aura and he relaxes as he slowly walks over to the slightly silhouetted bed. He gently pushes aside the silky curtains to look down at a slumbering Alice.
He notices that she was wearing a simple white gown over her blankets. Her hands were resting on her chest as she breathes slowly in her sleep. Her gold hair flowed over her head and shoulders and framed her face perfectly. Her skin looked so healthy it would have been hard to tell that she was poisoned.
Tarrant had to admit that Alice looks so innocent and even more beautiful when she was asleep. She looked like she was having a blissful dream. He smiles softly as he sits on her bed and gently caresses her hair softly. He leans over her face to take in her image slowly. He then leans down to her neck to inhale her scent. She smelled so nice; like a mixture of flowers and sweets. Then he pulls away to look down at her once more. Then his eyes set to look down at her lips. They look so plump and inviting… As if encouraging him to take them with his own…
Tarrant inhales sharply before he pulls away. He shakes his head in disgust. What kind of pervert is he, desiring to take what is not rightfully his? A kiss with his best friend would surely add even more tension between them. It might be even worse if Alice woke up to find him kissing her; she might take it the wrong way.
Tarrant looks down at Alice again. She didn't move an inch when he pulled away. She seemed to be in a very deep sleep. Plus, the doctor said that her body was in desperate need of rest so she might not easily awaken. But that face looks so innocent and pleading; how could he resist?
One kiss wouldn't hurt, right?
Tarrant finally makes up his mind before he sighs gently and leans down. He closes his eyes as his lips gently graze with Alice's. The kiss lingers for just a moment before the milliner pulls away and looks down at Alice, waiting for some sort of response. He is somewhat happy to see that her lips form a smile before she went still once more. Tarrant smiles again as he caresses her hair and kisses her forehead softly. Feeling somewhat better, he stands up and leaves just to pull a chair out for him to sit next to the bed. On the chair, he watches Alice with tender green eyes and caresses her hand with his own. Soon a heavy sleep tolls over the milliner and he falls asleep just beside his Champion with their fingers entwined.
:)(:
"Idiot!" A shrill voice screams from behind black and red curtains. "How could you not have pulled through with the plan?"
Stayne grimaces as he kneels before his mistress. From his knelt position, he could see the Red Queen glaring at him with a slight pout on her dark red lips as she taps her fingers on her chair impatiently. On her lap rests a large ancient book with strange marks on the cover. They are in what looks like a dungeon filled with random liquids, bookshelves, cages, and a large magnificent silver mirror with ancient writing on it. The dungeon had several torches that strangely burned green fire.
"My lady… Forgive my ignorance." Stayne murmurs. His voice has a hint of irritation as he stands up to hover slightly over the exiled queen. "I was unaware that the Champion was holding the Flower of Elixir upon her headband accessory…"
"The what?" Iracebeth demands. She suddenly grabs his collar and pulls him down to look at her levelly. "She had the Flower of Elixir? And you did not remove it?"
"I had no time!" Stayne insists. "I heard other people coming and had to flee before they saw me-"
He turns silent when Iracebeth slaps him hard across the face. When he slowly turns to face her again, her eyes are wide in anger.
"You moron! When she awakens, she will remember of our plans and tell my sister!" She screams. "Why did you even tell her about them in the first place?"
"How do you know about that?" Stayne blinks. Iracebeth points at a silver cauldron with black bubbling liquid. Stayne sighs and shakes his head. "Right… The Pool of Oversight…"
"Everything I have worked for will be for nothing!" Iracebeth roughly pushes Stayne backwards as she jumps off her seat. She ignores the book that was on her lap falling ungracefully onto the ground as she stomps towards her table of random chemicals and slams her palms onto the table. The force makes the glass jingle and she growls before she paces back and forth from each end of the table. Stayne took this as an opportunity to pick up the book and put its torn pages back together.
"I should have just taken Alice down when I first confronted her as a homeless merchant in that wretched port!" She hisses as she pulls at her long red curls. "And for heaven's sake, these people really need to think of better names for their towns… I mean really. A town where the poor sing?"
"… Don't you mean Singapore?" Stayne implies. "And I highly doubt they named it that for that reason."
"Oh, shut up." Iracebeth mutters as she waves a dismissive hand. She sharply turns and trots back to her tall seat. She snatches the book from Stayne's hands as she sits down with a tired groan. She numbly flips through the pages of the book as she lazily leans back. "That is no concern of mine. And I suppose… What's done is done…"
There is silence as she continues to flip through the book until her eyes catch something. She blinks when an item she hasn't seen before catches her attention. She curiously reads through the description before she smiles. "Or maybe Alice's survival won't be such a bad thing after all…"
"My Lady?" Stayne blinks in confusion.
"Look at this." She points at the picture that displays a familiar flower glowing random colors. "I know that there was more to the Flower of Elixir than just being a healing item… It is also a symbol of everlasting love and loyalty."
"What do you mean…?" Stayne asks, wondering what she was implying.
"That foolish milliner has given it to Alice during the ball. Isn't that right?" Iracebeth smiles evilly as she glances at the Knave. When he nods, she continues. "Now, no one knows much of the meaning behind giving the Flower of Elixir due to it being so rare and this being the only book that has a description of it… But back in the much older times, royal councilmen would find this flower and represent it to the lady that they desire to spend the rest of their lives with. In other words, for love."
"…" Stayne is silent for a moment as he thinks about her explanation. Then he smiles slowly. "… So you are saying that the milliner may have feelings for the Champion?"
"Precisely. The flower is said to have a mind of its own, so it pulls a potential bachelor towards itself when it believes that he is worthy enough for it to choose any women he desires."
"That filthy milliner? What a-"
"Zip it. He beat you in combat, must I remind you?" Iracebeth says coldly. "And I will admit that he is a very well trained soldier; possibly one of my sister's finest." When Stayne says nothing, she continues. "As I was saying, it lures a pure-hearted bachelor towards it and bonds with his mind to seek out a potential mate. The first thing the Hatter must have thought of is Alice so the flower possesses him to present it to her, but only as a promise of eternal loyalty and friendship."
"You know something… I do recall how close he and Alice were during their dance…" Stayne muses to himself. "And I saw something in his eyes that I haven't seen before…"
"It's called 'love'." The Red Queen spits the name out like it was poison. "He is possibly more devoted to her than he is for his Queen." Iracebeth suddenly looks thoughtful. "But the question is… Does she feel the same way for him?"
"I am unsure… Maybe?" Stayne looks just as lost as Iracebeth feels. "But I know that she has a very close bond to her family in her world."
"Really now?" Iracebeth looks fascinated. "Define 'close'…"
"To where she would give up everything to protect them." He pauses and smiles darkly. "Possibly even her own life."
"Well, now this is certainly going to be interesting…" Iracebeth closes her book before she taps her fingers together. "Alice loves Wonderland possibly as much as she loves her family. But which one would she give up on to protect the other?" Iracebeth then glances at the mirror at the corner of the dungeon and smiles spitefully.
"I think it's time for a little meeting with Alice's mother…" She muses softly. "And let her know just how her precious little Champion is doing…"
So now you know what this story will lead to… Will Alice choose her family or Wonderland?
Leave comments, please!