Last Time

"The game...It's really happening."

"Everyone misses Alice-"

"W-Will they forget how they felt about Alice?"

"So you're Alice's little girl.-Where'ya headed?"

"I-I think Heart Castle is this way...?"

"You're going the wrong way. How about I show you?"

"Grandma said that...w-well, you don't have the best sense of...direction."

Chapter 4: Heights

It didn't take long for Rose to realize that she was lost, completely. The knight had taken them down so many twists and turns that there was no way she could memorize them all. She was almost entirely positive that she would never find her way back to the Clock Tower. It took quite a bit to keep the worry of being lost forever from bubbling to the surface as she was led along by the hand. She kept an ill-informed hope that Ace's sense of direction had really improved since her grandmother had gotten lost on his so-called shortcuts. They had been walking for what Rose was sure had been hours. Her ankles were beginning to ache.

"U-Um...Ace?" she started, her voice struggling above a whisper. "Are you...s-sure you know the way?"

The grinning knight looked back at the girl he had captive by the limp hand and nodded. "Of course I do, Rose! It should be only a few more yards."

That's...what he said the last time I ask...her inner voice groaned. She chewed on her inner lip. What would she do if the time changed to night suddenly? She had to keep her promise to Julius. She wouldn't want him to worry. The more lost they seemed to become, however, the more anxious she became under the pressure of that promise. The last thing she needed was to make someone angry with her after being in the country for less than a day.

She watched the ground as they walked, counting her steps and noting how the trail was only a path because Ace parted it as he march on in front of her. Her eyes darted up when, faintly, she held music. Specifically, music one might hear when riding a merry-go-round. She listened closer to be sure she was not mistaken. Her brow furrowed as the tune repeated and grew louder. Rose raised her eyes from the ground, looking at Ace's back. It seemed that he had not heard the music himself or he was ignoring it. Though, she didn't know how he could. The melody's volume just grew as they grew walked on.

"Are y-you sure this isn't the way to the Amusement Park?" Rose asked the knight who strutted with self-confidence.

Ace chuckled as though he still could not hear the music and Rose had just stated something so impossible it was amusing. "Of course not! Heart Castle is this way for sure!"

As if the territory was cued to appear, Ace pushed stepped through the final growth of the woods, Rose forced to trail on after him, a curtain rose to reveal a colorful archway, backed by a towering Ferris wheel and the spiraling height of roller coaster tracks among many other, colorful things. Ace released her hand in order to scratch his head.

"Well," he blinked, "I guess my sense of direction hasn't gotten much better after all."

The brunette stepped out from behind the knight, looking at the park with intrigued eyes. She had never seen a real amusement park before, but she was positive this one was the most grand of any that ever existed. It was so alive and colorful. She could hear the cries of laughter and fright from the rides melding in with the repetitive tune. The place seemed to have a life of its own spiraling off of it and wrapping around her. It filled her with excitement that almost made her want to giggle.

"Ace, what the hell are you doing here?" a voice stated from behind the two. Rose stiffened as a quiver traveled up the entirety of her back. Ace had already turned to meet the voice. Slowly, Rose turned as well, but only partially, pushing a curl that had escaped her hair tie back behind her ear. The owner of the voice, a male with the attire something of goth and cat ears looked at her the moment she turned, his ears twitching quizzically. "And who's the girl?"

Ignoring the cat boy's first question entirely, Ace said to Rose, "Why don't you show him that note of yours?"

"Oh, uh..." Rose stumbled. She reached into her pocket and pulled the envelope out once again. She handed it to the pink hued boy that stood in the treeline. He, she had concluded before coming to Wonderland, would be the easiest to recognize, considering there was no other character with quite his style. She was pretty positive he played the role of the Cheshire Cat.

The punk attired cat looked from the knight, to the girl, to the letter, then back at the girl. He took the envelope from her hand. Without bothering to looking at whose name was actually on it, he opened it and pulled out the paper inside. His ears perked and his tail happily began to sway in the first few sentences, realizing that the author to the letter could only be one person but, the very moment he was confirmed, his expression began to fall, animated by how his ears slowly placed themselves flat on his head. His tail flicked before falling still, a pain shrouding the clock in his chest. He looked at the girl, who had found something interesting in the grass, when as he folded the letter and placed it back in its envelope. He was all but relieved to see no trace of Alice, no even a slight bit of her appearance, on the girl. He cleared his throat, his ears perking back up at a leisure stand. He held the letter back out to the girl.

"The names Boris Airay, and you are?" he grinned, pushing past his personal sorrows.

She raised her attention from the ground, retrieving the letter from the Cheshire Cat. She place it back in her pocket. "M-My name is Rose," she told him. "Um...h-how do you do?"

Boris laughed at her final sentence. "Nice to meet you, Rose."

Rose nodded. "T-The pleasures all mine."

Boris put one hand on his hip, leaning back as he peered at the girl with the golden eye that was not covered by his hair. "So, Rose, what puts you up then sets you down but lets you see the world around?"

The girl cocked her head. "A riddle?" Her grandmother had mentioned the Cheshire's love for riddling but she had not expected one to be popped on her so soon.

The cat's tail flicked with something of delight, despite the ache he had pushed to the far reaches of his mind. "I love riddles," he informed her. "So, do you know the answer?"

She thought about it. What puts you up...then sets you down but lets you see the world around...? She came up with a few ideas, but the answers were all flawed. She shook her head, slowly. "S-Sorry, I have no idea."

"The answer is..." Boris paused for dramatic effect, "a Ferris wheel!" His lips caught a broad grin. "You want to go for a ride?"

In a heartbeat, Rose opened her lips to release an abrupt yes, excited by the idea to the point of giddiness-She had never ridden on anything more than a merry-go-round-but her agreement died in her throat when Ace clamped a hand on each of her shoulders, pouting.

"Hey now!" he protested. "I'm spending time with the new Outsider."

Boris's ear twitched with annoyance. "Don't you have something else to do? Some path to demoralize?"

"That's right!" Ace's memory seemed to be triggered suddenly. To animate this, his hand covered part of his face. "I was headed for the Clock Tower before meeting with little Rosie miss here."

"I'm sure your visit was very important," Boris exaggerated.

"We should go camping next time," he told the girl, grinning at her. Rose only nodded, very sure that she did not want to be caught alone in a tent with him. Without another statement, Ace marched off into the forest again, headed in a new direction compared to where they had com out at.

"You idiot knight," Boris started. "You're going the wrong way!"

Ace called back. "It's a short cut!" then vanished in the foliage.

Boris sighed, shaking his head at the retreating male then his attention back to the girl,who was also watching the Knight of Hearts disappear. "So, ever been to an amusement park before?"

Rose looked back at the punk attired boy, shaking her head. "N-No, but I've always wanted too."

Boris grinned at the girl. "Well, I guarantee this will be the best park you ever go to." He started walking toward the archway that marked the entrance. He glanced once over the boa that hung over his shoulders to be sure she was following. "Come on."

Prodded, Rose put a kick in her step to catch up with the older boy. As soon as she stepped into the Amusement Park, it was like a wave of childish glee sparked through her. There were so many colors and attractions. There were so many noises forming in a tone deaf symphony that wasn't entirely unpleasant. It just made the place seem more filled with life. Rose was sure she had never felt so much happiness in one singular place.

The Cheshire Cat had stolen a glance at the brunette and smiled at the delight that traced the features of Alice's granddaughter. "You say you've never been to an amusement park before." He turned to the girl, who snapped to attention, blushing with embarrassment from being pulled out of something similar to a daydream. "Have ever ridden a roller coaster at least?"

The thirteen-year-old shook her head. "No, I-I haven't." The admission was met with a look of appalling from Boris, as though he had never heard anything so crazy. Meekly, Rose added, "I-Is that a...bad thing?"

The Cheshire slapped a hand over his eyes. "How could Alice deprive you like that!" he declared. Clearly, the appalling had not been placed toward Rose at all. "Didn't I teach her anything?" Did she not have fun here or something? he inputted mentally. He removed his hand from his eyes and took the brunette's hand. "We can cure this. How about we ride a coaster first?"

Rose's emerald eyes immediately fell on the high-rising curve of a far off coaster. The evolutionary fear of falling made her eyes widen as she watched a train of cars climb the rise and then plummet down from its peek. She shivered. She chewed her bottom lip, looking at Boris, who appeared all to excited.

"A-Are you..." She cleared her throat as her voice threatened to squeak. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Psh," the cat rolled his eyes. "Of course it's safe. Your granny,"-He got a sick pleasure out of calling Alice 'granny'.-"and I would ride them together all the time." Seeing the girl was still nervous as she rung her hands, flushed by her own fears, he offered her a softer version of his trademark grin. "You'll be fine, Rose," he assured her, pulling her to a walk along-side him. "We'll even start small!"

Still entirely uncertain, Rose only managed a shrug. Nevertheless, she couldn't help but trust the Cheshire Cat. In truth, she couldn't help but, on some degree, trust every single Role Holder in the Country of Hearts simply because her grandmother had trusted them fully. Well, most of them. Several of them came with their own specific warnings. Ace, for example, according to Alice, was not as "all-smiles" as he appeared and, if the land were to shift to the Country of Clover, she was to stick to pick someone and stick to them to avoid possibly being left alone with the knight who hated his place in this world.

Boris led her to the smallest roller coaster in the park but, by no means, was it what Rose would categorize as small. It had a loop for crying out loud! Rose bit her lip, swallowing a lump that was forming in the back of her throat as Boris led her to the front of the line, past the faceless people. Rose looked at them as they passed, feeling only slightly disturbed even if she had expected to see them. Either way, she could hardly focus on her feeling of disturbia as her eyes kept trailing back to the monster that she was being dragged onto.

"A-Are you really, really sure this is safe?" Rose asked again.

Boris chuckled. "Don't worry so much."

He mounted the front car of the ride and then helped Rose in. He helped make sure the safety belt and rail were secure as other faceless characters boarded the ride. Then, he relax, one arm laying on the side and the other resting behind Rose's neck. Rose, on the other hand, sat rigidly, her fist grasping the safety railing tightly. As the ride jolted to a start, she had to hold her breath so to restrain a yelp. Her hold on the railing turned white knuckled as they began up the first arch of the right. Fear clenched her heart as she made a point of not peering down, but the ride gave her no choice. The car stalled at the top of the arch, slowing edging down before-Rose screamed at the very top of her lungs as the coaster shot down the arch, immediately hitting the loop. She was so very sure she was going to fall. Boris laughed at her side. Her gut lurching at every turn, incline, and decline, Rose squeezed her eyes shut, sinking in her seat, waiting for the ride to be over.

What seemed like hours later, Boris tapped on her shoulder. It was only then that she realized the ride had gone ominously still, that wind was no longer wiping her ponytail out of shape. Slowly, she opened her eyes, peeking at Boris. He was leaning one elbow against the safety rail, his cheek resting in his palm. He wore an amused smile as he watched the frazzled girl.

"It's over," he informed her, teasingly. "You can let go."

Rose was abruptly aware of the pain in her hands from grasping for dear life. She opened her hands, removing the from the bar. Then, she rubbed her hands together, trembling as the rush lasted. She wondered if her heart would ever beat normally again. Boris undid his seat belt and unlocked the safety bar. Rose's trembling hands attempted to undo her belt, succeeding only after Boris had gotten out of the car. He came around to her side of the ride and offered her a hand getting out. She gladly took the help. She stumbled a bit when her feet felt the platform. If it weren't for Boris's form, she would have met the floor, she was sure. She didn't at all have her land legs. Frowning, the Cheshire helped her stand normally, eying her for any obvious ailments.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

Rose gave a slow nod. "I-I...Just a little shaken," she admitted, embarrassment giving her neck a warm kiss.

Boris scratched his cheek, right under the triangular tattoo under his eye. "Sorry. Maybe we should have started with a different ride."

"I-It's okay. It was...kind of fun," she tried to assure.

The older boy smiled at her attempt, but he didn't believe her for a moment. He helped her to the nearest bench, refusing to let her stand quite on her own. He was scolding himself, remembering what Alice had said in her letter. Alice had asked that the Role Holders take care of her granddaughter. He was pretty sure that her face planting wouldn't count. He made her sit down on the bench.

"I'll go get you something to drink," he told her. "You just wait here."

"Y-you don't have to do that," Rose protested. "I'm fine now, really."

He blew off her statement. "Don't worry about it. Be back in a sec."

He disappeared into the crowd of faceless people, leaving Rose all alone. She leaned back on the bench, trying to push aside the fact she was alone in the very populated Amusement Park. He said he'd be back soon, so she should be alright. Besides, did kidnappings really happen in Wonderland? She highly doubted it. What would the faceless have to gain from kidnapping anyone? She felt her hair, finding that a majority of it was no longer in her ponytail. She took out the ribbon and hair tie, then making a lame attempt at putting the ponytail back in place. She was fairly certain it was still a mess, so she didn't even make an attempt at putting the ribbon back in. Rather, she tied it on her wrist, using her teeth to finish the knot.

It was just as she folded her hands to begin twiddling with her thumbs that a voice was directed at her. "Well, who are you, little lady?" Rose turned her attention to find a man wearing a yellow coat. "Haven't seen you around here before. Did one of the other Role Holders finally kick the bucket?"

It clicked immediately in Rose's mind who the man was. He, like Boris, had unmistakable characteristics about him. Really, all the Role Holders did. The thirteen-year-old started to open her mouth to say something only to immediately close her mouth again without uttering a sound. She already felt the words sticking in her throat. Rather, she reached in her pocket and retrieved her grandmother's letter. She stood from the bench, carefully, then held the letter out to the man.

Without hesitation, he took it from here. "What's this?"

He opened the letter and pulled out the paper inside. His eyes scrolled the page, taking in the words, a frown forming on his expression. At the end, he sighs. He puts the paper back in the pale blue envelope and handed it back to the girl, who was picking at her nails, looking everywhere but him until the letter his held out. She took the letter back from him and put it back in the pocket of her pretty green dress.

"That's unfortunate, truly," he sympathized. "You can call me Gowland, little lady. What's your name?"

"I'm...I'm Rose," she informed him with a courteous nod.

"Well, Rose." Gowland pulled a violin and bow from very literally no where. Rose's eyes widened. "Let me give you a proper welcome!"

Realizing what was about to happen, one of her grandmother's most avid warnings echoing in her head, Rose tried, "That's not necessa-Gah!"

It was to late. Gowland scrapped his bow across the untuned strings of the instrument. It cried out in torment as he started to play. Rose covered her ears as quickly as she could to shield herself from the ungodly sound. She hardly believed it was possible to make such an awful noise. She was surprised that the poor violin wasn't bleeding profusely from every niche in its wooden surface. She was even more surprised that her ears weren't bleeding through her fingers. Thankfully, a gunshot echoed past Gowlands head, causing the tormenting sound to die in a single note. Rose froze when the bullet whizzed by one of the hands that protected her ears. She managed to slowly remove the cover.

"Oi!" Boris shouted, one hand covering one of his ears while the other held a fuchsia gun. He lowered the gun, annoyance pinned on the older man. "Don't scare her off already, Old Man."

Gowland gaped disdainfully. "I was not scaring her off!" he claimed. "I was merely playing a welcome symphony for Alice's dear granddaughter."

Boris past the "Old Man", coming to stand in front of Rose. "Yeah, yeah. How many times do I have to tell you that your "music" could wake the dead?" He hand Rose a can that appeared to have strawberry soda of some kind inside. "Here you go."

"Th-thank you very much," she nodded thankfully.

"Rose, Dear, you didn't think my music was bad, did you?" Gowland asked.

Rose paled. "W-Well...That is...I-I-" As though luck was out to save her soul, night fell suddenly over the Amusement Park. "O-Oh. I have to get back!"

The Cheshire cocked her head. "Back where?"

"The Clock Tower," she replied. "I-I promised Julius I would be back during the night span. I would h-hate for him to worry." She had made a move to turn when she remembered. She covered her eyes with one hand, the other holding the can of soda. She whined. "I-I don't even know how to get back..."

"I'll show you the way," Boris told her. Then he gained a playful smirk. "On the condition that you stay here at the Amusement Park one night."

"I would sincerely appreciate it," Rose told him, relieved. She didn't want to roam the woods at night either.

Still wearing he smirked, the Cheshire shook his head. "You've gotta promise."

The brunette nodded. "I-I promise."

"Cool," he turned to the Amusement Park's respective owner, he looked to be pouting. "See ya, Old Man. I'll be escorting this lady."

Gowland crossed his arms. "Make sure you get her home safely and behave yourself."

Boris gave a two-finger wave. "Can do."

With a hand between Rose's shoulder blades, he started leading her out of the park. Rose looked over her shoulder and called to Gowland. "I-It was nice to meet you."

The disappointed, scowling man smiled at that. "Come back now!"

The strawberry soda that Boris has given her at the Amusement Park was now an empty can as the two made their way through the dark forest. Rose could hardly see an a yard in front of her. She was all to glad that the older boy had insisted on hanging onto her hand to keep her from "getting lost". Even still, the dark trek made her feel very...helpless to say the least. It reminded her how truly defenseless she was in this world, even with her grandmother's blessing.

"So," Boris broke the deafened silence that had come between them soon after leaving the Park. "Where are you planning to visit next?"

"U-Uh...well," Rose bite her bottom lip, thoughtfully. "W-Where ever I end up...? I'm...still not sure how to find my way around."

The cat glanced over his shoulder at her. The girl could barely make out the movement in the dark. "Who have you met so far?"

"Nightmare, Julius, Ace, you, and Gowland," she replied. "I-I think this would be considered my first full day."

She thought she saw him pull a cat-like smirk. Something of him was happy that he had been one of the first to meet the granddaughter of the Outsider he and many others missed dearly. There conversation fell off again as Boris faced forward. They continued on in the night but soon lights from the Clock Tower's high windows came into view. Just as soon, they made it to the front door of the Tower.

"Th-Thank you so much for leading me all this way," Rose told him sincerely. "I'm s-sorry for the trouble."

Boris let go of her hand and put both of his in his pockets. "It wasn't any trouble," he assured her. After a moment of thought, he added, "How about I pick you up tomorrow? I'm supposed to meet up with the twins anyway, and it'd probably be a good time for you to see the Hatter Mansion."

The brunette smiled, the thought of not taking on the unknown woods alone again to bright to ignore. "I...I would be-" She shook her head. "That'd be really, really great, Boris. T-thank you."

The cat returned the smile. "Cool. See you tomorrow." Then he turned and began retreating into the forest.

Rose waved. "S-See you!"

After the Cheshire Cat was beyond her sight, Rose went inside the Clock Tower. She climbed the stairs until she made it to Julius's studies. Julius was awake now, unsurprisingly, working on another clock. It seemed that more had piled on her desk since she left. What else was on his desk, however, elated her. The plate and coffee cup she had set up for him that morning were both empty on the corner. She couldn't help but smile. The Mortician glanced up when she closed the room door. He glanced back down and went back to peddling on the clock he was currently replacing the face of.

"62," he stated, monotonously.

Rose blinked. "W-What?"

"I used to give grades to Alice about her coffee," Julius amended. "I graded yours at a 62."

The brunette approached the desk and picked up the plate and mug. "I-I'm sorry...I'll do better."

He didn't seem to have an affect under her claim. Rather, he asked, "Where did you go?"

Though there was no clear indication, Rose thought that, perhaps, she felt concern coming from him for a single moment. "The Amusement Park," she replied.

"I see," he responded, half-heartedly.

"U-Um..." she stumbled. As her grandmother had told her, she would have to learn how to understand the different Role Holder's quirks. "Boris said h-he would take me to the Hatter Mansion tomorrow."

This statement made Julius pause in his work. It took him a silent moment to get his work back in motion. "Be careful," he almost muttered. "Those people are dangerous."

She nodded. "I-I will. Um, I'm going to clean up these dishes th-then get some sleep."

The Mortician merely gave an attentive nod. "Good night, Rose."

She, to, nodded. "Good night, Julius."

She left him study and went to the room bleak room that was the kitchen. She washed the coffee pop, mug, and plate, as well as all else she had used to make the Clock Master breakfast that morning. After they were put away, she went to her room and put her letter on the bedside table. Then she changed from her dress to her nightdress. She folded the pale green dress away into the drawer. She crawled under the covers.

Listening to the sound of dozens of cocks ticking, many not in sync with the others, it was still somewhat difficult to fall asleep. She wondered if, perhaps, she was feeling homesick? Or maybe it was just nerves that edged her stomach to be all a-flutter. Either way, she missed her bed. She missed being sent to bed with the melody of her grandmother telling her stories dancing through her head. Most of all, she really missed her grandmother. She missed Alice. She wanted her back. She wanted her to be with her in this world, alive and well. She wanted and wanted, but no amount of want made her grandmother appear before her. Tears only started to fill her eyes as she thought about her late loved one. Her bottom lip started to tremble. She covered her head with the comforter and tried her very best not to sob to loudly as the feelings of mourning overwhelmed her.

The Mortician tried not to think to much about the girl that was staying in his tower as he worked, tirelessly, on the work that had piled up because of his last sleep. He was sure that, just like Alice, she would eventually leave the Clock Tower. He couldn't allow himself to become attached to her, for the sake of his own well being. Or, that was what he told himself. Thoughts of the troublesome girl that came before Rose still made his clock feel rusted. He shook his head at himself. He was being a fool.

He tried to keep himself deep in his work, but he found himself distracted by the little noises coming from down the hall. Sharp inhales, almost like coughs, and whimpers found there way to his ears. He recognized them. Alice's granddaughter was crying. Julius's hand stalled at its work. He tightened his hold on the small wrench he had been using as he fought with himself. Should he go and...aid the child? Comfort her in some way? Alice's letter had said to take care of the girl, but what could he do? He wasn't at all good at comforting people.

He hadn't realized how long he had fought with himself until the muffled sobbing fell silent. This, strangely, was more a cause for concern for the Role Holder than the crying itself. It, so to speak, was the straw that broke the camels back. Julius stood up, telling himself he would just peek in on the young teen. Just a quick check in. He walked down the hall to the room that had once belonged to Alice and hesitated, frowning at the door frame.

He pushed aside his indecision and opened the door. Not seeing the girl, only a lump on the bed, he entered the room. With carefully placed steps he edged over to the bedside and slowly pulled the cover down. He found Rose very much asleep on her side, drying tears on her cheeks. His expression didn't change much as he released the blanket and laid it soothingly over her shoulders, but he felt sympathy for her scrapping against his bones. He shook his head. What was Alice thinking, sending here to this world, of all places? He could hardly imagine that she would make it in this place.

So, another chapter~! 3 Thank you all for your support!

I'm still welcoming ideas, comments, and reviews from everyone. Am I handling the characters well? I'm trying to considering there personalities as well as how Alice's presence effected them when she was in the Country of Hearts.

Even though we haven't meet all the Role Holders yet, I would like to hear from everyone. Who do you think Rose should end up with? :}