Previously:
"Um… Thank you." Alice said a bit bashfully as she looked up at Blood, finally remembering her manners.
"You're welcome, sweetheart." He told her smoothly, looking down at the young lady with a smile on his face. Alice's eyes widened in shock.
"Miss!" Sarah called worriedly when she suddenly pushed him away and ran off.
"Hey! Where're you going!?" Elliot shouted after the fleeing girl incredulously.
"I'm sorry, please excuse us! Thank for everything." Sarah said politely with a quick curtsy before hurrying off after the other girl.
"What a rude tart." Elliot huffed, irritated with how Alice had treated his boss. The maid had more manners! "She totally blew you off, Blood."
"I think those young ladies are outsiders, Elliot." Blood stated calmly, nonplussed.
"Outsiders? Seriously!?" Elliot exclaimed, taken aback.
"Yeah." Blood said, smirking slightly and stroking his chin while staring towards the direction in which the two girls had disappeared. "How very… curious…"
Chapter 2: Welcome to Wonderland
"Miss! Miss Alice!" Sarah called as they ran. "What's wrong? Why did you suddenly run off like that?" she asked, slowing down to a trot when Alice finally stopped to lean against a tree to brace herself while she paused to catch her breath.
'… Maybe it was weird to just run out of there without thinking.' Alice thought, too out of breath to reply right away. 'I have to calm down. It's not him—it's not…' she took a deep breath to calm herself. "I-It's nothing…" she said aloud. "More importantly, Sarah, how are you here? And why do you look so old?"
"Old? Beggin' your pardon, Miss, but you're the one who looks too young." Sarah retorted, sweat-dropping. Old? She was only sixteen-years-old, exactly as she should be. "As for how I got here, I followed you and your strange kidnapper down that large hole in the yard, and then I woke up to find myself somewhere completely different. Speaking of that rabbit-eared plank, where is he?"
"You jumped in after us!?" Alice asked, gaping at her in astonishment. "That's too reckless, Sarah!" she scolded the younger (well, she was supposed to be younger) girl. She appreciated the concern, but she could have died! "As for that pervert—first he brought me to this strange place, and then he forced me to drink some weird medicine with a kiss! And then he just up and left me there!" she shouted incredulously, pissed off just thinking about it. "I tried to find him so I could make him take me back home, but you saw how well that worked out."
'Yeah, that was a disaster.' Sarah thought. "Well, that thing with the medicine sounds disturbing, Miss, but I'm glad he didn't do anything worse."
"Being kissed by that stalker was bad enough." Alice snapped moodily, oozing murderous intent.
"I suppose so…" Sarah agreed sympathetically. Stalker? "Don't worry, Miss. If he dares show his face again, I'll give him a good pummeling for you." She promised pleasantly with a smile, clenching her fist.
"Please do." Alice said seriously, knowing Sarah could probably put the hurt on the perverted rabbit far better than anyone else she knew.
"Huh?" both girls said, surprised when it suddenly became dark.
"It's already nighttime? I swear the sun was out a minute ago…" Alice remarked.
"It was, Miss. It was only the middle of the afternoon…" Sarah said, looking up at the sky through the trees in confusion.
"You know, that perv said this place was called 'Wonderland'…"
"Sounds like the name of an amusement park, Miss." Sarah said, sweat-dropping.
"I know, right?" Alice agreed, chagrined. Such a ridiculous name…
With no clue where they were or how to get home, the two girls ended up returning to the tower where the rabbit had harassed Alice together, hoping to find a clue of some sort. But when they climbed to the top of the stairs, they saw that they were not alone. Someone else had already beaten them there.
"Who's there!?" the man with long, indigo hair demanded, whipping his head around to face them the moment he sensed their presence.
"Er, us! Hi?" Alice blurted out in response, a bit startled.
"What are you doing here? Get out!" the man barked sternly.
"Please pardon our intrusion, but we didn't know where else to go." Sarah said, doing her best to remain polite despite the attitude he was giving them. "This young lady is Miss Alice Liddell, and I'm her maid, Sarah Smith."
"Sorry… I guess this is your home?" Alice continued tentatively. "I was just, uh, kidnapped by a guy named Peter near—"
"That's irrelevant! Leave at once!" the man snapped impatiently, grabbing each of the girls by the arm.
"Ow!" Alice winced in pain, while Sarah quickly wrenched herself free from his grip.
"Don't be so rough—You're hurting Miss Alice!" Sarah said angrily, pinching the hand he was squeezing her mistress's arm with sharply, forcing him to release her when he drew his hand back in pain.
"Leave!" he shouted with a grimace, massaging his injured hand. The redhead was a lot stronger than she looked.
"Hey!" Alice yelled indignantly. What was this guy's problem? "Believe me, I wish we could leave! But we don't know our way home from here! And cut us some slack! Some pervert grabbed me and threw me down a hole… then he made me drink some weird medicine so I could go off and almost get shot! Sarah's only here because she tried to help me!"
"Medicine?" the man said, taken aback.
"Yes. From this glass thing." Alice said, pulling out a vial with a heart-shaped stopper.
"Then you… Oh, curse it all." He said uneasily, furrowing his brow with a frown. "I guess you're outsiders, then."
"Outsider?" Alice asked.
"The 'Peter' you mentioned earlier, do you mean Peter White?" he asked.
"That's right." Alice said excitedly, glad they were finally getting through to him.
"He smuggled you in without my permission." The moody man mused grimly, holding his chin. And not just one, but two! How in the world had he managed to pull that off? "Tch. That blasted rabbit!" he cursed in frustration. "I have no choice. Come, I'll explain things. My room awaits." He said grudgingly, leading them inside.
Despite his initial attempts to chase them away, the man was at least polite enough to offer them some coffee before beginning his explanation. Since there were only two chairs at the table, Sarah elected to stand beside Alice's while they talked.
"I am Julius Monrey, the owner of this clock tower." He began, introducing himself as he took a seat across from the girls. "Now, Alice Liddell and Sarah Smith. You are both outsiders. You're not residents of this country. I know that outsiders usually come here of their own volition, but—"
"I'm telling you, I didn't—!" Alice interrupted impatiently.
"Yes. You did mention that you were forced." Julius responded calmly. "It's also rare for us to receive more than one outsider at a time like this. I've never heard of someone being able to jump into this world using another outsider's entrance before…" he mused thoughtfully, eyeing Sarah critically for a moment. Something very strange was going on. "And it is dangerous for outsiders to walk around this land in ignorance. From what you've told me… you were in the Hatter's territory earlier. Elliot March and the bloody twins… are dangerous people who are quick to wield their weapons. I'm surprised you've met them and still have your head intact." He finished frankly. Alice and Sarah exchanged a glance.
"Um… about that." Said Alice. "They were getting violent… but a guy called 'Blood' stopped them."
"Blood Dupre stopped them?" Julius asked. "Odd, for a mafia boss."
"He's a mafia boss!?" Alice shouted incredulously.
'Of course…' Sarah thought wryly as beads of nervous sweat slid down the sides of their faces. No wonder that man seemed dangerous… She thought she had heard some key phrases being dropped.
"His crime syndicate family is known as the 'Hatters'." Julius explained. "Blood Dupre is currently in charge."
"I got out of there pretty fast after he saved me, but… He did mention something about not killing without his permission." Alice said thoughtfully.
"So, if he had authorized it, we would have been killed?" Sarah asked.
"…" Alice grimaced at the thought.
"Most likely." Julius agreed matter-of-factly. "That group isn't right in the head. You would be wise to avoid them from now on. I'll explain the other territories. Heart Castle is ruled by the Queen of Hearts. The amusement park is managed by a man named Gowland. You are here. The center of the three territories." He told them, pointing to their location on the map that he had spread out upon the table. "You're in what is known as… the clock tower plaza. This is the only neutral area. The other three territories are at war with each other."
'War…? I can understand why the royalty and the mafia are fighting, but a power struggle with an amusement park? Now that's just barmy.' Sarah thought dubiously, raising an eyebrow. From the look on Alice's face, it was obvious she was thinking something along the same lines.
"A triangular tug-of-war can drag on for a long time." Julius continued. "It's an unproductive game. The battle has nothing to do with outsiders, so take care not to get involved.
"So is this 'war' thing why everyone carries weapons?" Alice asked.
'Everyone? Does this mean that Peter bloke had one too?' Sarah wondered. After all, gangsters were professional criminals, so it wouldn't be that strange for them to be armed. She used to carry a knife when she lived on the streets.
"Well, partially. But you'll learn more about that later." Julius replied.
"Look, I appreciate you explaining this stuff, but I don't plan to get involved—I don't even want to stay." Alice said frankly. "We want to go home. We can go alone if someone just tells us how."
"Unlikely. Not alone, at any rate." Julius said.
"What? Uh… then will you take us?" Alice asked.
"It's not that simple. 'You cannot go home alone.'" Julius told her. "It's a rule of the game that you, as an outsider, participate in."
"Not this game thing again!" Alice shouted in frustration. "You and Peter keep going on about that—"
"Miss!" Sarah said abruptly, pointing at the window with wide eyes.
"Wha?" Alice said, stunned when she saw what her maid had surprised her maid. The black sky had suddenly become a dusky rose color, and the clouds glowed a brilliant orange. "H-Hey! What just happened!" she exclaimed, jumping up and dashing over to the window. "It was just nighttime out there! But now the sun's setting again, and…!"
'It instantly switched from noon to night earlier too!' Sarah thought, furrowing her brow in confusion. 'What's wrong with this place!?'
"It's the way of this world. Calm down." Julius told the nervous and excited girls. All their squealing was starting to give him a headache.
"It's a dream."
'… Dream?' Sarah thought, glancing around to see who had spoken.
"This is a dream." The voice repeated, echoing inside her head.
'Bugger all! Now I'm hearin' things?' she thought nervously, chagrined at herself. 'Don't tell me I've finally cracked…'
"… Dream." She heard Alice say aloud. Sarah looked at her mistress. She was staring out the window with a dazed look in her eye. "It's all just… dream. This is a world in a dream and…"
'Oh, I see…' Sarah thought. That made sense—a lot more than anything else they'd heard or experienced since coming here. Perhaps she was still asleep on the bench outside the kitchen. I mean, come on, a kidnapper with rabbit ears? And why else would Miss Alice suddenly look so young again? The real Alice should be five years older than her.
"If you want to believe this is a dream, then go ahead." Julius said, snapping them out of their thoughts. "Just beware. This dream cannot end unless you progress in the game. You could have returned home with your desire alone after you stepped into this place… Actually, you probably still can." He said, glancing at Sarah before looking back at Alice. "But since Peter White forced you to drink that medicine, you must now play the game." He explained. "The point of your game is to return home. But 'you cannot play the game alone.' That's why you can't go home alone. Look at the bottle again." Alice took out the vial for the medicine again. Examining it closely, the girls were surprised by what they found.
"Huh? It was empty, but… now there's something in there!" Alice said.
"I suspected as much." Said Julius. "First Peter White, then the Hatters, then myself. The fluid level increases as you interact more with this world's inhabitants. That is the key to the gate of your world. And the rule of the game is… 'When the bottle is once again filled… the time will come when you can return to your home.'"
"Oh, so that's what you meant by 'you can't go home alone.' It's because she has to meet more people here?" Sarah asked.
"Is that all? That sounds easy enough." Alice said, relieved. "Maybe I can get home sooner than I thought."
"… I wonder about that." Said Julius. Something told him it wasn't going to be that easy.
"Just you wait, Alice of mine." Peter said, watching the clock tower from a distance. "You'll be here 'till the end of time."