Chapter 15

Hatter's Past, Alice!

"We became friends when I found my talent in making hats." Hatter started speaking as everyone including the White Queen sat at the table gawking at the almost four hundred year old man sipping tea who as Hatter said, was his best friend."

"At the time my wife and I were just travelers performing miracles for people using alchemy. Hatter saw one of our miracles performed in his town and immediately knew it was alchemy." Nicolas said grabbing a piece of toast and the butter dish.

"I read a few books about it beforehand. My father worked as a medicine man and my mother made remedies from herbs so I thought I should keep the tradition and become an alchemist."

"We took him in as an apprentice but he couldn't even perform basic alchemy. My wife though spent her free time sewing and creating clothes to sell on the side as we moved from town to town. Hatter walked in on her once and helped her finish her design on a hat and it was by far the most beautiful hat I've ever seen. He had a swell talent at making those damn things."

"They took me to see the White Queen and I became her private hat designer, the money wasn't bad. Nicolas and his wife even bought a small cottage near fairy hallow and opened a remedy store in the town's market square. We all lived pretty comfortably and for a while I was happy." Hatter said taking his hat off and placing it on the table.

"Then you received Ragnarok's request." Alice said.

"Then I received that bloody request from him. He walked into my store today with a black lace umbrella. It had to be maybe eighty degrees outside and he was wearing black pants and a long sleeve black shirt and tie up black boots. He also had a black lace umbrella but man was his white hair amazing. Never in my life have I seen a person with as white as hair as he did."

"I was in Hatter's shop at the time working an extra shift for some side money and I agree with him completely on Ragnarok. He looked like the Prince of Darkness but acted like the Prince of Light or something like that. He was beautiful."

"Hey now let's not talk about that now, Nicolas. He wasn't beautiful at all but to the girls he was the hot stuff or lady killer I don't know what you call the town's hot guy nowadays." Hatter said coolly.

"Anyway, he asked about our hats and if we could custom make one for him. We both knew it had to be lacy black but he wanted more. He knew I was an alchemist from the tattoos on my palms and he threw the biggest bag of gold coins we ever saw on the table and asked if we could make it have a hint of magic in hit to give him a boast. He was already a sorcerer but not a very good one before we made him the hat but we both agreed. Hell, we didn't know he was going to end up becoming Wonderland's most wanted."

"We worked for weeks on this hat, adding stuff, taking things away-"

"Anything to make it that bag of monies worth handing over." Nicolas interrupted.

"We sent him a letter saying his hat was finally finished after three weeks of us working on it. It must've been our best work yet but he wanted us to deliver it to the desert where he was living."

"At first we said no… until a few days later he sent us another bag of coins and the address so we set off on a week's journey to the desert."

"After passing how many sphinxs we got to his house and handed him the hat and he fell in love with it at first glance. The women he was with loved it too."

"The Red Queen." Nicolas said.

"We didn't recognize her because she didn't have her wacky red hair yet but they both looked so happy."

"We returned back home and the next few years were a blur but the day the Red Queen burned down our town I fled with my wife. We thought since Ragnarok must've told her I was an alchemist we hid away until a few months later when we ran in Absolem in the forest. He warned us that in the near future Ragnarok would return from the shadows and kill Aaron to release Sebastian from the curse. We didn't know why he was telling us this until he said we were involved in this prophecy as soon as a curly blond hair girl fell into the rabbit's hole and return to Wonderland for a third time. It's our job to help both of you as much as we can so we'll help you retrieve the book you need to destroy to weaken Ragnarok." Nicolas said looking at Aaron and Sebastian.

"If you destroy the book then both you and your wife die as well." Aaron replied.

"We know… We've been thinking about burning it a few years ago. We're tired boys… We're tired of moving around all the time with the fear of Ragnarok finding us. My wife wants to be with God now and I want to respect her wish."

"You're going to sacrifice yourselves just to weaken a sorcerer. What if he defeats us even after we burn your book?" Sebastian asked.

"It won't happen. You boys are stronger than him if you work together, even if he still has that hat. I can't teach you alchemy because you're both committed to sorcery but I can give you one piece of advice that might help. Balance all the elements together when you use them against him. It'll make you stronger and the spell more powerful." Nicolas said.

"Wait… you know about the spell we have to perform?" Sebastian asked.

"Well of course! The second part is burning the book after you send that blasted horse back to where it came from."

"Great! Now we need the third part…" Aaron said. Nicolas smiled at both of them.

"I might know the person who can give you the last part."

Sebastian seemed oddly strange returning to his palace. After the fear of being caught by Ragnarok or his mother he vowed never to return until they defeated Ragnarok and his mother was free of his spell. He looked quickly around the corner and ran down the hallway unseen as he scurried into the throne room, the place dead silent, the moon glowing overhead. White Rabbit would be sleeping near the west wing or working quietly in the servants' study area in a room hidden away next to the throne room. He felt the walls until he found the hidden lever and pulled it back to reveal a staircase. Silently he walked down the stairs and saw light below. He peered and saw the rabbit working quickly on unfinished paperwork, a glass of wine half empty on the desk. He looked to see no one else was around and slid into the room without the rabbit noticing. He was busy writing away notes and future records they kept filed away in the west wing. Sebastian stood in a dark corner, the urge to just grab the rabbit and run boiled in his blood.

"No I'm not that person anymore. This is to save Alice and Aaron." Sebastian thought the shadow ropes slowly retreating back into the shadows.

"You seem pretty busy." Sebastian blurted out, the rabbit jumping and knocking his glass off the desk, smashing to pieces on the stone floor. The rabbit turned and squinted his eyes.

"Sebastian… is that you?"

"Hey White Rabbit how's life hanging for you?"

"Where have you been? Your mother was just put on suicide watch a few hours ago; she thinks you're dead."

"Well sorry to break the news to her but I'm not and I've been hanging out at Aaron's trying to find a way to defeat Ragnarok or my mother's evil boyfriend." Sebastian replied stepping out of the shadows and taking a seat on the couch near the fireplace.

"What are you doing back here then?"

"A little bird told me you know a piece of the spell to defeat him."

"No… no I don't know any pieces of the spell. I'm not even a sorcerer!" White Rabbit chortled.

"Nicolas said you did. Rabbit he told me what he did to you and how you went to Absolem and found out the last piece of the spell."

"I… I don't know what you're talking about."

"Two years ago Nicolas and his wife, the miracle workers visited your town and cured your mother of a rare disease. You were studying to become a watch maker and instead the only job you could get was my mother's royal servant. Nicolas found out and told you all about Ragnarok and how he put my mother and I under a spell so we would welcome him into his family and curse Aaron. He sent you to find Absolem and find out the prophecy for Ragnaok and instead he gave you the last piece of a spell that could destroy him."

"NO! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE SAYING!"

"You never told Nicolas the spell and went on living your little rotten life as my mom's servant while protecting me from Ragnarok until you hired Mary Beth as my bodyguard. You broke the spell he put me under when you brought Alice here because you knew who Ragnarok really was didn't you?"

"I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING I SWEAR!"

"You knew what he did years ago to another royal family, how he tore them apart."

"I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THAT!"

"You even knew his hat is his main source of power. That's why you tried taking it in the middle of the night a year ago to burn it but I caught you and gave it back to him."

"I WAS TRYING TO GIVE IT TO THE LAUNDRY SERVANT. IT WASN'T CLEANED IN MONTHS!"

"You were trying to protect me all this time… You knew Nicolas was telling the truth. How come you never ran away?"

White Rabbit was breathing heavily now standing on the chair looking at Sebastian coldly. His expression lessened and he sat back down sighing.

"If he even snapped his fingers you would've gone after Aaron and killed him. He doesn't care about the curse at all, Sebastian. He wants both of you to kill each other and your mothers to start war so he would be the last one standing and become leader of Wonderland. Nicolas told me everything he knew about him and the only two people who could defeat him were you and Aaron. Did I know Alice was going to be involved? Not even the slightest. She was the key to breaking you away from him and I only moved the chess piece to the right spot for you."

"White Rabbit… you have to tell me the last part of the spell. If we don't destroy him he'll destroy us with that horse."

"You mean the shadow thing that stays by him all the time?"

"Wait how do you know about it?"

"Your mother changed the execution from the head slicing to being fed to Ragnarok's blood thirsty pet."

"We need to get you out of here. Tonight."

"I can't leave, Sebastian. If I leave then they'll know where you're hiding and storm the White Queen's castle."

"You're not safe here!"

"You as in you, Sebastian, have to perform a spell with Alice. Ragnarok's greatest weakness is love so you need to both show you truly love each other."

"How do I do that?"

"I don't know. That's all Absolem told me." He gathered his papers together and stepped over the broken glass. "You better get out of here as quickly as possible before Ragnarok comes to collect these."

Sebastian stared at the fire, his heart aching for White Rabbit. He was once again putting his life on the line for him when he never gave him the same respect. Why would someone throw their life away to save his own? Was he even worth it? Was he even worth people's time and love?

"Where is White Rabbit?" Alice asked as Sebastian walked towards her, the pale moonlight glowing on her skin. He left just as he came in, silent and unseen.

"He said it's better if he stays there or he'll put us all in danger." Sebastian replied grabbing her hand, another person willing to sacrifice herself for him. "The last part is only for us to complete."

"Oh so now I'm a part of this final spell?"

"Guess so."

"Well what do we have to do?"

"Show him we truly love each other. It's the greatest weakness he has."

They returned to the castle in under a half hour using the dragons the princes owned. The castle seemed dead silent, only the throne room was lit. They walked inside and everyone dropped everything and bombed them with questions.

"Alright, ALRIGHT! The last part is only for Alice and I to complete now drop it. White Rabbit stayed there to keep us safe and protect my mother if he can now go to bed guys, seriously." Sebastian complained before grabbing Alice's hand and heading up to his room.

"We should stay together from now on. Never leave each other's sight or he could send one of his hooligans to kidnap you." Sebastian said opening his bedroom dorm and noticed his room was rearranged. An extra dresser was added and comfortably standing near the balcony. He looked over at the closet and saw another line of shoes that weren't his and dresses hanging next to his suits.

"I thought I should move in with you." Alice said softly as he looked over at the vanity and saw perfume and pallets of makeup on one side.

"You really want to move in with me?" Sebastian asked. "Last time I tried doing that I ended up poisoning you and forcing you into my bed."

"Well this is my decision and I wanted to do this, Sebastian. I love you." She kissed him softly.

"I will never be able to forgive myself for what I did to you. You probably don't even remember anything from that night-"

"I remember everything. Come on let's just get some sleep you had a really busy day." Alice said helping him unbutton his shirt.

"I just… I never felt that way with any girl before. I wanted you all to myself and instead I take away something that means so much to you."

"Sebastian…" Alice giggled. "You were going to take it away anyway sooner or later. Well yeah it means a lot to me but it's supposed to be for you as well. I don't regret what we did and I know why you did what you did." Alice said turning around and tossed her dress aside throwing on her nightgown and crawling into bed with Sebastian, her head resting on his chest.

"I just feel like I took it without your permission."

"Well you sorta did… I was under a spell."

"I'll never do that again I swear." Sebastian said and kissed her head. She looked at him and smiled, touching his face with her hand.

"I love you so much." Alice whispered. Sebastian turned her over.

"This time I won't force you to do anything." He kissed her deeply. That night he really showed her his undying love for her.