Maaaassive chapter here guys, it took me a lifetime to write, I didn't want it to be boring or cheap... I found out I hate writing about battles. Thanks for reaching this point, I'll waste no more of your time!

TW: This chapter is about the canon Frabjous Day, so sword fight and death threats will be involved.

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Chapter 7 – Queen Takes Queen

The battlefield was once a place of joy and feast, it used to sparkle in splendor. Where now there was nothing but ruins, right there, in the very center of Underland, once stood the former Royal Palace: it was where the White and the Red Queen's parents lived and reigned over the whole land together, when their daughters were still young princesses. The Chessboard was an important meeting place for Underlandians, in which people could reunite and listen to their Monarchs or assist to the presentation of a new member of the Royal Family: the births of both Iracebeth and Mirana were announced from the balcony that looked out on the square. Shows and fairs were organized, during day or night, and on one particular day of the week, the biggest market in the Reign was set up.

King Oleron and Queen Elsemere loved the Princesses dearly, both in the same way, so much that they wished for both of them to have equal power during their future reign: that is why they decided to make an historical move, by refreshing the rule that said that only the firstborn was to be designed to be the heir to the throne. They announced that at the end of their time, two Queens would have risen. They proceeded quite early to equally divide their Reign between the two, to optimize its administration and they had works started to build both Marmoreal and Salazen Grum and involved their daughters into the projects, so that each could have a beautiful residence that represented them as much as possible. Little did they know that their act of love would have turned against all Underland.

Iracebeth, being the eldest, had set her mind all her life to prepare to become the one and only Queen of Underland after her parents, and the idea that she had to share her inheritance with her mushy little sister made her furious. Underland had to be hers, and hers only. But she opted to wait to make her point clear, advised by the Prince that had stolen her heart and that back then shared her visions of power, as he too, aspired to become the undisputed King of the land. When the Monarchs passed away, the Princesses were crowned as the White Queen Mirana of Marmoreal and the Red Queen Iracebeth of Crims, who had married her Prince in the meantime.

It was right when the period of grief that followed the death of the former royal couple, that Iracebeth decided to move on with her plan: she attacked the Hightopp Clan village first, and that was because an unmissable opportunity was presented to her. The Hightopp Clan was well known for the talents of its members and for their closeness to the royals, but she had grown to despise them, for no one in that family had ever been able to craft a hat that could fit her and it was pretty obvious why: she had felt embarrassment at first, but it soon turned to fury. On Horunvendush Day, her sister would have been to their village to celebrate midsummer: she would have killed two birds with one stone. Quite literally. The Palace of her parents was the next place she unleashed her pet Jabberwocky, and only after it was satisfied with the amount of ashes it had left behind, she allowed the beast to fall asleep until she needed him again.

Meeting in the place that had been both a symbol of prosperity and of desolation for Underland to fight a battle to determine its future meant a lot to its inhabitants, and the soldiers and volunteers who found themselves at the opposite sides of the Chessboard were no exception. The air was thick and the tension was tangible, but everyone stood their ground with pride when faced to their opponents: the two Monarchs were respectively helped on the ground, and they approached each other alone until they were face to face, Queen before Queen, sister before sister.

McTwisp had hopped next to them and blowing his trumpet he announced the beginning of the confrontation: "On this, the Frabjous Day, the Queens, Red and White, shall send forth their Champions to do battle on their behalf!"

The two seemed to be talking to each other, but they were to far and weren't loud enough for anybody to hear.

"What are they talking about?", asked Alice.

It was Teana who answered: "The White Queen must be trying to finish this off before somebody gets hurt."

"We all know it's not goin' tae work, let's dae this already!", Mallymkun exclaimed taking her pin out.

As if she had heard the Dormouse, the Red Queen shouted her refusal to come to terms in the nice way: "NO! It is my crown! I am the eldest!", she then turned her back to her sister and looked far behind her army before yelling a word that had everybody's blood turn to ice: "JABBERWOCKY!". A deep rumble could be heard from that direction and the earth trembled under their feet, the Cards shifted to make way to the nightmare that was to come, so that everybody could see its awaking.

Nivens McTwisp had run back to his place among the Resistance, the March Hare had tried to hide behind the Cheshire Cat, who had promptly disappeared. Teana's eyes were stuck to the bundle of stone that was gradually being torn by the beast that had been summoned: she watched in horror, unable to look away, as the wings sprung out, followed by the neck and head, and when it had appeared in all its glory, the Jabberwocky let out a loud and excruciating roar that filled her with fear. Only the fact that Orlov was retreating, almost stepping on the Bayard who was frozen in place too, could tear her from the scene and allow her to focus again. The horse's action had her move towards the center of the first line, just behind Alice and the Hatter.

"This is impossible!", she heard Alice say, as the dragon-like creature jumped off his nest and walked over to them, slamming his claws onto the ground.

"Only if you believe it is", answered the Hatter.

Alice continued, still looking at the approaching beast: "Sometimes I believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast".

"That is an excellent practice", the Hatter agreed "However, just at the moment, ye really might want tae focus on the Jabberwocky".

"It's your moment Alice", added Teana, looking down at the blond girl: "We have got your back."

Alice then raised the Vorpal Sword and her shield to come forth at the White Queen's signal. The Jabberwocky was still striding towards the battlefield, crashing everything that was in its way in the process until it was right in front of his opponent that looked extremely tiny compared to his size. It spread its wings, roared and hissed, enough for anybody to cower before him, but not The Alice, who bravely stood her ground.

Teana observed the exchange taking place in front of her and was amazed by just how unbothered the girl looked in front of the Champion of the Red Queen. It was then that she decided to make the first move towards her brother: "You were right all along. I should have trusted you from the beginning."

The Hatter looked briefly up at her, but mainly remained focused on the Champions: "I can't blame you for losing your temper. I would have as well if that would have meant protecting you."

"I see you got my point."

"And you got mine."

"Wonderful."

Their conversation was cut short by Alice making the first move against the Jabberwocky: they all saw its forked tongue fall and contort on the floor after a swift swung of the Vorpal Sword sliced it. That had the beast react violently, but not enough to end its enemy right away: it seemed that it was testing her by playing with her like a bored cat would do with a bat. It limited itself to hit her with its tail to unbalance her and she landed face first on the ground.

Teana was on a rollercoaster of emotions: she winced seeing Alice fall so suddenly, and fear struck her when she saw the Jabberwocky raise a hind paw to step on her, but she was relieved when she rolled to avoid being crushed and promptly rose on her feet again. After a few failed attacks, Alice hid behind her shield just in time for the Jabberwocky to exhale a lethal breathe of purple lightings. That sight froze her as she remembered that blow directed on houses and people on Horunvendush Day: she felt her head space out for a minute, but she begged herself to concentrate, as it was now clear that the Jabberwocky had had enough play time.

Alice seemed to have noticed too, as she ran directly towards her opponent swinging the Sword vigorously, ducking to successfully avoid its claws and running under its belly, where it was difficult for it to reach her. This way, she ended up behind it and took advantage of its clumsiness in turning so sharply to strike a blow right across its face: but that had it absolutely ballistic, so much that it hit her with its tail again, only this time, much harder. Alice was sent flying across the battlefield and hit the ground violently with her back, losing the Vorpal Sword in the process, that slid far from her reach.

Right then, Teana saw movement at her right: it was the Hatter who had abandoned his place and was running to the rescue of their Champion. He raised his sword and proceeded to stab the tail of the Jabberwocky to distract it and give Alice time to stand and retrieve her weapon. The creature had in fact turned and it swung its tail towards the Hatter too, who ducked just in time to avoid being stuck.

"The Hatter is interfering! OFF WITH HIS HEAD!", came from the Red Queen, who pointed her scepter directly at him. The Knave of Hearts unsheathed his sword and the Cards took it as the sign to start the battle.

Teana saw Tarrant take his top hat from his head and drop it on the ground beside him, before taking hold of his weapon with both hands. The time had come. She too grabbed the hilt of her sword and unsheathed it, pointing it towards the enemies as she brought the reins forward and kicked Orlov in the sides, that had him move and quickly escalate from a trot to a gallop. The whole rest of the Chess Pieces followed suit the moves of the first line and set to respond to the attack.

Teana opted to knock out some Cards, taking advantage of the height the horse conferred her: they jumped the first line and ran in the middle, hoping to interfere with their plans to come at the aid of their companions in the front rows. She directed Orlov to run right onto to the Cards so that she could hit one and cause the others to fall consequently: she kept on like this for a while and was able to disperse them. She took a moment to look around her, she saw that the armies had melted together, and was also able to spot her friends, who were dealing pretty well themselves. She couldn't see Tarrant though, and that upset her for a moment.

She was quickly brought back to reality by the Jubjub Bird's screech: she lifted her head to see it had chosen her as its next target. It was coming down on her with its claws directed to Orlov, but she had him move away and raised her blade to hit it, injuring its legs: the Bird shrieked in pain and retreated, flying beyond her to search for a new, less feisty prey.

Teana had trusted Orlov with the direction to take while she kept an eye on the Jubjub Bird, so she had lost the thread of what was happening below her. Unfortunately, she couldn't get back on track in time: she felt a sharp blow of air beside her and before she knew it, the whole saddle was rolling off the horse's back. She stumbled on the ground first, stuck in the saddle and other tacks that had ripped in the fall, then heard the horrible sound of horseshoes slipping on the floor: she had barely the time to turn to see her horse unbalance and tumble helplessly as well, crushing violently on her right leg.

She shouted when she felt pain shot through her bones as Orlov kept on wriggling on her injured limb: he rose with a groan and fled from where he was, kicking the air, reins dangling off one side, his stride irregular, she hoped because of one of his front leg protections had shifted.

"ORLOV GET HERE!", she yelled, but he was already too far away. Teana punched the ground with an angry grunt, and finally ripped the saddle from her legs and was able to take back her sword and stand up, limping visibly: her leg hurt bad, but at least it didn't feel broken, she guessed it was just because the hit was fresh.

"You like to play knights, don't you Red?"

The voice stung in her ears, and suddenly she had clear who had caused her fall. She turned holding the hilt of her sword in both hands and pointed it towards Stayne, her eyes full of hate and burning red as she looked how casually he was standing before her. A snarl made its way on her features as she took in the disgust he caused her.

He responded with a laugh at her as he started to walk forward: "I must admit, you are pretty talented: I had bet you wouldn't have been able to get past the first row. But to my judgement, you rely on your horse too much", he said, setting himself to fight, "Let's see how you deal when you stand on your own legs". So said, he raised his weapon to hit her, but she swirled her own and managed to divert his blow and not being hit.

It was more difficult than she had expected: the sword was heavy and weariness was starting to build in her muscles. She relied on the rage towards that man to keep going, and least to defend herself if she could not manage an attack. No matter how hard she tried though, Stayne was obviously much better at fighting than she was, other than being much taller and stronger: he swung his weapon with every step, and Teana couldn't help but stumble backwards with every parry, until she tripped on a fallen Card and landed on her back. The Knave promptly stepped on her right wrist and she yelled in pain, he kept his foot there until she had to drop her sword, and when she did he kicked it away.

From the ground, Teana prepared to roll over, but Stayne moved too quickly and dug his sword onto the ground next to her to prevent her from doing so. She was running out of options, and when she looked up and saw him raise his blade again as if to stab her right in the heart, she thought that that would have been the end.

But all of a sudden, she saw the eye of the Knave shift from her to something in front of him and he moved his sword to parry a blow: Teana looked back and was relieved to see that Tarrant had started a duel with him. The Hatter barged in the fight and succeeded in getting the Knave to back up off his sister, swinging his sword with a strength she had never seen him use. The two sparred violently, circling each other to find the best angle to direct their swords, which flew between them and often crossed slamming one against the other.

Teana turned to frantically search for her own weapon, but she hadn't seen where the Knave had thrown it and she was not able to find it: all she could see was soldiers sparring with each other, yelling and grunting, some would fall, more would run across the field and she couldn't do much but dodge their feet as they invaded the space where she was. She heard the Jabberwocky roaring in the background over the loud banging of metal, and wondered briefly how Alice was fairing.

She was very close to panic when she saw a Card run towards her: as she was trying to raise on her feet, she saw another one that appeared to be falling over her, so she curled up and closed her eyes to protect herself from the impact… but nobody crashed on her. She opened her eyes to see what was going on, and she saw the second Card, a 5 of Hearts, kneeling in front of her leaning on his spear, shielding her.

"What are you doing?!", the first asked.

The other didn't answer. He limited himself to raise up and hit him in the head with another spear Teana hadn't noticed before, and that had him spin and fall on the ground unconscious. Next, the 5 of Hearts turned to her and leaned over to take her by an arm: "Get up!".

Teana was pulled to her feet quickly and, before she knew it, he had handed one of his spears over to her.

"I'll keep an eye on you", the Card said, pointing at her, then proceeded to defend himself from the Chess Pieces.

She was left with a strange feeling lit in her core, bewildered by the action of her enemy, but soon decided not to waste such an opportunity: she wielded the spear and ran to Tarrant's aid, averting blows from every direction as much as possible. When she spotted him, the Knave had struck a particularly strong attack that had the Hatter leaning backwards, their blades pressing against each other: she saw Tarrant extract something from his ring and use it to sting Stayne in the eye, he jumped back immediately, but he was still on his feet.

Gathering all the strength she could muster, Teana charged him, when she was close enough she let herself collapse on her knees and slid toward her target: holding the spear as if it was a bat, she swung it against the Knave's legs and hit the back of his ankles, sending him flat on his back and earning a yell from him. She then threw herself on him to stop him from getting up again by wrapping an arm around his neck, using her other to add strength to her action: she laid on the battlefield with his head trapped in her grip, feeling her eyes burn red and her heart frantically pumping adrenaline.

The Knave of Hearts contorted against her and gasped for breath, finding himself surprisingly unable to get free, but he still managed to croak out something: "What a nice family reunion we got here…".

"QUIT IT! Ye talk ower much!", she yelled in his ear.

By that time, Tarrant had raised his sword over the Knave, his eyes were flaming rubies in opal pools, he wore a crooked smile as he looked down at his opponent.

At that sight, Stayne had stopped trying to pull at Teana's arms for freedom, he raised his hands up and turned his head to one side, hoping to protect himself from the attack.

"Na-ah, ma dear", said Teana, using her other hand to grip his chin and turn his face back to the Hatter, "Ah want ye tae watch…". She looked up too, eagerly waiting for the blade to fall on him, soaking in his fear, feeling how he trembled against her, engraving this feeling in her memory: revenge. A creepy smile danced on her lips in anticipation, thinking just how much she had hoped that moment would come and how much she had wanted to witness it. It felt just fair enough.

But Tarrant was taking too long for her liking: she moved her eyes up to him and that was when she noticed that he had actually got distracted. He was looking at a point above her, his eyes were slowly going back to normal and his grip on the sword and loosened.

No…

"Tarrant!", she snapped at him.

He looked down at the scene at her call and seemed to be taken aback, almost as if he had just realized what he had done up to then. His eyes shifted rapidly from her to the Knave, pondering on what to do: in the end, he shook his head and took a step back, frowning at the sword he was holding and letting it fall on the ground like a dirty handkerchief.

His change of attitude had Teana look around for support, but she saw that everyone had slowly stopped fighting to look in the same direction as the Hatter and silence had filled the air so suddenly she felt her ears ring.

It was over.

Teana froze for a second to take in what she was doing, realizing that the rage in her chest had brought her to feel exactly what Stayne must have felt when their roles were inverted: she had been taking pleasure in seeing him suffer, just like he did. That unsettled her, obviously because she couldn't imagine turning into the same scum he was. She released her grip and pushed him off of her, raising back to her feet: that allowed him to stand as well and he turned to look at her for a brief moment, his eyes bore no mockery for once, still shocked from their last fight. She reciprocated with a hard and judging look, then spit her final words to him: "Git away from ma sight".

He obliged, accepting his defeat with shame and walked back to his Queen as she shouted a loud "KILL HER!", to her soldiers.

It was then that Teana finally looked up at the ruins of the Palace, where she saw nothing but Alice standing at the very top of the staircase, still in one piece, Vorpal Sword secure in her hand. Of the Jabberwocky was left only its head, that laid motionless at the Red Queen's feet: her eyes went wide in wonder and she felt a real smile curve her lips for the first time in way too long.

"We follow you no more… bloody big head.", a 7 of Hearts told the Red Queen with a tone that implied that he had waited a long time to call her that.

"How dare you! OFF WITH HIS HEAD!", she commended to no one in particular, pointing a ringed finger at the rebel soldier.

As an answer, all she received was her whole deck gradually dropping their spears on the ground in a triumph of metallic clacking, a powerful act of abandonment towards her that left everyone speechless and that the Chess Pieces mimicked, as a sign that they wouldn't have taken advantage of the fact that their opponents were unarmed: so was officially marked the end of the conflict.

Tarrant walked up to Teana and put an arm around her shoulders to squeeze her lightly, she looked up at his most heartfelt smile and gladly mirrored him, no words were necessary to express their happiness and the relief for the victory. Then, the Hatter let his arm slide from her and leant down, for McTwisp had come hopping with his beloved top hat in his paw to give it to its owner, who took it gently and placed it back where it belonged.

Next, the crown of the Red Queen was lifted from her head and floated in the air towards the White, changing its shape and style in the process, going from golden with rubies to silver adorned with turquoises. It was Chessur who had performed that act, as he reappeared by the White Queen to place it on her head: as the crowning took place, a fresh breeze blew along the battlefield, a soft, but undeniably present wind of change.

"Iracebeth of Crims", began the White Queen, with a solemn voice: "For your crimes against Underland you are worthy of death", she paused to lower her tone "However that is against my vows: therefore, you are banished to the Outlands. No one is to show you any kindness, or ever speak a word to you. You will not have a friend in the world…".

No response came from Iracebeth, but Teana heard the Knave address directly to the newly crowned Queen with quivering voice: "Majesty, I hope you bear me no ill will…".

The nerve-

"Only this one, Ilosovic Stayne", Mirana answered calmly "You are to join Iracebeth in banishment from this day until the end of Underland". That had the Knave's face fall in an abyss of terror, along with the fact that two Cards joined the couple with only one pair of handcuffs.

"At least we'll have each other…", Iracebeth whispered up to him.

In response to that, Stayne pulled out a dagger from his belt and raised it against the Red Queen, in a chorus of gasps.

The Hatter suddenly felt his hat being touched and before he could blink, he saw one of his pins stuck in the Knave's wrist: the pain had him drop his weapon immediately and as he moved to wriggle from the Cards' grasp, the pin fell too. He was dragged by the guards while screaming to the White Queen his beg to kill him, meanwhile the Red Queen yelled her indignancy for his act as she became aware that her love story was not actually reciprocated.

Tarrant, following the trajectory of his pin backwards, turned to his right and saw Teana with a hand still extended in front of her: "Nice shot!", he complimented.

She turned up her nose in disagreement: "I was aiming at his eye".

"Remind me not to make you angry in the future!", said a voice behind them.

Teana's eyes lit up as she recognized its owner and turned to see Dannis stand there with his full Card armor still on, except for his helmet that he was holding under him arm. In his other hand, he had Orlov by the reins and pointing a thumb at the horse with a smirk he said: "I think you lost something".

She walked over to him with a grin: "It's so nice to see you are alright!".

He raised his eyebrows and lowered his voice, scraping his nails on his shoulder as he spoke again: "Yes, well, the merit is of my sparring skills, you should have seen me. Plus look at this armor: dashing, I think this shade of red suits me".

"Are you done?"

"Nope.", He said emphasizing the letter P. He then turned very serious and continued: "There's someone you should see.", he said throwing his head to one side.

Teana looked over in that direction and was a little taken aback when she saw another Card soldier: this one had got rid of most of the armor, remaining dressed in tight pants and a gambeson to cover his torso, all he had kept were his helmet and his boots. She was growing more confused with every passing second.

"5 of Hearts, I gave you the spear.", he said.

Teana's eyes lit, and so did that strange feeling as before: "Oh, yes! I recall".

He nodded and continued speaking slowly: "I'll take off my helmet now. Please, don't go berserk."

She quirked an eyebrow at him: "Why would I?"

Again, he said nothing, only proceeded with lifting the helmet from his head: it was a blonde man, his straight hair all messed up from the previous fight, short beard and just one seeing eye. All those who hadn't seen him in the dungeon of Salazen Grum gasped in realization, recognizing him right away, but Terence stood still, waiting for her to process the sight.

Teana was astonished, petrified where she stood, her eyes became wide as saucers as she stared at the man in front of her, searching confirmation under the beard and the scar on his face. It was him, no doubts… was he? It felt almost too good to be true, she couldn't believe what she was seeing, her heart and her mind raced against each other and her breathing grew quicker. Only after what had seemed like a lifetime had passed, she found the ability to speak again: "What is this?", she asked faintly to nobody in particular.

Tarrant spoke from behind her: "If it was for me, I would call it a surprise!"

Seeing that she was still frozen in place, Terence opted to get closer, never letting eye contact fall between them. But when he was two steps away, she took a step back.

"Is this a joke?", she asked with a small voice, this time looking directly at him.

His heart was beginning to race with the fear that she might have rejected him, that maybe revealing himself in front of everybody and after that battle hadn't been the best choice, but he answered anyway, following her: "No, it is not".

"It is not, is it?"

Her voice was now full of emotion, so much it almost broke him. He answered with a mere shake of his head and reached for his neck to pull out a necklace made out of a leather string: there was a ring hanging on it, a golden one with an intricate and elegant engraving. He held it up for her to see.

"It's not…", she repeated realization sinking in deeper and deeper in her when she recognized her wedding ring, and in the end she surrendered to the obvious and finally trusted her eyes. It started with a smile that gradually enlarged, then her eyes regained their signature bright green and even her curls seemed to perk up, then she started to laugh: "It's not!".

Terence thanked his back for not giving out the moment he caught Teana when she jumped on him: she wrapped her arms around his neck leaning her head against his. As if that closeness wasn't enough, she felt herself being pulled even higher against him, so that she was sitting one of his arms while the other squeezed her from her back, her legs wrapped around his sides for support and his head was against her chest. She hugged him for dear life and Terence spun her around a couple of times while she laughed as she had never done since the Horunvendush Day, no tears spilled from her eyes, only pure joy.

The same joy that when she pulled back from the embrace and looked down at him, she saw reflected in her husband's eyes, that shone with emotion and anticipation as she buried her fingers in his hair until they set on the back of his head. A joy that they sealed with a long-awaited kiss that had the crowd around them cheer and whistle.

A joy that they shared with everyone who was present and who was taking that moment as an excuse to start the first celebration of the victory: at the cry of "Callou, Calley!", the Mad Hatter performed a vigorous Futterwacken at the which most of his friends took part in their own way and when he was done, the crowd applauded him as he bowed deeply, his top hat in hand.

Terence lowered Teana on the ground, linking his hands behind her back to hold her close a little longer and savor his first time seeing her since their capture as much as possible: he took in the way her eyes shone and how that rebel curl on her forehead was still laying across an eyebrow. He lifted a hand to swipe it back and then ran it along her head, finally able to enjoy the softness of her hair under his calloused hands.

She leaned into his touch with the softest smile, the reached on his chest for the ring holding it in her palm and tracing it with her fingers: "I thought I had lost it forever".

He hummed: "I slipped it from your finger before we got separated. I promised myself to hold on until the end to be able to give it back to you myself.", He then let her go to reach behind his neck and ripped effortlessly the leather string with a sharp tug, careful not to drop the jewel. He took it between his thumb and index and asked for her left hand to slip it on her ring finger, just like he had done years before.

Teana sighed through a smile looking at the ring being back where it belonged, but then her face fell and she lost herself in thought for a moment, when she looked up to Terence again he saw a tint of uneasiness in her eyes: "There so much to tell…".

"I understand: I have a lot of explaining to do, starting from this.", he smirked, pointing at his scar, "We will take our time."

A twirling movement at their right caught their attention and they saw the White Queen walk towards Alice with a small phial filled in purple liquid. She presented it to her as the blood of the Jabberwocky: "You have our everlasting gratitude. And for your efforts on our behalf."

Alice took it from her hand and asked: "Will this take me home?"

"If that is what you choose…", answered the Queen, then she said goodbye to her with a gentle caress on her cheek.

The White Queen walked back to join the rest of the group which had gathered not far from Teana and Terence. They were all looking at her with a knowing smile, a grateful one that held to see her again. Alice looked at everyone and when she met Teana's gaze, the red head winked at her with a smile and mouthed a 'Thank you'.

Only Tarrant was standing behind her and stepped closer just before she was about to take a sip, holding a different kind of hope: "You could stay.", he suggested.

Alice turned towards him and he saw a smile brighten her features as she lowered the phial for a moment: "What an idea! A crazy, mad, wonderful idea…".

There was a shiver that ran down his back as he took in what she had just said, a shiver that made him smile shyly too and that had his heart beating faster.

But after a pause in which her face fell slowly, her eyes shifted from his and her smile dropped, Alice completed her phrase: "…but I can't."

There it was, another awful bite he had to swallow. His smile also disappeared, his previous joy fading with every breath he took, as if it was the flame of a burnout candle. He didn't really listen to her reasons, not that she had been very specific anyway, he was too focused on the sadness that had momentarily engulfed him and that culminated when she lifted the phial to her lips and drank the blood of the Jabberwocky right there, in front of his eyes.

"I'll be back again before you know it", she said.

Maybe she would have, but he still saw a problem: "You won't remember me", he said in a low voice shaking slightly his head.

"Of course I will! How could I forget?", she replied in a strong tone, sounding almost outraged by his assumption.

He was still incredulous: it had happened already. It hadn't been pleasant. At all. But he didn't want to bring that up, partly because he felt too brought down, in general because it really wasn't the place or time to do so. His silence and his shifting gaze must have had her get his point anyway, because she too paused to think, and didn't say anything else on the matter.

"Hatter, why is a raven like a writing desk?", she asked innocently.

That had the corner of his mouth lift on its own in a small smile, that spread anything but joy, but that him think of all the occasions in which he had riddled her that: all their short, but meaningful times together, that he will hold in his heart forever. Maybe, she would have too. His throat felt tight as he swallowed before giving her his answer: "I haven't the slightest idea".

She smiled. He had her smile. And she was starting to fade.

A crazy, mad idea flashed through his mind right then, one that formed so quickly it almost ripped the barrier that separates thought from action. He leaned in towards her face and taking her by the hand. But then his mind screamed and he regained full consciousness, but he was not in the position to pull back, so he merely shifted towards the side of her face to whisper in her ear: "Fairfarren, Alice…".

He pulled back just in time to see her eyes one last time, before she vanished completely. He looked down at his hand, still feeling the light weight of hers on his palm: he curled his fingers slowly as to hold her hand, but he squeezed nothing but thin air, even as it felt like he was clenching his own heart.

He was torn from his thoughts by a real hand that laid on his shoulder, it was Teana, who was wearing the softest look on her face, her eyes shone and she had the smallest smile. Her hand slid from his shoulder and stopped on his elbow where it was reached by the other: "She found herself here: she will not forget."

He looked down at her, a little embarrassed by the fact that if she had heard then anyone else also did, but appreciated her reassurance. He finally turned to face the rest of his company: the White Queen had already been helped on her horse and was organizing a formation with both the Chess Pieces and the Cards to go back to her Castle, McTwisp was at her side and the head of the Jabberwocky had been somehow loaded on the Red Queen's sedan chair to be brought along. He guessed that Dannis had got back in line, as now Orlov was standing there by himself, all the others were still close by, preparing to follow the Monarch as soon as he was ready.

"Come on, Hatter! Nothin' like some fine tea tae raise your mood!", chirped Mallyumkun from Bayard's back.

"Also, the Queen promised fresh scones for everyone", Chess purred, licking his lips in anticipation.

"Aye, an' we are runnin' late because o' ye!", yelled Thackery, who wasn't exactly known to be the most empathetic among the rest, but succeded in getting a short laugh out of everyone, Hatter included.

Teana led Tarrant excitedly for a few feet, then dropped her brother's arm to go get Orlov, that due to the fact that Stayne had cut off most of his armor, was only tacked with his chaffron, crinet and his fixed leg protections. That seemed to be no problem for her, as she walked to the horse's side, took hold of a tuft of mane that escaped the crinet, near the withers and jumped swinging a leg over his back. As she adjusted her posture and the reins' length, Terence also approached the group, riding Shadow to bring him to Marmoreal too.

"I would offer you a ride, but I don't think your outfit is suited for a bareback trek", said Teana to her brother, gesturing at his kilt with a smirk.

He frowned and gave her a side eye: "I wouldn't get on one of those even if properly dressed". As if on cue, Orlov snorted, causing the Hatter to jump. "Care to join us for tea later?", he offered to both his sister and her husband when he had recovered.

"Tea sounds very nice.", She answered.

"That is if I can make it home", said Terence, who was having a hard time with Shadow, which had just improvised a rear as soon as he had been asked to walk.

"I'm afraid that might be an habit of his", Teana told him with a giggle.

And so began the victorious march, led by the White Queen herself, to go back to Marmoreal, the new capital of Underland. No tiredness nor soreness were felt that day by those who had fought, the happiness of having put an end to the Red Queen's reign was just too much. It was a moment of glory, a promising new beginning, a time for celebration and of gratitude towards the Champion, even if she had chosen not to stay to be properly thanked.

Only one glance went back to the Chessboard after the crowd had left: it was the Hatter's, who looked behind him one last time, just to be faced with emptiness where he hoped that Alice would have reappeared to stay, if not forever, at least a little longer. When he tore his eyes from the battlefield, he promised himself to be patient, to live his life while she lived hers up above: that was what she fought for, for all of Underland to be able to live again, free of fear and tyranny. So that would have been exactly what he would have done, all while waiting for her to fullfill her promise and come back someday.