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Description
The proper order of things..

When Alice stepped into the green grass of the Wonderland, her yellow dress was gone, replaced by her favorite blue dress with white pinafore. The usual dark eye make-up she wore appeared from nowhere, along with the silver necklace around her throat. She was feeling a bit uneasy and confused. Instead of the bright and colorful world she was used to, the air was heavy and foggy. A strange mist was covering everything like a blanket. As they entered the woods everything was so very quiet. Not a bandersnatch or momerath to be heard and this was their mating season too. The trees around her were a pale green and seem to be fading more and more as dead leaves flittered to the ground. Strange for a place that never sees a fall or winter. It was almost as if something had poisoned the trees. Many questions were circling inside her head, but no answers were coming. So she silently followed the path towards the Hatter's cottage.

The teeny Hatter poked his head up out of the pocket of her apron. He was feeling very nervous about being back home. The Naaxia could be anywhere, and now she was expecting them! He ducked down so only his large nose and eyes could be seen over the pocket. "A-Alice do we really need to do this? Simon is a smart lad right? Can he not make it home on his own?"

Alice didn't really expect the Hatter to talk at this point. "I guess that means you know where he is now?" She looked up at the tiny figure in her apron. "Will you help me or should I not bother to find the right ingredient to return you to your normal size?" She raised a brow.

The mad man whined a little. Even though he hated being such a minuscule size. It was better than being turned into a toothpick by the Naaxia. "It’s not a matter of normal. It’s a matter of living to see tomorrow..." He muttered softly and swallowed rather hard. "But..I will help you find him...if you insist...."

Alice didn't care about thoughts of dying. "Death isn't what I fear." She whispered. "It is welcomed, if necessary." As they proceeded farther she could remember what this land looked like upon her return. The Hatter's fortress had consumed most of the Tulgy woods where they were now, and all of Looking Glass Land. But after she defeated the Queen of Hearts the world she help to break was fixed and the woods had returned to their former glory. Only now, everything was somehow so silent. Like all the life was gone away, left this place. "It won't change my mind. I will find Simon."

The small hat maker glanced up at her.."...Alice?...If we do find him. Are you going to one day....marry him?"

Alice broke her stride and looked away to hide her eyes sadly when his question came. "I..." She suddenly looked even more unhappy. "I don't want to." She sighed, didn't know what else to say.

The Hatter perked up a little. She didn’t? That was great! Then maybe he could...He paused as his face fell a little. When she learns the truth, what will become of them? Would she even want to see him again? He sighed letting his arms dangle out of the pocket as they walked deeper into the Tulgy woods, towards the heart of Looking glass land.

Alice stopped right beside the crossroads to the Hatter's house, glancing around tiredly. Tapping the Hatter's tiny chest behind her apron fabric, Alice looked down at him after a deep breath. "I'm searching blindly. I need your help." She said softly, emerald eyes were even softer. "Where is he now?"

The Hatter looked up at her..."I..I don’t.." He sighed and decided, no more lies. "He's..in the Pale Realm. You do remember that place?" He looked up at her. "It isn’t far..yet very far.."

Placing the tip of her index finger against the Hatter's tiny chin, she patted it like she was petting a cat. Maybe it was a 'thank you' in her own way. "Yes, I do." It was a strangely beautiful and yet such a deadly place just a few years ago. A land of living chess pieces that play out their game of strategy over and over. Red against White. Even when the Queen took over Wonderland, their own personal battle never wavered. With her thumb, she gently stroked the back of his head, his blond hair felt so soft. "Hatter? Am I not too young to marry?" She suddenly asked, while walking towards the path to the Pale Realm. It looked like she would need some weapons at this point. But again... she didn't know what was waiting for her there. And if it made a mad man this afraid. Then it must be something big.

The Hatter felt her fingers playing over his face and then his hair. So delicate even at this size. She could crush him and yet her fingers didn’t hurt at all as he sighed with a smile. He then looked up at her and felt a bit awkward. "I think you’re the p-perfect age to get married.." He said clearing his throat. "Why? D-did you have someone in mind?...Perhaps?" He said as if hoping she would say the name of a certain hat maker.

Alice binded her hands behind her with a flushed expression on her face, hoping he wouldn’t see her like this. "No, not at all." She smiled nervously, then... Emerald eyes looked down with curiosity. It was then Alice's boot hit something hard lying in the grass. What could she of tripped over? When she stopped and knelt beside the path, she could recognize the familiar shape of a pawn lying on its back. But it was broken... crushed to pieces. She used to be named as one before. She clearly remembered that. But what was going on in Pale Realm? And what was this poor pawn doing so far from its home? Were her friends in danger once more?

The pawns one large eye stared blankly into space. Its body looked worn and weathered just like the Hatters teapots and cups. But the grass around it was still short. So it couldn’t of been laying there for long. Just then ahead of her the brush shook as what looked like the head of a horse appeared between the leaves. Then a hollow clop was heard as an ivory horse headed knight jumped and landed in the middle of the path blocking their way. Its form was in profile as it scanned the area searching for the pawn even though it was dead. It held a shield in one arm and a broken sword in the other as its nostrils flared. The Hatter blinked in relief. "Ahh good! A white knight." He looked up at her. "For a moment there I thought we were in for..." The horse turned sharply and looked right at them as the Hatter gasped in shock. The entire right side of its face was broken off. He winced as they both could see straight through the eye socket to the rocky path behind it. It sneered aggressively and began to growl as the Hatter gulped. "..Trouble.."

Alice's eyes widened in shock. Were the chess pieces battling yet again? It stands to reason that they were always in conflict. But to go as far as to kill each other? What could the reason be? She stood on her feet again and made a few steps towards the knight. "Mr. Knight. I need your help." She asked in a calm soothing way so the enraged Knight wouldn’t mistake them for other pawns. "Can you tell me what's going on here? Why are you fighting?"

The Knight grunted as its breath came out in hot blasts though his nose; it took another clop towards them. It bared its teeth staring at her with the one remaining pale blue eye behind the dented helmet. The Hatter ducked down a little more. "Alice..I don’t think he wants to chat!" With every clop the Knight made, a crumble of dust or another crack would appear on its body. Almost as if it were fighting just to stay in one piece.

For some reason Alice couldn't believe the White Knight was going to attack her. They used to be friends a long time ago. Even after Wonderland went completely insane the White end of the Chess Board was still on her side. It was something to cling too, when everyone was against her. But Wonderland was whole again... or was it? "Please, Mr. Knight. Do you know what's happening? Have you seen someone strange around here?" She was too curious and she didn't want Simon getting hurt. He was just too innocent for it.

The Knight reared back its sword and jumped even closer. It looked like a peaceful white chess piece. But something didn’t seem quite right about it. The Hatter couldn’t explain it. Had the White army turned against Alice this time around? It was then his attention was drawn to the base of the Knight. The rest of its body was ivory, but the base... was red. It was as if the color was draining into the ground, like it was being washed away. The more the color leaked out the weaker the chess piece became. It didn’t answer her but kept approaching as each movement caused it to break even more. "...Alice...Look..." He pointed down at its base.

When she saw the red base, Alice finally stopped holding her breath. Was it white or red? What was doing such a thing to it? "Hatter?" She called to the tiny man in her pocket in a whisper. "Is there any way I could help it?" She shivered a bit, feeling a lot more fear running through her veins. Many things were wrong here... very wrong.

The Hatter frowned, it was so pathetic he couldn’t help but feel sorry for it. But in the end there was nothing that could be done. He saw the same thing happen to his friends the Hare and Dormouse. She took their color, their life right out of them inch by inch. Until they were nothing but husks. He lowered his head and sighed. "Aside from putting it out of its misery? I’m afraid nothing can be done..." The knight got within range and swung his sword at her weakly. Its arm abruptly cracked at the shoulder as it fell to the ground with a thud. Its whole body shook and rattled as the armor cracked and flaked off like old plaster. The horse head made a gruff whisper of a yelp as it fell over like lifeless furniture and lay on its side. The red now completely drained from its body.

Alice watched him dying with an unbelieving expression on her face. She couldn't handle watching her friends falling to pieces again. She didn't want to leave the poor knight here like this, but there was nothing she could do. Maybe it could be saved again. Walking past it, she followed the checkered path leading to the gates of the Pale Realm; her eyes were getting watery. But she kept it inside.

The Hatter frowned a little as he too felt sorrow for a fellow denizen of Wonderland. "I am sorry Alice. When I left, things were not this bad." Ahead of them he heard voices as he flinched. "Someone’s coming!"

Wiping the coming tears with the back of her hand, she suddenly perked up, and then ran to a square shaped stone to hide behind. She knelt and checked who was coming. "Is this why you left Wonderland and started to stay with me?"

The Hat maker looked up at her and bit his lower lip. "In a manner of speaking. Yes.." He glanced down and knew it was also because he wanted to protect her. To keep her out of Wonderland even if it meant its destruction. Ahead of them a tall figure clopped its way down the path. Another Chess Piece? Whoever it was wore a tall crown on her head, and a long hoop dress that merged with a solid base at the bottom. The entire creature was bathed in red. The Hatter couldn’t believe it. The Red Queen! Unlike the Queen of Hearts, the Red Queen was not evil. But she was rather mad just like her counterpart the White Queen. They were sisters, who would be happy one moment and at each other’s throats the next. The Queen of Hearts annexed the Red Queen, and was thought to of beheaded her as the evil one ruled in her place. Using all of the Red Realm as her own personal army while the Pale Realm suffered in her wake.

As Alice and the Hatter watched, the leader of the red chess pieces seemed to be running for her life. "Oh dear! Oh dearie me!"

Alice stared with wide eyes. "Maybe I should talk to her? She may know something I don't." The young woman whispered to the Hatter. But she was red! Would she attack her like the knight tried to do? And she had a terrible past with the Red King. Well... she killed him once.

The Red Queen stopped near the stone Alice was hiding behind to catch her breath, when she looked behind her in terror. "..No..No!..Go back! Don’t you hear me?! I am your Queen!" She screamed as two more half drained red pawns bounced towards her.

The Hatter looked up at Alice. "She might. But it doesn’t look like we will get the chance to ask.."

Alice raised a brow curiously. "Red pawns are attacking their queen?" She frowned and already jumped away from the stone, then drawing her Vorpal blade. "You little traitors, get away from her!" The Red Queen was quite mad and she might be confusing most of the time. But Alice used to like her. "What kind of pawns attack their own queen?" It looked like Alice wasn't listening to the Mad Hatter's advice anymore.

The Hatter gripped the pocket even harder..".....Alice?!" He then ducked down inside the apron for safety. After all what else could he do? At this size even his teapot rockets would just bounce off of them like pebbles. The Red Queen looked over at the strange girl and stared as the two renegades paused in mid hop. They seemed confused at first before turning to each other making loud obnoxious squeaking noises. They seemed to be discussing what move to make next when they suddenly stopped and both turned and began to jump towards Alice rapidly! Their large bulbous eyes were filled with hate and pain and were way beyond any hint of reason from Alice or their Queen.

"Get away, you crazed game pieces!" She warned them for the last time. But they didn't stop. So they gave her no choice but to defend herself. She could feel the green skinned man hiding in her apron. It felt very reassuring to carry her friend this close in a battle. She used to be all alone before. It felt warm... even though he wasn't helping her at all. Alice threw her blade repeatedly at the pawns. Each time it reappeared in her hand strangely, so she could go on and on. The dark haired girl continued until they both fell apart completely. She stood over their broken forms as the scene felt oddly reminiscent. Perhaps it was better this way. They wouldn’t have to share the same slow fate as their Knight companion piece. She then turned towards the covering creature by the stone. "Are you okay?" Alice ran towards the Red Queen.

The tall half woman-half statue held her hands over her eyes as she shook with fear. She then peeked out through her fingers down at Alice. "No! Don’t check me please!" She said waving her hand at her. "No one listens to me anymore! Pawns moving too many spaces! My Knights won’t protect me! All my Rooks ran away!" She sobbed and jumped one space back from Alice.

The Hatter just huffed as he popped up out of her pocket like a jack in the box. "Some queen she is..."

"Hush, you little frog." Alice poked the Hatter's head into her pocket again, and then followed after the Red Queen. "I have a few questions to ask." It was then she heard something moving behind her. Before she could look back to check who that was, the image of another queen appeared. She hopped right out of the bushes and jumped full steam towards her red opponent. This one looked precisely like the Red Queen only she was bathed in alabaster white.

"We are certainly late for our tea-party!" The White Queen was holding her skirts up a bit to move faster. "Hurry up, hurry up!" She said sternly taking her sisters hand and pulled her along.

The Red Queen suddenly forgot her terror and kept pace right along with her. "Oh yes indeed we can’t be late!"

Alice stood there in slight surprise before she decided to run after them. Gladly they didn't see any other mad pawns around.

"Hmpph!!" The Hatter bleated in a muffled voice as he popped back up rubbing the bump on his head from her huge fingers. "And people have to the gall to say that I have a short attention span?" Alice smiled a little down at him as they lead her to a very large garden with checkered grass for their tea-party.

"Looks like we have a guest." The White raised a not so friendly brow as Alice approached. "Only queens are invited, my dear. And I suppose you're not one." She huffed like a snob.

Alice shook her head. "I may not be a queen, but I do want some answers." She said taking a seat between them. The table looked very much like the Hatter's never ending tea party. But everything looked like a Chess Board. Every item, every teacup, saucer and napkin was checkered, even the sugar cubes. Black was a strange color for sugar, thought Alice.

The Red Queen began to prepare her tea and nodded in agreement with her sister. "Yes Dearie. Only Queens are allowed."

The Hatter huffed at the two of them harshly. "Do you two know who this is!? It’s Alice! The one who saved Wonderland "and" the Pale and Red Realms?" He folded his arms over the pockets edge looking rather annoyed.

The Red queen paused and looked over at the teeny figure in her pocket and squinted taking out a small pair of glasses. "Oh my dear look! Isn’t that the Mad Hatter? The very same creature that was working for that dreadful Queen of Hearts?" She gasped looking over at the other chess piece. Alice looked down with wide emerald eyes at the Hatter, when he tried to make them notice who she was. But no one seemed to remember her. Or they actually were distracted with the Mad Hatter himself. With a sudden movement The White Queen reached for the green man in Alice's pocket.

"Oh my, oh my... This is really he!" Now they started to act like Alice wasn't even there. So the dark haired girl sat on the last empty seat and reached for an empty teacup. The White Queen picked the tiny Hatter and brought him up to her eye level, looking at him very carefully. "Did he shrink, or was he always this tiny?" She poked the poor man's legs a bit. "He looks like a toy!"

The Hatter just folded his arms as his feet dangled."....Ladies...."

Alice was busy with pouring herself a cup of tea. They could play with the Hatter as long as her questions were answered. Well... She personally wanted to play with him too. But it wasn't the time now. Maybe after bringing Simon back.

The Red Queen giggled. "Oh my yes a toy! And he has no hat? Who ever heard of a hatter with no hat at all?" She laughed more poking at him as well.

"..Ladies...."

The Red Queen continued. "He’s not so threatening now is he?" She giggled more as the small man in the White Queens grip fumed.

"LADIES!" This made the Red and White Queen gasp and fall silent. The two of them looked at each other in shock for a long moment but then their expressions changed simultaneously. The White Queen suddenly dropped him as he fell into Alice's teacup. Emerald eyes just stared at the blond man coldly, then she placed the cup on the table. Well, she couldn't drink it anymore. The Hatter came to the surface and bobbed a little gasping for air and winced as the two tall forms loomed over him.

"Hmph! Very rude as always!" Yelled the White Queen. "Perhaps I should punish you Hatter for your Queens actions!"

The tall red chess piece stood up pointing at him. "Yes! Yes! She not only took over my army and my land but she had me imprisoned! Threatening to turn me into one of your Automatons!" She tapped his head with her scepter.

The Hatter rubbed his head after getting thumped and grinned a little nervous. He had to think fast and tried to charm his way out of some severe upcoming bodily harm. "W-well...You see Ladies. I wasn’t really myself you see. And I know that two very ...attractive...women such as yourselves. Wouldn’t harm a man for transgressions done while he was ill?" He looked over at Alice for some help.

The White Queen bent over even closer towards him. "Yes, you should pay for it nice and slow. You are the reason I was killed once. I may be a chess piece, but it did hurt after all!"

Alice didn't help him at all until she had prepared yet another cup of tea and took a small sip. "Don't you have a new threat in Pale Realm now?" The young girl finally spoke. "If you could tell me about this new person, I may help you." But this only pulled out a new expression from the White Queen.

"Are you also behind this new war, Mad Hatter!?" She screamed picking up the teacup he was in and shook it harshly, making the poor clockwork man swirl around and around. She then dropped the cup as it sloshed over spilling the tea and the Hatter.

The Mad Hatter sat up soaked to the bone with cold tea as he coughed. "...In a giant teacup. My wildest dream...And I couldn’t even enjoy it." Alice smiled and took a tea spoon and scooped up her friend placing him on the edge of her own cup.

The Red Queen was starting to grow angry. "Yes! The new threat! Your pieces started this!" She said yelling at her at the top of her lungs and turned towards the White Queen.

Her sister blinked at her for a moment. "Mine! It is you and your miserable red pieces that are at fault!!" She growled as the two locked hands around each other’s necks, pushing back and forth until they shoved each other onto the tea table.

The Hatter chuckled and rung the tea out of his sleeve. "Heh, Odd isn’t it? In chess the white pieces have to move first. But then the red attack thinking the whites started the war. They’ve been fighting for centuries." He snickers whispering up at her. "Not the brightest of games."

Alice dipped the spoon back into the tea, and then looked at the two queens. She was starting to get annoyed at all of this. "Cannot you just tell me who this new person in Wonderland is?" She sighed as they continued their shouting and shoving match. "Then I will take my leave and you can continue fighting as you want." She reached down and scooped up the Hatter and started to dry him with a napkin before pushing him into the pocket of her apron. She looked back at them as they grappled with each other. Tea cups and checkered sugar cubes were flying everywhere. They certainly haven’t changed one bit since she was a child. "They weren't really helpful as always." She huffed and patted the blond hair of the tea stained man and started back down the path. "Seems like we're alone in this again." She sighed.

Description
The proper order of things..

When Alice stepped into the green grass of the Wonderland, her yellow dress was gone, replaced by her favorite blue dress with white pinafore. The usual dark eye make-up she wore appeared from nowhere, along with the silver necklace around her throat. She was feeling a bit uneasy and confused. Instead of the bright and colorful world she was used to, the air was heavy and foggy. A strange mist was covering everything like a blanket. As they entered the woods everything was so very quiet. Not a bandersnatch or momerath to be heard and this was their mating season too. The trees around her were a pale green and seem to be fading more and more as dead leaves flittered to the ground. Strange for a place that never sees a fall or winter. It was almost as if something had poisoned the trees. Many questions were circling inside her head, but no answers were coming. So she silently followed the path towards the Hatter's cottage.

The teeny Hatter poked his head up out of the pocket of her apron. He was feeling very nervous about being back home. The Naaxia could be anywhere, and now she was expecting them! He ducked down so only his large nose and eyes could be seen over the pocket. "A-Alice do we really need to do this? Simon is a smart lad right? Can he not make it home on his own?"

Alice didn't really expect the Hatter to talk at this point. "I guess that means you know where he is now?" She looked up at the tiny figure in her apron. "Will you help me or should I not bother to find the right ingredient to return you to your normal size?" She raised a brow.

The mad man whined a little. Even though he hated being such a minuscule size. It was better than being turned into a toothpick by the Naaxia. "It’s not a matter of normal. It’s a matter of living to see tomorrow..." He muttered softly and swallowed rather hard. "But..I will help you find him...if you insist...."

Alice didn't care about thoughts of dying. "Death isn't what I fear." She whispered. "It is welcomed, if necessary." As they proceeded farther she could remember what this land looked like upon her return. The Hatter's fortress had consumed most of the Tulgy woods where they were now, and all of Looking Glass Land. But after she defeated the Queen of Hearts the world she help to break was fixed and the woods had returned to their former glory. Only now, everything was somehow so silent. Like all the life was gone away, left this place. "It won't change my mind. I will find Simon."

The small hat maker glanced up at her.."...Alice?...If we do find him. Are you going to one day....marry him?"

Alice broke her stride and looked away to hide her eyes sadly when his question came. "I..." She suddenly looked even more unhappy. "I don't want to." She sighed, didn't know what else to say.

The Hatter perked up a little. She didn’t? That was great! Then maybe he could...He paused as his face fell a little. When she learns the truth, what will become of them? Would she even want to see him again? He sighed letting his arms dangle out of the pocket as they walked deeper into the Tulgy woods, towards the heart of Looking glass land.

Alice stopped right beside the crossroads to the Hatter's house, glancing around tiredly. Tapping the Hatter's tiny chest behind her apron fabric, Alice looked down at him after a deep breath. "I'm searching blindly. I need your help." She said softly, emerald eyes were even softer. "Where is he now?"

The Hatter looked up at her..."I..I don’t.." He sighed and decided, no more lies. "He's..in the Pale Realm. You do remember that place?" He looked up at her. "It isn’t far..yet very far.."

Placing the tip of her index finger against the Hatter's tiny chin, she patted it like she was petting a cat. Maybe it was a 'thank you' in her own way. "Yes, I do." It was a strangely beautiful and yet such a deadly place just a few years ago. A land of living chess pieces that play out their game of strategy over and over. Red against White. Even when the Queen took over Wonderland, their own personal battle never wavered. With her thumb, she gently stroked the back of his head, his blond hair felt so soft. "Hatter? Am I not too young to marry?" She suddenly asked, while walking towards the path to the Pale Realm. It looked like she would need some weapons at this point. But again... she didn't know what was waiting for her there. And if it made a mad man this afraid. Then it must be something big.

The Hatter felt her fingers playing over his face and then his hair. So delicate even at this size. She could crush him and yet her fingers didn’t hurt at all as he sighed with a smile. He then looked up at her and felt a bit awkward. "I think you’re the p-perfect age to get married.." He said clearing his throat. "Why? D-did you have someone in mind?...Perhaps?" He said as if hoping she would say the name of a certain hat maker.

Alice binded her hands behind her with a flushed expression on her face, hoping he wouldn’t see her like this. "No, not at all." She smiled nervously, then... Emerald eyes looked down with curiosity. It was then Alice's boot hit something hard lying in the grass. What could she of tripped over? When she stopped and knelt beside the path, she could recognize the familiar shape of a pawn lying on its back. But it was broken... crushed to pieces. She used to be named as one before. She clearly remembered that. But what was going on in Pale Realm? And what was this poor pawn doing so far from its home? Were her friends in danger once more?

The pawns one large eye stared blankly into space. Its body looked worn and weathered just like the Hatters teapots and cups. But the grass around it was still short. So it couldn’t of been laying there for long. Just then ahead of her the brush shook as what looked like the head of a horse appeared between the leaves. Then a hollow clop was heard as an ivory horse headed knight jumped and landed in the middle of the path blocking their way. Its form was in profile as it scanned the area searching for the pawn even though it was dead. It held a shield in one arm and a broken sword in the other as its nostrils flared. The Hatter blinked in relief. "Ahh good! A white knight." He looked up at her. "For a moment there I thought we were in for..." The horse turned sharply and looked right at them as the Hatter gasped in shock. The entire right side of its face was broken off. He winced as they both could see straight through the eye socket to the rocky path behind it. It sneered aggressively and began to growl as the Hatter gulped. "..Trouble.."

Alice's eyes widened in shock. Were the chess pieces battling yet again? It stands to reason that they were always in conflict. But to go as far as to kill each other? What could the reason be? She stood on her feet again and made a few steps towards the knight. "Mr. Knight. I need your help." She asked in a calm soothing way so the enraged Knight wouldn’t mistake them for other pawns. "Can you tell me what's going on here? Why are you fighting?"

The Knight grunted as its breath came out in hot blasts though his nose; it took another clop towards them. It bared its teeth staring at her with the one remaining pale blue eye behind the dented helmet. The Hatter ducked down a little more. "Alice..I don’t think he wants to chat!" With every clop the Knight made, a crumble of dust or another crack would appear on its body. Almost as if it were fighting just to stay in one piece.

For some reason Alice couldn't believe the White Knight was going to attack her. They used to be friends a long time ago. Even after Wonderland went completely insane the White end of the Chess Board was still on her side. It was something to cling too, when everyone was against her. But Wonderland was whole again... or was it? "Please, Mr. Knight. Do you know what's happening? Have you seen someone strange around here?" She was too curious and she didn't want Simon getting hurt. He was just too innocent for it.

The Knight reared back its sword and jumped even closer. It looked like a peaceful white chess piece. But something didn’t seem quite right about it. The Hatter couldn’t explain it. Had the White army turned against Alice this time around? It was then his attention was drawn to the base of the Knight. The rest of its body was ivory, but the base... was red. It was as if the color was draining into the ground, like it was being washed away. The more the color leaked out the weaker the chess piece became. It didn’t answer her but kept approaching as each movement caused it to break even more. "...Alice...Look..." He pointed down at its base.

When she saw the red base, Alice finally stopped holding her breath. Was it white or red? What was doing such a thing to it? "Hatter?" She called to the tiny man in her pocket in a whisper. "Is there any way I could help it?" She shivered a bit, feeling a lot more fear running through her veins. Many things were wrong here... very wrong.

The Hatter frowned, it was so pathetic he couldn’t help but feel sorry for it. But in the end there was nothing that could be done. He saw the same thing happen to his friends the Hare and Dormouse. She took their color, their life right out of them inch by inch. Until they were nothing but husks. He lowered his head and sighed. "Aside from putting it out of its misery? I’m afraid nothing can be done..." The knight got within range and swung his sword at her weakly. Its arm abruptly cracked at the shoulder as it fell to the ground with a thud. Its whole body shook and rattled as the armor cracked and flaked off like old plaster. The horse head made a gruff whisper of a yelp as it fell over like lifeless furniture and lay on its side. The red now completely drained from its body.

Alice watched him dying with an unbelieving expression on her face. She couldn't handle watching her friends falling to pieces again. She didn't want to leave the poor knight here like this, but there was nothing she could do. Maybe it could be saved again. Walking past it, she followed the checkered path leading to the gates of the Pale Realm; her eyes were getting watery. But she kept it inside.

The Hatter frowned a little as he too felt sorrow for a fellow denizen of Wonderland. "I am sorry Alice. When I left, things were not this bad." Ahead of them he heard voices as he flinched. "Someone’s coming!"

Wiping the coming tears with the back of her hand, she suddenly perked up, and then ran to a square shaped stone to hide behind. She knelt and checked who was coming. "Is this why you left Wonderland and started to stay with me?"

The Hat maker looked up at her and bit his lower lip. "In a manner of speaking. Yes.." He glanced down and knew it was also because he wanted to protect her. To keep her out of Wonderland even if it meant its destruction. Ahead of them a tall figure clopped its way down the path. Another Chess Piece? Whoever it was wore a tall crown on her head, and a long hoop dress that merged with a solid base at the bottom. The entire creature was bathed in red. The Hatter couldn’t believe it. The Red Queen! Unlike the Queen of Hearts, the Red Queen was not evil. But she was rather mad just like her counterpart the White Queen. They were sisters, who would be happy one moment and at each other’s throats the next. The Queen of Hearts annexed the Red Queen, and was thought to of beheaded her as the evil one ruled in her place. Using all of the Red Realm as her own personal army while the Pale Realm suffered in her wake.

As Alice and the Hatter watched, the leader of the red chess pieces seemed to be running for her life. "Oh dear! Oh dearie me!"

Alice stared with wide eyes. "Maybe I should talk to her? She may know something I don't." The young woman whispered to the Hatter. But she was red! Would she attack her like the knight tried to do? And she had a terrible past with the Red King. Well... she killed him once.

The Red Queen stopped near the stone Alice was hiding behind to catch her breath, when she looked behind her in terror. "..No..No!..Go back! Don’t you hear me?! I am your Queen!" She screamed as two more half drained red pawns bounced towards her.

The Hatter looked up at Alice. "She might. But it doesn’t look like we will get the chance to ask.."

Alice raised a brow curiously. "Red pawns are attacking their queen?" She frowned and already jumped away from the stone, then drawing her Vorpal blade. "You little traitors, get away from her!" The Red Queen was quite mad and she might be confusing most of the time. But Alice used to like her. "What kind of pawns attack their own queen?" It looked like Alice wasn't listening to the Mad Hatter's advice anymore.

The Hatter gripped the pocket even harder..".....Alice?!" He then ducked down inside the apron for safety. After all what else could he do? At this size even his teapot rockets would just bounce off of them like pebbles. The Red Queen looked over at the strange girl and stared as the two renegades paused in mid hop. They seemed confused at first before turning to each other making loud obnoxious squeaking noises. They seemed to be discussing what move to make next when they suddenly stopped and both turned and began to jump towards Alice rapidly! Their large bulbous eyes were filled with hate and pain and were way beyond any hint of reason from Alice or their Queen.

"Get away, you crazed game pieces!" She warned them for the last time. But they didn't stop. So they gave her no choice but to defend herself. She could feel the green skinned man hiding in her apron. It felt very reassuring to carry her friend this close in a battle. She used to be all alone before. It felt warm... even though he wasn't helping her at all. Alice threw her blade repeatedly at the pawns. Each time it reappeared in her hand strangely, so she could go on and on. The dark haired girl continued until they both fell apart completely. She stood over their broken forms as the scene felt oddly reminiscent. Perhaps it was better this way. They wouldn’t have to share the same slow fate as their Knight companion piece. She then turned towards the covering creature by the stone. "Are you okay?" Alice ran towards the Red Queen.

The tall half woman-half statue held her hands over her eyes as she shook with fear. She then peeked out through her fingers down at Alice. "No! Don’t check me please!" She said waving her hand at her. "No one listens to me anymore! Pawns moving too many spaces! My Knights won’t protect me! All my Rooks ran away!" She sobbed and jumped one space back from Alice.

The Hatter just huffed as he popped up out of her pocket like a jack in the box. "Some queen she is..."

"Hush, you little frog." Alice poked the Hatter's head into her pocket again, and then followed after the Red Queen. "I have a few questions to ask." It was then she heard something moving behind her. Before she could look back to check who that was, the image of another queen appeared. She hopped right out of the bushes and jumped full steam towards her red opponent. This one looked precisely like the Red Queen only she was bathed in alabaster white.

"We are certainly late for our tea-party!" The White Queen was holding her skirts up a bit to move faster. "Hurry up, hurry up!" She said sternly taking her sisters hand and pulled her along.

The Red Queen suddenly forgot her terror and kept pace right along with her. "Oh yes indeed we can’t be late!"

Alice stood there in slight surprise before she decided to run after them. Gladly they didn't see any other mad pawns around.

"Hmpph!!" The Hatter bleated in a muffled voice as he popped back up rubbing the bump on his head from her huge fingers. "And people have to the gall to say that I have a short attention span?" Alice smiled a little down at him as they lead her to a very large garden with checkered grass for their tea-party.

"Looks like we have a guest." The White raised a not so friendly brow as Alice approached. "Only queens are invited, my dear. And I suppose you're not one." She huffed like a snob.

Alice shook her head. "I may not be a queen, but I do want some answers." She said taking a seat between them. The table looked very much like the Hatter's never ending tea party. But everything looked like a Chess Board. Every item, every teacup, saucer and napkin was checkered, even the sugar cubes. Black was a strange color for sugar, thought Alice.

The Red Queen began to prepare her tea and nodded in agreement with her sister. "Yes Dearie. Only Queens are allowed."

The Hatter huffed at the two of them harshly. "Do you two know who this is!? It’s Alice! The one who saved Wonderland "and" the Pale and Red Realms?" He folded his arms over the pockets edge looking rather annoyed.

The Red queen paused and looked over at the teeny figure in her pocket and squinted taking out a small pair of glasses. "Oh my dear look! Isn’t that the Mad Hatter? The very same creature that was working for that dreadful Queen of Hearts?" She gasped looking over at the other chess piece. Alice looked down with wide emerald eyes at the Hatter, when he tried to make them notice who she was. But no one seemed to remember her. Or they actually were distracted with the Mad Hatter himself. With a sudden movement The White Queen reached for the green man in Alice's pocket.

"Oh my, oh my... This is really he!" Now they started to act like Alice wasn't even there. So the dark haired girl sat on the last empty seat and reached for an empty teacup. The White Queen picked the tiny Hatter and brought him up to her eye level, looking at him very carefully. "Did he shrink, or was he always this tiny?" She poked the poor man's legs a bit. "He looks like a toy!"

The Hatter just folded his arms as his feet dangled."....Ladies...."

Alice was busy with pouring herself a cup of tea. They could play with the Hatter as long as her questions were answered. Well... She personally wanted to play with him too. But it wasn't the time now. Maybe after bringing Simon back.

The Red Queen giggled. "Oh my yes a toy! And he has no hat? Who ever heard of a hatter with no hat at all?" She laughed more poking at him as well.

"..Ladies...."

The Red Queen continued. "He’s not so threatening now is he?" She giggled more as the small man in the White Queens grip fumed.

"LADIES!" This made the Red and White Queen gasp and fall silent. The two of them looked at each other in shock for a long moment but then their expressions changed simultaneously. The White Queen suddenly dropped him as he fell into Alice's teacup. Emerald eyes just stared at the blond man coldly, then she placed the cup on the table. Well, she couldn't drink it anymore. The Hatter came to the surface and bobbed a little gasping for air and winced as the two tall forms loomed over him.

"Hmph! Very rude as always!" Yelled the White Queen. "Perhaps I should punish you Hatter for your Queens actions!"

The tall red chess piece stood up pointing at him. "Yes! Yes! She not only took over my army and my land but she had me imprisoned! Threatening to turn me into one of your Automatons!" She tapped his head with her scepter.

The Hatter rubbed his head after getting thumped and grinned a little nervous. He had to think fast and tried to charm his way out of some severe upcoming bodily harm. "W-well...You see Ladies. I wasn’t really myself you see. And I know that two very ...attractive...women such as yourselves. Wouldn’t harm a man for transgressions done while he was ill?" He looked over at Alice for some help.

The White Queen bent over even closer towards him. "Yes, you should pay for it nice and slow. You are the reason I was killed once. I may be a chess piece, but it did hurt after all!"

Alice didn't help him at all until she had prepared yet another cup of tea and took a small sip. "Don't you have a new threat in Pale Realm now?" The young girl finally spoke. "If you could tell me about this new person, I may help you." But this only pulled out a new expression from the White Queen.

"Are you also behind this new war, Mad Hatter!?" She screamed picking up the teacup he was in and shook it harshly, making the poor clockwork man swirl around and around. She then dropped the cup as it sloshed over spilling the tea and the Hatter.

The Mad Hatter sat up soaked to the bone with cold tea as he coughed. "...In a giant teacup. My wildest dream...And I couldn’t even enjoy it." Alice smiled and took a tea spoon and scooped up her friend placing him on the edge of her own cup.

The Red Queen was starting to grow angry. "Yes! The new threat! Your pieces started this!" She said yelling at her at the top of her lungs and turned towards the White Queen.

Her sister blinked at her for a moment. "Mine! It is you and your miserable red pieces that are at fault!!" She growled as the two locked hands around each other’s necks, pushing back and forth until they shoved each other onto the tea table.

The Hatter chuckled and rung the tea out of his sleeve. "Heh, Odd isn’t it? In chess the white pieces have to move first. But then the red attack thinking the whites started the war. They’ve been fighting for centuries." He snickers whispering up at her. "Not the brightest of games."

Alice dipped the spoon back into the tea, and then looked at the two queens. She was starting to get annoyed at all of this. "Cannot you just tell me who this new person in Wonderland is?" She sighed as they continued their shouting and shoving match. "Then I will take my leave and you can continue fighting as you want." She reached down and scooped up the Hatter and started to dry him with a napkin before pushing him into the pocket of her apron. She looked back at them as they grappled with each other. Tea cups and checkered sugar cubes were flying everywhere. They certainly haven’t changed one bit since she was a child. "They weren't really helpful as always." She huffed and patted the blond hair of the tea stained man and started back down the path. "Seems like we're alone in this again." She sighed.