Character Art Credit
Form
- Name and/or nickname: Lyra Hawke
- Age: 24
- FC : [ Here ] Credit: Merilliza Chan
- Occupation (In Wonderland): Mad Hatter's Apprentice
- Personality traits: Creative, reckless, witty, patient, blunt, smart
- Background & childhood of character: She had a very average life. Her mother is a wealthy woman who owns the prestigious The Minimal Studio/Museum.
- Relationships: She has an aloof relationship with her mother due to her being mostly brought up by the hired caretakers in the house and Jarvis, their butler. She doesn't hate her mother, she simply doesn't have a deep connection with her.
The closest person to her is their butler, Jarvis, who she had grown up with ever since her father died. He was the one who read to her and took care of her and attended all her school plays. She cares for him very much and frets now that he is getting older, and more weak.
She has many friends but doesn't have a single close one since she feels no one else could quite understand her.
- Main Interest: The Mad Hatter
- Other Interests: The Cheshire Cat, The Caterpillar
- Locations:
> The Queen's Castle; The Courtroom
> The Queen's Castle; The Courtyard
> The Upside Down Forest; the Shisha Lounge
- Game Options and Red Queen's offer: Number 2 & Lyra will refuse the offer/task
★ - - - - - - - - - - Story - - - - - - - - - - ★ix - Red Queen's Favour
The guards were not very friendly nor kind when handling me, not that I expected otherwise. As we were dragged along, I spotted another girl in the tight grasp of the red guards, her face as pale as mine probably was.
“Mad Hatter’s apprentice, huh?” one of the guards said to his buddy, peering down at me. “Doesn’t look as mad as he, does she?”
“Look how she’s dressed,” his friend scoffed. “A sore sight indeed.”
The guard didn’t look convinced, still staring at me with a confused look. So, I met his gaze and titled my chin out, giving him a wide smile that I hoped looked like the Mad Hatter’s maniacal one. The guard’s face darkened and he scowled, turning away.
“It’s a shame the pretty ones are always the unfortunate ones,” he muttered, looking over at the other girl they had captured. I could almost hear him think ’What a waste’.
I snickered, much to the disdain of the guards.
We continued the journey on in silence, not stopping until we reached the massive blood-red iron wrought gates of a huge heart shaped castle. The gates opened to let us through and as we marched towards the entrance, I noticed that everything in the garden was painted red. And how did I know it was painted red?
Because little animals in uniforms were carrying red paint buckets and paintbrushes and painting trees and flowers red.
“Goodness, I wonder what the queen’s favourite colour is,” I said aloud, raising my eyebrows. “For all the clues in the world, I couldn’t possibly figure it out.”
One of the guards poked me roughly in the back. “Silence, Mad Apprentice.”
“I’m not mad,” I told him with a shrug. “I’m perfectly normal, it’s you who's mad.”
“Silence!” he barked, scowling.
We entered the castle that had glossy checkered floors, and were dragged into what had to be the throne room. From there, the guards pushed me until we reached the raised dais at the end of the room. My shoulders were pushed down, forcibly making me kneel. A bitter taste filled my mouth at the thought of having to kneel against my will for anybody.
“Who do we have here?” The queen asked, her voice sharp and cold.
Once the other girl and I were kneeled, the guards backed off, giving us the chance to have our first proper look at the queen.
She had perfect features, there was no denying that. But instead of making her beautiful, those perfect features seemed to make her cruelness more prominent. It was unsettling to look at the face of someone who was perfect but looked perfectly evil. Her dress was red, her hair a deeper shade of red, and she wore a huge golden heart-shaped crown on her head. The light flickers and I catch the shimmer of a bloodred heart-shaped pendant resting around her neck.
Beside the Queen, is a handsome man who carries an equally ugly glint in his eyes as he stares down at us with a semi bored, semi amused expression. The crown atop his head indicated his status as the King. Not nearly as impressive as his wife.
On the other side of the queen, two girls were seated on a fancy chair, looking down at us with wide eyes.
“Welcome to Wonderland,” the Queen said with a cruel twist of her lips. She must think that’s a smile fit for a welcome.
Her eyes scan us from head to toe and as she looks at me, she bursts into laughter.
“You must have been with the Mad Hatter,” she says once she’s done laughing. “Look at you! Dressed as he dresses and with a hat!.” Her smile drops. “A hat the Hatter has made for you and not yet for me?” She eyes me coolly. “Tell me, why is my hat not yet made?”
I stared at her, wondering if I should actually answer and if I did, how I was to answer that. One of the Guards poked me. Okay, I suppose that was my cue to answer.
“Perhaps,” I started carefully, “the Hatter requires more time for he can’t possibly work on a great hat without great time.”
There was silence as everyone waited for her response. The Queen merely stared down at me, expression haughty.
“Hmph. I shall ask him myself,” she finally said. “But enough of this, I was just about to enjoy a little game.” A smile drew across her face, causing tension to spike up in my body. “Why don’t you join me, dear guests?”
*
When playing any kind of games with the Red Queen, it was obvious that one had to exercise extreme caution. It was like playing with fire that will jump off the logs to bite you.
The game she had chosen was solitaire, and a flustering game it was, as it involved guards dressed as a deck of cards and squirrel bullets being shot at us. I already wasn’t very good at card games and I wished I had him to play with me because Jar--
Caught in the sudden realisation that someone familiar had crossed my mind, I stumbled and lost my place in the game, causing me to lose. I would have lost anyway, because winning against the Red Queen was just begging to get one’s head chopped off.
After the game was over, and to my horror, one of the other girls had won instead of the Red Queen, we were brought to her majesty. The Queen wasn’t thrilled of the win and was quick to inform us all how she hated to lose and had the power to cause us harm. The girl who had been captured with me had been lucky the knife only sliced off her hair and not her head.
The Queen dismissed her and turned to me.
What I saw in her eyes caused me to stiffen, because instead of glee, there was a suspicious, calculating look in her eyes. Her smile was frozen onto her face as she held her hand out. I was not thrilled about the fact that she still held her dagger.
“Did you lose on purpose?” she asked, sickly sweet, as I slid my hand onto her palm. Her fingers locked on my fingers, nearly crushing them. I refused to flinch and instead, looked her in the eyes.
“No. If I lose, it’s a loss, and what could is a loss to me?”
“Perhaps you thought your life will be spared if you lose to me,” the Queen replied.
“No, I--”
“Are you working for her?” she spat viciously, looking uglier with every darkened expression. Her grip tightened, and pain shot through my arm.
“I work for no one but the Hatter,” was my response.
“The White Queen, you liar!” the Red Queen screeched. “I will have your head for lying to me!” Her dagger hand moved before I could process it and it was only when a flash of white-hot pain lanced my hand did I realize she’d sliced me.
We both stopped, looking down at my bleeding hand. Suddenly, she threw her head back, letting out a belt of mad laughter, chilling to the bone.
“You are lucky I decided to give you a gift.”
I stared at her, realizing what she meant. “My life?”
“Take her away,” the Queen said to the guards, turning around with a swirl of her gowns. “Perhaps the maid quarters will do her some good.”
x - A Slice of Clarity
I had woken up many times, often in a daze, often as though I were still in a dream. But when I woke up today, I woke up in a cold sweat and my heart was aching. Yearning for...someone. Yes, someone I must have loved.
For why would a heart yearn unless it misses?
I woke up in an unfamiliar room, missing someone who I couldn't quite remember. The maid’s room that I was forced to lodge in wasn’t very nice. While the castle was luxurious, filled with gold and red, the lower grounds were devoid of colour. They were all a murky shade of brown and it made my skin crawl.
I longed for the wild, untamed colours at the Mad Hatter’s mansion, colours that I had gotten used to during my time staying there. I sat up, running my fingers through my hair as I gathered myself.
If I had gotten used to the colours at the mansion… what was I used to before I got to the mansion? What was I doing before I met the Mad Hatter?
Everything seemed to blur and smudge together in my memories.
As I washed in the cramped bathroom and got dressed in my own bright clothes, thoughts started to churn in my head. I glanced at the sliced mark on my right hand and then at the darkening curse on my left.
The Caterpillar’s words rang in my mind; do you know who you are?
I stared at my reflection, murky and blurry in the unkempt mirror of the maid’s room. I was clean, but my clothes had seen better days. I should go home to get them changed.
Jarvis will kill me if I come back looking like this--
A slice of pain, sharper than even the Red Queen’s slice, cut through my mind and nearly brought me to my knees. The unexpected thought had come out of nowhere and just like that, I was in pain.
Jarvis. Jarvis.
Of course, how could I forget Jarvis?
Thinking of him brought up an image of the salt-and-pepper haired man, with his warm brown eyes and big smile. I found the person my heart missed and I couldn’t stop the tears that sprang to my eyes.
Of course! Now, I remember. I got stuck in Wonderland and couldn’t find a way out. I glanced at the curse on my hand. I needed to find a way to get rid of it and leave this place.
Do you know who you are?
Lyra. My name is Lyra and I don’t belong in Wonderland. I have someone I love, a father to me, and his name is Jarvis.
I got to my feet and rubbed my eyes, a sense of clarity coming to me. I had lots of things I needed to do and one of them being to get to the Caterpillar and learn how to get a pocketful of sunshine.
xi - The Red Queen's order
I was summoned to the Courtroom shortly after I had been given breakfast. The Guards, lovely as always, dragged me all the way to the Queen and I nearly jumped in surprise when I saw the Mad Hatter kneeling in front of her, his eyes bright with madness as he smiled at me.
“Lyra, my dear apprentice, apprentice dear.”
The Queen was sitting on her throne, with her husband beside her, both of them looking quite bored. The Queen shifted her cold gaze onto me.
“The hatter has requested you to assist him in making my hat.”
I glanced over at him, wondering if he, perhaps, needed more dreams for his hatmaking. The Hatter just gave me a maniacal smile, but it was strangely a comfort to see it.
“So very generous of you,” the Mad Hatter said the Queen, presenting her with a dramatic bow. The Queen just sniffed, turning to me.
“You may go with the Hatter, but you may not stay with him. Return to where my eyes don’t lose sight of you, for you may be tricky and dancing with her.”
The Mad Hatter burst out laughing, seemingly uncaring of the fact that the Guards had their weapons pointed at him. “If Lyra were dancing, she would only be dancing with me and what a mad dance it is!”
He grabbed my wrist and twirled me around, giggling. “Round and round we go, dizzying dance, a dance a dizzy! What a roundabout!”
I spun with him, just going along with the flow because if he was my ticket out of the castle, then playing along was all there was to it. Pretend to fit in, then you won’t get picked on/
“Leave, Hatter, I want my hat at once!”
“At once?” he exclaimed, brightly. “Why, at once! Oops, at once cannot be done, so off with my head instead?” the Hatter cackled while horror nearly consumed me at his recklessness.
The Queen glared but to my relief, she didn’t seem to take his words seriously. I grabbed the Mad Hatter’s arm and dragged him, still laughing, towards the exit.
“At once, of course, Red Queen.”
“One more, Hatter,” the Queen said with a cruel twist of her lips, the last thing I saw on her face before the doors closed.
* *
The Mad Hatter, along with his nonsensical chattering, took me back to his mansion. There, I was given the chance to change into a fresher set of clothes from my room and chose a blue dress, one of my favourite outfits. I also donned a jacket as the weather seemed to be getting colder.
Once I was feeling much better, I went off to the Hat Making room where the Mad Hat was humming as he considered some hats-in-making. He spun around at my entrance and gave me a big smile.
“Do you know what the Red Queen’s hat is going to be?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. “A hat she believes is fitting for her, but how am I to make a hat madder than she?”
“A hat madder than she?” I asked, confused. “Does she want you to make a mad hat?”
“No!” he exclaimed. “She wants a hat of beauty, a beauty of a hat!” He dissolved into laughter, moving around the room, rummaging through the different materials. “What a thing to say, a thing indeed! Not very mellow, now is it? Quite red, quite red.”
I went to the table near the unfinished spell on the wall, and shifted through the incomplete hat materials. “What does the hat need, Hatter?”
“Hm!” He stood up straight as though an idea had struck him. Then he started to pace the room, tapping on his chin. “Two things, though they are acquirable right now. Soon perhaps? Maybe, never at all?”
“What are the two things?” I asked, picking up a red material and scrunching my nose at it. Red suddenly no longer looked like a great colour. Perhaps orange or blue was better.
“Two things, two things!” Hatter sang. “Because all good things are in twos, yes?”
“Why have one when you can have two,” I agreed, putting the red material down and picking up a green one instead.
“Precisely!” The Mad Hatter giggled. “One, a moonlight’s tear. Oh the tear of a moonlight, much of sadness that weeps!”
“Moonlight’s tear,” I repeated, slowly. Glancing at him, I frowned. “Where would we get that?”
He gave me a look that suggested perhaps I must be madder than him. “Why, at the lake of course? Where else would you get a moonlight’s tear if not at the Lake of Reflection?”
“That’s in the Upside Forest,” I remembered. “I hadn’t gone there before.”
“Oh, but you must!” he said, surprised. “A lake of reflection is needed for the moonlight’s tear, however will you get it if you do not know of it? Strange you are indeed, Lyra.”
“Will we have to go now--” I cut off mid-speech as understanding dawned on me. But that sentence didn’t go unnoticed by the Hatter. He burst into laughter so hard that he fell onto the floor, clutching his sides. I sighed, knowing what was to come.
“Where to get a moonlight’s tear if not when the moon is out? Oh Lyra, wherever do you think we shall get the moonlight’s tear?” he giggled, wiping tears from his eyes. “Surely you will not say, borrow a pearl from the Queen!” Again, he dissolved into another round of hysterical laughter.
“I see why the March hare and you get along so well,” I muttered, waiting for him to finish his laughter. Once he was done, I held out my hand towards him, offering him a smile. “Now, then, isn’t it about time for a Tea Party?”
The smile he gave me made mine grow even wider, because how can one be at the Hatter’s mansion without a Tea Party?
xii - A Pocketful of Sunshine
As I walked through the Upside Forest, taking the path to the Shisha Lounge, I wondered if the secret of Hatter’s basement was enough to get me the information I actually wanted. What if the Caterpillar already knew about it? More importantly, what was the secret behind the basement door?
I couldn’t quite concern myself too much on the secrets that the Hatter could possibly be keeping because with everything going on, it was easy to forget why there were certain things I had to do. I had to mentally keep chanting Jarvis’s name in my head, along with the I don’t belong in Wonderland thought. I also kept chanting what Jarvis was like just so that I didn’t forget him.
He’s like a father to me. He’s funny, reliable, always taking care of me. He likes his coffee to be light, and though he pretends he doesn’t take sugar, he always adds in a teaspoon of it if he thinks no one’s watching him. He likes to bake and is always baking late at night, usually because that’s the time I look for snacks. Jarvis is important to me.
Getting to the Shisha Lounge was faster this time, compared to when I went looking for it at night. I supposed without the help of the Cheshire Cat, I would have been lost for far longer. As I entered the sleepy looking place, I was surprised to find it packed and full of people, even though it was still midday. My target, the Caterpillar was in the same place as last time, at the back of the room, but this time he was surrounded by a few people.
He looked up then and we made eye contact. The Caterpillar lifted a hand, which I took to indicate that I should wait. Well, seeing as I had nothing else to do for the moment, I may as well take a seat.
I took a seat, one of the few that was empty and got comfortable, marvelling at the place. The smell of smoke was heavy in the air and all around, people chattered or sang along to the song the penguin singer at the front of the room. A waiter comes by and leaves after I told him I was simply waiting to speak to the Caterpillar.
As I waited, I enjoyed the hum of noise around me. One particular conversation started to take place directly behind me and I felt bad for eavesdropping but, well, I couldn’t quite change my seat now, could I?
“So I take it you delivered the poppy seeds?” A deep voice grumbled.
Someone chuckled in response. “But of course. With the amount I’m being paid, how could I refuse?”
“Ah, maybe this will convince your wife to stay with you after all.”
“My wife wants to join her sister in the hip-hop dance competition. No amount of anything could change her mind.”
“But couldn’t you let her have a taste of some of that funny…?”
“Then it will be my head served on a platter you buffoon.”
What a curious conversation…. Unable to stop myself, I turned around to see who the speakers were and found a bufoon grumbling to a gruff looking bear. They made eye contact with me, blinking.
“Do you need something, lady?”
“Uh-no, I just--”
“Lyra.”
At the sound of my name, I hurriedly turned around, grateful to get away. The Caterpillar’s lounge was empty besides himself and he gave me an expectant look. I walked over to him, not daring to look back behind me.
“You have returned,” he said, puffing up a cloud of smoke. “I take it you have information?”
I fiddled with the fabric of my skirt, wondering if I was betraying Hatter by exchanging his secrets to a stranger. I felt bad, but survival was a necessity at this point. “I...I do.”
“What is it?”
After hesitating a few times, I finally told him about the strange basement in Hatter’s mansion, about the voices and the feathers. The Caterpillar was silent for a time, probably mulling over the new information.
“Acceptable,” he finally said. “Now, for the information you desired about the pocketful of sunshine.. Do you still want it?”
I had actually forgotten about that, I was curious now about how to get out of Wonderland, but now, I was torn. I checked the curse on my hand, it had spread just a little more. Surely, I could come back with more information on how to leave Wonderland. If a pocketful of sunshine could help me understand the Hatter a little bit better, then I should take it, right? Why dance with madness if you don’t understand the madness?
“Yes,” I said. “I want the information on how to get a pocketful of sunshine.”
*
I found myself lost, yet again.
This time, because I was trying to find the Lake of Reflection. I had it on my maps but I didn’t have my maps on me so I couldn't be sure of the way. I sighed heavily as I found myself at the tree I was positive I had seen four times already.
“Lost, are you?”
I blinked at the voice coming from somewhere above me and looked up. It was...a cat. One with strange coloured stripes bright, almost hypnotic eyes.
“Meow?” I called back to it, recognizing the eyes as the same ones who had led me to the Shisha Lounge the other day. The Cheshire Cat. The cat’s smile widened as his eyes glittered with humour.
“Meow to you too, I suppose, though, I must say I do prefer a human conversation.” He disappeared and in a blink, there was a man in front of me. He had handsome, stunning features, and clever mischievous eyes. It was the grin on his face that made me realize he was a cat. Just like the caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat seemed to have a human appearance too.
I blinked several times, taken aback by his rather attractive appearance. “Well, uh, hello.”
“Hello. I believe this is the second time you have gotten lost.”
“I’m not lost,” I said at once. “I simply enjoy my walks.”
“You seemed rather disgruntled as you passed my tree four times.”
“It’s just my expression,” I replied solemnly. “I frown a lot.”
He laughed, very obviously amused at my expense. “Where is it you are trying to go, Mad Hatter’s Apprentice?”
I sighed, deciding to just tell him the truth. “I can’t find the Lake of Reflection.”
“Hm, a path you took, but the wrong one you kept taking,” he said, shaking his head. “Perhaps if you took the path on the left, instead of the others, you’d find it.”
I peered at the path to the left. “But that’s the darkest path.”
He smiled. “With the brightest location. See you soon.” And then he disappeared from sight.
Following his directions, I took the path on the left, braved the thicker density of the upside trees and shrubs and found myself standing at the edge of a huge, shimmering blue lake, one that drew my breath away at how stunning it was. It was afternoon, and the sun’s rays danced across the glittering surfaces in shades of gold, yellow and oranges. What a lovely, soothing sight indeed.
After I had my fill of simply gazing at the lake, I remembered what the Caterpillar had told me. I knelt by the edge of the water and cupped my hands together, dipping them in where the goldest reflection of the sun was. Then, I lifted the water up in my cupped hands and was delighted and awed to see the gold shimmering in the water I held. Carefully, I lifted my hip, to where a pocket hid in my skirt and poured the water into it.
Logically speaking, this should not have been possible, but in Wonderland, it made perfect sense. Of course, this was how one acquired a pocketful of sunshine. Where I had put the water, my pocket glowed and I felt something change. I slipped my hand in and pulled out a little sunflower!
So this was what I was to give the Mad Hatter. I wondered what a sunflower would do to make him coherent. Strange, indeed.
“A Pocketful of Sunshine, hm?”
I gasped in shocked, scrambling back. The Cheshire Cat was crouched next to me in his human form, wearing an expression of pure amusement.
“Were you sitting here the whole time?” I asked, getting to my feet and brushing off the dirt from my dress. He nodded as he also stood up.
“I was there,” he pointed to one of the tree branches nearby. “I wanted to let you know I was here but you seemed so mesmerized by the lake.”
My eyes trailed back to the glittering pool of water and I let out a happy sigh. “It’s beautiful.” I looked around at all the trees surrounding it. “Do you come here often?”
“It’s my favourite place to take a nap.”
I nodded. “It does look like a place where good dreams come.”
“There are whispers that the lake could grant wishes,” he added with a grin.
Rolling my eyes, I moved back a few steps to get a wider look at the place. “Is this why you nap here?”
He laughed. “Where else is a better place to nap than where wishes are rumoured to be granted?”
No better place indeed, I thought, lost in the beauty of such a place.
xiii - A Strange Type of Strange
At midnight, I was woken up by a rather excited Mad Hatter, insisting that we had to hurry, hurry, hurry.
So I got dressed and found Hatter waiting by the gates of his mansion, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. He linked his arm with mine and we headed off, on foot, through the Upside Forest.
I listened to him hum and chat about things that made no sense, enjoying the somewhat peaceful atmosphere of the late night walk. It wasn’t long before we reached the Lake of Reflection, where the moon’s beams flickered on the smooth surface of the lake. I looked around in awe; this place was very different than when I saw it in the day.
“I had a dream,” Mad Hatter said conversationally, pulling out a tiny glass vial bottle from his pocket. He plopped himself down on the ground, close to the edge of the lake. I followed and sat beside him, watching with interest as he handed me the vial and opened the empty bottle.
“What kind of dream?” I asked. Mad Hatter looked up, his face suddenly serious, suddenly looking almost sober, coherent. There were random bursts of moments where he seemed to be in the right sense of mind.
“A dream that is strange, perhaps a strangely sad dream? A dream no longer morrow, but rather full of sorrow.”
I waited, listening.
Hatter’s expression turned sad. “I had a dream, a sad dream, a dream of a baby bird,” he said, reaching out in front of him, eyes faraway, “a poor little baby bird that fell from a nest. I tried to save it, I did, I did, I did, but before I could catch the bird, I fell into a hole.” He turned to face me, his eyes now bright with tears. “Poor bird, whatever happened to it? Whatever happened to me who fell in the hole?”
A single tear fell from his eye, and it was a sight that made my heart clench for I didn’t like to see tears in his eyes. Mad Hatter slipped his hands into the lake and cupped the reflective water under his face so that the tear was reflected in the water for a moment before slipping down right into it.
With that single miniscule splash, the water suddenly started to glow and the Hatter poured it into the glass vial in my hands. Then he picked up the cork lid and twisted it onto the bottle, closing it and securing the contents. He had just put it in his pocket when the rustling of leaves caught our attention.
We turned to find the Cheshire Cat in his human form standing nearby, watching us silently. Since he liked to nap in this area, I was sure he’d seen many strange things like this before. What surprised me wasn’t his entrance, but rather the Mad Hatter’s uncharacteristic anger.
“Be gone, you!” he shouted, his face donning a thunderous expression as he jumped to his feet. “Disappear at once!”
“Hatter!” I gasped, astounded at his reaction. I’d never seen him get angry before.
The Cheshire Cat simply gave me a look before disappearing, vanishing out of sight without a word.
I glanced at Hatter, watching as his expression calmed and the eccentric light glinted in his eyes again. Once more, he linked his arm with me and we started back for the mansion.
“Is that all we would need for the hat?” I asked him, not wanting to ask him further about what just happened. Perhaps once I give him the pocketful of sunshine I would get my answers.
“Oh no, there are two things because all good comes in twos, yes?” Hatter nodded to himself. “Why, look at that mushroom, does it not resemble Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum?” He pointed to a two-headed mushroom joined by a single stem.
I nodded. “Attached but separate.”
And just like that, our conversation consisted of mainly nonsensical talks all the way back to the mansion, where a carriage was waiting. I felt my spirits dim a little at the sight because I knew it meant I had to go back to the Red Castle and sleep in that awful colourless room.
“There is but a second thing I require you to find, my delightful apprentice,” the Hatter said as he helped me onto the carriage. Mad as he was, he still had impeccable manners, an endearing trait.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Bring me something you can keep but cannot share and once you share it, you can’t keep it anymore.”
“What does that mean, Hatter?”
He gave me a look, his face breaking into an eccentric smile. “Dear Lyra, in this world of topsy turvy, where things are strange and not all that strange, the only ones who win are the ones who have lost themselves to madness.”
*
The Queen was…. courteous enough to let us leave our rooms and have some roaming time. I was allowed to visit only two places within the castle and was explicitly forbidden from going anywhere else in the castle, not that I would have wanted to anyway. So bored, and needing to figure out the task that Mad Hatter had sent me on, I decided to get some fresh evening air by walking about in the courtyard.
The courtyard was strangely a wonderful place, at odds with the cruelty surrounding it. I shuddered as I walked along the path, avoiding the clearing where she had made us play that horrible game a few days ago. I avoided the area that seemed to be where the gardeners stayed, not wanting to be privy to their privacy, and moved to get a closer look at the beautiful roses in the Queen’s garden.
Vines twirled around the entrance, and the scent of roses filled the air, giving me a rather pleasant feeling, calming and soothing to me frayed nerves. Amusing, considering that I was in the Red Queen’s beloved garden.
As I gazed and wandered, I mulled over the task the Hatter had sent me on. Surely, it was a secret that was needed for the second item. But I couldn’t be sure, because what secret is a secret in the world of secrets?
I sighed, wondering if I would ever be able to get out of this mess.
I explored further into the garden, simply enjoying the sights and smells when I noticed that the further I explored, the darker and more wilted the roses appeared.
That’s strange, was there something that’s causing the roses damage? I leaned towards one of the wilted roses--
“Such a heavy sigh for such a lovely sight.”
At the familiar voice, I jumped in surprise and looked up to see the Cheshire Cat in his human form standing in front of me, a grin on that handsome face.
“Perhaps we should get you a bell so that I know whenever you show up around me,” I said to him, placing a hand over my racing heart. I glanced around. “Are you allowed to be here?”
He looked around, his sharp eyes glinting with a mischievous look. “I see no guards so I wouldn’t know if I’m allowed or not.” He cocked his head to the side, flashing me a dazzling smile. “So, a bell, hmm? Would you rather I alert you to my presence so you can prepare your heart in advance?”
I scowled, dropping my hand. “Oh, don’t be a nuisance.”
“Perhaps we should get you a bell so you don’t get lost anymore,” he leaned forward, drawing a slow smile on his face. “Did you find yourself? Shall I point you to the direction of where you need to go?”
Heat rushed to my face at the closeness and indignation rose at his teasing. “I do not need your help. I’m perfectly capable of getting to where I need to go!”
I turned around swiftly, intending to exit the garden with my chin up, only to trip over a rock and fall down. Behind me the Cheshire Cat was shaking with what seemed to be suppressed laughter. I was sure one could place a teapot over my face and be able to boil water.
“I meant to do that,” I told him, jutting my chin out. “Perfection is such a bore.”
“Balance isn’t,” he snickered, offering me a hand. I took it grudgingly, surprised when I was pulled up faster than I expected. He stepped up close, leaning down to my neck.
“Are you smelling me again, you strange--” I stopped when I noticed his furrowed eyebrows and his serious look. “What is it?”
“You’re starting to smell of madness,” he said.
“Madness?” I gasped, pulling away. “How--” Was it the curse?
“You’re spending too much time with the Hatter,” was all he muttered. He stepped away from me and then disappeared. I looked around, wondering if he truly went away or if he’s just teasing me again. The seriousness on his face bothered me.
“Hey!”
I jumped at the new voice, whirling around to find a man standing in the garden, glaring at me. He wore the uniform of the Red Queen’s gardeners. I stepped back as he marched toward me.
“This place is not for guests unless you have proper permission from the Red Queen!” he growled, taking my arm and pulling me along towards the exit. “Off to the Queen you should go! Loitering about in her gardens.”
If I went to the Queen right now, I was surely set to get my head taken off. My mind buzzed with a rush of thoughts.
I gave him a wide smile. “Oh, I didn’t know, the vines looked like they were telling me where to go. They whispered that I could find a rabbit drinking tea in here!”
The gardener gave me a disgusted look and then gave me a once-over. “Are you that Mad Hatter’s apprentice girl?”
“Why!” I gasped in surprise. “Am I not a girl? If not a girl, would I be a boy? Am I a girl or am I just an apprentice? Wait, I must be the Mad Hatter and he is my apprentice!” I giggled loudly, hoping this plan worked.
The gardener sighed and pushed me out of the garden, releasing me. “Off with you, mad girl.”
“Why, I thought we were visiting the Queen!” I said, feigning surprise. “Off to the Queen shall we?”
He just gave me a tired sigh and turned away, muttering, “and off with my head if I brought madness to her feet.”
xiv - The Secret and the Red Ball
The next day, I left my room to head off to the Hatter’s mansion in order to finish the hat. Perhaps I could take the secret that I went to the Queen’s garden intentionally. As I started for the exit of the castle doors, I passed by the courtroom and decided to peek in as I had seen the Queen and her husband sitting in the rose garden through one of the massive windows.
The Courtroom was the same as it had been the two times I had been dragged into it, well, not quite. It was more crowded this time, with a few servants gathered around in one corner, cleaning up some greenish slime. I inch a little closer, wondering what on earth that slime could possibly be. Was it pudding?
The servants spotted me and their eyes went wide in a panic and suddenly crowd closer, blocking my view. I frowned at their suspicious reactions, noting that they were definitely covering up whatever that slime was.
“Miss,” one of the servant girls whispered, her eyes wide with perry and fear. “Allow me your ear for an advice.”
“What is it?” I asked, curious.
“If you wish to live long, it’s best to just do as the queen says,” she said. Beside her, another one of the servants nodded.
“Um...I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied, backing off to give them their space to clean whatever it was. A few more servants came in, carrying buckets of water and a few mops. The servants turned back to their task, whispering and fretting amongst themselves.
Deciding that I should just leave, I turned to go….until I accidentally stepped on something. I looked down and saw something shimmering, almost like a necklace. Bending down, I scooped the thing up and realized that it was the Red Queen’s necklace, that strange shimmering one.
I knew immediately that I was stuck in a dilemma. If I gave this back to her, surely she would think that I had stolen it and would kill me immediately. Perhaps I should leave it….
A secret…
That’s right, I now had something worthy of a secret, and perhaps I can show it to the Caterpillar and glean more information. The only thing I would have to do is not get caught.
Well, I suppose madness is one way of keeping secrets, isn’t it?
Hiding a smile, I slipped the necklace into my pocket, grateful that the workers all had their backs to me and were focused only on that odd green slime. I left the Courtroom and headed for the Hatter’s mansion.
* *
The Hatter was in the Hat-making room, rummaging in one of the baskets of mismatched materials when he heard me enter. He spun around, a delighted laugh bubbling out of him.
“If you are here then you must have completed your task!” He said, nodding. “Oh, what a task it is! A task indeed?”
“It’s a secret!” I said, going over to him. He laughed again, clapping his hands in delight.
“Of course, yes, yes of course! All beauty has secrets and yes, I will need your assistance in making this hat.”
“Of course, Hatter.”
He then set about, running around the room, picking up the base and then the ribbons. Once he gathered everything he needed, he went over to the table and sat down. The Hatter then got to work with a ribbon, working remarkably fast as he tied it around the hat, twisting and knotting it up. Then he grabbed the bottle of Moonlight’s tears and poured it into the hat.
Awed, I watched as the magic flowed around the hat, making it glow for a few moments before turning it into a dark colour. The Hatter turned to me, eyes as bright as his smile.
“Tell it your secret!”
I gave him a nervous look before leaning toward the hat. “A pendant once around the Queen’s neck is no longer there as that pendant found a new home on the floor and now, in my pocket.”
The Hatter threw his head back in laughter, delighted and mad. “And now, mine!” He leaned towards the hat and said, “I yearn for the meadow of flowers, the flowery meadow.”
The hat was engulfed in a bright pink glow, intense enough that we had to shield our eyes, and once the light vanished, I noticed a red feather on it.
The hat was complete. The Hatter handed it to me, still wearing a smile.
“Off to the Queen you go, but let her not exclaim off with your head!”
“I’ll try,” I promised.
* *
The hat was received rather well, and strange things happened to me.
The first being that the Queen had demanded I attend the Red Ball. It was a demand more than a request because her eyes had promised repercussions if I’d refused.
The second thing that was strange was that I found myself being drawn to the necklace, as though it were a part of me, but I couldn’t understand why. My hand always skimmed to touch the necklace and I would take it out to look at it when I was alone.
It scared me, because it reminded me of a curse of sorts. What was it drawing me to it?
Another thing that worried me was that during the days at the Red Castle, my memory of Jarvis was starting to become hazy. I had to recite and write down what I knew of him, clinging desperately onto the memory of him.
I had hoped I would get a chance to visit the Caterpillar’s Shisha Lounge, but I found it difficult to leave the Queen’s Castle without a good reason to, now that her hat was completed.
A dress from the Hatter’s mansion had been sent to me for the ball and as I slipped into it, I realized just how much I now despised the colour red, but as it was the Red Queen’s Ball, the red was a must. I tried not to think of how it looked like I was dressed in blood.
Entering the Grand Hall an hour later, I was grudgingly impressed with the decor and luxury of the place. The marble floor glittered and shone, and tables were set up everywhere, leaving space for the dance floor. Desserts of all kinds, along with the finest wines and treats, were set up on the table--all of them red, of course. Despite the lovely set up, the air felt cold and tense, and it sent a shiver down my spine.
People were chatting, sure, but it seemed like forced conversation...and was it just me, or did it look like some of the guests’ faces were pale?
Laughter could be heard, and there were people dancing and eating… but it felt almost surreal. I wondered if it was because everyone was afraid of the Red Queen who was mingling about with a frown on her face.
I turned away, scanning the big buffet table at one end of the room --surely, there would be something tasty to eat away all this tension. I was about to head towards the table when a hand latched onto my wrist, garnering my attention.
“Do you care for cakes?” The Mad Hatter asked with a big, wide grin. “Of course you do, you’re you! And I’m me! Cakes?”
“Hello, Hatter,” I greeted with a smile of my own. “I’m me so of course, I like cakes.”
“Wonderful!” He tugged me towards one end of the table. “Do try some of these delightful treats! March hare made them and I must say they are a delight, oh what a delight! A sunburst on your tongue, surely, goodness divine!”
“Oh, they’re so pretty,” I gasped as he held out of the pretty pink cakes towards me. He nodded, a bright proud smile on his face.
“She made them with a new recipe! A recipe to make everyone always feel lovely.”
“That’s wonderful--”
A gasp suddenly rippled through the hall, catching our attention. We turned to face the dance floor, the middle of the room, where a single white rose suddenly takes form. As we watch, shocked, a sad song comes out of it.
It hits me in my gut as a rush of emotions cascade over me at the terribly sad, and terribly familiar song. Where have I heard this before?
Before I could listen some more to the song, the rose is ripped to shreds by the Red Queen whose face has darkened with rage. Mad Hatter giggles quietly from beside me.
“A challenge for the Red Queen by the White Queen, how daring, so daring!”
“Hatter,” I hissed, elbowing him. The Red Queen whirls around, her face looking half-mad with fury. Her eyes land on me and on someone else in the crowd.
“Everyone out!” she screamed. “Guards, bring me the visitors!”
With a swish of her gown, she stormed out of the room, the King trailing along behind her. Once she was gone, the hall burst into murmurs as everyone talked about what had just transpired. Before I could turn to the Mad Hatter, the Red Guards marched towards me, grabbing my arm and roughly yanking me along.
Me and the other girl were brought to the Queen’s throne room and forced onto our knees before her. All around us were double the amount of guards she usually had, and all of their weapons were pointed directly at us. The Queen gave us a cold, cruel smile.
“Have you enjoyed your stay in my luxurious kingdom?” she asked in a sickly sweet tone. Her smile widened and if I squinted a certain way, I was sure I could see the teeth of a shark hiding in there. “I will give you a position at my court. In return, you must complete a task for me.”
We waited in silence, knowing there was more to come.
“Should you succeed, you will live in wealth in Wonderland, but,” her smile dropped, and her face hardened into a cruel stare. “Should you refuse, I shall hesitate not a moment to cut off your head in front of the entire kingdom.” She leaned back against her seat. “I will give you two days to decide.”
I almost felt like laughing. Either accept the task and become a dreaded court in her Kingdom or have my head cut off? Well, that was no brainer.
A smile drew on my face. “Why! Become mad sitting next to you in court, or become mad as my head rolls onto the ground?” I snickered, shrugging, as I widened my eyes. “Surely the ground would be kinder to me.”
The Queen stared at me, a scowl on her face. “Mad as the Hatter is the Hatter’s Apprentice. Very well, I will grant your wish to be headless.” She stood up. “Take her to the dungeons!”
* * *
The dungeon was cold, though personally, it felt quite similar to the room I had at the maid’s quarters. Except this time, there was no bed and just a stack of hay in the corner of the room. The Dungeon was also noisy, filled with crying and mad laughter.
I was to wake up to an execution but that wasn’t what was concerning me. A terrible headache plagued my mind, and with it a whisper of a name floated around in my head.
Jarvis, Jarvis, Jarvis.
I can’t forget him. But, who was he?
Jarvis? Jarvis...ah, yes, the ‘father-figure’ in my life. Someone important to me.
I glanced at the curse on my hand. It had grown, and covered most of my arm by now. An ugly, dark mark, the reminder that I was cursed. If I remembered correctly, cursed to stay here in Wonderland.
Oh, what a dreadful thing, this curse was. I couldn’t even remember why it was so dreadful.
“Noisy place, hmm?”
I looked up to find the Cheshire Cat leaning against the wall opposite me inside the cell. He was eyeing me with an inscrutable look.
“I could do with some silence,” I agreed tiredly. I tugged at the red gown that had gotten dirty with the grime of the dungeon. “And possibly my own clothes.”
“I came to see how you’re faring.”
I looked around, at the gloomy cell, at the dirty floor, and at the random dripping in the corner of the room. I wished I had colour and cleanliness. Loneliness and sadness wafted over me.
“I’m fine,” I said quietly.
The Cheshire Cat looked at me for a few moments before pushing himself off the wall. He came over and lightly pushed my hair away from my face.
“Perhaps it would do you some good to sleep well, and have good dreams.”
“Why?”
“Because who knows? Maybe those dreams would save you come the morning.”
And then he was gone.
★ - - - - - - - - - - Outfits - - - - - - - - - - ★ Red Ball Look | The MadHatter's Apprentice
Status
Round 0 - Done | Round 1 - Done
Round 2 - Done
Last edited by MistyMisty (08/02/2021 at 11:32)
Also, I'm really sorry for posting late and I hope this helps give a little room to relax from all the hectic storylines.