Chapter Text
Chapter 1 - Down the rabbit hole again
The doors to the throne room slammed open. Standing there were three of the White Queen’s most loyal courtiers: Seraphina Ardent, Captain Leander Thorn, and Lady Evangeline Lumina. Mirana tilted her head to the side. Normally, people were quite gentle in the castle as per her request. She would hate for a bug to be caught behind any doors slamming.
“Seraphina? Captain Leander? Lady Evangeline? Is everything alright?”
“Enough is enough, Mirana,” Leander spoke first, tearing off the crown motif from his headdress. “It’s over.”
The White Queen spoke slowly, “What is over? What’s wrong?”
“Your reign, your Ma- Mirana.” Seraphina inwardly cursed herself at her instinct to call Mirana by her title. No longer would she be known as that.
“No longer will the people of Underland be ruled by a malevolent monarch,” Evangeline spat. “No longer will we be ruled by one who believes herself to be above those she rules!”
Mirana didn’t think her face could become any paler, but she had a feeling that, in that moment, it became possible.
“I don’t think I’m above-”
“Save your words for someone who will listen, Mirana. It won’t be us.”
It took a few moments for Mirana to come up with the words she needed. She never thought she would need to speak them. “I really do hate to do this, but… Guards! Please escort these three to the prisons. I will come and speak with them later about why they felt that this attack on Underland was necessary.”
The guards did not move.
Mirana glanced around, her confusion deepening. Why were they not protecting her?
“The guards are under my control, Mirana,” Leander reminded her. “Right turn!” he shouted, and the guards pivoted swiftly towards their queen. “Arrest this woman for crimes against the Republic of Underland.” They began to march towards her, causing her to cry out.
Suddenly, from behind the curtains, a hand reached out.
“Your Whiteness,” the voice whispered. She knew that hand, that voice, and those words. “I might recommend coming with me.”
She immediately stood up and took his hand, rushing behind the curtains.
“Get her!” Leander cried, releasing an avalanche of soldiers onto the fleeing queen. “We can’t let her get away. The Republic of Underland will not thrive unless she is caught.”
FIve years had passed since Alice had returned to Wonderland for the first time and her life had changed significantly since. After working as an apprentice for Lord Ascot in the company her father had helped create, she became his first right-hand woman. Several had commented that she seemed to embody the values that her father had tried to sow deep into the company. Many an evening passed with herself and Lord Ascot staying up late in his study, working out just what the future held for the company. They had managed to expand to China with Alice at the forefront of relations. She was incredibly charming, after all. She enjoyed her work - it was truly the only employment she could imagine having. She could meet new people, sail across new seas, and visit new lands that many in England could only dream of visiting. However, something was missing. Something was always missing... And there was no-one that she could talk to about it. After all, they would call her mad. Not just mad in a sweet Aunt Imogene way but in a 'the asylum might be the only place for you' mad. They might have been right, but she knew that what she missed was real.
“Alice?” She was jolted out of her thoughts by the voice of Lord Acton. She had been in a meeting with him about where they could think of expanding to next.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Lord Acton.” He didn’t need to say it: it was incredibly rude of her to retreat into her own thoughts in the middle of a meeting that she herself had called. “I’m sorry. I was lost in my thoughts. What were we saying?”
“Are you alright, Alice?” Lord Acton had become a somewhat paternal figure for her since her own father had passed away. He had helped her become the independent woman that she now was. His concern was obvious. “I feel like I have to ask this in most meetings we have, especially more recently…”
She flushed. “I’m really sorry, Lord Acton.”
“I’m not angry at you, girl, just worried for you… As is your mother.” Ah, her mother. Yes, she knew how concerned her mother was about her. It was unnatural for a nearly 25-year-old woman to not be married yet, especially as she had been presented with many eligible bachelors.
“My mother is just troubled by the fact that I’m not betrothed yet.”
“Your mother is troubled by far more,” Lord Acton responded, frowning. “Either way, I am not concerned about that… I’m concerned by how it's affecting you and your work. What is it that’s affecting your mind?”
Wonderland.
Although she knew that wasn't its real name, she couldn't refrain from calling it by its childhood nickname. It had always generated a colossal sense of wonder in her. She dreamt about this other world most nights. She dreamt of talking flowers, foods which made you grow and drinks which made you shrink, creatures she thought she could only dream up, wild dances, villains, slaying, and, last but not least, friends she had made along the way. When she was a little girl, she had convinced herself that it was only that - a dream - but she knew better now. She wouldn't distrust her own thoughts ever again. She wasn't going mad, she had gone mad, but it was madness which kept pulling her back to Wonderland.
The magical realm was never far from her thoughts in the day, either. The world around her constantly reminded her of her adventures. She would see a bickering pair and think of the twins, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, who had always made her feel so welcome; she would see someone checking their watch and think of McTwisp, the catalyst of her adventures in the form of a white rabbit; she would see a large rat run across the grubby ground and think of Mallymkun (she would never tell Mallymkun of this comparison - she was sure that she would receive a swift stab to the foot), the dormouse who had taken some convincing of the fact that she was, indeed, Alice; she would see someone grin and think of the Cheshire Cat who had always looked out for her; and whenever she saw an exquisite hat, heard someone laughing, saw someone drinking tea, she would be reminded of the tall, chaotic, messy-haired, splendidly dressed Mad Hatter - Tarrant.
So, you see, although she enjoyed her work, her mind was elsewhere. How could she not think of this wonderfully nonsensical world? This had become clearer over time to those close to her - her mother, her sister, Lord Ascot - who just hoped she wouldn't end up like poor Aunt Imogene. And she knew she wouldn't, for, again, what she yearned for was real. She knew, however, that she could not just return whenever she wanted. She knew that Wonderland had to open itself up to her and welcome her (if only its welcome didn't include falling such a long way).
“Just… Some family matters that I’m not allowed to divulge.” This clearly did not satisfy Lord Acton, so she decided to move forward with the conversation at hand instead. She moved back to the map that was open on Lord Ascot’s desk and pointed to where she wanted to build their next port. “Now that we have a port in Hong Kong, we could…”
And with that, Alice continued her life once more with a small sliver of hope living in the back of her mind.
One spring day, she was wandering around Lord Ascot's garden. This was something which had become a habit as it reminded her of her first return to Wonderland; she couldn't help but hope that Wonderland would return to her again in this garden. Blue, purple, pink, red, yellow... Flower after flower of the boring, non-talking variety passed through her gaze. Her exposure to Wonderland really had made the normal world seem... Well, normal. Once, she had taken pleasure in running amongst the hedges, jumping into their warm embrace and spooking those who passed her. Now, they were just... Hedges. No matter how hard she tried, that's all they were. She sighed.
"Alice!"
She spun around as soon as the 'a' had left this familiar voice's lips. She knew that voice anywhere. "McTwisp!"
The figure that stood in front of her was definitely the McTwisp that she knew and loved. Those twitching ears, pocket watch in hand, anxious look on his face... But, something was different. "I need to speak with you."
"Of course! Where shall we-?"
"Come with me." He didn't speak another word. He turned and took off, leaving her with mere seconds to react and follow him. He seemed to know this garden fairly well... She wondered how many times he had been to the surface world and how many of those times had been to find her. The direction they were running in became familiar to her quickly - it was a path she had walked many times before when she wanted to reminisce on her time in Wonderland. He seemed to be taking her to the place where the bond between his world and her world was weakest and would allow her to pass through. Anticipation rose in her chest, eyes wide, breathing heavily. Would she finally be returning? As they turned left at a statue of the first Lord Ascot, her wishes seemed to become a reality. In front of her was a small hole. That hole had certainly felt larger when she had been a child, but it had been quite the squeeze last time she had gone through it.
"You want me to come to Wonderland?" He huffed - she seemed unwilling to even attempt to call his world by its real name and he had given up trying by now. It didn't mean he would stop complaining.
"Yes. We need you. We need our champion." Why was it that they only seemed to want her when there was something in it for them? Could he not have just popped up for a visit every once in a while? She supposed she couldn't know for absolute certain that he hadn't because she didn't permanently live in this garden (try as she might). She knew better than to contradict or question McTwisp when he was like this, though. It would probably just lead to impatient foot stomping and a rather grumpy rabbit. Instead, she did as she had done before: she fell.
Down, down, down... This journey never got any better. For the first time, however, she did not scream. She knew she would be safe at the other end. Instead, she just lay back and enjoyed the show which was occurring in front of her. Object after object flew past her head (ones she would need to duck or dive to avoid every once in a while); blue, purple, pink, red, yellow seemed to pour out of every crack and cranny in the world around her (sometimes in the form of cloths, sometimes in the form of glowing flowers, often in the form of explosions against the edges of the tunnel she seemed to be falling through); and there was an eerie silence. She hadn't realised last time as she had been shouting so much but... Silence seemed to sit beside her, a companion in thought, offering solace in its presence. She knew she should enjoy the peace it brought whilst she could as there would be no peace when she landed. She let the silence cradle her and closed her eyes.
She had no idea how much time had passed when her eyes finally fluttered open once more. How could she? Time ceased to exist here. She couldn't help but wonder whether this would be McTwisp's dream or his nightmare. Objects continued to fly, colours continued to explode, and the silence continued to grip her. But was that-?
Light! She braced for impact, knowing it would be painful but surely would not kill her. It hadn't happened so far. This time, she found herself grabbing onto branches as they passed her. This time, she shouted as the branches broke and she had to try to catch herself in another way. This time, the branches had slowed her fall. When she did, finally, hit the floor, it was not as painful as it could have been. Her dress, however, seemed to have taken some damage from the scratching of the branches. She looked around. It was a different place this time. Curious. Did McTwisp create the gaps between their worlds? Or did he merely find them?
"Finally!" She clambered to her feet and brushed off her dress as the rabbit tapped his foot in front of her.
"I'm sorry, McTwisp, but I'm not in control of how fast I fall. There's not really anything I can do when I'm there."
McTwisp looked ashamed for a second, clearly feeling guilty for his shortness. "Sorry. Sorry... Time is simply ticking and I'm eager to get you to the White Queen." Wasn't time always ticking? Particularly for McTwisp. He seemed to realise her confusion and shook his head. "Time is ticking faster than usual. Please, Alice, come with me."
"There was never any doubt that I would."