Chapter Text
It’s been a week since they fell into the rabbit hole, Rin held tightly to her brother’s hand as they walked through the dark forest.
She still held the letter in her other hand.
An invitation, its seal, a wax red heart stuck to the end of a flap, which the girl didn’t mind breaking to look inside. It crumpled a little when she reread it for what it felt like the hundredth time.
“A formal invitation to the Castle of Hearts.
Esteemed and beautiful Rin, you have been rewarded with an invitation to the annual banquet held in the castle of hearts. It will be held the next twixtday, just at twilight, when the moon feasts on the sun, and the sky turns a lovely red.
We will be most delighted to be blessed with your presence.
Your eternal majesty, the Queen of Hearts.
P.S. you may bring a companion, if you so wish.”
She found it one day stuck to her mirror, it looked like a joke, likely something her brother made to unsettle her before their birthday. Though she never thought him capable of faking such beautiful handwriting.
That day, their 13th birthday, along with their anticipated introduction to society. Overwhelmed by it all, Rin fled into the trees. Her brother quickly chased after.
Then they fell, and found Wonderland. The letter appeared in her pocket, when she could’ve sworn she’d thrown it away.
One week already, they were starving. Mysterious berries and the occasional stray teacup alone weren’t enough to power their steps, but it was the promise of the letter that pushed them onward.
Rin’s elegant dress was dirtied, its bright yellow dulled down by greens and browns from the lush grass below them. Len’s knees were scraped and bruised, but if it ever bothered him, he didn’t say.
Something more maddening than tiredness and hunger, was loneliness. They hadn’t heard anything besides their own steps, ever since they opened the door to Wonderland, and that same door was the last person to speak to her besides Len.
“You came at a bad time for Wonderland, I would tell you to turn back right away.” He glanced at the letter Rin held, “but it seems a little late for that…” The door said, before closing behind them.
Extending before the twins was the nonsensical land of what the door called Wonderland. High mountains reached higher than the eye could see, covered in pink clouds like cotton candy. Train tracks curled across the land, even above water, without the support of a bridge. A whole forest made up of floating trees with foliage of all colors, even the ground they stood on looked like a quilt made from scrap fabric.
She would’ve assumed she was dreaming, but pinching her cheek anymore would leave it permanently red.
And on the far end of it Rin could see the silhouette of a giant red castle. Len snatched the letter from her hand. “Hey!” She cried.
“Your letter! Doesn’t the seal look just like that castle?” Her brother smiled widely, the same glint in his eye as when they planned mischief back at home.
“What are you saying?” She crossed her arms.
“What I’m saying is, that we can finally have that adventure!”
An adventure huh…? It would be impossible, since Rin was too old for it now. Mother said she would need to pursue her education, and grow into a proper lady, to find a good husband. “Absolutely not! We have to turn back. I can’t imagine what our parents would do if we disappeared this way…”
“And what? Sit still until they turn us into boring adults, just like them?”
“I… B-but we can’t leave without saying anything. We’re turning back, right now!”
He sighed exaggeratedly “Look at you, you’re already turning boring… Just a little walk and we’ll be back. Please?”
“I’ve made up my mind! Besides, have you already forgotten what the door said? It’s not a good time to be here…” just as she said that, a gust of wind blew away the bonnet her mother gifted her. And when she looked back in an attempt to catch it, the door they came out from wasn’t there anymore. Just an old tree stump.
Rin’s blood went cold.
After several minutes of inspecting the stump, the twins reached a dreadful conclusion. They could not leave where they came from.
“It looks like… we're having that adventure after all…” Len laughed nervously.
Rin felt tears run down her face. They were trapped, all because she couldn’t handle a bunch of adults.
She rubbed at her face trying to wipe off the tears, but it only allowed her crying to become full sobs. It wasn’t long before her brother came to hug her, trying to hold back tears himself, but whispering encouraging words anyways, “d-don’t cry, I’m sure we’ll find a way back soon enough.”
“So for now, let’s try and have fun okay?” He showed her the letter again, she took it, maybe someone in there knows how to go home.
But a week later, they were completely lost, they couldn’t see the red castle through the trees. Len squeezed her hand.