The March Hare, a character will little screen time even within the books. Alice had no clue what character she'd be now that everything from her friend's novel seems to just do what it wants for eight years.
And yet, her outfit still surprised her. A tall woman with tanned skin and a very pretty figure. She had long, much longer, ears than the white rabbit's with a lot more fluff to them.
Her hair almost touched the floor, it was thick and light caramel brown. Her eyes were a much lighter hazel-green, hidden under a pair of sunglasses.
She had a cute little tail which stuck out of her dress, pink and neon yellow with hearts all over, and multiple different patterns with fabrics. She wore a pink hat with what looked like pure chocolate hearts.
She also carried a large bag, an extremely large bag. It was also neon but had a whole lot of zippers, with multiple needles coming out.
"What?" Alice muttered out loud as she watched the woman tackle the Dormouse into a tight hug. Although he tried to dodge, he was no match for her own strength.
All of a sudden, the white rabbit appeared by her side and leaned down to whisper. "That's the March Hare, she's quite the woman." He smiled.
Calling her an individual was quite the understatement, especially with the way she was trying to cuddle the Dormouse so passionately. "I've missed you, my darling Mousey! If you've been tired you can rest with me."
Her voice was light and fluffy, it fit her quite well, Alice thought. "Get off, Erin." She heard him mutter, looking as though he was suffocating from her touch.
Pouting, she cuddled twice as hare. "Feel how fluffy my ears are? If you're sad, let me help you! Bunny therapy!" She said while laughing.
She could see red rising on the dormouse's cheeks and finally understood what the rabbit meant when he said he cares for her. So someone like him is capable of basic feelings of love.
Finally able to push her off, he escaped her grasps to throw the white rabbit towards her instead, a sadistic glint in his eyes. "Good luck, old bastard."
The white rabbit shriek as his body landed in the March Hare's embrace. She proceeded to start smushing her cheek next to his, and flopping her ears. "If you're still a bachelor, we could get married." She jokingly laughed and started to scratch his ears.
"Nooo! I'm an honest man who only has time for work." He called out as he tried to get his ears away. Seems like he doesn't like people touching his rabbit features. Noted, she thought. She couldn't wait to accidentally tug on one ear.
As quickly as she embraced him, she tossed him to the side. Wow, it seemed like everyone really had it out for him. Suddenly, her luck ran out as the March Rabbit made her way towards her, and begun cuddling.
"Awwe who's this cute little baby? I never knew you had a child, Mousey! Even if it was another woman, I promise to raise her as my own." She said, definitely having a few loose screws somewhere.
As she begun to pinch Alice's face and play with her hair, the dormouse scoffed. "As if i would ever raise my child to be a brat! Besides, I'm only 27." He said glaring.
"Ah, that's right! She's too old to be your child, whoopsies!" She said as the lightbulb finally went off. Spinning around with Alice in her arms she turned to the white rabbit.
"Why didn't you ever let me see your daughter?" She said like a little child, puffing out her cheeks. It seemed like she was truly offended, though.
Pushing up his glasses, the rabbit recovered and took Alice back from her. "Please don't touch my Alice. She's the Great Magician, and I'm her guide while in Carneline." He said with an arm out in front of her to stop any attempts the March Hare would make.
Clapping quickly and jumping up and down, the March Hare set down her bag next to the table and begun to make her way to introduce herself.
With a curtsy, she smiled quite a charming smile. "The March Hare, Erin. I'm the newest March Hare, only being it for a few years. However, if you require assistance, please feel free to ask me as your friend." She finished, the closest person to sounding sane.
If only this was her first impression, and not a crazy neon woman trying to cuddle and accuse people of sudden hidden affairs.
"Thank you, Miss. I appreciate it." Alice replied with her own little curtsy as the woman spun around and went back to her bag.
Letting out a sigh of relief, the rabbit lowered his guard as the March Hare changed. She pulled out a surgical mask, some thin rubber gloves, and a lot of needles by her side.
She tied her long hair into two buns, a little hanging down as it was too much to tie. She walked up to Cynthia, and slammed a needle directly into her wound.
Alice wanted to shout out in protest, thinking she would hurt Cynthia. However, the dormouse had a tight grip on her shoulder, forcing her to watch, while the rabbit covered her mouth.
"She needs silence." His gruff voice muttered as he watched as well. She wanted to thrash, but if she caused a scene it may affect the operation.
From the needle, a light grew as the March Hare took a long exhale, the wound started patching itself from where the needle was.
As soon as she breathed in, the patching stopped and she started to manually add more needles, repeating the process. From what she understood, each time she breathed out, the needle fixed the hole.
She didn't know how long she watched, but soon it was no longer out of force but curiosity. She watched the March Hare begin to stitch up the clothes with other uncontaminated needles, and her limbs.
It was nearly like her body and even clothes were never touched. Cynthia's breathing was still shallow, but she was blinking and was able to move her arms much easier than before.
"Five hours and her body will be properly repaired. Do not intervene unless necessary, if not fixed ask Mousey to restore her once more." She finally broke the deafening silence, while he let out a grunt to acknowledge what she said.
As she took off her gloves, and undid her hair, she begun packing up her items. "I presume there's paperwork to fill out?" She asked, completely different from when they first met.
The white rabbit nodded and handed her the papers he'd organise for her a little while earlier. "It's 7:53." He said while taking out a pocket watch.
The woman finished her paperwork quickly and returned it, while the Dormouse actually acted like a host for once. He allowed her to take a seat and begun to make some tea for her, as she begun to shake ever so slightly.
Alice wanted to ask her illness, but couldn't find the voice within herself. She wanted to thank her for saving Cynthia, too, but something told her not to do so at that very moment.
After a few seconds of gathering the papers, the white rabbit smiled and bid them farewell, while holding onto Alice's wrist. "Please send her to the queen's castle when she's ready. Remember, meeting next Friday!" He called out, as they made their leave.
It was a little baffling how she never reacted but she in a way understood it must be the illness. But more importantly, how can they just send Cynthia back?
"Mister Rabbit, will Cynthia really be okay?" She asked nervously, she had a few thoughts which never ended well and wanted to know the answers.
Humming, he nodded. "March Hare is really good at her job, much greater than the last one. You've got nothing to worry about!" He chirped.
It still didn't feel right. "Is Cynthia really going back to the red queen's…" she started, but before she could finish he explained.
"There's no time to waste, she'll resume work immediately! As long as she doesn't make the queen angry, she'll likely live for a month before her next death, isn't she the one you like? That's good, isn't it?" He said, causing her to feel like once more the man before her was a monster.
The sinking feeling wouldn't disappear. "She works immediately? And will die again? Why doesn't she resent the queen?" She asked, making him come to a stop.
"You're too naive, Alice. Of course she works, she's a maid. And as long as the red queen lives, she'll likely die all over again. And there have definitely been some who resent the queen for killing them or family, but it's not like they can do anything! If he wanted he could simply tell the Dormouse not.." he continued his lecture, but she was no longer listening.
They had call her respect and care for human life naivety a countless amount of times. But is it really wrong to think of those around you as functioning and living people with feelings too, and not just role bearers?
The thoughts were eating her alive. She had originally thought that the queen although a tyrant, wouldn't be this cruel. Nor did she ever think that the unnamed people, side characters, and even the loyal and kind white rabbit would be monsters.
Everyday life in the world of Carneline was never sweet, it was only bitter. Despite their endless amounts of bright colours or candy in the streets, no matter how beautiful the buildings and sea were, and no matter how pretty a person's exterior was. Each one of them had a bitter heart.
Whether it stemmed from their illness or not, she could not determine. As they had mentioned before, cycles have past, repeating these roles for who knows how long. Perhaps they had once been human like her, but were forsaken by the author, doomed to suffer an eternity of numbness.
Or perhaps the previous generations had tainted them, tricking them into believing there was no mistake. And yet, she had made it this far in life, the original Alice. Fourteen years of age, and yet she tolerated her illness which was constant, and never tried to hurt anyone or force out some weird magic or kill for relief.
Even if she had known she'd have to hurt someone to stay sane, would the original Alice do it? Seeing people as monsters, not knowing when the day will end, and what is what anymore, would she really turn mad for the sake of sanity?
Or rather, did it make them feel human to do their roles? She was once normal in her past life, and after taking the snacks she felt normal. Did the red queen cross all these barriers in order to feel human? She wondered.
She couldn't tell if she pitied the people of this country, hated them, feared them, or wished happiness to them. There were a million reasons and scenarios to everything, that she didn't want to immediately assume without knowing, but a part of her already felt like she knew enough to consider them mad criminals.
Sighing, she suddenly jolted as the white rabbit pinched at her cheeks. "Hmm, you're back to being a very sad Alice. We can't have that! Let's go to the library! Afterwards we can get your tool. It's not as detailed as the clocktower's records, but there will surely be a book which catches your attention." He declared with a huff.
With that, he brought her out of her ever-questioning daze and begun to quickly walk while checking the time. "You're interested in our roles, right? Im sure the Blue Caterpillar will be able to provide all the answers."