After grabbing his hand, she found herself easily pulled up. Turning her head to the side, Alice wasn't sure what to think. She couldn't justify the actions of a man supporting evil, but he was a big brother.
If she too had a sibling destined to death, she would want to save them. Perhaps she couldn't hare him because it was human nature to protect your loved ones, but she knew this wasn't the way.
The story only added more questions but she shook her head and continued. If the pitiful cat would share this story, maybe he'd tell his secrets to her.
"Do you truly wish to stop her mister cat?" She asked out as they made their way through the manner. She had been stupid enough to leave her staff unattended she realised.
With a laugh he pat her head. "All of us are mad but have our beliefs. I may have succumbed but a part of me yearns." He spoke in a sort of cryptic way.
She understood partially, but in truth she couldn't claim to understand his pain nor thought. She had only been herself for weeks and even so she'd just arrived and learned of this plot.
Just how far did her friend think? If this was all tied in the first novel then wasn't his side development really just something he'd planned from the start?
With a sigh he took her back to the room, "My owner is The Mad Hatter," he paused before opening the door to look down at her with a smile, "Don't you have a mission to fulfill?" He questioned as she remembered he was an information-haver.
Gasping she lightly bowed and asked "Would you mind telling he your magic? And your weakness, your crystal." She asked him.
With a cheshire grin growing the man spoke with a purr as he trapped her between the walls while a figure burst through the doors with a large hat.
"Lady Alice, would you like to see my core?" He asked while pulling away a piece of cloth off his vest. There she saw a large scar across his chest.
His pale eyes glowed as she saw a small faint light emitting from it as he quickly covered it by pulling on his undershirt. It didn't look natural.
"Come out, pest." The voice rang as it looked around waving her very staff. The tall man who had a mean aura.
He wore a large hat and she couldn't see much else with shadows dripping off of his body like drops of rain.
"Three." He said. His voiced towered and completely enveloped the desolated manor and for the first time she'd felt as though she was going to disappear upon entering the manor.
She felt herself pushed behind the door as the man protected her with his body by opening the door further and turning off his magic. "Right here, master." He was now visible to the other which caused her to realise she was protecting him.
He slammed her in order to prevent contact. After she noticed she did her best to hold her breath. She could hear a pained gasp as the wall shook her and staff was flung by her feet.
It continued for minutes until complete silence and a twitch of his hand causing her to expose her location. Thankfully it seemed like he left.
"Are you alright?" She called worriedly at her helper. He only smiled and wiped himself as his clothes were tattered even more than earlier and pat her head.
Answers seemed to slam right at her in full speed. His clothes were slightly worn and tattered because of the Mad Hatter. The unnatural cut wasn't because he had it there from the start but rather it was somehow shoved deep inside of him, and it was likely the work of the man she'd just barely escaped.
Being replaced if you lose your core, he must of found a way to engrave it to his chest. He must also take his anger out on him a lot.
"Mister… What's your name?" She asked as she didn't wish to call him by his role. The people of this world had names, she knew it, and it felt weird to call the person who saved her the title of pet cat.
Tilting his head, he formed a cheshire grin and dragged her away as she heard muffled moving and barely caught her staff as she was taken back.
"The Cheshire Cat, and sorry for this but he's not in the best of moods finding out you've arrived Alice," he gave an apologetic smile as his magic wore off "The Great Magician is a major threat."
She'd understood she wasn't liked but he didn't need to take his anger out on him! "You shouldn't apologise, you're the one who protected me!" She huffed out in anger.
The man smiled and waved it off and fixed his clothes messily. "I put you in danger by bringing you here, so you don't need to worry. You're just a child and yet you're seeing these things." It clicked.
She'd been thinking of herself as an adult for awhile and not like a child would. In his perspective, a child seeing The Mad Hatter or even being thrown to Carneline would be petrified.
Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself. "Mister… please tell me your real name. I am Alice Hartziene, the Great Magician. I am also the one who thinks everything in this country is wrong and messed up." She stated.
His eyes widened slightly and he laughed while patting her head. "A street cat has no name, so you could call me whatever you'd like," he said before standing up straight, "Although this country is messed up, the people still are beautiful deep down even if they've given up hope and succumbed."
She couldn't change the way she saw things as an adult, she already knew what was going on. Being told to kill someone as a child would be traumatic. Even as an adult, but he never went into unnecessary details. He didn't want to do so. He held no malice to the people which made him miserable but rather concern.
Perhaps he was the one she was looking for, a person who still had a belief that human lives are precious, she thought. "If they were beautiful deep down they wouldn't mercilessly kill!"
"I suppose then, I too am merciless. You cannot survive without doing some deeds but the difference is the part that eats them alive." He said as panic arose on her face. She'd forgotten her bag!
"The Dormouse still thinks all lives are precious and forces himself to save everyone despite it meaning his death," he explained but she couldn't hear as her legs begun to shake.
If her sworn enemy the shadow guy would definitely try to hurt her or him if he finds that bag! Does he already know she was there?
He'd been in the room before but never mentioned her. Does her bag even give hints to who she was She squealed.
With a hand to her head he murmured. "Did you lose something?" He'd long notice that she was frantically searching and physically shaking.
"My bag…" she mumbled out scared of the consequence. She didn't want him to get further than before.
He clapped and turned around about to leave before she grabbed him out of reflex. "You don't need to worry, I'll get it!" He smiled.
Frantically shaking her head she pleaded with him not to. "Ooh." He said as though something clicked at long last.
"Master isn't at the manor but rather traveling near the sea as what you saw wasn't his body but his magic form of imitation, it's long gone." He explained as she blinked.
That was his magic? Well it did make more sense when the man from pictures looked much slimmer, and had a face with limbs that looked very human.
After a few minutes her bag was retrieved and he walked her out towards the very front of the manor she'd saw earlier, still vacant.
"Unfortunately I can't go any further. My next order begins in two hours and I've got to see the others." he explained as he allowed her to walk away with no repercussions.
She came expected prison cells in her future and left with a bad impression of everyone except for him. The only nice person she'd met thus far.
Taking her staff in hand and bag in another, she'd thanked him once more. "Also, would you mind telling me how you knew everything?" It was still bugging her.
He already explained but it wasn't enough. "I can turn invisible at will so it was easy to watch you walk through town. No one pays attention to a street cat when the streets bustle. Most of the time I merely need to be there and no one notices." He told her.
A model like him didn't stand out? What next will it snow through the desert? Wait, that actually was in one of the stories she'd notice.
Logic absolutely doesn't apply to this place! "Do you think…" she started as he bluntly denied before she finished. She knew she stood out due to her features and equipment but that was beyond fast.
"You draw too much attention with your features, above that it'd be better for you to be recognized." He said as though reading her mind. Alice was someone who knew a lot, so maybe she did befriend him in the novel prior to their main set?
As time passed she didn't want to but knew it was time for her to go, so without delaying she bowed and excused herself while thinking over their conversations.
"Edward….no. Ulex? Ah Ulex!" She declared while looking at him. If he didn't have a name then maybe he was assigned his role at birth?
She'd recall he said he could name her so she turned on her heel and waved away, a smile on her face. "Goodbye, Ulex!" Ulex-Galli, the name of a flower. It was bright and gold, and something she found pretty.
She couldn't see the soft smile on his face as he watched over her leaving while she made her spay through town according to the map… before a realization.
She didn't learn! The core of the Mad Hatter, any other people of the house, or their weaknesses other than one person's!
Surely she wouldn't be getting herself in trouble for such a small thing? She won't be beheaded yet? Shaking her head she thought there was no way she'd be expected to learn everything with one day she convinced herself.
Even more stupidly she never asked about others despite him even mentioning them at the end! With a kick to her heel she made her way through the town, onto the next location. Marked on the map was a tiny little house with a giant few letters.
It was relatively near she assumed and was somewhere she should go but there was a large pitting feeling in her stomach.
Something told her not to go to the place of white nicknamed, "The Queenly Hall", maybe it was the fact the staff had verified her repeatedly and even forced her to produce a finger print.
Or maybe it was because dum wrote the map and wanted her to sound stupid in a place of fancy people. She didn't know what she did to upset him but this was clearly a place for aristocrats! There's no way she could navigate the place she'd thought as her head swirled around at all the pretty lights when all of a sudden her nose hit something. hard
A person with a taller figure and brown hair with amber-golden eyes, wearing what looked like a white uniform version of the red queen's soldiers except his made him look brighter than the morning sun after many hours of staying inside of a dark room
She heard a low hum as the guy turned around to look at her and bend over, "Are you okay, where's your irresponsible mom who left their child?"