—Hey, shadow man.
Anton called out for me. I stood in the corner of his room, away from him who was in his bed reading comics.
How nice. I'm sure he'd love webnovels. His taste in comics are similar to webnovels. Unfortunately, it still doesn't exist in this timeline.
"What is it, Ant?" I called him by the nickname his mother called him when I first entered this timeline. It was cute, like the insect, and he didn't seem to mind.
—What are you, really?
He asked curiously with no tinge of fear on his voice.
"I'm me." I joked, hoping to see him giggle.
—I'm serious, sir.
He let the comic book in his hands fall to his bed as he arose, looking at my face. Weird. Surely he doesn't know where my face is. Am I not just a shadow?
"Did your mother tell you something?" I inquired.
He pursed his lips before answering.
—She told me to not entertain you anymore. She said you're a demon.
I laughed. My laugh probably sounded really distorted on his side.
"I'm no demon, Ant!"
—What are you then?
I looked at him gently. I've only been communicating with him for around a month in Earth time, but I've been watching him since his birth. As expected of a descendant of []. I truly cannot wait for his growth.
"That, I cannot say for I would not be following the regulations."
He seemed surprised.
—There are regulations? Dang.
Allowing himself to fall on the bed, he grabbed another comic, one that looked homemade. He brushed off the question quite easily. It seemed like he knew that I wouldn't budge no matter how much he'd ask.
I felt sorry for him not being able to satiate his curiosity, but I hope that he knew that I would not do anything to hurt him.
We are brothers after all.
-
"My name, lady?" The Mad Hatter voiced politely.
His polite yet mischievous tone irritated me.
"Correct, Hatter. Do tell." I asserted at one end of the table, both of my hands' fingers intertwined at face level.
He hummed. "I'd love to tell you, Ant. Unfortunately, I've never had a name. Most of my names have originated from the bodies I possessed."
Such a let down. But he admitted to having had different bodies before. In quiet amazement, I interrogated him some more.
"Who and when was your last body?"
A sip of tea. "So curious. I've known someone like that before." He giggled wryly.
"Answer."
He placed the teacup on the porcelain coaster.
"If I don't answer, will I be punished?" He queried, his shoulders relaxed.
I stammered, but I answered truthfully.
"W-Well, no but…"
Clapping his hands twice, he dismissed me.
"There you go! I won't answer. Now, off you go!"
His mice, now both on his shoulders, mimicked him, squeaking. "Off you go!"
I bit my bottom lip. To be dismissed so swiftly— did I disturb him that much?
I laughed self-deprecatingly. It seemed like he really didn't want me here. Oh well, what can I do?
I left the chair and headed towards the bushes where I came from.
I took one last glance at the funky Hatter. He didn't seem to notice me looking at him.
Sighing, I jump into the bushes.
—Thud!
Ah, my chest hurts.
Looking up, my face slightly dirtied, I thought, Eh? This isn't where I was before.
In front of me were three knights whose helmets were shaped like a spade. They sung, carefree, holding a bucket of red paint in one hand and the other, a broad brush, as they painted white roses blotchy red.
I realized that the bush I came out of was one of the rose bushes they had messily painted. It was unusual so I opened the bush I came from to see if the Mad Hatter was still there. He was not. The scenery that was once a long table filled with cakes and tea had turned into a lake.
Another one of Wonderland's tricks, I contemplated.
The three knights chuckled in a singsong tone, flinging the paint bucket as they skipped happily.
One said, "The queen will be delighted!"
"We shall paint the roses red for the queen who loves red!"
"And we shan't dare waste any paint!"
The last line was ironic considering they were splattering paint everywhere.
I'm curious about something else though. The Cheshire cat. He hasn't appeared yet. I know other characters didn't appear as well but that was because I skipped them. Now that I've noticed, there were things that didn't happen as well. Is this really a different version than the D*sney one?
Think, Anton, think. Have you ever seen a different version of Alice in Wonderland?
I pondered, my arse planted on the ground. The spade knights frolicking noises in the background. The green bushes and trees surrounded me.
Being too immersed in thinking, I barely noticed when I was hit with red paint on my dress.
"Hmm…" My index and thumb pinched on my chin as I thought.
Until a few hours ago, I completely forgot about those shadow people I saw. Now that I think about it, I think I befriended one of them before.
I recalled making comic books a lot as a child. Most of them were fanfictions of shows and movies and books.
I guess I used to be a nerd like Erika.
I watched D*sney channel and An*max a lot as a kid. I liked G*ndam and Gh*bli and a bunch of other shows.
But, now that I remember, I was really entranced with Alice in Wonderland. In fact, I liked it so much I made a comic where characters that didn't exist in the movie appeared; while only characters I liked remained, the others I didn't like, I removed.
Haa… How nostalgic. I used to be so into drawing back then. Maybe if I was encouraged by my parents more, I would've tried to pursue art. I wonder.
Weirdly, I don't remember much of my childhood besides my parents arguing and fucking. What an insane life I've lived. Fortunately, I grew to be a healthy man.
Anyways, I don't remember much about the Alice in Wonderland fanfiction I made. But I'm sure something my eleven year old self would come and jump scare me.
"Oh, well." I said, breaking out of my train of thought. "Nothing I, my older self, cannot handle."
A song that was used to announce the arrival of royalty by a trumpet resounded my ears.
"The Queen of Hearts has come!"