Return to Wonderland

Return to Wonderland: Land of Chess
based on "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass"

Disclaimer:
The original story belongs to Lewis Carrol (god rest his soul) and I'm only borrowing the characters.

Author's note:
I have decided the cut this whole story into two sections. The first taking place in 'The Land of Cards' and the story continues in 'The Land of Chess' or Mirrorland as some people so aptly call it. Well, hope this clears some things up and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.
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Return to Wonderland: The Land of Chess
AJ Angelique

Chapter 5: Reunion Banquent

Snow.

It just HAD to be snow!!!

The Chesire Cat was wandering the frozen mountain sides of the northern lands of the Chess Kingdom. Even though he had fur, it wasn't helping much with those sharp winds that kept blowing snow in his face. Before long, he was cursing the creation of snow when he found himself in a empty feild.

"Grrr, where the hell is the exit?" he growled as he looked around.
"My good fellow, are you lost?" asked an aged male voice. Chesire looked up and around to see no one.

"Who said that?" he demanded.
"I did," said a voice behind him. Chesire whirled around and was surprised to see the fabled White Knight.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that," Chesire commented with narrow eyes.
"Sorry, but I do blend in with my current surrounding don't I?" White Knight asked, highly amised. Chesire had to admit that he was right, that white armor and white horse did blend in with the snow.

"Now, are you in need of assistance?" the knight asked as he turned serious again.
"Yes, I'm looking for the castle," Chesire said.
"Then you'll want to go to the White Castle. All the royals are there having tea today," Knight said.

"Can you take me there?" Chesire asked.
"Of course I can. Climb on up and we'll leave this place," Knight said. Chesire nodded and then jumped up to sit behind the White Knight.

"Hold on," Knight said. He flicked his wrists and urged the horse to moved forward through the exit that had only been a couple feet away from where Chesire once stood. As they passed through it, all sorts of curses flew through Chesire's mind...

* * *

At the same time, the Red King led Alice through the squares and the two soon found themselves at the gleaming white castle of the White family.

"Odd," the Red King said, highly puzzled.
"What's wrong your mejesty?" Alice asked.
"I was trying to get us to the red castle. I wonder if I missed a turn or something," he mused.
"No your majesty, both families are sharing tea here today," Alice said, wondering if he had forgotten this somehow.

"They are? Well, let's go in then," the king said with a cheerful smile and led the way to the castle. When they approached the gates, Alice noted the look of confussion on the guard's faces when they saw the king.

"Well? What's the matter? Haven't you seen a king before?" the king asked.
"No your highness...it's just that...well..." the guard on the left said, not sure of how to explain what was wrong.

"Well, spit it out," the king said.
"Maybe it's best to show you your highness," the other guard said.
"Fine then, lead the way," the king said.
"Yes your highness," the guard said. He led Alice and the king inside the courtyard as another gaurd was called to take his place at the front. Alice continued to noticed how everyone they passed had this look of surprise or confussion on their face as they passed by. As some could only stare as they walked by, others whispered to one another.

Finally, they reach the grand hall where the royals are having tea. It was cut off by a pair of massive lake blue doors with gold trim which were opened by four servants, two for each door. The doors groaned open and everyone looked up, curious as to who would interupt their afternoon tea. But curiosity soon turned to shock when the guard led in the last two people that the Red Queen had ever expected to see again.

"Father?" she asked as she stood up.
"Rose?" the king asked. Tears beaded the corners of her eyes and she climbed over the long dining table to dash over to the king and embraced him in a warm hug. As the king looked down at the young woman, the hall erupted in applause as the White Queen walked around the table to appraoch them.

"Would someone please explain to me what is going on here?" the king asked.
"Yes sir," the White Queen said with a curtsy, "You see, you have been asleep for a very long time. Long enough for your daughter to grow up, marry and take the throne," the White Queen said. The king's jaw dropped as he turned from the White Queen to his daughter.

"Is this true?" he asked.
"Yes. I have been ruling our kingdom for ten years now with a wonderful husband by my side," Rose said with a smile.

"I'm glad to hear this. What of your mother? Is she well?" the king asked. Joy turned to sadness and the tension in the air began to thicken.

"What's wrong?" the king asked.
"Mother died ten years ago...she became ill and..." Rose started but was silenced by her father placing a finger on her lips.

"Shhh, that's all I need to know," the king said and hugged his daughter once more. The White Queen smiled and then turned to Alice.

"And who may you be?" the queen asked.
"Alice, your majesty," she said with a curtsey.
"That's queen Alice," Rose said.
"Queen Alice!?" the White Queen gasped and murmurs washed through the room.
"Yes, I was only a child but I can still recognize her...even if she has grown a bit since then," Rose said with an raised eyebrow.

"Then let us sit and talk as we finish our tea," the white Queen said as she and Rose led the two guests to the front table where room was made for them. The king sat with Rose and chatted with his son in law (whom he soon grew to love) while Alice sat with the White Queen and her king.

"If you are the fabled "Vanishing Queen" then you must remember my wife," the king said.
"Oh?" Alice asked and turned to the queen as she stirred some sugar in her tea.
"She may not for I was to young back then and..." the queen started.
"And I took your place, your Lily. My how you've grown," Alice exclaimed.
"Yes but it seems as if you haven't grown that much, you must tell me your secret," Lily said.
"Alice, do you herald from our kingdom or do you come from another land?" White King asked.
"I come from a land called England but I did get here from the Card Kingdom," Alice explained.
"I thought so," the king said and bit into a peice of shortbread.
"Excuse me?" Alice asked.
"You see Alice, time moves faster in our kingdom than it does the Card Kingdom," Lily explained.
"I see," Alice said as she began to wonder how much time had passed in the other kingdom...and how much older all the people she knew were now.

"Alice, please tell us of your adventures. You must have travled a lot to get here," Lily said.
"Yes, please tell us of this England and how things fare in the Card Kingdom," the new Red King said.

"I'm afraid I've only been to the Castle Hearts," Alice said.
"That's better than nothing," Rose said. Alice turned her head down in thought, silently agreeing with Rose before she looked back up and began to explain all her grand adventures.

She started out talking about her home and the country of England. Then she told them all her adventures about her last visit to the two kingdoms before she returned home only to grow up a bit more. Finally she told of her more recent adventures in Wonderland leading up the current moment. Needless to say, it took some time for Alice to tell all her stories. So much in fact that everyone stayed in the room untill it was well into dinner time.

"Wow," Lily said when her tales were all over with.
"Yes, that was amazing. Yet I'm sorry to hear that you've had to go through such hardships," Rose said.

"Thank you your majesty," Alice said and turned to reach for her glass of red wine. Yet she was astonished when it moved away from her hand.

"Hmm," Alice mused and tried to reach for it again only this time it fell off the table. Everyone looked up at this and then all the other glasses flew off the table only to smash against the wall on the other side of the room. This was followed by the food floating off the table and it began to fly around the room in every direction as it dive bombed the guests. A lot of people were frighten by this and began to flee the room as Alice and the heads of the White and Red families stayed in the room.

"Not again," Lily moaned.
"This happens often?" Alice asked as she turned to the queen.
"I'm afraid so, and we have no idea why," Lily said as her husband hugged her. Alice then heard the sound of a child's laugh and looked up. Alice gasped to see what looked to be a young boy dressed in red hovering in the air as a young girl dressed in white floated behind him. The boy, who looked to be seven years old, appeared to be enjoying himself while the girl, who looked to be only five years old, was pleading with him to stop.

"Who are those children?" Alice asked as the words slipped out before she could think. Everyone then looked at her, even the two floating kids looked at her.

"Kids?" Rose asked.
"Finally," the boy said and all the floating food stopped in its tracks before it fell to the floor. As the royals tried not to get hit by falling food, the two children floated down to Alice and stood before her.

"You can see me? See us?" the boy asked.
"Y...yes. You're dead, aren't you?" Alice asked.
"Yes," the little girl said as she hid shyly behind the boy and clung to his robes.
"Who are you talking to?" Lily asked.
"Ghosts," Alice simply said.
"Ghosts," the red king scoffed and Rose elbowed him in the gut.
"What?!" he asked and Rose rolled her eyes.
"Who are they and what do they want?" Lily asked.
"I'll see," Alice said and knelt down.
"Awfully small ghosts, aren't they?" the White King whispered.
"Awufully small...or..." Lilly started as she clutched her hands together over her heart.
"Tell me, who are you two?" Alice asked.
'Two?' Lily thought.
"My name is Jacob and this is Crystal," the boy said and the girl smiled.
"Why are you doing all those bad things?" Alice asked and Jacob bowed his head.
"Jacob," Alice said in a motherly tone of voice.
'Jacob?' Rose asked.
"I know they were bad but no one was paying attention to us," Jacob said.
"You're the only one who can see us," Crystal said.
"I see, you have my attention now," Alice said.
"Well?" the Red King asked impatiently and Alice turned to him.
"Their names are Crystal and Jacob," Alice said and Lily gasped.
"Majesty?" Alice asked.
"Crystal was my daughter's name," Lily said sadly.
"And Jacob was my son," Rose said shocked.
"Bull," the Red King swore and Jacob glared at his father.
"Jacob doesn't like it when you swear so please hold your tounge," Alice said and the king stared at her with wide eyes.

"But, why are they here?" Lily asked and Alice turned back to the kids with a questioning look.
"I hid something from mommy and I need to give it back," Crystal said as she began to feel more comfortable with Alice.

"What is it?" Alice asked.
"A locket, I hid it in the nursery," Crystal said and Alice turned back to the royals.
"Before she died, Crystal hid something in the nursery," Alice said and Lily paled.
"Whatrongrong?" Alice asked.
"That's where Crystal died," the king said and Lily solemly nodded.
"Do you expect me to believe this?" the Red King said and Rose groaned.
"You don't believe that I can see ghosts?" Alice asked.
"Yes. I don't believe in psychics, soothesayers and ghosts," the king said.

For the firs time in Alice's life, she wasn't afraid of her gift. She was angry that someone didn't believe her and she glared angrily at him.

"Take me to the room and prove me wrong then," Alice said, challenging him.
"Fine," the king said and led the way out of the room as Alice followed. Rose let out a heavy sigh as she and the others followed.

"I wish you hadn't done that," Rose said to Alice.
"Did Crystal and Jacob know each other well?" Alice asked.
"Yes," Rose said sadly, "they played together a lot in that room...in fact, Jacob also died in that room." The walk up to the room was quiet and solem untill they reached the long hallway. At the end of this hall was the old nursery and as they approached it, Alice hear the distance crys of a child...possibly a baby.

"I hear a baby crying," Alice said as her skin began to goose pimple.
"Unfortunatly, our children weren't the first to die in that room. One of my ancestors died as a baby in that room..." Lily said solemly. The Red King reached the double doors first and opened them quickly as if he has simply charged through them. The others followed and Alice was surprised to find that the room had been left alone for some time now. Toys littered the room as a thin layer of dust covered everything and cobwebs clung to the walls. As she stood there, Alice could hear the meleody of a music box but saw that there wasn't one in sight. Then, she looked to the right and saw the two children standing by the fireplace. Alice left the four adults and briskly walked over to them.

"It's in there, the third brick over from the right," Crystal said as she pointed to the fireplace. Alice turned to it and knelt down to the step made of brick which held a couple of dust covered and bug ridden logs. Trying her best to ignor the wood, she counted three bricks in from the right and began to test the brick only to find that it was lose. She pulled it back to find that there was a secret space hidden in the base of the fireplace. Carefully, she reached her hand in and pulled out a small velvet pouch.

"Does this look familar?" Alice asked as she stood up and approached Lily.
"Yes, it was Crystal's treasure bag," Lily said as Alice handed it off to her. Lily clutched the bag for a moment before she pulled back the drawstrings and looked inside with a small gasp.

"What is it?" her king asked as she slipped her right hand in and pulled out a lovelly gold locket that had a golden rose attached to the front.

"My mother's locket," Lily said and opened it to reveal a picture of a much younger her with her mother.

"I lent it to Crystal and I thought it had been lost," Lily said as a tear rolled down her face.
"Now you have it mommy," Crystal said and everyone looked up.
"Crystal?" Lily asked.
"You can see me mommy?"
"Yes, I can," Lily said.
"Jacob?" Rose asked.
"Yes mother. I stayed behind to help Crystal," Jacob said. Rose's hand flew to her mouth as tears rolled down her face and her husband looked on drop jawed.

"Mommy, we need to go now," Crystal said.
"Yes dear, take care of yourself," Lily said.
"Yes mommy, I love you."
"I love you twor."\rr."
"Jacob..."
"Dad, I know. I love you too, I love you both. I'll see you on the other side," Jacob said as he took Crystal's hand. With that, the two chidlren fadded away.

"Alice," Lily said.
"Yes your majesty?" Alice said as she turned to Lily.
"You have a special gift. You saw our childreen nen none of us could and helped not only them to move on but us as well," Lily said.

"Yes, thank you," the White King said and Alice smiled.
"Alice, can you forgive me for...not believeing in you?" the Red King asked.
"Yes your majesty, for not only have I helped you but you helped me."
"Oh? How?" Rose asked.
"For the longest time, I have been afraid of my ability. I thought I would be shunned for it but now I see how wonderful it is," Alice said.

"Alice, you are truely a Communicator of the Spirits and was led here for a purpose," the White King said.

"Yes...thank you your majesty," Alice said.
"Now come, the night wanes and you are to stay here for the night. Maybe when the dawn comes you will know where to go from here," Lily said.

"Thank you your majesty," Alice said and the five adults left the room as they closed the doors behind them. The group returned downstairs and the queens spread the news of what had happen. With that, a celebration was held in the quickly cleaned great hall and it wasn't untill late that night when Alice was showed off to a room where she could sleep for the night.

The room was up on the fifth floor and it was 50ft by 60ft in size with a king sized four poster bed dressed in soft blue linens. The room has a few windows but the one thing that brought in the most light were the French door paned with glass that led out to the balcony that looked over the kingdom. Alice bade the servant who led her to the room goodnight and simply walked over to the bed and flopped down in it with her cloths still on. Yet it wasn't long after she collasped on the bed that she felt someone join her. Her eyes flew open and she began to shout as a clawed hand covered her mouth. Strong arms wrapped around her as she struggled to free herself but only succeded in knocking down stuff as she was carried over to the doors of the balcony. As her captor opened the doors, her kicking legs found a large vase and knocked it over. The resulting crash was enough to make someone burst into the room. Alice would never know who they were for her captor cursed under his breath and bursted through thers ars as a pair of wings protected them from the glass. Alice's mouth was finally released as they leapt from the balcony and she let out a shriek as they began to plumet only to take a sharp turn up and the two began to fly through the air.

At the same time, the Chesire Cat and the White Knight were approaching the castle.
"I can't believe you go tus lost old man," Chesire said syndly and very pissed.
"Old man!? I'm only 90 youngin!" White Knight snapped back.
"Yeah yeah. Let's just get inside the castle already," Chesire said.
"What's your hurry? Is there someone there expecting you?" White Knight asked. Yet before Chesire could reply the two heard the shriek of Alice. The two men looked up in time to duck as a dark form fell towards them only to arch away and fly away from the castle. When Chesire looked up he was surprised to see a fmailar female face looking backhim.him.

"Crap, that was Alice!" Chesire exclaimed.
"Let's hurry to the castle and get help," White Knight said and he began to urge his horse forward.

"No time," Chesire said and leapt off the back of the horse.
"Wait!" White Knight called out but Chesire didn't hear him for he was gone in a blink of an eye and White Knight shook his head in surprise.

'Where did he go?' White Knight thought with a puzzled look on his face. Meanwhile, Chesire was running faster than a cheetah to keep up with the darting dark figure in the sky.

'I refuse to lose her again,' Chesire thought as he gritted his teeth and continued to run further into the forest and followed the figure into another chess square.

Next)
Chapter 6: Union

The pictures have finally been posted!
www.angelfire.com/ok5/tangled_web