Alice In Wonderland (2)

Once Alice left the throne room, she ran towards the royal garden. Many armored cards turned toward the pitter patter of her footsteps. The joyful girl didn't wear shoes whenever she made her rounds. For some weird reason, her feet never got dirty. Only when she left the castle would she wear shoes.

A few nobles and aristocrats would gaze on her as she ran by. This young girl was like a breath of fresh air. Her actions would light up people's day that were wrought with corruption and scheming.

It didn't take long for the lovely fairy to reach her destination. She could already see a bunch of kids playing tag. They ran around a massive bush that resembled the queen's head. The entire garden was like a maze due to the complex structure of greenery. As they played, a young boy with blonde hair tripped and fell.

"Oooof!" He grunted.

"Tag you're it!"

A big-headed girl with red hair tagged the boy. She ran away as fast as she could, laughing all the while. There was a slight blush on her cheeks. The boy couldn't help but pout.

"Ophelia, why do you always tag me? I don't want to be it!" He complained.

"Fafafafa!" Ophelia giggled in response.

It was at this moment that Alice made her appearance. She had yet to say anything, but the surroundings had gone silent. All of the kids had focused on her and fallen into a daze. Including the blonde boy. Ophelia frowned before looking toward the source.

"Can I play?" Alice finally asked. Her soft voice struck their soul.

The big-headed girl's expression turned into a frown. She didn't like when her sister took the spotlight. It always caused her friends to ignore her. Ophelia hated it.

"Grrrr! Why are you here?! Go play with someone else!" She snapped. Alice's big eyes watered up.

"But I wanna play with you…Please? Even mom said I could go out today. I never go out! Please?!" She ran to Ophelia and hugged her leg.

The jealous princess could only sigh. It was rare that Alice would be outside, and it was even more rare that she would beg her like this. Those puppy eyes were something not even Ophelia could fight against.

"Fine. Just this time, okay?" She patted Alice's head. The purple eyed girl smiled with glee.

"Yay! So who's it?" She asked.

Those words caused the blonde boy's heart to beat faster. At first he was unhappy to be it. Now he was thanking his lucky stars. He was going to touch her if it was the last thing he did. The boy stood up with a newfound determination. Seeing that he was ready to make a move, everyone scattered into the maze.

"Aaaah! Fufufu!" Alice giggled as she ran through the garden.

The boy chased after the beautiful princess, ignoring the sister who went the other way. It took a while for Ophelia to realize that her fiance wasn't chasing close behind. Alice ran as fast as she could.

All of the other kids would burst into a sprint when seeing the boy chasing after her. After a while, the barefoot princess hit a dead end. The blonde kid finally had her trapped.

"Have you run enough?" He mocked with a smile. Alice gave a challenging grin.

"You won't catch me, Casval. I'm too quick. Too shifty." She answered.

"We'll see, princess."

It was on. The distance between the two disappeared, and Alice slipped around like an eel. Her elegant ballerina movements helped her stay untouched. Jumping over swipes, sliding under grabs, she was incredible. This scene would cause normal people to rub their eyes in disbelief. But this was Wonderland. Nothing was normal.

Both of them were panting due to the strenuous movement. She'd still been unable to get away, but she hadn't been tagged yet. Her royal dancing lessons were truly paying off. Unfortunately, she hadn't practiced enough.

The exhaustion kicked in which caused her to fall. Casval wasn't expecting her to drop, which made him lose his footing. He landed on top of her. The boy was sitting on her.

"Gotcha! You're it." He finally said.

"Fufufufu! You're it!" She tagged him back. Casval pinned her hands above her.

"Nu-uh. You can't tag me back! That's cheating."

"Is not! Fufufu!"

"Is too."

"Is not!"

Alice struggled from under him, giggling all the while. Casval couldn't help but gaze upon her figure. She was like a painting. He couldn't believe that he was on top of her right now. His hands tightened around hers and he took a huge gulp.

"Alice…" He spoke softly as he gazed into her eyes.

"Hmmmm?"

There weren't any more words as they looked at each other. The princess was clueless. What did Casval want? He was being weird.

A pair of eyes watched from around the corner. Ophelia was feeling a rage like no other. Her eyes watered up and her heart shattered. She was done dealing with Alice. That was the final straw.

…

…

…

Time passed and night had fallen. The moon and stars were shining brightly, illuminating Alice's bedroom. These rays of moonlight came through her window and landed on her sleeping figure.

A few moments went by before a slight click resounded. Her bedroom door quietly opened. A figure had blocked the moonlight and stood over Alice's bed. It was Ophelia. In her hand was a pair of scissors.

"Alice…you have such a beautiful face. Heh." She muttered. The nearby voice caused Alice to groggily open her eyes.

"Mmmnnn…sister? What's wrong?"

"You think you're so beautiful, right? Strutting around as if everyone owes you something. This is your last day."

"Ophelia?"

The sharp point stabbed down into Alice's eye. Blood spurted onto the bedsheets. There was a moment of silence as the pain registered in her brain. Her body convulsed as she held her injury.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

A blood curdling scream. It resounded through the castle, but there was no reaction. The sheer volume of the scream caused Ophelia to dash out of the room.

Alice cried and cried…but nobody came. It felt like hours had gone by which caused the sobbing girl to fight the pain and crawl out of the room. Once she got to her feet, she wobbled toward the king's quarters.

Blood trails were left behind as she stumbled about. Upon reaching the door, she walked in with a cry. Her voice was rancid with pain. The king could be found lying asleep on a majestic bed.

"DAD! It hurts! Ophelia, she-"

As she tried to wake him up, she realized how cold his body felt. It was unusual. Much colder than a body should normally feel. She looked at the nightstand and noticed a cup of unfinished wine. Poison.

"Dad…Wake up…Dad!" Blood fell from one eye and tears fell down the other. There was no response.

At this moment, a garrison of card soldiers burst into the room. They approached Alice with spears in hand. She was surrounded.

"Suspect found."

"Suspect found."

"Suspect found."

"Apprehending."

"Apprehending."

"Apprehending."

Their mechanical words droned on and on. A powerful fist struck her in the stomach, robbing her of air. Alice flew back until she struck the wall. Her spine had slightly fractured and it now was almost impossible to move on her own. Still, she was too busy vomiting her dinner.

"Urghk…why…it hurts…Dad." She croaked.

An armored card grabbed her by the hair, pulling her out of the room. She was dragged across the floor for who knows how long. When she could finally handle the pain wracking her body, she realized she was in the throne room.

The card soldier threw her to the ground. When she finally looked up, she saw her mother sitting on the throne and Ophelia on her lap. Flood gates released and more tears burst forth. Alice sobbed her heart out and called for her mother.

"Momma! Save me…Dad won't wake up! Ophelia and the cards hurt me! Please help!"

Guinevieve rubbed her daughter's head as she watched the fallen Alice. A happy smile could be seen on Ophelia's face. The queen was looking quite smug.

"Alice. Listen to what I'm about to say. You have been charged with the crime of murdering the king, manipulating Ophelia's betrothed to your whims, and being a plague to this nation. How do you plead?"

"W-What? P-Plead? Momma, I didn't do anything…urghk…help me. I'm sorry! What have I done wrong? Why are you both treating me like this?! I'll do better! Please!" She spoke in between sobs.

"You apologized. One only apologizes if they're guilty. I hereby sentence you to lifetime confinement in the Bleeding Heart Chamber." The queen declared.

Alice's eyes widened upon hearing the verdict. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. As she stared at her 'mother' she couldn't help but feel empty. Nobody was going to help her.

'I'm alone…No one cares about me. Why? What did I do wrong?' She thought sadly.

"Please forgive me…I'm sorry for being a bother…I won't go outside anymore…I'll do better! What did I do wrong…I'll fix it!" She cried softly as the armored cards took her away. The queen smiled with glee.

"It is I who is sorry. I should've known you were a plague all this time. Be gone."

As the armored cards took her through the halls, she was quiet. Her eyes were focused on the ground. There was only one question that burned in her thoughts. It pricked at her like needles.

'Why?'

She shouldn't have gone out today. She should've been good like she always was and stayed in her room. If she'd behaved, this wouldn't have happened. The pain was unbearable. But what hurt even more was the fact that she was hated for a reason she didn't understand.

It didn't take long for her to reach a heart-shaped door. This was the entrance to the Bleeding Heart Chamber. Once the doors opened, Alice was hit with a rotting smell. It was disgusting.

There was only a single cell. A dead body could be found inside. Maggots were crawling all throughout its skin. The cards took out the body before making to push her in.

"I don't wanna go in there! I don't wanna!" She screamed.

It was futile. The soldier threw her with force, causing her to crash into the ground. The cell door closed behind her. There were no windows, and the candles weren't lit. Once the heart doors closed, the room was drowned in darkness.

Alice could only sob quietly. She didn't know what was going on. Maybe this was to teach her a lesson. Well she'd learned it. She would behave herself if she got out. She would kiss her mother's feet everyday if asked. She would serve as her sister's maid if asked. She just wanted to go home.