Alice seldom wander too far from Papa. After all, Papa is where safety is. Still, she carry in her an unquenchable wanderlust. Wanderlust that gnaws at her relentlessly. But she always made sure to stick close to Papa's domain. Alice do not consider herself as cowardly. Rather, she's weary of the violent world around her. She can still make her Vorpal Blade go snicker snack but if she have her way, she'd rather not.

Papa is accommodating to her violent nature that comes up now and then. Brother Ashborn lets her vent with his immortal armies. Whenever the need to rage comes over her, he will take Alice to the barracks and let her give in to her bloodlust. Alice hates being violent but she cannot help but accept that her violent rampage allows her to let out all the anger and hatred out while at the same time giving her a sense of control over her own emotion and the feel freedom of owning her own body. Papa is understanding, knowing her pain better than anyone around her and she hates that he understood that pain.

Because it means that he have gone through something similar.

But that also means that Alice can let down all her fences and her walls around Papa because he will not judge her or made her feel wretched for the way her life ended. She can babble nonsense around him in that manner that only the insane can understand and he will reply in kind. She can tell him how sometimes it feels like there are rats in her head eating her brain for dinner or a casino in her chest gambling away pieces of her broken heart between many Alices inside her body, and Papa will understand. He will share with her that sometimes it feels like there are many Dannys inside him. Sometimes he feels as young as a child, sometimes it feels like he is dreaming this all up and that the real him is actually strapped somewhere in a mad house, sometimes he feels as ancient as the stars, and sometimes he feels like a shattered mirror.

Alice loves her Papa. She will cut anyone who dares to take advantage of him. Fortunately for her, her biggest brother Seph understand this the best. He's as mad as her when it comes to Papa. And though the others aren't as mad as either, they carry within them the same ferocious sentiment. They are just...saner in their approach. Even slier sometimes.

If anyone wonders why Papa is still single, they really don't have to look further than his children.

Still, back to her present. Alice had opened a book in the library and found herself in a strange world. Not her first time, sure, but it is certainly the most whimsy place she have ever stepped in. After all, everyone is in pretty dresses and crowns of flowers. The boys all dressed up like they are going to the ball or something. She's so out of place...or maybe not so much.

Alice have always been the gloomiest of her sisters. They understand that the things that happened to her isn't supposed to make people smile and giggle like the clouds are made of cotton candy. They are always as accommodating to her flighty emotions as they can. But that also means that dressing up in pretty pastels isn't something that Alice do often. Not to mention, the bloodstained hand print on her apron...

"Excuse me?"

Alice looks around to see a boy looking at her in confusion. She feels that same confusion. He have sandy blond hair and periwinkle blue eyes but studying the boy makes her feel as if staring at the mirror. The boy looks disturbed by her and Alice supposed that seeing a girl with bloody aprons would do that.

Alice asks, "Are you my mirror?"

The boy blinks, "I am unsure. I mean...my name is Alistair. Alistair Spaids Dear Wonderland!" He offers his hand, "And you are?"

Alice stares at his hand, clean and unsullied, "My name...is Alice Liddell Phantom," She looks at him, "Wonderland, you say? Is it a place in the here or is it a place in you head?"

Alistair chuckles, "Well...it is a place...not in the here or in my head. But it is place," He frowns, "So...you're Alice? But..."

Alice smiles with shining green eyes, "Like I said, are you my mirror?"

~

Alistair have met many mad friends. It is part of Wonderland and his story as the next Alice. But the girl on the street, who stares at everything and everyone like she's in Wonderland, is something else. There is something eerie about her. Like looking at a distorted mirror. Alistair understand Wonderland's madness. But this girl...her madness is...something else.

As he walks her through Ever After, telling her about Wonderland in that separate dimension, she asks him, "So...your Wonderland are never tainted by reality because it is its own world? Interesting,"

He asks her, "What about you?"

She speaks as if she knows Wonderland but not the one he knows.

Alice smiles, the curve of it bitter and sickle deadly, "My Wonderland grows up with me. My Wonderland was ruined. It takes me many visits and many battles to set it to right. However, those events left a mark that will never be erased. My brothers can erase it. They have their method. But I have fallen in love with my cruel and ruthless Wonderland," She looks at him, "In some part, it resembles your Wonderland. In other part, it is a reflection of the cruelness of the world that have tainted me,"

Alistair wonders just what sort of madness this is. It isn't whimsical or familiar. It feels...dark. Tainted. Crueler than the madness that the Evil Queen had infected Wonderland with. Even though his survival instinct is telling him to stay away, Alistair cannot help but be enchanted by the idea of a darker Wonderland.

He asks her before he can stop himself, "Do you think I can visit it?"

Alice stops in the middle of the street. Her too wide eyes looks down and Alistair finally take notice of the bloody hand print on her apron. She looks back up at him and Alistair anchors himself to her eyes with his own. She smiles wide, like the Cheshire Cat, and says, "Is your heart hard enough? My Wonderland will change you as it had changed me. You will come clean as a white handkerchief but you will come out of it a dirty as if you wiped clean a dirty chimney and a murder scene,"

Alistair gulps. With many others, he can call on their bluff. But this Alice...she is cut of a different cloth. A different madness. Whimsical, yes, but in the darkest sense. He can tell that she is warning him. But still, Alistair is still an Alice. He cannot help but be intrigued to solve riddles. And this Alice...she is the greatest riddle that he will ever come across. He wants to...solve her.

He nods, "I can't call myself an Alice if I am scared off by the idea of a different kind of Wonderland,"

The girl stares at him before smirking, "Well...look at that. We might from worlds apart but I think we are still cut of the same bolt of fabric. Just used for different kind of clothes," She offers him her hand, "Be careful. Be wary. My Wonderland is beautiful but all the flowers have fangs and the thorns are sickles. Danger lurks in the shadow and the cards are all armed to kill. My heart is the throne for the Queen of Hearts, she will bathe you in blood and swallow you whole,"

Alistair gulps before looking at her offered hand, taking note of dried blood crusting under her nails, and hears his sense of self preservation tolling in the back of his head. But...he's an Alice. Wanderlust and adventure thrums in his vein. Although his mother is content with the same old, same old Wonderland...Alistair cannot help but admit that being a boy, he seeks something greater than dangerous tea parties.

Adventure awaits!

He grabs her hand, "Show me you Wonderland...Alice,"

Alice sings, "Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Merrily merrily, merrily, merrily. Life is but a dream~!"

The next thing he knows, she falling and she's pulling him along. Before his heart can leap further up his throat, he's sitting in a boat with a white rabbit. A white rabbit in red coat and a top hat, fussing over a watch, "You're late! Or...no, you're early! Dear Alice! The river is rapid today! Is your heart alright?"

Alistair is a little disturbed by this version of his friend. He's not cute or sweet at all. If anything, he's a little disturbing to look at. But instead of second guessing his decision, he cannot help but feel excited. He have always wanted an adventure that will change him like it changed his mother.

Alice giggles, "I have a wonderful guest,"

Alistair grins, "Greetings, Mr White Rabbit. My name is Alistair,"

~

"Your currency is teeth?"

"Yep!"

"...interesting...so who do we knock these teeth out from?"

~

"I don't have a skirt to float! I don't have a skirt to float!"

"You should wear one!"

"In this instance, I'm not arguing! I might as well start dressing up!"

~

"You're not joking about the cards,"

"Why would I joke about Wonderland?"

"...can I eat the cake and stomp them next?"

~

"This is more fun that shouting and knocking them out with wind...but also...look at all these gunk on my shoes. However am I cleaning this? I don't think 'stomping on the card guards' will go over well with the cobbler,"

"You don't have to go to the cobbler. Here, just wipe them on the grass,"

"...I shoulder start wearing black boots and pants,"

~

"So...much...blood..."

"Alistair, are you alright?"

"Apologies Alice, but at the moment I am absolutely feral,"

"...I know that feeling well,"

~

"Never thought I will find a day where the Hobby Horse is fun to play with as a grown up,"

"Can I have them back?"

"...can I keep this? I found that I particularly like how it crash things,"

"Oh well...I have several versions more. I supposed you can keep that,"

"Yes!"

~

"The world is so weird being a purple like this,"

"Look! A secret path! Let's go!"

"Here's hoping I won't grow while stuck in a tiny space,"

"Just don't hiccup then,"

~

Alice didn't lie when she said that her Wonderland will change him. Alistair have always been paranoid of shadows before but now that's dialed up to the tens. While before it is because Wonderlandian have a bad habit of popping out of nowhere, Alice's Wonderlandian have a bad habit of trying to kill him while at it. Also, he knows better than to drink tea in her Wonderland.

It's lava.

It's practically molten minerals.

And he can no longer look at things like the teapot without expecting it to start shooting bone melting hot acid explosive tea. Or the way that the pepper grinder can be used like guns but with thousands of bullets at once. Also...the Cheshire Cat creeps him out. That and he will never be scared of Lizzie Heart ever again. Not after meeting her counterpart who can actually swallow him whole when Alice asked her to show off the way she can stretch open her mouth like a monster from a nightmare.

Forget off with his head!

It will be off with his whole body!

Still...there are things of wonder in her Wonderland. Like the Deluded Depth, Vale of Tears, and many more. He can see histories wherever he goes and he's all the more glad for his own Wonderland. Alice is...kind. Madder than the maddest of his Wonderland friends, but more straightforward with him. Though she doesn't speak in riddles or in that maddening Wonderland way of speaking without saying, she herself as a person is a riddle.

However, she is also ruthless and cold when people aren't kind to her. Understandable, as he can see her scars in Wonderland. He might never the full scope of her pain, pain that leaves remnants of it in her Wonderland, but he hopes that she will be able to find her Wonderland peaceful and kind once more one day. Even though he have seen the good in Wonderland, Alice cannot be said to be friends with her Wonderland. He learned, through his journey, that they are the representation of her mind. Her shattered psyche that she is still trying to come to term with. Her own hurt will try to hurt her or kill her, so Alice will have no choice but to defend herself.

Madder than the Mad Hatter and crueler than the Queen of Hearts, that is Alice Liddell Phantom.

But her final stop is a world of it's one wonder. Alistair cannot help but stare at the stars and planets that sings all around him. He sees a golden nine tailed fox surrounded by a library of scrolls with piercing blue eyes squinting at him. He sees a giant black bird with horns moving through a forest of thorns that offers delicious flowers that tasted of candies instead of trying to rip him apart. There is something in the sky with many wings and piercing green eyes, always watching. A giant bat with glowing green eyes and black tears watches him eerily as he follows Alice, a tiny fairy sitting on the branch it's hanging from. A hill of swords stands alone but he thought he saw two figures at the top under a shining tree, sleeping together in eternal bliss. The shadow is alive and it moves like a leviathan all over the ground but it doesn't attack him. Alistair swears that the cold wind is giggling at him and leaves patches of ice right where he will put his foot down, almost causing him to slip.

Alistair asks, "Where are we?"

Alice smiles, "We are approaching Papa,"

He blinks, "Your father?"

She nods, "These are my siblings,"

They walk deeper in. He thought he saw two dragons; one made of starlight and the other made of roots and trees, winding together across the starry sky. There is someone in red hood with hunting gear stalking them in the distance. A bug-like knight surrounded by little soldiers of black and white stands quietly, face following them as black void for eyes watches. He also catches glimpse of a girl in white robe with a beautiful bow riding a giant white dog running through the forest. There is a tall figure in a black robe that fades away watching him with what can only be a fae as pale as the moon, hand in hand as they stand in the distance. A star twinkles brightly over them, the edges of their point feels as sharp as blades though the light they casts feel as comfortable as his favorite blanket.

"We are here,"

~

"Papa!"

Alistair don't know what he was expecting but not this giant of a man with hair like the universe, horns like the Northern night sky, and eyes like green portals. He opens his hand and Alice hops on it before lying down. She smiles at him, "It is time for you to go home, my mirror,"

Alistair looks to see a mirror showing Ever After. He walks to it before stopping to look at her, "Will I see you and this Wonderland again?"

Alice leans against her father's thumb, "This Wonderland is my shattered mind. Why do you even want to see it again?"

Alistair grins, "I can't help it! I'm an Alice! Solving Wonderland and all it's mystery is in my vein!"

Alice hums, "I'm a riddle to you?"

Alistair blushes, "W-well...I also would like to be friends with you?"

He catches glimpse of darkness in her eyes. He recognize it as her own self hate and the things that he is familiar with when he looks at the Rebels of Ever After. He adds, "You can come to school too?"

She looks at him, "School?"

He nods, "Ever After is a school for children of fairytales,"

Alice scoffs, "Mine is a tragedy, not a fairytale,"

Alistair shakes his head, "Not all fairytales are happy, you know? It is just stories,"

Alice sighs, "You have seen my Wonderland. You have traversed its bloodthirsty world. I doubt that you want to have me anywhere near your happy and bright world. I leave footprints of blood wherever I tread. While in my eyes, they are red roses in bloom, that is not what you see,"

Alistair sighs, "True...but that doesn't mean that we can't be friends?" He digs into his bag and brings out his MirrorPhone, "Here," He hands her the device, "I'll let you have mine. I can always buy myself a new one. I don't know of we can stay connected but it can connect between dimensions before. Maybe not like this but...I honestly wants to be your friend,"

Alice stares at the device before smiling at him, "You're stubborn,"

He grins, "I know!"

~

Danny peeks on Alice and found the girl staring at the device that she brought back with her one evening. He looks at her expression and found her conflicted. Smiling, he clears his throat and after she looks at him, he approaches her, "So...what make my little butterfly so unhappy but also happy but cannot decide whether she should or shouldn't be happy?"

Alice pouts at his word play before explaining to him about Alistair and his offer of friendship. Danny hums in thought for a moment before asking, "What do you want, Alice dear?"

Alice looks at the MirrorPhone, "I...he feels like a friend,"

Danny smiles, "You showed him your world and he's only more intrigued than afraid. I think you should go for it," He boops her nose before she could argue, "He understand you. Not in the way that I do, yes, but in a way that you understand the Wonderland you lost. He can perhaps help you bring back that whimsical Wonderland," He pats her head, "Don't let the darkness of your past stop you from enjoying the light of the world, Alice,"

He would know.

Alice looks at him, "And if I want to make him my boyfriend?"

Danny scrunches his nose at her obvious tease, "Not yet, girl, you're not ready for that,"