At once, Theo saw everyone around him gobbling down the food as if there was no tomorrow. There was an uproar in the pixies table. Theo cringed when all of them started throwing punches at each other and gave war cries as they struggled for food.

Hugo and Psyche plucked their food one at a time, filling their empty plates without much of a fuss. Perhaps it was because their table had the least occupants, or maybe it was the awkwardness of the situation. The two of them were minding their manners, being careful not trigger the other's temper.

Even if that was the case, he was starting to like his cabin more and more, even if he never hated it in the first place or that their cabin seemed to be looked down upon. Theo started filling his plate too, but he was sure that not even three of them together could finish everything. There was just too much.

"So..." Hugo spoke. Theo turned to find the elf staring at Psyche, who was picking with her food with a fork before taking small bites out of it. She didn't look up, but she made a gesture that implied she was listening.

"I haven't seen you since that time with the zombies..." Hugo said.

Theo almost choked at the mention of zombies. He had intended not to be surprised with anything unusual in Arcadia, but he wasn't expecting zombies to come to the picture too. What else lurked about in Arcadia?

"Never show up in the cabin too." Hugo continued. "Meaning to tell you something I was, but you were never around. And now you are here, having tea time with us. Bizarre it all is."

Then, to both Theo's and Psyche's surprise, Hugo gave her a sincere, warm smile, the kind that could light up a room.

"Thank you for saving Melita." Hugo said. "Wouldn't know what to do if she... you know... was gone. And uh... saved Theo here too you did. I wanna say anything bad between us is gone kay? Speck of dust in the past. Allowed to the cabin too, you are."

Theo blinked, astonished at Hugo's reply while Psyche on the other hand froze midway from eating a bread roll. She looked up at the elf who was still smiling with such fondness, it was her turn to look lost and confused. Theo had a feeling that he was reflecting the same expression. After all, just a day ago, Hugo called her a bastard, but today it seemed like he changed his mind.

"Uh..." Hugo said, shifting in his seat. He too, looked uncomfortable. "Just saying sorry. Saving, Melita made me change my impression of you."

To this, Psyche seemed to have understood as she gave a hesitant, albeit firm nod. Hugo let out a deep breath and chuckled. He looked like someone had lifted up the weight of the sky from his shoulders.

From the looks of it, Hugo seemed like he had wanted to apologize to Psyche, for whatever reason, for a while. When Psyche accepted it, the burden had lifted. Theo watched as the two gave awkward nods to each other, acknowledging the apology before they went back to eating again.

Melita, Theo haven't heard of that name. Judging from Hugo's sentence, she must be someone close to the elf and Psyche saved her. Was she one of those girls that, according to Breanne, used to tease Psyche to death? Was she still in Arcadia? In another cabin?

As he pondered on it a bit more, Theo's attention deviated from that when he saw Hugo taking one of the halved cups. Curious, he watched the elf as he took the teapot and started pouring tea to it with steam coming out from the spout.

Theo knew that by logic, if the elf did that the tea would just flow out of the cup because there is nothing to hold it in its place when the cup is missing its other half. However, since he was in a world where it doesn't exist, he wasn't surprised when it didn't happen. Instead, the tea continue to fill the cup up whole, as if there was some sort of invisible barrier at the area the cup was halved, preventing the tea from spilling.Then he understood.

Half a cup of tea. The cup was halved instead of the tea.

Never in Theo's life did he wanted to slam his head on a table at how literal everything in this new world seemed to be than right then.

As time flew by, all three of them ate in silence, or to be accurate, Psyche ate in silence. Theo chattered with Hugo and from time to time, they would bring Psyche to the conversation. She didn't speak, but she did respond by either nodding or shaking her head. From Hugo's perplexed expressions each time, Theo felt the corners of his lips tip up to know that it was an improvement at least.

Theo also tried the half a cup of tea, drinking it as if it was a normal cup but almost sprayed the contents out of his mouth the moment the tea hit his tongue. It was bitter than he had expected it to be, leaving a bad taste in his mouth. At the same time, it was sweet, making him feel drunk too.

It was strange a strange feeling and he didn't like it. Although, he forced himself to swallow which made him feel somewhat woozy. He had suspicion that the tea had alcohol in it as he pushed the cup back in repulsion. Theo made a mental note to never drink anything that tasted bitter and sweet again.

By the time they were done with their meal, most of the food gone to waste, Theo couldn't hold back a cry of disbelief at the present time.

The once purpled sky had transformed into a vast expanse of jet black that engulfed the whole picnic area. A canopy of luminous starts materialized amongst the ocean of blackness. Some were dull, flickering into existence every now and then, but there was an adequate amount of shimmering stars to illuminate the moonless night.

Psyche did say time flowed in a different rate but it still stunned him.

"Where's the bathroom?" Theo asked after staring at his hands. His fingers were coated with oil and there wasn't even a napkin for him to wipe it away. Hugo took one look, shook his head in disbelief and stated out the directions. With a quick thank you, Theo stood up, almost knocking a tray off the table, and walked away.

It was difficult to remember Hugo's direction to say the least. There were so many twist and turns he had to take, so many bends too. Theo knew this problem would be solved if the Oracle, or whoever made food appear on their table, placed some napkins.

'Or am I that messy when it comes to eating?' Theo wondered. '...Nah.'

After taking another turn, Theo saw the bathroom and jogged inside. There was a line of toilets on one side, a line of shower stalls down the other and a line of sinks in between the walls. It smelled just like any public bathroom and Theo thought even an elephant could pass out from such disgusting smell.

Turning on the faucet, he started rinsing the oil off his fingers when he heard something chirp. Looking up, he saw a white bird resting atop a windowsill low enough to reach. It's eyes though, it bothered Theo.

They were black swirling eyes that seemed more disconcerting the more he looked at them. It reminded him of the black eyes of the stranger he bumped into the carnival the day before, where he saw an abyss of nothingness. Just recalling it made him shudder.

'Wait a minute.' Theo thought before he started wishing to be struck by a lightning bolt. 'The carnival! I forgot to ask the Oracle about the carnival! Did that even exist? Was Wonderland a figment of my imagination? An illusion? Or a trap created by that strange guy?'

"That way, is same, but that way is different." A voice spoke, breaking his chains of thoughts. Theo looked around, wondering where it came from but let out a surprised hum when there was no one in sight.

"Same and different, exist and doesn't exist." The voice spoke again before it chirped. Theo didn't take long to realise it was from the bird. It was a lesser element of surprise than knowing wolves were called as humans in Arcadia, so he didn't go flying back in mystification. Turning off the faucet, he looked up at the bird that was popping in and out of the windowsill, looking restless.

"What way is same and what way is different?" Theo asked, curiosity getting the best of him. "What exist and doesn't exist?"

"Exists when she uses it." The bird chirped. "Doesn't exist when she doesn't. Exist wherever she goes. Doesn't exist in fakes. Can exist in fakes, but different existence."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Theo asked while mindful of the fact that he was carrying a conversation with a bird. "Who is she?"

"Everyone different, everyone good." The bird chirped, ignoring Theo's question. "But everyone wants to be the same. In the end, though, can't be." The bird stated.

"Why is that?" Theo asked, struggling to understand what the bird was saying. The bird was talking in riddles like the multi-colour eyed stranger. However, the bird was making less sense than the stranger, which irritated Theo. Then again, he was talking to a bird so he supposed he had no say in this.

"Never two the same Lillin." The bird continued, hopping on one foot. "Looks similar, maybe. But look closer, it's different. But you, exactly the same. Weird. Why?"

"....Me?" Theo asked, but bird flew out the window, leaving him confused and annoyed. At the same time, he heard a door closing shut. Forgetting the Oracle's warning Theo ended up looking back. Once he did, he remembered and prepared himself from an attack by a Shadow.

To his relief, he saw five burly looking teenagers, all flashing their yellowed teeth in a predatory way.

"Oh thank goodness." Theo said with a relieved smile. "For a moment I thought you guys were another Shadow."

In a flash, the tallest of the burly teenagers, the one with white hair, kicked Theo straight to the stomach. Theo, in shock, could only allow momentum of the force to knock him out of balance and slammed at the wall behind him.

Once he slid down, pain shot from where he was kicked and he groaned in pain. Before he could recover, the white haired brute gave a roundhouse kick to his face, sending him falling sideways and seeing stars.

"Ggeh... what the klank?" Theo managed to force out, wheezing as he tried to think. His ears buzzed, his face throbbed and his stomach felt like someone had stabbed him with a thousand knives. Through one eye, he looked to see all five of them snickering at him in mockery. It sounded familiar, like hyenas but worse.

For the first time, he took in the details of all of them.

"You are the wolves this morning." Theo gasped, realising why Psyche had called them humans. It made sense now. They were the opposite of werewolves. They didn't turn to a wolf at night, rather they turned to a human. This earned him another kick to the gut and Theo let out a strangled cry.

"Is it..." Theo wheezed and coughed, but he continued. "A custom, to corner newbies in the bathroom?"

"That's right." The white haired lad grinned before he grabbed Theo by the hair and pulled him up. Theo suppressed another groan of pain and glared at the douchebags. He was half wishing Psyche had stabbed them with the trident when she had the chance. Then, the next few seconds, all Theo remembered was a blur of punches, kicks and blood.

"Hahah, not so tough now, Goldilocks?" One of the brutes said while Theo coughed and wheezed.

"I don't understand why box head put you in that cabin when you are such a weakling." The brown haired brute laughed. "Like a kitten with no claws."

"Cabin?" Theo asked despite the pain and consequences. He curled up into a ball as he tried to endure the pain was spreading through his body like red-hot fire.

"Oh? You don't even know what your cabin represents eh?" The white haired brute guffawed, slapping on Theo's shoulder a bit too hard for his liking. He was sure a bruise was going to blossom there.

Nevertheless, Theo knew he lacked in combat skills, but he was confident that he had more wits than all five humans combined did. He just need to wait for the right moment to run the heck out of there.

"It's a cabin for trash." The grey haired human snickered. "It's a cabin where people don't belong to either cabins. Like trash."

"Or special people." Theo suggested before realising what he had done. The grey haired brute snarled and whacked him on the head again. This time, Theo's hearing senses tuned out and the one thing he could hear was the sound of something ringing. He was certain that it wasn't from the bell in his pocket.

"For someone who is new, you are pretty full of yourself aren't you, Goldilocks?" The white haired lad sneered and this time, Theo's chipper mood dampened. He felt anger, anger towards the jocks and anger towards himself for being so weak. He wanted to hurt them, kill them even. All these years, treated with endless mocking, it was more than enough.

'I can use magic.' Theo thought, vision blurring with anger. He brought one hand out, remembering Hugo's instructions on how to cast a fire spell. With a bit of Alice magic, he could make the results a thousand times more powerful

'It's justifiable to use it for violence, isn't it!' Theo thought, ready to snap his fingers and conjure up thousands of fireballs when another voice interrupted him.

'It's a weapon for war and destruction isn't it?'

Theo stopped himself, blinking at young Alazne's voice filled with despair in his mind. Before he knew it, dread settled on his shoulders like a large boulder.

'What on Earth was I thinking?' Theo thought, horrified at himself. How could he have even liked the idea of killing someone? What would he do if the brute died? If all five of them died? This was the twenty first century, not the olden days where people could get away from murder.

"You gotten quiet, Goldilocks. Had enough?" The white haired brute teased with the others soon joining him. Theo would have gave them a glare if not for the odd feeling that was pulsating in his chest. It was the same feeling at the carnival and in the forest.

He understood what he had to do now.

Theo smirked at the humans who stopped laughing. They stared at him as if he had gone mad. For all Theo knew, he did feel a little bonkers, making him giggle. The giggles soon turned into maniacal laughter that echoed around the bathroom walls. This seemed to scare the five teenagers, but always, the white haired brute was the first to recover.

"You got some nerve." The white haired brute said. "Any last wishes?"

Theo cut himself short and smirked again.

"I wish to acquaint your facial expressions with the fundamental objects that build walls, repeatedly!" Theo yelled and the tingling feeling inside of him combusted like phosphorous.

Out of nowhere, bricks started raining down on them and all five teenagers were down, dazed with rectangular and square marks imprinting on their faces, arms and pretty much everywhere. Theo couldn't help but giggle again.

"Why you little..." The brown haired lad cursed under his breath and started to lunge at Theo, but the blonde lad was quicker. He stood up and side skipped, hopping to throw the other off balance but the brute was just as fast.

With a growl, the brute pulled his fist back, giving Theo enough information that he was going to be punched, in the face. He figured that he could live with a few bruises but a broken nose with blood running down? No, he did not wish for that thank you very much.

Just as the brute's arm snapped forward, Theo hushed under his breath, letting the magic of Alice take him over again. This time, bright pink flowers started sprouting from the brute's body, stunning him and throwing him off guard. He stumbled and crashed as more pink flowers started to cover him from head to toe.

Theo was about to savour the moment but jumped out of his skin when icy cold water blasted at him from behind. He turned to find one of the brutes holding a hose, smirking in victory while the other three ran towards him.

Any sane person would have panicked, but Theo was under the influence of madness and he grinned in euphoria. His whole body was tingling, making him feel invincible, but insane at the same time. The good kind of insane, if there was one.

With a flick of his finger, Theo traced out a word in thin air, a word that only Alices knew. This seemed to make the other three falter, giving Theo a chance to snap his fingers and chaos soon followed after.

Pipes started shudder and plumbing started to rumble. Before anyone could register what was happening, the faucets, toilets and showerheads exploded.

Instead of water, playing cards shot out from them, making an arc straight over Theo and shooting at brutes, the one with pink flowers included. The cards sliced the five up but did not leave any deep wounds. To Theo's amusement, when the cards struck the flowered teenager, it left him looking like a poodle with the pink flowers for fur.

One of the brutes, a red haired one whom he never saw before, scrambled up to his feet and started running towards Theo like a clumsy bull towards a red blanket. Theo traced out another word again in thin air but this time, the red head wasn't fazed by this. Theo was still the quicker of the two. He snapped his fingers just as the red head reached one hand out to strangle him.

To both of their surprise, the red head punched himself. Dazed, the red head punched himself again and his black shirt turned pink. He punched himself again and again. With each punch, Theo watched as his attire started to change to something frilly and pink. A pair of fake pink wings even appeared attached on his back.

With one last roundhouse punch to himself, the red head spun and collapsed on the floor. By then, he was a bulky looking ballerina, catching some Zs. He was even wearing white stockings and a pink tutu. Theo had the strange urge to laugh again.

"Get him you klanks!" The white haired brute yelled before scrambling up and running towards him again. Behind him the grey haired brute and a darker brown haired lad was following. Even the poodle looking brute was running at him.

On impulse, Theo traced out another word in thin air and water exploded everywhere. It blinded the three and they all slipped. Theo wasn't spared either as he stumbled and slid along with the three till they crashed against a wall.

Sounds of groans filled his ears. Theo felt the tug in his gut and the sensational feeling in his chest lessened. When he sat upright, he swayed a bit when white spots invaded his vision before it cleared. When he came to, he found the grey haired, the darker brown haired and the poodle humans knocked out like a light.

The white one, the alpha it seemed, was still conscious but Theo fared better than him. It would take him a while to recover.

Theo leaned down to the human, which seemed to scare him as the brute flinched and tried to scurry away.

"Tee hee~!" Theo said, giggling. The effects of the Alice magic was wearing off, but he still felt drunk. "So who won? Goldilocks or the five wolves?"

The white haired lad just let out an incoherent groan.

"I think that means Goldilocks right?" Theo said to which the white haired lad just nodded, giving in. However, Theo was not going to give him any satisfaction. The cheery grin on his face turned to one of a stern, murderous expression.

Before he knew what hit him, Theo punched the brute home on the face. Almost immediately after, Theo hissed in pain and started cradling his sore hand while the brute groaned even more, cupping his nose that was sure to be broken.

"Well guess what." Theo said a while, glaring at the human beneath him. "My name isn't Goldilocks. It's Theobalt Beckham, and you better remember that before I decide that I want to turn you into weeds!"

This seemed to have the desired effect as the only conscious human let out a howl, pleading him to leave him alone. Giving the human a triumphed smirk, Theo walked away, head held high, feeling proud of himself.

Now, to the next problem. How was he going to explain to others why he is soaked from head to toe again with bruises? He was sure that within a few hours, news of the incident in the bathroom would spread around the school, and he would be marked as the ringleader of that. He had that to worry about too.

'Meh, don't care. I'll just blame it on the tea.'

Author's note: phew! That was satisfying xD Anyway, this chapter is beta read by my real life best friend Contrariwise and Bicksby (same person) I would also like to dedicate this chapter to her.

For the people who is reading this, I would like to ask you to read her book Blame the Pants (Bicksby's account) It's only the prologue and chapter 1. I swear it will be worth your time! Just go to her profile and click on her story. It's original and worthy of praise. So go give her some love!

If we overlooked any mistakes in this chapter, please notify!

Oh and don't forget to vote!