Veronica's POV:

I ran down the stairs, clutching my phone in my hands. I'd been in the middle of playing the piano when I'd gotten the phone call.

"Henry! Jake!" I exclaimed, rushing to where they were sitting at the table, books all around them.

Henry looked up first. "What?" he asked. "Did something happen?"

I nodded. "You could say that. I was playing piano but then I got a phone call from Sabrina."

"Do you know where she is?" Jake asked, putting his book aside and grabbing another one.

I shook my head. "It was Puck's voice, I'm almost completely sure."

Jake's eyes widened. "How?"

"I don't know but there were sounds in the background like muffled laughter so I'm guessing Daphne was there."

"Well, call back," Henry suggested. "If it was Puck, what did he say?"

I waved my hand, not willing to tell him that another one of his daughters liked an Everafter. "It wasn't anything important."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." I unlocked my phone and called Sabrina's number.

Sabrina's POV:

I jumped in surprise when my phone started ringing and accidentally dropped it.

I cringed and scooped it back up.

"Put the ringer off!" Daphne hissed. "And who is it?"

I looked. "Oh, schist! It's Mom."

Daphne winced. "Then answer and talk as quiet as possible. We don't know what's going on out there."

I obliged and put the phone to my ear. "Uh...hi, Mom."

"Sabrina!" she exclaimed. "Where are you? I got a call from you a couple minutes ago and I thought I heard Puck."

Puck shook his head at me.

I did my best to sound heartbroken. "Mom...he's still wherever he is. I've been checking on the mirror."

Daphne covered her mouth and tried not to laugh, as did Puck. I glared at both of them.

"Then what about the voice that I heard over the phone?" Mom asked.

"Um... I don't know who that was. I never called you."

"You didn't?"

"Yeah."

"Where are you and Daphne? And Red and Elvis? It's 3:00 and we can't find you."

"Uh. We're at Bella's."

"Really? Since the morning? We'll come get you; Henry and Jake need help with the books."

"No, we don't!"

"No, no, it's okay! We're doing our own studying over here!" I exclaimed.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Okay. I love you. Tell the rest I said hi."

"'Kay. Love you."

I hung up and said, "We're going to have to get out of here. Maybe Analia can come up with a spell to send us back. We can promise to look for Alice, and then come back here if we find her."

Red nodded. "And maybe when everything is fixed here, the Wonderlandians can help us with the Scarlet Hand."

"Sounds like a plan," Ember said. "Now we just wait and hope nothing bad's happening out there."

"Why would the Queen of Hearts be nearby?" I asked. "From what Analia has told us, she seems more like the evil-villain-that-sits-in-her-castle-practicing-dark-magic-while-her-subjects-fight-the-good-guys kind of person."

Daphne nodded. "It's weird that she would just be strolling through the woods and stumbled upon the White Rabbit, who was coincidentally spying on her forces."

"That's about right," Red said.

"Should we help?" Pinocchio asked. "Somehow?"

Daphne snorted. "You? You want to help?"

He glared at her. "Maybe I do."

"I don't believe it."

"Whatever."

I cleared my throat. "I wish we could, but we'd probably just get in the way of whatever's happening."

"It's safe to come out," Analia's voice said right after I made my statement, and all of us immediately opened the door and raced out.

"Woah," Puck said.

Analia was leaning on Dee (don't think I didn't notice that), her face pale and her violet eyes looked grey.

And a few feet away stood the Queen of Hearts and a few card soldiers. She had long black hair in an intricate hairstyle woven with red, heart-shaped jewels. Her eyes were violet like Analia's except with red streaks around the pupils. Her red dress was also adorned with heart-shaped jewels.

But she didn't seem to see us and was pounding her fist on an invisible wall.

"What...?" Daphne asked.

"I cast a cloaking spell," Analia explained. "All they see around them are dirt tunnels. Seraphina is pounding on the fake dead end of this tunnel."

"That's so cool!" Red exclaimed.

"Also very draining," the White Queen added. "I think...I think I need to lie down."

"Is she going to leave?" Puck asked.

"The spell is permanent, so she'll eventually leave," Dum explained.

"And if she tries to dig, she'll find that there's nothing but solid rock under her shovel," Dee added, grinning.

"So cool," Red said once again.

"Can we just like, stare at her?" Puck asked, sitting down in front of the Red Queen and staring at her intently.

I grabbed his arm and dragged him to his feet. "Stop being weird. You know what we have to do."

He rolled his eyes. "Sorry I was trying to have fun."

I snorted. "And to think I missed you."

But you did.

Shut up.

"Uh, Analia?" Daphne asked. "Once you're feeling better, do you think it's possible for you to cast a spell to take us back home? I know you need help with Alice and the Mad Hatter, but I have an idea of where Alice might be, and it's back in our world. Also, I really want to go home."

Analia lifted her head up. "Really? Where?"

Daphne frowned. "I don't know the name. But I'm 95% sure she's there. Then we can bring her back here by using Celeste and you can have the same spell ready. And then when everything's sorted out here, maybe the Wonderlandians can help us against the Scarlet Hand...?"

Analia hesitated. "Will you really look for her?"

We all nodded. "We promise."

"Cross my heart and hope to die," Puck added, and I shoved him, forgetting for a moment that that hurt him.

Sorry, I told him, cringing. I'd already blocked out his emotions. The pain was too much.

It's fine, he answered, giving me an easy grin that would've fooled anyone but me.

I decided not to mention it.

Analia smiled. "I'll try. I'll look through the spell books, but don't hold it against me if I don't find anything. It's even more powerful magic than what I did now." A worried look crossed her face.

Dee also looked concerned.

I so ship them, I told Puck without looking at him.

Yeah, he agreed. "So can we watch her?" he asked aloud.

Dum shrugged. "Why not?"

Puck grinned at me and stuck out his tongue, then raced back over to where the Queen of Hearts was still pounding on the wall.

Daphne came up beside me. "It's good to have him back," she said, and I could tell she wasn't just trying to make me say that I liked him.

"Yeah," I said quietly.

Pin's POV:

"How did you manage to get all this food here?" I asked, staring at the food Daphne was dumping out of her backpack.

"Like I said, I always come prepared," she said. "Besides, who leaves home without food?"

"Was that a rhetorical question?"

"A what now?"

"A rhetorical question. It is a question that you do not answer because the answer is obvious," I explained, trying not to roll my eyes.

"Right," she said. "That's obviously obvious. It's a... a rhetorical question."

"I just hope Analia finds a spell," Sabrina muttered.

"Let's just hope Mr. Grimm doesn't kill Puck," Red added.

Puck seemed to remember Henry for the first time.

"Are you sure this food is edible?" I asked, breaking the silence that followed. "Because it has been in a backpack for quite a while and it is highly likely that—"

"Oh, just be quiet," Daphne complained. "The hall is blocked off for now so this is the only food you get. It's either this or nothing."

I was about to say I wouldn't eat anything, but Puck raised an eyebrow at me. The meaning was clear: If you don't eat the food Daphne's giving you, then she'll probably kill you.

She's mad at me as it is. I probably shouldn't get her even madder.

I reluctantly reached for some food, biting my lip to keep from complaining.

Puck gave me a thumbs-up and then laughed as Sabrina looked at him suspiciously.

Daphne smiled, not noticing. "Who else wants some?"

Elvis's POV:

This place was boring. There was nothing to do, and everything smelled like rocks. The only fun thing to do was attack that rabbit, and now he wasn't here. And to make matters worse...

There was no sausage.

My ears pricked up though when I saw Daphne dumping food out of her backpack. She started having an argument with the boy that was sitting across from her.

Maybe...maybe there was...sausage?!

I bided my time, and when everyone was distracted, I lept up and skidded over to the pile of food, grabbing the sausage in my teeth.

Everyone's eyes widened and they shouted, "Elvis, NO!"

Daphne was the first to react. She jumped after me as I ran to one of the corners of the room. "Elvis, give it back," she commanded, slowly walking towards me.

I knew this tactic. She was acting all nice, and then she would act at the last second, taking the precious sausage away from me.

I refused to let that happen. I swerved around her and started running around the room so they couldn't get me.

"Puck, use your wings!" Daphne shouted to him, but he just shook his head.

"I don't...I don't feel like it!" he called back.

"Too bad!" she growled. "Sabrina, tell him!"

Sabrina just shrugged.

Daphne sighed and climbed up onto a table.

Oh no.

She took a deep breath and jumped.

I was knocked down as she tried to rip the sausage out of my mouth.

No! My precious...!

The door to the room opened and the white-haired lady walked in, carrying a thick book. "Hey, I found someth..." She trailed off when she saw Daphne on top of me, wrestling the sausage out of my mouth with the new boy trying to help.

The lady's eyes darted around, and she finally raised a questioning eyebrow at Sabrina.

"It's a long story," she explained, just as Daphne wrenched the sausage away from me.

Sadness clouded my mind.

No sausage?

A/N:
I know I promised to update more often, and I will, but this was just different because I was sick for a week and couldn't go to school, then I had a bunch of stuff to makeup and it was horrible; I hate school so, so much.

Anyway, yeah. I hope you like the chappie.

~Shadow