The Clockwork Heart

Chapter Thirty: Plans for the Future

"What are your plans for the future, Rabbit? After the tyrant is defeated and Liddell goes home?"

"I'm going to rally the people and rebuild the city. What about you, Hatter?"

"I've always wanted to live in a peaceful cottage in the woods and practice my magic. It'll be really warm and comfy."

***

Over the next few days, the king demilitarizes the castle. He released the clockwork soldiers from his control. They flee the castle as soon as they regained the senses, completely terrified. Although they still had clockwork hearts, those hearts were no longer activated.

"What are our next steps?" said Alice.

"I'm going to hire people to gather books about how prophecies work. We'll study them and figure out a way to send you back."

So over the next few weeks, after the clockwork soldiers were gone, leaving only the servants hired by the castle, Alice and the king studied heaps upon heaps of books, trying to figure out their secrets.

Some books claimed that heroes were sent back only when the prophecy got fulfilled. Some books claimed there were special rituals that you needed to do. Some books talked about other methods, like the hero achieving some sort of enlightenment or growth or whatever.

"Well this is completely useless," Alice declared finally.

During this time, the affairs of the castle were managed by high-ranking servants. The king frowned and rubbed his chin. "Magic is technically forbidden in this kingdom, so we don't really have a lot of information here. However, the Northern countries contains more info, since magic runs rampant." He turned to Alice, a slightly nervous look in his eyes. "I've traveled there before, and we can go again."

"How much time will it take?"

"A few months to go there and back, I guess."

"That's way too much time! Let's look for other ways."

"Yeah, I think so too."

And so they continued their search.

Meanwhile, the Rabbit had managed to survive his wound. However, he was stuck in a deep coma and couldn't wake up. The king checked up on him, but decided there was really nothing that he could do in this case.

***

Meanwhile, the Cheshire Cat had woke up the next morning after the assassination in the bushes. At first she couldn't remember anything, and simply lied in the bushes, completely dazed. Then, all of the events came flooding back to her.

Her brother was dead... she stabbed someone with a dagger... if she went back to the tavern now, would the Dormouse continue assigning her to these dangerous missions? No, she couldn't go back to the tavern.

The voices in her head started up again, interweaving and overlapping. 'You're in the bushes, stuck in the bushes,' and senseless phrases like that on and on and on.

The Cat shook her head, tried to ignore the voices, and took in her surroundings. Everything seemed to be back to normal, with servants bustling around. She kept her head low and made a beeline for the castle wall. That's when she realized that the patrols around the castle walls were more organized and efficient. Whoever was in charge must've realized that the castle's defenses were really not great for a structure of its size.

On the way out the gates, a guard checked her face and rummaged through her bags. Fortunately, she didn't have the dagger with her anymore, and there were no blood stains on her clothes. Furthermore, since she was so young, no one was really suspicious of her.

With that, she was out and free. But then she saw a person waiting for her outside. The March Hare looked back at her with that usual mysterious smile.

"What do you want?" the Cat approached her first.

The Hare threw up her hands. She asked the Cat if she was going to go back to the tavern. Then, when she received the answer, a thoughtful look came onto her face. "If you don't have anywhere to go, will you stay with me for a while?"

"What do you want from me?"

The Hare shrugged. "Nothing. The Caterpillar and I had wanted to prevent war. But now that the letter had been sent, we can't do anything. We don't have any use for an assassin or thief anymore."

"...Then why are you taking me in?"

"You don't have anywhere else to go, right? And I'd always wanted an apprentice. I can teach you my magic, and then maybe when you grow up, that magic will be useful for you."

The Cat looked down, frowned, and thought about it deeply. The voices kept rambling in her head, which was annoying. Finally she said fine. And so the Cat followed the Hare back to her house.