The Clockwork Heart

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Where Will We Go?

"I'm not a hero... I'm just as scared as you are. And I've hurt people. All those soldiers and servants when we cracked through the defenses of the castle--I sent them to their death. It's my fault they died."

***

The Hatter and the Rabbit woke up at the same time.

"I saw that," the Rabbit gasped. "I saw what you were dreaming about."

"......"

"You're right, she was just a kid. But if she wasn't a hero... does that mean the prophecy isn't completely true? Maybe the Alice's who showed up here--they're not heroes, just kids with superpowers."

"......"

The Hatter sat on the floor and buried his face into his knees. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do... I wanted to protect Alice's no matter what. I was the one who found out about Jasper's escape plan and snitched. I wanted to make sure the prophecy is fulfilled no matter what, so Alice's aren't hurt.

"But if she's not a hero... then what am I supposed to do?"

After Jasper's escape, both the Rabbit and the Hatter were deeply affected. The Hatter had tried to imprison Alice, so she would never meet the current king, who was the King of Roses. Instead, everything would stay peaceful. But clearly that plan didn't work.

"We need to go to the Northern Countries," they said at the same time.

"Perhaps this prophecy thing is a work of magic," the Rabbit explained. "It's not destiny, there's a magical explanation."

"We'll go to the Northern Countries and figure out a way to reverse this fate and send the current Alice home."

They walked out of the Rabbit's office, feeling more assured. The Rabbit was a magical creature, so his stomach wound had healed already. They asked a servant about how many days had passed since the assassination attempt. It was a whole two weeks!

The servant then updated them on the affairs of the castle. The King of Roses and Alice had stayed here for a week, but then left hurriedly. They were going to travel to the Northern Countries, riding the swiftest horses.

"They must've came to the same realization as us," said the Rabbit.

The servant told them about how the king of Hearts had received a letter informing him of his daughter's death. Yesterday, the Kingdom of Heart officially declared war on the Kingdom of Roses. The Red Kingdom declared neutrality, but sided with the Kingdom of Hearts and promised that they could loan weapons and food if needed.

The Rabbit looked at the Hatter and said, "If the King and Alice are already headed for the North, then we don't need to go. Let's stay in the city and see what we can do about the war."

"We can try to evacuate citizens to neighboring cities and village, and also strengthen defenses. Later, we can try to make diplomatic attempts again..."

And so the wheels of this so-called fate continued to grind on.

***

Because the King of Roses and Alice were going at full speed, they arrived in the Northern Countries at the same time when the Rabbit and the Hatter woke up from coma.

"Please help us," they said.

"You must pay a price," replied the wizards of the North. "For every request, there must be a sacrifice."