Mystery In Wonderland

Chapter 3

As the Mad Hatter walked inside the forest, she couldn't help but look around in awe. Unlike the town, the forest actually had many colors. It was quite a wonderful sight. The forest was actually breath-taking. As the Hatter continued on walking she was met by two twin girls.

"I told you she was coming from the east!" One said to the other, rather smug. "Well, I thought she was coming from the west!" Said the other. As the two argued for the moment, the Hatter recognized who they were. It was Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

"What are you two doing here?" The Hatter questioned. "We are here because we were needed." One said. "And needed we are." Said the other.

The Mad Hatter twisted her head to the side quickly as she heard some yelling. As she caught sight of the Queen Of Heart's knights, she couldn't help but panic slightly. 'The games starting already!? That was too fast! I just entered the forest.' The Hatter thought with slightly wide eyes. Why did the Queen have to order the knights to catch her so quickly? The Hatter thought that the Queen would've given her more time. Unfortunately, she was wrong. The Queen must've gotten bored.

"It seems that you are busy." One twin said to the Hatter. "And busy she will be." Said the other twin.

Cheshire the cat grabbed onto the Hatter's hand. "I'll show you the way to safety. Just follow my grin and you will know."

'Who knew that the cat could be useful at times?' The Hatter thought.

The knights began to throw spears at the Hatter and the Cat, fearing that they might not make it in time. The Queen wasn't very kind when she didn't get what she wanted.

Chesire the Cat yanked the Hatter out of the way just in time, the spear leaving a small cut on the Hatter's arm. "Come on, Hatter. Or you'll hear the queen shout, 'Off with your head!' Those are the very words that everyone dreads. Wouldn't you like to keep your head?" Chesire said as her body turned invisible.

"Dammit! Where did she go!?" One of the knights shouted, turning his head around as he tried to see where the Cat may be. "Inform the Queen that the Hatter has help!" Another knight yelled. "That means that the Queen will be receiving two heads!" The first knight said. If the Queen gets two heads, she'll surely be happy.

Cheshire appeared behind the two knights, knocking them out, laughing all the while. Chesire teleported more farther away, only her grin still in view for the Hatter to see. "This way Hatter!"

Half of the knights followed the Cat's almost glowing smile. The smile reminding them so much of that of a glowing crescent moon. The other half of the knights went back to report to the Queen.

"Chesire I don't need your help! I'm fully capable of doing this on my own, thank you very much!" The Hatter told the Cat. A few arrows flew their way and they did their best to dodge it. Chesire laughed before turning invisible completely, not even her mad smile was in view. "Very well! As you wish! But you better hurry! Dear ol' Alice might be frightened. All alone in the forest... How frightening."

The Mad Hatter's eyes widened. "W-wait what!?" An arrow flew by, hitting a tree right next to the Hatter as the rest of the knights retreated. The Hatter observed the arrow curiously, it had a letter taped to it. She yanked the arrow out of the tree and carefully took out the letter, reading it slowly, as to not miss anything that may be important.
'Any friends traveling with the Mad Hatter must stay with the Hatter until they finish the game and if they both lose, then well.... We all know what that means.... OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!
-Love, The Red Queen

Cheshire read the letter from her position on the tree. "It looks like you're stuck with me, Hatter. Let's not delay any further, shall we?"

The Hatter read the note a few more extra times, not wanting to believe it. "Wow.... "She said. "The Queen is really serious about this... and because of that I'm now stuck with a delusional cat.....lovely" The Mad Hatter said distastefully, using sarcasm on the last part. She truly didn't want to be around the mad cat. However, she knew she had no choice. Chesire rolled her eyes, still grinning none the less. "Oh Hatter. Obviously, quite obviously, I'm weird."

"Two heads are better than one!" Said Dee. "Well... for the Queen I suppose." Said Dum.

"Oh, Hatter. One day you'll be glad you met a cat...like me." Cheshire said, her eyes glowing brightly with madness. "Silence, you mad cat." The Mad Hatter said. "Now, tell me what you two need." The Hatter directed towards the twins. The Tweedle twins glanced at each other before answering the Hatter. "What we want is what you need." Said Dum. "And what you need is what we have." Finished Dee.

"If you don't have Alice, then I'm afraid you are of no use to us." Said Cheshire as she landed gracefully on the ground beside the Hatter.

Tweedle Dee looked at her sister and asked, "Use is what you want?" "Then use is what you'll get." Said the twins in perfect unison, as they both pointed towards the middle of the forest.

Cheshire and the Hatter started to head towards the middle of the forest. It was a rather awkward walk till Cheshire sparked a conversation. "You've been some what sane for quite a while. Are you all right? Its certainly not like you. After all, your name has the word 'mad' on it for Queen's sake!" The Hatter glanced at the strange cat from the side. Cheshire was holding a large grin on her face, as usual, but she honestly did want to hear the Hatter's answer.

The Hatter didn't say anything for a while before finally speaking up. "I suppose you're right." She paused, trying to collect her words and the floating creature beside her stayed silent, waiting patiently for the Hatter to continue speaking.

"When I was mad I did some regretful things . You might know what that regretful thing was Cheshire..."

"Do you mean that little mouse?" Chesire asked, her grin becoming more wide. "That's precisely it... When I looked at my hands, I saw the head of someone I knew. And the amount of time I spent in the Queen's cell helped me realize something... "

"And what was that?" The Cat asked, growing more curious.

"It was that madness, as you know, isn't just by inhaling some poisonous ingredient while making hats or being mentally unstable, it's by losing your heart and not being able to get it back. No matter how hard you try. " The Hatter finished.

The Cat merely looked at the Hatter blankly before giving the Hatter the biggest grin ever. In that grin, all that the Mad Hatter saw, was madness. And that grin looked even more mad than ever. "Madness is all that's in you. Your heart is tainted no matter what you do, Hatter. You will always be the most maddest of them all." The Hatter smiled softly and replied, "I guess I will Cheshire, I guess I will.