Red Queen Reborn: The Timekeeper

In the Present

"Alice! Where are you, Alice?"

She shrugged off the screeches above her and twirled her fingers around and through the ripping lace on her hem. Humming softly to herself, she blew a light frost across her small hand mirror, tracing the swirls and jumps with a dainty tip of a slender finger.

"Alice? Alice?"

The bauble next to her portrait rose, tottering slightly three feet overhead before righting and-

"Alice!"

-shattering all around her; shards throwing themselves into her bouquet that lay innocently on the mahogany night table, burying into the covers of her quilt, not piercing her, never piercing her.

Alice flicked her long blond locks over her shoulder and huffed up to the highest branch of the tree. Rounding on the grinning monstrosity, she snarled, "What?"

Chess fixed his large purple eyes on her, smiling pleasantly. "I got word of a new pet falling in today."

She stared, gaping. "T-today? Are you sure?"

"No," said Chess contentedly. "I'm not sure. Was it tomorrow? Or yesterday? Could it have been overmorrow?"

Alice pursed her lips and glared at the irritating feline curled up on top of the large oak. "What kind, do you know what kind? I don't want another dragoon, and for Mallia's sake, if it's a frully, so help me, I might strangle someone..."

"-it's an anthropomorphic, don't get so excited," he cut her off, fixtated on her response.

She never disappointed him.

"A what?!"

Chess sighed exasperatedly, rubbing his forehead with a rough paw pad, smile widening. "Do you simply not listen? I already told you; go pick it up already."

Nodding enthusiastically, she scrambled to the edge of the limb before releasing her grip and plummeting to the ground, landing perched on a small smooth stone, watching the hole in the ground a few feet away from her.

Before long, there was a shuffling noise that disrupted the peace and alerted her to be ready to pounce and catch and

It barreled forward, a battle cry echoing through the valley as it crashed in a heap next to her. Instantly, her nails dug into its shoulder and yanked it to its shaking feet. Alice looked it over once, and threw it back to the floor in disgust.

"You're not anthropomorphic," she yelled, kicking the quaking side with the edge of her heel. "Chess lied, and now I've Claimed you, and you're not anthropomorphic!"

It looked up with quizzical eyes and coughed. She kicked it again.

"That hurts," it whimpered, wrapping boney arms around itself, pulling its knees to its chest. "Stop it, that hurts."

"I'm your mistress, I'll do what I want to you. Stop complaining."

"I don't wanna be your servant."

Smiling sweetly, she raised an eyebrow and said, with a low, dangerous voice, "Oh, you're not my servant. You're my pet."

And with that, she flounced back up the tree, turning on her sideways surface to glare down at it. "Come on, pet. Come with mistress."

Smirking to herself, she walked up, it following dejectedly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Do you have a previous name?" She demanded, squinting her blue eyes at its nervous fidgiting.

"Y-yes," it stammered, stepping forward slightly.

"Stay where you are!"

"Yes, mistress."

"Good." She smiled, crouching to reach its level. Taking a knobbly hand in her own soft palm, Alice asked, "What was it?"

It gulped loudly, rubbing its head, smoothing the feathers? hair? on the top. "I'm Jasper."

A small silence invoked between them, the little girl's eyes growing, until they shrank again and she stuck out her tongue like a naughty child at it.

"You mean you were Jasper," Alice corrected. "Your name is going to be...Jay. There, now we're all settled."

"Wait," it scrambled forward, scuffing its knees on the bark. "You can't just take my name away, that's mine-"

Standing and stomping on its feeble spine, Alice shrieked, "Your name is the sound people train you to respond to. And you don't own anything anymore. I'll talk with you later, but for now, I want you out of my sight!"

It groaned and slumped over, face in the dust as she marched away, giggling to herself.

"My Vessel is here, my Vessel has come," she chanted as she made her way back into her room and settled on the bloodstained bed.

"My Vessel will take me away and I can be free," she sighed, startling tears skidding down her porcelain cheeks before her eyes hardened and her lips froze and she sat, perched on the edge of the queen sized mattress, feet dangling off; inert and lifeless, staring into the mirror.

The Red Queen will fall by

The White Queen; and they shall obey

The Blue Queen; who becomes

The Red Queen again.