Impossible (A HEARTLESS Fanfic)

Chapter Sixteen

They had been wandering through the Forest for three days.

Several times they had heard the Queen's men nearby, but with Alice's knowledge and cleverness, they had managed to keep out of sight. Alas, a formulated plan still had not been decided upon. Every night as they took turns sleeping and keeping watch, Alice watched Hatta stare at his chessboard, intensely fixated on the game. And yet he never came up with a strategy.

It worried her slightly. Was he going to lead her to the Castle and just expect her to somehow defeat the Queen? She was clever, but not that clever. And how was she going to defeat her? The Queen had loyal guards at her disposal, men trained in the art of battle. What did she have? A very heavy sword that she had absolutely no idea how to wield. She thought about practicing with it, in case she needed to use it once more, but she did not even know where to begin.

So on they wandered, without a plan, without a destination, without a hope.

Alice glanced up at Hatta, who, despite their lack of a plan, was rather nonchalant. She wondered at his being mad. True, back in the prison cell he had seemed a bit touched, but now he at least had the semblance of sanity. Did it perhaps come and go?

"Hatta," she said at last.

"Alice," Hatta replied, eyeing her suspiciously.

"I have a question."

"I can't guarantee that I have an answer."

"Mary Ann told me a bit about the Queen before she became the Queen. Back when she was Lady Pinkerton."

Hatta's expression fell slightly. "The maid does have a bit of a loose tongue, doesn't she? I believe that's what got us into this situation in the first place."

Alice furrowed her brow in confusion but shook her head, refusing to be distracted from the subject. "She mentioned a man that the Queen was in love with. Jest."

There was a sharp intake of breath as Hatta stopped short for a moment. Haigha bumped into him, stumbling back into Mary Ann, who managed to catch him. Hatta turned on them with a vicious gleam in his eyes.

"Quit crowding me, you blasted twits!" he snarled.

The two cowered at his rage. Hatta continued on, his pace quicker than before. Though taken aback by his sudden ire, Alice was not deterred. She trotted after him.

"Who was this Jest?" she asked.

"Would not, could not, would not, could not, would not join the dance," Hatta replied mindlessly.

Once again confused, Alice tried to pursue the matter. "If I knew more about Jest, perhaps I could use that information to defeat the Queen."

"If he or you had lost a limb, which would have suffered most?"

"Hatta, please, I-"

Hatta whipped his walking stick in front of her, forcing her to stop. "What goes up but never down?"

"What? Oh, pins and bobbins, I don't know! Hatta, this is import-"

"Think, think! What goes up but can't come down?"

Alice sighed and thought for a while, trying to decipher the riddle. "Rain? No, that comes down not up. A tree? No, no, my oak tree certainly came down." She gave an exasperated growl. "Hatta, I don't know!"

He scoffed and gave her a dismissive wave. "Much muchness, muchier much. Always coming and always going, one is here and one is there. Coming or going? Coming or going?"

Perhaps he truly was mad. How had the simple mention of a name from so many years ago caused this? Who was this Jest? What sort of person was he to have had such an effect on so many people in Hearts?