Hatter

THE QUEEN OF HEARTS

Hatter let out a nervous laugh, ruffling through his hair and flitting his eyes towards Cat in search of an explanation. "March Hare," he said, clearing his throat. "I thought we left you back at camp."
His friend's grin broadened. "You did."
Cat nudged Hatter urgently, tapping on the underside of his forearm. They had worked as a team for years, after all; in all the time they had spent together, they had come up with hundreds of different ways to communicate with each other without saying a word.
Cat's message was frantic, hurried. H-E-R.
He glanced up and his eyes traveled to the Queen of Hearts. Curls of auburn hair licked her angled cheekbones like hungry flames; a few locks wound round her head in a crown braid punctuated by a small pearl clip tucked in neatly at the side. Her hands were clasped in front of her waist, glistening like flashes of ivory white against the silky crimson gown she wore. The hems of her dress were bejeweled with tiny diamond hearts, and a sparkling brooch of the same nature was fastened securely to the front of her bodice. Voluminous piles of fabric trailed behind her in a cascade of glistening cloth that seemed to swallow up the marble floor like fire gnawing away at a forest. But the most startling thing was the Queen's eyes. Though a smile blossomed on her beautiful countenance, her eyes were cold; cold like the blizzard that raged outside. They had a sharp edge to them- a look that made Hatter shiver in pure terror, a look that was dangerous enough to make his throat run dry and his hands tremble, a look that spoke of spilled blood and death.
He tapped back, his fingers stiff: P-L-A-N-?
Cat gave him an expression mingled with fear and worry, shaking her head defeatedly. Her eyes widened, and when Hatter followed her line of sight he noticed something he hadn't noticed before: in the Queen of Hearts' left hand rested a slender, black-tipped staff, embellished with carvings of ancient runes running down the sides like ornate tattoos forming a tapestry on skin.
There lay the staff they needed to steal.
Hatter coughed, clearing his throat. "Well, March Hare? Mind giving us an explanation?"
A small laugh escaped the Queen's lips. She flashed Hatter a cold smile. "I invited him."
He blinked. Hatter's hand rested on the hilt of his sword, and he drew it out of its sheath cautiously.
"Isn't this fun?" March Hare's grin broadened as he clapped his hands. He cocked his head to one side and gave a maniacal laugh. "How exciting is it to have my friends in the same room as the Queen of Hearts, their sworn enemy-"
Hatter swallowed. "By their sworn enemy don't you mean ours?"
March Hare's eyes widened in mock surprise. "Ours?" He tutted, shaking his finger as if he were reprimanding a child. "Hatter, Hatter- don't you understand? I'm not part of your little gang of heroes anymore."
Cat clenched her fists. "You traitor." Her voice shook.
"No," Hatter said slowly. "She must've used her magic on him somehow; the March Hare I know would've never sided with the Queen of Hearts willingly. It's not...it's not possible-"
"Oh, but don't you remember what White Queen always says?" grinned March Hare, before he adopted a prim high pitched voice: "With enough practice, you can believe in the impossible all you like. Why sometimes I've believed in as many as six impossible things before breakfa-"
Hatter lunged at him, sword clasped in his hands. March Hare hastily created a forcefield of solid smoke, parrying Hatter's moves deftly. A knowing smile played on March Hare's lips. His smoke was designed for both long-range and short-range combat; Hatter held no chance against him.
"You practiced hard," March Hare laughed as he dodged and blocked Hatter's attacks. "But that still-" he rammed a fist into his enemy's stomach, "-doesn't make you good enough to beat me."
Hatter spat blood, pausing for a split second, and March Hare thrust a kick at his jaw. There was a satisfying crack.
March Hare let out a cold snort. "Your leader Absolem, he thought I would let the team down. He chose you over me, didn't he?" A laugh. "But it's fine now. I don't mind if nobody cares about me." Another punch, this time aimed at Hatter's vitals. "I don't mind if nobody wants me. I have the Queen of Hearts."
A pool of blood spurted from Hatter's cracked lips onto March Hare's clothes. March Hare looked down in disgust and pure revulsion as he frantically began to wipe it off, muttering unintelligibly to himself in a desperate trembling voice. A sharp glint of silver shone in the corner of his vision, and he only had the time to whirl his head before the Queen of Hearts appeared before him and blocked the attack with a swift move of her staff.
"Don't use your tricks on me," she said softly, giving an icy smile. There were a ripple and Cat appeared from nothingness, holding a broken dagger in utter disbelief. The bandanna around her forehead had loosened and had fallen to the floor; a small cut lay bleeding in its place.
Hatter's eyes widened in shock. The Queen of Hearts' speed was unbelievable; she had reacted in a sliver of a second and had deflected Cat's move, turning Cat's own blade into a weapon as a broken edge had bounced off Cat's bandanna.
The Queen arched her eyebrows, still smiling. "Well?" she said sweetly, studying her delicate fingernails. "Won't the two of you rush at me as you rushed at March Hare?"
Hatter and Cat looked at each other in hopelessness; the Queen of Hearts radiated an aura of power that sent their brains reel. Luckily, March Hare was too preoccupied with his clothes to pay anyone any attention- his revulsion at the sight of blood on his person was enough to render even his most powerful strengths useless.
She tapped her staff. "Come on, I'm waiting. Or are you too scared?" The Queen's eyes glinted. "Well then, allow me to make a move."
Her staff began to glow as streaks of crimson red bubbled forth from its inky tip like lava oozing from an erupting volcano. The air became charged with magic; the sort of magic that made the hairs at the back of Hatter's neck stand up. There was a familiar snarl behind them, followed by a low growling sound.
Hatter turned around.
The Queen gave a monstrous grin. "Meet my little puppy, Bayard the bloodhound. I think you've been acquainted before- he didn't take a particular liking to your friend, the one who stabbed him. Perhaps you can make amends," here her smile broadened, "by letting him taste a bit of your flesh."
Hatter swallowed dryly. There stood the devilish creature that had attacked them at the doorway, its lips peeled back to reveal bared fangs frothing with saliva. There was a small indent where the monster had been hurt earlier; otherwise, the wound had completely healed.
"What sort of demon even is that?" Cat whispered. "That thing barely has a scratch on its body; how's that possible?"
"Do you like my pet?" the Queen asked in her silky voice. "He's lovely, isn't he? The last general of my card soldier army offered an excellent sacrifice in my cause. Transformations are all the lovelier when they involve the blood of those whose veins leak power and potential."
Cat glanced at her, eyes widening. "What?" she said softly.
"You would make excellent pets, oh yes- wonderful, absolutely wonderful!" The Queen clapped her hands. "I'll keep both of you in the cage I've specially prepared for the White Queen's misfit army, and I'll make sure you stay in my castle-" here her smile became dangerously sweet, "-forever. And I'll get the little group of yours downstairs, too, even that traitor White Rabbit, so you won't be lonely by yourselves. Or, perhaps you'd like to join March Hare, and spare yourselves all the trouble?"
Hatter gritted his teeth. "We would never betray the White Queen. And we'll rescue March Hare from whatever spell you've put him under, just you wait-"
The Queen laughed coldly. "Before rescuing others, dear thing, perhaps try rescuing yourself first." She snapped her fingers, then addressed the monstrous creature by the doorway. "Bayard, do be gentle. I need them alive for my collection."
The beast snarled, edging towards the two. Hatter's eyes flitted around the room in desperation; they were trapped between enemies in both directions and had nowhere else to go. Cat stepped closer to him and her fumbling fingers found Hatter's hand, and the two of them stood there in silence as they attempted to formulate a strategy. Somehow or the other, the two of them always managed to end up in situations like these, and somehow or the other they always managed to survive.
Hatter's head began to swim.
The Queen of Hearts suddenly sat seated at a desk, scratching something in her notebook with a pen. There was an office and he was sitting, hearing people speak unintelligibly muffled words. He saw flashing lights, and a cacophony of dissonant sounds crashed into his ears; what was he doing here, he shouldn't be here, he needed to be fighting, this didn't make sense-
But then he felt the same reassuring hand holding his.
Cat. No-
Cath.
"Sebastian?" said her gentle voice