"Xandria, wake up," Ace said, his voice drifting through my dream and his hand shaking my shoulder. I blinked drowsily, half-aware of him. Suddenly, I was in the air.
"Ace, what are you doing?!" I yelled, panicked. Ace laughed, setting me down with a sunny grin. I straightened my dress and ducked out of the tent, Ace following. It was warmer outside, even hot. I shielded my eyes, looking around at my surroundings. Tall trees bordered the road, and bushes taller than I was wove around the trunks.
"Where are you headed?" Ace called, dismantling the tent. I smiled to myself.
"Wherever you are," I replied, completely out of character. If we were back home, I'd be trying to escape this man, not flirting with him. However, I was in a sort of parallel world, so I'd be a parallel person.
"Well, let's introduce you to the Queen of Hearts," Ace said, slinging an arm around my shoulders and grinning as we walked down the dirt road.
---
"Yes!!!" Ace cheered when a pink, heart-shaped building appeared in the distance. I looked at him questioningly. "I get lost a lot. It's rare I get somewhere on the first try." A strange sense of pleasure bloomed in my heart. I liked his happy-go-lucky attitude that was so different from my own. I got upset when I messed up. Ace brushed it off.
Together, we made our way towards the castle. A few faceless people welcomed Ace home. All the while, he was telling me about Wonderland. Soon, though, I noticed that the sun had sunk until it hung low in the sky. I tapped Ace's shoulder.
"Are we lost?" I asked, gesturing to the seemingly endless hedge maze around us. Ace scratched his head, looking around. Suddenly, he grimaced.
"Aw, man!" He groaned. I giggled.
"It's fine, it's fine. I've got nowhere to be," I smiled up at him, and he returned it.
"Alright, Xandria-- Hey, you got a nickname? Xandria's kind of a mouthful."
"Phillip used to call me Andi," I told him, then felt a sudden twinge of unhappiness. Phillip hadn't used my nickname in years. To be honest, the last time he had, we were still being bottle-fed.
"Okay, Andi, then. Andi, let's--"
"Ace? Is that you? Thank goodness! The Queen's been summoning you." A voice called. That voice! I knew that voice! As if to confirm it, the rabbit-boy rounded the corner, but stopped short when he saw me. I frowned.
"You're the one who brought me here." He nodded, almost fearfully. "Why'd you leave me alone there?" His eyes sparked with confusion.
"You're not... mad?" He asked, his ears twitching.
"Why should I be?" With those words, the boy's face brightened. As though he had expected me to be angry with him, and he was lucky that I wasn't. Suddenly, I found myself swept into his arms and twirled around.
"Oh, thank goodness, I thought for sure you'd be as angry as Alice was!" The guy said happily. I squirmed out of his grasp.
"What did you say? Who?" I stepped away, shocked. Ace positioned himself a few inches behind me, almost protectively.
"Peter, what are you talking about?" Ace asked. Peter was confused.
"Alice Liddell. The last Outsider in Wonderland. How do you know her?"
"Alice Liddell... is my cousin."
