Walking up the pebble pathway to the door, Alex and I keep talking while I'm formulating what I'm going to say to March Hare, Shander, and Nance. "What happened to your hat?" A voice says. I don't bother looking around for it. I know who it is.
"Hello, Chess. I don't have it anymore," I reply. "Are the others inside?"
"It is a pity. I really did love that hat. They are inside. Who is this you have with you?"
"Alex. He is the shoe maker and repair man. Will you let March Hare know that I am here?"
"He wasn't expecting you for another day."
"I know. But things have happened and I need to see him." Chess looks at Alex.
"Should I let him know about Alex as well?" I roll my eyes.
"Of course you should."
"Then I'll be on my way..." he says with final indifference.
"What was that?" Alex asks befuddled.
"That was Cheshire Cat."
"I've never seen such a thing!"
"And how long have you been in Wonderland?"
"A while, I guess."
"And yet you've never seen a cat like Chess?" The door opens.
"Alyssa! What a surprise! I didn't think you'd come until tomorrow!" March Hare exclaims.
"Hello, March Hare! I wasn't going to, but things just kinda happened and I think I'm ready. I want you to meet Alex, the shoe maker and repair man."
"Yes, Alex, I remember when you first came to Wonderland." My mind is taken back to the tea party Trea and I were at, the one in March Hare's back yard. He knew I wasn't from Wonderland because, as he said, he knows everybody that lives here.
"Hello, March Hare, how do you do?" Alex responds. March Hare looks at him quizzically.
"You should try saying 'sure thing, Bob'. That gets the funniest reaction every time," I whisper to Alex. Turning my attention back to March Hare, I say, "Won't you invite us in, March?"
"Absolutely, come in, the both of you!" Inside I am greeted by all my wonderlandian friends, and a couple of earthen ones, too.
"Tweedles! I've missed you both so much! And Chess! I've even missed your harassment! And March Hare... Thank you so much everything that you've provided me. All of your support... I couldn't have done any of it without you," I say, hugging each in turn.
"Alyssa, you slayed the Jabberwalky, I take it?" Dum says.
"Well, of course she did, March Hare said she did," Dee counters.
"No, he said that he believed he did!"
"No, he said that she did, but it didn't go well." I roll my eyes, feeling like I'm back home.
"Boys, whether or not it went well, even if march Hare only believed, I did, and that's so," I say. "I told you that I would not come gallumphing back unless I left its head, didn't I?" They both nod in agreement, settling the dispute. "As for you," I say to Chess, "I now could care less what you call me." I smile triumphantly.
"Is that so, dear Lyssie?" Chess counters. My eyebrows knit together and my eyes squint at him.
"Ok, all but that. That is a name that will never be used by anyone again."
"Forgive me, your Majesty." I shake my head at him. His sarcasm and harassment never stops.
"How have you been holding up, March Hare? Fairfarren?"
"With all the company keeping me busy, I've been doing quite well. I couldn't have done it without them," March says with a smile.
"Where is Shander and Nance?" I ask.
"They are in their guest rooms. I think they feel out of place," March replies.
"Thank you. I'll see if I can drag them out." I go down the hallway and hope that Chess isn't being to cruel to poor Alex. I knock on the first door.
"Come in," a woman's voice says. Nance.
"Hey, Nance, how you doin'?" I ask.
"I can't make heads or tails of this place! Animals talking, time standing still, floating and smiling cats that dissappear... Mice are servants that can open doors and pour tea all by themselves... And tea. What is it about tea here?!"
"Believe me, if you were on even half the adventures I was on, you would see that Wonderland is even stranger than that." I smile understandingly.
"I feel like I'm the crazy one here!"
"Well, after the Bandersnatch thing, I'm sure you do." Nance turns several shades of red.
"Oh, please don't bring that up." I shake my head.
"Don't you worry about it. I went through that once. And then just the thought of mentioning it scared me, thinking it'll come back. But I have my weapon. My mind is my best weapon against nearly anything that could hurt me here."
"Really?"
"Yeah. One day, I'll take you to the Mind Maze. That will explain everything to you. Trust me. Now, how about you go and join the rest of the guests? There is a guy here named Alex and he is from Earth, just like you, Shander, and I. I'll see if I can convince Shander to join the group." Nance smiles and nods to me. We both leave the room. I continue down the hallway and know on the next door.
"Shander? Are you in there? It's me, Alyssa." Immediately the door opens.
"Alyssa!!" Shander exclaims, pulling me into a hug. "Are you alright?! I've been so worried about you!" I laugh.
"Yes, Shander, I'm alright. I just need time by myself for a while. But all is well and perfectly fine. I promise." His eyes show relief. "Come, there are a bunch of guests in the other room. Most of them are good friends of mine. I'm sure you may already know some of them."
"Sounds good." We go into the room everyone else is in.
"So, Alyssa, what happened to make you decide to come over today?" March Hare asked.
"While I was going into town to get some shoes today, there was a huge crowd in and around Trea's tent. I went inside to figure out what was going on and found that they were taking all the hats. Well, I got angry at them," I say. Tweedles, March Hare, and Chess immediately cringe, remembering the JubJub nest incident. I smile inwardly. "I asked them what they were doing and they told me they wanted hats and now that trea is dead, they had no one to trade with."
"Ooh..." the Tweedles say, knowing that was a mistake.
"Well, I certainly yelled at them for that and let them know that they can trade with March Hare," I nod in his direction, "And one other person. Well, they asked who and I said their Queen."
"Whu...??" Chess goes, evidently shocked. Serves him right, though, calling me Queen and Majesty when I had no idea.
"Then they asked in wonderment who she was and I finally said it: Me, Queen Alyssa." I say that with pride. I still can't believe how easily I say that now.
"Wow... That is unbelievable!" Nance replies. I smile at her. She has no idea.
"Only if you believe it is," I say, smiling.
"My question is: How did they all find out?" March Hare asks. I roll my eyes and smile as I say:
"To get my shoes, I was wearing one of Trea's suits and Alex thought I stole them. He wouldn't trade for them unless I told him why I couldn't trade Trea's hats or why I was wearing one of his suits. So I told him. He then told some friends of his, not knowing that they would, in turn, tell their other friends. The word spread like wild fire." Chess begins to flick his tail and hiss, like an earthen cat would do if he were about to pounce. "Chess," I say, warning him strongly with my voice. "I brought him here because I am not mad at him." Chess smiles in a semi-guilty manner. I shake my head and smile. How I have missed this clan. "I'm actually greatful Alex said what he did. I realized that I do have the strength now move on with everything that needs to be done." I smile to Alex.
"Really?" Chess says in his iconicly gruff voice. "That is an unexpected turn in events..."
"Everything about Wonderland is an unexpected turn in events," I say.
"It has grown dark," March Hare says. "Stay the night, all of you. We can have dinner and discuss tomorrow's events and how we will officially announce King Istrangelabutrea's death." So that is exactly what we do. And when we are done, we all go to bed, peacefully.
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