Chapter 06 Tea Party: (Re)Meeting Little Fairy

The Lost One in Alices' Garden

ARC 02 Clover Forest

Chapter 06 Tea Party: (Re)Meeting Little Fairy

A new sight should bring refreshing feeling to anyone, especially if the only things they have seen for the past two hours are same strange scenery all over, but witnessing different types of sweets flying across the long table, and tea cups and saucers running mindlessly is something that made the nameless girl let out an exhausted sigh.

Alright, she's already totally aware that this world isn't normal, so this strange things playing in front of her eyes should have been expected right in the first place; and she have been ready to witness this bizarre moments so here she is already tired of this shits.

Enough looking at the mind-boggling scenes, the nameless young girl shifted her gaze to the fellas that sitting on the chairs.

A man with short brown hair with bangs cut at an equal length across his forehead, eyes are covered by orange goggles with shade that is completely black. Atop of his head is pair of long rabbit ears that match to a march hare. He dons in white yet dirty disoriented suits, sitting at the right side of the table; laughing maniacally while talking some inhuman things.

Sitting on the left, across the rabbit-man is a person having a nap as the head is on the table. He has short, spiky rust red hair; and on his head is pair of round ears like into a mouse. He wears indigo colored disoriented suit. Somehow he is kinda familiar, but the maiden cannot bring the memory out.

Lastly the man that sitting on the head of the table, the girl sigh of how awfully familiar he is, his striking bright vermilion hair that frames his face with a longer section that falls just past his left shoulder, and that eye-catching bright blue eyes, his posture didn't change since the last time they have met, and the only difference is what he wears this time; during their first meeting, the man is wearing black pants and green jacket, this time he has green top hat with red hatband, a thin silver chain that hangs over the brim, and a paper with written numbers 04/29 on it, and out of the three, he is the only one who has well-tailored yellow-green suit, and wears it orientedly.

His left leg is sitting on his chair along with him and the other leg is swaying carelessly, holding a cup while laughing at his comrade; he is more look relax now than their first meeting. Seeing him like this makes her feel relief and glad that nothing bad happen after he let her free.

Her eyes narrows as she keep watching them playing on their treats. What a weird bunch alright, she never thought this side coming from the familiar man.

After looking around hoping to find who she searching for, her eyebrows knitted; why she seems cannot find this 'Little Fairy' that Cheshire was talking about? Is this 'Little Fairy' really that small that she cannot see it?

Deciding she must talk to them, she walks, yet halted when she accidentally step on a dry branch creating a noise, and that noise gains the attention of the two fully awaken men, while the other only groaned in his sleep.

They immediately turns to the source with sharp glare, and found the girl with long black hair that tied into pony tail and pair of dull grey eyes. She's wearing an oversized pastel green hood with panda image on the center; black leggings and black boots. The glaring eyes of the familiar vermillion-head normalize as soon as he recognized her.

"Oh… you're here!" He put down his leg, place his elbow on the armrest, and rest his cheek on his palm, smirking and looks at her.

The maiden heaved a sigh, but stayed at her spot. "Yo, been a while Hatter."

"Have you arrived safely at the border?"

"Yea, thanks to you that become a short trip. What about your group?"

"Disbanded."

"So fast!"

"That's bound to happen."

Sensing the familiarity between the two teenagers, the man with goggle voiced his curiosity, "Oya? You know her?"

"Kind of." After answering, Hatter return his attention to the girl, "So? What now? Where are you going this time?"

"I'm… actually looking for someone, a companion that I met at the border. I lost him while talking to a suic—" her mouth form a line as soon as she stop herself from talking, thinking it wasn't an important nor a pleasing information, she cough before continuing, "to an annoying fella, and that fella told me to look for 'Little Fairy'."

"Annoying fella?" his eyebrow jerked, "Little Fairy?" he becomes irritated all of the sudden, "Don't tell me…" his eyes reflects suspicious. "have you met that stupid cat?" she blinks her eyes and nodded, puzzled. He click his tongue in complete annoyance and curse many strings words under his breathe, "That stupid waste of space!" indeed that man is really stupid. "Why the fuck he directs you here?"

"Eh? I thought this 'Little Fairy' could help me find my companion—you're right, why did he have to direct me to you? He only said that by going on this path, it will make me meet 'Little Fairy and his gang'…" a realization hits her, "Ah! So are you Little Fairy?"

The rabbit man stay put for a second and when Hatter clicks his tongue he burst out laughing, while the shorter guy mutter strings of curses against the not present human cat.

"So after passing you guys..." The rabbit man and Hatter stops at their business and look at her whom aren't bother by their shits. "—what is next?"

The two guys exchange looks at each other when the guy that been sleeping this whole time and even by now, has speak up,

"Duchess... mansion... scary... sickly—."

Hatter and the girl blink several times; but the person whom she identified as the 'Little Fairy' turns to her.

"You heard him. It's the Duchess' Mansion. She isn't bad but be worry for yourself."

'What the fuck is with that warning?!' she scream internally.

After sipping more on his tea, the man known as Little Fairy—Hatter informs her, "Just go straight over there and you will meet the Duchess, but if you aren't ready meeting her yet, you can go the other way."

"What can I find there?"

"A human-eating tiger."

Silence drawn on their atmosphere; she shouldn't be surprise, she really shouldn't, but there she is stunned at what she heard. A man-eating tiger—and he recommending it!

The silence has been cut by loud noise coming from the rabbit-man's mouth as he laugh to his heart's content. She doesn't know if she should be offend because he is mocking her, or no since this fella is sure like crazy in the first place; he is more like to be call mad.

"Both are crazy ends!" he yell out, "AND SO!" He is on high, the nameless young lady labeled. "Why don't you go on that way instead!"

"What it is now?"

"The way towards the castle of Red Queen." Hatter answered. "But if you go there and able to piss the queen, she might off your head."

Her eyes narrow, 'Aah…' all the paths that waiting for her is ridiculously dangerous and scary.

Right: The infamous nefarious man-eating tiger.

Left: A dangerous person with a questionable good heart.

Across: The Red Queen who is easy to piss off.

All she just wanted is to go home, and for that to happen, she must gather the Alices; but according to Cheshire, the Alices don't know that they are Alice and so asking them if they are an Alice is pretty useless.

Now thinking about it, why she wanted to get out here anyway?

She shook her head, shaking the question off her head. She will remember it eventually.

The question now is, what she should choose.

"Any path is fine right?" the familiar voice of Human Cat suddenly resounded behind her. "You didn't even know where you are heading anyway~" she quickly turns her head up as Cheshire's hands were landed to her small shoulders.

"Cheshire..." She almost quietly mutters.

The man who definitely and obviously not welcome to the tea party thanks to Little Fairy's wild reaction smiling down at her.

"Right~" Kitten, as what Cheshire decided to called her, heaved a sigh after turning her sight to the ground she stepping on as if it will help her to choose. "But if you going to ask me, I would choose the path towards the man-eating tiger."

"Why?" she once again look up at the taller man.

"Simple, aren't it more interesting, than the other two?"

Totally ignored and forgotten, Hatter continue on his wild yelling while Rabbit-Man has lock the shorter man on his arms.

"Aah... Little Fairy and March Hare are so noisy~" Cheshire whined.

"HAH?! THEN GET OUT HERE OR ELSE I'LL KILL YA!"

"Why Little Fairy is so angry to me? I am a saint whilst I don't remember why I deserve your wrath shortie!"

"HAH?! YOU BASTARD!!! DON'T LIE ASSHOLE! YOU DONE SO MANY THINGS TO DESERVE MY WRATH!!! AND YOU ARE NOT A SAINT!!! AND WILL NEVER BE!!!"

"Aah~ Mad Hatter has lot of energy~ it is because of those sweets?"

"Ahahaha!" this time it is March Hare "Indeed! I baked them with my own made chemicals. It will hype you and—"

"I never eat those!" Hatter aggressively denied as the rabbit-ear man listed all kinds of questionable chemicals he put in his pastries.

"Nah. Definitely not gonna eat those." Cheshire says out loud what is in his and the shorter girl's mind.

Ignoring them yet again Cheshire turns back his attention to the girl he's holding. "So? What is your choice?"

"Ne, you helping me to choose, what is the exchange?"

"Nothing. This time I just simply don't want you to lump too much with those idiots." he answers while pointing on the Hatter and his friends.

Of course this causes for Hatter to go haywire yet again.

"Stop teasing him Cheshire."

"Forget about Hat Rack, and choose now."

"I'll go to—"

"Don't listen to that bastard. He's good at scheming and using people to his disposal." Hatter warns, completely calm as if his violent reaction earlier didn't happen at all.

"But right now. All I have is his suggestion."

"Then go to the Duchess instead."

"You competing him, are you?" he is so obvious. "And to think that you are the one that recommend man-eating tiger first."

"Well like I said, it doesn't matter which path you choose."

"Then I follow—"