Hey, everyone! Well, the sequel to ALICE is finally up

(and if you're just joining us now, I strongly recommend you read 'ALICE' before this – trust me, it will make a lot more sense! - the link is on my profile)

Oh yes, and I had initially wanted to put up some art to go along with ALICE on deviantart, but my scanner has most conveniently crashed, so that idea might have to be put on hold for a little.

So, what else is there to do but declare that its on with the story!

ALICE II

the untold sequel

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Chapter One

Alice, Queen of Hearts

I might take the time to indulge you of the splendor that was Alice's coronation. It is true, just as it was rumored, that there was nothing else like it ever seen, or ever will be seen. It was bountiful as it was beautiful, but to waste time on the ceremony, and critisize what Alice herself may have been wearing would be, if I may be so blunt, an utter waste of time. And as we all know, time is, and always has been, the very essence of this story – so why waste it?

Time was, if you recall, the very thing that started Alice's adventures in Wonderland. It was the flame the lit a small candle that would forever burn, even as the small white rabbit pranced about exclaiming to itself. Time was what started the child's curiosity, and time will, no doubt, be the very thing to end it. So, as this new chapter of Alice's life opens and begins to reveal itself, it would be only fitting for the first subject to be discussed to be that of time.

Time seemed indefinite to Alice now, as Wonderland had a queer trick to make the mind believe itself to be floating in a non-descriptive space, where there was no beginning, and will be no end. But, as we know, it is only a trick, and all things great and small must eventually have an end. How some things end, no one really knows.

So it was here, at this point of our discussion, that Alice had been pacing elegantly (or as elegantly as she could) up and down the halls of the palace she was most ungraciously made to live in. The rhythm of her footsteps was undisturbed by any other sound; only the constant light clicking of her feet filled the space. There was something horribly cold about the place; a fact Alice had been trying to ignore. Perhaps she just missed the chaotic coziness that the Hare's house brought to her senses, or the company, or whichever.

She made an injured sniff. Thinking of her former companions brought her much pain, as she had not seen either of them for what must have been weeks. At first she had thought it had been her own fault; as her new, busy and demanding schedule may have intimidated them, or made it impossible to find the time (there it is again) to meet. But, as time went on she realized that they had not been responding to any of her letters or invitations, and she had begun to wonder if she might have offended them. Didn't they want her to be their Queen? That was what she had always supposed they wanted. But, whoever or whatever was at fault caused the friends to stop meeting, and Alice couldn't help but feel the loss.

The Hare himself had been kinder than the Hatter. At least he had bothered to come up with excuses not to come, or wrote her comforting letters assuring her they were just as bust as she – and would no doubt visit when their schedule was less demanding. But as for the Hatter, she heard and saw nothing. It broke her heart a little more than she would have liked to admit, so she settled herself to think that she had merely lost touch with a friend, and nothing more. Another sniff.

She had seen the Hatter at her coronation, and since then, nothing. He had stood at the very back, and when she moved to approach him, he had shrugged her off, leaving her to the bubbling guests. He had looked almost unrecognizable to Alice when she had seen him – he had looked younger, yet older at the same time. Dark pain had etched itself into his face, and his eyes looked yellow with some sort of sickness Alice had no name for. Though, on the other hand, his skin looked like it had been stretched a little tighter over his bones, making him look at least a year younger than his former age – whatever it had been. He had rushed away from her, biting back an irritable growl behind his teeth. It seemed the Hatter she had known, and had seemingly loved her, was gone forever.

So as Alice continued to pace, these morbid thoughts chasing the others around her head, she was startled to find Abaddon rudely interrupting her reverie. He stood in the doorway – like he always did – and leaned against the wood work rather awkwardly, looking too firm and bulky to be relying on such a delicate piece of architecture. He looked unsure of what to do. She waited for him to speak first, though the silence lengthened for a little while as he must have been, she assumed, collecting his thoughts that seemed as scattered as her own.

He took a deep breath, which was to her surprise quite shaky. "Your Majest-," he began, though quickly inserted her name, just as she had ordered everyone to do. All these 'majesty' stuff had made her head dizzy. "Alice, there is a problem."

A problem was all well and good, Alice had thought to herself rather gloomily, it was just which kind of problem that she was interested in. There were a good many problems going on in Wonderland – it just depended on who you were. To Alice, the Hare and Hatter's constant absence was a problem, though to them it may have been a blessing. The former Queen of Hearts had passed away several weeks ago, which was a very painful problem for Abaddon, though to Alice (it was generally assumed) it brought about a new, joyful era to her life. Problems, you see, are relative, all depending on which side of it you take. Though there was no relativity to the words Abaddon spoke next.

"We are under threat," he should have spoke solemnly, though the idea of another war rather excited him. Like a little boy with his toys. War was Abaddon's greatest toy.

"Ah," Alice paused, "that is problem. By who?"

Abaddon shrugged, and at first Alice assumed that it didn't really matter to him – what should he care of who he was fighting, as long as he could fight, he should be happy with whoever was on the other end of his sword. Alice was wrong, though. "We have no idea, it's sort of hard to explain."

Alice stared him down evenly, knowing all too well this was a plot to keep 'heavy burdens' from the Queen. Wonderland may be a wonderful place, but the general trust and opinion of the female sex was horribly undermined. "Try me," she ordered.

He sighed, hating to concede. "It would be more appropriate to say what is against us, instead of who."

Alice gasped, her imagination getting carried away. "You don't mean the cats have wakened, do you?" After the former Queen had cast her sleeping spell on the cats of the kingdom, they had been frozen in time, and Alice was still unsure of what to do with them. She had professors and scientist researching for any way to reverse Victoria's disease, but so far, nothing had been found. So, for now, they were locked securely like stone statues in the castle's dungeons, awaiting their fate.

"No, not the cats. I – I am not fit for telling you the whole story, Alice. Only one person knows it fully, and has experienced it first hand. He can be the one to explain to you."

"Who do you mean?" But to Alice's dismay she had questioned too late. Joining them in the room, stepped in a solemn-looking Hatter, with shadows under and above his eyes.

"Hello Alice," he said simply.

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A little short, but it is an introductory chapter.

I was so encouraged by everyone's reviews on the last chapter of Alice, I was inspired to get this chapter up as soon as I could!

Well, let's hear what you think!