ex♠tended meeting

[♠Ace♠]

[ ♠ ♠ ♠ ]

♠ Fading through things, the Ace of Spades thought, was a wonderfully efficient way of getting were you wanted to go, where you didn't want to go, and every place you can get to go in between. He wondered briefly why no one else did so. ♠

♠ His humming was back, full force this time since the people insisted on becoming silent when he passed, all getting dangerously close to fixing the broken silence, he thought. ♠

♠ He hadn't gone in any particular direction, since directions weren't very direct on this side of the Looking Glass. Indeed, most people became terrible confused and lost on one street, but the Ace had taken the space in stride years ago, and it was simple for him to arrive at his location. Which was where that girl was going to be. ♠

♠ He stood, leaning against a nearby building, looking every bit like a Victorian gentleman, and checking his silver pocket watch. It didn't tell time, but time was useless here anyway. ♠

♠ He didn't look up when she came into view, instead he just said rather loudly. ♠

♠ "I knew it, I knew it! A terribly rude girl indeed! Creating such a scandal at the Cafe, and atop all that..." ♠

♠ He snapped the pocket watch shut and replaced it within his inner pocket. His dark eyes moving up to catch hers, his features as shadowed by his hat as hers were by the cloak. ♠

♠ "You're late!" ♠

[♥Alice Liddell♥]

Oh how she hated these streets,poor Alice was so confused yes confused.When she went down one way she would end up in another place,quite different from the previous location.Why had it been so simple when she first arrived in the wicked town,it had just been a simple walk down these twisted streets but no when you leave it was completely different.She stopped almost suddenly at the loud voice that boomed from the shadows,that mad hatta had followed her out of the cafe how come trouble always followed her.

Alice said nothing as she just stood there,it had been bad enough she had accidently bumped and smeared his jam but now he had to follow her.And even though she couldn't make out his feature she knew quite well whom it was,her lips curled into a pouty frown hearing the words she thought she would never hear again.That white rabbit had bellowed it out all the time,running through wonderland with his pocketwatch and disappering into holes and trees screaming that very phrase.Although it was "I'm Late",he did say "You're late" when arriving at the queen's palace.

"Late for what,there is nothing to be late for".

[♠Ace♠]

♠ "Ah, what you mean is there's nothing
to be on time for." ♠

♠ The Hatta corrected simply, nodding and crossing his arms. Then he tilted his head and considered his own statement for a moment, before nodding again. ♠

♠ "Yes. You can always be late for something." ♠

♠ His arms unfolded themselves and he pointed regally at the cloaked girl. It was a movement that said that he was both making a point and addressing her. ♠

♠ "You, though, seem to be the late type. Why you should have gotten here exactically 15 seconds ago to admit you were lost; and worse yet you're half a light-year late for where you want to go." ♠

♠ He spread his arms now, exceptionally proud at having given such a lovely explanation for the girl; even a terribly rude one. His grin returned, still with the glint of madness, but it was much more cheerful now. He continued on in a reprimanding voice, which was made unusual by the fact that his indulgent smile never left his face. ♠

♠ "Very unpunctual, indeed. But it's no wonder with the way you're going about. Where do you expect to go, walking in such a direct direction directly?" ♠

♠ He'd moved closer to the girl, until he was about two feet away from her, his hands resting on his lean hips. He towered over the cloaked figure, so he had to bend down to talk straight to her face. From this close his features were more pronounced; his skin was a strange dark hue that was nearly grey, while his eyes were a liquid golden color. When he grinned you could see that his incisors were sharper than they should have been. ♠

♠ Very suddenly, and before she could answer, he looked off to the side and shook his head. ♠

♠ "A bit slow in the head, this one." ♠

♠ He muttered, as if to himself, though not making any attempts not to be heard. Just as abruptly as he had turned away, he turned back. Grinning expectantly at her, as if he seriously wanted an answer to his rhetorical question. And he did. ♠

[♥Alice Liddell♥]

Her head was getting a little muddled by all this,riddles he was talking in riddles.Biting her bottom lip she sighed abit,what is it with mad people and riddles she could never understand.Pushing the hood back she let it fall behind her,the blonde locks of hair now hanging over her shoulders and her blue eyes looking towards the shadowed hatta.This was risky revealing herself to the dark man,but she had learned to stop running away and stand up to crazy things.Besides she had only been a little girl before,so of course to a child things would be scary in a crazy and curious world.

"I do hate when people talk in riddles,it makes no sense.But when has anything ever made sense,and if I was going this way or that what would it matter".

All she wanted was to get back to the rebel camp,at least there it was safe.Then again where in this ill gotten world of a mirror was safe,turn a corner and something sinister would frighten you.Go in the woods and be torn to shreads,or bump into someone and they talk in riddles no there was no place safe here.

"If I had gotten here 15 seconds ago,would you have been waiting.Or had I gone the other way around,would it lead me away from this sinister town".

[♠Ace♠]

♠ The Ace shifted back on one leg, while he took out a teacup -full of steaming tea- from his jacket, and began to plop sugar cubes into it. He watched as the girl pulled back her cloak, revealing features he had never seem before in the White Queen's Kingdom or this town; which was a red flag he happily ignored. He nodded absently while she spoke, sipping at his tea -then nearly choked on it once her words processed. ♠

♠ "I beg your pardon? Who's speaking in riddles?" ♠

♠ He said, looking at her wide-eyed over his tea. His hat had tipped over to the side when he'd jerked up so suddenly. He sighed indulgently, slipping his tea back into wherever he'd retrieved it from, before straightening out his hat. ♠

♠ He turned his head and regarded the girl seriously. ♠

♠ "Which way you go doesn't matter, I matters where you end up. Which is exactically where you're late for, and precisely why I believe that it's you, who has absolutely no sense at all." ♠

♠ By the end of this statement he seemed to lose all pretense of seriousness, and was back to grinning like it was his Unbirthday; which it did just so happen to be. ♠

♠ "You see, you're trying to get back to where you came from by going back the way you came. Which is just preposterous." ♠

♠ He explained as if to a small child who was trying to fit the triangle block into the circular hole. He had a mix of patience and amusement on his face, and it chimed in his voice. ♠

♠ "How would you suppose that, within a mirror, where left is right and inversely where right is wrong, you would be able to take such straight forward ways?" ♠

♠ At this he whipped out one arm to point his thin, black wooden cane, that may or may not have been there before. It didn't seem to have any other purpose besides pointing, and maybe also beating people with. It's tip rested lightly on the girl's forehead. ♠

♠ "Why, it's simple girl! If you plan to get back you must obviously travel Foreword." ♠

♠ The cane whipped away from the girls head, making a whistling sound. It pointed in a random direction to the side and, as if on cue, the area lit up. It was a path, leading into a dark nothingness, with an arrow sign reading "Foreward" set beside it. ♠

♠ "And contrary-wise, if you plan to go forward, the quickest way is to go Backward." ♠

♠ The tip of the cane swiped around again, narrowly missing the girl's head, as it stopped to point behind her. An identical path lit up, only this time it's sign proclaimed that it lead "Backward". ♠

♠ The Ace of Spades shrugged, holding both hands up (the cane conspicuously missing). ♠

♠ "It's quite simple really." ♠

[♥Alice Liddell♥]

"Oh this is just.......ugh".

Alice was beginning to get frustrated now,and lucky for her revealing herself didn't seem to falter the other.Did that mean he did not know her,nor had he seen her before.Well of course the only one she had ever met or rather had a run in with was the Blood Prince,so the only one would know whom she was or had seen her tumble into this dark world was that prince.But then again he was probably ignoring the fact that she stood out like a sore thumb,and didn't look like the other shady characters here.

"I have no sense,you sir are the one who is talking no sense.With all this left is right,and right is left I know what to expect".

Of course she knew she couldn't just walk down a path and expect it to lead where she wants,sometimes it would lead to a dead end.Her blue eyes blinked feeling the touch of what seemed like a cane,just like his tea this cane had come out of nowhere and again he was rambling on about this and that.When the tip of the cane was removed from her head,her eyes followed the direction he was pointing to seeing a path light up with a sign saying "Foreward".

Now the last time she had that happen,it had led her to nowhere but a dead end.When he moved the cane again she ducked as it nearly missed her head,and saw another path light up with a sign that said "Backward".

"So what your saying is choose a path".

[♠Ace♠]

♠ The Ace sighed and waved his hand dismissively at her. It looked as if he was getting bored. ♠

♠ "Sense is based on reality;
what reality are you in now?" ♠

♠ But he didn't press that any further and instead looked around the surrounding area. The setting had changed, he saw with a smirk, the buildings around them no longer had doors, and the road they had been on was now a circle, with no roads leading out of it, that is, besides the two pathways he'd created. ♠

♠ "And what I'm saying is you can get somewhere, or you can go nowhere." ♠

♠ He leaned down and smirked at her. His eyes glittering with mischief.♠

♠ "It's your fault if you don't understand." ♠

♠ There was suddenly a bloodcurdling shriek from one of the door-less buildings, and the dull bricks began to crack and crumble away. Black wisps of darkness began leaking out of the buildings, flowing malevolently toward the two.♠

♠ The Hatta grinned with excitement, his eyes shining madly as they took in the darkness engulfing the building and street. Then, without warning, he spun around, snatching the girl's wrist as he did so. ♠

♠ "Nowhere it is!" ♠

♠ He ran, dragging her after him, and ignoring either of his two pathways. Instead, sometime before just then, a door had appeared, in the shape of a giant Spade. The door opened automatically and he darted through, dragging his unwilling passenger into the inky darkness.♠

[♥Alice Liddell♥]

"I don't know which reality I am in,and it's not that I don't understand.It is just very odd is all,I am just not used to a world such as this".

She glanced around now seeing the buildings had no doors,and the road was now a circle.Again it had all changed on her,there was nothing but a big circle and no roads leading to anywhere.All that remained we're the two path's he had created before,well this was turning out to be such a confusing day.Buildings losing they're doors and roads disappering,yes of course she should be used to that but when was the last time she had endured this kind of whackiness it was in wonderland.

"Well sir you will have to forgive me,it's been awhile si........".

Hearing the bloodcurdling scream or rather shriek,Alice's eye went abit wide.Hearing the cracking of the bricks,and them crumbling to the ground she knew that wasn't a good thing.Turning her head slightly,she saw black things leak out of the crumbled building like a plauge of evil and it was heading towards them.

Alice was completely speechless,feeling the pull on her wrist she let herself be dragged.But she tryed to keep her eyes on whatever that was following them,but soon she faced foreward seeing the door.

"A question,what is that thing".

[♠Ace♠]

♠ The nowhere his door lead was dark and vast. Huge purple and black butterflies fluttered around in the dark, their wings having the patterns of diamonds, clubs, hearts, and spades. ♠

♠ Diamonds glittered like stars out in the inky blackness, and there was a constant sensation of being upside down, floating in space. ♠

♠ It was one of the Ace's favorite sensations, and he was suddenly rather angry that he'd brought the girl along. Granted, she was a more interesting subject to work with than the 51 other Cards he usually had to deal with. But she was whiny and snapped to much; and began to remind him of something he didn't want to remember. His humming started up again, keeping the silence down and out as, honestly not for the first time, he considered just killing her and taking the corpse back to the Queen... ♠

♠ He turned around to look at her when he heard her question. His suit had disappeared somewhere again, and his white linen shirt he'd met her in was back, this time with dark linen pants and brown shoes as well. It was a reassurance she probably wouldn't appreciate, since she didn't know. His darkest side wore the full suit, along with a rather deranged smile; his normal self seemed to me a mix, wearing whatever he felt like and jumping between being cheerful and being insane; this side, however, was never so formal. This lightest side was always cheerful and took things in stride. ♠

♠ Also, he's yet to kill anyone while in his lighter persona, and for one reason. He planed to keep this lives separate, forever. Because keeping his dark side and light side was the one thing that gave him the most pleasure out of life. ♠

♠ So it was with little graciousness that the girl gained a reprieve. He grinned at the thought, knowing that, even though the smile was less crazed, she probably wouldn't be able to tell she was talking to someone new. ♠

♠ As he looked at the girl, with his hair slowly falling about his face and shoulders with the sudden absence of his hat, he suddenly felt the sudden urge to laugh. And he did, bending at the waist fro the force of it. After a moment he composed himself, though when h spoke there was still laughter in his tone. ♠

♠ "Well, my dear, I suppose we could go back and ask." ♠

[♥Alice Liddell♥]

When they had entered the door she stared in awe at the butterflies,so radiant and so beautiful.The way each glittered was more vibrant then the next one,it almost seemed like she could get lost in this nowhere forever just chasing them.It was then she felt that all too familiar sensation where your body felt lighter then ever,that you could almost be walking on air.Alice glanced from the butterflies over to the hatta that was leading her in this nowhere,something was telling her the sooner she was safe the better.

She blinked when he glanced her way,but what was more odd was the fact his suit had disappered and changed.Doing a wardrobe change in the middle of nowhere,now she definately knew this place was madder then regular wonderland.Oh but that dreadful humming could he be anymore annoying,and she of course unaware that this man was the General for the queen and could have just killed her and returned her body to the Queen.But luckily for her,she didn't know that juicy little tidbit.

His humming had stopped and now he was laughing,was something so funny that he had to just burst out and laugh.Had it been the question she asked,was that what was so hilarious and gave him the means to laugh like a.....like a.....well like a crazy person.Although at his answer,which still had that twisted laugh to it she shook her head quickly.

"No I would rather not,thank you I just want to leave".

[♠Ace♠]

♠ "Well you did leave." ♠

♠ He said merrily, hooking his thumbs into his pockets and leaning back impossibly on his heels. Anything he didn't want to touch, he didn't. And not in the normal 'avoidance' type of way. No; earth, water, air - he could choose not to connect with any of them. He could repel the air and walk of a breeze if he wished to. It was a gift he acquired from the Queen, and embellished himself. ♠

♠ From the simple power of walking through walls, only enough to get through boundaries, he created a deadly weapon, and asset. It was no longer just a gift or equipment power; it was part of his being now, inseparable. Not bad for someone technically human. It was partially the reason he was the Ace of Spades; he could increase his power and polish it so much he was a natural. ♠

♠ "Now you just need to figure out where to get." ♠

♠ He continued, floating around her while still leaning back on his heels. This power had it's serious weaknesses an all. He was confident that he could figure it out, but for now he had no way of fighting against other magic users. Hence the reason he fled the 'black death' that had pursued them earlier. The one thing he had to touch was magic. ♠

♠ He laughed again, but it was countless times more controlled. He pulled out a deck of cards and began to shuffle them. Truthfully, most of the things he had didn't come from nowhere. Not that he didn't use this place to store a lot of things... but his power was helpful in that sense. ♠

♠ He could keep things in his body, without them interfering with his organs. And he had a lot of space in there (more than there should have been; but that's another aspect), where he kept his suit, his tea-set, his cards, his sugar, his cakes, and numerous other things that literally came right out of his hands (sleeves or not). ♠

♠ "Or we could always just hang around here,
terribly rude girl #1." ♠

[♥Alice Liddell♥]

"I suppose I did leave".

Leave yes she had left the cafe and then into the street,and of course walked around in circles then was whisked away into this place or space from a disgusting black thing.But what she really had meant was to leave this void and go back to the rebel camp that's where she wanted to go and never again venture from there or let her curiousity get the best of her.Oh but that was unheard of she was just too curious for her own good,now the question was how to get out of this pickle of a place.

"Well that is quite difficult,since I have no idea which direction to head".

Alice had already felt so lost after coming into that cafe,and upon leaving she felt even more lost.So standing there she rolled her fingers into a fist and put it up to her cheek,while using her other hand to support her elbow of her other arm.To tell the truth she had quite enough of this charade,and just wished to leave this mad hatta to his craziness.When he called her rude girl #1 once more,she sighed.

"My name is Alice Liddell,not rude girl #1 if you must know".

[♠Ace♠]

♠ The Ace had been looking at the girl with a mischievous smirk that dropped off as soon as she decided she wanted to introduce herself. His expression was suddenly bored, and he swung around on his heels to look up at the butterflies fluttering about. ♠

♠ "Can't see how it's going to matter." ♠

♠ He muttered flatly, before his grin spread across his face once again and he turned back to face Alice. His feet landing firmly on the 'ground' he bent down to show his slightly sharpened teeth, his golden eyes glittering. ♠

♠ "But then, do you want to know who I am?" ♠

♠ He pointed simply back up at his face, his head tilting to the side as he inquired. Not that he had any real intention of telling her... ♠

♠ Otherwise he ignored her comments. She had gone on about 'direction' again; hadn't she been listening? Oh well. She'd at least been helpful keeping the silence broken for a while. ♠

[♥Alice Liddell♥]

She put her hands on her hips and frowned,how can he be so rude to her.Oh right they we're all madder here then the original wonderland,and insane and crazy not to mention sinister and dark.She had been polite enough to tell her name,and being in this sinister world Alice was lucky enough to still be standing here and living to talk to this guy.

"Well be like that then,as if I care".

Wasn't it at least polite to say one's name,unless of course they are insane.Ever since she had returned home the first time,Alice had almost lost half her sanity because of everything that happened to her in Wonderland.But being brought here it has been hard to try and keep the rest of her sanity in check,but that is dwindling so fast in a spiral downwards.Seeing his sharp teeth as he bared them just slightly so she could see.

"I would rather not,you can't tell whom is your enemy and whom is to be trusted".

[♠Ace♠]

♠ "Be what way, my dear?" ♠

♠ He asked innocently, sitting back as if in a chair, though no chair was visible. The tea cup was back in his hand, balanced on a small tea saucer. He dipped the saucer into the tea, then took a bite out of the china, only to frown and put it back in his pants pocket (his jacket regrettably still missing). ♠

♠ "Also..." ♠

♠ Distractedly he reached behind himself to retrieve about twelve pink and blue packets from his back pocket, and began tearing them open, one by one, to dump a sweet white powder into his tea. After all the dozen of them were in the cup, he took a sip and seemed satisfied. ♠

♠ "It's quite easy to learn who you can trust. That would be nobody. Obviously." ♠

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